| Author: Ash | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2944 characters |
| Translator: Mii | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1233 words |
Around the end of the first week in January, the chicks I had been supervising finished all of their best works. The result was… well; it wasn’t bad? I’m not sure, though.
I mean, all of them were inferior by the standards of what I could make… So I should compare them with the ones sold at the workshop, right?
From that point of view, the knives forged by the two apprentices were just barely enough. It wouldn’t sell in this workshop, but they were pretty good considering that apprentices made them.
Master also gave them permission to exhibit it for the show. It should be fine.
The novice could now forge a sample sword of acceptable quality for sale. However, it didn’t mean he could maintain that quality every time, so he should keep giving his efforts like this to improve. He received permission to forge a few other swords. From now on, he should be able to gain a lot of experience.
Then, there’s Ed… he forged a ‘high quality’ sword. ‘High quality’ was pretty high in the ranking of weapon quality.
Ed’s blacksmithing skill went up to level 5 under my supervision. Even so, normal people with [Blacksmith] level 5 normally wouldn’t be able to forge ‘high quality’ swords. This is why talented guys are so annoying…!
The rank of weapon quality for swords was ‘poor’, ‘lowest quality’, ‘low quality’, ‘normal’, ‘good quality’, ‘high quality’, ‘highest quality’, ‘excellent sword’, and ‘supreme sword’. Ed’s sword was the fourth rank from the top.
In addition, you could say that a blacksmith who could forge a sword of the top two ranks was exceptional. If we took those two top ranks out, his sword was rank two. Ugh, this is why talented guys are so…!!
Eh? I forged a named sword in around half a year? No, it’s thanks to the racial traits of a Celestial whose skill levels grow fast, you know? It’s my ability, so this is quite different.
Well, you could say that it’s unfair how I had it easy with that kind of cheat ability, so I couldn’t really brag about it, you know? But hey, I still need to put some effort to actually achieve something, and I was planning to take it seriously, okay? Uh…
Whatever. There’s no need to humble myself too much.
Anyway, a few days after all of them completed their creation, the day of the show arrived.
I didn’t have any reason to go, but Master, Ed, and the others invited me to, so I reluctantly went to see it. Well, I had been watching Ed and the apprentices for some time. Of course, I was a bit curious about the result.
No, um… To be honest, I was pretty curious.
It’s very hard to say this, but… in the latter half of my supervising task, I neglected my own training to watch them… I guess I got too excited?
Ah… this must be how it felt to get affected by others’ fervor… You see, I watched them working on the weapon very seriously. There’s no way I could ignore that, okay? And I honestly gave them advice when they asked for it…
My first impression of Ed was the worst, but I think his current personality was honest. He was annoying when he got a little too persistent, but acting cold when he sincerely looked up to me was a bit too much, you know? …Ahhh, seriously! It’s fine, right!? It’s not like I’m bad-tempered all the time!
By the way, the venue of the show was the arena. The reason they held it in that place was that the exhibited items were basically weapons. There would be a test cut to compare the quality too.
(This chapter is provided to you by Re:Library)
(Please visit Re:Library to show the translators your appreciation and stop supporting the content thief!)
Also, not only blacksmiths but knights, adventurers, and merchants also came to see the show, and they wouldn’t fit unless they held the event in a wide venue.
A merchant would want to find their future supplier, and an adventurer would want to have dibs on a blacksmith who forged a good weapon. They all need each other in their life.
And because of that, blacksmith apprentices might get manipulated by merchants who promised them financial support to be independent. They might also get tied up in mutual aid contracts with little understanding of what they signed. Apparently, that happened a lot. The world sure was harsh, huh…
However, unless a normal person had [Appraisal] skill, it’s hard for them to know which weapon was better. And even if they had that skill, it’s fun to watch blacksmith show their skill with their own eyes. That made this event pretty popular.
But master blacksmiths, veteran adventurers, and merchants with sharp eyes could easily tell that. Yes, it’s as you imagined.
