The next morning, we ate breakfast and bade farewell to Shia, who was going to the academy, and Eleanora-san, who was going to work at the castle.
「Fina-chan, come again, okay?」
「I will, Shia-sama.」
「You two can always come to play, okay? There are some places at the castle I didn’t get to show to Fina, so I will make sure to take you there without anyone bothering us next time, okay?」
「…Okay.」
Fina answered with a troubled expression.
The King must have really done some bad things to her, huh. Poor thing…
If I ever took Fina to the castle again, I had to protect her.
Shia and Eleanora-san were about to leave, so we departed too.
We weren’t headed to Crimonia, though, but to Gazar-san’s smithy.
「Big Sis Yuna, we’re not going back?」
Fina asked me when she noticed we weren’t headed towards the Bear House.
「I plan on making use of Gold-san’s letter before going back, so we’re headed to Gazar-san’s smithy.」
Well, I could have went back without going there, but I had something to ask him and give him a souvenir. Also, I wanted to have a few mithril knives made.
Fina held my Bear Hand as we walked. I had left her at the mansion for a while, so she might have been lonely. I should let her do what she wanted. Also, it wasn’t like I had a reason to shake her off.
We arrived at Gazar-san’s smithy, still hand in hand.
「Excuse me. Gazar-san, are you here?」
I called out when we entered the shop, and he came out from the back.
「What… I was thinking who it was, but it was you, the one wearing those strange clothes.」
「Good morning.」
「Why have you come so early in the morning?」
「To tell you that the mine has been cleared, I guess? It won’t take long for the ores to start coming again.」
「You aren’t telling me that you were the one who took care of it?」
「I helped.」
I then gave him a brief report of what had happened.
「I see, thank you for telling me. A Mithril Golem, though? I don’t believe it…」
「Well, I defeated it and took its mithril, so could I ask you to make a mithril knife for me?」
「You could just ask Gold to do it, right?」
「I plan on asking him too. Making mithril weapons takes time, right?」
「You’re right, processing mithril is difficult and is not done overnight.」
「I want to have four knives made, so I planned on asking Gold-san and you to make two each.」
「I understand your reasoning, but you live at Crimonia, right? If you don’t plan on coming back here anytime soon, it might be easier to just ask Gold to make all of them.」
「It’s fine since I have a way of coming here quickly.」
「If you will really be coming back here to receive them, it is fine by me.」
「Thank you. I will take out the Mithril Golem now, okay?」
I took out the crumbled Mithril Golem from the Bear Box, and it just barely fit into the shop.
「So, this is the Mithril Golem, huh…」
Gazar-san approached the golem and examined it with a serious face, paying close attention to where the cuts were.
「What’s with this fake?」
「Fake?」
I tilted my head when I heard his unexpected words.
「That’s right. It is a Mithril Golem but at the same time it isn’t one.」
「…?」
I didn’t understand what he was saying at all.
「Here and also here. You can see that the color is different below the surface, right?」
He said while pointing at the cuts with his thick finger. He was right, the color behind the cuts was indeed different.
「The interior is iron. Only the exterior is mithril.」
「Really!?」
「Yep. You can ask Gold when you return to Crimonia if you don’t believe me.」
I didn’t really think that he was lying, but it was still hard to believe that the interior was iron.
Well, it made sense for him to call it a fake if that was the case.
「There is still mithril on it, right?」
「I would say that it’s only one fourth of it, maybe one third at best.」
God had been really stingy, giving me a fake Mithril Golem. If mithril only covered the surface, didn’t it function just as a coating? If it had been gold coated then it would have been a Gold Golem?
I felt as if I had been scammed.
「It’s still enough to make a few knives, right?」
They were my main goal, after all.
「Yeah, if all you want is knives, it’s enough for a number of them.」
Whew. If he had said that it wasn’t enough, I would have had to buy them.
「If I remember correctly, you wanted a dismantling knife, right?」
「That’s right, but might I ask you to make me two fighting knives? This request made me want a mithril weapon.」
I had started to want them when I had seen how Senya-san fought.
I wouldn’t mind a long sword, but they didn’t seem easy to use while I could use knives for other things as well.
「What about the dismantling knife?」
「I will ask Gold-san to make two of them for me.」
It was better to ask Gold-san to make the dismantling knives since he would also be the one maintaining them.
「Okay, then. You’re asking for two knives; is it one for you and one for the missy next to you?」
「No, I will use them both, so one right-handed and one left-handed knife if possible.」
「You will dual wield them, huh.」
「Yep.」
「Well, that’s fine by me. You want two knives, so I will make two knives. Show me your hands.」
I showed him my Bear Hands.
