WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

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◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 84

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A Blacksmith's Sense of Responsibility

* * *

This confirmed it, but....

There was something I'd been slightly mistaken about, up until now.

Looking back, blacksmithing, that is, making gear, always carried my ego in it.

Which made sense.

Since I shaped each piece with intent, deciding what it would become and what abilities it would carry....

the finished product always carried my intentions and will within it.

That was probably why I felt more attached to it, more familiar with it.

More than anything, it felt like something I could take full responsibility for, start to finish.

But the Potential Abilities that appeared from pushing the Enhancement high, honestly, those felt distant from my own opinions and will.

And what just happened seemed to confirm that even more.

"Whew."

So far, the pieces I'd pushed Enhancement to its limit on were the Silver Palace, the Ether Circle, and Dolores's hair tie.

The first two of those weren't things I'd made myself.

So I'd come to realize that what ability would emerge at the end of an Enhancement, and what direction it would end up taking, didn't flow the way I wanted it to.

Which was probably why, without even realizing it, I'd started to think of these particular pieces as....

The Ether Circle especially.

'Whoever wants it can have it.'

That was pretty much how I'd been thinking of it.

"Guess that wasn't the right way to think about it."

The lazy assumption that if someone felt a side effect while using it, they'd stop on their own.

Because even if it wasn't gear I'd made myself, the moment I put my own hands to it and pushed up its performance, some measure of responsibility fell on me.

"If you're a blacksmith...."

you have to take responsibility for whatever comes out of your work, no matter what. Once you've picked up the hammer, it came out of the blacksmith's own hands, didn't it?

You can't pick it up and then turn around and blame someone else.

First, let's see how the Compatibility Rating turned out. Normally, a Compatibility Rating set by a Potential Ability wouldn't change, but... this was a special case.

I opened Yeomhwa's interface and tried putting the Circle on.

─────────────────

[Ether Circle][★★★★☆]

[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility Rating][39 / 80]

[Enhancement Level][+20]

─────────────────

[The Potential Ability no longer interferes with the wearer's mana circuits.]

[The +20 Potential Ability, 'Recursive Incantation,' restructures the existing Potential Abilities' circulation structure.]

[Accumulated mana now passes through an independent circuit inside the Ether Circle.]

[No further damage or long-term side effects will occur from the equipment, but the already-damaged mana circuits will require separate treatment and recovery.]

─────────────────

"39."

Since the equipment's whole effect had changed entirely, it had improved a lot.

Comparable to how well the Silver Palace suited Dolores, maybe? Just perfectly fine, all around.

No problem using it now. And there didn't seem to be any room left for it to break her down further, so....

the after-sales service had, in its own way, ended in success.

"Guess I should go tell her myself."

- Jingle.

I headed for the mansion with the Ether Circle in hand.

Dolores first, though.

"I got it to +20, for now."

"Well done, Lionel."

"...Dolores, there's something I need to tell you."

I was planning to explain the whole chain of events to Yeomhwa.

Why the bracelet had wrecked her body, and that she'd need to rest and recover from here on.

And, naturally, that I was the one who'd done the enhancing.

The problem, obviously, was that my identity would come out, since no one really knew who I actually was yet.

When I explained my plan...

Dolores thought it over for a moment, then nodded.

"...Our oath as sisters means none of us can ever act in a way that harms another."

"...I see."

"Though it'd probably be the same even without the oath."

An oath... that was pretty strong wording. They trusted each other, sure, but it sounded like there was something more binding on top of that.

"Honestly, I've thought for a while now that you needed someone solidly on your side besides me, Lionel."

"Me?"

"Mm, you're just too remarkable."

Maman said, smiling faintly.

"The moment that gets out, plenty of people will want you for themselves."

"......"

"That's why I haven't told my sisters about you, even now. I didn't think the time was right yet."

Dolores paused for a moment...

"...Though maybe that was just my own greed talking."

she said, with a small laugh, and went on.

"There's a limit to how long I can keep hiding you, so gradually letting people in is probably the right way to go."

Dolores looked at the Ether Circle in my hand.

"You need to slowly build up a circle of people who'd know your worth and still not exploit you, people you can trust with your secret."

"......"

"Yeomhwa could easily be one of those people."

In other words, since I couldn't keep the secret forever, I needed to build up more allies I could share it with.

Grow the number of people on my side, little by little.

And Yeomhwa could be one of them.

From what I'd seen of her so far, Dolores was absolutely not the type to trust people easily.

But if Maman was this sure of it, I had no reason to keep worrying about it.

I took her hand as it was and headed for Yeomhwa's room.

- Knock, knock.

"Mind if we come in?"

- Who's theeere?

What was with all this cheer.

Had she already recovered some?

- Creak.

When the door opened, Yeomhwa was sitting propped up against the bed.

Her color was still a bit pale, but her eyes were less bloodshot than before, better than earlier, at least.

"Hi there."

Yeomhwa waved at me.

"Cute kid. This is Lionel?"

"Mm."

Dolores, standing beside me, answered.