In other words, blacksmiths who had poor relationships with each other would quarrel here, trying to show that they were better. And what’s used to prevent that was the test cut.
However, the sword might break during the test cut. But anyhow, it’s the creation of young novice and apprentices. All of them had a lot of holes to improve.
Therefore, they had to accept the fact that their weapon might break when participating in the test cut.
By the way, all the craftsmen of Arnold’s workshop participated in the test cut. Everyone was very confident… I heard that they had some pride to work at the popular Master Arnold’s workshop. Even if they didn’t do well, they could still compete with the neighboring countries.
Ah, right. At first, the heir of the workshop diagonally opposite to ours was reluctant to participate in the test cut. However, someone told him that no one would respect a blacksmith who said that he was the best yet wouldn’t participate in the test cut, so he unwillingly joined. Is he stupid?
Other than that, I found out they served snacks at the venue. There were also eating spaces near the corner of the venue. However, it’s more like a bonus. I couldn’t even consider it as snacks. I went to peek, and… yeah, I don’t have to force myself to eat it.
After checking the snacks, I wandered around the venue. But I wasn’t alone. Kuro went together with me.
Apparently, Kuro wasn’t much help when they were scraping snow. Her movements were sluggish since she wasn’t good at cold. Cat beastfolk weren’t the strongest among all beastfolks, so she was weak with hard labor. Besides, Kuro was younger and smaller than me.
And it was difficult to bring Norn in this venue since she was big, so having Kuro accompany me was very helpful. Well, Bell came with us, though. Either way, I was grateful for having thicker defense.
As was expected from the place, I couldn’t wear a hood all the time. Others would treat me as a suspicious person.
However, hiding the lower half of my face with a muffler should be fine, so I could manage somehow… By the way, there were recently more and more situations where Norn couldn’t accompany me like this, and Norn hadn’t been very happy with it.
Yeah, let’s treat her with curry next time.
I was looking around the venue while having Kuro stick to me. I saw Vector, Neil, and Gim. I asked Gim why he was here, and he apparently got hired to do the try cut.
| Author: Ash | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 3004 characters |
| Translator: Mii | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1220 words |
No matter how sharp or dull a sword was, having a poor swordsman or warrior try it would make it hard to get good results. That’s why the event organizer requested the help of adventures who had used different weapons to try it out. I see.
In addition, Vector was looking at me with a meaningful smile, but I ignored him. I planned to act dumb about the magic stone! So please, don’t get close to me!
Later on, I met Maricle and Ryuu when I was running away from Vector. Apparently, all the boys were coming. Huh? What happened to the goblin hunting and snow scraping?
They told me they weren’t skipping since they had a good reason. In fact, visitors could buy the weapons exhibited at the show. Moreover, the price was a little cheaper than the market price.
That’s why the boys were aiming to buy Cain and Boman’s weapons at a cheaper price, if possible. And they wanted to get closer to the blacksmith who forged the weapon and purchase weapons and armor from the blacksmith’s workshop. Oh, so they were thinking about that.
Ideally, they wanted to make a mutual aid contract, but… Mutual aid contracts posed a significant risk to the blacksmith, so I think it’s going to be difficult. But the boys also had the same thought, so they would only try if there was a chance. By the way, these were Cain’s ideas.
He used to make a fool of Triela who went to workshops and aimed for mutual aid contracts a long time ago, but now he… Okay, let’s just say that he had grown up. It’s my bad habit to think of the worst of him. I have to fix it a little.
Anyway, I met my acquaintances and had a light talk like that. And before I knew it, the test cut started.
It began with short blades such as knives and daggers, gradually moving to long blades and heavy axes and spears.
The knives and daggers were used to slash and stab a tanned leather skin. The target of the short sword was also the same tanned leather skin. When the adventurers finished testing the short blades, a lot of orc corpses were brought into the venue. Apparently, they would be used as the next level of the test cut competition.
