Chapter 677: Mithril-Orichalcum Greatsword (3)

I showed up before Areum, holding orichalcum-the material for alloying-less than a few months later.

And after Areum confirmed the orichalcum material, her very first action, once her initial surprise wore off, was to dart like an arrow to the shop’s front entrance and hang a ‘Business Closed’ sign on the door.

“You don’t really need to close the shop, do you? You could just confirm it’s orichalcum ore and start the work later at your leisure.”

“Are you serious right now?! D-do you think I can possibly do business today after seeing material like this with my own two eyes! Don’t talk nonsense!”

“That big of a deal?”

“It’s not ‘that big of a deal’, I’m telling you! Where on earth did Oppa get something like this…”

Because I managed to get my hands on it so easily, I hadn’t really felt its value, but it seems that for a dwarf craftsman, orichalcum ore is indeed quite a rare material.

Seeing Areum frantically rushing around the shop with the bag full of orichalcum ore lumps, making a huge fuss, made me feel that even more.

Well, judging by that reaction, it seems unlikely she’ll refuse my request, which is a relief.

“Anyway, you’ll do what I mentioned last time, right, Areum?”

“You mean asking me to reforge Oppa’s sword by alloying it with orichalcum?”

“Yeah.”

“W-well, since it’s Oppa’s request, of course I can… but…”

“Huh? Are there still materials needed?”

“N-no, it’s not that… It’s just, well…”

Even though I brought the orichalcum material, Areum hesitated, trailing off as if something was amiss.

As I watched her reaction with slight bewilderment, Areum slowly opened her mouth and cautiously asked me.

“Oppa, are you sure it’s okay to entrust it to me…?”

“What do you mean?”

“I-I only have about 60 years of experience, and this is my first time handling materials like orichalcum or mithril directly… I’ve watched my father or uncles craft things from the sidelines many times, but handling it myself is the first time…”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m entrusting it to you.”

“B-but with someone as famous as Oppa, shouldn’t you entrust it to a dwarf with more experience than me? It’s a bit hard to understand why you’d entrust it to a trainee like me…”

“It doesn’t matter. Besides, you’re the only blacksmith I know, Areum.”

“I-if that’s the case, I’ll contact them and let them know! If I contact my uncles who specialize in rare minerals, they could probably handle Oppa’s greatsword…”

“Areum.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m asking you right now.”

“Ah, aah… O-Oppa…”

Areum, flustered by my face looming right in front of hers, avoided my gaze.

Thinking solely about what she was saying, it was probably advice given for my sake, but still, I had to address the issue directly: the fact that Soo Areum alone was sufficient to be the blacksmith for me.

“I asked you, Areum. Not your father or other dwarf craftsmen whose names I don’t even know.”

“I-I know that, but…”

“Or have you just decided you don’t want to work on my weapon anymore?”

“N-no way! Of course, I should work on Oppa’s weapon…”

“Then accept this request too. You said you were confident, Areum. Right?”

“C-confidence, of course I have it…”

“Then it doesn’t matter. Whatever the result, I won’t complain if you make it, Areum.”

“I-I won’t make anything that warrants complaints, so don’t worry about that! I was just asking if you could entrust it to me, not necessarily a renowned craftsman…”

“Yeah. To me, you’re the most trustworthy blacksmith, Areum.”

“O-okay… If Oppa says so, then, o-of course I’ll accept…”

I added one last remark to Areum, who cautiously nodded with a look of lingering hesitation.

Making it absolutely clear that I had no intention of entrusting my sword to anyone else but her.

“Areum.”

“Ah, y-yes… Oppa…”

“As long as nothing completely unexpected happens in my life from now on, you will be my blacksmith for life, Areum.”

“W-what are you talking about out of the blue, Oppa…”

“I won’t be entrusting my weapons to any other blacksmith besides you from now on, so don’t feel burdened by my request.”

“……”

Well, maybe somewhere I don’t know, there’s a blacksmith better than Areum.

The mysterious blacksmith who made my mithril greatsword, purchased from the point shop, might even be more skilled than Areum.

But even so, Areum was still the only blacksmith who held my heart, and this fact would likely never change.

It wasn’t strange at all to entrust my weapon to the woman I cared about the most.

