「Well, what do you think?」
「Hm」
Jered-papa held the knife I had made and carefully inspected it.
「The shape’s uneven. The thickness isn’t consistent. And the edge isn’t sharpened enough」
「Muu…」
「That said, for your first try, it ain’t half bad. Yeah, this’ll do」
「I see… thank you」
And so, the fifteen-centimeter blade I made received a rather tsundere-style evaluation from Jered-papa.
「Keep at it and you might make something of yourself eventually」
「Yes. Thank you very much」
Right. Just as Jered-papa says, if I keep working hard, maybe someday I will become a fine blacksmith――
「Well, that was not really my intention in the first place…?」
「Huh?」
It is not like I have been dreaming of becoming a blacksmith, nor did I make that knife as the first step toward such a goal…
It all started with a bit of casual conversation.
When I visited Jered-papa’s shop, I happened to ask during small talk――
『By the way, when you make swords, do you really hammer them like clang clang with a big hammer?』
As someone who possesses the 『Hammer』 skill, I was a little curious.
…And before I knew it, things somehow led to me making a knife myself.
I kept putting a piece of iron into what looked like a magical furnace for heating metal, then hammering it, then heating it again, repeating the process as I shaped it into a knife.
After that, I heated it once more, cooled it down, and kept sharpening it against a whetstone with a steady scraping sound until I somehow managed to finish one knife.
I had only asked out of mild curiosity, yet I ended up getting a full hands-on training session.
Apparently, the finished knife was quite decent for a first attempt.
Perhaps having not only the 『Hammer』 skill but also the 『Sword』 skill worked in my favor.
If you possess the 『Sword』 skill, maybe you naturally become better at making swords too? The skills in this world really do seem that flexible.
「I appreciate the valuable experience, but my arms feel completely stiff right now, so I would rather not do this again for a while」
「I see…」
After actually trying it today, I think I finally understand why blacksmiths are so heavily built.
Jered-papa himself is a slim, handsome man, but if he were not an elf, he would probably be much more muscular.
「By the way, doesn’t Jered-kun do this kind of work? Won’t he eventually take over from you, Jered-papa-san?」
「Ah, who knows. If the kid says he wants to, I’ll teach him」
「He doesn’t seem that interested?」
「Yeah. If anything, he’d probably rather become a hunter. But that’s fine too」
「That’s fine?」
「Yeah. For now, I’ve got a feeling that suits him better」
It is true that I have never seen Jered-kun making things. He is more the type to be shooting a bow.
…But is that really okay? Is it okay for Meiyu Village?
If this home center were to shut down, it would surely have a major impact on the villagers’ lives…
「Is that really alright…?」
「What is?」
「The village」
「The village…? Nah, it’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m retiring in a hundred or two hundred years」
Apparently, Jered-papa plans to remain active for several more centuries. That is a very elf-like sense of time.
「Maybe someday Jered’ll say he wants to take over. Or maybe another craftsman will show up」
「I see. Then there’s no need to rush yet」
「If it comes down to it, you could always do it, kid」
「Huh? Me? Wait, I would take over this village’s home center?」
「Home center?」
「Ah, sorry. I meant general store」
「It’s a weapon shop」
Right, a weapon shop. I keep calling it a home center out of habit…
Anyway, me running a weapon shop…
It does not quite feel right. If it were at least a blacksmith, that might sound cool. Blacksmith has a certain appeal.
「Yeah, someday you’ll be the village chief and run the weapon shop too」
「Village chief and weapon shop…」
That is quite a strange combination…
Or rather, am I really still considered the next candidate for village chief…?
「More importantly, what’re you gonna do with this knife?」
「Ah, right. It is the first weapon I ever made, so could I buy it from you?」
I usually make arrows normally anyway, but this is a bit different from those. I’ll keep it as a souvenir.
Well, the craftsmanship isn’t that great, so it doesn’t seem like it has much use beyond being a keepsake.
「It’ll probably just end up sitting in a drawer, won’t it?」
「If that’s the case, why not give it to someone as a present?」
「A present?」
「If you gave it to someone like Ralina, she’d probably be happy.」
「Give a knife to Ralina-chan…?」
No, that’s a bit… Sure, I feel like she would be happy, but still, that might be a little much…
She might treat it as a memento, but depending on how things go, she might end up using this knife to turn me into a “memory” instead…
「So, what are you gonna do about the sheath?」
「The sheath? Ah, right. Leaving the blade exposed would be scary. I could just make one out of wood, but somehow leather feels more fitting, doesn’t it?」
「Then let’s make it out of leather. Hang on, I’ll get things ready.」
「Thank you very much.」
「Yeah. I’ll teach you properly.」
「…Huh?」
Wait, am I making the sheath myself too? Well, I don’t really mind, but still…
◇
I cut the leather to match the knife’s shape, punched holes in it, and threaded the string through.
It was a very simple design, but I wasn’t planning to use it regularly, so this should be good enough. Actually, even just this much was pretty hard work.
After that, I received the knife and the leather knife case and paid for them.
「Well then, I’ll be heading off for today………… actually, no. I still have some business here.」
「Huh? Business?」
That’s right, I came all the way here because I had something to take care of.
And yet, somehow I ended up suddenly making a knife and a knife case, and was even encouraged to become a weapons shop owner in the future.
That’s not it. I came here for something else entirely.
「Actually, I have a favor to ask, Jered-papa-san. There’s something I’d like you to make for me.」
「Something you want me to make? What is it?」
「Well, actually――I’d like you to make a saddle.」
next chapter: Saddle
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