The corpses of these orcs were hunted during the autumn breeding season, and they were frozen and preserved to be used as the test cut’s target for spears, axes, one-handed swords, and two-handed swords. An orc’s corpse minced into pieces… It’s a pretty gory image…
The test cut went smoothly. Some spear blades were broken or chipped. Thankfully, none of the axes got smashed by its own weight.
After that, the next one was the one-handed sword, which most newcomer blacksmiths exhibited. Several listings were high since there were many one-handed sword users, which also made the price higher. The next most exhibited item was a two-handed sword. I feel like the spear was more convenient… but I could see why a sword was more popular.
The sword’s test cut was swinging it vertically to the clavicle of the orc. And they tested the sharpness by checking how many ribs were cut off from the clavicle. It’s one orc per two swords. The number of orc ribs was fifteen to sixteen bones.
Orc bone boasted a thickness and hardness commensurate with its enormous body. Thanks to that, many swords were broken. In other words, many young blacksmiths ended up crying. I’m sorry for your loss.
Vector did all the test cuts for one-handed swords. They especially asked him since he was currently in a high position among the swordsmen in the royal capital.
Not only swordsmanship, but overall strength was also important for an adventurer… So it’s hard to simply call a swordsman strong. Oh well, I’m a rearguard, not a vanguard, so I don’t really get it.
Anyway, the sword’s test cut went smoothly. Ed’s and the other workshop’s heir also finished their test cut. And Vector looked exhausted towards the end. I knew it.
So the result of Ed’s sword was… the blade didn’t break, and the sword got stuck after cutting twelve ribs. This was the best result among all one-handed swords exhibited this time.
(This chapter is provided to you by Re:Library)
(Please visit Re:Library to show the translators your appreciation and stop supporting the content thief!)
How could I say this… I felt proud and a little teary. But that’s a secret, understand?
In addition, the sword of the other workshop’s heir only cut up to the sixth rib. It’s really too bad, but everyone expected it. The sword he forged was… an attribute sword with fire element.
That workshop made a profit by selling mana swords and attribute swords. Now that the heir of that workshop had this kind of result, their reputation might sink down dramatically… The uncles who seemed to have a prominent position in Blacksmith Guild said that.
Ed, the son of Master Arnold whose workshop was regarded as their rival, had gotten an excellent result. That would only burn their reputation even further. Besides, Ed’s sword was a normal one with nothing bestowed to it… That workshop’s heir sure was pitiful.
But I was really proud of myself for guiding him.
After the one-handed sword’s test cut was finished, we moved on to the two-handed sword’s test cut. Another person did it, not Vector. I could see that his arms definitely hurt.
After they completed the test cuts, they traded the swords and other weapons. By this time, adventurers, swordsmen, and knights who came to watch the show had dispersed. Only the merchants remained.
Many people surrounded Master Arnold thanks to his son’s result this time. Of course, many people surrounded Ed too. They will probably get a lot of orders this year… Do your best.
Since they looked busy, I decided to go back a little earlier. I felt like I would get involved in troublesome things if I stayed there…
When I talked to Ed, who came back in the evening, my bad premonition was right. Master Arnold showed off the sword I gave to him before. Give me a break…
Katana, or Hourai sword, was very rare since they were traded at very high prices. For that reason, only a few people used it, and no swordsmen in the exhibition had enough skill to use it. That’s why they didn’t do a test cut for the katana, but everyone was excited.
Master told other people that he got the katana from his connections, just like Vector’s magic sword. Anyway, everyone hoped that Master Arnold’s skill would improve since now that he got a hold of a Katana, he could examine it.
To be honest, I think Master only wanted to brag about getting a rare Hourai sword. Hmm… Well, he lied about the source, so it’s barely safe? Barely out? Which one is it?
According to various other stories I heard from Ed, many teens of the same age surrounded him, curious about his sudden skill improvement.
And Ed answered all of their questions by thanking me… Hey, seriously, give me a break.
