WeTried Translations
Translator: [IncomeElastic]
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 96
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The Dry Spell Is Over.
* * *
If earth loses to fire, that's probably molten magma.
If fire loses to earth, I figure that's probably ash buried in the ground.
Is it just me, or does this weirdly feel like a proxy war between Ignia and Gaia?
Either way, I'd appreciate it if both of them held back while they're in my workshop.
- Scrape... scrape....
For now, I was cutting a gem cheaper than the Crystal of Consuming Flame.
Gem-cutting was never really the Sun Dwarves' territory to begin with, and I wasn't rich enough to just throw that fine a crystal away on practice, either.
I chip off a flake, smooth an edge.
The emblem's base plate is roughly palm-sized, and not my palm, an adult man's.
I need to shape it so it'll sit properly on top of that.
The basic shape I had in mind was the sun.
Nothing seemed to suit the crystal that carried fire and sun both, so deeply, better than that.
The problem was that if I just cut it round, it'd look like a button, so the real point was carving eight sharp needle-like rays spreading out along the rim.
- Scrape... scrape....
Time to go back to being a Child of the Forest.
If I had to name the core spirit of their craft, it'd be this.
Even the places no one sees, the World Tree is watching.
Meaning even the sides that'll never show, the World Tree is watching them too, so don't skimp on the detail.
Same as with the Cradle of the Earth before, obviously I have to finish the visible face of the gem, but I need to carve the grain into the reverse side too.
Just giving the back a stroke or two of grain changes the light the whole gem catches, completely.
"...... It went well that time."
Why does this feel so unfamiliar, seriously.
I carved the grain into a spare gem and flipped it over.
Good job, that's a clean circle.
The eight rays came out well too, and honestly, if it's about on par with the first practice piece sitting next to it, that's real progress, but... for some reason I don't feel like picking up the Crystal of Consuming Flame.
This should be good enough.
...... This exact feeling is the one I need to watch out for most.
I leaned back with the gem still in my hand.
Held it under the light.
Let's imagine this thing pinned onto Maman's clothes.
The white of the dress she usually wears, her pale white skin... and this sitting on top of it.
I pictured Dolores tilting her head down to look at the emblem.
...... It doesn't suit her.
Besides, a divine implement isn't just for Dolores.
"Hold on...."
An emblem gets filed under weapons, sure, but given the size and shape, it's really closer to jewelry.
Something like this, I can only make it properly if I know the person who's going to wear it.
When I made the Cradle of the Earth, what did I do again?
I pictured Princess Yustia, imagined the things that would suit her....
"Pictures."
I dug through pictures on the internet, didn't I?
Spent a whole day looking at nothing but pictures of Yustia.
I don't need pictures of Dolores, she's already in my head, so what I need right now is....
"A picture of Gaia."
Ah, now I finally get it, damn it.
The wellspring of my creativity.
My wandering, my lack of drive, this whole vague nothing I've been stuck in, it all comes down to not properly seeing the person who's going to wear it.
"First, replenish some Dolores."
I headed for the closet.
"...... Hm?"
What, there's only one left?
Even leaving out the ones I gave to Millien and the Queen of the Faraway Wind Spirits, there should be two left.
"Did she take one?"
I tilted my head, then pulled out the underwear Dolores no longer wears, the one I'd hidden in the bottom drawer of the closet, and draped it over my shoulder.
Let's call this good enough for Dolores image training.
...... The scent's faded a bit, though.
Too bad, but nothing to be done about it.
I smacked my lips, stared off into space for a moment, then asked Yuna.
"Yuna, you don't have any pictures of Gaia, do you?"
[She's a god... even crawling turns up absolutely nothing.]
If there's no picture of Gaia to be found anywhere.
Then there's really only one option left.
Get on my knees and just ask her for one directly.
With a reverent heart, I draped something soft and light around my neck, like a headset, and opened the contact window.
...... Well, at least it looks about the same.
"Gaia, are you there?"
『Little one. You've come to see me again.』
Even through a message, I can feel how glad she is.
"I have something to tell you."
『Of course. Tell me whatever it is.』
Explaining this is going to be rough, but let's just get it over with.
I'm human anyway, and from Gaia's side, I probably look like an ant with unusual tastes.
"When I decide to make something for someone, I tend to keep thinking about that person the whole time I'm working."
『You think of the child who'll receive it. Sweet, and admirable of you.』
"Yes, what their face looks like, what they wear, and what their collarbone's like andwhat their body proportions arewhat the color harmony is like."
『Er... yes, I see....』
"But right now I'm thinking about a divine implement for you, Gaia. And there's one very big obstacle in the way."
I tried closing my eyes.
"I can't remember your face."
This is a real problem.
"So, Gaia...."
『Yes...?』
"This might be a disrespectful thing to ask, but... could you possibly send me just one picture...?"
In the most pitiful tone I could manage.
I stared at the attachment icon showing on one side of the contact window.
You can attach photos, can't you.
『...... Of course, dear, but.』
『......... Little one, right now I'm... um....』
"Yes."
『Are you in much of a hurry, little one...?』
"...... A little."
『Understood, just wait a moment.』
"Thank youuuuu!!!!!"
Before long, the contact window flashed.
[An attached file has arrived.]
That was fast.
I opened the photo without thinking much of it.
"......."
A clear pond with flowers floating on it.
Gaia sat in the middle, wrapped in a white robe.
Her wet hair swept to one side, her face turned toward the camera.
"...... Were you bathing...?"
It didn't take long to realize she'd been washing up.
