WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 117: Mining (4)
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It was one mountain after another. That was the best way to describe how I felt right now.
I'd gone through all that trouble to mine Mithril, only to be told that even a dwarf couldn't melt it.
The moment I heard that, reality hit me hard, but I barely managed to pull myself together.
I didn't know what kind of structure this damned Mithril had, but I needed an explanation.
[You]: Explain it in detail.
[You]: Is it really just because it has a lot of mana?
[Passing Dwarf]: Yeah. It's hard to melt, and even if you do melt it, a normal blast furnace can't handle it.
[You]: Explain why.
[You]: I think I'll be able to accept it if I understand.
[You]: It's not that I don't trust you. The situation's just weird.
[Passing Dwarf]: I get what you're saying.
[Passing Dwarf]: Ordinary metals...
I read the dwarf's explanation closely.
Most metals were buried underground, naturally absorbing the mana in the earth.
Normal ground didn't contain much mana, so there was no problem putting those metals in a blast furnace.
But the deeper one dug, or in places with abnormally high levels of mana in the earth, like the Forest of Four Seasons, things were different.
Most ores mined from such places contained dense mana, so they required a special blast furnace.
Using an ordinary blast furnace instead of a special one could cause an explosion.
[Passing Dwarf]: Anything becomes a bomb if you force it into a confined space, compress it, then make it burst.
[Passing Dwarf]: The Mithril would obviously get blown away too.
[You]: What the hell are special blast furnaces made of, then?
[Passing Dwarf]: They're just blast furnaces that take a shitload of mana.
[You]: Can't individuals own one?
[Passing Dwarf]: The blast furnace is bigger than a whole mansion, you idiot;;
[Passing Dwarf]: You barely need to use one in the first place, so the country handles them directly.
[You]: What kind of inefficient bullshit is that?
[Passing Dwarf]: Fuck, do you think dwarven technology is a joke?
[Passing Dwarf]: Do you have any idea how cutting-edge this is?
[You]: Sorry.
So there was nothing I could do. All I could do was sigh.
Making a blast furnace was already enough to drive someone crazy, and now it had to be a special blast furnace?
It was supposedly far bigger than a mansion, so making one myself was out of the question.
That meant the Mithril I'd worked so hard to mine would become a white elephant.
I needed to find a way, but no good ideas came to mind.
[Passnig Dwarf]: Try making it yourself.
[Passnig Dwarf]: Since you're in the Forest of Four Seasons, it should be no different from normal metal there.
[You]: You said it could only be done in a special blast furnace.
[Passing Dwarf]: That place has an absurd amount of mana.
[Passing Dwarf]: So try it.
[You]: I don't know how to make a blast furnace.
[Passing Dwarf]: It's solid Mithril, so just heat it in a forge and hammer it. That's it.
[Passing Dwarf]: If you want to use a mold, make a blast furnace and melt it down.
[You]: That doesn't add up.
[You]: Didn't you say I had to use a special blast furnace?
[Passing Dwarf]: Is your brain an anvil or something?;;
[Passing Dwarf]: The mana leaks out when it changes shape, then it explodes.
[Passing Dwarf]: I was going to cast it because I thought I needed to get it to you quickly, then I realized.
[Passing Dwarf]: If I'd realized any later or started hammering, I'd be in the hospital right now.
[You]: Ah. I get it.
[Passing Dwarf]: That really hurts.
[Passing Dwarf]: I was trying to give it to you quickly because I felt bad for you.
[Passing Dwarf]: And you don't even understand how I feel...
[You]: Sorry;;
[You]: Is there anything you want?
[Passing Dwarf]: Just give me one crab shell lol
[You]: Jesus;;
[You]: Fine.
Since the dwarf had shared something useful with me, I could gladly give them one crab.
I ended my conversation with the dwarf and relayed the information to the registered users I had given Mithril to.
It was necessary, if only to prevent an accident.
[Heavenly Demon]: You mean true silver?
[Heavenly Demon]: I still have it.
[You]: That's a relief.
[You]: Apparently, it could explode while you're making equipment with it.
[You]: Could you return it to me?
[Heavenly Demon]: Is it because of the amount of energy contained within the true silver?
[You]: Huh.
[You]: How did you know?
[Heavenly Demon]: It is simple.
[Heavenly Demon]: I wanted to absorb it, but I feared it would lose its essence, so I waited.