「You… Are you kidding me? I asked you to show me your hands because I need to know their size, so I can make knives that fit them.」
「I will hold the knives with my gloves on, though…」
I made the Bear Hand’s mouth open and close.
「Just remove these strange gloves and show me your hands for now!」
Since he persisted, I removed my gloves and showed him my hands.
「Such tiny hands.」
Gazar-san touched the palm of my hands, which made me a bit ticklish.
「They are really soft too. You really fight with these hands?」
「I mostly use magic, but yeah.」
「It’s okay then, but you will have to train, or you will get blisters on your hands. Well, I got your hand sizes now, so put your gloves back on now.」
I put my gloves back on, and Gazar-san held my hands again.
「Nice fabric you’re using, huh.」
「You can tell just from touching it?」
「Pretty much, yeah. Okay, I have a feel of what your hands are like, now. Do you need the knives made quickly?」
「Not really, you can take your time. How long does it normally take?」
「It takes time to process mithril, so about 10 days.」
「Okay, fine by me.」
「So, which mithril type do you want? From what you told me, the magic one would be the best for you, but…」
「Mithril type?」
I tilted my head, hearing those words for the first time.
「You’re asking for a mithril weapon without even knowing about its types?」
I couldn’t help not knowing about it. After all, mithril weapons had no types in the game.
Gazar-san proceeded to explain.
「If I just rely on the pure mithril ore, I can draw out its sharpness. Such weapons are generally used by those who can’t use magic. If I add a magic potion to the mithril ore, I can make a magic type mithril weapon. Wielders can then use magic to reinforce the mithril. Its sharpness is lower without magic, but with it, it can be stronger than a regular mithril weapon.」
「Doesn’t everyone possess a certain amount of magic power?」
Anyone was able to light a light magic stone and make water from a water magic stone.
「If a person doesn’t have the magic power of a mage, they aren’t strong enough to reinforce mithril with magic power.」
So, people without enough magic power couldn’t use them, huh.
「I somewhat get it, but which one is better in the end?」
「That depends on the user. Pure mithril weapons are generally stronger than magic ones, but with enough magic, magic mithril weapons triumph over the pure mithril weapons.」
「Can you make it a bit easier for me to understand, please?」
「Magic users use magic type. Others use pure type.」
He said as if giving up on me.
Well, he did make it easy to understand, so I didn’t mind.
「Please make the magic type mithril knives, then.」
Gazar-san let out a sigh as if the explanation had left him tired.
「I will take enough mithril to make two knives, then.」
Gazar-san took a part of the Mithril Golem. It should have been heavy, but he lifted it easily.
As expected from a dwarf, huh?
「If I will have some leftover, I will give it back to you when you come to get the knives. Is that okay?」
「Yes, fine by me. So, how much do I have to pay?」
「Hmm. You brought the mithril, so this much should be fine.」
I didn’t know the market prices, but Gazar-san didn’t seem like a person who would trick people, so I accepted his offer.
「You can pay when I give you the knives.」
「Oh right, this isn’t meant to act as my payment, but do you want this?」
I put the rest of the Mithril Golem back inside the Bear Box then brought out an Iron Golem.
I brought it out still standing up, the way I had defeated it.
「What is this!?」
Gazar-san yelled out in surprise.
Well, it made sense for him to be surprised when seeing a standing, undamaged Iron Golem.
「It’s an Iron Golem. I thought it might look good inside your shop. Maybe you could even put it in front of your door?」
「The clients would stop coming if I did that!」
「I thought it would be a great idea, though… It could be a great advertisement if you gave it a sword and a shield and put it at the front…」
「Is it supposed to be a gatekeeper!?」
Gazar-san shouted.
I still believed that an Iron Golem would go well with a smithy, though…
「I can’t accept something this big for free anyway.」
「I don’t really need payment. I have a lot of them, after all.」
The Iron Golems were not of much use to me anyway, so I had no problem with giving one or two away.
「A lot of them… You… Who are you, really? In his letter, Gold wrote that even with your appearance, you’re an excellent adventurer, and that he wanted me to help you, but…」
「I’m technically a rank C adventurer.」
「Rank C… I guess it makes sense if that’s the case?」
Gazar-san looked at my Bear Suit with a complicated expression.
「It doesn’t really matter. I will take this Iron Golem as a payment for the mithril knives. I will add one maintenance free of charge, too.」
「I will pay for it properly.」
「You don’t need to. If this Iron Golem becomes a hindrance, I will just have to dispose of it.」
「Do with it as you please. I will leave it in the corner, okay?」
I dragged the Iron Golem to a corner of the shop using my Bear Hand.
「It won’t be a hindrance here, right?」
I turned around and was met by Fina and Gazar-san looking at me with their eyes wide open.
