99-Episode 99: Sharpness that makes a difference

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The next morning, we had come to the Adventurer's Guild's demolition site to continue our demolition class.

''Today, we're going to have you continue with the demolition of the Green Dragon, as we did yesterday. And starting with today's class, you will be asked to dismantle the dragon's materials using the dismantling knives we have on the dismantling table.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the knives on the demolition table beside them.

'You're going to use these?　........that's pretty light.

The demolitionists, who had picked up the knife, were surprised at how light it was.

'And it's thin. Can you really dismantle a dragon with a knife like this?

The demolitionists, who suspiciously picked up knives, thrust their knives into the green dragon's skin.

Then.........

Whoa!　What the hell?　That knife just felt like it was sticking right in me!

It's not a stab, it's more like an almost indestructible feeling, like you're sinking into a stew!

The unexpected sharpness of the knife caused the dismantling place to be filled with confusion.

''This is the reason why the cuts in the skin of the dragons that you and Leune-san dismantled yesterday were different.

This is it?

What do you mean by that?　Don't tell me it's because the knife you're holding over there is sharper than our demolition knife?

'And the demolitionist points to Mr. Leune, who is dismantling elsewhere,' he says.

''Yes, that's right. The difference in the cut of the dragon's skin that Leune-san and you all dismantled was simply due to the difference in tools.''

'What?　Seriously!

It seems that he didn't expect his joking line to be correct, and the demolitionist has a surprised look on his face.

''Leune-san, can you come over for a moment?

'What?　Oh, yes!

I ask Leune and a nearby demolitionist to come over.

''Could I borrow the knife you two dismantled the dragon's skin with yesterday?

'What?　Yes, sir.

Oh, yeah.

I take the dismantling knife from the two men and cut the skin of the green dragon on the table.

And everyone watches.

"...is this...?

'The cut from the lady's knife is there and clean, but the cut from the mock guy's knife is tattered.

You don't think it's really the difference between getting it and getting it?

Seeing the cut of the Green Dragon's skin, the demolitionists come looking at us in confusion.

''As you can see, I can confirm that Leune's knife has a better cut. This time, I cut the skin randomly without looking into the eyes of the skin, so the smoothness of the cut is simply the difference between the blades.

'Seriously...'

The demolitionists look at Leune's knife in a daze.

''But we're demolitionists in our own right!　Just because the quality of the tools is a little better, does it make that much difference in the way of cutting?

Yes, it's true that if the tools are not that different, it won't make that much of a difference.

The advantage of the tools is easily blown away by the skill that the demolitionists have developed.

But.........

The materials and method of making your knife are made with a much higher level of skill than the demolition knives you are using," said Lune. There is a difference between a stone knife and a mithril knife.

""That much?

The dismantlers look at Leune-san in surprise.

''Ah, um.......it's true that my knife is an heirloom that has been handed down from our ancestors and it's no exaggeration to say that it's an heirloom, but can you tell that just by looking at it?''

'What do you mean?' asks Leune with a surprised look on his face.

''Yes, you can easily tell by looking at the blade. The blade of this knife........no, that part is a personal secret, so it's not something I can talk about without permission. Anyway, it's a better product than your demolition knives.

Yeah, it's not particularly great material, but still, it's rude to blabber on about other people's belongings.

''Wow, amazing, I didn't know you knew that much just by looking at it, what a connoisseur's eye... after all, you are... haha!

Leune, who was about to say something, hurriedly closes her mouth.

''Is something wrong, Leune-san?''

No, no, anything!

Now, to get back to the point, for those reasons, I've come to the conclusion that the reason you couldn't cleanly cut the Green Dragon's hide is simply because of the tool itself.

I pick up a knife identical to the one I handed out to everyone.

The materials and processing techniques are very important for a tool. A tool made of low quality material and poor technique can only produce poorly made products. You can compensate for this with technology, but there is a limit to how much you can compensate with your skills if the quality of the material is low. For example, no matter how beautifully you carve a wooden sword, you can't cut a piece of iron.

But my brother could cut you with a wooden sword.

Yeah, I can go.

""You're gonna cut it?

When I answered Jairo-kun's question, I got a general tsking from everyone.

''Well, that's just using a technique to cut, and you can't cut it by hitting it with a normal wooden sword, right?

No, I'm more interested in the idea of being able to cut through a piece of steel with a wooden sword.

Me too.

Well, that's not part of this course, so let's leave it at that.

That's what it's all about when they put it there!

Let's put those voices aside and now we're continuing the course.

'It's pretty important to have the right tools in place. This is a rather serious matter, and there are many people who believe in technology who despise the quality of tools. This is because there are many people who believe unconditionally that if you master the technique, you can do a good job with low quality tools.

There are quite a few people like that.

They say that convenient tools are a spoilsport.

But that's a big mistake. What's important is the balance between the quality of the technology and the tools. If the tools are excellent, you will be swept away by the tools, and if your arms are excellent, the tools will not be able to keep up with your arms and they will break down. If you are good at one or the other, the true value of the tool will not be realized.

Actually, that's part of the reason I can't give it my all.

The materials available are not very good, so I'm worried that I'll accidentally break them.

It's a good idea to have an extension of body strengthening magic to increase the strength of the body, so my current equipment is sufficient to fight the Golden Dragon.

It's a good thing I got the materials for the Golden Dragon, so I should make a new equipment.

Since we're going to be working on it, let's put together a group of equipment for everyone.

Well, I see what you're going to say. The more adventurous you become, the more you will naturally buy new equipment to fight stronger enemies.

And the adventurers who participated in the dismantling course voiced their agreement.

''Yeah, we've got a good set of tools to dismantle the materials we've been entrusted with by our customers, too, so we've got a good set of tools for that.