Ah… Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the show. But I supervised Ed’s sword, and Master would also boast my Katana no matter what, so it wouldn’t matter whether I go or not. Ugh…
| Author: Ash | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2944 characters |
| Translator: Mii | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1233 words |
Around the end of the first week in January, the chicks I had been supervising finished all of their best works. The result was… well; it wasn’t bad? I’m not sure, though.
I mean, all of them were inferior by the standards of what I could make… So I should compare them with the ones sold at the workshop, right?
From that point of view, the knives forged by the two apprentices were just barely enough. It wouldn’t sell in this workshop, but they were pretty good considering that apprentices made them.
Master also gave them permission to exhibit it for the show. It should be fine.
The novice could now forge a sample sword of acceptable quality for sale. However, it didn’t mean he could maintain that quality every time, so he should keep giving his efforts like this to improve. He received permission to forge a few other swords. From now on, he should be able to gain a lot of experience.
Then, there’s Ed… he forged a ‘high quality’ sword. ‘High quality’ was pretty high in the ranking of weapon quality.
Ed’s blacksmithing skill went up to level 5 under my supervision. Even so, normal people with [Blacksmith] level 5 normally wouldn’t be able to forge ‘high quality’ swords. This is why talented guys are so annoying…!
The rank of weapon quality for swords was ‘poor’, ‘lowest quality’, ‘low quality’, ‘normal’, ‘good quality’, ‘high quality’, ‘highest quality’, ‘excellent sword’, and ‘supreme sword’. Ed’s sword was the fourth rank from the top.
In addition, you could say that a blacksmith who could forge a sword of the top two ranks was exceptional. If we took those two top ranks out, his sword was rank two. Ugh, this is why talented guys are so…!!
Eh? I forged a named sword in around half a year? No, it’s thanks to the racial traits of a Celestial whose skill levels grow fast, you know? It’s my ability, so this is quite different.
Well, you could say that it’s unfair how I had it easy with that kind of cheat ability, so I couldn’t really brag about it, you know? But hey, I still need to put some effort to actually achieve something, and I was planning to take it seriously, okay? Uh…
Whatever. There’s no need to humble myself too much.
Anyway, a few days after all of them completed their creation, the day of the show arrived.
I didn’t have any reason to go, but Master, Ed, and the others invited me to, so I reluctantly went to see it. Well, I had been watching Ed and the apprentices for some time. Of course, I was a bit curious about the result.
No, um… To be honest, I was pretty curious.
It’s very hard to say this, but… in the latter half of my supervising task, I neglected my own training to watch them… I guess I got too excited?
Ah… this must be how it felt to get affected by others’ fervor… You see, I watched them working on the weapon very seriously. There’s no way I could ignore that, okay? And I honestly gave them advice when they asked for it…
My first impression of Ed was the worst, but I think his current personality was honest. He was annoying when he got a little too persistent, but acting cold when he sincerely looked up to me was a bit too much, you know? …Ahhh, seriously! It’s fine, right!? It’s not like I’m bad-tempered all the time!
By the way, the venue of the show was the arena. The reason they held it in that place was that the exhibited items were basically weapons. There would be a test cut to compare the quality too.
(This chapter is provided to you by Re:Library)
(Please visit Re:Library to show the translators your appreciation and stop supporting the content thief!)
Also, not only blacksmiths but knights, adventurers, and merchants also came to see the show, and they wouldn’t fit unless they held the event in a wide venue.
A merchant would want to find their future supplier, and an adventurer would want to have dibs on a blacksmith who forged a good weapon. They all need each other in their life.
And because of that, blacksmith apprentices might get manipulated by merchants who promised them financial support to be independent. They might also get tied up in mutual aid contracts with little understanding of what they signed. Apparently, that happened a lot. The world sure was harsh, huh…
However, unless a normal person had [Appraisal] skill, it’s hard for them to know which weapon was better. And even if they had that skill, it’s fun to watch blacksmith show their skill with their own eyes. That made this event pretty popular.
But master blacksmiths, veteran adventurers, and merchants with sharp eyes could easily tell that. Yes, it’s as you imagined.
