episode_0011

After confirming that the skeleton had recovered well, I decided to immediately try making a sword. Of course, it was not a large long sword, but a kitchen knife that could be used lightly in the kitchen.

Since it was the best-selling item at the blacksmith shop and could also be used at home, I decided to make a kitchen knife.

Since my uncle closed the blacksmith shop, he hadn’t used it often, so dust had accumulated on the metal pieces stored in the corner. He brought a suitable one among them and placed it in front of the skeleton.

And immediately gave instructions using black magic. The instructions were to use the tongs on the side to grab the metal piece and place it into the fiercely burning flame.

Now I’m a warlock, but before becoming a warlock, I briefly received training to become a blacksmith from my uncle, so it wasn’t difficult. Moreover, my father was by my side.

“Andrew, put it a little further in.”

“Like that?”

“That’s right.”

With help from my father from time to time, I adjusted the skeleton so that it could heat the iron properly.

As the iron was heated by the hot flames for a while, it began to take on a red-hot flame-like color. Not only did the color change, but it also started to glow little by little.

“That’s enough. Now take out the heated iron, pound it with a hammer and shape it. You can do it, right?”

“Uh… … . Maybe?”

Although it only lasted a few days, I had some experience hitting metal before. Controlling the skeleton was able to produce some results simply by conveying an image.

I drew an image of someone holding metal with tongs and hitting it hard with a hammer, and immediately made the skeleton move.

bang! bang! bang!

And then, the skeleton started hitting the metal with a sound that was close to a roar. This is because the skeleton, strengthened with all kinds of black magic, had the power to easily overpower most people.

As he was struck with a force stronger than that of his father, the iron immediately began to change its appearance.

Every time the hammer struck a piece of iron, the piece of iron caved in, stretched around it, and became thinner.

“It has cooled down a lot, so it would be a good idea to heat it up again.”

Following my father’s advice, I reheated the iron and struck it again to continue the work. Of course, not me, but the skeleton.

As the skeleton pounded the iron for a while, something close to the shape of a blade was completed. Because it has tremendous power, it was created very quickly.

“Hmm.”

As soon as the piece of iron was completed, which had a shape close to a blade that was perfect for use as a kitchen knife, my father immediately checked it.

“Father, how are you?”

“It’s better than what you made. There are some points that need improvement, but considering it was my first attempt and I made it in such a short period of time, I think I did a good job. Depending on how the blade sharpens, whether it can be sold or not is just good enough for us to use.”

Unlike the first time I made it and gave up on it, the skeleton I made this time was well received by my father.

“Father, do you have a whetstone? Let’s change it right now!”

After receiving favorable reviews from my father, who has been a blacksmith his entire life, I immediately tried to sharpen the blade. But my father shook his head.

“Don’t forget it already! Before sharpening the blade, you must first quench it!”

“No, it’s been almost ten years since the last time I learned it?”

My father started nagging me, saying that there wasn’t a single process that wasn’t important. It’s been more than ten years since I decided to become a warlock instead of a blacksmith, so how do I remember every single detail of it?

Still, with the help of my father, I continued to process the blade. It was thanks to my father telling me in detail what to do when I was lost.

The strength of the blade was sufficiently increased by heating it over a hot flame for a long time and then cooling it by dipping it in oil several times to sufficiently increase the strength of the blade and make it less easily damaged through tempering.

When I couldn’t easily bend the blade even with my father’s strength, it was finally time to sharpen the blade. A large whetstone was firmly fixed on the floor in a corner of the blacksmith shop, with dust accumulating on it.

After roughly washing off the dust with water, the skeleton sat in front of him and began sharpening the blade.

Naturally, this time too, it was noticeable that the blade was being sharpened due to the strong power of the skeleton.

It was hard to tell whether this was done to sharpen the blade or to make the whetstone dull. Iron dust was falling off the blade, and the whetstone was also wearing down quickly.

“… … If you do that, the blade won’t sharpen and only the whetstone will wear out. You can do this when you initially shape the blade, but when setting the blade itself, you should sharpen it quickly while maintaining a certain angle at which the blade will be raised, rather than using strong force.”

After listening to my father’s advice and adjusting the movement of the skeleton again, the knife began to sharpen properly. Each time the blade was rubbed against the whetstone, it became sharper and began to shine.

“Stop, stop. That’s enough for now. If I do it any more, the knife will break in half. This guy.”

I was so mesmerized by the torch hanging on the wall, the sunlight coming from outside, and the blade shining brightly reflecting the fierce flames burning in the kiln that I forgot to stop the skeleton, and my uncle gently tapped my shoulder to wake me up.

He quickly stopped the skeleton and took the blade from the skeleton. Of course, I received it on the handle without blades so as not to hurt my precious hands.

“Kya… … ! Dad, this is really well made?”

“Let’s see.”

As if my father wasn’t afraid of the blade, he grabbed the blade sharply and took it from my hand.

The sharpened edge, the thickness of the back of the knife, the tip of the knife, and the handle. My father started checking the entire blade here and there. He was checking the blade in various ways, including lightly flicking his fingers, tilting it slightly, and cutting nearby leather.

