「Shouldn’t you contact him yourself? You’re not trying to foist a problematic person on us, are you?」
Hime asked warily.
『Such a thing would never happen. I have my own personal blacksmith. This is purely a gesture of goodwill to offer him an opportunity. 』
Despite the criticism, Hi seemed completely unfazed—or rather, she seemed accustomed to such lighthearted banter and responded with a hearty laugh.
「Alright alright, thanks. Please send over the student’s information. I’ll reach out to him myself.」
With that, the remote call ended.
The student in question is a twenty-year-old man from Hyogo Prefecture.
He awakened as a blacksmith three years ago but hadn’t registered as an awakened blacksmith due to focusing on his studies.
His family runs a temple, and he has a good reputation locally.
He specializes in monster biology within the field of biology and has already secured a job offer at a research institute in Hyogo Prefecture.
The reason he chose this institute is because of the esteemed scholar working there, though it seems the pay is quite low. Therefore, he was looking for a side job as a blacksmith at an EPO organization in Kansai.
He’s also open to leveling up in dungeons, seeing it as a good opportunity to study monster ecology.
However, as Hi mentioned, this would only be possible more than a year from now.
「Not a bad candidate as Hi said. I’ll have Akashi reach out to him.」
「…Ah, yeah.」
「What’s the matter? Are you uncomfortable with a man joining the team? I guess Taira doesn’t want another man entering his palace.」
「That’s not it. In fact, it feels more relaxed. It’s just that having one man in a workplace of four women does require some consideration.」
I spoke honestly.
Having one man among a group of women does require sensitivity.
There are also things that only fellow men could understand.
I’ve often considered inviting Aoki, but I don’t want to discuss work within the school environment, so the current setup is already great.
「Then what’s the issue?」
「Well, actually, I know someone who’s an awakened blacksmith, and she’s been debating whether to become a blacksmith.」
「That’s new information. But if you’ve kept it to yourself, there must be a reason.」
「She’s apparently afraid of fighting monsters.」
「That’s a common concern.」
Hime said, reiterating what she had mentioned before.
Blacksmiths generally specialize in attack power while having lower defense.
They’re different from sharp abnormal types who have one excellent stat and average others.
Despite having a safety margin, dungeons are dangerous, and for blacksmiths, it could lead to life-threatening situations.
「What do you want to do, Taira?」
「I don’t really know what I want. I’m genuinely unsure.」
「Since you are so worried, that person must be important to Taira. Another girl?」
「Why ‘another’? And yes, she’s a girl.」
Don’t make me out to be a guy who’s only interested in girls.
It’s just that lately, I’ve been meeting a lot of them.
And it’s not exactly about importance.
It’s more that if gods really exist in this world, I just want them to save Mizuno-san.
「Let me be clear, we don’t need a low-level blacksmith. They need to be at least level 10 and have some skills before they can handle any tasks. If Taira says something like, ‘I’ll protect you with my life, so trust me and follow me!’ you might just get her to come along.」
「I can’t say something so embarrassing.」
「Don’t you realize how many embarrassing things you say on a regular basis?」
Hime looked at me with half-closed eyes.
Do I say something strange often?
I don’t remember it at all.
「If you really want to, you could hire her personally.」
「Personally? But I’m just a normal high school student.」
「While you seem to have a misconception about ‘normal’, your earnings should be enough to cover a personal blacksmith’s salary. You can leave the details to Akashi. She’s more than capable. We also plan to hire an office worker soon.」
Indeed, while I’ve been putting more than enough money into the house, my savings continue to grow steadily.
I can afford to hire Mizuno-san.
However, Mizuno-san’s desire to avoid fighting monsters isn’t something that can be solved with money.
Even with the substitute bracelet, it’s not absolutely safe.
The bracelet only absorbs 100 points of damage.
If it takes an attack that reduces 150 points of health, the bracelet will break in one hit and 50 points of damage will still get through.
What should I do?
「I almost forgot. I have something to give to Hime.」
I took out the D-can from my inventory.
「This is the can from before, right? I remember being told that if it’s just a candy, there’s no need to buy it, so I took it home.」
「Yeah, I had prepared a dummy can, but it was a letdown.」
「A dummy? What are you talking about?」
「This isn’t just a candy. I discovered it by chance initially—」
I explained the effects of the skill bead.
Hime looked surprised, then frustrated, and then stared at the skill bead.
「Does that means that Milk’s drug magic is—」
「Yeah, she learned it from the skill bead. Also, my detailed appraisal and hellfire magic.」
「So that’s the secret to Taira’s strength. Why did you decide to tell me?」
I explained the skills that the skill bead could teach.
There’s a causal relationship between the skills in the skill bead and the conditions for opening the D-can.
If it’s a skill related to agility, it’s highly likely to be a skill Hime needs.
「Skills related to agility, huh? Some I’d want include ‘Speed Demon’, ‘Emergency Evasion’, ‘Speed is Power’, and ‘Speed Star’. But I’ve heard there are many unique skills as well.」
I nodded.
「I reviewed the comments from the last stream. The comments that Akashi didn’t pass through. Most were positive towards us. Though there were some jealous ones like ‘I wish Taira would just disappear’.」
My groin felt a sudden rush of relief.
「But there were comments saying I’m the most plain so how can I be the leader, and honestly, it got to me…」
When I looked at Hime’s face, she was grinning creepily, clearly delighted.
The idea of getting her own unique skill seemed to make her extremely happy, even though it wasn’t confirmed yet.
She popped the candy into her mouth and started licking it, refusing to speak, probably to avoid biting it.
Bored, I took out my phone and started watching Aoki’s current livestream.
Today, he was in the dungeon with Hibiki-san, pretending to be ‘that plumber’ and stepping on walking mushrooms in the second floor.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it.
「What are you watching, Taira?」
Hime had snuck up behind me and was peeking at my phone.
「Oh, it’s a stream from someone I know—」
「Oh, really?」
Hime then appeared in front of me, her face right in mine.
Wait, there are two Himes now?
One behind me and one in front of me?
「Surprised?」
「To be honest, yes. Is that a skill?」
「Yes, it’s a bunshin skill—a unique skill that’s not listed in the database yet!」
「And it’s even ninjutsu! You can actually become a real ninja!」
「What’s amazing is that it works outside of dungeons as well!」
Both Himes stood in front of me, taking turns speaking.
It was incredible.
There was no way to distinguish between the real Hime and the bunshin.
Both had shadows, and there were no differences like reversed sides or different eye colors.
「So, the Hime behind me is the real one, and the one in front is the clone?」
「Actually, it’s the other way around. The one behind you is the clone. It’s not an illusion; it’s a physical entity.」
Both Himes demonstrated by making mysterious hand signs.
Creating a physical clone—this was pretty amazing.
「Can I touch you?」
「A little is fine.」
The permission to touch came from the clone.
I touched its cheek.
It was soft and squishy.
I patted its head.
It must have been washed recently, as it felt smooth and nice.
「Hey, Taira. I’m indeed a clone, but isn’t that a bit too much touching?」
「Remember, when you touch the clone, the memories will flash back to the real me, so try not to overdo it. It’ll be embarrassing later.」
With the real Hime’s warning, I pulled my hand back.
「It’s amazing, right?」
「It’s similar to the kage bunshin technique.」
The two Himes said proudly.
I genuinely thought it was incredible.
And if it can be used outside of dungeons, there are some very powerful applications.
「It’s the perfect skill to have when buying a limited pack of eggs for one person.」
「「Really!?」」
This is the important part you know.
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