「What’s wrong?」
「Big Sis Yuna…」
「You… You really are strong even with those soft hands of yours.」
Ah, they were shocked because I moved the Iron Golem, huh.
A frail maiden normally wouldn’t be able to move Iron Golems around, right?
「Oh right, Gazar-san, I wanted you to take a look at something. Would you mind?」
I changed the subject to dodge the issue.
「What is it?」
I took the Bearmonite out of the Bear Box and handed it to Gazar-san.
「Do you know what this ore is?」
Gazar-san started to examine it closely.
I made sure to hide its name, in case he didn’t recognize it and I also didn’t want people to think I was the one that gave it this name.
After examining the ore from every angle, Gazar-san tilted his head.
「I have never seen this one. Where did you find it?」
For a dwarf like Gazar-san to not know of it, what was this Bearmonite, really?
「It was where the Mithril Golem stood guard.」
「I know that it’s not a normal ore, but no more. My master might know it, though…」
「Gazar-san’s master?」
「Yes. He is in the dwarf country at the moment, so I can’t show it to him, though.」
「The dwarf country!? There was something like that!?」
「Why are you asking me something so obvious? Well, it’s a small country, smaller than the capital.」
「Where is it?」
Wow, a dwarf country… Which fantasy story was it from!?
Anyway, if there really was one, I wanted to visit it either way.
「Inside a mountain.」
「Is its location a secret?」
「Not really, anyone can enter it, but it is a bit far away from here.」
「Could you tell me where it is?」
「You want to go there?」
「Someday, yeah.」
I could visit the dwarf country. If I asked Senya-san, would she tell me where the elf country was?
This wasn’t a game, but a real world, which made me want to see them even more.
「If you really want to go, I can write you an introduction letter for my master.」
「Really!? That would be great!」
「I will give it to you when the knives are ready, then.」
「Thank you.」
Information on the dwarf country… Obtained!
Chapter 150 – Bear-san Is Lectured By FinaAuthor’s note:
I couldn’t keep a good flow of conversation in this chapter, so I’m sorry if it comes across a bit strange.
After leaving Gazar-san’s place, Fina and I used the Bear Transfer Gate to transfer to Crimonia’s Bear House.
「We’re finally back.」
I was finally back at my home, the Bear House.
It should have been a one-day trip; I really didn’t think that it would end up taking several days.
This made me recall game events, though it was a bit different in that case, since the trip ended up being a pain.
Well, I was able to obtain mithril, so I was happy with the outcome.
I had troubled Fina, though.
「Big Sis Yuna, what should I do today?」
Hmm, we had already bought some food at some stalls in the capital on the way to my Bear House, and it was only early afternoon.
「Fina, you’re tired, right? You should go home and take it easy today.」
A ten-year-old girl should be tired after being away from home for several days, and I also wanted a break.
「Come tomorrow morning, and bring Shuri.」
「Bring Shuri?」
Fina tilted her head.
Had I said something strange?
「You don’t have to force her to come if Terumi-san doesn’t allow it, okay?」
「Okay, see you tomorrow morning then. I will make sure that Shuri comes too.」
「Please say hello to Terumi-san for me as well.」
Fina nodded.
「Also, Big Sis Yuna, thank you for taking me to the capital even though a lot of terrible things happened this time.」
「You had fun, right?」
Fina showed a complicated expression.
「It was fun, but getting to see the King was a real surprise.」
I knew it. She wasn’t able to enjoy it because of the King…
「I will make sure that we will be able to sightsee the castle without meeting the King next time, okay?」
「Okay. I want to see the garden one more time.」
「It’s beautiful, isn’t it?」
「I want to show it to Shuri.」
「We will all go together someday then.」
「Great. Big Sis Yuna, thank you for taking care of me.」
「Thank you for putting up with me. See you tomorrow.」
After saying goodbye, Fina left the Bear House.
Since I was now left alone, I decided to just stay in today and went to my room to rest in comfort with my Bears.
The next morning, Fina and Shuri arrived at the Bear House.
They were good children and arrived on time.
「Big Sis Yuna, good morning.」
「Good morning, Sis Yuna.」
The two sisters greeted me.
「Good morning, you two. Shall we go then?」
I greeted them back and left the Bear House with them.
「Terumi-san didn’t mind?」
「Yes, she was fine with it. She wasn’t worried since we would be with you, Big Sis Yuna.」
I didn’t know if I should be happy for being trusted this much or if I should get angry at her being so irresponsible as a parent. I was kind of troubled by this.
「Sis Yuna, where are we going?」
Shuri asked with Fina in one hand and me in the other.
「We are going to commission knives at Gold-san’s place.」
「Commission knives?」
She said while tilting her head.
