Chapter 2: First There Were Two

The next day, Samya and I prepared for another trip into town. I thought about taking along the spear I’d made for self-defense, but decided against it since I hadn’t tried it out yet.

I should do a cutting (thrusting) test tomorrow.

All was quiet on the road to town, including the trek through the forest. Marius was once again on duty at the entrance. The spear he was holding was provisioned by the lord, but strapped on his waist was the personal longsword that he’d brought to work “by mistake.”

“Hey!” Marius called to us. “I didn’t expect to see you guys back just yet.”

“I was able to make more items, so here we are,” I responded.

“Right, right.” He nodded. “What’s the lineup today?”

“The same as last time.”

“That means you’re selling more longswords, right? I’ll make sure to tell the other guards.”

“Yes, I have them stocked,” I confirmed. “Much obliged.”

He hesitated a moment. “Oh...one more thing.”

“What is it?” I prompted.

“...No, never mind. You’ll see when you reach the Open Market.”

I paused in confusion, but finally I just said, “Well, I guess we’re off then.”

“See you.”

What happened to the frank and open Marius I’d come to know? I’d never seen him so evasive before.

I tried not to let it distract me as we headed into the city. The plan for today was simple: sell the goods, buy salt, and go home. We decided to split up early today. I was carrying all of the products anyway, so I would set up first, while Samya went to buy supplies.

The old man who staffed the entrance to the Open Market remembered my face this time and greeted me with warmth, unlike the previous times I’d come. As usual, I paid the fee in exchange for a counter and searched for a free space. The one I had last time was already taken, so I chose a spot nearby.

I didn’t see the textile merchant today. We’d come to town a few days earlier than planned, so maybe this was his day off, or maybe he wouldn’t be coming for a while. Either way, I felt a little lonely not seeing his face.

The preparations to get the shop up and running went quickly. I had the same products as last time, so I could move on autopilot. I was open for business as soon as I’d finished setting up. Luckily, the Open Market had no fixed hours.

A little before noon, the merchant who’d bought two longswords from me last time swung around to visit.

“Yo,” he said in greeting. “How’s business?”

He was speaking casually, so I responded in kind, without the polite shopkeeper facade I usually put on. “No good today.”

“You haven’t sold anything?”

“Not a thing.”

“All right. Then give me all of your longswords,” he said.

“Huh?! Seriously?”

“Yup. My buyer was over the moon with the last two and asked me for several more.”

“Really? If I’d known, I’d have made ten more, even if it’d meant staying up all night!”

“Whoa, someone’s getting greedy,” he said with a grin.

“I’ve been slaving over the forge all week, so I’m sick of iron. It’s time to see some silver,” I joked.

He laughed. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”

He ended up buying all four longswords and filled my quota for the day in one fell swoop.

I’d brought along the elite model too, but no one had asked about it yet. At this rate, no one was going to buy it, and I’d have no choice but to accept that. Maybe I’d give it to the traveling merchant the next time I saw him, just to see if he could sell it elsewhere.

While I was wondering what to do, Samya returned with salt for curing tree deer meat and some lunch from a food stand. The dish she’d bought was sliced boar meat over crusty bread, drenched all over with a sweet and spicy sauce. It wasn’t anything like pizza or a hamburger, but I was hooked on it. We ate it every time we came here. Within the city’s walls, the rule was that shops had to specialize in one thing: bread shops sold bread, butchers sold meat, so on and so forth. This was a dish you could only find in the Open Market.

After we ate our fill, I sold several more knives to first-time customers.

That’s when she came strolling along.

At first glance, I thought she was a kid. But when I looked closer, she was actually a solidly built woman, if somewhat on the short side. She was turning her head left and right as if she were on the lookout for something.

Samya had caught sight of her too. She turned to me and muttered in a low voice, “A dwarf. How rare.”

“There aren’t many of them?” I whispered back.

“Not around here, at least,” she said. “I’ve only met one once. He was wandering in the forest, and I helped him find his way to the road.”

“I see.”

A rare sighting, huh? It made me happy that I was lucky enough to see a race that seldom showed their faces. And it was a dwarf no less, a race I’d heard of before. If there were dwarves here, elves wouldn’t be a stretch either, right? Later, I would ask Samya if she’d ever met an elf.

The dwarf woman saw my stand from across the way and rushed over in a flurry. When she got closer, I saw that her nose was on the round side, but otherwise, she looked perfectly human. Her arms and legs were thick with muscle. Back on Earth, she wouldn’t have been quite bodybuilder status, but she would’ve definitely been called a gym rat.

When she arrived at our table, she said in a loud and earnest voice, “E-Excuse me!”

I was slightly bowled over by her exuberance. “Yes? Can I help you with anything?”

“Are you the one who made the knives for the city guards?!” she asked. Her words poured out of her with no time for breath.

“Yes...” I confirmed with some hesitation, “that’s me.”

Samya shifted her stance beside me. I didn’t think there was going to be any trouble, but it tickled me to see her taking her role as my escort so seriously.

The woman didn’t seem to notice anything and continued on to say, “Are these knives the same type you’ve been selling?”

“Yes, they are.”

“May I?” she said, reaching toward a knife.

“Be my guest.”

She removed one from its scabbard and inspected the blade and handle. After a while, she handed it back. “May I please see the highest-quality product you’ve made?”

“Well, yes,” I said. “I suppose so.”

The highest-quality product... I was confident that the build of the knife she’d just looked at surpassed anything that the blacksmiths around here could make. For her to inspect it and immediately ask to see something better meant that she was sure there was something better.

By sheer coincidence, I did have an item that met those requirements: the elite model longsword. I’d planned to sell it sooner or later, so there was no reason I couldn’t show her. I unbuckled it from my waist and passed it over.

She took it from me with reverence and slid the sword gently out of its sheath. Never mind that I had put in a considerable amount of work to make it—the blade looked superb, even to my eyes. The most skilled blacksmith in these parts wouldn’t be able to make anything matching this longsword’s caliber, so I could easily sell it for ten times the price of the entry-level models.

The woman took her time examining the sword, going over it meticulously. In fact, she took so long that a man had drifted over to see what the fuss was. I sold one knife to him (thank you for your patronage). The whole time, she inspected the longsword without looking up, not even once.

Just when I was about to ask her to return it, she said, “Thank you very much. I’m done with it now.” She sheathed the sword and handed it back to me.

“Thank you,” I said, but the woman was already moving again. Samya reacted in turn and pulled me behind her to shield me.

However, the woman had no violent intentions. She kneeled down, slapped both hands on the ground, and bowed her head in a perfect...dogeza pose?

Huh?! Dogeza is a custom in this world too?!

While I was busy being shaken by this revelation, the woman plowed on with no hesitation. Still on her hands and knees, in front of everyone in the Open Market, she yelled, “Please make me your apprentice!”

I was shocked into silence. I finally managed to say, “P-Please, get up,” but she didn’t move a muscle.

“I beg of you! Make me your apprentice!” she repeated, her voice booming around the market.

No way... She couldn’t be planning to stay on the ground until I agreed, right?

A crowd had started to form around us with onlookers craning their heads to see what was going on. I wanted to get this woman and, more importantly, Samya, away from curious gazes, so I said, “Let me close up shop first, and then we can talk.”

Thankfully, that seemed to placate the woman. She stood back up.

Without another second of delay, I cleaned up the booth. I wanted to get out of here before the guards started to come around too; they were my valuable customers, and I didn’t want to make more work for them. I put everything away in record time and picked up the counter so I could check out at the return booth.

Just as the three of us turned to leave, Marius poked his head through the crowd, looking like he was just out for a leisurely stroll. “Hey!” he called out. “I see you all had a chance to meet up. Good for you, Lady Dwarf!”

“Yes, I owe it all to you!” She was beaming.

So this was what Marius had hinted at earlier.

“Marius, couldn’t you have just told me this morning?” I asked reproachfully.

“It’s not like anything would’ve changed even if I’d told you, right?” he responded.

I couldn’t deny that...but I could’ve at least been mentally prepared, you know?

“Besides, it was a treat for me to see your look of surprise,” Marius continued. “You usually look so dour.”

Now that I thought about it, he’d made his appearance with suspiciously good timing. He must’ve been spying on us and waiting for the perfect moment. “You’re awful...” I grumbled.

“There, there, let me off the hook this once. There’s no fun around these parts otherwise.”

“You owe me one.”

“You got it, Boss!” he said, and he even gave me an exaggerated salute.

Marius was a good person, but I wished he wouldn’t get so carried away. At least I got him to promise me something in return.

After bidding farewell to Marius, we returned the table and made our way to an inn in the new market district. The inn itself was nothing special: the first floor was a tavern and the second was where guest rooms were. The dwarf woman had been staying here for the last three days.

We all got drinks and sat down. The woman cradled a large beer stein that looked like a small wooden cask instead of the glass mugs I was used to.

Wait a second...didn’t she order a grape brandy?

She introduced herself first. “My name is Rike Moritz.”

“You have a family name?” Samya questioned in a low voice.

“Oh, no, it’s the name of our workshop,” Rike explained.

“Workshop name?” This time I asked the question, as Samya sipped her ale next to me.

“Yes. It’s common for several dwarf families to join together to form one workshop. Everyone that lives and works there takes on the name of the workshop along with their personal name,” she explained. “It would be more accurate for me to introduce myself as Rike from the Moritz Workshop.”

It seemed like a similar custom to taking on a tribe or village name.

“My name is Eizo, and this is Samya,” I said.

Samya glanced at me askew, probably because I hadn’t introduced myself as Eizo Tanya. I didn’t particularly mind telling Rike my family name, but I didn’t know if there were any eavesdroppers. It would be a pain if anyone else overheard. Giving out a family name in this world was just asking for trouble.

“Pleasure,” Samya said brusquely with no sincerity whatsoever.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Rike replied. “Eizo...no, Master Eizo, are you from the north?”

