Musashi.

He was Japan’s top-ranked user.

Even if he had suffered a crushing defeat in the war against Atlas, that did not change the fact that he still stood at the summit of Japan’s users.

Musashi, too, had once dreamed of founding a kingdom.

But after recently checking the minimum conditions required to become a kingdom, he had decided to give up on becoming king himself.

Instead,

he had chosen to be satisfied with creating the king they would raise, and with the title of duke beneath that king.

And the guild members who had been with him for so long—the ninjas—would surely be treated well enough too.

Of course, Musashi was also one of those who saw NPCs as nothing more than artificial intelligence.

When Duke Lukael had said he would hang Lady Bellin’s head up for display, Musashi had applauded inwardly.

That was why he had taken on the role of slaughtering the academy students.

Two minutes will be enough.

They were only academy students, after all.

And there was information on academy principals as well.

Most of them were retired mages or swordsmen, and in their old age their levels had usually fallen below what they had once been in their prime.

But the situation now left Musashi shaken.

[Yaran: ...Is something like this even possible? Fifty of us were neutralized by a single spellbook page?]

[Musashi: I don’t understand it either. My status ailment resistance isn’t working at all.]

Musashi’s resistance to status ailments was on an absurd level.

And yet resistance itself was impossible.

Even the information that should have been floating above that principal’s head was hidden.

The children were the same.

Then came those words about the first practical exercise.

“It is anatomy.”

“Woooow!”

“Anatomy!”

“Hehehehe, then does that mean those things are frogs, teacher?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Musashi and the ninjas were bewildered.

Anatomy.

It meant cutting something open cleanly with a blade, observing the organs inside, and examining how the tendons and internal parts connected.

One of the children had even called them frogs.

Musashi and the others pictured themselves in that role and shuddered.

Then—

“Wait, they’re wooden dolls. How is that anatomy, teacher?”

“Heh heh, now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Musashi and the ninjas relaxed.

But then...

“It’s disassembly.”

“...”

“...”

What the hell was wrong with these kids?

And then Musashi and the ninjas realized it.

The children truly believed they were just training dolls.

[Yaran: The moment we burst in and the children screamed, the man called the principal tore open a spellbook and went, “Ta-da!” Then the kids got excited.]

[Musashi: .......]

Then Principal Arte said,

“In truth, it’s neither anatomy nor disassembly. This is the testing time for all the spellbooks you’ve been making so far. Each of you, summon a weapon from the spellbook you created as homework and attack!”

Weapons from spellbooks.

Musashi and the ninjas laughed inwardly.

[Yaran: I think that principal wants to protect the children’s innocence.]

[Musashi: Works out better for us, then. This spellbook must have a time limit anyway. And whatever weapons those little brats summon, it’ll be things like toy daggers, toy bows, toy shuriken...]

The children immediately tore open their spellbooks.

Then they reached into the shimmering space inside.

And what appeared in one child’s hand—

was a massive greatsword as large as the child’s own body, its blade gleaming brilliantly.

A few other children pulled out daggers.

Some pulled out longswords.

[Pis: In what world does that look like a toy dagger? That thing looks like it could kill an elephant in one hit.]

[Musashi: .......]

Arte said,

“As you’ve learned, the power of spellbooks is generally like the magic of an assassin—usable only once. The weapons you’re holding now are also magic produced by spellbooks, so after one swing they, too, will scatter and disappear. Now then, let our academy’s youngest go first!”

At Arte’s words, Musashi and the ninjas imagined the academy’s youngest.

Eight years old.

Tiny and precious-looking.

A shy little child, hesitating and fidgeting.

And then suddenly, one of the boys sitting among the children rose to his feet.

He was nearly two meters tall.

And he was the one who had summoned the largest greatsword of them all.

“This year’s eight-year-old! Our baby!”

[Musashi: What the fuck part of that looks eight years old!?]

The boy, nearly two meters tall, gripped the greatsword tightly in both hands.

But his manner really was that of the youngest child.

With an innocent face, he looked at Arte and asked,

“Teacher, should I cut off the neck first?”

“It’s your first practical lesson, so do whatever feels comfortable.”

But Musashi and the ninjas felt relieved.

No matter how flashy they looked, they were still just spellbooks made by children.

Even if they had some power, there was a limit.

Then the youngest swung the greatsword with all his strength in a huge horizontal slash at the line of ninjas.

SLAAAAASH—!

[Rare Grade spellbook.]

In that instant, three ninjas took the impact at their necks.

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Guild member Roden’s HP falls below 92%.]

[Guild member Esem’s HP falls below 94%.]

A chill ran down Musashi’s spine.

Ninjas had low defense.

And they were completely helpless right now.

Even so, there was no way three ninjas should take damage that severe from a single blow.

Which meant that both the spellbook itself and the child who had made it were far beyond ordinary.

Musashi realized he had been far too complacent.

In a hurry, he activated Ninja King’s Eye.

Even if something was hidden, Ninja King’s Eye could reveal the information anyway.

Originally, each NPC’s displayed name appeared in a different color.

Ordinary NPCs were white.

Named NPCs were blue.

Those on the path to Legend were red.

And those above even that were purple.

Among young children, the existence of someone fated to become a Named NPC was as rare as a star plucked from the sky.

But the colors he was seeing now—

All 300 of them are blue...?

The minimum level of a Named NPC was commander.

A thousand-man commander alone counted as a Named NPC.

Which meant—

These 300 start at the level of a thousand-man commander at minimum, and some of them will become vice-captains, some captains, and some the sword saint of an entire territory?

And more than that—

“I think it’s because of the special lectures from the blacksmiths, but the greatsword that came out of this spellbook is amazing!”

