Ch. 71 Giving and Taking Away
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 71 – Giving and Taking Away
It took some time before we all calmed down.
“I’m sorry for breaking the core… I didn’t know something like that was inside.”
Miao apologized listlessly after hearing the whole story. Her drooping ears and tail looked genuinely apologetic.
Sniffling, I accepted her apology.
“Hng… It’s, it’s okay… I think I can repair it…”
Unlike last time, the repair probability had dropped to around 60%, but it was still better than not being able to repair it at all.
Considering the amount of money that went into making it… it’s dizzying to think about it again.
“It’s a relief that it can be repaired. Just tell me how much it costs. No, I’ll compensate you double.”
“N-No need for that… Maybe, just repairing it will cost quite a bit…”
Of course, not as much as when making it, but it could still be half the cost at least. However, Miao, unaware of this fact, shook her head and grabbed my hand.
“Heuk.”
“It’s okay. I have a lot of money! I’ve earned money from running the store and I have a lot of magic stones from hunting!”
“I-I’m jealous…”
I don’t have a penny.
Anyway, after receiving the apology and promise of compensation, we took a break and had a cup of tea each, and finally, we could start making the doll.
It didn’t seem like this appointment was supposed to be this long, but I don’t know how it turned out this way. As I sighed inwardly, Miao asked with an awkward expression.
“Are you going to sit there after all?”
Originally, I was supposed to sit on Miao’s lap, but I was sitting on Yuika’s lap.
Actually, it wasn’t because I wanted to, but because I was already in Yuika’s arms, but I didn’t particularly want to change it.
Even though I received an apology and a promise of compensation, I still felt sulky. When I subtly avoided her gaze, her ears and tail drooped even more.
“Okay! Let’s start right away then!”
But only for a moment. Miao took out a large bag from her inventory with a lively voice. Klung-! I looked at it with a curious eye at the sound that felt heavy, and Miao smiled and said.
“First of all, the doll we’re going to make is a ball-jointed doll. A BJD for short. Do you both know what that is?”
“Huh? Do I have to speak too?”
“You don’t really have to, but it’s weird to just ask Mari, right?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s that weird… I’ve heard the name at least. I heard they’re quite expensive dolls.”
At Yuika’s words, I nodded. Of course, the ball-jointed doll I knew was one made to resemble an anime character, and it was quite expensive. The words ‘premium’ or ‘limited edition’ followed after that, but the same sentiment was that it was an expensive hobby.
But Miao shook her raised index finger from side to side and said,
“Not at all. Of course, certain makers or goods are as expensive as you two think, but regular BJDs are very cheap. You can easily get them for the price of lunch.”
“Is that so?”
That was a new fact. I always thought that BJDs were an expensive hobby because I had only seen ones that cost over a hundred silvers.
“Of course, the BJDs you can get like that aren’t that pretty. Usually, they’re just wooden dolls, and in better cases, they have wigs or faces.”
“Your younger sibling didn’t say they hated it?”
“It’s not that my sibling and I liked dolls so much that we made them, but because we enjoyed the moment of making dolls together. To be honest, it wouldn’t have been much different if we had done something else instead of making dolls.”
Miao said that and then fell silent for a moment. She was still smiling, but the atmosphere was somehow subdued.
“Miao?”
“Huh? Oh, I was just thinking for a moment. Anyway, you both only know the name. Right?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
We didn’t say anything at Miao’s hasty change of subject. It was just a guess, but I thought I knew what Miao was thinking about for a moment.
Whether she knew about our consideration or not, Miao said in a lively voice.
“A ball-jointed doll is, as the name suggests, a doll with ball-shaped joints. Like this, there’s a groove carved in a straight line, and the bottom part here is open, right?”
“Yes.”
“This groove determines the range of motion of the joint, that is, the range of bending and straightening the arms and legs. And then tension is important here…”
I nodded diligently every time Miao spoke.
To be honest, I didn’t really understand what she was saying. I’m not that smart, so it was hard for me to understand just by listening. I could only get a sense of it if I actually did it myself. Still, I thought it would be rude to interrupt her while she was explaining so diligently, so I listened quietly.
“Um, Miao?”
“Huh? Do you have any questions?”
“To be honest, I don’t really understand just by listening, so can’t we just try making one?”