“My birthplace? That’s a long story,” I said, “but right now I live and work out in the Black Forest.”

“Oh, I see...” She paused, absorbed in thought.

“Anything the matter?” I asked.

“Oh, no, I was just wondering why I’d never seen a blacksmith with your skill around here before.”

I made a noncommittal noise and took a small sip of my wine. It was cut with water, so the taste was only so-so. Contrary to my appearance, I was actually weak to alcohol.

In any case, I wasn’t surprised by her train of thought. Normal blacksmiths wouldn’t have set up shop in the middle of the forest. Riverside workshops were apparently popular because a waterwheel could be set up to power an automatic hammer, a tool similar to a hydraulic press used for forging back on Earth. Well, my workshop had been prepared for me, so I had no right to complain.

“I’d be grateful if you didn’t ask too many questions about my background,” I said.

“I understand,” she easily agreed. “That’s not what I’m here for anyway.”

“Can you tell me a little more about this apprentice business?” I asked to steer the conversation back on track.

“Right, yes. It’s a long story...” she said and took a large swig from her stein. “I recently left my family’s workshop along with my younger brothers. You see, when dwarves come of age, we’re expected to leave the nest to train and polish our skills. We visit other blacksmith shops in order to find a place where we want to apprentice. After the apprenticeship, we’re meant to bring the knowledge and skills back to our family workshop to develop new products, and then the cycle begins anew.”

Huh, that certainly wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the installed data. I guess the lifestyles of different races weren’t contained in the data, just like how the details about various animals’ lives weren’t anywhere to be found. It was more fun discovering it for myself though.

“Aren’t the workshops that take in apprentices worried about revealing their trade secrets? They don’t refuse you?” I asked.

“No, generally not. It’s seen as an honor for a dwarf to ask to apprentice at a workshop. As long as the apprenticeship goes smoothly, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship,” she explained.

This kind of practice was likely unfamiliar to anyone outside of the trade, which is probably why people had been so curious when Rike had asked to be my apprentice back in the market. That said, any blacksmith would definitely understand the significance, so the smiths within the city walls would’ve been envious if they’d known. I’d made the right choice to get us out of there.

At the tail end of that train of thought was a question: had Marius actually been watching out for me earlier? Well, I’d settle my debt with him some other time.

“My brothers and I arrived here three days ago,” she continued. “I just happened to see the soldier from earlier when he was using his knife, and I asked him where I could find its maker. I’d assumed it was a blacksmith within the city, and I’d told him that I wanted to try for an apprenticeship.”

“Hmmm, I see. So, I was the blacksmith in question.”

“Yes. However, he knew neither your name nor where you lived, only that you came to the Open Market once a week. He said you’d be back in three days or so, since he’d seen you four days prior.”

“Right, that’s what my schedule is like for now.”

“I’ve sent my brothers on ahead to continue their own journeys. Seeing the longsword today with my own eyes has only reinforced my conviction to become your apprentice and learn the craft from you.”

“Okay, I understand,” I said, after processing her words fully. “Huh? Wait a second... Your brothers aren’t here anymore?”

“No, they each have workshops that they want to study at as well,” she said with an open and somewhat mischievous grin.

“So, if I were to turn you down...”

“Well, then I’d just have to continue my search alone. A woman on the road, all by myself.”

That was too risky. I knew I was playing right into her hands, but what choice did I have? Guess I was too softhearted.

“All right,” I said, sighing softly. “I’ll take you on as my apprentice.”

Next to me, Samya huffed loudly. Sorry, but you probably already knew that this was going to happen, right?

“Are you really sure?!”

“Yes, but I have four conditions.”

“O-Okay. What are they?” Rike sat up straight and listened attentively.

“Number one. I dislike self-sacrificing behavior. Please don’t act like you did today again.”

“I understand,” she said, nodding.

“Two. There’s not enough space for the three of us in the cabin. The first thing you’ll do is help us build more rooms.”

“All right. No problem,” she said. “When any family that’s part of the Moritz Workshop has a child, everyone pitches in to build another room.”

“Three. This one overlaps with the second, but you’ll have to help out with chores around the cabin, not just with tasks related to smithing.”

“Of course. That’s what it means to be an apprentice.”

“And finally, four.”

“Yes?”

“Stop speaking so formally,” I said. “I plan on calling you Rike, so you should call me Eizo.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly do that, Boss!” she immediately protested.

Samya looked dumbfounded next to me, and I shared her feelings. In a daze, I could only parrot back, “B-Boss...?”

“Yes,” she confirmed earnestly. “Since I will be your apprentice, it’s only natural for me to call you ‘Boss’ out of respect!”

That was the last straw for Samya, and she cracked up. I’m going to remember this!

That was how I gained an apprentice long before I thought I would have one.

Rike wanted to come back with us right away. I’d offered to return to town and pick her up tomorrow, but she insisted on today. I agreed, and Rike went to pack her stuff right away. The sun would set if we dragged our feet and stayed in the city for too much longer.

Fortunately—if that was the right word—Rike had been prepared to leave here at any moment, so her belongings were already more or less squared away. She soon came down from the second floor with everything she had. But...

I looked at her sidelong, then asked, “Is that bag going to last?”

“Yes,” she said with confidence. “It made it all the way here, at least.”

On her back, Rike was wearing a rucksack half her size. It was obvious that it’d been patched up in numerous places, maybe while she’d been on the road. No matter how I felt about it, Rike was right when she’d said that it had gotten her this far, so it was good enough to take with her now too.

“Suppose I can’t argue with that,” I said. “All right then, let’s go. We don’t want to be on the road after dark, whether Samya is guarding us or not.”

“You got it, Boss!” she said, filled with energy. I’ll have to make her stop calling me that one of these days...

The three of us hurried out of the city, making good time despite having dallied for a drink. Rike had drunk the most and was carrying a huge rucksack, but she was perfectly steady on her feet. Was that a dwarf trait?

We arrived at the edge of the forest twenty minutes quicker than usual. I turned to Rike. “We’ll be heading into the forest now. Make sure you stay close to us.”

“Yes, Boss,” she responded.

Then Samya cut in and said, “If you do get lost, I’ll go and find you. Don’t yell or shout, because who knows what you’ll attract.”

“O-Okay. I understand.”

“We’ll take a break after an hour,” I said. “Hang on until then.”

“Yes!” Rike said, and we headed into the forest.

Rike showed no signs of tension or fear, but she did stumble over the occasional tree root or patch of weeds since she wasn’t used to walking in the forest. Even so, she never fell behind. The hour passed quickly and soon it was time for the promised break.

I made sure to check in on Rike’s condition while we rested. “Do your feet hurt or anything, Rike? Tell us if they do.”

“No, my feet are fine,” she replied.

“Don’t push yourself too much, because it’s dangerous,” I cautioned. “If you feel like something’s off, you have to tell us right away.”

“Okay, Boss, I understand.”

We set off again and arrived at the cabin after another hour. Rike was neither weary with exhaustion nor did she complain about pain in her feet. Were all dwarves so tough, or was it just Rike? She had said that she’d been traveling with her brothers this whole time, so it could be that she was used to a lot of walking.

It was almost dusk. The cabin stood in the dwindling light, and I pointed to it. “This is my home and workshop.”

“Wooow,” Rike gushed, her eyes sparkling. “It’s big.”

“I guess so,” I said. It was big enough to startle me when it appeared out of nowhere, at least. “Are your feet still all right?” I asked.

“Yes, they are! The trek wasn’t as tough as I’d expected.”

“Good. Let’s go in.” I unlocked the door and swung it open.

Rike ran inside with an enthusiastic “Don’t mind if I do!”

Samya went to follow, but I stopped her. “Samya,” I said.

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Thanks.”

Midway through our journey home, I’d noticed that Samya had picked a route for us that was easy to walk, one where we wouldn’t be likely to run into any wild animals.

“Oh, right...” she said, looking down bashfully. Still flustered, she stepped into the house.

It was cute when Rike called me “Boss” with a big smile on her face, but this side of Samya tugged at my heartstrings too.

I had Rike and Samya freshen up from the journey in the bedroom while I did the same in the study. Then I fixed up a quick dinner, and we all sat down to eat.

We made small talk for a while before I broke in with a topic that was on my mind. “Rike, we’re happy to have you, but there aren’t any extra rooms. For the time being, you and Samya will have to share the bedroom.”

“What? No, far be it for me to intrude on your shared space,” she protested. “I have everything I need to camp outdoors. Point me to an area where I can set up, and that will be plenty.”

“Samya and I already sleep separately,” I told her. “This arrangement wouldn’t be much different.”

Samya used the bedroom, and I was still sleeping in the study. Samya had offered to switch several times already, but I’d turned her down every time.

You might be wondering how I sleep in the study. The answer is, wrapped in a blanket at the desk. Surprisingly, I was always able to fall soundly asleep. It’s sad to say, but my experience working for an exploitative black corporation was coming in handy.

In response to my explanation, Rike said, “The two of you sleep apart even though you’re married?”

“Pwht—” Samya spat out her tree deer soup before I could even react. I was sitting directly across from her, and I quickly dodged the spattering liquid assault.

“I-I-I-I-I-Idiot! What are you talking about! Me and Eizo aren’t like that!” Samya protested with her face flaming red.

“Really? I was positive you were a couple.” Rike said, baffled by Samya’s vehement denial. “When I first approached the two of you, Lady Samya, you moved to cover Boss without any hesitation, and even as we were talking, the two of you kept communicating through glances. I can tell that the Boss is putting in a lot of consideration for you when he talks too.”

It hadn’t even been a month since Samya and I had first met, but we’d spent every day together. At some point, we’d started to understand each other without needing the words to be spoken out loud. Samya was particularly quick to pick up on my emotions.

Still, even though it was a natural evolution from how much time we’d spent together, it was a little embarrassing that Rike had picked up on it. She didn’t seem particularly concerned, so I gathered that interracial marriages weren’t rare in this world. That was definitely a blessing.

