Arbarest District west of Fontana Territory.
This is a land where rivers flow from several noble domains and become even larger rivers.
There used to be a large lake with a water fortress that was said to be invincible, and it was generally regarded as a hard-line noble domain.
However, the aristocracy defeated and surrendered to the Fontana family, which ruled the neighboring aristocracy last year, but soon after the death of the new lord, he was forced to claim compensation and fell into a situation of depression.
And now the former Arbarest realm has been cut off by Fontana's Ikes and Barres.
The Ikes, led by Ghana, dominate the territory centered on the Paramedian fortress, and the Barres, in Vargas, dominate the former territorial capital.
And further afield in the Knight Baratheon realm, the Nelson wetlands, the untouched land of mankind, were spreading.
The river that flows into the Arbarest area leads to this Nelson wetland.
If that were the case, it would have led to the sea if it had followed the flow of water, but no one had achieved it.
Because I'm bound to be attacked by monsters and never to return.
There seemed to be many troubling monsters because of the special location of the wetlands, and the Arbarest family, the ruler of the former land, had given up the development of the wetlands.
But it's not like House Arbarest didn't get anything.
Rare materials for magic swords were found in this Nelson wetland.
A thunderbolt sword material that House Arbarest prides itself on.
By acquiring it, which was not available on other lands, the Arbarest family gained the advantage of driving other nobles back and the ability to attack against many.
"So, what kind of monster gets those materials, General?
"It's a mud monster, Vargas. Muddy monsters in the wetlands. The nucleus that moves the mud doll becomes the material of the thunderbolt sword."
"A monster with a body made of mud... There's such a thing in the world."
"He seems to be here. They say it's a really nasty opponent. Mud bodies cannot be properly scratched simply by striking them normally. Moreover, even if you manage to scrape off a part of your body, it can be regenerated with other mud from the wetlands. In addition, it's a muddy body, so you won't run out of strength. When they moved by boat along the river and entered the wetlands, they were attacked by the mud doll, and the old Arbarest family gave up exploring further."
"I see. That's a pretty nasty opponent to think about. It's almost ineffective."
"Oh, yeah. So the Arbarest family continued to fight the Mud Doll while losing a lot of soldiers over a long period of rule, and eventually had to give up. Fortunately, the beast's nucleus could be used as a magic weapon."
"Um, what was that? I thought you were talking about Magic Steel, the material of Thundering Sword. So, how do we take down that mud doll?
"According to the Arbarest family's records, if we can remove the nuclear magic steel somewhere in the body of the mud doll, it will stop moving. It looks like he was using a big hammer to get mud dolls out of the wetlands somewhere that's easy to fight."
"... how about that? The other person's body is mud, right? Hitting the mud with a hammer sounds pretty tough."
"I think so, too. Therefore, the number of thunderbolt swords made in the long history is limited. But I'm going to try something else. Make it a little easier."
I rendezvoused with Vargas and took him straight to the Nelson Wetlands.
Ask Valkyrie to pull a warm box of sleigh with a flame ore fireplace and talk to him as he goes to his destination.
Based on what Ragna told me about the Mud Doll, a lifeless monster that appears in the Nelson Wetlands, I was thinking of a different way to defeat the Mud Doll than the Arrests.
"Another way. Speaking of which, the general heard the story a long time ago, when he was fighting the Menmen. That means I've been waiting for you ever since I heard that story. I mean, didn't you bother waiting for this cold winter?
"That's right, Vargas. The Nelson Wetlands have also become a world of snow and ice during this period. I think that's the key to defeating the Mud Doll."
Apparently, they figured out what I was after.
As Vargas said, I waited until winter to come all the way here to get Magic Steel.
Sometimes I was busy with other things, but I didn't dare.
And suddenly Valkyrie's box sleigh stopped moving.
I felt the sudden stop, and I jumped out at once.
Then, as expected, there was a monster made of mud.
You can see a mud doll in the shape of a large two-legged walker with a mixture of wood branches and algae in the mud.
He seems to be about 3 meters tall, but I hear there are mud dolls of various sizes.
The bigger the steel, the smaller it seems to be, the less targeted it is given the effort to knock it down.
But as the first opponent, it would be enough.
If I look at a giant named Tanatos from time to time, I think so because I am no longer surprised, but I think it is scary enough for ordinary people.
It's very cold around here, and the more runny your nose gets, the more it freezes.
Observe the ground.
There is snow, but everything under it is frozen.
Originally, this area might have been a swamp if it weren't for winter.
But now there's solid ice, and moving up is no problem at all.
I shifted my gaze from the ground to the mud doll in front of me and started running towards you.
"Burn, Ice Flame Sword"
Then I cut a monster made of mud with a sword.
Normally, it would be pointless.
If it's just a sword, the sword just goes into the body of the mud and does nothing to damage the opponent.
Even if they cut off their arms, legs, etc., they quickly regenerate the surrounding mud.
But that didn't happen.
The mud doll burned up.
When I heard that my body was a monster made of mud, I immediately noticed that the mud used mud from the wetlands.
In other words, the body of the mud doll is a core piece of magic steel, but what constitutes its apparent body is the mud in the wetlands.
If so, what happens in winter?
It seems that the Arbarest family only fought mud dolls in the summer, which is easy to move and fight, but they probably won't hibernate in winter.
So, what happens to the mud in your body during the winter?
Maybe because it's so cold, the mud in the mud doll's body is also frozen.
And that was brilliant.
The winter mud doll's body was made of frozen mud.
It is also strange that the mud moves in a frozen state, but it is a mystery in itself that the mud moves when you say it.
And, normally, it may be harder to deal with the opponent than mud, but if my magical sword called the Ice Flame Sword is the opponent, the story will change completely.
After all, this magic sword burns the ice without asking questions.
The ice that made up the body burned, causing the mud doll to burn completely.
I mean, it was pretty hot, or something like a big honeydew with cracks like pottery came out.
I tried tapping the burning clay doll with my sword again.
Cracks and tingling grew from the cracked area and broke into pieces.
Then, a slightly yellow lump of metal was found inside the body.
"I did it. It worked better than I could have imagined, Vargas. This is the magic steel that became the material of the thunder sword."
"Whoa, that's amazing. I wonder how easy it is to defeat an ice flame sword."
"Well, it's only for winter. That's why I'll leave you to it, Vargas. Collect the Magic Steel."
"Well, am I going to do it, General?
"Well, this is your territory, too. Nothing I have to do, and if there's an ice flame sword, there's nothing wrong with Balgas doing it. But be careful. If you burn the ice in the lower marsh, you'll probably drown, freeze or burn to death."
"Ah, that's right. Okay, I'll be careful."
"All right, I got it. For starters, I'll handle Magic Steel. I will pay according to the amount collected. Thank you for reporting."
The Mud Doll extermination with the Ice Flame Sword ended quickly.
If this didn't work, I thought I'd have to ask Tanatos, but apparently I don't need it.
I will pick up the magic steel I have and put a little magic into it.
Then the electricity burst out.
After all, this has the properties of emitting electricity based on magic.
Thus, I succeeded in obtaining a substance that replaces magic with electricity.