Read Novel Full Chapter 19 – Steel Making Fever Time
Here’s one more, enjoy
Chapter 19 – Steel Making Fever Time
“I’m tired.”
“Good grief, you sloppy… well, you have worked hard today.”
As soon as I arrived home, I sat down on the rattan couch, and Sylphy gave me a pat on the back. Yeah, Sylphy is a good master who praises me when I work hard.
“I’m also hungry.”
“All right, all right.”
Sylphy also sat down on the couch as I did and handed me a package in her hand. It’s a big leaf package. When I opened the package, which was surprisingly heavy, I found the familiar thin bread inside. It was still slightly warm.
“Is it bread?”
“Looks like it. Maybe there’s something in it? It’s a little heavy.”
“Now that you mention it, it is indeed a little heavy.”
Sylphy immediately took a bite of the bread, and I took a bite as well.
“Hmm, it’s sweet and sour at the same time, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. This is a fruit that has been boiled down with honey. The flavor is probably forest apple.”
“I see, an apple jam bread, huh.”
I wondered if it was a good choice to have jam bread for dinner. But the bread itself was substantial and satisfying. It would be good for the stomach. Personally, I’d like to eat meat, but even in the Elven villages, meat is considered a luxury item. I think the refugees can’t afford it.
“Now, where should we start?”
I finished eating something that looked like jam bread and took a break to drink the tea that Sylphy had made for me. It seems that this kind of discussion after dinner will become a habit in the future.
“Well, yeah. How about you, do you think you can get along with those people?”
“I don’t know. I think I’ve shown Melty the usefulness of my power enough, and Isla… she will be fine as long as she doesn’t lose interest in my power. I’m not sure about Qubi. I don’t know what he’s thinking in his mind, though he seems friendly at first glance. Danan is difficult. As long as I’m sincere with Sylphy, he seems to be okay.”
“Yeah, it looks like you’re pretty much on the same page as I am. As for Qubi, that’s just the way he is. I don’t know much about his origins, but according to him, he used to hang out with humans when he was in the Merinard Kingdom. I think he’s probably one of the least hostile to humans among the refugees.”
“I wish that was the case… Another thing that bothered me, or rather made me reconsider, was whether or not it was okay to give everyone a crossbow. It’s a powerful weapon. If someone with harmful intentions towards Sylphy or me suddenly went crazy and started shooting at us, it would be a big problem. I think it’s better only to let people you trust use it.”
“It’s true what Kosuke said, but… you still don’t believe them, do you?”
“I’ve been surrounded once and nearly tortured to death, you know? I think that the people’s gaze was much more relaxed today, but I think that the first time they did that was their true intention. This is not something that can be solved overnight. The only thing I can do is to treat them steadily and make them accept me as an individual.”
“Acting like a clown, like today?”
I shrugged my shoulders at Sylphy’s words. It is true that I consciously tried to play the role of a pathetic and comical slave today. I’m not sure how effective this will be.
“I guess I’ll just have to be used for a while, work diligently, or show that I exist by impressing them. I’ll go ahead and increase the production of crossbows, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide how many you want to provide.”
“That sounds like a lot of responsibility.”
Sylphy smiled, which was unusual. This is all I can say. Sylphy is in a position to lead the people of the Merinard Kingdom, and she is also my master. I’m sorry to impose on her, but I want her to take that much responsibility.
“I’ll do what I can to help. Whenever I can, I’ll try to get in touch with the refugees and try to make at least one ally.”
“Please do that. I’ll try to help as much as I can,” said Sylphy.
☆★☆
After we finished the conversation, I went out to the backyard. I reserved a large amount of charcoal for firing bricks in the simple furnace.
At the same time, I reserved a lot of mechanical parts and iron arrowheads for crafting at the workbench. It will consume many of the iron ingots I have, but it’s better to mass-produce the intermediate materials for the crossbow and crossbow bolt as soon as possible. If I reserve it for crafting, I can make it while I’m sleeping. When using a simple furnace, it is necessary to be careful of fire, though.
“It’s a very useful ability, by the way. If you order it in advance, it will work on its own, right?”