In other words, blacksmiths who had poor relationships with each other would quarrel here, trying to show that they were better. And what’s used to prevent that was the test cut.
However, the sword might break during the test cut. But anyhow, it’s the creation of young novice and apprentices. All of them had a lot of holes to improve.
Therefore, they had to accept the fact that their weapon might break when participating in the test cut.
By the way, all the craftsmen of Arnold’s workshop participated in the test cut. Everyone was very confident… I heard that they had some pride to work at the popular Master Arnold’s workshop. Even if they didn’t do well, they could still compete with the neighboring countries.
Ah, right. At first, the heir of the workshop diagonally opposite to ours was reluctant to participate in the test cut. However, someone told him that no one would respect a blacksmith who said that he was the best yet wouldn’t participate in the test cut, so he unwillingly joined. Is he stupid?
Other than that, I found out they served snacks at the venue. There were also eating spaces near the corner of the venue. However, it’s more like a bonus. I couldn’t even consider it as snacks. I went to peek, and… yeah, I don’t have to force myself to eat it.
After checking the snacks, I wandered around the venue. But I wasn’t alone. Kuro went together with me.
Apparently, Kuro wasn’t much help when they were scraping snow. Her movements were sluggish since she wasn’t good at cold. Cat beastfolk weren’t the strongest among all beastfolks, so she was weak with hard labor. Besides, Kuro was younger and smaller than me.
And it was difficult to bring Norn in this venue since she was big, so having Kuro accompany me was very helpful. Well, Bell came with us, though. Either way, I was grateful for having thicker defense.
As was expected from the place, I couldn’t wear a hood all the time. Others would treat me as a suspicious person.
However, hiding the lower half of my face with a muffler should be fine, so I could manage somehow… By the way, there were recently more and more situations where Norn couldn’t accompany me like this, and Norn hadn’t been very happy with it.
Yeah, let’s treat her with curry next time.
I was looking around the venue while having Kuro stick to me. I saw Vector, Neil, and Gim. I asked Gim why he was here, and he apparently got hired to do the try cut.
| Author: Ash | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 3004 characters |
| Translator: Mii | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1220 words |
No matter how sharp or dull a sword was, having a poor swordsman or warrior try it would make it hard to get good results. That’s why the event organizer requested the help of adventures who had used different weapons to try it out. I see.
In addition, Vector was looking at me with a meaningful smile, but I ignored him. I planned to act dumb about the magic stone! So please, don’t get close to me!
Later on, I met Maricle and Ryuu when I was running away from Vector. Apparently, all the boys were coming. Huh? What happened to the goblin hunting and snow scraping?
They told me they weren’t skipping since they had a good reason. In fact, visitors could buy the weapons exhibited at the show. Moreover, the price was a little cheaper than the market price.
That’s why the boys were aiming to buy Cain and Boman’s weapons at a cheaper price, if possible. And they wanted to get closer to the blacksmith who forged the weapon and purchase weapons and armor from the blacksmith’s workshop. Oh, so they were thinking about that.
Ideally, they wanted to make a mutual aid contract, but… Mutual aid contracts posed a significant risk to the blacksmith, so I think it’s going to be difficult. But the boys also had the same thought, so they would only try if there was a chance. By the way, these were Cain’s ideas.
He used to make a fool of Triela who went to workshops and aimed for mutual aid contracts a long time ago, but now he… Okay, let’s just say that he had grown up. It’s my bad habit to think of the worst of him. I have to fix it a little.
Anyway, I met my acquaintances and had a light talk like that. And before I knew it, the test cut started.
It began with short blades such as knives and daggers, gradually moving to long blades and heavy axes and spears.
The knives and daggers were used to slash and stab a tanned leather skin. The target of the short sword was also the same tanned leather skin. When the adventurers finished testing the short blades, a lot of orc corpses were brought into the venue. Apparently, they would be used as the next level of the test cut competition.
