Chapter 69: To Whom a Bouquet Does Not Suit

Lutz was absent-mindedly stirring the unlit furnace. No particular meaning.

It is not a time to be idle, but I can’t bring myself to do anything about it.

…… I’m so tired of this.

Fifteen days to go until the day when the sword manufacturing process will be open to the public. It is too long a period of time to spend in idleness, letting my stupid look show on my face. Rest is important, but it is a problem if too much rest dulls your skills.

I want to do something, and what is that something?

I thought about going to the woodcutter’s village for the first time in a while and just sharpening, but Claudia stopped me. Claudia told me that I should not leave the workshop at this important time.

Claudia had a good point, and Lutz followed it to the letter.

As expected, there was no point in being locked up, so we discussed and decided that if we were to go out, we would only do so within the citadel. That should be enough for most errands.

……Or maybe she saw through my weakness.

He may have said he was going to a lumberjack village simply because he wanted to get away from this place. Such a place certainly existed.

It was the first time for Lutz to make a sword in front of a group of veteran blacksmiths, many of whom were much older than he was. Lutz’s credibility and reputation would fall to the ground if he failed here, or if he made a lazy sword.

If he were a master, he would probably be surrounded by many apprentices, making swords under the watchful eye of the masses, but Lutz, who had no apprentice, had no such experience. He thought that swords were made to be struck by one person..

The more the day progressed, the greater the pressure grew. He fell into self-loathing, thinking that it would be better if the letter to the Earl never reached him.

Claudia has prepared the best plan, and is running around here and there for that reason. Then, what I should do is to do my best to disclose the manufacturing method.

……Let’s make something so that we don’t lose our skill. If you hit the iron with all your heart, you should be able to blow away any unnecessary thoughts.

However, I can’t find the theme of what to hit.

A little while ago, I struck a sword without thinking, but it was for the purpose of testing the usability of the new forge.

If I get used to making them out of habit, it may become the only way I can do it. After all, I wanted to face swords seriously with a purpose.

Spare time and impatience seem to be contradictory, but they seem to get along surprisingly well. Lutz kept stirring the furnace pointlessly.

To be honest, I am not aware that I have become a swordsmith in the service of the Count’s family. Of course, I haven’t even officially met the Count yet.

I wondered if there would be a ceremony or something to mark the Count’s appearance when he returned from the Royal Capital. I imagined the scene and noticed who would be celebrating with him.

…… Oh, by the way, Patrick became a decorator in residence, too.

Would it be polite to go out to greet him and congratulate him? I had met him many times in my work and our relationship had become casual, so I had not thought of greeting him again.

……No, it’s not. I think it’s because we are close to each other that we should value the importance of discipline, or crispness, or whatever you want to call it.

Lutz and Patrick are equivalent to knights of the same rank, but he is older and has lived in the citadel longer, so Lutz should go over to greet him. At the very least, it would be less offensive.

Let’s give Patrick something as a gift, what would he like? It’s obvious, a well-made weapon.

Lutz’s hand holding the poker was full of energy. It was as if a small fire had been lit in the furnace of his creativity.

A gift of a sword would be too grandiose. It may not be as forceful as gift diplomacy between countries, but it will make them feel obliged to return the gift in equal measure.

On the contrary, it would be disrespectful to put a burden on the other party with a gift.

On the continent, when you give a gift, you give it with the attitude that you have prepared such a wonderful thing for the wonderful you. On the other hand, in the island nations in the east, it seems that it is a trivial thing, but they offer it modestly.

When I heard about it from my father, I used to wonder why he would send me something worthless, and why I should make something good from the beginning, but now I understand. It is one of the considerations not to burden the other party.

Both chest puffing and modesty are courtesies of consideration for the other person, just in different forms. Neither is better or worse than the other.

A dagger would be just the right gift. I remembered that Patrick was excited about Claudia’s dagger.

“……Good, here it comes! Here it comes, the creative spirit!”

Lutz stood up so vigorously and lit the furnace that he wondered what his lazy and lethargic appearance had been until now.

Iron sand is melted to make steel balls, which are then stretched, flattened, and split into small pieces. The steel is divided into two types according to hardness: katetsu kawagane (iron skin) and shingane (iron core). Even this humble process seemed somehow new to me.

The pieces of iron were piled up, heated sufficiently, and beaten into a single mass.

Heat it, tap it, tap it, fold it, and heat it again. As I repeated this process, it became more and more enjoyable.

……The nobles, the masters, and the handlers all suck together. The blacksmith only has to hammer iron. Everything else is dog shit.

Lutz was laughing. He laughed and continued to strike the iron. An unknowing person would think he was out of his mind.

When he finished hammering and shaping the iron, Lutz was at the height of exhaustion. But he was satisfied. He puts everything he has into making a sword, and it feels like he’s found a lost origin.

I bathed my head in water and let the sweat pour off my body. It was already chilly outside, but it felt good to my sweaty, sticky, burning body.

The next day, I took a good rest and replenished my energy before starting the finishing touches.

A special clay mixed with charcoal powder and iron powder is applied to the blade, heated strongly, immersed in water, and cooled at once.

The blade pattern emerged and warped lightly. It is also strong enough..

Gently slide the blade over the whetstone. I repeated it over and over until there was no longer even the slightest tangle.

The result was a happy dagger.

The weight is well balanced. It has a definite feel when you swing it, but it is not an uncomfortable weight that puts a burden on your wrist.

Lutz continued to swing his dagger in the forge. It is really easy to swing, even in a small room.

While swinging, the evaluation of the dagger changed from “not bad” to “pretty good”, and eventually it became “pretty high among my own works”.

If you look only at ease of use, it may be the best. It is a perfect product for everyday use.

…… I don’t want to live a life where I usually have the opportunity to swing my dagger around, but that’s not what I want.

I’m starting to regret giving it to Patrick. However, the ethics of a swordsmith did not allow me to secure it because of its good workmanship and give him a more mediocre one.

I made it for Patrick-san, so it’s only natural to give it to Patrick-san.

The person who made it doesn’t want to part with it, and that’s why it has value as a gift.

“Damn it, take it, you thief.”

I took off the white wood handle while cursing at Patrick, who had nothing to do with it yet. A great dagger, it should be signed.

As usual, nothing comes to mind.

Lutz stopped thinking. Let’s talk about it when Claudia comes back.

Claudia returned in the late afternoon.

When Lutz handed over the dagger asking for a signature, Claudia unsheathed it and gave it a light swing.

“What can I say, this is …… nice.”

“Right?”

“It’s a pleasure that’s hard to describe. It’s fun to swing, it’s really fun. I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s an image of a child picking up a good-looking stick, naming it Excalibur, and swinging it around.”

“… I’m sorry, I’m even more confused now.”

Claudia lowered her voice and shook her head.

“Why don’t you? Aren’t you going to pick up a good-looking stick and call it a holy sword!?”

“Um, what is that good-looking stick…”

“Eh… h?”

Words are really inconvenient. It seems that it is impossible to make women understand a boy’s romance through verbal communication.

“Yeah, well, I understand the concept of the sword. How about this one’s name, ‘Yugumo’?

At Claudia’s suggestion, Lutz nodded as expected.

“I like it. It’s really elegant. What do you mean by that?”

“I think it’s an image of a naughty boy playing around until the sun goes down and getting his mother furious.”

“… you’ve moved away from the point.”

Lutz said dismissively, but also thought it was a perfect fit for a fun dagger to swing around.

I’ll keep Patrick in the dark about the origin of the name. That’s fine.

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