"Sorry about earlier... I was out of it, honestly I barely remember any of it. Let me at least give you some pocket money. Hold on...."

"It's fine."

I stopped Yeomhwa as she started rummaging through her clothes.

Pocket money... well, I'd already gotten plenty of that.

"Mm, but...."

Yeomhwa's eyes rolled around for a moment before dropping to my hand.

"Is that my bracelet?"

"......"

I didn't answer, just held up the Ether Circle.

"...Here for the after-sales service."

Honestly, calling it "after-sales service" felt like a stretch, since there hadn't been an instruction manual to begin with, maybe "recall" was the better word.

"Hm?"

Yeomhwa tilted her head.

"Just take it for now."

- Slip.

I set the Ether Circle down on the bed, along with the appraisal certificate I'd brought.

I'd printed it out quickly using the appraisal machine in Dolores's study.

Yeomhwa picked up the bracelet and the certificate first.

"...The Ether Circle...."

As she read down the page...

- Flinch.

"...+20?"

"Yes."

"...Huh?"

Yeomhwa blinked, then looked at Dolores.

Her eyes darted back and forth between me, the bracelet, and Dolores.

"What is this?"

"Let me explain simply."

I just laid it out plainly.

"I'm the one who enhanced this Ether Circle up to +16."

"......"

"And I'm also the one who just enhanced it up to +20."

"......"

Wow.

So a person's expression really could change that fast.

Yeomhwa's eyes turned to Dolores this time, and Dolores nodded without a word.

She seemed to spend a moment just trying to process the situation.

"Am I dreaming?"

- Riiip....

The seaweed-like strip stuck to Yeomhwa's forehead peeled off.

"...I'll explain this part."

Dolores, a far more credible speaker than me, stepped in.

She explained it briefly. That, though I hadn't known this myself, from the photo of the Chore Gloves at +20 that Dolores had once sent in their group chat, all the way to this Ether Circle, every bit of it had been Lionel's work.

"No, wait, how does that even, oh my god."

Yeomhwa flapped around for nearly five minutes before pointing at me like she couldn't believe it.

"So this cute little baby is the one who enhanced this Ether Circle?"

Baby?

I was fourteen, thank you very much.

- Nod.

Dolores nodded.

"...Yes."

I answered evenly.

"So you're the one who flipped the Company on its head...?"

Yeomhwa muttered it half to herself, then suddenly her eyes went round.

"I'm the one who bought this, Lionel! I've been putting it to real good use. You have no idea how much my ranking's gone up thanks to this thing! And you took it all the way to +20 for me? Guess getting sick comes with presents like this. I guess people really do need to fall sick sometimes. Guess it was about time, too."

"......"

Just talking to her was draining me dry.

It was a different feeling from Isabella, if Isabella kept cutting me off mid-sentence,

Yeomhwa just never left an opening to speak in the first place. I'd met about two of Dolores's acquaintances so far.

Neither of them was easy.

It felt like I was about to lose the reins of the conversation entirely, so I forced myself to speak up.

"Anyway, this bracelet is what made you sick."

"......Huh?"

At least once I said something, Yeomhwa actually focused on it.

I explained the gear as simply as I could.

How a Potential Ability had formed from the enhancement, and so on, that part was too technical, so I skipped it.

I just told her the Ether Circle hadn't been compatible with her mana circuits....

and that using it too much without realizing that had caused the problem.

And that once it reached +20, the way the equipment worked had changed, so the same side effects wouldn't happen anymore, but her already-damaged body would still need separate treatment.

Yeomhwa didn't interrupt once, just nodded along and listened to the whole explanation.

"So...."

Yeomhwa looked back down at the bracelet.

"This little thing made me sick?"

"Yes."

"And now the bracelet's fine, no, better than fine, honestly I'm drooling a little just thinking about it, ugh, whatever, but my body still needs some treatment?"

"Yes, exactly."

Yeomhwa nodded, more calmly than I'd expected.

And... this was where the real point of it all came in.

I bowed my head slightly.

"It was my fault for not properly checking and warning you about the risk before selling it. I'm sorry."

"Ehh...?"

Yeomhwa tilted her head.

Honestly, revealing my identity at all had been just so I could say this.

This was gear I'd put my hands to and sent out into the world, and someone had nearly died using it, right now.

A blacksmith's sense of responsibility.

"Why's the baby apologizing?"

"Because it's gear I enhanced and put out there...."

"...Huh? I'm the one who used it because I liked it, though...."

Yeomhwa added, laughing under her breath.

"I'm just the type who pushes herself too hard, always have been. If my body says it's fine, I'll do it a few more times."

She held up her index finger.

"And if it screams that it's not fine, I still do it exactly two more times."

"It was dangerous."

"I've always lived dangerously."

If you know that, then why do it.

"This time too, I was the one who got excited over the performance and kept using it. It's not like you forced this onto my wrist, right?"

Yeomhwa stretched a hand out toward me.

"And also, baby."

- Flinch.

Dolores flinched behind me for a second, but seemed to decide the intent wasn't hostile and didn't move any further.

- Tap, tap.

Yeomhwa tapped my cheek.

