Antgar and Souta stared hard at the katana. The shape was the same as Japanese Katana, the blade pattern, which was called Hamon in Japan, also visible on the surface of the blade, but the colors were different depending on the position. The blade’s edge was green, the center was yellow, and on its root, It had a red and mottled hue to it.
Wrinkles appeared between those two’s eyebrows.
「This is……」
「…A failure, I guess」
With the two of them sharing that opinion, their shoulder drooped.
「I’m back.」
When Dina returned from shopping and put down her luggage, she looked out into the workshop because she didn’t hear any work noise.
「Ah, welcome back.」
「Welcome back……」
Due to their heavy tones, Dina peeked at what the two were staring at.
「Is this… a katana?」
Looking at the curiously colored weapon, Dina asked. Souta and Antgar were unable to nod their heads in response to the question.
「I don’t know what to say.」
「It’s in the correct shape, but there is a part of me who don’t want to admit that…」
Souta and Antgar looked doubtful.
「Right, it’s, err…… very unique, indeed!」
Dina managed to squeeze out a compliment, but her forced compliment didn’t change the expression of the two.
「That’s what I thought, it’s so bad that’s the only thing you can say about it.」
Souta crossed his arms and stared at the weapon while cocking his head.
「Maybe the dragon iron and the metal were incompatible when combined…… In any case, guess this is a miss.」
Antgar also crossed his arms while talking his thought aloud.
「Should we end it here with this one today and continue with new combination tomorrow?」
When he looked outside, the sun was starting to set.
Other than the metal we used today, there are others that Antgar hasn’t eliminated as incompatible, if we use them… They both shared this thought.
「Right, we will continue tomorrow. I will try to prepare the dragon iron again, the extraction method may be insufficient. I would appreciate it if you can leave me some ore.」
「Alright, tell me if you need more.」
While replying, Souta took out more ores and put them in the vacant space.
「Ou, thanks. That’s enough. As for tomorrow…… come again around the same time. I may be sleeping again, but don’t mind me and just wake me up.」
「Alright, well, I guess we’ll head back to the inn for tomorrow.」
Souta called out to Dina, trying to not disturb Antgar who was about to start working again, to which Dina nodded.
「Wait a minute. I went shopping a while ago, so I’ll prepare dinner for Antgar-san.」
After saying that, she went into the kitchen.
「Well then, let’s talk a little about tomorrow while waiting for Dina to return.」
「That’s right… Which combination should we do tomorrow? I did mention something about compatibility, but I hope we can find out what’s causing this……」
Souta thought about Antgar’s question for a while.
「The metal we use for the combination today might be a little low in magic conductivity. Since the dragon iron has high magic conductivity, there is a chance the inconsistency was created there. After all, I put in a considerable amount of magic power, the metal might be warped because it couldn’t withstand it.」
Antgar nodded enthusiastically at Souta’s conjecture.
「That makes sense, now that you mention it. That metal might be a little too weak for the amount of magic power……. The shape was completed only because the magic affinity of dragon iron is so high, but on its own, it would have exploded. In that case, this one is……」
Antgar went into deep thought while he was mumbling. At that point, Souta had stopped existing in his consciousness.
「Welp. If you can come up with something from this, we’ll be one step closer to completion.」
Seeing this, Souta quietly left the workshop so as not to disturb Antgar. Then, he ran into Dina who wanted to return to the workshop.
「Hm? Souta-san, are you going somewhere?」
「No, he’s deep into his thought, so I’m thinking we should go home for today…… Can we just put that on a table nearby?」
What Dina brought was easy-to-eat dishes. Souta placed skewers he took out from dimensional storage on the plate, then he put the plate on the empty table in the workshop. Meanwhile, Antgar was mulling over his thoughts.
「Okay, let’s go back. See you tomorrow.」
「See you tomorrow~」
They kept their voice hushed, they knew their voice couldn’t be heard, but they still said their farewell and then left the workshop.
It was already dark when they went out, but there were still residents watching the workshop.
「Are you guys the one motivate him?」
「Thank you!」
The residents were gathering around Souta and Dina.
「W-what is it? Who are you guys?」
Some people even asked for a handshake, Souta and Dina were overwhelmed.
「We’re from the neighborhood workshops. We were worried when we saw Antgar lose to the pressure from the excellence of his father and ancestor and move away from blacksmithing. But today, we heard the sound of hammer again…… in other words, he has regained his motivation, right?」
「Yes, after all, the only people coming out from his workshop today are just you guys.」
The gathered residents nodded at each other’s opinions and looked at Souta and Dina’s faces.
「Well… that’s correct, but we’re not doing anything special. I just asked him to create my weapon.」
「Still, I’m sure this will bring him back to the path of blacksmithing. Thank you.」
Souta’s hand was taken again. He looked troubled, but at the same time, he was pleased that there were so many people worried about Antgar.
「Well, he will keep doing this for a while…… at the very least, he will keep at it tomorrow. If he gets results from this, it’ll boost his confidence, won’t it?」
Hearing Souta, the residents were confident it would be alright.
「Good to hear, that should take off some weight from him. He loses his confidence because of how great his dad was, but his dad always said his son is more talented than himself.」
One person who was close to Antgar’s father said happily like Antgar was his own child.
「Antgar-san, you are loved by everyone…..」
Dina’s words made the residents smile.
「You know, love….」
「Ahh」
Everyone had the same feelings and nodded while looking at each other’s faces.
「Like, the dumber the child, the cuter?」
When one person said so, the other people nodded and agreed.
Seeing them, Souta and Dina realized once again how loved Antgar was, they smiled as they watched the residents’ interaction.
