CH 7

Here’s the chapter, enjoy~

Sylphy walked briskly to the locked shed at the end of the yard. Then she unlocked the door and opened it. At that moment, I couldn’t help but frown at the smell wafting from inside.

“Oeekk… what’s that smell?”

“The spoils of war.”

With a grin, Sylphy stepped back from the entrance to the storage room, and she turned her gaze into it. Inside the storage room were all rusted and rotting swords, armor, shields, and other weapons. I could tell at a glance that none of them were likely to be of any use. Or rather, what’s this smell…?

“Hey, wasn’t that armor originally covered in a lot of blood? That sword and that helmet, too.”

“Hahaha, they’re a pain in the ass to clean.”

Moreover, none of the armor and helmets in the storeroom seem to be in Sylphy’s size. And the word “spoils of war.” If I take all those things into account, I don’t need to think deeply about these armor’s origins.

“You want me to use these? I think I’m going to be cursed with something.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point! Certainly, it is said that armor belonging to a dead man can have that kind of power.”

“No, that’s scary.”

“But it shouldn’t be a problem if you melt them down. It will lose its original form, and when the flames purify it, all the curses will be gone.”

“I guess that’s true, though…”

Sylphy’s grin is too suspicious, but I can’t do anything about it because I don’t have any special skills or any magic skills like the curse-seeing eye or anything like that in my hands.

“Should I try it? But I don’t want to touch it.”

“What? You don’t have to wear it. Just be careful with the weapons.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Why don’t you just use your ability to put it away?”

“Oh, you’re a genius.”

Therefore, I store more and more of the rusty and decaying armor scattered in the storage room, as Sylphy said, in my inventory. It’s great that I can store them without having to touch them if I get a certain amount closer to them.

Now, let’s check it out.

[Rusty Sword] x 4. [Rusty Spear] x 3 [Rusty Dagger] x 6 [Rusty hatchet] x 2 [Rusty Shield] x 2 [Rusty helmet] x 2 [Rusty Armor] x2. [Rusty Knee Pad] x 5 [Rusty Gauntlet] x 5 [Cursed Rusty Sword] x 1 [Cursed Rusty Spear] x 2 [Cursed Rusty Helmet] x 3 [Cursed Rusty Armor] x 3

“Heeeeyyyyy! Seriously, there are some cursed swords and spears and stuff like that…?”

“Fumu, I should probably clean this place up once in a while.”

“Why do you react as if you’ve just found a small dirt in your home like that!”

“What? It’s just the same thing. Why don’t you see if you can make a metal weapon out of these things?”

“Eeh… well, I’ll try, but…”

The small furnace that was prepared in my storage was placed via installation mode in the corner of the backyard, on the dirt ground with nothing that could ignite around it. Sylphy’s eyebrows twitched as she was startled by the sudden appearance of the small furnace.

“What on earth was that?”

“It’s a pain in the ass to explain, well, okay, okay, I’ll explain it to you. Unlike hand-held weapons like stone spears, simple facilities like this furnace can be installed directly from my inventory. You see that hammock I used to sleep in when I was in the tree? Like that and then that freestanding hammock I set up over there. I think I’m going to call them installed objects from now.”

Things like hand-held items like stone spears and stone axes are simply items, furnaces, and hammocks, and the rest, which I haven’t installed yet, are installed objects, like clay brick blocks. Maybe something that doesn’t fit into these two categories will come up sooner or later, though.

“Fumu, I see. Well, you can continue now.”

“Alright.”

I open the crafting menu for the installed furnace and examine what it can do. First, it needs fuel to get it up and to run. This can be fueled by anything that can be burned. For example, it can use any piece of wood you can find, fiber made from a piece of wood, rope, hammock, etc. as fuel. However, it seems that the burning time is set according to the item you use as fuel, so at the very least, a piece of wood appears to be the most efficient fuel available.

However, you can’t refine iron using wood chips as fuel. It seems to be possible to make charcoal by throwing in a piece of wood not as a fuel but as a material. Furthermore, if the charcoal is used as fuel, iron can also be refined.

“Well, that’s what I’ve found out.”

I talk about the verification results while staring into the fire of a small furnace running on a piece of wood as fuel. I stepped on the line to talk about what it could do. Because only I can see the crafting menu, and only I can figure out how much stuff I can make in a certain amount of time. I mean that I can blur the lines between how much material I need and what I can do in a certain amount of time, and by miss out on some of the reports, I can cheat as much as I want. If I miss out on the information too much, it could be judged as “useless,” so I need to be careful about that.

“Fumu, I guess fuel is the problem. However, if it’s fuel, we can find plenty of it in the forest.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll collect fuel while we hunt. I’d like to pick up some iron ore if there is any too.”

“You can pick up iron ore in the mountain stream deep in the forest. Tomorrow we’ll go out there. I’m sure, with your ability, we can carry a lot of it.”

“I’ll take care of that problem.”

And while we were talking about it, the charcoal was finished. Before we had a conversation, I had put in fuel and materials and made a craft reservation for it.

“Anyway, now that I have the charcoal with the fuel we have on hand, let’s try to refine the iron.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

I took out the fuel from the wood piece that was still in the furnace and threw in some charcoal as fuel. As I did so, the light emitted by the furnace became stronger than ever before. The heat that was being transmitted from the furnace seemed to have increased as well.

“That’s pretty intense.”

