Volume 4 Chapter 5.4

Volume 4 Chapter 5.4

Translator: Reflet

Editor: Weasalopes

「How is it?」

Kakashi pushed the ore into a shape of an ingot and waited for it to cool down, hoping for a positive result.

「… the quality still ain’t good but ya managed to properly smelt magical steel.」

「Oh, I see ….」

「To think that ya managed to smelt magical steel on ya first go, ya got some talent.」

「Not at all.」

To Hiroshi’s compliment, Kakashi mumbled back. The ingot which Kakashi smelted would be considered a high-quality item if it’s looked at it on its own. However, once it’s compared to the ingot which Hiroshi has smelted, it would have the difference of high-quality metal and scrap metal. They used the same furnace and used ores which were close enough in quality. So, there was nothing to blame it on except his own inexperience with working with magical steel. To Kakashi, this proved that with his current skills, he cannot smelt decent magical steel.

「Also, even if I could smelt an ingot, it’s pointless if I can’t craft anything with it.」

「I see, welp, why don’t ya try craftin’ somethin’ with it? But we have more stuff that we needa git through so please choose somethin’ simple.」

As Hiroshi finished talking, he prepared the furnace and showed Kakashi how to flow the magic in for heat forging. Forging magical steel used about the same amount of magic as smelting one.

「I will try crafting a small knife.」

Hearing that there were more which they needed to get through, Kakashi chose to craft an item that wouldn’t take more than an hour to craft. Not noticing the crowd that started to gather around him, Kakashi got into forging. To contrast his weak, skinny appearance, he had the power of a craftsman. Not only that, he seemed to work with the level of holy steel.

「So, tis how the furnace works but wadda ya think o’ it as the president o’ minin’ union?」

「If Kakashi can operate it than I think we can use it at our workshops as well.」

「I agree. We would like this blast furnace built in our workshop as well. What would be the cost and the construction period?」

「I’ll send the quote for the cost later if that’s okay with ya. I’ll be directin’ the first two so those won’ take no more than a fortnight to build. But while I’m buildin’ the first two furnaces, I’d need to gather more materials to build other blast furnaces. ‘therwise, the materials I gathered in Darl won’ be ‘nough. So I’ve gotten a clue on the construction time or the cost for the other blast furnaces.」

「I see.」

While looking over at Kakashi’s forging process, Hiroshi started to organise future orders. Kakashi had no idea that the president was watching over his crafting process. In fact, it was only after he finished crafting the knife that he realised that the president was at his workshop.

==

「Cheers to the end of Crest Cave’s magical steel problem!」

One hour later. They were now at a meeting place in blacksmith town. A large amount of food, liquor and dwarves gathered as the party started.

「Hiroshi-kun, good job out there.」

「Ya too, Haruna-san.」

「Isn’t it fun to cook food for parties?」

「’t sure is. By the way, a new month will start after this week so we shoulda probably finish preparin’ for Makoto-san’s birthday party.」

Looking over the room where ten barrels of liquor has been emptied already, Hiroshi and Haruna started to talk about their next party. As they are still very conscious of the laws from back home, the two refused to have any drink. However, they loved this kind of party where a group of acquaintances just get together without any business formalities. They also found it more motivating to cook up meals for parties compared to cooking up food for their usual meals.

「Makoto-san said she wanted alcohol for her birthday but how is that going?」

「I got a couple o’ people to taste test n’ I think tis goin’ good.」

「I see, but I don’t know about just making alcohol for her birthday.」

「I’ve been preparin’ some stuff for other present as well.」

「Thank you.」

Haruna reluctantly thanked Hiroshi for his subtle yet thoughtful action.

「Isn’t ‘t weird for Haruna-san to be thankin’ me?」

「Well, yeah, I guess.」

To Hiroshi who almost laughed out loud, Haruna replied with a gentle smile. If they weren’t standing 90cm apart, they would have actually looked cute together.

「’nyways, Kakashi-san is really talented.」

「Was he?」

「To haf successfully smelt magical steel which he has never used before, usin’ a furnace that he’s never operated before, he’s a genius.」

「Wow, that is impressive….」

Haruna praised Kakashi’s talent half speechless as she has yet to smelt a decent-quality metal. Most craftsmen around her tend to be out-standing professionals like Hiroshi and Mio. But as someone who has done a certain level of crafting herself, she understands how difficult it is for someone with Kakashi’s condition to successfully smelt magical steel.

「Professional craftsman are really somethin’.」

「Yeah, I won’t pretend to fully understand what it’s like to be a craftsman. But I really do look up to people with such talent.」

「I genuinely admire his talent. ‘specially since he built up all em skills by himself, unlike us who practically cheated our way through ‘t.」

「Yeah, me too.」

From Hiroshi’s perspective, Kakashi was at least an intermediate level in crafting. With a little more training, it wouldn’t be strange if he was to reach an advanced level. On top of that, Kakashi would have only ever worked with standard metal and steel, or at the best, bronze and silver. To think he has built up so much skill only using those sort of materials, the effort which would have gone into his craftsmanship was unimaginable. Considering Kakashi’s age, the only way he could have built up that much skill is if he put in his best for every single item which he has crafted.

Hiroshi was really impressed that Kakashi has managed to reach not only intermediate level but even get close to advanced level without Making Mastery. Reaching an intermediate level in crafting without Making Mastery was something which nobody could dare to imagine.

「If tis Kakashi-san, he would probably level up his skills real quick if I were to brush over some stuff ‘bout craftin’」

「Uh huh, I should get him to teach me crafting.」

「Haruna-san, I don’ think ya need to practice craftin’ that much…」

「Well, that’s true for forging and smelting but I have my own personal reasons for wanting to improve my crafting skills.」

「Tis so…」

In general, you can add auto-size-adjust to most things which you can craft through forging. So, for Haruna who has done Making Mastery, learning forging would only serve as a foundation knowledge. However, she thought that she should at least be able to craft her own breastplate.

「Haru, Haru.」

「What is it Mio-chan?」

「It’s around time you sing.」

「Oh, you’re right.」

Mio stepped in and requested Haruna to sing as she saw that the two of them were getting along but weren’t talking anything personal. Haruna pulled out a Shamisen which they made and sung folk songs and other kinds of songs which people in blacksmith and crafting industry seem to like. [1. TL Note: “Shamisen” is “Traditional Japanese instrument that looks and sound similar to Banjo”.] It was very Haruna-like that not a single pop song was sung.

「I still can’t get a grasp of Haru’s range.」

「She did mention that she can purty much sing any song that she’s ‘t least heard o’ it once.」

「That’s impressive but not impressive at the same time.」

「Ya lose the moment ya try to git ya head ’round people like her.」

As they cooked up more food, they talked about Haruna as always. Stewed pork and Tofu seemed to be popular among people in Forre as well. They also cooked up dished which they saw often around Forre like vegetables and grilled meat sandwich, and potato soup. They also tried arranging sausage which was one of the common dishes in Forre by marinating it with curry powder. All of those dishes seemed to be liked by the people of Forre as well.

「Oh, by za way Mio,」

「Hm?」

「We hava line up o’ magic-powered blast furnace order so I’ll git ya’ll to work real hard from tomorrow.」

「Got it.」

As Mio nodded firmly, she deliciously ate a piece of meatloaf which got on her face.