Episode 98

“See you then.”

Lord Goral said that and walked away.

I walked around the garden for a while and headed to the smithy, where I found Bertie.

She noticed me and waved energetically.

“Faik. Perfect timing.”

“What’s up?”

Bertie looked like she’d just woken up; her bed hair was still there and she was still in her pajamas.

She was holding a box in her arms.

“This, this. I thought I’d give this to you.”

Saying that, Bertie handed the box to me.

What is it? When I checked inside, there were several pieces of Magic Ore.

…They were all Eirea Magic Ore.

But in the back… there was a piece of Magic Ore that hid magical power that set it apart from the others.

You could tell without being told.

I swallowed involuntarily and looked at Bertie.

“This… could it be—”

It didn’t look all that different from the other Magic Ore.

However, an immense magic power could be felt from it.

Bertie grinned.

“That’s Esrea Magic Ore. Combine it with the Eirea Magic Ore and make a good sword for me.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

Even as I replied, my gaze was fixed on the Magic Ore.

Every piece of Magic Ore in the box was first-rate.

“And this. Scales from a Horned Dragon. Combine these with it.”

Bertie plopped a fist-sized scale onto the box.

I touched it and was surprised.

I could almost feel a breath of life, a pulse.

It felt as if it still had life in it at this very moment.

“…It’s pretty tough. I’ll have to break this, huh?”

“Yes. Even among Horned Dragons, that individual is quite rare. It’s probably incomparable to the Horned Dragons we’ve seen so far. A sword made from that material will surely be of national-treasure caliber.”

“The materials are enough… it’s all down to my skill now.”

“Yes, I’m counting on you.”

“Alright.”

Looking at the materials like this… the blood of a smith in me stirred.

I put the Horned Dragon materials back in the box and headed to the smithy.

“I’ll look into a few things. Bertie, could you go back to the mansion first?”

“No, I want to see too. Can I watch?”

“…Fine, but I probably won’t be able to chat much since I’ll be concentrating, okay?”

“Watching is fun enough, so that’s fine.”

Bertie smiled happily and followed me.

If she said that, it was fine.

I headed to the smithy with Bertie.

Once inside the workshop, I began preparing to smith.

Preparation for now meant the vessel for melting and mixing the Magic Ore.

Then I took the Magic Ore out of the box.

The Eirea Magic Ore was fine.

…If there’s a problem, it’s definitely the Esrea Magic Ore.

I picked it up and inspected it closely again.

What clearly set it apart from the Magic Ore I’d seen so far was the magic power sealed within.

Compared to the previous Magic Ore… its weight was different. As if overwhelmed by that force, my hand trembled.

Faced with this magic that seemed to intimidate my whole body, all I could do was swallow and fall silent.

“I’ve heard that it’ll take a considerable amount of heat to process it.”

I nodded in response to Bertie, who was watching me inquisitively.

“…Seems that way.”

Heat wasn’t the only issue.

Esrea Magic Ore was much more delicate than I had imagined.

If I applied heat recklessly, I wouldn’t be able to draw out 100% of the power held by the Esrea Magic Ore.

Can I process this correctly?

I swallowed at the realization that I’d never experienced this before.

But at the same time, a feeling welled up in me… a smith’s desire to try processing it no matter what.

If I could do this smithing, my skill would surely improve another step.

“Think you can do it?”

Bertie leaned forward and peered at my face.

“…I can’t say for sure yet, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

I couldn’t be certain.

I needed to tell her that honestly.

The feeling inside me now was that of a challenger.

I didn’t know if I could do it, but I wanted to try. A childish wish like that.

“Yes, I’m asking you to do it.”

Bertie smiled sweetly and agreed to my selfish request.

“Yeah, I’ll try various approaches.”

“No need to rush. Slowly and surely.”

“I know. Also, I have one favor to ask… could you leave one of the swords you don’t use?”

I asked because she owned two swords.

“So you want to make it to suit me?”

“Right. Mind showing it to me?”

“Sure, that’s fine. This one was made with Cirea Magic Ore, but if you could make something similar to this I’d appreciate it.”

I gripped the sword she handed me.

…At a glance, it was clear the sword had been crafted carefully.

If there were a school for smiths, I’d want to show this as a textbook example to the students.

Not only the sword itself, but the Enchantment was efficient and neat.

“Was this made by a court smith?”

“Seems so. It was in a shop somewhere, so I bought it.”

“…I see.”

I’ll use this as a reference and make a sword with the Esrea Magic Ore.

That said, I can’t make it using exactly the same process.

Time isn’t unlimited, so this request is quite difficult.

If I take too long, it could hurt my reputation as a smith.

I nodded and continued to observe the Esrea Magic Ore.

What I noticed while observing the Esrea Magic Ore was, indeed, its delicacy.

For this Magic Ore, forcibly heating and melting the whole thing like with the other Magic Ore is absolutely forbidden.

For this, I’ll have to practice using other Magic Ore as stand-ins for Esrea Magic Ore.

I have to determine for myself the optimal amount of heat to melt Esrea Magic Ore.

This is extremely difficult.

That’s because all my smithing so far has been based on experience.

Until now, I’ve been copying the smithing others did and making it my own.

However, I have no experience with Esrea Magic Ore. I’ve never seen it before, so everything is trial and error.

To tell the truth, I was not good at creating original pieces.

…I think craftsmen can be broadly divided into two types.

One is the so-called talent type that creates completely original things.

The other is the effort type that imitates others and then adds their own touch.

I’m completely the latter.

I take finished swords as references and make them my skill. I can’t create something from zero, but by referencing an existing ‘one,’ I can produce another pattern.

In any world, the ones called geniuses are, after all, the talent type who can turn zero into one.