“That’s true. Well, I’m all for convenience, but… ah.”
I suddenly looked at the simple furnace and remembered.
・Simple furnace upgrade――: animal hide x 5, bricks x 50, whetstone x 3, mechanical parts x 10.
“Yeah, I thought I could upgrade the furnace. Sylphy, can I use some materials to try the upgrade?”
“What’s an upgrade?”
“Hmm, it means to improve it to a higher-level facility. Maybe it will shorten the amount of time it takes to make a single item, or make a lot of items at once, or make things that couldn’t be made before.”
“Hou, do it then.”
“Okay.”
I canceled my fuel crafting reservation and dismantled a few brick blocks in my inventory to secure bricks. The mechanical parts are being made right now on the workbench, and the whetstone is in the inventory. I can upgrade it right away.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
As soon as I got the materials together and performed the upgrade, the simple furnace lit up with a blinding light.
“Whoa! It’s so bright!”
“What is it?”
When the light subsided, the shabby simple furnace had been upgraded to a rather magnificent blacksmithing facility. The furnace for refining metal has been enlarged by at least two sizes, and a separate furnace for heating and processing metal has been added. The anvil was also a size larger, and there was also a sturdy-looking table for processing sheet metal and a foot-operated grinder.
“It’s quite a sight.”
“I’m surprised, too. I wonder what kind of functions it has.”
I checked it out, and it seemed to be able to make everything that a simple furnace could make. It can even make steel leaf springs. Though the crafting time is long. It also seems to be able to make large blades and armor.
“Hou, what do you mean by large blades and armor?”
“The simple furnace could only make small blades, axes, and knives, but it seems it can also make a variety of swords, spears, leather, and metal armor. Would you like to try to make some of them?”
“No, iron is precious. If you’re going to make something, it’s better to use it properly, not something you don’t know whether you’ll use or not. Danan used to be good with a long-handled ax. Can you make one?”
“A battle ax?”
The only thing that looks like that in the list of weapons shown is the… Halberd. There’s also a battle-ax, but it’s not exactly what I had in mind. I think the one that fits that huge body is something like a Bardiche.
A bardiche is a large ax that specializes in slashing but can also be used for thrusting. Would it be easier to call it a crescent moon ax or a half-moon ax? The theory is that it is so powerful that it can cut a human body in two.
When I was thinking about that, a Bardiche was added to the list of possible production.
“Eh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, I was thinking about a weapon that wasn’t on the list, and it showed up on the list of weapons that can be made.”
“…So, you’re saying that you increased the number of things you can make on…?”
“Yeah, it looks like that.”
“Can you even do that…?”
“It seems to be possible. It’s strange, though.”
The meaning of this ability is still unclear after all this time. Could it be that some achievement has been earned and some feature has been added? I’ll look into it later.
Anyway, now that it’s been added, I’m going to craft a Bardiche.
What else is new in the feature… Repair, huh? In the menu of the blacksmithing facility, there is an option called “Repair.” I wondered what it was, and when I selected it, a list of equipment that could be repaired was displayed.
・Rusty sword -> Iron Sword
・Rusty Spear -> Iron Spear
・Rusty Dagger -> Iron Dagger
・Rusty Hatchet -> Iron Hatchet
・Rusty Shield -> Iron Shield
・Rusty Armor -> Iron Armor
・Rusty Leg Armor -> Iron Leg Armor
・Rusty Gauntlet -> Iron Gauntlet
・Cursed Rusty Sword -> Cursed Iron Sword ※You will be cursed!
・Cursed Rusty Spear -> Cursed Iron Spear ※You will be cursed!
・Cursed Rusty Helmet -> Cursed Iron Helmet ※You will be cursed!
・Cursed Rusty Armor -> Cursed Iron Armor ※You will be cursed!
It seems that it is possible to make a decaying and rusty weapon into something that can be used properly. Wow, this is amazing!
“No, it’s not that amazing! What does it mean, it’s cursed?”
“What’s wrong?”
Sylphy, perhaps startled by my sudden exclamation, became reluctant. To be honest, I’m sorry.
