Chapter 48: Second Disciple

“Please make me your disciple!”

Diana asks me while still in dogeza. Uhm, what’s going on here? I took a quick glance at the other two and both Samia and Rike are grinning. Just you wait!

“…If it’s after work, we could practice once a day.”

“Is that okay!?”

“Yeah. However, I did not really learn proper swordsmanship and I’m not good at teaching so you could only watch and learn during our practice.”

“I understand, thank you very much!”

Diana gets high-spirited. Hmmm, if she is this frolic even for something like this, she might be such a tomboy at her parents’ house. Marius-shi’s hardship in his childhood comes to my mind. Anyway, this one adds to my daily routine. It won’t take much time so it’s fine but if it takes time for her to learn, I’ll reconsider it.

 “Ah, in addition…”

“What is it?”

“I forbid you to call me master or something that is respectful.”

If I don’t say that first it will end up like how Rike address me.

“OK, got it.”

This was how I had a second disciple (though not as a blacksmith).

The next day. Aside from having a disciple, I still have to hit some sword today. Until today, we will continue to make short swords and longswords. We have the same personnel and working arrangement as yesterday. Samia and Diana are in charge in casting and deburring then Rike and I will finish it.

Today I still worked on the high-end model ones and Rike on the general model ones. We made about the same number as yesterday.

After that, it’s training time. Even though I still have the swords we used yesterday, it’s pretty dangerous to train with an iron sword so I made two wooden swords by processing a wood with a knife that “cuts well”. Though I described it as such, there’s a cheat at work here (because it is a production type weapon), so it is a little interesting that I can make something as it is even if I made it quickly.

Just like yesterday, we made a salute with our swords. Contrary to yesterday, I decided to deal with Diana’s attacks today. Diana’s attack is sharp and fast, probably because she is learning proper swordsmanship.

I have no intention of saying that my own style is extremely powerful though. I think that proper swordsmanship is measured when you reached the point where you risk your life. But then of course, my own style that does not accumulate that experience can only be used by me. Regardless of the extent of the talent, those with proper training of swordsmanship and martial arts can become far stronger.

I can overwhelm Diana during our training because it is one-on-one. However in an extreme case, if there are 100 people vs. me, I can’t win no matter how I think about it. I can’t overcome that as I can’t get 100 people to practice with.

However, there is something that Diana can do. I think it can be strengthened in addition to the proper swordsmanship. Hopefully Diana could also develop. Well, I don’t know if Diana will get there but I’ll go with her as much as possible.

Perhaps because of yesterday’s match, Diana right now is trying various things. Like on how can she disrupt my stance and on how can she divert my attention from where I really need to put my attention to. So far, that attempt hasn’t worked because my cheats have detected it well, but I don’t think that it’s a wrong move.

The problem is that I have no idea on how strong Diana is in this world. I don’t really understand my own strength either. If it’s about me being a blacksmith, there is a finished product for it and I can tell how great it is by trying out the new swords and with my installed knowledge. But if there are only few references, I won’t know if Diana is as strong as the soldiers around here or if her strength is comparable to that of a rare swordsman. Based from the feeling I got from my cheat and installed knowledge, it’s better than average, but it’s not clear and it’s hard to grasp how much training should be done. I wonder if this would be the only issue in the future…

We already had our training for a little longer than half an hour so I’ll end it there for today.

“How is it? Did you learn something?”

“Uhm. Not much for today. I tried a lot of things though. Ah, but I learned what to do and not to do when returning your attacks, so can I say that I was able to grasp that?”

 “I see… Well, let’s do it slowly.”

When I said that, Diana looked blank for a moment, but soon,

“Yes!”

She replied with a smile. We’ll make knives the next day onwards. Samia was now able to do it halfway, but we also have Diana here so I asked them to collect fruits and the likes instead. Well, those two should be fine. Just in case, I told them to come back immediately if there are any sign of people.

Me and Rike made sheet metals by stretching and shaping it. The efficiency is a little lower, but the quality is naturally maintained. Since we don’t have assistants, I’ll do the high-end model from the very beginning, same with Rike for the general model ones.

In addition, at this time, through observation, I have Rike learn the places where I hit to make the high-end model ones. I’ll help her by letting her steal the technique.

“How is it?”

“Hmm, I still don’t feel like catching up.”

“Well, that’s because I’m a master already so you won’t catch up in just a month or so.”

I say that with a laugh. Rike pouted a little.

“But I want to improve quickly.”

“Then, will Rike help me tomorrow?”

“Is that ok?”

“Of course. If not, it wouldn’t it make sense that you’re my disciple right?”

“Well, that’s right…”

Rike says so with a troubled face then laughed.

“As I have said before, I think you can go a long way. I can’t say be patient but, you can grow without rushing it out.”

When I said that, Rike replies with,

“Yes Boss!”

This time, she returned a radiant smile.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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