Chapter 55: Failure and Success

Looking inside the smithy, fire bed, bellows, hammer and other items are available. In addition, that big hammer is eye-catching. Looking at it, the shaft extends outward at the top. It’s the one that’s operated by a water wheel. The installed knowledge tells me how to make it work, I think I can do it somehow.

The fire bed is not a magical one so I need to ignite it myself. After putting charcoal in the fire bed, I take some bark and wheat straw that will be used for ignition and sheet metal and hammer to be placed on the anvil.

After placing the sheet metal on the anvil, I hit the end with a hammer while turning it over. After doing this for a while, the edges of the sheet metal turns reddish. When I put the wheat straw on the bark of the tree and touched it with the red-hot sheet metal, the wheat straw ignites. I took it to the fire bed in a hurry, place it around the charcoal laid on it and then operate the bellows until the charcoal ignites.

I operate the bellows for a while and when it starts burning, I add some charcoal, operate the bellows and repeat such process. This area is the part that has been magically done in our workshop. All I have to do is throw in the charcoal, ignite it with magic, and send some wind. If there’s a person who can use magic better than me, he should be able to do the same thing on this fire bed. Anyway it can’t be helped because mine is only the minimum. And perhaps such person wouldn’t be a blacksmith either.

The fire was now enough and the temperature has risen so I shoved the sheet metal that seems to be the best here and heat it. When I finished heating, the first step is to stretch it. I placed the heated sheet metal on the anvil and hit it with a hammer. I try to make the parts as uniform as possible but it feels a little different from the usual. Is it because the hammer is different? I wish I had brought the one from the workshop.

Since this is a “custom model”, I hit it while concentrating and stretch it. Eventually, it became the length of a longsword. From here on, it’s time to shape it. By repeated heating and hammering, the shape was finally made. The completed shape is a longsword with a straight blade. It is simple and sturdy.

“Oh, is it done?”

I don’t know where he was until now when Camilo suddenly called out to me.

“Yeah, the shape is done.”

While replying to him, I put the sword in the fire bed and raise the temperature. It’s the preparation for quenching part. While manipulating the bellows, I determine the perfect temperature. Eventually, the sword was heated to the temperature I expected, I then took it out of the fire bed and quickly cooled it with water. When the temperature has dropped sufficiently, I lightly set it on the fire bed. Then warm it up and let it cool down. After polishing and sharpening, it should be completed…

“Hmmm”

I was puzzled.

“What’s wrong? You’re not able to do it?”

Camilo is worried because of my expression.

“No. I made it but this is not the expected result…”

That’s right. This sword doesn’t have that kind of glitter when I made the “custom model”. This is good as a “high-end model”. To do it in such a short time, my “cheat” may be sufficient but this one is not good enough to be made into the next generation’s heirloom.

 “It looks good enough though.”

“No. This isn’t it.”

The firewood here were also placed in the same way as our workshop so I placed a wheat straw bundle on top of it then I slashed it with the sword I just forged. The wheat straw bundle was quickly sliced. The blade digs into the firewood.

“Whoa, isn’t it really sharp?”

“No… this isn’t it…”

Camilo was thrilled. But naturally, the sharpness of my custom model one isn’t like this. This is just a high-end model. I take out my own knife and cut the wheat straw and firewood with it. While sliding down, the wheat straw bundle broke along with the firewood. As expected, it is this sharpness if it is a proper custom model.

“H-Hey, just now…”

“Hn? Oh, if I take it seriously, I can make something that cuts like this.”

“I-Is that so…?”

Camilo made a complex look for a moment. I see, it might be that Helen really just showed him the appearance, not its sharpness.

“Don’t speak about this too much.”

“I know. I mean, they won’t believe me even if I say this.”

“Well, that’s true.”

It’s because aside from the wheat straw bundle, the knife even cuts the firewood.

“I’ll give it a try again.”

“What about this one?”

“If you want it, I’ll give it to you. It’s cheap.”

“As usual, you’re a greedy blacksmith.”

Camilo laughed as he said that.

After that, I made about two knives, but all of them end up being high-end models. The sun has already set and Camilo isn’t here either.

I compared the high-end model I made here with my custom model one for self-defense. As expected, something like its luster is completely different. High-end models also have some luster on it but custom-made models even seem to glimmer on their own. Somehow it’s not shining much now compared to when I made it previously.

What’s the difference…? How can I make this shine with the materials here?

“No. That’s not really the case.”

I realized that. If it doesn’t work with the materials here, I can use a material that’s not here as well.

After making the fire on the fire bed stronger, I put the self-defense knife in it and heat it. I take out the red-hot knife and cut it into about one-third. I alternately place a small sheet metal and the cut knife part on top of a sheet metal, wrap it in a thin damp linen cloth, attach the ashes of the burnt wheat straw on it then put it in the fire bed to heat it. When I took it out, it looks red and lumpy. I made full use of the cheat and hit it with the hammer so that the sheet metal here and the steel from the cut knife stick together.

I repeat this process several times, and when it’s done, I hit it with a hammer to stretch it. However, I haven’t stretched it to the desired length yet. When it stretched to some extent, I made a cut in the middle, fold it back and put it together again. This work was repeated about 15 times.

The resulting lump is heated again, and this time, it stretched to the desired length. At this point, I tap it to erase the unevenness so that the material’s texture becomes uniform as much as possible. This time, when I hit it for the first time, I did not feel off.

It was now stretched to the desired length. There’s no unevenness or distortion as well. From here, I start to form its shape. I then heat and hammer it repeatedly. I’m looking seriously so that the unevenness and distortion that I erased will not appear again.

The shape that was eventually created was not like the first one that I made, the blade part draws a graceful curve. I wasn’t attentive about it when I hit the first one but when it comes to a heirloom, it’s better to be elaborate in its design. And with the cheat, the quenching, tempering, polishing and sharpening part were all done perfectly.

I took a closer look at the newly made sword. This luster is definitely a custom model. I took a wheat straw bundle and firewood, arranged them, then I lightly swing down the longsword I just made.

The next moment, the blade of the longsword touched the ground and while slipping down, the wheat straw and the firewood were scattered on both sides.

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

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