“Now, it’s just a matter of how much use I can do with it.”

It’s scary to challenge the cursed armor all of a sudden, so I prioritize the rusty armor to melt it down. Weapons can barely be used as they are if I want to use them, so I put them on hold. The armor is definitely unusable, so it’s a priority to use it.

“But… it’s kind of easy. Refining iron is said to be quite an advanced technology, but…?”

“Mine is probably special.”

Yes, mine is definitely special. The refining of iron is a very time-consuming process, to begin with.

In the first place, there is no way to refine iron with such a small furnace. A furnace that can withstand high temperatures is essential for iron refining, and to make it possible, fire bricks that can withstand high temperatures are necessary, and there are many other intricacies, such as the lack of heat to melt a lump of iron that is not iron sand in charcoal, and the removal of impurities such as sulfur. However, the crafting menu ignores all the troublesome parts and steadily crafts items by consuming the resources of fuel, materials, and time.

“So that’s it, a refined iron ingot.”

“I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but… Fumu, it’s brilliant, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s quite a job to make a usable, pure iron ingot out of useless scrap metal.”

I’m pretty sure that even in my original world, you needed an advanced electric furnace or something to extract good quality iron from steel scrap. I think it’s fantastic that this crafting ability is able to do it with such a small, tiny furnace.

“Fumu, that’s true. It’s certainly impressive to think that you can make something useful out of garbage. But it’s not the final result, is it?”

“Of course.”

Sylphy gave me back the iron ingot, and I continued to refine it further.

“Ta-da, an anvil, and a hammer!”

“Yeah, that’s what they call it when it comes to blacksmithing.”

“Yeah, I guess so. And now that we have a small furnace and an anvil and a hammer, we can make a lot of things.”

I set up the anvil near the furnace and open the crafting menu for the anvil with the hammer. Fumufumu, it looks like I can craft steel equipment by using the anvil, the hammer, the furnace in operation, and an iron ingot as a material.

“So, you aren’t going to hit the steel?”

“I won’t hit it. There’s no way I have the skills to do that.”

“What, that’s boring.”

“Whoa, that’s too fast of a conclusion, young lady. Can you say that after this?”

After saying that, I take out the steel knife, I’ve just crafted. Sylphy, who had a boring expression on her face, has changed to a smile. That smile. I would like to see more of that kind of puffy smile like a flower blooming. Why do you always grin like you’re holding something in your belly?

“Fumu… That’s not bad.”

As an amateur, I have no idea where and how she looked at it, but Sylphy, who seems to have checked various things, such as looking at the blade in detail and letting her own fingernails touch the blade, muttered to herself. Mm-hm, isn’t that right? I’m useful, right? So feed me, woof. I’m a dog, a dog that shows his master what he’s capable of and sells his charms. Pride? Let the dog eat that. Oh, I’m a dog now, hahaha.

“I know that, right? I will be able to make a lot of other things, too, maybe.”

“Hahaha, you’re working hard.”

“I don’t want to die, after all!!”

Simply put, this village is hostile territory. If I took even one step away from this house, I would not be surprised if I was beaten up and then buried. No, it’s just that I’m now Sylphy’s property, and it has been a public spectacle, so I guess I’m safe. It might be okay. But if I lose Sylphy’s protection, then the game is over.

“I’m gonna keep this. I’m gonna use it to convince a bunch of stubborn elders.”

“Alright.”

I can still make it before it runs out of fuel. No problem. However, the fuel that I had saved up was gone. Tomorrow I have to gather more fuel.

I continue crafting until the fuel runs out. Making an iron ingot and making tools from it. That said, there are only two or three more things I could make… and that would be some steel knives and an ax to secure firewood. The ax is good; some say that axes with handles have been used on earth since about 6,000 BC. And the shape of the ax has remained the same from then until my era. Moreover, almost the same type of ax has been invented and used worldwide at the same time. In other words, it is a kind of “perfected tool.”

It is sturdy and reliable and can be used not only for work but also for combat. Most importantly, unlike swords, spears, and bows, it does not require training to use. All you have to do is raise it and strike it. That’s all you need to do.

“Therefore, here it is. I made one for tomorrow’s exploration.”

“An ax, huh? Nice work.”

Sylphy swings the ax around. Hey, that’s scary.

“Tomorrow, when we get some fuel and iron ore, make one for me. Is that clear?”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

She has no intention of getting her own right away. My master is very kind.

“Oh?”

I’ve noticed that the time to create crafting items that use wood has decreased with the steel hand ax’s acquisition. I see, so this is the kind of benefit I’m getting. So maybe if I have chisels, drills, and other tools, I can shorten the time even more? This might be an excellent way to get a gun on the tool system tools.

I’m running out of fuel, so I will collect the small furnace and freestanding hammock and go back inside the house. It’s nice to know that the small furnaces I installed can be easily removed and restored in my inventory. Depending on the game, you may need to smash them up with special tools to restore them.

In the end, I was able to make armor, two helmets, two steel knives, a steel ax, and 20 iron arrowheads, plus three iron ingots and a steel arrowhead. I think I’m almost ready for tomorrow.

“That’s it for today. We’re running out of fuel.”

“Well, then let’s get some rest. I’m tired of everything, too.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and Sylphy, who had been observing me, turned on her heels toward home. It’s kind of like this; every single of her movement is crisp and clear. I followed with the thought that it would be difficult to outsmart this woman.