“Anywaaay,” I said, “there’s nothing going on between me and Samya right now.”

“Right now?!” Samya exclaimed before Rike even had a chance to speak. A fierce blush bloomed over her cheeks.

“That wasn’t the point!” I backtracked, explaining that I only added that last bit because no mortal could possibly know what was going to happen in the future. Samya nodded and curled up in her chair. Did that mean she’d accepted my explanation?

“In any case,” I continued, “the two of us are like family—nothing more, nothing less.”

“You’re workshop mates,” Rike declared.

“Right, that’s the idea,” I said. I guess workshop mates were the same as family to dwarves.

I glanced at Samya. She had composed herself and was now sipping her soup quietly, huddled up on herself. Was she upset?

I wanted to wrap up the original conversation about sleeping space, so I said, “In conclusion, the bedroom will be the women’s quarters, and the study will be the men’s. As the owner of the cabin and the head of the workshop, what I say goes. There will be no changes permitted.”

“All right,” Rike said.

At the same time, Samya said, “’Kay.”

They were probably dissatisfied, but I’d made my decision. I sighed to relieve my own tension. “You only have to put up with it until we finish building your rooms.”

“Oh, I meant to ask,” Rike said, “do you already have the wood?”

“Yes, we have everything we need...I think. The planks should be dry soon, so we can begin as soon as tomorrow.”

“I understand!” Rike said.

“Cool,” added Samya.

And just like that, we were now officially a household of three.

⌗⌗⌗

After breakfast the next day, Samya went out hunting and brought a lunch box with her. As she was heading out, I slipped her a subtle request: “It sure would be nice if you caught another tree deer today...” I was really looking forward to seeing what she brought back.

But, onto business. Rike and I first checked the wooden planks that I’d prepared two weeks earlier.

“Today, we’re going to start building the new rooms with these planks. I expect the construction to take a while to complete,” I told Rike. “We’ll work on the rooms in the morning and spend the afternoon blacksmithing in the workshop.”

“I understand,” Rike said.

“Shall we get started then?”

“Yes, Boss!” Rike sounded energetic, and we began our work for the day.

According to Samya, earthquakes were rare in this region, and the atmosphere was dry. In fact, it hadn’t rained once in the time that I’d been here. This climate was similar to Germany’s back on Earth. Germany even had its own Black Forest, though it was called Schwarzwald locally.

Anyway, enough of that tangent. The point was that we wouldn’t be needing stone footings for the structural columns because of the low humidity—we could just plant the columns directly into the soil.

Fun fact: it was so humid in Japan that the Ise Grand Shrine had to be rebuilt every twenty years. However, our cabin’s foundation should have no problem lasting longer than that, especially considering that we were only building a house for our personal use. I was pretty confident in our plan of execution.

The first step was to dig the holes for the pillars. I tweaked one of the hoes I’d forged previously by reorienting the bladed head. The tip of the hoe was mounted in the classic position, perpendicular to the handle, so I switched it to a parallel position instead. This way, the tool resembled more of a shovel.

The soil around the house was compact and hard. I’d meant to ask Samya if it was the same throughout the whole forest, but it’d slipped my mind. If it weren’t for my boosted physical ability and the makeshift but surprisingly decent shovel, the soil would’ve been quite difficult to scoop. I was filled with gratitude for my tools and the strength I’d been blessed with, as well as for the magical being that had made all of this possible.

After a short while, I managed to dig a rather deep hole. Now, it was ready for the planks. Rike and I combined our strength, put our backs into it, and pulled one of the pieces of timber with a rope, right up to the edge of the hole. Once we moved it far enough, the timber tipped over the lip on its own and fell upright into the hole with a thwump.

Then, I encircled the standing lumber with both arms, lifted it slightly off the ground, and used the log to pound the bottom of the pit, which compacted the soil even further. Once that was done, I held the lumber while Rike filled the hole back up to support the column.

We repeated the process over and over again all throughout the morning. By noon, we erected enough columns for two rooms, but they were still a bit wobbly in the holes. We’d have to reinforce them, but that could wait until tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we moved on to the highly anticipated blacksmithing lesson. I’d planned for Rike to help me make entry-level longswords since I hadn’t gotten a chance to forge any yet.

Before we broke for lunch, we made two molds, and after eating, we started the forging process. I worked the fire and bellows manually (both of which had usually been operated by magic when I’d been alone), and Rike melted the iron and forged the swords. As expected of someone who’d left her home to pursue her passion for learning, there was no hesitation in her movements. Soon, she had both molds filled to the brim.

While we waited for the iron to cool, I decided that we should forge a few knives as well. I would first demonstrate my process and then have Rike repeat what I’d done. Since my smithing skills were actually cheats, this was the only way I knew how to “teach” her. We were only making the entry-level model today, so I didn’t even have to put much effort into it. I felt bad that I couldn’t aid in her education beyond letting her watch me work so she could steal my techniques.

I picked up a piece of metal and heated it in the firebed. When it was at the right temperature, I shaped it with the hammer. This was work I could do in my sleep. Rike watched me intently the entire time, not glancing away even for a moment.

When I finished, I turned to her. “So? Did you learn anything valuable?”

“Yes. You’re the real deal, Boss! It’s like you can hear the voice of the iron,” she exclaimed. “But you’re still holding back, aren’t you?”

“You can tell?”

“Of course I can. You look like you’re barely trying. Besides, this knife is a far cry from the longsword you showed me yesterday.”

Oh, riiight. I forgot she’d seen the elite model yesterday.

“Well, this is all I have to show you today,” I said, “but I’ll demonstrate the forging of a higher-quality blade tomorrow.”

“Seriously?!”

“Yes. You’re my apprentice after all. There’s no reason for me to keep anything from you. But today, we have to work on replenishing the stock of merchandise.”

She looked like she was going to float away from sheer happiness any moment now. “Thank you so much, Boss!”

“It’s your turn now, Rike.”

“All right!” she said before beginning to work.

She heated the iron in the firebed and shaped it just like I had. As she worked, she cut quite an imposing figure. Perhaps it was because she was a dwarf.

Eventually, a knife took shape from the bar of heated metal. She held it up before me with the tongs and asked, “How does it look?”

It was nearly indistinguishable from the entry-level knife I had forged. Nearly.

When she’d first flattened the metal after heating it, there’d been a few spots that had been left uneven. How do I put it... The composition of the iron itself was very subtly...off, in places. When I worked with metal, I made sure that the texture was uniform all over and that any irregularities were evenly dispersed. That minute difference was what delineated my cheat abilities from Rike’s innate skills.

When all was said and done, I was positive that, with her ability, Rike could learn to forge high-caliber items that were as good as the elite models that I made.

I told her as much. “Very well done, but there’s still room for you to grow. I’m sorry that I’m not a very good teacher. You’ll have to steal my techniques for yourself, but in time, you’ll definitely be able to make the longsword you saw yesterday.”

“Thank you!” she replied, buoyant and with a big grin plastered on her face. “I won’t let you down!”

I also showed her the longsword I’d made, but it was just the entry-level model. Rike said, “It’s beautiful in its own way, but it can’t compare to the one you let me see yesterday.”

Since we were going to be forging an elite model tomorrow, we made the mold in advance as our last task of the day. Samya returned just as we were banking the fire. We’d finished making the mold and had left it out to dry.

“I’m home,” she announced.

“Welcome back,” I replied. “How was your hunt?”

She smiled like a cat that had gotten some cream. “I took down a whopper of a tree deer,” she boasted. “Don’t be too shocked when you see it.”

“Good for you! Did you leave it in the lake again?”

“Yeah. It won’t taste good if I don’t drain the blood properly and chill it,” she said with a grimace. It seemed as if she was speaking from experience.

Back when it had been just the two of us, if Samya had caught and preserved a massive tree deer, it would’ve been more than enough meat. In fact, we might’ve struggled to finish it before it turned. However, with an extra mouth to feed, we’d need to stock up on more food, so we should have no problems finishing off the deer she caught today.

“I’ll prepare dinner. The two of you can join me after you wash up,” I said.

“Okay,” Samya replied.

At the same time, Rike said, “Understood.”

We were almost out of root vegetables, so for dinner, we had a barley porridge with meat and beans. It consisted of more protein than anything, but it was perfect sustenance for the active lifestyles we all led.

“Rike, why don’t you join us when we bring the deer back tomorrow?” I suggested as we ate.

“Are you sure you want me to come along?” she asked.

“Of course. An extra set of hands would be a big help.”

“I’m happy to assist, of course!”

“We’re counting on you then.”

One of these days, I might have the two of them go by themselves. I reasoned that it would be good for Rike to be exposed to the work now.

Rike soon changed the subject. “Boss, I have a question for you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Shouldn’t we restock the iron, charcoal, and other supplies?” she asked. “Is there a supplier you already work with?”

“You’re right...” I replied.

Now that she mentioned it, I realized that the iron, steel, and wood charcoal reserves were getting rather low. The supplies weren’t so limited that they’d run out today or tomorrow, but we had less than I’d like.

I’d been using the raw materials that had already been stocked when I first arrived, and because of this, I’d been able to turn a one hundred percent profit on my sales so far. However, I’d soon have to start considering the prices of smithing supplies. It might be more profitable to start selling elite models, as they would yield a higher dividend with the same production cost.

Regardless, the first order of business was to secure the raw materials.

As for Rike’s other question, I answered, “I’ve only just started my business recently, so I don’t have a supplier yet. The materials we have will last another month if we reeeally stretch it.”

“We’ll need to find a supplier before we run out then, right?” Rike asked.

“Yeah. Next time we head into town, I’ll ask Marius if he knows anybody.”

“I’ll ask around too,” she volunteered.

“That would be a great help.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what cards are dealt to us.

Oh right, there was something I meant to ask Samya.

“Samya,” I said, catching her attention.

“Hm?”

“How were the arrows?”

