564 - - 五百六十二话 认识のズレ

I managed to persuade Mel to create a slightly wordy profession called "spirit smith," and despite my frustration at being subtly outwitted by Mr. Gorden, we decided on the rules of the tournament.

Well, the restriction on the use of rare metals... ...... the Damascus made by Mel is only a degraded version of the Damascus and does not need rare metals.

Considering what Mr. Gorden and the other blacksmiths say, they and the other blacksmiths will probably use some rare metals.

If Mel wins the competition without using any rare metals, that alone will make his ability stand out.

In this sense, Mr. Gorden's proposal is favorable.

However, with the character of Mr. Gorden and others, I have a feeling that even if they refine DU Damascus without using rare metals, they will complain about the limitations of DU Damascus because it is a rare metal.

It would be necessary to confirm what would happen if a rare metal is produced from a common metal without using a rare metal.

But it would be a spoiler if we ask Mr. Tabure to confirm it here. At the very least, it would be a spoiler to ask if Mel refines some kind of rare metals.　I would at least have a suspicion.

Goldens know about Mel's father's work and may have an idea about Damascus.

Hmmm... ...... I don't have a problem if the Goldens find out.

It's a bit of a pity that it will be a surprise, and that the fall from surprise to despair will be shallow, but it's more important to make sure it's right in front of us and smash it without any chance to take advantage of it.

"Mr. Tabre. I don't mind restrictions on the use of rare metals, but what happens when you only use common metals and produce high performance metals?"

The question is whether the degraded version of Damascus can be classified as a rare metal in the first place.

Since it ranks lower than orichalcone and adamantite, I think it can be said that it is not a rare metal. But considering the fact that the king changed the color of his eyes, I think it is a rare metal.

Well, the advantage of being able to make a metal several ranks higher than common metals, and not from a dungeon, must have touched the king's heart, but still, it is a very fine line.

I am tempted to complain once again about the term "about two steps above nomos".

"Yeah?　It is the blacksmith's skill to improve quality by blending metals. If you're using only ordinary metals, you won't have a problem."

Mr. TABRE gives me a look that says, "Of course, what is he talking about? There is definitely a gap in perception between me and Mr. Tablé.

"What if the properties of the metal have changed to such an extent that it can be said to be different, not just to the extent of quality improvement?"

"...... hmm. The study of metals is not only done by blacksmiths, but also by many other countries. I don't think that there are any metals that can't be determined by the blacksmith's guild, but if there are, they would have to prove that they are only using common metals.

"What?　We're going to build it right in front of you, so there's no proof, right?"

I wanted to ask you if you can or cannot use the metal that has been transformed into something else, but you didn't get through to me?

"Oh come on, are you going to stick a guild official on each and every blacksmith?　You can't put that much effort into a private competition."

"Hm?　We are going to blacksmith in front of everyone at the convention, and if we check the materials brought in, don't we need to have a staff member assigned to each person?"

It may be difficult to keep an eye on them for even a moment, but with checks on what they bring in and some degree of supervision, it should be difficult for them to violate the rules.

If the change is not so great that it can be called something else like Damascus in the first place, a connoisseur can make some judgments, right?

"...... what kind of competition are you imagining?"

"Don't they build weapons in the guild's workshop and evaluate them?　Huh?　It's a blacksmith guild, so they must be reasonably well-equipped, right?"

I don't think we can build them all at once, but we have enough equipment to do it in a few days if we split the time, right?　We are a blacksmith guild.　

"Puhahahaha, hahaha, oh, hey, oh are you an idiot?　Bwah, a blacksmith wouldn't show his skills in public, would he? I can't stop laughing. I'm going to die! I'm going to die.

Mr. Gorden suddenly starts laughing, and the other two start laughing as if caught by it. Even Mr. Taburet, who was caught up in the laughter, started to ...... what the hell is going on?

"It kind of pisses me off. Yuta, you want to beat them up?"

Sylphy makes a terribly attractive proposal, but I can't just go in there and beat her up when I don't know what it means.

"Excuse me, master, come here for a minute."

When I was puzzled, Mel pulled me to a corner of the workshop.

"Uh, Mel. Do you know why I'm laughing so hard?"　

I'm laughing so hard that I might give Sylphy the go-ahead, depending on the reason?

"Well, in a normal blacksmithing competition, you have a period of time to create your own work, and then you submit it to the competition to see how good it is."

"Yeah, so?"

Mel looks troubled, but even I know that much.

"Well, Master is probably mistaken."

"Misunderstanding?　What?"

"It takes three days at the earliest to make an ordinary ...... sword, and usually more than five days. And if it's for a competition, it takes even longer.

"What?"

Huh?　Come to think of it, I have heard that it takes more than 10 days to finish one Japanese sword.

"...... Didn't Mel strike a sword in about three hours the other day?"

