WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 66

──────

Argh, Yustia!!!

* * *

"Niiiiiice!!!!"

I roared at the dawn sky just breaking into light.

And then.

The moment I finished roaring, all the strength drained clean out of my legs.

- Thud.

I sank down right there onto the garden floor, still gripping the hammer.

The first thing that hit me after finishing the hammer was elation.

Then, right on its heels, exhaustion started rolling in.

Only natural, after working myself that hard.

- Flop.

I flopped backward and lay flat out on the ground.

Ugh, it's damp.

Morning dew, maybe? My back was going to be soaked through, but right then I couldn't have cared less.

The sky was slowly brightening.

I set Dawn Bringer down on my chest.

True to its name, the sun was rising.

Strange.

My body was a wreck, but my head felt clearer than it had since I'd arrived in this world.

Like I'd finally finished some homework I'd been putting off forever.

[Congrats, big brother]

"Thanks."

As I lay there like that.

Like it had already been arranged, as a matter of course.

- Rustle.

Someone came walking across the wet grass.

"……."

I didn't even have to turn my head to know.

An upside-down face slid into view above me.

Dolores looked down at me without a word...

- Shff.

then knelt down right beside me.

She slid a hand under my head and rested it on her own knees.

She was still in her nightgown. It would get soaked through on the wet grass.

My clothes I could afford to ruin, but Maman's clothes are expensive.

"...Mm~."

Doesn't seem like she cares at all.

"You stayed up all night, didn't you, Lionel?"

"Guess I did."

"And skipped meals too."

I'd braced myself for a scolding.

- Shff.

Dolores's hand gently brushed my bangs back.

"You did well."

- Smooch.

Her lips touched my forehead.

- Tap-tap.

She tapped the hammer a couple of times with her finger...

"You really did it, in the end. You worked so hard."

This time...

- Smooch...

on my cheek.

"?!"

That was the first cheek kiss ever.

Wh-what is this?! I'm overwhelmed here.

Becoming a Skilled Blacksmith gets you a cheek kiss from Dolores?

Wait, are you serious? I should've gone Skilled way sooner.

- Shff.

Dolores's cool arm slid in under my calves.

She lifted me right up.

"Whoa."

My body rose into the air.

This is a full-on princess carry...

A little embarrassing. I tried to ask to be put down.

But the warmth against the back of my neck felt so cool and soothing,

Before I knew it, I opened my eyes to find myself in bed.

- Shff... smooch.

"Sleep well."

And just like that, I fell asleep.

* * *

Princess Yustia.

From early that morning, she'd summoned the imperial palace's top appraisers.

Lately, her skin had regained its vitality.

Her cheeks had filled out, and beyond simple healthy color, she now radiated the freshness and beauty befitting her age.

Her brother was the same.

Riding lessons and sword lessons had become part of the Prince's morning routine now.

These days, she had nothing left in the world to worry about.

"...Well? Is something wrong?"

The item that could be called the source of all this happiness.

The reason she'd regained her vitality and her health.

'The Cradle of the Earth.'

The earrings made by Sir Lionel had changed overnight.

They'd always been beautiful, immaculate and lovely to begin with.

But today, the Green Jade set at their center had deepened in color, and the tree engraved within it looked fuller, as though its branches had grown out further.

And though no one had laid a hand on them, the gold rim had begun to shine.

"…….."

The appraiser noticed the change too.

Without a word, he immediately activated the appraisal machine.

And the appraisal document it printed out.

─────────────────

[The Cradle of the Earth][★★★✦☆][+0.5]

[Unique Equipment] [Divine Implement (神具)]

─────────────────

Smoothed the earth and laid the sprout to rest within it.

Hands that, the whole time they worked, pictured only one person.

Ground that stays silent even when trodden, that opens its embrace even when dug into,

an ode sent to that warm, welcoming earth.

─────────────────

『I'll make you something so no other shoddy accessory will ever cross your mind again.』

- Skilled Blacksmith L -

─────────────────

"…….."

"What's wrong? Is there some kind of problem?"

Yustia asked, hurried, but

instead of answering, the appraiser pulled out an older appraisal document he'd carefully kept and laid it out alongside the new one.

─────────────────

[The Cradle of the Earth][★★★☆☆]

[Unique Equipment] [Divine Implement (神具)]

─────────────────

Smoothed the earth and laid the sprout to rest within it.

Hands that, the whole time they worked, pictured only one person.

Ground that stays silent even when trodden, that opens its embrace even when dug into,

an ode sent to that warm, welcoming earth.

