episode_0141

The Minotaur Skeleton Knight approached with a thumping sound. When the big guy approached me, I immediately got him into a position so he could turn the grindstone.

Since the grindstone was made for technology demonstration purposes, it was not the right size for the Minotaur, so its posture was a bit awkward. I had to bend down a lot. Although the researchers tried to make it suitable for the Minotaur in their own way, it was not possible to make it too large from the start as it was for technology demonstration purposes.

Anyway, the Minotaur, posed like that, grabbed the iron bar protruding from the grindstone. The end was bent into an ‘ㄹ’ shape so that it could be held and turned. It was a form where you could hold the bent parts with both hands and spin them round.

“Muooot!”

The Minotaur seemed to be in high spirits from the start, as it must have taken quite a bit of strength to turn the grindstone. However, despite all the enthusiasm, the grindstone soon began to spin.

At first, the wheel turned very slowly. However, as it gradually gained momentum and friction was greatly reduced by the bearing attached to the fixed part, the speed quickly increased.

It made a hissing-hissing sound, and at some point, it picked up speed to the point where it seemed like the sounds were continuing.

However, even though it was spinning at such a high speed, no problems were revealed with the grindstone. It was spinning around at high speed without any problems. Thanks to this, I got the feeling that if I accidentally touched that grindstone, my flesh wouldn’t be chafed.

Anyway, as I nodded my head in satisfaction while looking at the rapidly rotating grindstone, the researchers nearby looked very proud.

“Boss. Actually, this is the third grindstone I made.”

“Third?”

“Yes. We made it small enough that we could run it ourselves, and did some experiments before showing it to the boss. In the process, several problems were discovered and corrected.”

It was said that there was a rattling vibration because the center of gravity of the grindstone was not aligned when spinning, or that there was a slight size difference in the rollers inside the roller bearing, which caused vibration in that area.

“Did you fix that part?”

“That’s right. The grindstone itself was made by attaching a whetstone to an iron bar and then turning it at a slow speed to sharpen it. So that the iron bar is properly inserted into the center of the whetstone. Then, I rotated it again and adjusted the center of gravity by attaching weights. Actually, this process took the longest.”

“How did you solve the roller thickness?”

“Ah, it was simpler than I thought. I had one skeleton dedicated to making it. Since it is a skeleton that can perfectly reproduce previous actions, it was not difficult to make the thickness of the rollers uniform. In addition, it is made using an elixir of steel strengthening to increase durability.”

“Good job.”

I nodded when told that the problem had been solved and durability had been increased by using an elixir. Since this is the part that supports a continuously rotating object, durability was an important factor.

“First of all, the grindstone itself seems to be made properly. So what performance is important? What matters is how fast you can sharpen the blade.”

“I will show you that myself. You can use a skeleton, but since the purpose is to demonstrate, I will do it.”

The researcher brought a blade without a sharp edge, saying he would allow us to check its performance with our own eyes. Because the iron plate was cut into the shape of a blade through press processing, the blade was not sharp at all. It was an object that should be considered a blunt weapon, not a blade.

Then, the researcher holding the blade approached the furiously rotating grindstone. The researcher stopped in front of the grindstone at a certain distance, held the blade horizontally, and thrust it toward the grindstone.

Cheeek!

The blade that came into contact with the rotating grindstone made a sound that could not be attributed to the blade being sharpened, and at the same time, bright red sparks flew out fiercely. According to the direction in which the grindstone rotated, the sparks fell to the floor in an instant.

However, the researcher was not at all surprised by this and focused on sharpening the blade by moving it left and right while holding it horizontally. I moved it a couple of times, checked the blade, moved it again a couple of times, checked the blade, and so on, repeating this several times.

After repeating the same motion several times, the researcher nodded as if this was enough, then stepped away from the grindstone and approached me.

“It’s done!”

“No, already?”

I couldn’t hide my surprise when I saw the researcher who brought the blade, saying that it had all been sharpened.

A similar concept to a grindstone, there were cases where skeletons used a grindstone by rotating their wrists. However, rather than sharpening the blade, it was a process for polishing the object to give it a glossy finish. And, it was impossible to complete that process as quickly as it is now.

It was said that it was faster for an ordinary person, not a skeleton, to sharpen a blade just by moving it than to polish it, which skeletons do by turning their hands.

“It was divided properly. I even feel like the blades are sharpened better than before when I sharpened them myself.”

The researcher seemed to like my surprise and smiled happily. Then he suddenly bent down and squatted on the floor.

I was wondering what on earth he was going to do, but he lifted the stem of the plant that was growing roughly on the ground.

I don’t know what kind of plant it was, but it looked tough at first glance. So much so that I almost tripped over a plant similar to that that was growing loosely in the garden not long ago.

However, the tough-looking plant was easily cut by the researcher’s very gentle blade. Instead of cutting a living plant, it was cut very gently, like slicing a boiled egg.

