## Chapter 247 – Malice (10)
With his face buried in Lowe’s chest, using her as a pillow, Ryu awoke from a deep sleep, slowly rising as he inhaled the subtle, sweet scent emanating from her.
Turning his head to look beside him, he saw Lowe already awake, smiling kindly as she gazed at Ryu’s still-sleepy face, stroking his tousled hair.
“Did you wake up?”
Ryu nodded and reflexively fondled her breasts, which were swaying before his eyes. He heard Lowe’s faint groan and felt a sensation that was almost addictive. If possible, he wanted to do it again, but he had other things he needed to do now.
The two of them quickly finished showering, got ready to go out, and headed to the smithy together.
Unlike before, they didn’t glance at anything else and went straight to the smithy, arriving quite early. At the same time, they witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Lowe, who rarely showed any emotional changes even in the face of significant events, had her eyes wide open, so no other embellishment was necessary. She asked in a voice so soft it seemed impossible to penetrate the sound of clanging steel, but it definitely contained a hint of surprise.
“Are you still making it?”
Normally, Veronica would have clearly heard Lowe’s voice, but this time she didn’t seem to notice Lowe’s arrival. Of course, the surprising thing wasn’t such a trivial action. The pile of metal, stacked higher than Veronica’s height, formed a mountain that was incomparable to what it had been yesterday.
The next moment, Veronica’s brow furrowed, and she threw down the hammer and necklace, veins popping out on her neck.
“Fuck! You fucking piece of shit!”
Sweeping back her sweat-soaked hair, her eyes still showed no sign of giving up. The energy she had poured into the necklace dissipated again, sinking onto her workbench. Seeing the wriggling energy as if mocking her, a vein throbbed on Veronica’s forehead.
“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got, huh?”
She seemed determined. A task that would only end when either the necklace or Veronica died—that’s how Ryu saw it. The seemingly endless work seemed like it might finally be coming to an end when Lowe approached Veronica.
“You’re here?”
But it wasn’t. Veronica, who usually adored Lowe, only offered a short, perfunctory greeting before focusing on her work again. Lowe, seeing Veronica like this for the first time, remained silent for a moment, just watching her.
As her aura erupted like lava, no one dared to speak to her. Then, Reina, who had been watching her work, approached for the first time.
“Shouldn’t you rest now?”
No sooner had she spoken than Veronica roughly put down the hammer as if to make sure everyone heard, and glared at her with a venomous look.
“Rest?”
Reina stood her ground.
“I’m saying it because I’m worried. I’m not doubting your stamina, Master Demon Lord, but you’ve never pushed yourself this hard before.”
“I know my own body best. Mind your own business and get lost.”
In the tense, volatile situation, Ryu couldn’t even bring himself to move his eyes. Holding his breath, he watched the situation unfold as Lowe cautiously opened her mouth.
“Everyone, stop.”
It was a soft murmur, but the weight it carried was by no means light. At Lowe’s words, Veronica, who had been glaring fiercely, averted her gaze and clicked her tongue softly. She instinctively knew that going against Lowe’s mood right now wouldn’t lead to a good outcome.
Once the situation had calmed down, Lowe spoke again.
“Are you okay?”
Veronica wore a frustrated expression, like someone who had lost a duel.
“I’m annoyed with my own abilities. I thought it would be nothing, but…”
The hand holding the equipment trembled.
Lowe, as if understanding, approached Veronica, patted her shoulder, and encouraged her.
“This is the first time you’ve handled this kind of energy, so you don’t have to rush.”
Veronica, who had been hanging her head, only said that she would rest for a bit and left the smithy. Reina finally let out a sigh of relief and thanked Lowe.
“I’m glad you came, Lowe. Otherwise, she probably would have stayed up all night for over a week.”
Reina sighed deeply, looking in the direction Veronica had disappeared. Reina, who had been by Veronica’s side for a long time, was not used to this situation either.
“I’m worried because I’ve never seen the Master Demon Lord like that before. What if this causes her to have a slump? Ah, I’m not blaming you, Lowe… I don’t know if she’ll be able to finish the work you requested on time either.”
Hearing those words, Lowe smiled faintly and said in a tone that seemed to tell her not to worry.
“You still don’t really know Veronica, that child…”
“Yes?”
“Veronica has the most outstanding talent among the Demon Lords I’ve seen. And that’s not just limited to combat… She’s not the kind of child who would give up because of something like this.”
