WeTried Translations
Translator: [IncomeElastic]
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◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 70
──────
Isabella's Apology
* * *
Today, too, the God of Effort.
Other artisans... well, I don't actually know if there are other artisans among humans.
Anyway, while other blacksmiths are out there shaping swords and armor, I...
"Uhuhu."
shape underwear.
Am I, currently in the middle of making underwear, really a blacksmith?
Personally, I think I am.
A blacksmith, I figure, is someone who makes good gear for whoever needs it.
And it's not as if I've stopped doing metallurgy, either.
More than anything, her life is riding on this gear, isn't it?
Sounds a little too solemn for underwear, but I have to save Dolores.
So Operation Save Dolores, and by extension, her underwear-making, was about to kick off.
Step one: crush the spirit stones I'd squeezed out of Ruby.
Of course, I'd checked with Dolores first.
"Maman, is it okay if I use these?"
There was no way Ruby could've gotten her hands on ore like this on her own, so I'd assumed they belonged to Dolores...
"...... Spirit stones."
Dolores blinked for a moment.
"Ah, so they're Ruby's. Right, it's fine, just use them however you like."
Permission granted.
Though something felt...
"... Lionel, um."
"Yes."
"...... Never mind. Work hard today too......"
She'd trailed off mid-sentence.
... Setting aside the whole spirit stone thing, there was something off about the way Dolores was looking at me.
How do I put it, like she was debating whether to say something or not, and it felt a little... sticky, somehow.
Thinking it over again.
"... No way, right?"
There's no way she saw, or figured it out, right??
That whole damp-morning-Lionel thing.
Please tell me it's not that.
If it is, I don't think I can ever look Dolores in the eye again. No way, no way.
"Hah... let's just get to work."
My mind went a little haywire for a second there, but I pushed the thought aside for now.
Dignity management could wait.
- Rustle.
I laid leather over the anvil.
Poured almost all the spirit stones on top, then covered them with more leather.
And then.
- Thud thud thud!
I brought the hammer down.
If I just pounded away directly, the precious powder, well, honestly I don't even know if it's precious, but the powder would've gone flying everywhere.
This ended up being Dawn Bringer's first real trial run, as it turned out.
"... Wow."
Guess a Compatibility Rating of 80 isn't something you win playing some kids' card-flipping game.
From the grip to the weight, everything about it just felt like it fit me perfectly.
... If a hammer felt this good, I almost felt bad for the rankers who'd someday put on my gear and get hooked on a whole different level.
With a Compatibility Rating like that, once they got a taste, there'd be no escaping it...
"Heheh."
While I was off daydreaming about that happy future, I could feel the stones inside the leather had already crumbled.
The feel coming back through the hammer had gone a little soft.
- Slide.
I opened the cover to check.
Most of it had shattered, though, hm, there were still a few big chunks left.
"Just a little more."
- Thud thud thud thud!!
Until the stones became gravel, and the gravel became sand.
I kept swinging the hammer for quite a while.
- Crunch, crunch......
And finally, I used Dawn Bringer's broad face to grind the remaining grains into every last corner.
- Shhhff......
When I pulled back the cover, a heaping pile of finely ground, rainbow-colored powder sat inside.
Spirit stone powder, complete.
I didn't have time to marvel at it, so I carefully gathered the powder together.
and headed straight for the cooling tank I'd already filled with cold water.
- Shhhk......
No need to think it over.
I just poured it straight in.
According to the manual, the ratio of spirit stone to water was 1 to 1.5.
I'd already set everything up in advance, so all I had to do was pour.
The colorful powder settled into the water, and I grabbed a stick right away.
- Stir, stir.
and stirred the cooling tank.
At first, the powder just spun around on top of the water.
But why wasn't anything changing?
Right as I started getting a little anxious.
- Sticky......
resistance slowly started building from the tip of the stick,
- Thick......
"Oh, oh......"
The water in the cooling tank had thickened up, kind of like Greek yogurt.
Rainbow-colored Greek yogurt... hm......
It could probably at least work as a diet aid.
Killed my appetite instantly.
Anyway, I pushed the pointless thoughts aside and brought over the spinneret I'd prepared beforehand.
I'd thrown this together that morning: a cylinder fitted at the bottom with a spinning plate riddled with holes thinner than a strand of hair, packed tightly together.
I transferred the liquid from the cooling tank into the spinneret,
- Click.
closed the lid, and turned the handle.
- Creak... creak......
The more I turned it, the further the press plate inside descended, pushing the contents out.
Basically, it worked the same as a cold-noodle extruder.
You put the dough in, press down from the top, and noodles come out, right? That's the idea.
I'd copied the design straight from that, too.
- Sqqueeze......
Before long, the thick liquid got pushed down and out, and then.
- Ssshff......
Rainbow-colored noodles came spilling out through the countless holes in the spinning plate... no.
Threads. Threads were what came out.