My father, who had been checking the blade for a while, soon nodded.

“It was made quite well. It’s at the same level as when your father praised your grandfather.”

“… … Are there any objective figures? The level when my father received praise from my grandfather was at a certain level.”

I was happy to hear my dad say it was well made, but I didn’t understand how well it was made.

“If you try to sell it to Amy’s mom, it won’t sell, but it will sell well to ordinary housewives.”

Amy’s mother ran a famous restaurant in town. In short, it may not be enough for experts, but it is a very good product for the general public.

“Father. So, is this good enough to sell at that blacksmith shop?”

“Hmm… … . It seems competitive. However, what is important is whether this level can be consistently maintained.”

I smiled at my father’s words.

“Father. I know that? Even skeletons are intelligent. This means that work that was done once can be done again at the exact same level. Even without any special commands. Although it does consume some dark magic power.”

Since it was a skeleton that could move each of its finger joints in minute detail, it could perform the movements it had already performed perfectly, if it invested only black magic.

But my father looked displeased.

“It shouldn’t be done at exactly the same level… … ? Forging or quenching must be done differently depending on the temperature of the fire and the quality of the iron. Have you already forgotten?”

This is because the blacksmith work could not produce completely identical results even if the work was done in exactly the same way. The results varied depending on various conditions, and were determined solely by the blacksmith’s skills.

Of course, that wasn’t a problem either.

“It costs a little more black magic, but you can strengthen your intelligence further. You can make your own decisions. You can see with your own eyes how hot it is, and think about how much more you need to do by watching the recoil when you hit it with a hammer or the unfolding of the heated iron.”

“That’s fascinating. If it is possible to do that, it must be competitive enough… … . No, it’s competitive enough!”

My father shouted that he would be sufficiently competitive.

And, I also had the same thoughts as my father. Running a blacksmith shop using skeletons boasts tremendous competitiveness, and I was confident that I would be able to rake in money.

All iron products in this world were ‘handmade’ products. Naturally, a considerable amount of labor was needed to make something, which meant that prices would soon rise due to labor costs. Moreover, since humans needed rest as long as they were making products, making multiple products tended to take a long time.

If it was a skeleton that did not require rest or labor costs, the price of the product could be reduced significantly. If you sell such a cheap product, you can quickly dominate the market. If I could disrupt the market using capital, I could disrupt the market using labor.

“Father! Let’s reopen the blacksmith shop!”

“Yes! Then!”

My uncle, who has been a blacksmith his whole life, was very happy to hear what I said. He quit working as a blacksmith because the circumstances were not favorable, not because he didn’t want to be a blacksmith.

But that didn’t mean he could return to being a blacksmith right away.

“… … I have to help your mother in the morning, so you run the blacksmith shop. I also started running a blacksmith shop at your age. I’ll come in the afternoon like today and teach you and your skeleton some tricks.”

I could tell without looking that my father would not be left behind if I abandoned helping my mother by returning to work as a blacksmith. Looking at his appearance, my father was a man with lots of muscles, but whenever he was in front of his mother, he was a husband with muscles that shrunk infinitely.

Anyway, when I decided to run a blacksmith shop, I immediately started fixing it. This is because I was able to do a little bit of woodworking and masonry with my skeletons through the skeletons that managed my grandmother’s mansion.

I repaired or made new things that were a little old, and cleaned up the dust that had accumulated while not in use. A new space was created to sell the products made, and even a new signboard was created.

[Smith Skeleton]

Quite intuitively, they put up a sign with the name Smithskeleton engraved on it, meaning that skeleton blacksmiths make products.

After putting up a sign with a picture of a skull and the name Smith Skeleton on the top of the building, the blacksmith shop began operating immediately.

There weren’t many things to sell right now, but it didn’t take long to figure it out. This is because I took out three more combat skeletons that I separately owned and made them learn blacksmith skills.

Since there were four skeletons that could produce twice as much output as my father, the speed at which the volume was accumulating was incredible. In fact, I was worried that there might be a shortage of iron ore or scrap metal to make products.

“Mr. Rugus! Running a blacksmith shop again… … ?”

And, as soon as the blacksmith shop’s new sign was put up and the sound of metal being struck was heard, customers began to come. This is because there were more than a few people who were dissatisfied with the profiteering at the blacksmith shop, which was the culprit that caused my father to quit working at the blacksmith shop.

Although I was surprised to see that it was me, not my uncle, in the blacksmith shop and the sight of skeletons hammering.

“S, Skeleton… … . Are you Andrew?”

“Uncle, it’s been a while. Do you still cry while chopping onions?”

The first customer who came was a retired driver and Amy’s father. Since he was a guy I had a close relationship with, I played around with him and got an amusing response.

“… … Hehehe! When on earth are we still talking about our enemies?”

“Oh, don’t you cry anymore?”

“Keuhum, khuhhum! Hahaha!”

I laughed lightly at the sight of the man clearing his throat very loudly.