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Chapter 62. The Blacksmith In The Wilderness

"I... I'm going to die..."

Gasping for breath, I desperately claw at the air for oxygen. Of course, that won't make the air any richer in oxygen. It's like this even for a city dweller running a few kilometers suddenly. It's a wonder my legs didn't cramp up.

I regretted not doing warm-up exercises before running.

"You... haven't been using your body as much as you thought, huh? You've got less stamina than the average kid?"

"I won't... deny that..."

I catch my breath. Why am I being forced to run against my will?

I'm drenched in sweat. I want to take a bath.

Right, I'm supposed to build a bath.

"Alright... let's build a bath."

I struggle to sit up. It seems I recover faster when using my aura; the shortness of breath is less severe.

"Let's start with the stone kiln!"

This one always thinking about food.

"...I can only give instructions, so we should work on it simultaneously."

"That's true."

I stand up and drink some water.

Cherina is nearby, looking unusually grumpy. She often seems unhappy. Does she dislike Yaralai and hugs that much?

I start with the stone kiln, as I've had experience building one under my boss's orders before.

"How are the refractory bricks holding up?"

"They're decent for a first attempt. There are still many cracks, but you'll get used to it with practice."

Seems like they checked a sample while I wasn't looking.

"I see... Oh? Where's Yaralai?"

Yaralai, who was running behind me earlier, is nowhere to be seen.

"You didn't notice? I sent him to the usual dumping ground for impurities midway. He'll be back with compost soon."

"I didn't notice at all..."

"Akira was running hard, so..."

"It's not something you can improve overnight. Maybe you should stop?"

"No, since you can cloak yourself with aura, training in that state will efficiently build your muscles. Trust me."

"I don't know if I should be happy or sad..."

While it's good that my stamina is improving, exercising itself is still tough.

"Well, I'll train you until you start glowing."

"Glowing?"

My question gets ignored as they drag me to the spot for the stone kiln.

I instruct the Hagg and Veliero Trading Company workers on how to build it, and they assemble it with amazing speed. It took me two full days to build this at my boss's house.

Despite being a dual-layer design that's easy to control temperature, they're building it so quickly. It seems they are true professionals when it comes to stonework.

"I'm surprised. It's assembled so quickly."

Dawro, the representative craftsman, responds.

"Heh. Stonework is our specialty. Bridges, homes, gates—we do it all in stone."

I see. Considering the materials available here, stones are abundant. They're lying around everywhere. It might make land clearing difficult with them everywhere, but that's not an issue now.

"We'll fire it for a while to dry it out. Should be done by evening, right?"

"I'll monitor that."

Reliable indeed.

"Now, onto the bath."

"The bath?"

Dawro furrows his brow.

"Cherina gave her approval. It would be easier with bent iron pipes, but..."

"I see. With iron and a furnace, we can make it?"

"I'm serious?"

"No lies here. Well, it depends on the quality of the iron and the type of furnace. But as long as we have charcoal and bellows, we can manage."

"We have iron meant for ship chains. And plenty of bellows."

"Then let's make it. Akira, what shape do you want?"

"Ideally, it should be thick enough for water to flow, coiled like a spring... or better yet, spiraled like a helical staircase."

"Is there a reason for that?"

I sketch on an A3 paper and explain.

"When we light a fire here, the spiraled iron pipe heats up, turning the water into hot water."

"I see. In that case, we need a mechanism for water flow, right?"

"If we divide the inlet and outlet vertically, the temperature difference will create circulation automatically. But more importantly, can we prevent water leaks and ensure the tub isn't affected when we light the fire here?"

"The bathtub will be made of refractory bricks, so no issues there. And if we fire the clay for the water inlet and outlet, it should work fine."

"I see. Then I leave it to you."

Based on my illustration, Dauro instructs his subordinates to work on the bathtub part. While he eagerly observes Hagg's work.

Hagg swiftly constructs a small furnace with refractory bricks and quickly heats the iron.

"Akira, prepare water and hot water for me."

I was given a small hut where I prepared buckets of water and hot water.

The wooden buckets in the hut were added to the list.

Wooden bucket (20 liters) = 7,280 yen

Seems oddly expensive.

I still can't grasp the market rates in this world.

My remaining fund is 9,904,498 yen.

Hagg mixes the two buckets into another container, seemingly adjusting the temperature. Dawro seems restless.

"What's wrong?"

"Listen closely."

Hagg pulls my ear. Ouch, that hurts!

"The temperature for heating iron and cooling it with water is a blacksmith's secret. For me, it's not much of a secret at this level, but I don't intend to tell you. However, it's something he'd be dying to know, so ignore it."

"Got it."

Since I didn't understand the artisan's etiquette, I ignored it. I'm not taking sides anyway.

Hagg effortlessly shapes the iron with his own hammer, iron stands, and shears from his item bag. Despite knowing nothing about blacksmithing, the iron plates are forming at an abnormal speed.

"As long as you avoid cracking from temperature differences when heating water, it's straightforward."

Hagg says it casually, but it's probably not that simple. You can tell from Dawro's intense gaze.

The long iron sheet is now rolled into a pipe shape. His skill resembles candy sculpting at a fair.

In no time, the spiraled iron pipe is completed.

"Hmm, it's done."

"Amazing."

"Heh, it's my specialty after all. But since I didn't do any special treatment, it will rust and become unusable eventually."

"Come to think of it, iron does rust."

"I can make iron that doesn't rust... but I won't do it here. Even if I wanted to, I don't have the materials," Hagg strokes his dwarf beard.

"You can make iron that doesn't rust?"

"Yes, it's a dwarf's secret."

"That's impressive. I know pure iron and stainless steel don't rust, but..."

"Hey!"

"Huh?!"

Hagg grabs me and tosses me to a nearby spot. That was rough.

"Good grief... being with Akira is never boring. Maybe I should have been more cautious, but I didn't expect him to know," mutters Hagg.

I don't quite get what Hagg means by that.

"Uh, was there a problem?"

"A big one! The technique for making rust-resistant iron is something humans would kill to know! Even among dwarves, only a few know about stainless steel! I have no idea where he learned it..."

He sighs deeply, crossing his arms. Was it really that rare here?

"We used it regularly where I'm from. Most sinks were stainless steel."

"...Your homeland must be extraordinary. If it existed in this world, it would've been attacked and conquered in no time."

"It wasn't a warlike nation, though."

Maybe if it was the USA, Russia, or China. But more importantly, does stainless steel work as a translation here? It's still a mystery. The translation skills are too high. I wonder if everything in this world gets translated automatically if it exists here?

"Anyway, Akira, be careful not to say careless things. We don't know who might be listening."

"I'll be careful."

I don't how to be careful, but I'll watch my words around anyone other than Hagg.