[You]: If you return it, I'll make you a sword myself.
[Heavenly Demon]: May I look forward to it?
[You]: Um... no?
[You]: It might take a while.
[Heavenly Demon]: I like your honesty.
[Heavenly Demon]: I shall wait without expecting much.
[Heavenly Demon]: I'm fine with any weapon.
[You]: Thank you.
I got back the Mithril I'd given Heavenly Demon.
[AllHailTheSun]: So not just hammering, but fine work is impossible too?
[You]: I'll ask.
[You]: They say carving or engraving it is fine.
[AllHailTheSun]: Then I'll keep it.
[AllHailTheSun]: I want to use it for a ring.
[You]: Still, be careful.
AllHailTheSun decided to keep it.
When I asked the dwarf, they said there was a risk of explosion when the material changed state.
Carving it while keeping it in the same state was fine.
Well, if that wasn't the case, it'd be no different from carrying around a bomb.
Even if heat changed the metal's shape, there wouldn't be a problem. Why?
If it got hot enough to change the shape of iron, a person would already be dead.
After picking up all sorts of knowledge, I closed the gallery.
At least I don't have to do everything myself.
The dwarf said they could sharpen the edge for me.
All I had to do was flatten the Mithril.
If that didn't work, I could get a mold, melt the Mithril, and pour it in.
The downside was that I'd have to make a blast furnace.
Besides, there was no guarantee the mold could withstand molten metal.
In the worst-case scenario, the blast furnace I'd worked so hard to make could melt down too.
Every option had clear pros and cons, so I couldn't help worrying.
Let's eat first.
No matter what, food was important. I could keep worrying about Mithril tomorrow.
When I went up to the river, there were two fish caught in the Fish Trap. Not bad.
I was about to clean them like always when something occurred to me, and I stopped.
Should I try cutting with Mithril?
There were Mithril fragments that had broken while I was mining. Some had sharp edges.
Just how sharp was Mithril? Filled with anticipation, I slit open a fish's belly.
Shhk-
It felt like using a dagger. Exactly like that.
I hadn't sharpened the edge, but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
Would it be different if I used aura?
When I used aura, though, I got quite the surprise.
Even with only a little mana, the aura blazed like fire.
Maybe I'd gotten stronger, so I used aura on my dagger too, but there was a clear difference.
I tried aura on other tools to confirm it, and the results were similar.
They needed much more mana than Mithril before their aura performed properly.
So that's how it is.
The fuel efficiency was absurd. That explained everything.
This was probably what the dwarf had meant by saying its performance would be good.
Since this was Mithril, not Orichalcum, I could be sure.
It'll be a huge help in a long fight.
Other than when I fought the Orichalcum Guardian, I'd never run out of mana before.
Still, mana, or rather aura itself, was an incredibly inefficient technique.
Unless it took shape like an Aura Blade, it burned like flames. Anyone could see how inefficient that was.
Maybe it would be even more efficient than Heavenly Demon’s Sword. I could push my training harder, too.
It's not completely useless.
Efficiency was one of the most important factors for someone like me, whose survival depended on it.
This Mithril raised that efficiency through the roof, making it almost essential.
I'd have to make all kinds of tools with it.
Its performance was similar to steel, but it was lighter, making it perfect.
Mining it is the problem, though.
There was nothing I could do about that. I just had to put in the eeeeffort.
After finishing dinner, I cleaned up before going to sleep.
I left the area I'd dug as it was, planning to dig there again tomorrow.
The Elixir... I'll keep it above my head.
A thief could sneak in during the night and steal something.
The Fast Sloth would wake up and stop them, but it was better to be prepared.
Once I finished setting everything up, I logged into the gallery.
I didn't have anything in particular to say. I was just curious whether anything had happened.
Tomorrow makes fifteen days.
A lot had happened over those fifteen days. Today, I'd gotten my ass kicked by the chief monkey.
Tomorrow, I would retrieve Orichalcum from the Orichalcum cave and receive a crystal ball to use as CCTV.
While I was at it, I'd work on making a blast furnace too. I could ask the dwarf about its structure.
I've got a lot to do.
Whenever I finished one thing, two more appeared. Whenever I finished two, five more showed up.
Mithril especially could only be processed in the Forest of Four Seasons.
With mixed feelings, I browsed the gallery. I needed to clear my head.
[Post title] Wild Grylls. The shoes are complete.
While browsing the gallery, I spotted that post.