The corpses of these orcs were hunted during the autumn breeding season, and they were frozen and preserved to be used as the test cut’s target for spears, axes, one-handed swords, and two-handed swords. An orc’s corpse minced into pieces… It’s a pretty gory image…
The test cut went smoothly. Some spear blades were broken or chipped. Thankfully, none of the axes got smashed by its own weight.
After that, the next one was the one-handed sword, which most newcomer blacksmiths exhibited. Several listings were high since there were many one-handed sword users, which also made the price higher. The next most exhibited item was a two-handed sword. I feel like the spear was more convenient… but I could see why a sword was more popular.
The sword’s test cut was swinging it vertically to the clavicle of the orc. And they tested the sharpness by checking how many ribs were cut off from the clavicle. It’s one orc per two swords. The number of orc ribs was fifteen to sixteen bones.
Orc bone boasted a thickness and hardness commensurate with its enormous body. Thanks to that, many swords were broken. In other words, many young blacksmiths ended up crying. I’m sorry for your loss.
Vector did all the test cuts for one-handed swords. They especially asked him since he was currently in a high position among the swordsmen in the royal capital.
Not only swordsmanship, but overall strength was also important for an adventurer… So it’s hard to simply call a swordsman strong. Oh well, I’m a rearguard, not a vanguard, so I don’t really get it.
Anyway, the sword’s test cut went smoothly. Ed’s and the other workshop’s heir also finished their test cut. And Vector looked exhausted towards the end. I knew it.
So the result of Ed’s sword was… the blade didn’t break, and the sword got stuck after cutting twelve ribs. This was the best result among all one-handed swords exhibited this time.
(This chapter is provided to you by Re:Library)
(Please visit Re:Library to show the translators your appreciation and stop supporting the content thief!)
How could I say this… I felt proud and a little teary. But that’s a secret, understand?
In addition, the sword of the other workshop’s heir only cut up to the sixth rib. It’s really too bad, but everyone expected it. The sword he forged was… an attribute sword with fire element.
That workshop made a profit by selling mana swords and attribute swords. Now that the heir of that workshop had this kind of result, their reputation might sink down dramatically… The uncles who seemed to have a prominent position in Blacksmith Guild said that.
Ed, the son of Master Arnold whose workshop was regarded as their rival, had gotten an excellent result. That would only burn their reputation even further. Besides, Ed’s sword was a normal one with nothing bestowed to it… That workshop’s heir sure was pitiful.
But I was really proud of myself for guiding him.
After the one-handed sword’s test cut was finished, we moved on to the two-handed sword’s test cut. Another person did it, not Vector. I could see that his arms definitely hurt.
After they completed the test cuts, they traded the swords and other weapons. By this time, adventurers, swordsmen, and knights who came to watch the show had dispersed. Only the merchants remained.
Many people surrounded Master Arnold thanks to his son’s result this time. Of course, many people surrounded Ed too. They will probably get a lot of orders this year… Do your best.
Since they looked busy, I decided to go back a little earlier. I felt like I would get involved in troublesome things if I stayed there…
When I talked to Ed, who came back in the evening, my bad premonition was right. Master Arnold showed off the sword I gave to him before. Give me a break…
Katana, or Hourai sword, was very rare since they were traded at very high prices. For that reason, only a few people used it, and no swordsmen in the exhibition had enough skill to use it. That’s why they didn’t do a test cut for the katana, but everyone was excited.
Master told other people that he got the katana from his connections, just like Vector’s magic sword. Anyway, everyone hoped that Master Arnold’s skill would improve since now that he got a hold of a Katana, he could examine it.
To be honest, I think Master only wanted to brag about getting a rare Hourai sword. Hmm… Well, he lied about the source, so it’s barely safe? Barely out? Which one is it?
According to various other stories I heard from Ed, many teens of the same age surrounded him, curious about his sudden skill improvement.
And Ed answered all of their questions by thanking me… Hey, seriously, give me a break.
Ah… Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the show. But I supervised Ed’s sword, and Master would also boast my Katana no matter what, so it wouldn’t matter whether I go or not. Ugh…
