CH 1

――Kan kan…… kan kan

A day before the summer heat was about to begin, the sound of metal hitting metal echoed in a workshop at the foot of a mountain.

「……Fu……」

「… Is it done?」

「Yeah. Anyway, have you finished your homework for school yet?」

「Ungh! N-Not yet, but…」

「If you have time to be watching me, then go do your homework. Then I’ll let you try it out」

「!! All right!」

Hello. My name is Ayane Kajiwara, and I am a sophomore in high school this year!

Right in front of me is my father, a blacksmith. My mother passed away before I could remember anything.

My father is the greatest blacksmith in Japan.

His main products are swords, but he also makes high-end kitchen knives from time to time.

I have admired him ever since I was a little girl, and have watched him forge from a location where he would not be disturbed.

「… Ayane? What’s the matter, you’re in a daze」

「I-It’s nothing! I’m gonna go do my homework now!」

「…… Yeah」

「Ah! I left your lunch on the table for you to eat!」

「All right」

After saying a few words, father headed straight for the kitchen.

I have just eaten, so I hurriedly do my homework.

To continue where I left off, I’ve been watching him since I was in elementary school, so it was hard for me to make friends so my father was worried about me.

When I would come home from school, I would immediately go to my father and watch him. 「…Smithing… Do you want to try it?」 Was it when I was just in 1st grade? That’s what he said to me.

Then I started doing it after I finished making the items my father requested.

The first thing I made when I said so was just a stick. At the time, I was having so much fun hammering iron that my father would have to stop me every day.

Now, five years have passed.

I’ve been helping my father with his work. He praised me for accomplishing so much in just five years.

『Ayane. You might be a genius at blacksmithing』

I was happy when he said that.

Those were the words that made me realize that I wanted to be my father’s successor one day.

「Alright! Homework done! Okay, let’s get started――」

『♪。.:＊・゜♪。.:＊・゜』

「Otto… Moshimoshi?」

The person on the other end of the phone is Ryoka Shimizu, my best friend since elementary school. A very rich, and beautiful girl. She’s a real lady!

「Ah, moshimoshi, Aya?」

「What is it, Suzu?」

「There’s a VRMMO that came out recently called 《Secondaria Online》, right~?」

「W-Why all of a sudden…? What’s this “second” thing? I don’t know what that is」

「Eh!?… Well, I’ll tell you more later… I’m sending it to you, let’s play! It should be arriving by now, most likely. I left the cassette in there, so you can just put it on!」

「… By the way, I have to refuse――」

「No?」

「Ahh, yes」

If you say it in such a cute way, I have no choice but to do it… I was planning to do some blacksmithing.

Ding dong

See~?

「Looks like its here. I’ll ask you tomorrow then! Bye!」

「Okay, okay. See you later」

T-This is the “second”… What kind of device is it?

Et~to? Which one is it?

Worn on the head?

Lying down?

Start?

Is that really all that is needed?

Well, I guess I’ll just have to do it…

Then Star…… t…