I thought it was an ordinary attention-seeking post, but then I noticed it had been made by a registered user.
Who is this?
WillBeADuke. It was a username that sounded familiar.
Curious, I opened the post.
[Post title] Wild Grylls. The shoes are complete.
[Author] GonnaBeADuke
[Post] (Photo of finely crafted leather shoes)
[Post] (Photo of leather shoes remaining intact after water is poured on them)
[Post] (Photo of shoes that are difficult to tear even with a knife)
They were photos of shoes. Come to think of it, I'd forgotten about this.
I'd said I'd give an Adult Mandrake to anyone who gave me good shoes.
As soon as I said that, several people posted pictures of shoes, but most of them weren't to my liking.
One of them had even tried to scam me, so I gave them the finger and called it a day.
On top of that, the shoes made by the dwarf's friend had killed off the competition.
They said that no matter how hard they tried, it was all pointless in front of a dwarven craftsman.
I liked the shoes made by the dwarf's friend too, so I hadn't given it another thought.
But this person...
This registered user was different. Even after all that time, they kept trying.
Of course, if they'd put in the effort and the result had sucked, I would've ignored them.
[Post] (Video of someone repeatedly bringing a sledgehammer down on the foot of a person wearing the shoes)
└ B-Boss;; Y-You can stop now;;
└ How many times are they gonna hit it? Fuck, lol
└ That foot's gonna get smashed to pieces;;
└ They haven't screamed once. Those really do seem tough lol
└ Maybe they're just gritting their teeth and enduring it lol
└ [GonnaBeADuke]: (Photo of a figure wearing a mask) I figured people would say that, so I recorded this too. It was filmed with a crystal ball.
└ Fuck, look how thorough they are lol
└ What's with the mask? That looks like something you'd wear to a masquerade. Are they a noble?
└ And who's swinging the sledgehammer?
└ [GonnaBeADuke]: My son.
└ LOL
└ LMAOOOO
└ That's some intense filial devotion, fuck lol
└ Even if that's their son, isn't the kid hitting way too hard? LMAO
If it hadn't been for that video, I would've dismissed them. No matter how tough the shoes were, who took a sledgehammer to them?
That made me trust them more. They'd put their own body on the line to prove the product's performance.
I only felt awkward for a moment. Worried someone would get hurt worse, I hurriedly left a comment.
The shoes performed fine, so I think we can trade.
└ [Wild Grylls]: B-Boss. You didn't have to do that. You weren't hurt, right?
└ [GonnaBeADuke]: (Video of a foot being removed from the shoe after being struck with a sledgehammer) Yes.
└ Wow. Thorough as hell. This is real product certification;;
└ Who made those? I want them.
└ I'll buy those!
└ Buy me a pair too!
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Hey. You win. Those seem better than the shoes my friend made;;
└ Damn, the dwarf just conceded.
└ If a dwarf is admitting defeat, it must be the real deal lol
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll buy them. But it's late, so would tomorrow work?
└ [GonnaBeADuke]: It will.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll send you a message in a moment.
I sent them a message because it seemed like we needed to talk privately.
Despite their stiff way of speaking, they seemed passionate. I liked them.
[You]: Hello, GonnaBeADuke.
[You]: I looked over the shoes.
[You]: You need an Adult Mandrake, right?
[GonnaBeADuke]: That is correct.
[You]: You don't need anything else?
[GonnaBeADuke]: I do not.
[GonnaBeADuke]: I urgently need an Adult Mandrake.
They urgently needed an Adult Mandrake. I could feel the desperation in their words.
It looked like someone was suffering from an illness.
Otherwise, there was no reason to pass on everything else and insist on only an Adult Mandrake.
I can trust them.
Between the video and the messages, they seemed trustworthy.
I told them I would send the Adult Mandrake tomorrow, then closed the gallery window.
Tomorrow would be the fifteenth day, and I planned to consume the Inner Core as well.
Making a blast furnace and trading with GonnaBeADuke. There was a lot to do.
The Guardian won't wake up while I'm asleep, right?
Thankfully, nothing like that happened.
"Ah. What the hell is this now?"
Aside from the section I'd struggled to mine having completely regenerated, that is.
I didn't want all-you-can-mine Mithril, but apparently I was getting it.
Is it a planarian?
Planarian Mithril. I had no idea what kind of horrific hybrid that was.
Footnotes:
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