I carefully gathered up the threads dangling down from the spinning plate,
I had gloves on, but since they hadn't fully set yet, I could still feel a faint stickiness.
If I just left them like this, they'd stick to each other something fierce.
"Slowly......"
I fixed the ends of the threads to one side of the anvil... and slowly turned the handle while moving the spinneret gradually toward the other side.
- Slip......
I shook the noodles out a little at a time so they wouldn't overlap, keeping them evenly spaced.
Did I seriously just call them noodles, shit... I can feel my brain rotting.
- Rustle......
Once I finally fixed the far end in place too, a few hundred strands of rainbow-colored thread lay sprawled across the anvil.
Now for the real part.
I picked Dawn Bringer back up from where I'd set it beside the anvil and adjusted my grip.
Light strikes for the threads that would go in the upper part of the bra.
- Bang!
Strong strikes for the threads that would support the underbust.
- Baaang!
I adjusted the force as I struck the threads.
Each time, wherever the hammer touched turned pure white.
- Baaang! Bang!
By the time the hammering was done, only white threads remained on the anvil.
Now it finally looked a bit like noodles.
Apparently Spirit Thread's grade depends on whoever the spirit stone used as material originally belonged to.
So I wondered, just what kind of spirit stone had this one of Ruby's actually been......
I looked at the threads with my heart pounding, and
─────────────────
[Spirit Thread: Striving (勵)][★★★★☆]
─────────────────
『Spirit Thread made from a crystal a high-rank Wind Spirit gave to a beloved companion.』
『Pull it slowly and it stretches soft; the instant it takes a strong impact, it hardens firm.』
『Gear crafted from this material increases the wearer's agility in proportion to the amount used.』
─────────────────
"Fuck."
This was the jackpot of all jackpots.
Good. This is unconditionally good.
I don't know exactly how impressive a high-rank Wind Spirit is, but the important part is right there.
'Increases agility.'
It's rare for a raw material to come with a stat boost like that spelled out right at the material stage.
As a clear-cut example, even the White-Fire Crystal was 4-star, and it didn't have anything like this written on it at all.
This genuinely feels ridiculous, doesn't it?
"Seriously, Ruby......"
Where in the world did she even get stones like this......
Talk about a devoted daughter.
Well, since the Spirit Thread was headed straight for Dolores's underwear anyway, I guess Ruby really was being the devoted daughter here.
Anyway, it clearly seemed amazing......
But if I wanted to really get a proper sense of it, asking the Elves directly was probably the fastest way.
"Yuna, pull up my DMs."
I took a picture of the finished Spirit Thread along with the small amount of leftover spirit stone beside it, and sent it to Erien.
【Me】: I tried making some Spirit Thread. Is this any good?
【Me】: Oh, and I also have some spirit stone left, is this good too?
Hm, what an obnoxious message that is.
Guess I just wanted to try sending one like that, once.
I figured I'd just keep working on the rest until a reply came.
"Turn off notifications for that DM."
[Mm-hm]
I slowly turned my head.
"Hah......"
Sure, I'd drawn out some thread, but more than half the liquid in the cooling tank was still left,
and the Spirit Thread sitting on the anvil amounted to barely a single bundle.
Shit, fuck this.
"...... Let's get started."
It was time to start the damn grind.
At least two days.
"Sighhh."
That's about what I'd guess.
* * *
Meanwhile, at a certain elegant mansion.
"Nnnghhh......"
A woman with long, flowing purple hair.
Isabella lay collapsed over her desk, clutching her head.
Stacked in towers on either side of her were books,
『The Fundamentals of Conversation』
『How to Respect Someone Else's Refusal』
『A Hundred Ways to Apologize Sincerely』
Funnily enough, not a single one of them had anything to do with magic.
"Aahhh......"
Isabella groaned as she turned the pages.
The reason she was studying etiquette that didn't suit her personality or temperament in the slightest, not even a little,
was because of something that had happened a few months earlier.
As always, she'd shown up at Dolores's house without any warning,
and played with that fascinating child, Lionel.
But Dolores had exploded with a fury unlike anything before, hurling out harsh, biting words.
'...... Me.'
Dolores, the one woman who'd at least been kind to Isabella.
For her to get that angry, there had to be a real reason behind it, or so Isabella had realized.
It hadn't been intentional, but it had worked like a kind of shock therapy.
In the end, Isabella had trespassed into the Duchy without permission and tormented Lionel, the fascinating little kid Dolores was raising......
Of course, at the time she'd thought she was just playing with him, not tormenting him, but she'd since come to realize it really had been torment.
Months now, of working her way through countless books.
"... Waaahhh......"
Isabella had come to realize she'd been getting quite a lot of things wrong.
She opened the book again.
『One must not touch another person's body without their permission.』
"Why......?"
She'd reflexively questioned it, but the very next page read.
『The habit of asking "why" before anything else must also be corrected.』
"......."