─────────────────

『I'll make you something so no other shoddy accessory will ever cross your mind again.』

- Certified Blacksmith L -

─────────────────

The two sheets sat side by side on the table. Yustia looked them over as well.

First, there were two things that had changed.

The number of stars had shifted, subtly.

Up through three, it was the same, but a small extra star had been added on beside them.

And decisively.

The Origin Script's "Certified Blacksmith" had changed to "Skilled Blacksmith."

"…….."

The appraiser's fingertips trembled.

Well, counting the years since he'd started in this line of work, it came out to about forty.

Twenty-five of those spent serving in the imperial palace.

In all that time, he'd run the appraisal machine over more items than he could count.

But not once.

Truly, not even once, ever,

"...What in the world?"

had he seen a piece of gear, already finished and complete, grow all on its own.

A piece of gear's rank was fixed the moment it was made.

After that, the only thing you could do to it was enchant it, a concept that hadn't even existed before the Tower appeared, and even enchanting couldn't raise its rank.

Three stars stayed three stars until the thing broke.

That was common knowledge...

"...Your Highness."

That word in the changed Origin Script. "Skilled Blacksmith."

It had to mean the maker of this gear, someone called Lionel, had grown.

Which meant this was...

'Doesn't this look exactly like retroactive application?'

"The gear has grown."

"...Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry."

The appraiser bowed his head.

"Beyond this point, I have nothing more I can tell you."

"…….."

"This is outside anything I know."

- Shff... tap... tap....

He carefully gathered the two appraisal sheets together.

"I'll search for any precedent right away. I'll dig through the records too. But..."

"…….."

"...there's likely only one person alive right now who could actually answer for this item."

In truth, it was clear that no clean answer would turn up no matter how deep he dug into the records.

So, if she truly wanted to know,

"Might I suggest asking the maker directly?"

Yustia mulled over the appraiser's words for a moment...

Truth was,

she'd wanted to reach out to him this whole time,

but as a princess, she couldn't just contact a duchy privately,

and she'd been fretting over having no excuse she could use to reach him.

Realizing this was her chance to contact him,

"I'll do that!"

she shot up out of her seat.

"I'll write a letter right away... no, actually, contacting him directly through the communication crystal would make more sense than a letter. He'll need to see the item itself to know anything. Yes, that would be better."

The appraiser quietly finished putting the appraisal documents away.

"Thank you!"

And with that, Her Highness the Princess

took the earrings and hurried out of the room.

"Heh heh."

Just a month ago,

no one,

would have believed

they'd ever see her smile so brightly.

* * *

I slept like a rock.

Really, deeply, soundly.

When I woke up, I found I'd been hugging the hammer tight the whole time.

Honestly, I still wanted to hug it now.

And the moment I woke up,

"You're up?"

I turned my head and saw Dolores sitting in the chair beside the bed.

"…….."

She had a book open on her lap.

Wait, don't tell me...

"Have you been sitting here this whole time?"

"Yes."

I had no idea how many hours I'd even slept.

- Snap.

Dolores closed the book and rose slowly from her seat.

"Time for breakfast, don't you think, Lionel?"

- Smooch.

One, on my forehead, before she left.

She kissed my forehead.

But.

I have a morning routine, actually.

Carefully inspecting Dolores's thighs.

Well, not for any perverted reason... uh...

Anyway, it's because if I spot a run in the stockings or any other problem during the inspection, I need to fix it right away.

Think of it as a routine after-sales-service check.

But today, of all days.

Today, of all days...

'Today, of all days, her thighs look especially pretty.'

I mean, Dolores's thighs are pretty to begin with.

That much is a given.

The problem is, even accounting for that, they suit the stockings unusually well today.

The faint reddish fabric clung to her legs far more snugly than before.

What is this?

I trust my own eye.

These are thighs I look at more than ten times a day.

There's no way I'd miss a change.

"...Dolores!"

"Yes?"

She must have noticed I was staring hard at something,

since she'd paused for a moment, waiting by the door.

"Could you come over here?"

I patted the spot beside the bed, and Dolores obediently came over.

"What is it, Lionel?"

"...There's something I need to check..."

I looked over the stockings once more.

Different. Something's different right now.

"Could you... take off the stockings for me?"

"...Um?"

Dolores flinched slightly at the request,

then her face flushed,

and she slipped a hand beneath the fabric covering her lower stomach.

And then.

- Click, click.

along with the sound of the garter belt's clasps coming undone.

- Shff....

- Rustle.

Dolores handed me the stocking she'd taken off.

...It's warm. Probably not from Dolores's own body heat, I'd guess.

But just thinking of it as her warmth put me in a good mood. I'll go with that.

And then.