- Crash!
I nearly toppled out of my chair.
『I was bathing... sorry, little one, you said it was urgent, so I snapped this in a hurry....』
『Can you see my face clearly?』
"Yes, cle-, clear, clearly...."
『Is there... some strange feeling, or anything like that...?』
I can see it too clearly....
A strange feeling... I straightened my back and stared at the photo.
I, I can't quite get the words out.
It feels different from when I saw her at the tower that time... makes me think it's no wonder Sun Dwarves end up enchanted by their god.
Gaia's face, which had gone blurry in my memory, came rushing back into focus.
『Is this one not enough, perhaps? If so, I could go back out and take another....』
"No, this is plenty!!"
I shook my head.
『Fufu, glad it helps... whenever you need something while making it, tell me again, all right?』
"...... Thank you."
『...... Have a good time.』
This time it was Gaia who ended the contact first.
I got it sorted out... I did.
I got it sorted out, but.
I stared at the photo for a few minutes, then picked the chisel and hammer back up.
[Big brother, if you'd looked one more minute I was going to warn you you'd been seduced]
"Yeah, seems about right."
I'll admit it.
If I were the Kim Yujin who hadn't trained himself against beauties like Dolores and Yeomhwa on the regular, I'd probably already be following her around like a lost puppy.
Thankfully I've had plenty of shots for this, so I snapped out of it....
Time to start cutting the gem.
With the photo pulled up on one side, picturing her as I work.
"You're dead."
I mean you, Crystal.
I pulled out the Crystal of Consuming Flame.
Now's the time, I need to ride this while the feeling's hot.
- Scrape....
Let my hands flow, let my heart lead.
Cut a little, look at the photo... look down again, check the underwear once.
Earlier I had no idea what needed fixing, but now I keep wanting to change something.
It's a good sign, a good sign, but....
This is going to take a long time from here.
They say everyone's got their own wellspring of inspiration, but I think mine is just... being a simp.
Picturing the face of the person I'm making something for is what gets the inspiration flowing.
Though I doubt it'd work for a guy. Unless it's Eric, maybe.
If there's a part where I got a little confused....
"I was trying to make a sun."
Lionel, you, you're being way too pedantic.
A sun because I'm a Sun Dwarf? Painfully cliché.
Forget the cookie-cutter thinking. I need to bury my nose in Dolores or Gaia's chest and think from there.
- Crack....
I split the large Crystal of Consuming Flame evenly first, using the chisel and Dawn Bringer.
- Scrape... scrape....
The bigger piece will become the body, and the smaller one... has its own use coming.
I shave the sides down bit by bit to bring out a soft curve... and tip the end up slightly.
"......."
What I'm picturing right now is the flowers that floated beside Gaia.
[Those are water lilies.]
So the flower's called a water lily. Water lily....
Funny, that's the same word I use for training, every single day.[1]
- Scrape....
Carving flowers out of a big chunk of crystal isn't easy.
It'd honestly be more convenient to cut the petals from separate gems entirely and attach them after.
But if I'm carving it from one piece, I have to hollow out everything except what'll become the petals, all from inside the block.
The moment I ruin one petal by mistake, spring just never comes back to that spot, it never blooms again.
I clamped the Crystal of Consuming Flame down hard on the table and turned the tongs a little.
First, leave the center thick and bring the overall height down.
The outer edge spreads wide, and it rises little by little the closer it gets to the center.
- Scrape....
Then, starting from the center, slowly, chisel in hand....
Check Gaia's face once.
Check the flower once.
- Clack......
- Scrape....
Just one thing to remember: draw in toward the center, flare out toward the edge.
As I poked, split, and smoothed the gem, the fire trapped inside the Crystal of Consuming Flame rippled.
Feels like it's telling me to hurry up and finish.
Sorry about that.
"...... My eyes feel like they're about to pop out."
According to Yuna's hologram, the Crystal of Consuming Flame water lily is expected to have sixty-four petals.
Basically, I have to carve every single one into the gem, one by one.
If I'd settled for the sun, eight would've been enough, but I went and bought myself extra suffering.
- Scrape....
- Scrape....
Carving flowers right now, it occurs to me that the longest a single piece of jewelry has ever taken me was two months.
That was the Cradle of the Earth, my very first divine implement, so of course it took a while.
"Hm."
I'm sure of it.
This time, that record's about to get broken.
"...... Let's take a break for now."
Going into a long haul with my eyes already glazing over is going to be a problem.
I set the chisel down and stood up, just to get some air for a minute....
So I opened the workshop door, and.
- Thump.
There was a paper bag hanging on the doorknob.
I lifted the bag and looked inside.
"......!"
A familiar, dearly missed scent.
The underwear that had gone missing from the closet earlier... folded neatly inside.
Along with a small note.
[I happened to borrow it for a little while, Lionel. Wore it well.]
Ah, so it really was Dolores who'd taken it.
I read the reason for the loan and slipped my hand into the bag.
"......."
It's warm.
Someone had clearly just been wearing this....
- Click.
I shut the workshop door right there.
"Refill."
I, Lionel, hereby declare.
That as of this moment, my drive to work has been refilled, and no further rest is required.
There's no more reason to ration it, no more trembling hands worrying the scent might fade.
- Slip.
I switched out what was hanging around my neck for the one that had just arrived.
The dry spell is over.
Footnotes
[1] In Korean, "수련" (suryeon) is a homophone: it means both "water lily" and "training/practice." The character's realization that the flower and his daily training share the same word is wordplay that doesn't survive translation.
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