“Absolutely stellar!” she gushed. “Normal arrows can’t even pierce the hide of a mature tree deer. When one grows to that size, the skin on its back gets really tough and hard. With your arrows though, taking one down is no problem at all!”

“Good,” I said. “By the way, last time you mentioned that you leave out all of the organs besides the heart, right? Do you bury the heart?”

“Yeah, in the earth of the forest,” she confirmed.

“Is there a special reason why?”

“So its soul will return to the forest and be rebirthed anew,” she explained.

“Whoa, I see.”

It was similar to the beliefs of people from prehistoric times back on Earth.

Rike also nodded in appreciation at the new discovery. From her reaction, I inferred that this was a custom unique to the beastfolk who lived in the forest.

I didn’t know if gods actually existed in this world, but there were definitely people who believed in them. That said, I’d yet to encounter any zealous practitioners here. The religious culture seemed relaxed and open.

I’d grown up with Japan’s religious practices, and Samya partook in the beastfolk’s spiritual beliefs. However, neither of us was deeply interested in religion. There was also a church in the city, but we’d never been. It was beyond the city walls anyway, so it would be hard to visit, even if we wanted to.

But I digress. Time to focus on the matter at hand.

“Samya, you’ll be free after you butcher the tree deer, right? Do you want to help out with the forging?”

“Yeah...if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

Throughout the conversation, I’d set it up so that Samya would eventually be able to help Rike with her work and vice-versa. Once they were comfortable helping each other, I’d be able to focus on my own tasks. Plus, if something were to happen to me—god forbid—I wanted them to be able to continue on by themselves. That was my personal wish, but we’d have to see what happened from here on out.

The next morning, our first course of action was a trip to the lake. I brought along the water jugs and ax, since we’d have to make another carrying rack and we’d need wood to build it.

When Rike spied the ax, she exclaimed, “B-B-Boss! You didn’t show me this before!”

“Oh, what? This ax?” I replied offhandedly. It just hadn’t been relevant until now.

“It’s beautiful!” Rike said, overflowing with excitement. If I’d known how happy she’d be, I would’ve shown her yesterday.

“Want to give it a try?”

“Can I?!”

“Yeah, but it’s really sharp, so be careful,” I warned her.

“I will!”

I handed the ax over, and she took her place in front of a tree. With the ax in hand, she looked exactly like a stereotypical depiction of a dwarf from my previous world.

“Here I go!” she said, before taking a big swing at the tree.

Thwack! The satisfying sound rang out around us, but the tree didn’t look like it’d been affected at all.

Rike was dumbstruck. “Huh?”

“Get away from there! It’s dangerous!” I called out.

“What? O-Okay!” She quickly stepped back. Then, she turned to me and said, “The hit made a sound, but I didn’t feel any impact in my hands at all.”

Yeaaah. It’s shocking, isn’t it? I understood exactly what she was thinking.

“That’s just how it is,” I replied. “Anyway, it’s about time...”

“Hm?” she said, turning back toward the tree. At that moment, it began to slide off its trunk at the exact point where she’d chopped with the ax. It tilted away from us and crashed to the ground.

“Whaaaaat?!” Rike shouted, shocked.

“Yeah, it’s something else, isn’t it?” Samya said, voicing her sympathy. “I was a little repulsed when I first saw that with my own eyes...but Eizo just stood there, with the same expression he always wears.”

I see. So that’s what she’d been thinking...

“Anyway,” I cut in, “that’s how that ax chops, so take care when you use it.”

“U-Understood,” Rike said. She looked nervous, but she quickly cut down three more trees and segmented them into logs. It seemed like she’d gotten the hang of it.

“You work quick,” I told her.

“I’ve done similar work in the past.”

She’d previously mentioned assisting with building expansions to her family’s workshop, so she must’ve had to chop down trees for that.

Together, we used a few ropes to tie the lumber into a carrying rack. “That just about does it. It’s time to load the deer on!” I called to Samya.

She splashed her way into the lake and waded out farther, to where the water was quite deep. Since Samya and I were taller, we could stand in those depths, but it might be too deep for Rike.

“Can you wait here, Rike?”

“Yes,” she replied.

I made my way over to where Samya was waiting alongside a truly gigantic deer. By my estimate, it was more than two meters tall.

“It’s huge!” I exclaimed.

“Right? When I injured it the first time, it still managed to run away. It took a while before I was finally able to bring it down.”

“I can imagine.”

A deer this size... It would’ve been hard just carrying it here and sinking it in the lake, let alone actually hunting it down. I was genuinely impressed and told Samya as much. “It must’ve been quite the feat. Impressive!”

She smiled and chuckled at my compliment.

Samya and I tugged the deer into the shallows where Rike was waiting. From there, Rike helped us pull as well, so we dragged it onto shore before too long. We pushed the deer onto the rack and tied it into place. I refilled the water jugs and lashed those to the rack as well. We were now ready to transport it all back to the cabin. With all three of us pulling the rack, we made it back in half an hour.

Next came the butchering.

Like before, we had to string it up, but because of the deer’s sheer size, it was difficult to hoist. Somehow we managed it, and Samya and I used our knives to skin the deer. The work itself was exactly the same as before, but Rike’s reaction to seeing the elite model knives made the time fly by.

Since Samya and I were experienced at using these knives in our day-to-day chores, we wouldn’t trim off any meat accidentally while skinning. However, we did have a few close calls: a few almost-punctures through the skin, or nearly nicking organs like the bladder, gallbladder, and large intestine when taking out the innards. If we damaged those organs, the meat would be ruined.

Despite the size of the deer, we were able to break it down quickly. In twenty minutes, we turned the body into a large, neat heap of meat.

“This is enough to feed the three of us for at least two weeks, even if we really gorge ourselves!” I said. “Thanks, Samya.”

“Th-That’s great! I’ll catch another one for us when we run out!” Samya said delightedly.

I set aside a portion of the meat for our meals today, and the rest I divided into two piles. One half we’d dry, the other we’d cure. I had Rike help me prep the meat to dry in the workshop, just like I’d done last time.

“When I first came into the workshop, I wondered why there was meat drying in here,” Rike said. “So this is the reason...”

“I’d like to build a smokehouse someday and dry the meat in there.” I would also love a charcoal hut where I could hide if there were an emergency. Y’know, like Kira Yoshinaka did during the incident with the forty-seven ronin..

Soon it was time for lunch, so I cooked some barley porridge with venison steak as a special treat. I only seasoned the steak with salt, but it still turned out delicious. While eating, we had a spirited discussion about venison versus boar meat.

“Dwarves eat five meals a day,” was just a perpetuated stereotype. In fact, their eating habits were quite similar to a human’s. They could eat quite a lot considering their small statures, but the actual amount of food wasn’t anything outrageous. Overall, their daily meals were the same size or slightly larger than my own, so it was only considered “a lot” of food relative to their size.

I had come to understand that well during the first meal that Rike ate with us after arriving at the cabin.

Here’s what took place that day, a little before our discussion about sleeping quarters.

I had made an extra portion for Rike. Without thinking about it, I’d prepared the same amount for her as what Samya and I usually ate.

“Sorry, you don’t have to eat it all,” I’d told her when I served the food.

Rike had only replied with a casual “it’s fine.”

I had been expecting her usual chipper response of “I understand!” so I felt a little blindsided. I suppose it would’ve been a weird response for the situation though. That must’ve been why she’d answered the way she did...or so I’d thought.

Actually, she had easily gobbled up her portion, along with Samya’s and my leftovers.

“You’re not forcing yourself, are you?” I’d asked, just to be sure, though that didn’t seem like the case at all.

As I’d expected, with a complete look of puzzlement on her face, she’d responded, “Forcing myself to do what?”

Samya and I could only exchange a look between us. What more was there to say?

Back to the present. After the three of us finished eating—one of us, very heartily, and the other two normally—it was time for smithing. The mold from yesterday was ready, and all we had to do today was fill it with melted iron.

I lit a fire in the forge using my magic.

Rike watched me, then spoke. “Boss, you can do magic as well? I noticed you using magic when you cooked lunch earlier too.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but I can only do simple things.”

Samya, who was standing next to Rike, barged her way into the conversation. “Isn’t it amazing? Blacksmithing and magic!” she boasted. “Eizo has a family name too, you know?”

Wait a second. Why is she the one who gets to brag?

Rike turned to me. “Oh, is that true?”

“Y-Yeah. It’s complicated,” I responded. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. When we first talked back in the city, I was worried that someone would overhear and spread it around.”

“Don’t worry. You have nothing to apologize for. I understand.”

Samya wore a smug grin. Okay, okay, you’re proud. I get it already.

“What is your family name?” Rike asked.

“It’s Tanya.”

“Tanya. I see. Then, that makes me Rike Tanya.”

“That—” I started to say.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Samya sputtered out before I could finish my sentence. We were on the same wavelength.

“If Boss’s family name is Tanya, that means this is Tanya Forge. Dwarves take on the name of their workshop, so as your apprentice, naturally my name becomes Rike Tanya.”

It made sense when she laid it out like that, but I just had to push back. “It’s complicated,” I repeated. “If it’s really important to you, we can name the workshop after my first name. Forge Eizo.”

“I understand. Then, I’ll call myself Rike Eizo.”

Regardless of whether it was a dwarven custom or not, it was awkward for me to have a woman take on my name so casually.

That was what I was thinking when Samya burst out with, “No fair! I want to have your name too!”

“Ummm...” was all I managed to get out.

What is this woman saying?

“I’m going to introduce myself as Samya Tanya or Samya Eizo from now on!” she declared. “You don’t mind, right?!”

“Uhhh,” I droned, articulate as ever.

Rike was following a dwarven tradition. If dwarves were accustomed to using workshop names like they were family names, what was I supposed to do? In Samya’s case though, I was pretty sure that the beastfolk didn’t have any such custom...

But of course, I had no reason to deny her. She was already like family to me, and I was the one who’d asked her to live with me.

“Sure, why not?” I said.