"Buying gear at an auction house... is a gamble to begin with."

"......"

"You go in braced to get scammed, braced to throw your money away. Right, Dolores? You've gotten scammed plenty of times yourself. Everyone calls her 'the easy mark.'"

"......That's, let's leave that story alone."

Dolores answered flatly.

Prim, particular Maman, an easy mark?

Now that was a culture shock.

Yeomhwa's eyes narrowed into a smile.

"......"

"But what about me? I used this gear to break through a wall. I got the certainty that I could still climb higher."

She fiddled with the bracelet, laughing under her breath.

"A floor I'd been stuck on for three years... in just two days...."

Yeomhwa added, sounding almost dumbfounded.

"I won plenty off this gamble, so blaming the shopkeeper now, just because something went wrong afterward, that'd be pretty strange, don't you think."

"......"

I hadn't known that was what buying gear meant to climbers.

Yeomhwa watched me for a while, then tapped my cheek again.

"You're the one who found the cause, the one who took the bracelet off me before I died, and on top of all that, you pushed it to +20 in a matter of hours."

"......"

"So none of this is your fault. That's the point."

Yeomhwa said firmly.

"Not one bit."

As I failed to answer,

- Poke, poke.

"This baby's got a deep heart, huh."

Yeomhwa gently squished both of my cheeks.

"...What is with him, being this cute?"

- Snap.

"That's enough."

Naturally, Dolores was the one to stop her.

Okay, well... I got the gist of what Yeomhwa meant.

Still, I needed to finish saying what I had in mind.

"Anyway, your circuits are damaged right now."

"Yeah."

"I'll make you a piece of gear that'll help treat that."

"Ohh?"

Fully healing her would be the doctors' job, but gear that helped the treatment along and sped up her recovery, that I could definitely make.

"This time, made to fit you specifically, Yeomhwa."

I'd make the gear Yeomhwa actually needed.

The Lionel Workshop's very first commission, finally opening for business.

Not an accessory, and not a divine implement either.

Custom gear, designed for exactly one person.

Not Dolores, not Ruby, but a complete outsider.

My first customer.

"This'll be my first outside commission, then."

"..........."

Yeomhwa blinked her eyes open and shut, over and over.

Of course, just hearing about it might not be convincing enough on its own, so I should probably show her my portfolio....

The past pieces of gear flashed through my mind for a moment.

Wait... the weapon was Ruby's, and Ruby was off at the social gathering right now.

The one thing I could show her right away was....

"......Give me a moment."

I took off my goggles and held them in one hand.

I stepped over to Dolores and whispered in her ear.

"......!"

Dolores's face went red in an instant, and she flinched...

before finally, reluctantly, taking hold of her own clothes.

- Slip....

As she lifted her clothes just slightly, Spring Breeze Bearing Fire came into view underneath.

"Huh? Wait, is she stripping...... what, that's gorgeous...."

Along with Yeomhwa's exclamation, I said with confidence.

"I'm the one who made this."

That was a bombshell, all right.

Of course, I wasn't planning on making underwear this time.

Yeomhwa's eyes shifted to Dolores.

"Is that true, Elysia?"

"...Mm."

"......"

- Tight....

Yeomhwa grabbed both my hands and leaned her upper body forward.

Her blue eyes, suddenly right in front of my face, stared straight at me.

"Lionel, I'm counting on you."

"Yes."

"Make the color red."

"What?"

"Like that one."

"......?"

I cleared up the small misunderstanding, at least.

I told her that whatever I made this time wouldn't be underwear.

Yeomhwa looked a little disappointed.

Why, though.

Anyway, it was settled that I'd make gear for Yeomhwa.

The three of us headed for the garden to test out the Ether Circle at +20 first.

Thanks to the seaweed strip's treatment, Yeomhwa seemed to have recovered enough to walk on her own.

Though that didn't mean she was completely fine either.

Dolores still kept hold of Yeomhwa's arm.

"Test it with your weakest spell, just once."

"I'm fi-"

"Are you, though?"

"Yesss."

She really behaved herself around Dolores.

We stopped in front of a tree at the far end of the garden.

"So I cast a spell once,"

Yeomhwa looked down at the Ether Circle.

"and think about casting the exact same spell again, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Got iiit."

Yeomhwa stretched her index finger forward.

A red energy gathered at her fingertip, condensing down to about the size of a bean.

"Bang."

- Bang!

The red bullet fired out and lodged into the tree.

A hole about the width of a finger joint opened up in the bark.

At that instant.

- Hummm....

The bracelet on Yeomhwa's wrist lit up,

"Mm... bang?"

and just the same as before, red mana gathered on its own beside Yeomhwa,

- Bang!

and lodged into the tree right next to the first shot, though the hole was a bit smaller.

"......"

"......"

Well, not bad at all.

"...Oh my, fuck."

But Yeomhwa's reaction was far more intense.

Her eyes went wide as she stared down at the bracelet...

"Lionel, want to sign an exclusive contract with me?"

she asked, beaming, holding out her hand toward me, but...

"Absolutely not."

Dolores cut her off flat.

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