And, it soon proved that the blade’s prediction was very correct. It was not easy to cut off plant stems with a blade that was not properly sharpened or worn out. It wouldn’t be difficult if you swung it with all your might and quickly, but it was by no means easy to cut it with the force of a very gentle thrust like now.

“Oh… … !”

“What do you think? Isn’t it a very nice day?”

I couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight of the researcher holding up the bright blue blade as if he were bragging. It was an unbelievable feat that it was created with just a few moves.

“For your information, this blade I brought is made from a special iron plate. It is said to be a product that uses an elixir of steel strengthening.”

“You mean it was changed in an instant?”

“That’s right!”

It was not an ordinary blade, but a blade stronger than an ordinary product was sharpened in an instant using an elixir of steel strengthening.

And, after hearing that story, without further ado, I decided on the Minotaur as the power source for the grindstone. There was no one as suitable as a power source than the Minotaur, and there was no other place where the Minotaur could be used.

“Then build proper equipment right away. So that the Minotaur is suitable for use and can be easily incorporated into the process of creating items at the blacksmith shop. Or, you can change the production line at this time.”

Since the grindstone currently being turned by the Minotaur was for technology demonstration purposes, it was requested that a grindstone properly tailored to the Minotaur be made. It wasn’t 100% tailored to the Minotaur, but it seemed very effective. So, I couldn’t have predicted how much more efficient it would be if I worked with a grindstone tailored to the Minotaur.

“Trust us!”

“Okay, try hard. If you do it right, the bonus will be big.”

“Yes-!”

When I told them that the bonus would be big, the researchers all screamed. My ears were ringing, but I was happy to see that they were already showing their determination to make a grindstone suitable for the Minotaur.

And the researchers, who were interested in the reward, created a new facility in three days. This was done by changing the location of the entire blacksmith production facility and even changing the structure to enable efficient production.

It must have been made without a wink of sleep for three days, and the faces of the researchers who visited the blacksmith shop when they heard that the grindstone equipment was completed were beyond words. All of them were scruffy, and there were long black circles under their eyes.

However, the eyes of those researchers were very clear. No, rather than being clear, it felt like the last flame was burning. It felt like he was going to faint after hearing a positive answer from me and confirmation of the performance bonus.

“… … First, let’s start with the explanation.”

When I asked the researchers, who seemed to be barely able to stand, for an explanation, one researcher who seemed to have the best physical strength approached me. He began his explanation by leading me inside the blacksmith shop where the grindstone was located.

“The thickness and length of the rotating grindstone have been significantly increased this time. So that multiple skeletons can work at the same time. If you stick them close together and work from the front and back at the same time, about 20 skeletons can be worked on at the same time.”

“To that extent? I don’t have enough blades to use a grindstone. Isn’t that too much of a waste?”

“Not necessarily. In addition to increasing the thickness and size, it has undergone some modifications so that it can be used for final polishing work.”

As the researcher finished talking about the additional modifications made to the grinding wheel so that it could not be used solely for sharpening blades, we arrived in front of a large rotating grindstone.

And, I was able to understand what the researcher meant by modification.

There were several parts of the grindstone that were different from what I saw three days ago. A typical example was that there was a long piece of leather wrapped around the end of the turning wheel. It also seemed like a well-oiled family.

And that wasn’t the only difference. If you look at the long pillars of whetstone, the colors are different at regular intervals. To be exact, it was a state where grindstones with particles of different sizes were connected in a row.

When I noticed the changed part of the grindstone, I turned to the researcher and he immediately explained it.

“The polishing process requires grinding from a whetstone with coarse particles to a whetstone with fine particles for a good result. So we made a difference in the particles of the grindstone. Because it was so large and long, we were able to divide it into four stages.”

The researcher added, half jokingly, that if you just place the blade at the starting point of the rotary wheel and walk straight, the blade will come out well sharpened in its own way. It was said that the blade could be completed by just moving it twice, once on the left side and once on the right side.

Since I was very satisfied with that part, I asked for an explanation about the leather that caught my eye earlier.

“Leather for polishing work. Because it is wrapped around a rapidly rotating pole, the leather also rotates quickly. If you bring an object that needs polishing there, the polishing work will be completed in an instant.”

It was said that the leather was simply for polishing, but the researcher brought a knife and a pot, saying that it was the result of polishing with a grindstone.

“… … It’s not some kind of mirror.”

And, after looking at the result, I could see that attaching leather was a good choice. The blade and pot were so shiny that even my face could be seen, albeit vaguely. With some exaggeration, I wondered if it would be possible to simply polish a regular iron plate and sell it as a mirror.

In the case of the pot, it was said that the inside could not be polished with a grinding wheel, but this was not a problem as it could be solved by rotating the skeletons’ wrists as before.

Anyway, I felt nothing but satisfaction with the grindstone and immediately ordered the production of items using the grindstone. Of course, researchers are told that they can expect incentives.