“Score!” Samya exclaimed before breaking into a happy jig.

I hadn’t planned to leave anything behind in this world after I passed, other than items and trinkets. I was a guest here after all. I had to admit, “Mirage Workshop Eizo” had a nice ring to it.

While we’d been talking, the forge had reached a good temperature. I put in some iron and also stoked the firebed, since it would take time for the ore to melt all the way through.

With both the forge and the firebed lit, the workshop was now sweltering. I began to sweat profusely. Blacksmithing was the reason why I had to be diligent about refilling our water supply every day—I had to stay hydrated.

Once the ore liquified, we poured the molds. Samya filled the mold that I’d made, and Rike filled the one she’d made herself. Afterward, I banked the fire in the forge.

I picked up a plate of metal and thrust it into the firebed, which I’d kept burning. I’d originally planned to make an elite model knife today, but I decided to make it a custom model instead. This would be a good opportunity for Rike to watch and learn. I wanted to try out fancier techniques as well, like steel folding, but I’d save that for when a client ordered a custom knife.

The process for making a custom model was identical to the one for making an elite model, so I made sure to focus all of my attention on the knife. I carefully hammered the metal into shape and then heated it to juuust the right temperature before quenching it. At the end, when I sharpened it, I paid close attention to every difference in sensation passing through my fingertips.

“Brilliant! Absolutely astounding! I can’t believe this was made by a human. Even dwarves couldn’t make something so perfect!” Rike exclaimed, unable to hold back her excitement. She had eyes for nothing except smithing.

“This knife is yours, Rike,” I said. In short order, I had made a simple sheath, slid the knife into it, and handed the set to her.

“Are you sure?!” she asked.

“Yes, it’s too sharp to sell. Plus, now that you’re my apprentice, we’re pretty much family,” I explained. “Be careful with it though.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best so I can make knives as fine as this one in the future!”

“Yeah, I know you can do it.”

Man, custom models sure take a while to make. Like, one and a half or two times as long as an entry-level model. Even elite models took more or less the same time as an entry-level one. In the future, we’d have to take the cost of the raw materials into account as well. From that perspective, it might make more sense for me to continue making elite models, while Rike practiced making entry-level models.

After that, Rike tried her hand at it. In terms of skill, we were about equal, but there were certainly some minor flaws in her final product.

The knife was weak in places where the metal had been unevenly distributed. Those spots would be the first to falter over time, and the knife would become brittle. The weak parts would also have less cutting ability.

Through my cheat abilities and installed wisdom, I could innately tell where I had to hit the metal to make it perfectly uniform and in the exact shape I wanted. Moreover, even if I wasn’t trying, I could still hammer the metal into a flawless product.

Cheats were cheats.

In fact, before I’d given the custom model knife to Rike, I’d taken a close look at it. I’d really put a lot of effort into it, and the metal had seemed like it was almost glowing. It was undeniably in a different class from your average knife; normally, a steel knife wouldn’t be able to cut through a log. That feat should’ve been impossible, even for a knife made with the highest quality steel from my previous world.

Something wasn’t quite lining up with the common sense I’d retained from living on Earth. However, I couldn’t tell what exactly that “something” was. Those details weren’t included in the data.

Foiled again! If only the data was more comprehensive when it came to the nitty-gritty.

In any case, based on what I knew from my cheat abilities, I explained to Rike how to adjust her technique to fix the knife she’d been working on. She listened attentively. I felt conflicted at seeing how hard she was working, considering that she actually had way more experience than I did.

Next came the longsword.

I had Samya assist with the casting. “Helping you with smithing is fun,” Samya said as she worked. “Super fun.”

“Really? You’re free to join in and help whenever you have time,” I offered.

“Great!”

Once the longsword had cooled, I took over hammering out the imperfections in the blade. Unlike the knife, we were using cast iron for the longsword, but the process itself didn’t change much. I shaped the blade with care in order to produce a high-caliber product, hammering the surface until the metal was even throughout. I had to concentrate since this was going to be an elite model sword, not an entry-level one.

When I showed the longsword to Rike, she said, “Aaah, this is the same quality as the one you showed me the day we met.”

“That’s right. I made them to the same standard.”

“It didn’t seem like you put in that much effort when making it though,” Rike commented.

“Oh! Yes, now that you’ve seen my ax and knife, you can probably tell. As you pointed out, I didn’t have to use my full ability to make this sword.”

Upon hearing my response, she shifted her gaze to my hands and stared at them without responding. The workshop descended into silence, except for the crackling of the fire.

“Boss, what in the world...” she muttered eventually. “Never mind. I knew I’d have to climb mountains in my apprenticeship, but now I understand just how high I need to go.”

Judging by her expression, I could tell that she’d made a resolution. I was going to ask her about it, but if she was aiming for the level I’d obtained through my cheats, the mountain was indeed tall. Endlessly tall. Regardless, I would do all that I could to help her toward where she wanted to go.

By the end of the day, we’d made four knives—one custom model and three entry-level models—and two longswords. If we kept this up, we’d have plenty of stock for the next time we went into town.

⌗⌗⌗

We spent the next four mornings building out the new rooms, with Samya also helping whenever she wasn’t hunting.

After reinforcing the foundational columns with diagonal braces, we laid out the structural beams. We positioned joists in places that would need flooring and installed floorboards on top. At the same time, we built out a hallway between the new rooms and the existing cabin structure.

The exterior walls of the rooms would become the new exterior walls of the cabin. This way, any rooms we built would continue to get natural light. In the future, if we needed to, we could lay out new rooms in a square with a central courtyard and extend the hallway to wrap around.

One day, if we needed even more rooms than that, we might have to hire workers to build a second floor—or maybe, we’d rebuild the cabin ourselves. But only if it came to that. I had no plans to expand the house to that extent, but of course, I hadn’t planned for Samya or Rike to join me either. Better safe than sorry and all that jazz.

In these four days, Samya brought back four birds from her hunts, so we ate like royalty every day. She said she didn’t catch anything bigger because she was having too much fun with construction and smithing. The birds were easy for me to cook anyway.

We spent the afternoons in the workshop. In total, we made fourteen knives and six longswords, so we now had plenty of stock. Once we sold these, we’d have to buy more vegetables, charcoal, and ore with the proceeds.

⌗⌗⌗

The next day, the three of us set out for the city. It was Rike’s first town outing since she’d joined us. We made fast progress, took a short break on the road, and soon arrived safely. Marius was once again stationed at the entrance.

“Well, well, look who it is,” he greeted us.

“Hello,” I replied.

“So, you guys come about once a week, right?” he asked.

“That’s right.”

“Hmmm...”

“What is it?” I prompted.

“Nothing much,” he said. “There are just a few people wanting to buy longswords and knives. They’ve asked me for your contact information.”

“Oh, I see.”

We’d been coming to sell at the Open Market once every week, but we hadn’t been keeping a strict schedule. We weren’t guaranteed to be here every, say, Monday, if I were to use the example of business days from my old world.

However, I didn’t want to lose any customers because of our unusual schedule. “I’ll have to think about that. We don’t have a storefront where customers can go directly. Maybe we can work with a distributor or middleman.”

“Please do. It’d be beneficial for you too,” Marius replied.

“True. Thank you for telling me,” I said, bowing my head as a show of gratitude.

Marius waved it off.

This was a crossroad I was bound to reach sooner or later. I’d yet to figure out where to sell the elite model products, and now that Rike was helping me out with the smithing, we’d be making more items than we would be able to sell in one day.

I also had to think about where to resupply the charcoal and ore. It’d be best to restock the raw materials on a fixed schedule, but we might have to secure a place to store them until we could come to collect them in person.

We owned a store of sorts, but since it also doubled as our living space, it lacked an air of legitimacy. From that perspective, a partnership with the merchants here in town was starting to make a lot of sense. Plus, we wouldn’t have to keep making these trips back and forth. They ate up an entire day, after all. The benefits to that sales model were endless. Maybe this was the future of our workshop.

I kept strategizing as we walked past the entrance and entered the Open Market. I was in the process of setting up the counter when someone approached—it was the traveling merchant who’d bought several longswords from me.

“Hey, you’re back,” I called out to him. “We’re not open quite yet.”

“I can tell just by looking.” He appeared sheepish and was scratching his head. “Actually, I had something to discuss with you.”

“With me?”

“Yeah. I’ll be setting up shop here soon,” he said. “And I don’t mean a booth in the Open Market. A real shop.”

“Wow, congratulations!” I told him, filled with genuine delight at his news.

“Thanks,” the traveling merchant responded. Well, I guess he was just your run-of-the-mill merchant now. He still looked bashful. “Anyway, I’m planning to sell a hodgepodge of items that I’ve collected from different places. Since we’re outside the city walls, there are no restrictions on what items stores can stock. I’m gonna sell a bit of everything.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“Right. So, I have a request for you. Would you let me sell your blades and weapons in my shop?”

“Are you serious?” I asked. This was exactly what I’d been thinking over just a moment ago! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect opportunity, but were wishes supposed to be granted this quickly?

Hmmm, on second thought, maybe Marius had brought the subject up because he already knew this was going to happen. Guards overheard all sorts of things in their day-to-day work. My debts to him were really piling up. If Marius ever needs me, I’ll do everything in my power to help.

“Of course I’m serious,” the merchant said in response to my query. “I’m intimately familiar with the quality of your longswords.”

His use of “intimately” made me think he’d used the sword himself. I didn’t have the courage at the moment to ask him for the details.

“I was just thinking about getting myself a distributor,” I said. “If you’re okay with me, I’d be thrilled to work with you.” Truly, what a godsend.

“Great! Thanks,” he said. “Oh, the name’s Camilo, by the way. It’s a pleasure.”

He extended a hand, and I grasped it firmly. “I’m Eizo. I live out in the Black Forest. Don’t ask me why,” I joked. “I can drop off the merchandise once a week. If my trip gets delayed, I’ll give you a heads up. How’s that sound?”