The master also agrees with me.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing. It's a good thing that you're not resisting, because it's a dragon that won't give a d*mn if you attack it with a club.

Oh, Jairo, you said a good thing.

'Yes, Gyro-kun is right. A demolition tool is a demolitionist's weapon of choice.

'Yes!　My brother compliments me!

'Yes, yes, good for you. So don't jump around too much.

Jairo looked very happy and excited when he was praised by me, and Mina was chiding him.

The best way to do this is to prepare a dismantling knife made from black dragon material so that you can cleanly cut the green dragon's scales and leather.

Saying that, he cut the Green Dragon's scales in half.

''I see, if the knife is made from the material of a black dragon, a dragon higher than the green dragon, isn't it strange that it can cut the green dragon's skin cleanly?

'Oh, so that's what you meant. Surely that makes sense.

....

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Yes, it's a pretty good cut, isn't it?

No, it's too good to be true, but are you sure you're using material from the Black Dragon?

Yes, they do.

'No, I mean using it, we took this course to dismantle the Black Dragon in the first place and you used it as material...'

Oh, so you were surprised by that.

'It's okay. I've left the black dragons for dismantling intact. The one I used for the knife I prepared this time was a newly hunted black dragon.

Okay, that's a relief...　Hey!　You're kidding me?

Yeah, I went hunting last night for a little while.

Hey, wait a minute, are you serious?

Seriously.

'Oh, I'm pretty sure Black Dragon was a badass demon that could easily destroy a town, right?

Yeah, I'm supposed to...

And you can't go hunting for it in a minute?

'And you made a bunch of these knives afterwards, didn't you?　How long does it take to make all this?　It's going to take a lot of time just to slay a black dragon, isn't it?

''I mean, Black Dragon lives in Longfeng, right?　Even if you ran your horse after yesterday's lecture, you wouldn't make it in time for today's morning. What's going on!

When I told them that I had hunted a black dragon, for some reason the demolitionists began to groan.

Hmmm, it's just hunting a black dragon.

That's just as it should be!

And then Jairo yelled out loudly.

"What does that mean, boy?

''Ha, after all, my brother is an S-ranked adventurer!

"S-ranked?　That S-ranked adventurer with the highest rank?

The demolitionists shouted in surprise when they heard that I was S-ranked.

''That's right!　And because he's an S-ranked brother, even if it's against a black dragon, he can take it down fast and come back to town and get knives for all the people!

''Nah, I see, an S-ranked adventurer is an awesome skill that can compete with S-ranked demons. I've heard that some of them have powerful ancient magic items in their trump card.

''Well, maybe an S-ranked adventurer could do it!

No, I don't think you need to be an S-ranked adventurer to defeat at least the Black Dragon, right?

''Oh, now there's a rumor about an S-ranked adventurer...''

I wonder if this is what they call reputational damage.

For some reason, Liliella is looking at the demolitionists with sad eyes at the side.

Mina, standing beside her, has an air of mastery.

''Well, since that's the case, everyone, please use your new knives and dismantle as many Green Dragons as you can. It's a good thing that you are able to do the basic dragon dismantling without any problem, once you get used to dismantling green dragons.

""Ooooooh!"

The dismantlers go back to dismantling the Green Dragon with great enthusiasm.

Everyone is excited to get a tool that's sharper than the demolition knife they've been using.

Getting a new piece of equipment makes me feel uplifted, doesn't it?

''Hey ... can I have a minute?''

And then the people who spoke to me were the adventurers who paid 200 gold coins to participate in the demolition course.

''Yes, is there anything you don't understand about the demolition?''

No, no, no, I'm not asking you to do me a favor.

Are you asking for a favor?

Yeah.

The adventurers come staring at me with serious faces.

'This knife you made, can you sell it to us?

What?

'We have weapons made from dragon scales too, but this knife is far sharper than that.

Saying that, the adventurer shows me the shortsword he carries at his waist.

''This........is a sword carved out of the scales of a green dragon, isn't it?''

Yes, I had a famous blacksmith spend months making it for me. But it's not nearly as sharp as the knives you made.

That's probably true too.

The cutting edge of this shortsword is tattered.

Even though this is a sword with scales carved out of it, let's be more careful with the finishing touches.

It's no wonder my hand-made knife is sharper than this one.

Is this really the work of a famous blacksmith?

'I'd rather ask Mr. Gordoff to make me a better dragon material weapon than to spend money on this stuff.

'No, I know. I'm sure you'll find a knife of this caliber, patiently crafted from black dragon material. It's not something I would give up so easily. I'm sure you're going to be able to find a way to get the best out of it. So.........

Oh, no, that's fine. It's a gift.

I know, but it's still... what?

That's why it's yours. Not only for the adventurers, but for the demolitionists as well.

".........................

At that moment, the sound disappears from the demolition site.

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

You can't be serious!　This is made out of dragon stuff!

Moreover, they're made from the materials of black dragons, which rarely go out of Longfeng, and we don't even know how much money we need to spend to get this thing!　

Everyone is asking me if that's really what they want to do, with their eyes black and white.

But it's only good enough to dismantle a green dragon.

It's not the kind of thing you would sell for money to be honest.

''The adventurers have paid 200 gold coins, and the adventurers' guild will pay for the course for all the demolitionists. Then this knife was made at the expense of using it for the course. So I will give it to you all.

I'm not going to...

The adventurers staggered back and showed astonished expressions.

''Really?''

Oh no, I know. I can totally understand. It was the same for me, wasn't it?

Liliera says in a sincere tone of voice.

She's so quick to offer me something outrageous as if it's nothing at all.

No, it's really nothing, you know?