Chapter 32: Falling Down with Iron

After Borvis’ funeral was over, Gerhard went straight to Lutz’s workshop.

Lutz tilts his head at the unfinished sword on the table.

“What’s this?”

“He died in the middle of striking the sword. I could have thrown it away, but he was lying there holding it like he cared for it. I was curious, so I took it.”

“Did the people in Borvis-san’s workshop say anything to you?”

When Lutz asked, Gerhard snorted uninterestedly.

“The attitude was that if you would dispose of it, you would be very welcome. I guess he wants to get rid of the old master’s scent and color the workshop in his own way. Such is the psychology of successors.”

“That’s just…”

Gerhard shook his head at Lutz, who wrinkled his eyebrows.

“Don’t think of the guys at the workshop as being particularly cold. From what I saw from the outside, Borvis was not a good master either. If you just use them without teaching them anything, you won’t be well-liked. He didn’t develop a good bond with them, and this is the result.”

“Is it the result of Borvis-san’s way of life that Gerhard-san protected the unfinished sword like this?”

“…That’s right. He was a good friend to me. Though I feel like I was forced to deal with a lot of troublesome things.”

Seeing Gerhard smiling and nodding repeatedly, Lutz was convinced that they must have been really good friends.

“That’s why I came today with a request for you, Lutz.”

“You want me to finish this sword?”

“It’s helpful that you understand so fast. Can you do it?”

“It’s already 80% finished.All that is left to do is hardening and sharpening. I can’t say how good or bad the sword will be until it is sharpened. How about a gold coin for the finishing?”

Gerhard took a gold coin from his wallet and placed it on the table with a snap. He didn’t hesitate to do so to finish the sword, which he didn’t even know if it was a great sword or not.

“I’ll have it done by tomorrow afternoon.”

Lutz put the gold coin in his pocket, picked up the sword, and headed for the smithy. Gerhard, too, was a stranger in the house, so he left without being guided.

I had no desire to talk about my memories of the man Borvis. That sword is the answer to everything, and that’s all that matters, a conversation between craftsmen.

Fill the blade with soil. By making the blade thinner and the ridge thicker, the temperature transmitted to the blade when placed in the furnace will also be different.

This difference in temperature creates a warp in the blade, and the blade pattern brings out the design of the crests.

Place the blade covered with soil in a furnace of nearly 700 degrees celsius, heat it sufficiently, and then soak it in water. This is a necessary process to add strength to the sword, and if done poorly, the blade will break, so it was a work that required experience and instinct.

Lutz did it without incident. If he destroyed the sword here, he would have no face to present to either Borvis or Gerhard.

“First step, we’re through. ……”

Lutz went to the kitchen and gorged himself on cold water. His throat was parched with fever and nervousness, and after drinking nearly two liters, he finally calmed down.

After calming down, I started sharpening.

The sword was rubbed back and forth on the wet abrasive stone. The blade pattern emerged and shines more brightly.

…… Perhaps this is quite a great sword. I took this job with the intention of keeping up with the nostalgia of the old folks, but the wind has changed.

Borvis was a novice when it came to katana making. However, in terms of weapon making, he was much more experienced than Lutz. His background may have been expressed in the form of his rugged but famous swords.

Switch from rough grinding to a fine grindstone and sharpen again.

There is no artistic beauty. The image is truly a lump of iron. An axe in the shape of a sword. It is a powerful sword that makes you think that you can cut anything if you swing it down.

“So this is the sword he struck. ……”

Gerhard muttered to himself in front of the finished sword. He was again impressed by Lutz’s skill in making the unfinished iron bar look so fine, and he was also grateful.

“I like it. Will you give it a name too?”

Instead of talking to Lutz, who was sitting in front of him, he spoke to Claudia next to him.

“Is it okay if I do it? I don’t know much about Borvis-san.”

Claudia asked with hesitation.

“Just take a quick look at the sword and name it whatever you come up with.”

Gerhard is not very good at coming up with names, and when it comes to Lutz, he is so devastating that it seems as if he left his naming sense in his mother’s belly. From his experience up until now, Claudia could be trusted.

“Then…”

Claudia picked up the sword. The weight of the sword felt heavy in her hand. She looked at the dull, shiny blade for a moment, and then an idea came to her.

“How about the name ” Hitotetsu Ittetsu?”

“Hmmm, what does that mean?”

“It is a sword that has been made in the sole pursuit of the power of iron.”

That’s how you would describe his life, living with iron. Gerhard has no objection. Iron, that’s his epitaph.

After that, he left the workshop after having Lutz engrave the inscription “Ittetsu, Borvis”.

The sword was engraved with magic to strengthen its sharpness. The reason for this was that he did not want to do anything too unnecessary, such as adding an attribute to the sword, because he believed that the essence of this sword was its quality and solidity

The scabbard and handle are plain things that I asked Lutz to do.

Gerhard carried this sword as his own sword, but to be honest, it was a little heavy. I thought about shortening it a little by shaving off the stem end, but I didn’t do it because I felt like I would lose to Borvis if I did that.

“Whoa, too heavy for an old man after all.”

I could easily imagine the face of Borbis, who grinned saying something like that.

Since this was the case, he would have no choice but to adapt his body to the sword. Gerhard was halfway through training his body. He had probably wielded a sword as heavy as this when he was an active adventurer, so there was no reason why he couldn’t do it now.

He put bread, wine and dried meat in a basket and went out into the woods to swing his sword.

On the first day, my whole body ached after just a little swinging, but after two or three days of repetition, my body became accustomed to it.

I was even a little glad that my body had not forgotten that I was still an adventurer.

One day, while walking in the woods, I found a large rock. Normally, it would be nothing, just a rock. If it was in my way, I would just go around it.

……I wonder if this can be cut.

Maybe it was the magic that struck me, but I suddenly thought of something strange. A sword is not a tool for cutting rocks. If you hit something like this, the blade will chip, or in the worst case it will break in two.

If you want to break a rock, you need to drive a wedge into the gap and hit it with a hammer, or heat it sufficiently over a fire and then pour water on it to break it open due to the temperature difference. It is not something that can be cut with a sword.

Impossible, reckless, pointless. Even though he knew it in his head, Gerhard drew his sword and held it in the upper stance as he slowly crept toward the large rock.

“It can’t be helped, because I felt like I could do it…”

Gerhard stared at the rock while making excuses that couldn’t even serve as excuses.

Before long, the weak point of the rock, the fragile part, became visible. If I hit this spot, I might be able to cut it.

“Teeei!”

A flash of energy. Gerhard swung his sword down and then took a few steps back. The rock was broken beautifully, and the sword had not even a single chip on its blade.

“This is our holy sword. Right, Borvis…”

No one answered the mutterings of the old swordsman, only the rustling of the trees could be heard.

After 40 years of pursuit, the answer is in my hands.

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