“You live all the way out there? With your skills, you could have your choice of...” Camilo paused and reconsidered his words. “No, never mind. You’re a Nordic man with a past, huh? I won’t pry. You even have a tiger-woman and dwarf along as guards. Quite a rare trio. Your terms work just fine for me.”

“That’s great to hear,” I said. “Now that our negotiations are complete, I have a favor to ask of you too.”

“What is it?”

“I’m running out of iron ore and charcoal, so I’m looking for a supplier. Do you know anyone?”

“I see. I’ll ask around and secure a supply line for you,” he promised.

“It’s not too much trouble?”

“Not at all. I’ll deduct the costs from the price of the goods I get from you. Agreed?”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Anytime.”

We shook hands spiritedly once again, and just like that, we were in business.

I gave him ten knives and four longswords from the stock I’d brought with me today, as well as an elite model of each, and he paid me in return. I kept four knives and two longswords to sell in my own stall. I couldn’t let the space I’d already secured go to waste.

By the end of the day, I’d sold two knives and one longsword. The latter was bought by one of Marius’s fellow guards. Business was slower than usual. My theory was that most people who were interested in my blades had already bought one. I worried about how well the items I’d given Camilo would sell, but I could only count on him to do his best.

While I manned the counter, Samya and Rike ran errands. They brought back dried root vegetables, salt, and wheat products. On our way out, I intended to give my thanks to Marius, but we didn’t run into him again. I’d have to catch him when we came back, sometime next week.

The return journey was quick since we barely had any baggage. We even shaved half an hour off the trip home. We were all tired from a day of work, so after putting away the food and refreshing ourselves from the trip—albeit, a day trip—we headed to bed early.

⌗⌗⌗

The day after our trip into town, I asked Samya and Rike to refill the water and work on the cabin extensions. I wanted the new rooms built because I felt bad that Samya and Rike had to share a room this whole time. However, neither of them seemed to mind.

Rike in particular came from a big family, so to speak, since all dwarves who comprise a workshop usually live as one family unit. My two housemates actually seemed more concerned about me and the fact that I’d been sleeping at the desk in the study. That was why they were going along with my proposal. Of course, I didn’t really care one way or another about having a bed, but in any case, at least our goals were aligned.

Today, I wouldn’t be working with Rike and Samya. Instead, I holed myself up in the workshop as soon as I awoke.

The objective for the day was to test how fast I could work. I planned to make three knives, three shortswords, and three longswords—all elite models—for a total of nine items. The process for making knives and swords was different, but I included this variation intentionally as part of the speed test. It was work, sure, but it also felt like a game. After all, there was nothing wrong with a little fun once in a while.

First, I made the molds for the two types of swords and filled them with molten iron. While I waited for those to cool, I worked on the knives. At the end of the process, I quenched everything and polished the blades. All in all, it took me the entire day to forge everything. I doubt that I could’ve made so many things in one day had my abilities not been cheats.

After work, I reunited with Samya and Rike.

“I wasn’t sure whether to collect you for lunch or not,” Samya told me. “You looked so focused.”

I would’ve preferred if she hadn’t thought so hard about it... She should’ve just called me.

“I can’t believe you made so many high-quality items in so little time,” Rike said. “Blacksmiths around the world are crying, you know.”

I wasn’t trying to compete with anyone. All I wanted was to live my life in peace.

The next day, I made a few entry-level items as well. I’d discovered that I could raise my smithing pace by a lot when I put my mind to it. So for the time being, my priorities were 1) Make products as fast as possible, and 2) Finish building both rooms!

⌗⌗⌗

Fast-forward two days.

I had just finished my work. As I was cleaning up and putting out the fire, Samya approached me. “Are you done for today?”

“Yeah,” I responded. “I made everything I wanted to.”

“Good. Come with me then.”

“Sure.”

She was buoyant and cheerful as she led me through the cabin; I plodded along behind her. When we reached the living room, I paused. Something was off. There was nothing new in the room, but rather, it felt like something was missing.

“Oooh,” I said when it finally dawned on me. In the corner of the room by the bedroom, there was a new exit. That change was the culprit behind my initial discomfort. “You finished them?” I’d been focused on my blacksmith work this whole time, so I hadn’t been paying any attention to the new part of the house.

“Yup,” she confirmed. “The two rooms and the walkway at least.”

“Amazing!” I’d known that the build had been coming along smoothly, but I hadn’t realized that it would be finished today.

“We’ve been working our butts off round the clock, only taking breaks to eat,” Samya explained. “Today too!”

She led me down the hall, and I caught sight of Rike standing at the other end of the corridor.

“Good work, Rike!”

“No, no, it was all Samya,” she countered, humble as always.

The hall opened up into the two rooms, and they’d even finished the roofing. However, the rooms were still lacking doors, furniture, and bedding, so only the bare structure was complete. On the flip side, it meant that the rooms would be ready to use as soon as we installed the doors and furnished them. I estimated that it would take no more than another two or three weeks if we were efficient.

“We still have to build the doors and furniture, huh?” I mused out loud.

To my surprise, Rike asked, “We’ll be installing doors?” Her expression looked confused, as if I’d said something completely alien.

I uttered a questioning noise. “Of course we will... They’re women’s rooms.”

“Well, in my home, only two types of rooms had doors: the guest rooms and the room for the head of the house and his wife.”

I see, I see. So that’s how it was. I’d been employing common sense from my previous world and had spoken without thinking. Good thing Rike assumed that I’d been part of a prestigious family.

“That may be the case normally, but this cabin has never been normal. It’s already strange for a mere blacksmith’s cabin to have a separate bedroom and study, right?” I reasoned. “In any case, it may just be my selfish whim, but I want the rooms of my family and apprentice to have proper doors.”

“I have no problem with it, of course,” said Rike. “What about you, Samya?”

“No skin off my back. It’s not as if I’ve even lived in a proper house before anyway.”

“Right, right...” Rike responded.

“It’s decided then. They’ll be simple doors, but at least I’ll make something with hinges.” With that, I ended the discussion.

Using my cheat abilities, I’d make short work of the doors, but I presumed that the job was going to take a little more finesse than making weapons or farm equipment. This was the perfect opportunity to see how far my abilities could take me... That was my ulterior motive for building the doors.

After dinner, it was time for bed. I slept in the study as usual, and the women took the bedroom. The newly constructed rooms weren’t usable yet, unfortunately.

Tomorrow, we’d be heading back into the city, but it would be a different trip than usual. I was going to pass off my goods to Camilo, and if he’d already secured a supplier for me, then I could use the money from my products to pay for extra ore and charcoal. With excitement welling up in my chest, I slowly drifted to sleep, feeling almost like an elementary schooler on the night before a field trip.

⌗⌗⌗

The following morning after I refilled our water supply, Samya, Rike, and I prepared for the day’s journey into town.

“Today, we’ll be dropping off the wares with Camilo and then restocking our ore and charcoal. We also need to buy some salt, but otherwise, we can return home after that. Unless...is there anything else the two of you want to do?” I asked.

“I don’t have anything in mind,” Rike replied.

“Me neither,” Samya said. “I’d rather be in the forest—it’s easier for me to relax here than in the city.”

“If you two say so... Okay, then we’ll come back as soon as we’re done with the errands, and we can do some extra work around the house and workshop instead.”

“Yes, that would be preferable. It’ll be a good opportunity for me to learn, Boss.”

“Mmhmm,” Samya hummed in agreement.

These young women preferred staying at home over a day out in town... I almost wanted to cry. From my perspective—a washed-up old man’s perspective, as it were—it seemed a little troubling. But they’d said it, not me, so back home we’d go.

Rike and I split the merchandise between ourselves. As a dwarf, Rike was very tough despite her childlike appearance. Samya’s tiger half also made her strong, but we didn’t have her carrying anything; as our guard, she needed her hands free.

The three of us headed into the Black Forest. I’d expected that our journey would be quiet like it’d been previously, but Samya had to stop us twice after sensing wolves nearby. It was touch and go for a while, but finally, we stopped to take a break.

“We’ve run into a surprising amount of wolves today,” I said to Samya.

“Yeah, we’re nearing the season when their cubs will be born,” she explained.

“So they’re out to secure food for the mothers?”

“Yup. Next month, you’ll start seeing wolves with young cubs. They’re really cute. You can’t get near them, but you can watch as long as you don’t try anything.”

“The wolves around here seem rather docile,” Rike said.

I’d had the same thought before. At first, I’d assumed that the wolves would go after any human in the forest, but actually, they wouldn’t attack unless provoked.

“Mmhmm,” Samya confirmed. “Between the tree deer, the grass rabbits, and other animals, there’s plenty of prey for the wolves to hunt. And it’s easy to corner prey because of how dense the trees are. All in all, hunting’s a walk in the park for the wolves in this forest. Also...”

“Also?”

“Me and Eizo are plenty strong. Maybe you too, Rike? However, an average human, like the ones in town, would be the perfect targets because, frankly, they’re the weakest prey. I’ve said before that wolves don’t often attack anything carrying a human scent, but that only applies to the folks who live around this forest.”

“I see. So it would be better for me not to venture out alone,” Rike concluded.

“That’s right. Always bring me or Eizo with you if you go out.”

Although Rike was both tough and plucky, that didn’t necessarily mean that she was a good fighter. It made sense for Samya or me to accompany her in case she had a run-in with a wolf.

“In any case...going to the trouble of securing food for a pregnant mother? Forest wolves are rather noble, aren’t they?” I remarked.

“They’re smart,” Samya said. “Some scholars in the capital claim that one faction of the lupine beastfolk who lived in the forest broke away and returned to their lives as wolves. Those wolves are the ancestors of the forest wolves we know today, or so they say.”

“Is that story true?” I asked.

“Course not,” she replied with a shrug. “But the fact that people believe it at all is proof of just how smart the forest wolves are. The wolves that live on the plains just don’t compare. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from other travelers.”

“Interesting.”