Antgar and Souta stared hard at the katana. The shape was the same as Japanese Katana, the blade pattern, which was called Hamon in Japan, also visible on the surface of the blade, but the colors were different depending on the position. The blade’s edge was green, the center was yellow, and on its root, It had a red and mottled hue to it.
Wrinkles appeared between those two’s eyebrows.
「This is……」
「…A failure, I guess」
With the two of them sharing that opinion, their shoulder drooped.
「I’m back.」
When Dina returned from shopping and put down her luggage, she looked out into the workshop because she didn’t hear any work noise.
「Ah, welcome back.」
「Welcome back……」
Due to their heavy tones, Dina peeked at what the two were staring at.
「Is this… a katana?」
Looking at the curiously colored weapon, Dina asked. Souta and Antgar were unable to nod their heads in response to the question.
「I don’t know what to say.」
「It’s in the correct shape, but there is a part of me who don’t want to admit that…」
Souta and Antgar looked doubtful.
「Right, it’s, err…… very unique, indeed!」
Dina managed to squeeze out a compliment, but her forced compliment didn’t change the expression of the two.
「That’s what I thought, it’s so bad that’s the only thing you can say about it.」
Souta crossed his arms and stared at the weapon while cocking his head.
「Maybe the dragon iron and the metal were incompatible when combined…… In any case, guess this is a miss.」
Antgar also crossed his arms while talking his thought aloud.
「Should we end it here with this one today and continue with new combination tomorrow?」
When he looked outside, the sun was starting to set.
Other than the metal we used today, there are others that Antgar hasn’t eliminated as incompatible, if we use them… They both shared this thought.
「Right, we will continue tomorrow. I will try to prepare the dragon iron again, the extraction method may be insufficient. I would appreciate it if you can leave me some ore.」
「Alright, tell me if you need more.」
While replying, Souta took out more ores and put them in the vacant space.
「Ou, thanks. That’s enough. As for tomorrow…… come again around the same time. I may be sleeping again, but don’t mind me and just wake me up.」
「Alright, well, I guess we’ll head back to the inn for tomorrow.」
Souta called out to Dina, trying to not disturb Antgar who was about to start working again, to which Dina nodded.
「Wait a minute. I went shopping a while ago, so I’ll prepare dinner for Antgar-san.」
After saying that, she went into the kitchen.
「Well then, let’s talk a little about tomorrow while waiting for Dina to return.」
「That’s right… Which combination should we do tomorrow? I did mention something about compatibility, but I hope we can find out what’s causing this……」
Souta thought about Antgar’s question for a while.
「The metal we use for the combination today might be a little low in magic conductivity. Since the dragon iron has high magic conductivity, there is a chance the inconsistency was created there. After all, I put in a considerable amount of magic power, the metal might be warped because it couldn’t withstand it.」
Antgar nodded enthusiastically at Souta’s conjecture.
「That makes sense, now that you mention it. That metal might be a little too weak for the amount of magic power……. The shape was completed only because the magic affinity of dragon iron is so high, but on its own, it would have exploded. In that case, this one is……」
Antgar went into deep thought while he was mumbling. At that point, Souta had stopped existing in his consciousness.
「Welp. If you can come up with something from this, we’ll be one step closer to completion.」
Seeing this, Souta quietly left the workshop so as not to disturb Antgar. Then, he ran into Dina who wanted to return to the workshop.
「Hm? Souta-san, are you going somewhere?」
「No, he’s deep into his thought, so I’m thinking we should go home for today…… Can we just put that on a table nearby?」
What Dina brought was easy-to-eat dishes. Souta placed skewers he took out from dimensional storage on the plate, then he put the plate on the empty table in the workshop. Meanwhile, Antgar was mulling over his thoughts.
「Okay, let’s go back. See you tomorrow.」
「See you tomorrow~」
They kept their voice hushed, they knew their voice couldn’t be heard, but they still said their farewell and then left the workshop.
It was already dark when they went out, but there were still residents watching the workshop.
「Are you guys the one motivate him?」
「Thank you!」
The residents were gathering around Souta and Dina.
「W-what is it? Who are you guys?」
Some people even asked for a handshake, Souta and Dina were overwhelmed.
「We’re from the neighborhood workshops. We were worried when we saw Antgar lose to the pressure from the excellence of his father and ancestor and move away from blacksmithing. But today, we heard the sound of hammer again…… in other words, he has regained his motivation, right?」
「Yes, after all, the only people coming out from his workshop today are just you guys.」
The gathered residents nodded at each other’s opinions and looked at Souta and Dina’s faces.
「Well… that’s correct, but we’re not doing anything special. I just asked him to create my weapon.」
「Still, I’m sure this will bring him back to the path of blacksmithing. Thank you.」
Souta’s hand was taken again. He looked troubled, but at the same time, he was pleased that there were so many people worried about Antgar.
「Well, he will keep doing this for a while…… at the very least, he will keep at it tomorrow. If he gets results from this, it’ll boost his confidence, won’t it?」
Hearing Souta, the residents were confident it would be alright.
「Good to hear, that should take off some weight from him. He loses his confidence because of how great his dad was, but his dad always said his son is more talented than himself.」
One person who was close to Antgar’s father said happily like Antgar was his own child.
「Antgar-san, you are loved by everyone…..」
Dina’s words made the residents smile.
「You know, love….」
「Ahh」
Everyone had the same feelings and nodded while looking at each other’s faces.
「Like, the dumber the child, the cuter?」
When one person said so, the other people nodded and agreed.
Seeing them, Souta and Dina realized once again how loved Antgar was, they smiled as they watched the residents’ interaction.