“Heok…”
And unlike me, Yuika raised her hand and boldly declared that she didn’t understand. I gasped at her courage, and Miao laughed and said,
“Well, no matter how much you listen to an explanation, there’s no better explanation than actually making it yourself. But now there’s a problem that’s different from reality.”
“Yes? A problem, what kind of problem is it?”
“In reality, you can buy things online, but here you have to make everything from scratch.”
With those words, Miao opened the bag that she had been putting up since a while ago and poured out the contents. I looked at the pieces of wood that poured out with a bewildered look, and handed carving knives to me and Yuika, who she didn’t know when she had taken out.
“Let’s start by making the arm and leg parts first. I’ll show you the shape as we make them together, so just follow along.”
“M-Miao…? What is this?”
“I told you. You have to make everything from scratch. I’ll show you how to make one first.”
Miao, who answered indifferently to Yuika’s bewildered question, sharpened her nails. Then she started drawing on the piece of wood, and it was cut off as smoothly as if she was cutting tofu.
After moving her fingers on the piece of wood a few times, the arm part was completed. To be exact, it was an arm divided into upper and lower arms, and when she applied glue to the dividing part and put in the joint ball, the familiar appearance appeared.
Miao grabbed her arm and imitated the shape of moving it up and down.
“I can’t fix it in a bent state because I haven’t put in the tension yet, but in other words, if I put in the tension here, it will become a familiar appearance.”
“You complete it so quickly…”
“It’s a hobby, but I have to do this much to be able to teach you.”
I didn’t really get taught anything, did I…? I muttered inwardly at Miao’s boasting appearance, but anyway, we started making parts by following the appearance that Miao showed us.
Squeak squeak—I listened to the sound of Yuika cutting the piece of wood with a carving knife as well as Miao showed us, and I used the doll making skill.
Miao looked at the appearance of sinking in and out every time I moved my hand with a curious eye.
“I knew it from seeing it once, but I can’t get used to it even if I see it a few times that it goes in like that. Ah, make it a little thicker there.”
“Yes…”
After listening to the instructions from the side, I barely completed the arm part, and a window popped up.
[You have crafted an arm for a wooden doll.]
[Completion C]
“Oh.”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no. The window that used to pop up when I made dolls popped up…”
It pops up even if I make only parts separately? As I blinked my surprised eyes, Miao tilted her head and asked.
“Um… I don’t know what that means, but it’s not a bad sign, right?”
“Yes, maybe…?”
“Well, let’s keep making it for now. Then we’ll get a grasp of something.”
I nodded and continued to make parts following Miao.
[You have crafted an arm for a wooden doll.]
[Completion C]
[You have crafted a body for a wooden doll.]
[Completion C]
.
.
.
[You have crafted a head for a wooden doll.]
[Completion D]
After completing the last part, I gathered the parts I had made in a haphazard way to form a shape and looked at it from afar.
“Wow…”
I hadn’t attached the joint balls yet, and I hadn’t used the tension rubber band, but just gathering them like this was quite a good quality.
When I was making the head, I wanted to make it into a cylindrical shape like Doll 505 rather than a round shape, so I changed it in the middle, and the completion degree dropped a little, but it still looked the best among the dolls I made.
“Now, do I just need to put in the tension here?”
“The tension is a little different from the original, so the mobility will be different. I chose the one that looks the most similar among the ones sold in the store.”
“Ew…”
To be honest, I had never seen tension, so I didn’t really know, but the dark color made me feel disgusted.
But I can’t help it because it’s necessary to complete the doll. Feeling uncomfortable, I followed Miao to put in the tension, but it wasn’t easy.
It’s a method of hooking it on a wire and pushing it in, but I kept making mistakes because I wasn’t used to it. Yuika and Miao tried to help, but I refused them all and continued working steadily.
Actually, I didn’t get help because I had a strong feeling that it wouldn’t be a proper completion if I got help from someone.
Anyway, after a lot of effort, I completed the doll.
[You have crafted a wooden ball-jointed doll.]
[Completion B]
Completion B! It was the moment I was about to be happy with a grade I had never received before.
[Completion is lowered due to the handicraft penalty]
[Completion B > D]
“What…!”
No, you can’t give it and then take it away.
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading today!!As promised… it’s an on-time update…!
FINALLY delivered!!!
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Hmm not much to say today other than hit her and kill Kat.Oh well? Be punctual and have a good day, I guess!
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