It was amazing that these wolves were so intelligent, even though their prey was easy to capture...or was it the opposite? They didn’t have to devote much time to hunting, so they had time to advance their knowledge instead. The consequences of failure were moderate. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to afford to experiment. I found this aspect of living in a new world endlessly fascinating.

We continued to chat as we proceeded through the forest. Once we were on the main road, it was smooth sailing. We didn’t make the journey too often—just once a week—but even so, it was miraculous to me that we’d never once encountered any bandits. On top of that, I hadn’t seen any beastfolk or demihumans being treated poorly, namely Samya and Rike. This world was more developed and progressive than I’d initially imagined. It might be different within the city walls, but I had no intention of finding out.

⌗⌗⌗

Marius wasn’t at the entrance today, but the guard on duty was one I’d previously met. He was the person Marius had dragged along to buy my longsword, so he’d probably already gotten a chance to test out the quality of my work. I told him that I was selling elite model longswords through Camilo, and he said he’d bring Marius by later to check it out.

We arrived shortly after at Camilo’s shop. It was spacious and grand, much more so than I’d expected—it even had a second floor.

Rike stared up at the storefront. “What a large shop.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised by the size too,” I said. Was inventory from someone like me really appropriate for a store like this?

Inside, a variety of goods lined the walls, just like Camilo had said they would. I told someone who looked like a staff member that we were here to see Camilo and that we wanted to hand over some merchandise to him. The clerk ran off to find him, and we were left to look around.

The store carried daily necessities—dinnerware and hampers, seasonings like salt (of course), sugar, and various spices—as well as upscale items. It also sold wine, hard liquor, and ale. My weapons were displayed farther back. Two knives and two longswords were arranged on the shelves, representing both types of models: entry-level and elite.

“These blades actually look like legit goods for sale when they’re lined up like this,” Samya said in appreciation.

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” I had to agree. “Throwing them on a counter in the Open Market just doesn’t quite compare.”

Personally, I had no aesthetic sense for display. However, even I could tell that this arrangement was tastefully done.

We wandered around for a while before Camilo came out to greet us. “Hello, welcome! Come with me. Let’s talk upstairs.”

“All right,” I said, and the three of us flocked behind him.

We were led to a room near the second-floor landing. It was spacious and furnished with a sizable table alongside several chairs, which looked provisioned specifically for business and negotiations. Camilo urged us to sit, then took the chair across from us.

Once we were all comfortable, I opened the conversation. “We brought more knives and longswords today, along with a couple of shortswords as well. How many do you want?”

“Eh? Oh, I’m happy to take everything off your hands,” Camilo said. “They’re very popular products.”

“Oh, really? That’s great,” I replied. “By the way, this store is huge! You didn’t tell me you were such a hotshot.”

“Ah well, business is what it is. We cater to everyone here, no matter if they’re a traveler, townsman, or a fellow merchant, so we have to carry a wide variety of goods. The size of the store was just a natural product of that philosophy.”

“I think I get the picture.”

Camilo’s store was like one of the department stores in my former world. They had a little something for everyone, whether the customer was a professional or your average joe. Camilo may just be at the forefront of a retail revolution here, and I wanted him to succeed. It’d be an honor for my products to help him accomplish his goals.

“Never mind that. I have something else for you,” Camilo said with an austere expression.

Maybe he hadn’t been able to find an ore supplier?

“What is it?” I asked. “It’s fine if you haven’t found more ore yet. We can come back any time, so it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nah, that’s not it. Actually, I had a customer request—they want you to forge a custom sword, and I’ve been wondering what to do,” he confessed.

“Custom, huh?”

Given the performance of my custom blades, there is no way I could forge them for other people! But...with that mindset, I’d only ever be able to make custom models for the people around me to use. Somehow, I needed to make them more widely available.

Upon seeing me deep in thought, Camilo said, “You’re free to refuse. I can let the customer know.”

“Well...I don’t mind making a sword for someone with the right skills.”

“Don’t worry about that. I can personally confirm whether they’re qualified, both in skill and character.”

“Hmmm...”

Though I wanted a way to verify for myself, it didn’t make sense for me to travel into town every time to vet a customer.

Oh! I got it.

“I’ll make a sword for anyone who can come visit me in my workshop, in-person and alone. How’s that?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll give you the location.” Anyone who could make it through the Black Forest to my workshop (and home) unharmed by the forest wolves roaming around was sure to be skilled enough for me to entrust with one of my custom model swords.

“All right, I’ll pass the word on to the customer,” Camilo agreed.

“If you have any other requests from customers you can vouch for, feel free to give them the same condition.”

“All right.”

I turned to my companions. “Samya, Rike, sorry for deciding this one-sidedly.”

“I have no objections, Boss,” said Rike.

“Ditto for me,” Samya added.

“Thanks.” I gave Camilo the location of the workshop, and then we moved on to a new topic: the details of today’s trade. “Were you able to procure ore and charcoal?”

“Of course, of course. Quite a lot of it too,” Camilo said breezily.

As far as I knew, there weren’t any major mountain ranges around here, so he must have had the ore hauled in from far away. The charcoal was another story, but the ore must not have been cheap.

“All right,” I acknowledged. “Here’s what we’ve brought on our end.”

I lined up the items on the table, and Camilo inspected them one by one. “These here have exceptional quality,” he said, gesturing toward the elite models. “And these are your normal-quality wares, right?”

“Yeah, I make the entry-level models with quantity in mind, so the quality is...as you see it,” I said.

“Got it. Like I said before, I’ll take everything you’ve brought today. As for the ore and charcoal, I can let you check everything out for yourselves first. Follow me.”

Before we left the room, Camilo first called for a clerk. The person who showed up was not the same employee we’d spoken to downstairs. Camilo gave instructions to put a shortsword we’d brought today on display. Then, he led us downstairs using a staircase that was different from the one we’d originally taken.

These stairs led to a roomy storage space, one that probably took up a large portion of the store’s footprint. Even with its size, the room was crammed full of products and supplies. Considering the connections and financial investment that it must have taken to build up a store with such a rich array of products, Camilo could’ve had his pick of cities. He must have his own reasons for choosing a smaller town like this one. Given my own background, I thought it prudent not to pry.

“And here’s the ore and charcoal,” Camilo declared.

“You weren’t kidding... There’s quite a lot.”

It was just as Camilo had told us, but still, the amount was more than I’d imagined. If I were to use a cask of wine for comparison, he’d secured about two casks of each. Rike and I could work our hardest making entry-level models as fast as we could, and this amount of ore and charcoal would still last us two to three weeks. Even with items that used more raw materials, like greatswords or lances, I could forge them back-to-back and the materials would easily last a week.

If Camilo could supply us with this much ore and charcoal every week, our workshop would not have a shadow of a problem operating. Furthermore, if we were only going to maintain the same quality and quantity of goods that we were producing right now, it would take even longer to use up the materials; he could decrease the supply with no issues on our end.

Just as I was thinking that, Camilo said, “I can’t promise you the same amount every single week, but it’ll be roughly the same.”

“Not a problem. We’d be fine with quite a bit less, actually. We won’t be able to go through all of this ore and charcoal in one week, but we can store the extra. Don’t worry.”

“Good, good. Then, let’s talk about the price,” he said.

He laid out the details for us. According to him, the raw materials cost a fourth of what the items we’d brought today were worth. Looking at it another way, we only had to produce a quarter of the goods we’d brought today in order to ensure a healthy supply of iron every week.

“Isn’t this rather cheap for the raw materials? Will you be able to turn any profits?” I asked.

“Of course. I’ll still make off quite well,” Camilo replied.

“All right. Fine with me then.”

“Are these prices okay with you for your products?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “We can discuss it again if anything major happens.”

“Sounds good.”

The two of us shook hands to close the deal, and with that, our negotiations were complete.

Now that the shoptalk was over, I turned my thoughts to practical matters. “Hmmm, these raw materials are going to be difficult for us to carry back.”

“True,” he said.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a cart?”

I’d asked without expecting much, but miraculously, Camilo had a solution. “Normally, no, but we do actually have a cart that we’re not using right now. It’s still in working condition though. With a little upkeep, it’ll run for quite a while yet. I was going to chop it up for firewood, but I remembered that you folks always come without a cart, so I left it as is in case you might want it.”

“That would work perfectly for us to haul all of this home,” I said.

“Then it’s yours.”

“How much?” I asked.

“It’s free.”

“Free? Seriously?”

“We’re not using it, so just think of it as a favor for a valued client.”

With some hesitancy, I responded, “Is that so...”

Camilo didn’t seem to be lying. There was also no reason for him to go out of his way to trick a blacksmith that lived out in the middle of nowhere, so I didn’t think he had any ulterior motives. But...

I had to be sure.

“Why are you going so far for us?” I didn’t ask to catch him in a lie—the question was too simple for that—but rather, just to see if he had a reason that I could easily accept.

“It’s just as I said. I like to think our partnership will continue into the future, and the goods you supply me are high-quality,” Camilo explained. “Clients like you are one in a million, so I’m just showing my gratitude.”

I see. So, it wasn’t just out of the goodness of his heart after all. I decided to take him at face value for now. “All right. Thanks, Camilo. I’ll take it off your hands then.”

“Yeah, all yours.”

“Oh, can I also buy some salt and wine from you? You can take the cost out of my profits,” I said.

“Sure. I’ll have your cart prepared with the goods while I calculate the final total, so how about you kill some time and come back in about half an hour?”

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you then.”

“No problem.”

And so, we temporarily parted ways with Camilo. As we left his shop to wander around, I griped to Samya and Rike. “He said to kill time, but I have no idea where to go. I’ve only been to the Open Market.”

“Oh, really?” Rike said, surprised.

“I’m the one who goes out to buy salt, pork, and other necessities,” Samya explained before I could get a word in. “Eizo was always in charge of the shop.”

“The only store I’ve been to, if you can call it that, is the tavern that you led us to... The one where we chatted for the first time, Rike.”

