Kays Translations

Chapter 34: The Cat, Fox, and Dog②

After a little while, the three of them calmed down.

For a time, each of them sat there silently, faces — no, their entire bodies — flushed bright red.

Well, yeah. Once you cool down and realize what just happened, the embarrassment hits you like a truck.

Then, the witch theatrically coughed into her hand.

“Kon kon. Well well, let’s stop the joking around now, shall we?”
“Y-Yes, indeed. Let’s.”
“W-Woof, um, yes. L-Let’s do that. Yes.”
“…Fine by me.”

Phew, I was wondering where this was going. Seriously, suddenly going full beast-mode like that should be illegal.

The witch then asked again, more seriously this time:

“Well well, now then. Why are you all here?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, witch? Why are you here?”

I shot the question back.

That eternally reclusive witch even came all the way to the blacksmith, despite how much she hates leaving her place.

There must be a good reason. I was curious.

“Well well, this blacksmith I’m close to uses a large legendary tool, you see. I usually use it to repair OOPArts, but I was told it’s been acting up, so I came to check on it. It’s not something that can be moved, so I had no choice but to come myself.”

“I see, that makes sense.”

It was a much more reasonable explanation than I expected.

For all her quirks, the witch is an expert at restoring legendary artifacts.

She’s whimsical, but there’s probably no one better than her at what she does.

She even has a relic called:
“God Does Not Roll the Dice Three Times”
— which guarantees success on even the hardest technical challenges three times a day.

That kind of cheat-tier ability really suits her.

“Um, um! Being able to restore legendary items is amazing! As expected of the witch!”

“Oh my, what a good little doggie you are.”

“Woof!”

Juicy beamed with joy at the praise. So cute.

“So, so—why are you all here?”

“Well… it’s a long story…”

I explained everything.

How Axe-san gave us a rare material.
How I planned to use it to make gauntlets.
How I didn’t have enough funds, so we took on a material-gathering request from Velent-san.

“A roundabout tale, but I see. I see.”
“By the way, witch. Do you know about magic gold?”
“Oh my, now that’s a rare thing to ask about.”
“We know it’s highly rare.”
“But low in value.”
“Um, um, is it as useless as a third-eyed rabbit’s eye?”

We fired off questions one after another, and the witch looked at us with amused interest.

Her jade-colored eyes narrowed, gaining a slightly darker glint.

She licked her crimson lips lightly before answering.

“Well well, then. Let this witch give you the answer. Magic gold, compared to magic silver, has more than twice the transmission rate for compatibility with legendaries and OOPArts. It can be reshaped into a wide variety of forms at far lower temperatures than magic silver, making it not only better for repairs but also useful in many more ways. It’s incredibly rare and highly versatile, far beyond magic silver.”

“And still, it’s low in value?”

“Yes yes. Its value is lower than magic silver. But its price is higher than magic silver.”

“Now that is a strange thing.”

“Um, um… that’s mysterious.”

So it’s a complete upgrade over magisilver. And yet it’s considered less valuable?

“But it costs more?”

“Yes, yes. The thing is… hardly anyone uses magic gold.”

“Hmm. So if few people use it…”

But it’s so high-performing?

“Um, um, woof. So… that means only a limited number of people can use it?”

Only a few people can use magic gold?

“Ohoho, good doggie, you’re close.”

“Woof!”

“Now then, my clever apprentice, Wof-boy. Have you figured it out?”

The witch gave me a slightly challenging look.

Her expression shifted to that of a master testing her pupil.

A trial, huh? I accept, master.

Magic gold is a superior version of magic silver. High-performing, but usable by only a few.

So its value is considered low despite its price being high.

Even though it’s rare and useful, its general value is low.

It must have something to do with the fact that only a limited number of people can handle it.

“Hmm… it’s high-performing, but only a few people can use it…”
“Wof…”
“Woof, woof… Wof-sama…”

The two of them looked at me worriedly.

It’s okay. I’ve got an idea.

Something the witch said earlier stood out—ah, that’s it.

That must be it.

“I understand now. Magic gold is much harder to work with than magic silver. Even though it’s rare, the reason it’s considered low in value is because so few people can actually use it properly.”

“But if that’s the case, shouldn’t the price be lower too?”

“The price stays high because of its rarity. The value being low refers to its general value — meaning, to most people, it’s useless because they can’t handle it. Also, when the witch explained it, she didn’t say anything about how easy or hard it was to use. Normally you’d say it’s easier to handle than magic silver if that were true. But she only mentioned performance. So, witch — is the one and only flaw of magic gold its difficulty of use?”