(That ...... is only possible with the help of Master Meral and Merrill Serio. I can't do it by myself.)

Mel tells me in a whisper, as if it were hard to say.

I see, my standards have shifted before I knew it.

I was so careless. I normally wouldn't have made such a mistake myself, but since Mel had been manufacturing swords and metals during his training while we were in Paradise, I had assumed that this was the way things were done in fantasy.

But Meral, who is a cheat when it comes to fire, and Merrill Serio, who is a cheat when it comes to metal relations even though he is an inexperienced floating spirit. We can't use Mel, who has the cooperation of these two, as the standard.

So my imagination of the competition is so ridiculous that Goldens can't stop laughing at it.

(...... Sylphy. Is it a spirit of darkness that can erase people's memories?　(Maybe Vita can erase people's memories?)

"Memory is the domain of the spirits of darkness. What about Vita?　It might be possible, but it's certainly not my specialty."

(I see. ......)

I'm pissed off. It pisses me off to death that Mr. Gorden and the others are laughing at me for being a nuisance, but I can't take it lightly to make a deal with the spirits of darkness to make up for my mistake.

To be honest, I'd like to have Sylphy make it all go away and pretend it never happened, but I guess I'll just have to live with it.

"You've made your mind up.

When the laughter finally subsides, he speaks to resume the meeting.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's all right now. ......"

"d*mn, I almost died. No way, no way, no way. ...... ha ha ha ha ......"

"Oh, hey, it's finally gone away. Don't ...... laugh. ...... haha."

d*mn it. They started laughing when they remembered.

*****

"Hey, I may have said something funny to you, but the next time you start laughing, I'll make sure you never laugh again. If you're ready for that, then laugh all you want."

"Yes!　I'm sorry!"

Mr. Tabelle and Mr. Gorden apologize with drawn faces.

Well, that's understandable.

A visible ring of wind is swirling around the necks of the four men. They are small, but they are powerful enough to twist your neck just by touching them.

If you can still laugh at this, you should just give up.

It doesn't feel good to threaten them to shut them up, but if they laugh three times every time I talk to them since then, I should be allowed to take strong measures.

It's said that a Buddha's face is not as good as his face three times, and since I've put up with him as much as a Buddha, I don't think I'm not mature enough to do so.

No, is this behavior unprofessional just because he laughed at me?

In my mind's eye, I see Mr. Gorden and his friends, who are in pain because they can't stop laughing, making fun of me in between laughs, and then laughing again, and Mr. Tablé, who starts laughing again.

I don't care if I'm not mature. Mr. Tablé may have some extenuating circumstances, but I will say that he is just as guilty as the Goldens, since his laughter once made them laugh again.　

"......Ah, it's getting so tedious. Wouldn't it be a good idea to just send your heads off?"

It might not be a bad idea, since it would cover up my embarrassing mistake.

"...... I'm just kidding, don't look like you're about to cry. I'm not going to stain Mel's workshop with your blood, don't worry."

The temptation to cover it up was certainly tempting, but we couldn't let Sylphy kill people for that.

I give her a signal with my eyes and ask her to turn off the wind ring.

The four of them fall down, looking relieved.

Finally, we can have a decent discussion.

****

Correction. It didn't turn out to be a proper discussion.

He stopped laughing at the memory, but at the same time he remembered my bad reputation, and he was so terrified that he affirmed every word I said.

For a moment, the devil in my heart whispered to me that I should just turn him away and everything would be all right, but my goal was to make him recognize Mel's ability, so threatening him was not the answer.

Besides, didn't Mr. Gorden say he wouldn't give in to threats in the first place?

Even if it is a threat, you can't help but be scared when your life is at stake. I'd be scared too if someone put something like that around my neck.

I think I was so pissed off that I did something thoughtless, but I wish I could have shown a little more guts since I had been sticking to him all this time.

In the end, since the four of us were not back to normal, I proposed some rules to make the tournament as fair as possible, and we ended our discussion today.

Accepting the restriction on rare metals, I proposed that the rest of the rules follow the general blacksmithing competitions, and in view of my notoriety and influence, I suggested a secret judging system, which is often used in drawing and calligraphy competitions.

Since it is impossible to make a proper decision under the current circumstances, I will ask you to examine my proposal and get back to me at a later date.

As for the violation of metal-related rules, I suggested that if proof is needed, a few amateurs of blacksmithing should be randomly selected and the process of making the metal should be shown to them.

According to Mel, in the case of a degraded version of Damascus, the process is so delicate that even if a professional smith sees it, he/she can only give a slight hint, so amateurs should have no problem unless they have special skills.

As for the selection of amateurs, we may need to work out the method a little more, but we should be able to open the competition without any problems.

If Mr. Tabre, Mr. Gorden and the others return to normal. .......