“Well, it’s settled then! Let’s explore today and see what kinds of shops the new market district has to offer.” At Rike’s suggestion, we headed into the bustling and rowdy crowd.

The district consisted of a variety of different sections; there were places with impressive storefronts lined up neatly side by side, and also spots with mostly carts and stalls. There were no sections as rough and chaotic as the Open Market though.

Naturally, there was also a plethora of goods for sale. Most stores specialized in one type of product, but there were a few exceptions to the rule. I suspected that one of the reasons why the shops here did so well was actually because of how much traffic passed through the Open Market.

I was curious about why there were so many stores here, so I asked my question out loud, and Rike answered. “This city is the midway point for travelers circumnavigating around the Black Forest. Folks from the south, for example, pass through this city regardless of whether their final destination is in the north or the west. You’ve always come directly from the Black Forest, Boss, so you probably didn’t realize.”

That’s true. For normal people, a trip through the forest was too risky, so they had no choice but to take a detour around it. The midway point along that route was a strategic position for a city, from both military and cultural perspectives. That much was the same as back on Earth.

The reasoning was clear to me, but Samya looked completely lost at Rike’s explanation. It seemed like she couldn’t relate at all since she’d been living in different areas of the forest for her entire life. Well, as Rike pointed out, I was partially in the same boat as Samya.

We ambled around, stopping by stores here and there. Once enough time had passed, we headed back to Camilo’s shop and were met with a cart loaded with iron ore, charcoal, bags of salt, and casks of wine.

Despite the cargo, the cart still had room for more. It wasn’t just a simple platform with wheels either, like the ones used in Japan during the Edo period. Rather, it looked more like the back of a pickup truck, where the front and sides were enclosed with a low fence. The back was fenceless because that was where luggage was loaded and unloaded. The most accurate comparison I could think of was a horse-drawn cart, sans the horse.

Camilo came out to receive us in person this time. “Hey, you’re back.” He walked over to me and held out an envelope. “Here’s the money I owe you for today.”

I checked just in case, but it looked like the right amount. “Got it. We’ll see you next week.”

“I’ll be waiting!”

We set off on the road home with our newly secured mode of transport. That said, the cart was primarily for transporting luggage, so Rike and I had to pull it along. Samya was exempt since she was our guard. Though she could’ve ridden with the cargo, she chose to walk alongside us instead. The cart was heavy, weighed down with everything we were bringing back, but the wheels were a major help. We were still able to move along at a quick pace.

I was worried about the wheels getting stuck in the forest. However, the dirt was hard-packed rather than loamy, as we’d experienced firsthand when digging the support beam holes for the new rooms.

I’d hoped we would make it through without too much fuss. And if worse came to worst, Samya could help push the cart from behind.

But I did have one more concern on my mind: safety. We were obviously towing goods along, so we’d be a tempting target for bandits, much more so than we had been as just three travelers on foot. I didn’t think there were likely to be any around, especially since Samya had never detected any. However, it didn’t change the fact that, if we did run into anyone, we were now juicer prey.

Of course, we wouldn’t go down easy. Samya was armored and armed with a custom model bow, and she was one of the beastfolk, a tiger-type no less. I was also here to help if we were in danger. Still, it’d be better if no one attacked us at all.

I discussed my worries with Samya, asking her to be extra vigilant on our way home. In the end, though, we reached the forest without anything happening. Still, from now on, we should plan to be on our guard while heading home. I was suddenly reminded of a line from a children’s song I’d heard back in Japan that went something like: “The going is easy, but returning is rough.”

Once we were in the forest, the wheels rolled smoothly along the dirt without sinking, just as I’d hoped. I’d also been worried about whether the cart was narrow enough to fit between the trees, but the ones in the Black Forest were sparse enough for the cart to pass through. The cart itself wasn’t very wide anyway.

Of course, it took more effort to pull the cart along in the dirt rather than on the well-maintained city road. “Wouldn’t it be nice to fix up a small road through the forest?” I mused.

But then Rike reminded me, “If we built a road, the test we proposed to Camilo would become useless. It’d be a piece of cake for customers to come to the workshop, Boss.”

“You’re right.”

We’d just discussed this with Camilo—I would make custom weapons only for those who were truly skilled enough to wield them. If we cleared a path, the challenge would simply become a test of following the road. And with that, it would lose all merit and become nothing more dangerous than a routine trip to buy tofu. No good.

The three of us made it home safely without running into any major problems. It’d be a blessing if all our trips were as uneventful as this one, but sooner or later, trouble was bound to find us. Hopefully, we’d be able to resolve it with minimum effort when the time came...

We unloaded the cart and brought everything inside the cabin. The salt and wine weren’t hard to move, but it was quite time-consuming to carry in all the ore and charcoal, even with three of us. All in all, it was a full day of work. Perhaps I could think of a way to bring in goods with a wheelbarrow.

To close out the day, we had an extravagant dinner consisting of wheat porridge paired with jerky and root vegetables stewed in the wine we’d bought (and a little water). The meat didn’t taste gamey at all and was quite tasty. Both Samya and Rike also gave it good reviews, so I’d be sure to add this dish to my repertoire going forward.

⌗⌗⌗

The next day, we went back to our routines of constructing the new rooms and blacksmithing. For the latter, I’d be shifting my focus to elite models from now on, and Rike would be working on the entry-level models. I also had to think about developing new weapons for the future.

For the time being, we’d be adding shortswords to our regular lineup. They were forged the same way as longswords; the only difference between the two was the length of the blade. The decreased length of the shortsword made it a versatile weapon that was easy to wield, which was exactly why I chose to make them. Forge Eizo’s lineup now consisted of three types of bladed weapons, each with a different length: knives, shortswords, and longswords. Each product had an entry-level model and elite model as well.

Rike and I headed to the workshop to begin our smithing work for the day. Samya, on the other hand, left the house, declaring that she’d catch a couple of birds or rabbits. I surmised that she didn’t want to hunt deer today because she’d rather be free to help us tomorrow. Besides, we already had plenty of meat in storage.

First, Rike and I had to smelt the ore to produce the plates of metal that would be used for the weapons. Before we started, we compared the quality of the ore we received yesterday with the pieces that we already had in stock from when I first arrived in this world. I inspected each type carefully, taking my installed data into consideration. The original stock’s quality was slightly better, but there wasn’t much of a difference to see.

“They look about the same to me. What do you think, Rike?” I handed her the two pieces I’d been comparing.

“Let’s see...” After a moment of scrutiny, she said, “It’s like you said, Boss, the quality is nearly identical. Whoever assessed the new ore we received must have pretty good eyes.”

“All right, let’s use the new materials then,” I said.

“Understood, Boss.”

I lit a fire in the magical bloomery using my own magic and then added charcoal along with the ore, which had been broken into small pieces already. I alternated between fanning the flames with wind magic and letting the fire and metal rest. After repeating the two steps several times, I had a batch of iron—or steel, to be more precise—ready for use.

If this had been a non-magical furnace, like the ones used in ancient Japan, there would’ve been many more steps: after the ore had been heated through alternate uses of the bellows, the body of the forge would’ve been broken to extract the pure tamahagane steel—the metal amalgamation of iron and steel with varying quality—from the bloom.

However, this magical furnace didn’t produce any slag, which was, to put it bluntly, the garbage produced during the smelting process. With this furnace, only the usable steel remained, thus eliminating the need to break the furnace vessel.

The final step in our smelting process was to pour the steel out of the furnace. Ours was on the large side, so it produced a fair amount of steel when filled up all the way.

To think that the cheats I was granted extended this far, unbelievable! I felt a bit apologetic to the other inhabitants of this world, but I couldn’t just let these gifts go to waste.

“Looking good. Shall we continue?”

“Yes, Boss.”

After removing the steel, we took a sizable portion of the cooled metal and reheated it in the forge. When it was thoroughly hot, we removed it from the heat again, and together, Rike and I hammered it into a flat plate. The shaping took both time and effort. Once the first plate was complete, we stepped back to evaluate our work.

“It’s not bad, I gotta say.”

“Yes, I agree. In fact, it’s better made than the plate metal we currently have in storage,” Rike said.

“I trust your judgment wholeheartedly. Let’s keep going.”

“Okay!”

We spent the rest of the day smelting ore into plate metal. Just as we were finishing up around dusk, Samya returned from her hunt.

“I’m home!” she called out to us.

“Welcome home!” I replied. “Rike, this is a good place to stop. Let’s call it quits for the day.”

“I understand, Boss.”

We cleaned up the workshop quickly and returned to the living area where Samya was waiting.

“What did you end up catching today?” I asked.

“Rabbits.” As she’d explained to me previously, these rabbits had ears that looked like blades of grass. She’d managed to take down three. They weren’t very big, so they didn’t take much time to skin and dress. They also didn’t have much meat on their bones, but it was just enough for the three of us.

Like yesterday, we enjoyed another luxurious feast. I served the rabbit as a steak paired with wine sauce, and alongside the meat, we ate flatbread and a root vegetable and cured venison soup (left over from Rike’s and my lunch).

I stuffed a bite of rabbit into my mouth and was wondrously impressed. “It’s delicious!”

“I know,” Samya said. “They’re difficult to catch, but luck was on my side today.”

“It’s quite flavorful,” Rike complimented.

The day came to a close, scored by the soundtrack of lip-smacking rabbity goodness.

While we all enjoyed our food, I had another suggestion to share with everyone. “We’ve saved up a good amount of money, so I propose that we put a pause on blacksmithing next week and focus on the cabin instead. We still have to make the doors and beds.”

“That’s true,” Rike agreed. “We’ve made plenty of blades as well, so we should be able to afford a week.”

“Cool, I’ll help out too! We’re not short on meat either, right?”

It looked like both Rike and Samya were on board.

“It’s decided then. Also, next time we’re in town, we can ask Camilo to help us find bedding.”

We headed off to sleep, giddy about our upcoming one-week vacation of sorts.