“Is, is that so?”
After giving Reina an explanation that she couldn’t understand, Lowe looked around the smithy and opened her mouth.
“Let’s look at the necklace later… Ryu, is there anything you want?”
Even if she suddenly asked if he wanted anything, he couldn’t immediately answer.
“Anything I want?”
“Yes, everything here is of good quality… It wouldn’t be bad to look around.”
After finishing her words, Lowe examined the weapons hanging on the wall herself, picked up a sturdy spear, and handed it to Ryu.
“Try holding it.”
When Ryu spread his palm and received the spear Lowe handed him, his arm dropped down due to the heavy sensation, which was different from anything he had felt before. He thought he had grown stronger than before and had gained a lot of stamina, but he couldn’t imagine freely lifting and swinging this.
“W, what is this?”
Lowe covered her mouth with her hand and said with a light laugh.
“It seems like it’s still too much for you to freely handle the weapons Veronica makes.”
It was heavy, but it was definitely different from the weapons Ryu had handled so far. He felt like he could crush even the thickest steel like tofu just by stabbing it.
“Hmm, then how about this…?”
Lowe handed him a shorter spear than before. It was definitely lighter and easier to handle than the previous one. But that didn’t mean it was of lower quality. The sharply honed blade reflected Ryu’s face like a mirror. But there was one thing that bothered him.
“Is it okay to just take this?”
Reina, who had been watching the two of them, answered instead.
“Yes, you can take it. Everything here is either the Master Demon Lord’s practice work or something she doesn’t like and can’t show to people, so she doesn’t sell it.”
“Practice work?”
All the weapons here were of such outstanding quality that they couldn’t be found anywhere else. But he could roughly see Veronica’s personality, treating these as unsellable waste. Her pursuit of perfection in her work must have created the situation earlier.
Even so, when Ryu hesitated, Reina drove the point home.
“If she says anything later, I’ll explain it for you. Take whatever you want.”
Only then did Ryu relax and hold the items that Lowe picked out for him one by one. He liked them all, but he liked the two spears he had held at first the most.
One question came to mind: Lowe had not looked at any armor so far and was only picking out weapons. Ryu cautiously asked Lowe.
“Is there no need for armor?”
“Not really…”
Lowe’s evasive appearance felt strange.
“You can be honest.”
Then Lowe sighed briefly and opened her mouth.
“Ryu, think about what kind of being you have to fight. Armor? Is it even reasonable to allow them to attack you…? To survive, only think about avoiding them.”
Only then did he remember the desperate fight he had with the Outer God, bleeding. Every swing of their attacks was lethal, and no matter how excellent the armor he wore, it was nearly impossible to offset that power. When Ryu fell silent, Lowe spoke briefly.
“I see you understand…”
Reina, who had been watching them carefully in the colder atmosphere than before, said.
“If… if you’ve taken everything, could you possibly go to the Master Demon Lord’s mansion? Even if she says that, she’s definitely not sleeping and doing something pointless.”
“Okay, that much…”
Lowe packed her things and left the smithy with Ryu to find Veronica’s residence. As Reina expected, Veronica was not resting even at home, and was analyzing her previous failure in the personal smithy in the basement.
“Why? What did I do wrong? Temperature? Strength? No, everything was perfect. Then why?”
Veronica, muttering like someone possessed, even showed a hint of madness, which Ryu had seen before. From Jane, the ruler of the 3rd District. He thought they were different people, but the two were fundamentally the same from the beginning. He could become a little closer to Jane and give her plausible advice, but this was different.
The only person who could advise Veronica now was Lowe.
Veronica, already knowing that Lowe had come, gave a bitter smile and said in a self-deprecating tone.
“How pathetic… I am now.”
“Veronica, discard the anger you hold inside. Only then will you be able to unleash your true abilities…”
She laughed hollowly.
“Discard the anger I hold inside? My body has long since turned to ashes and doesn’t have the strength to hold anything.”
“No, it’s still there. I can see it all…”
Immediately, Lowe grabbed Ryu’s wrist, who had been quietly listening to the two of them without saying anything, and brought him in front of Veronica.
“And this child is the one who can ignite that spark.”
Veronica, who had only shown a dejected appearance until now, raised her voice for the first time.
“What?!”
“I have things to do, so have a good time together.”
With those words, Lowe disappeared in an instant, and the two of them could only stare blankly at each other’s faces inside the mansion.
