Chapter 11: The Mansion’s Forge

Around the time Ars turned one year and eight months old.

He was gradually learning to speak, and he’d begun walking around the mansion more often.

「Ars-sama, you mustn’t wander too far.」

His personal maid followed gently behind him.

「Okaaay.」

His voice was still childish, but he was becoming able to give simple replies.

(Today, I’ll go check out that place.)

A place that had caught his interest for some time.

From behind the mansion came,

Clang, clang, clang!

The pleasant sound of metal being struck.

It was a sound I’d heard countless times in my previous life, one that I’d always loved.

　　　　　◇◇◇

「Ooh…」

Inside a small building, a dwarven craftsman was hammering a piece of red-hot iron.

Flames roared fiercely inside the furnace, while the bellows steadily pumped air into it.

He took the iron out,

hammered it,

then returned it to the furnace.

Not a single wasted movement.

(How nostalgic…)

It was the familiar sight of a forge, something I’d watched countless times as an apprentice