Chapter 71: Workmanship is important

“There is almost no blade chips or distortion, and I think it will be okay to be used for the next six months, but still, let me fix it.”

While having a handshake, I talk to Helen.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Then please wait a moment while I repair it.”

“Hey”

“Hn?”

Helen timidly calls out to me. I thought she’s a manly one, but it seems that it may not be the case.

“Can I take a look while you are fixing it?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

I don’t think she can understand it just by looking at me work but, that’s not something I can refuse. It may be necessary to refrain from using fire because it is dangerous (in some case, it is close to 1000°C). Anyways, to sharpen and fix this kind of distortion, I will not use fire. On the contrary, it’s scary to think that the sense of quenching or tempering with fire will not happen.

“Alright! Thank you!”

She hits my back with great vigor. As I thought, she’s a manly one. The word “Amazon” suits her well.

“Boss, can I take a look too?”

“Yes, of course”

Rike also wanted to take a look, so I agreed. Rather, in Rike’s case, it is better for her to take a good look at it. Maybe she knows that too, so she asked me.

First, let’s remove the distortion. That said, it’s not really that distorted, so I just put it on the anvil and hit it. I can see where and how strong should I hit it with the power of the cheat, so I hit carefully to restore the distorted part. Different from the sound during the usual blacksmithing work, a soft and clear sound echoed out.

After finishing the first one, I handed the sword to Helen.

“Take a look at it first.”

“Alright”

After Helen receives the sword, she swings it a litter further away. It must be because of her sword prowess that she does not feel nervous at all.

“Oh-, Whoa-!?”

Helen shouted in amazement.

“Eizou, this is amazing! It felt similar to the first one!”

“You are amazing too as you can feel that even if I just corrected that degree of distortion.”

This is my honest opinion. A skilled craftsman’s fingers can detect that’s something amiss even if its a few microns, and she’s amazing as she felt the same thing.

“So are you okay with it?”

“Of course! It looks like a brand new one!”

When I take a look at the sword again after she returned it to me, I noticed that the leather wrapping on the hilt had been rewrapped several times, indicating that it had been used for a long time just like she had said.

“Would you like me to fix the leather wrapping on this one as well?”

“No, it’s fine. My hand is used to it you see. I wrapped it like that for that purpose.”

“Alright, I’ll just fix the blade.”

“Yeah”

I carefully fixed the distortion on the other one as well. The clear hammer sound echoes again in the quiet smithy. Both Rike and Helen held their breath as they watch closely as I work, it’s as if they thought that their breathing sounds would interfere with my work.

“Hey, Helen”

“Hmm?”

“Do you enjoy watching this?”

“Yeah. When I look at it, I feel like I’m a craftsman too.”

“No, I am a blacksmith for sure.”

Well, I’m a blacksmith. A new blacksmith I should say.

“I know that, but my father was a craftsman and I saw him make various things you see.”

“Heh-, what kind of craftsman is he?”

“He’s a saddler. I had to leave home for various reasons.”

“A saddler huh. That sounds interesting too.”

I feel that it’s also a profession. Horseshoes and nails are the domain of blacksmiths, so I might be able to do something like that too. While talking about such things, I gradually removed the distortions. When all the distortions were corrected, Helen murmured.

“Eizou won’t ask why I left home huh.”

“Uhm, it’s not that I’m not interested about it. It’s just that I generally don’t ask about a women’s past.”

“Like you don’t want to hear their terrible experience huh.”

“Perhaps. Well, how you survive in the past, I can ask you about that much. Alright, I’m done here.”

I handed the one that I just finished repairing to Helen for her to check its condition. But there seems to be no problem, so now, I just have to sharpen it.

The next step is to sharpen the blade ―that said, it is all thanks to the benefits of the cheat. I now start to sharpen the blade. Both Rike and Helen are looking at it with a serious look. Eventually, I stopped when the blade chips disappeared.

“This should be fine for a while.”

I handed her the finished piece. As Helen was checking the finish item, the *Naruko in the workshop made some sound.

“Ah? Is it that time already?”

“What’s with the naruko?”

“When the door to the house opens, this one will ring.”

“Then why don’t you open this door?”

“The naruko on the house rings.”

“Heh-, that’s interesting!”

“Well it’s convenient because sometimes I need to leave one of the doors open, just like now. Perhaps my companions are back.”

As expected, Samia and Diana came to the workshop not long after.

“I’m home. Oh, a customer?”

“Welcome home. Yeah. The one who asked for a custom made sword before.”

Helen bows to Diana.

“Oh, isn’t this Helen? How are you doing?”

“Thanks, I’m doing fine.”

She knows Samia because she met her when she came here before. She’s a friendly one, so it’s easy to greet her.

“Helen? That “lightning sword” Helen you said before?”

“Hn? Yeah. That’s right, but…?”

Diana asked me, but Helen answered. Diana’s eyes light up when she hears that.

“Helen”

“Hn? What is it Eizou?”

“Instead of paying for the repair, with Diana… would you like to practice with the lady over there?”

“Oh? Will that be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll finish the other one in the meantime.”

“Okay, leave it to me!”

“Go easy on her though.”

I throw the wooden sword I always use to Helen. Helen received it brilliantly and she then went out with Diana. Diana was also visibly excited. Is Helen that famous? The information about the famous people on “this world” is not in my installed knowledge.

As I watched them go, I picked up the sword I haven’t sharpened yet and went back to my work.

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

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