The witch quietly clapped her hands in response to my answer.

“Yes yes. That’s correct. No matter how much better magic gold is than magic silver, if it’s too hard to work with, its value drops. The hardest part is that magic gold melts at a lower temperature than magic silver. That means you need incredibly precise temperature control. If you’re even slightly off, it’ll completely melt away. It’s delicate in other ways, too. Long ago, more people could work with magic gold, and the techniques were passed down through generations. But due to various reasons, that knowledge was lost. Nowadays, only a handful of people on the entire continent can handle it.”

“So that’s how it is…”

“Um, um, woof! Amazing! As expected of Wof-sama! That was masterful deduction!”

“No no, it’s thanks to you, Juicy.”

“Indeed. It was Juicy’s insight that led to it.”

I could reach that answer because Juicy noticed something important.

And there’s one more thing.

“Witch, you can work with magic gold, can’t you?”

“Yes yes. Of course, of course. In fact, Kon is better with magic gold than magic silver. So, so — you all have magane, don’t you?”

“Yes. We have some.”

“We do indeed.”

“Um, yes. We do.”

Well, of course we wouldn’t have brought it up if we didn’t have it.

And since the witch knows about my relics, she probably figured that out already.

“As I thought. From what you’ve said, it sounds like you found it during the mithril collection job. Even so, for that stubborn blacksmith to issue a collection request just for funding…”

“Sorry for doing that.”

I turned toward the blunt voice—there was Velent.

The returning Velent was met with a smirk from the witch.

“Oh my, if it isn’t the grumpy blacksmith. Did I offend you?”

“What’s this? You two seem awfully friendly. Not like the usual nasty witch.”

Velent chuckled slightly.

The witch gently placed a hand on my shoulder. As she lightly pulled me closer, her chest naturally pressed against my head.

Marshmallow cushion!?

“Well, of course. After all, young Wof here is my beloved apprentice.”

“That brat’s your apprentice!?”

“Hey, you fox. You’re too close. Back off.”

Looking annoyed, Pakira pulled her away. Saved.

I seriously didn’t know what to do with those soft, bouncy, dangerous cushions.

“Oh dear, indeed.”

“Honestly, I can’t let my guard down with you.”

“Um, Lady Witch. That’s not okay!”

Juicy stepped in front of me protectively. Velent gave a wry smile at the sight.

I felt kind of embarrassed. Curse you, witch.

“I’d heard the witch had an apprentice, but… didn’t expect it to be this brat. Now the magic steel makes sense.”

“Anyway, Velent. About the mithril…”

“Right. Three pieces of that mithril—how about 1 million Oro?”

“Very well. Please use that for Wolf.”

“Pakira, are you sure?”

“That’s what it was for from the start.”

Pakira smiled and nodded.

“U-um, I agree too! Please use it for Lord Wolf!”

“You two…”

My heart felt warm. Velent placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You’ve got good women around you, kid.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Alright then. I’m fired up now. I’ll make you the best gauntlets ever.”

“Please do!”

“I’m glad.”

“Congratulations, Lord Wolf!”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you two.”

“Now, Wolf. You should tell him about that blade.”

Prompted by Pakira, I carefully took out the cloth-wrapped item from my pouch.

“Y-yes. Velent, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask you.”

“Sure. What is it?”

I carefully unwrapped it and showed him the knife blade.

“What’s this?”

“I’d like you to make a handle for this. I want to use it as a knife again.”

“…Can I touch it?”

“Y-yes.”

Velent touched the blade, his expression becoming serious.

How is it? Is it no good? Is it…?

Then Velent gave a sharp grin.

“Not bad at all. Alright. I’ll make it into a knife for you.”

“Thank you so much!”

“I-I’m so glad, Lord Wolf!”

“Indeed. Now, what about the magic steel? What do you plan to do with it?”

“Ah, right. First I’ll assess how much there is, and then I’ll pay an appropriate price. How’s that sound?”

“In that case, please give that amount to Pakira.”

“What?”

“U-um, I’m okay with that too. I gained an experience worth more than any reward. So please give it all to Pakira!”

“You two… In that case, I’ll accept it gratefully. Thank you.”

Pakira gave a bashful smile.

Then, for some reason, I noticed the witch watching from a distance the whole time, arms crossed like she was observing from the background.

“What’s the matter, Witch? You’ve been quiet.”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking—ah, youth is such a wonderful thing.”

The witch watched us warmly.

Youth… huh.
Was this youth?
Yeah… maybe it was.

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