These children—

for years, under Hyunsoo’s direction, they had also been receiving special ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) lectures from blacksmiths.

Which meant their understanding of weapons and armor had surpassed all common sense.

“......”

Musashi felt a massive fear.

What was that fear?

Once these three hundred-odd children grew up, they would be enough to support an entire kingdom by themselves.

And yet all of them were gathered here in the still-small Balas Territory.

What exactly is this place called Atlas?

Musashi had never truly understood Atlas.

He had dismissed it as something flashy on the outside and hollow within.

Then Principal Arte said,

“Let’s all try at once.”

Arte felt pressed for time.

And through that, Musashi realized something.

That very first notification he had heard.

[Legendary Spellbook. Create the Form You Desire.]

A Legendary spellbook.

Which meant that if this man had created it, the principal standing before him was a Legend.

Why...?

Musashi asked the question over and over in his head.

Why!!!?

Why was there, at his side, someone at the highest realm humanity could presently reach—a Legend?

Weapons poured out from three hundred weapon spellbooks.

Three hundred swords, spears, arrows, hammers, mallets, maces—

all forged by the children.

Hundreds of them crashed down on Musashi and the ninjas all at once.

KWHAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—!!!

As the rain of weapons struck them, Musashi’s HP and the ninjas’ HP plummeted.

And because they were spellbooks—

[They vanish.]

The weapons began to dissolve away.

But then—

[The Sage displays something special.]

At Sage Arte’s fingertips, they stopped vanishing and struck a second time.

KWHAAAAAAANG—!

At Musashi, who was himself disappearing, and at the guild members.

—If you come again, next time I will exterminate you by bringing all my knowledge to bear.

A hidden voice transmission reached him.

And Arte had deliberately hidden both his own information and the children’s.

Sage Arte’s information-concealment ability was special even among such abilities.

He could display his information however he wanted.

As long as it was true.

[Principal Arte.]

Musashi’s eyes trembled when he saw those two words.

Purple.

The highest realm among NPCs.

A... a principal who’s a Legend...?

And Musashi realized one more shocking fact.

They had not managed to attack even once.

*****

[Demigod Arreya takes an interest in you.]

[Class Advancement Quest has been created.]

[Class Advancement Quest: Demigod Arreya]

Grade: SSS

Restriction: One who has been summoned by Demigod Arreya

Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Affinity with Demigod Arreya decreases

Description: Demigod Arreya calls for you. Go meet her.

That was the quest Hyeji saw after firing Massacre Bow twice.

Hyeji had come to feel something close to reverence for Hyunsoo, the one who had given her both this possibility and this astonishing bow.

“I feel like I could do anything for you. The whole world is definitely going to want to interview me now, right? Should I say Hyunsoo is a god? Or should I say I’ll stay with you for the rest of my life?”

Whatever she said, the impact would be enormous.

She was confident she could make the world’s media focus on Hyunsoo more than on herself.

Hyunsoo answered,

“Just pay me in cash.”

“...Ah, ah......”

Hyeji thought that really was the clearest way to repay him.

And she understood value too.

There was already one precedent.

The White Tiger Sword was worth 40 billion won. Of course, the White Tiger Sword had the limitation of being the strongest only against Evil.

Then what about the Great Bow of Demon-Slaying?

The value of an artifact rose when it could be resold.

This one, in truth, could not be resold.

Which meant that, in practical terms, it was worth less than the White Tiger Sword.

And Hyunsoo knew that too.

When Hyeji hesitated and could not bring herself to name a price, Hyunsoo decided to determine its value himself.

25 billion won.

But Hyeji beat him to it.

“...I’ll give you 30 billion won.”

That was 5 billion won above its ordinary value.

Hyunsoo was about to refuse, but then he smiled faintly.

Because he could see from her expression that if she failed to pay it, she would carry the weight of it in her heart for the rest of her life.

Only—

“Can I pay in installments until I’m a hundred?”

“...What? Is this a whole-life insurance policy?”

“In return, I’ll protect you forever, Hyunsoo.”

“...Accepted.”

No matter how much of an Olympic star Hyeji was, her assets were only around 5 billion won.

But she was convinced the money she would earn from now on would be astronomical.

Then Hyeji checked the guild chat.

[Nell: They really came prepared. We can’t let the walls be breached.]

[Bark: There are way too many of them. This is basically human-wave tactics.]

[Resil: Nell, do we know how many there are right now? It looks like over 300,000.]

[Nell: It looks well over 300,000. I don’t think all of their forces have assembled yet, and we also have to factor in the ones sent to the other territories.]

“...The situation isn’t good, Hyunsoo.”

Just as Lukael had said, they had only crossed a single mountain so far.

“I can defend this place by myself now, but...”

Even if Hyunsoo went there alone, catching this many people and changing the flow of the battlefield did not seem like an easy task.

Just like Balas Territory, it won’t be only Atlas. The User Kingdom Union will be in the newly acquired territories too.

There were things Hyunsoo could do alone, and things he could not.

Of course, just as Hyunsoo was not worried about the academy, there were more strong people in his territory than outsiders realized.

But the Union’s the same. There’s no telling what kind of preparations they made before coming. What would Kabel have thought?

Then Hyunsoo frowned.

If Kabel were here, they’d know who came with the User Kingdom Union. I would’ve asked Kabel for advice too.

That thought made him realize just how pathetic he was being.

The lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens rested on him.

He could not afford to depend on someone else.

Hyunsoo closed his eyes and thought.

Then something flashed through his mind.

I am a blacksmith.

And so he prepared to fight like one.

When he opened his eyes, he gave an order through guild chat.

[Hyunsoo: Bring me every artifact that can maximize the power of a single arrow.]