Kays Translations

Chapter 28: The Dismantling Was Hard Work

From early morning, I continued the cleaning I had started the day before, and by noon, most of the house was spotless.

Once the tidying was done, I finished preparing the rooms as well. Since there was now an extra one beside Stefana’s, I decided to give it to Rugena.

My own room, located on the second floor, was originally meant for studying—just a desk and a bookshelf, nothing more. But after returning from the capital with all the equipment I had either purchased or crafted, it had taken on the atmosphere of a small research laboratory. The faint scent of parchment and reagents lingered in the air, and even I couldn’t help but think it looked a little… eccentric.

Mother and Stefana both sighed in disbelief when they saw it, but Rugena had smiled and said, “It has a good atmosphere, Arthur-sama.” That little bit of encouragement made me feel strangely proud.

In the afternoon, Mother and the others headed out to check on the vegetable and wheat fields—the same ones we had sown just before leaving for the capital. Over a month had passed since then, so I doubted much would have grown. In fact, imagining the thick weeds overtaking everything was enough to make my stomach sink.

As for me, I had my own unpleasant task to face: dissecting the spider’s abdomen—alone.

Mother had been very clear about it: “No dissections inside the house or the storehouse.” Which meant the only place left was the far corner of the yard.

Honestly… I didn’t want to do this.

It wasn’t just dismantling. It was dissection—cutting open flesh, exposing organs, dealing with things no one really wants to see. I already knew it was going to be gruesome before I even started.

But still, this was necessary. A vital part of my studies. If I wanted to understand how the spider produced silk, I had to see its inner workings firsthand. This was the first step toward proper research.

I sighed, trying not to make excuses to myself. If I kept thinking about how disgusting it would be, I’d never get started.

So I gathered my tools.

For a makeshift workbench, I flipped two wooden crates upside down and set them side by side. I didn’t own any proper blades, so I borrowed the smallest knife Rugena carried. It gleamed faintly, sharp and well-cared for—clearly a weapon meant for precision.

Next, I prepared glass jars for storage. Using alchemy, I formed them from glass ingots I’d made earlier. The transmutation circle was simple: shaping and heating arrays connected together, producing cylindrical jars with glass lids.

“Starting from an ingot saves a lot of time,” I murmured.

It wasn’t as pure as working directly from silica sand, but it was much quicker and required far less mana.

Once everything was ready, I began the dissection.

I’ll spare the details—my mind blurred the scene with a convenient haze—but to summarize: inside the spider’s abdomen, I discovered several distinct organs responsible for producing silk. Since I didn’t know their official names, I called them silk sacs. Each one had a slightly different shape and texture, suggesting they each produced a different type of silk.

That discovery surprised me more than I expected. I had imagined a simple structure, but when I cut it open—well, it was like finding a hidden machine of nature.

Since each sac was unique, I decided to store them separately. I created more jars, carefully preserving every kind in its own container.

Just as I was finishing up—

“Are you done, Arthur-sama?”

I turned around. “Hm? Rugena? You’re finished already?”

“Already? Do you even know what time it is?”

When I looked up, the sky was glowing orange—the sun about to sink behind the hills. I’d started right after lunch. That meant I’d been dissecting for five hours straight.

“Ah… right. I gathered everything I needed. Could you handle the rest? Burn the remains, please.”

“Of course,” she said with a sigh.

I had already extracted everything from the silk glands down to the spinnerets. Now, it was time for her to dispose of what was left.

“Burning it now. Flame Drop!”

A ball of fire fell from her outstretched hand, bursting into a controlled blaze that consumed the remains. It was a simple spell, used mostly for incineration.

I wasn’t well-versed in magic—Mother never taught me much—but I at least knew the basic classifications: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

“You wanted silk, didn’t you, Arthur-sama? Is that what this is?”

“It’s… the raw material for the silk. Probably.”

I had expected to find a single spinneret, but there were several, each producing different strands. The liquid was milky-white—similar to silk thread in color—so I was fairly sure I was right, even if I’d never seen actual spider silk before.

“It was a big spider, but this is all you got?”

“Yeah. I squeezed out every drop from each sac.”

The largest yield was about five hundred milliliters. The smallest—barely a hundred. What puzzled me most, though, was that the substance remained liquid even after exposure to air. I’d thought spider silk hardened immediately upon contact.

Before I could dwell on it, Rugena changed the subject.

“Anyway, what about the iron? I want to go to the forge.”

So much for curiosity.

“You know we have to tell the village chief before using the forge, right?”

Even though I’d already been granted permission to use it, courtesy required that we inform him beforehand. And besides, once the forge was active again, the villagers would probably start bringing requests.

Rugena was my guard before she was a blacksmith, so she couldn’t devote herself fully to that craft.

“I’ll do my best, Arthur-sama!”

“You can’t just work yourself to death. We don’t even have enough iron or fuel.”

We had bought some on our way back, but only in small quantities—it would run out quickly.

“Ah! But if you help me, we could—”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Just heating it a little—”

“No. I’m not a furnace.”

She pouted, clearly hoping to use my heating magic to melt iron in place of a proper forge, but I had no time to indulge her.

I wanted to study the silk before it spoiled. Iron could wait.

“Let’s ask Mother about the forge later.”

“Yes, Arthur-sama.”

“Then let’s head back.”

“Um… if you go inside like that, you’ll be scolded.”

“Eh?”

I looked down—and froze. My clothes and arms were smeared with spider fluids.

“Right. I’ll go wash up. Can you take these jars to my room?”

“Of course.”

She nodded and walked back toward the house, carrying the glass containers carefully in both hands.

As for me, I headed to the washing area. Stripping off my stained clothes, I poured water over myself, then used ash mixed with water as a makeshift soap.

No matter how many times I scrubbed, the spider fluid clung stubbornly to my skin, spreading rather than coming off.

I sighed. Fine, let’s do this properly.

Using alchemy, I summoned a spherical field and filled it with a bucket’s worth of water. Then, by adjusting the size of the heating array within the sphere, I reduced the output just enough to warm the water—perfect bath temperature.

When the water steamed softly, I poured it into a basin and lowered myself in.

Warmth spread through my body, loosening the tension in my muscles. The sticky residue melted away almost instantly.

“Ahh… a bath really is the best…”

During winter, we always used hot water, but around this time of year—early autumn—it was rare to bother heating it.

“What are you doing, Arthur-sama?”

“Wha—?!”

I jumped, water splashing around me. I must have dozed off because I hadn’t noticed Rugena approaching.

“Ah, sorry. I guess I was falling asleep.”

“You can sleep, Arthur-sama. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“Thanks… I’ll… leave it to you…”

And just like that, drowsiness claimed me.

When I woke again, I was in my bed, covered with a blanket. For a moment I was confused, until my stomach growled loudly.

I hadn’t eaten dinner.

“Good morning, Al.”

“Morning, Mom.”

“Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Mother, who had been sitting nearby, smiled softly before leaving the room to prepare food.

The sky outside was pale with the first light of dawn—still early.

I stretched. I couldn’t believe I’d actually fallen asleep in the bath.

The dissection had drained me completely. Between the delicate work, the constant use of mana to materialize precise tools, and the tension of not making a single mistake… I must have pushed myself past my limit.

“I guess that last bit of warm water really finished me off…”

It was too much for a child’s body to handle.

When I recalled Mother’s worried expression as I woke up, guilt pricked at my chest.

Still, I couldn’t help but think…

Today would bring new discoveries.

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