If Areum accepts my request this time and learns how to handle new materials, I’ll be able to receive much more help in the future, so it’s naturally a good thing.

Even if, by some chance, the alloy crafting fails, I could forgive Areum. Of course, I wasn’t hoping for that.

“T-that’s cheating, Oppa…”

“Why?”

“Saying things like ‘my blacksmith for life’ to a blacksmith… If you say things like that, I might get the wrong idea…”

“What kind of wrong idea?”

“Like, that Oppa has special feelings for me, or something like that… what else could it be…”

“Taking it that way isn’t exactly a problem, either.”

Because it was an undeniable fact that I had special feelings for Areum.

Of course, there was the special meaning of her being my only blacksmith, but beyond that, I naturally harbored feelings for her as a woman.

The reason I said these things to her was actually to emphasize those special feelings.

Above all, considering we had already shared intimacy once, it was strange in many ways that she would doubt my feelings.

Surely her affection level towards me wasn’t that low.

“W-what are you saying… Stop making my heart race with strange talk…”

“Did you completely forget what happened on the bed last time? I’m a little disappointed.”

“T-there’s no way I’d forget! Of course, I haven’t forgotten what happened then…”

“Then, even after having sex with me, you doubt my sincerity?”

“I-I’m not an idiot either… I don’t get strange ideas just because Oppa held me for a night out of pity…”

“…Huh?”

I thought she’d just blurted it out from embarrassment, but it seemed she genuinely hadn’t grasped that I harbored romantic feelings for her.

With the several times we had sex, not just in the bedroom but even in the bathroom, I thought my feelings had been conveyed quite well.

Does spending 60 years just pounding a hammer in front of a furnace turn one into a virgin like this?

Areum’s appearance was strangely cute, yet I felt a slight resentment towards her for not accepting my true feelings at face value.

“Areum.”

“Wh-why, Oppa…”

“When I held you at your house last time, it wasn’t out of pity.”

“T-then what was it… If not that, was it perhaps a sign of gratitude because I owe you a lot normally… something like that?”

“It’s true that I’m grateful because I owe you a lot, but I don’t just sleep with anyone for that reason.”

“……”

Areum, perhaps sensing what I was about to say, started blushing and took a step back.

Matching her steps, I also moved closer, one step at a time, towards Areum who was moving away.

-Thump.

“It might feel a bit sudden to you, Areum, but the reason I held you that day was because I liked you as a woman.”

-Tap.

“D-don’t lie… I-I’m not an idiot, there aren’t any men who get excited over half-dwarves…”

-Thump.

“Then am I, who got excited over a half-dwarf and came three times in one day, not even a man to you, Areum?”

-Tap.

“I-I didn’t mean it that way… It means it’s okay if you don’t treat me that well…”

-Thump.

“It wasn’t an act intended to treat you well, Areum. I simply wanted to hold you, and I was aroused by the moment we were intimate, so I acted on my desire. Can’t you accept it like that?”

-Tap….

“I-I’m saying that such shameless words from Oppa are hard for me to believe…”

Areum, who had been backing away step by step, was now cornered against a wall.

Seeing her trying to slip away sideways while nervously glancing at me, I deliberately slammed one arm down forcefully next to her face.

-Crash!

“Hyaht?!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I-it’s not like I’m running away, it’s just… I feel like if we’re this close, I-I might not be able to hold back…”

“That is running away. Running away from my question, and running away from your own feelings, Areum.”

“……”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? If you can’t hold back, you can’t hold back. You can act on the desires in your heart.”

“I-I can’t… M-maybe I could overlook it once, calling it ‘a night in the furnace,’ but if it happens more than twice, then even I…”

“……”

“A-and I have work piling up… Lately, there are more customers, so I have to work diligently… T-the item Oppa entrusted me with also needs work starting today… Hhup?!”

Seeing Areum babbling all sorts of excuses to escape from me, I could no longer hold back.

Trapped against the wall by my body and arm, I leaned down towards her face and instantly kissed her.

It seemed I didn’t have enough time to leisurely make love with Areum, so I had planned to just leave the greatsword with her today and head straight to the office.

To make it in time for the afternoon shift, it seemed I’d have no choice but to rely on Belle’s dungeon again today.