I held the stocking up to check it.

Its sheen had definitely gotten better, somehow...

The weave was denser now, and the elasticity had improved too.

Even the scent had improved.

Without wasting any time, I opened the interface...

─────────────────

[Spring Without Frost][★★✦☆☆][+0.5]

[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility Rating][70/70]

─────────────────

[Due to the maker's growth, the Unique Equipment's rank has undergone a retroactive rank-up.]

─────────────────

and what I saw was astonishing.

"...Huh?"

Spring Without Frost.

The stockings had gained an extra star.

Wait, hold on.

Is that even a star?

It's a little underwhelming for a star... more like a tiny cross-shaped mark.

Given it's marked +0.5, the way things stand, this is...

'2.5 stars.'

Seems like that's what it amounts to.

Even the Compatibility Rating had gone up by 10. The old max was 60, and now it filled all the way to 70.

This is insane.

A retroactive rank-up? There was a feature like this?

So basically, because I'd become a Skilled Craftsman,

the gear I'd made before had risen in rank right along with me.

Wait, if that's the case...

I glanced sideways to check the gloves Dolores was wearing.

Actually, right.

I didn't even need to take off her stockings, or make her undo the garter belt.

I could check any piece of gear's interface without any of that.

─────────────────

[the Apprentice Blacksmith's Warming Gloves][★✦☆☆☆][+0.5]

[Compatibility Rating][39/50]

─────────────────

『Because I made it with care, thinking of Dolores…』

- Apprentice Blacksmith L -

─────────────────

[Due to the maker's growth, the Unique Equipment's rank has undergone a retroactive rank-up.]

─────────────────

This one had gone up too.

Considering the original Compatibility Rating was 33/40...

it had risen by about 6.

"...Um, L-Lionel."

- Squeeze, squeeze.

"Yes."

"How much longer do you plan on feeling that? It's a little chilly... if this takes a while, I was thinking of getting under the blanket."

"Oh, I just finished."

- Squeeze, squeeze.

"...Lionel?"

Only then did I stop and hand the stocking back to her.

"Did you happen to notice anything feel different about your gear this morning?"

"...I did, actually. I felt like I was in better condition than usual."

"It's not just your imagination."

Dolores blinked.

"Right now, all your gear's rank has gone up at once."

I explained to her that both the star rating and the gear's underlying rank had risen,

"It seems like, whenever I grow as a blacksmith..."

"Mm."

"the gear grows right along with me."

That was the conclusion I'd come to.

"...That's truly astonishing. This is the first I've ever heard of such a thing."

"I was surprised too."

It wasn't just Dolores. I was hearing about it for the first time myself.

I glanced sideways at the hammer beside me.

The hammer I'd made yesterday, I was honestly happy about it,

but being stuck at three stars had bugged me a little.

Hareungar and the other appraisers had told me over and over that my stars carried a different weight than everyone else's,

but there's still something to appearances, isn't there?

Turns out I don't need to worry about that after all.

Which means...

'You'll keep growing right along with me too.'

A growing ego hammer.

Just the thought of it put me in an even better mood.

The handle was still just roughly made, so there was probably still plenty of room left for it to grow.

"Anyway, so I think you can go ahead and put that back on now."

"Sure, I will. Thank you, Lionel."

As the maker, I needed to confirm how it looked worn again, after all.

I straightened up in my seat so I wouldn't miss a moment of Dolores putting the stocking back on.

I even blinked a few times to sharpen my focus.

This time, there was no Ruby around to cover my eyes.

A truly golden opportunity...

[...Pervert]

Dolores sat perched on the edge of the bed and, spreading the stocking's opening with both hands, hooked it over her toes.

Just as she began slowly pulling it up,

right at that moment,

- Knock, knock, knock.

Ah.

Wait a second.

"Your Grace."

Sebas's voice came from beyond the door.

"A message has come in through the communication crystal."

"…….."

"It appears to be Her Highness the Princess."

Dolores's hands stopped.

She slid the stocking back off her toes,

and looked at me for a moment.

Then, a faint smile rising at the corners of her mouth,

"...Next time, perhaps?"

She said something loaded with an enormous, enormous amount of meaning,

then walked out, stocking still in hand.

- Click.

The door closed.

I stared at the closed door for a long while.

Well, a message.

A message... probably about the change in the earrings, the Cradle of the Earth.

So it grew too, huh.

"Phew..."

Right, after-sales service matters.

Of course it does.

I forced myself to steady my breathing...

and in the end,

"Argh, Yustia!!!"

unable to hold it in,

I bellowed my resentment at Her Highness the Princess for her terrible timing.

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