It kept landing counters on Isabella like this, over and over,
and in the end, she'd finished writing out the handwritten letter of apology she'd spent so long preparing.
"... So I'm sorry, Dolores. I want to apologize to Lionel too."
- Scritch, scritch.
Not a DM, a letter.
This was the result that had come out at the end of roughly her thirty-eighth attempt.
"Mirage."
- Caw!
A crow answering her call flew in through the window.
"This...... take it to Dolores's manor."
She hesitated for a moment before adding one more thing.
"Um... don't just go barging straight through the barrier...... circle around up in the sky instead."
Once Dolores spotted Mirage, she'd probably signal for it to come down.
And if she saw it and pretended not to.......
"then I'll just have to wait until she's not angry anymore......"
Asking someone else's permission. Respecting it when they say no.
Waiting until their anger had faded......
Honestly, none of it came easy to her.
- Caw-caw!
Mirage cawed as though it didn't much like the idea,
"Well, I wonder who you take after......"
Even this, she figured, was karma she'd brought on herself.
Isabella let out a sigh.
* * *
Dolores's weekly schedule was fairly simple.
On days she needed to inspect the territory, she inspected the territory.
If there was business to handle in the Tower, she headed for the Tower.
If work had piled up, she'd sometimes hole up in her office all day......
Today.
Today, though, was a day for doing absolutely nothing.
"Hm-hmm......"
On days like this, Dolores would brew herself a cup of tea and sit by the window.
and watch Ruby and Lionel.
Ruby, exercising in the parlor. Lionel, off in the workshop hammering away at something.
Her surveillance web covered every corner of the manor's interior, so she could always tell exactly what they were up to.
It hadn't originally been there; she'd set it up because of two specific incidents.
One was Isabella. The other was... Lionel overworking himself.
Wouldn't do to have him collapse while working......
Both were serious enough matters that she'd had no choice.
"Heheh......"
Her favorite hour of the whole week.
Today, Dolores's eyes were fixed on the workshop.
Lionel was turning the handle of some cylinder with all his might,
and threads came spraying out of it in a steady stream.
When he struck them with the hammer, they even turned pure white.
"That's really something......"
Dolores rested her chin on her hand and watched.
How on earth did that child know a method like that?
What could possibly be packed inside that tiny head of his?
"... Adorable."
Not that it mattered what was in there, so long as he stayed healthy.
Just as she went to take a sip of her tea,
Lionel's hammering stopped.
- Argh.
He suddenly let out a deep sigh, glancing back and forth between the leftover liquid and the threads, and his face twisted into an expression of pure exasperation.
And then.
- Splat.
He flopped down onto the workshop floor.
"Oh my......"
Seems like he's having a really hard time.
Should she go bring him in and put him to bed?
Just as Dolores rose from her seat,
Lionel, still lying down, dragged over the paper bag beside him.
He rummaged around inside it......
and pulled out a piece of black, lace-trimmed fabric......
- Plop.
and draped it over his own face.
And then.
- Zzz......
He fell asleep.
"......................."
Dolores's cheeks flushed red.
For the boy's privacy, it was probably best she stopped watching.
He was a boy, after all......
"I understand, Lionel......"
After what had happened yesterday, she was well aware this was territory he'd naturally have plenty of curiosity about.
Just as Dolores hastily withdrew the spell that had been watching over the workshop,
- Caw!
A cry came from outside the window, or rather, from somewhere up in the sky.
"......."
She narrowed her eyes and looked up at the sky.
'Right, it was about time.'
Not bothering to hide her presence, that much deserved credit.
In her own way, she'd come a long way, Dolores thought.
- Snap.
She snapped her fingers, and a gap opened in the barrier,
and as if it had been waiting for exactly that, a purple crow swooped quickly down.
- Flap!
The crow landed on the windowsill and held out the letter tied to its leg.
"Did your owner send you with this?"
- Caw!
"......."
She took the letter and held it up.
Just from the handwriting on the envelope, it was obvious who'd sent it.
"Hah......"
Isabella.
What was she going to say this time......
It was predictable.
That she hadn't meant it that way, that she'd just gotten curious, that Lionel had simply been too... fascinating to resist.
The whole letter would probably be nothing but one flimsy excuse after another.
The single most exhausting letter to read, before she'd even opened it.
What Dolores really wanted right now was to go back to healing herself with a dose of pure, organic Lionel, cute and mischievous as ever.
... Still, since she'd gone to the trouble of sending it, Dolores supposed she ought to read it.
- Rustle.
Dolores tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter.
And read the first line.
『First of all, this is entirely my fault, no excuses.』
"...... Huh?"
Dolores let out a strange noise without meaning to.
She leaned out to check which direction the sun was setting, just in case it had started setting in the east.
『I'm truly sorry, Dolores. And to Lionel too.』
"...... Huh?"
Dolores
was seeing Isabella apologize for the very first time.
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