“No, there were some rusty weapons and armor in Sylphy’s storeroom, right? It seems that this blacksmithing facility can be used to repair them to a decent state, but… the warning says that repairing cursed weapons will result in a curse being applied.”
“Oh… Well, you know what they say about the untouchable, don’t do it. It’s not good.”
“Yeah, I will. I’ll try to repair the ones that aren’t cursed.”
The cost of repairing it seems to be fuel and a small amount of iron, so I will schedule the repair after the Bardiche. What about the cursed one, you say? I won’t touch it. I’ll never touch it.
“If you refuse to give them crossbows, we’ll need alternative weapons. Can you make some spears instead?”
“Maybe then. But with all the things we’re going to make, don’t we also have to go out and get iron?”
“Certainly.”
I made a pickaxe, so I think I’ll be able to collect more than yesterday. I’m going to have to go into that cold river again. I’m not excited about that. But I’ve used up all my animal skins and stuff, and I want Sylphy to hunt for me.
“Actually, we’ve run out of animal skins.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to hunt too. Do you need the skins right away?”
“No, I’m not in a hurry.”
It’s not something I’ll need right away. I need it to make armor. Yeah, but I’m going to use it to upgrade the workbench. I’ll need a leather strap. Does Sylphy have any leather straps?
“Do you have any leather straps? I need two of them.”
“I have some leather straps.”
“That would be great. I’m gonna use it to upgrade my workbench.”
“Fumu, that’s fine.”
As I watched Sylphy walk back into the house, I made another reservation for charcoal crafting at the blacksmithing facility. Looking at it carefully, I see that I can make glass as well. Glass, huh… Glass containers are a must if I have to do any chemical processing. The material is sand. It seems I can use the sand that I collected from the river and separated it from the iron sand. I have quite a lot of it. I’ll make some glass too, I guess.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks, this is very helpful.”
I went into the work cabin and rechecked the upgrade of the workbench.
・Workbench upgrade――: mechanical parts x 10, steel leaf spring x 5, leather strap x 2.
I don’t have a problem with the mechanical parts and the leather strap. I just need to make a steel leaf spring, and I’ll be good to go. After checking, I returned to the backyard to check on the progress of the blacksmithing facility. Oh, the Bardiche is ready. It looks like it’s currently repairing the rusty weapon. I’ll also make an appointment to craft a steel leaf spring.
“Danan’s weapon is ready.”
“Oh, let me see.”
I took out the completed Bardiche from my inventory as Sylphy told me to. Whoa, it’s pretty solid.
“It has an unusual shape, but it looks sharp.”
“It’s a weapon called Bardiche. It is used to slash with the weight and sharpness of the blade. There was a story about it cutting a man in half, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
“It’s heavy. The blade seems to be sharp, and if a user like Danan wields it, it might actually be true.”
With that said, Sylphy is swinging the Bardiche around in a slightly larger area. Isn’t she using it somehow well? Maybe you can use it too, Sylphy.
“It’s a little heavy for me. For a short time, it’s fine, but wielding it for a long time is beyond my physical strength.”
“I see. I think a scimitar would be more suitable for Sylphy.”
“Huh? What kind of weapon is that?”
“It’s called a curved sword or a curved saber. It has a warped blade like this. It is a sword suitable for slashing.”
I drew a rough picture of a scimitar on the ground with a wooden stick from my inventory. Yes, the shape is sufficiently conveyed.
“Hmm, it’s an elegant sword, but from what I’ve seen, it’s hard to use against Gizma or soldiers wearing iron armor.”
“Oh, I suppose so. It seems that weapons that emphasize penetration and striking power rather than cutting power would be better for such situations. If you want to defeat them with scimitars, you have to aim at the joints, neck, and other thin parts of the armor.”
“Hmm. But it is a weapon that Kosuke has chosen for me. I really want to try it out, so please make it someday.”
“Sure.”
This is how I spent the day watching the blacksmithing facility’s production status and discussing swords with Sylphy until the end of the night. As a result, I found out that Sylphy prefers knives, machetes, and short swords rather than long ones. One day, I’ll make her a Kukri. I bet she’ll like it.