Oh, I had never mentioned it to her.
「Fina and I got an ore named mithril the other day, so we are going to ask Gold-san to make knives from it.」
I tried to explain in a way Shuri would understand.
「Why am I going too, though?」
「That’s because we will ask for a small dismantling knife that will fit your hands.」
I gripped Shuri’s little hand. Gosh, it was really small.
「But you already got me one last time, Sis Yuna.」
Recently, Shuri had been interested in a lot of things.
Anytime Fina came to the Bear House to dismantle monsters or animals for me, she also came along to look at the process or even help.
When we visited my shop, she grew interested in the bread and other meals that Morin-san and Anzu made, so she now sometimes visited the kitchen by herself.
On top of that, she was also making sure to study, help Terumi-san, and even help take care of the birds at the orphanage.
She was at an age where many different things started to interest her.
So, since she was interested in dismantling, I had asked Gold-san to make my dismantling knife (which I had never used before), fit Shuri’s little hand.
I thought that making a seven-year-old girl do dismantling work was strange, but she wasn’t against it, and Terumi-san and Gantz-san didn’t say a thing either. If we had been in Japan, I would have been scolded for giving a knife to a child, but this world was okay with children handling knives when needed.
By the way, I didn’t just let her walk around with the knife. It was stored safely in the Bear Warehouse. She only used it while helping Fina.
I had no idea what Shuri would do in the future. She might follow her father’s footsteps to become an employee of the Adventurer’s Guild and dismantle monsters there. Having a mithril knife wouldn’t be a bad idea in that case.
「This knife will be a bit different.」
「Different?」
Shuri tilted her head again.
Hmm, even if I explained the difference to her, I doubt she would understand.
「This knife will cut better than the one you have right now.」
While I did my best to explain it to Shuri, Fina suddenly entered the conversation.
「Big Sis Yuna, are you planning on having a mithril knife made for Shuri too!?」
「That’s right.」
Even if I got a mithril dismantling knife for myself, I wouldn’t use it, so it was better to get one for Shuri, who would at least sometimes use it.
Fina, though, gave me an angry glare.
「Big Sis Yuna, that’s ridiculous! Did you hit your head or something?!」
「Why did you get so angry all of the sudden?」
It was really rare for Fina to get this loud, and even rarer for her to get angry.
「Do you even know how much a mithril knife costs!? Even I feel anxious about getting one, so it is just ridiculous for you to consider having one made for Shuri too!」
Fina scolded me.
I noticed even Shuri got flustered seeing how Fina got angry so suddenly.
「Ehm, Fina-san? Why are you so angry?」
I didn’t really know why, but seeing Fina like this, I couldn’t help but to add 『-san』 to her name.
「How many of my mother’s monthly salaries do you think just a single mithril knife costs?!」
Fina kept scolding me.
I didn’t really know how much the knives cost.
Gazar-san only charged the price of labor, so I didn’t have any idea how much they cost together with materials.
How much did Terumi-san earn anyway?
When we had been deciding it, I had just arrived at this world and had no idea how high normal wages were, so I had to ask Mylene-san for help.
It was me, who was living a super-irresponsible life while not caring about money, we were talking about here.
Also, I didn’t even know that mithril existed until not so long ago.
I only knew that it had a high value.
I wasn’t from this world, so it was hard for me to answer your question, you know.
Still, I couldn’t just say that, so I threw a guess at her.
「Hmm, about three months worth?」
Even though this could hardly be relatable, I remembered hearing that an engagement ring in Japan cost three monthly salaries.
「Wrong, that’s way too low!」
She raised her voice again.
Having a ten-year-old get angry at me at a public street was…
「You have no sense for money, Big Sis Yuna! I kind of knew that since the day I met you.」
「I’m sorry.」
We were getting slightly off-point here.
Not that I could point that out with the way Fina was right now.
She also made a point, so I couldn’t really oppose her.
All I could do was keep listening to her lecture.
Honestly, I was surprised that even several Terumi-san’s monthly salaries couldn’t buy a single mithril knife.
That meant her salary was low, right? I had to give her a raise.
Now was not the time to think about this, though.
「Big Sis Yuna, you should think more before doing things!」
「Sorry.」
She would just keep scolding me if I tried to refute her, so I obediently apologized.
As I did so, I felt a tug on my arm. I looked to check, and saw Shuri looking up at me.
「Sis Yuna, I don’t need a knife, you know.」
Being startled by her big sister’s sudden outburst, Shuri tried to avoid getting the knife as well.
「You’re right. If I simply give it to you, your Big Sis will get angry, so I will only lend it to you.」
I petted Shuri’s head.
「Big Sis Yuna!」
「It should be okay if I’m only lending it to her, right? We just need to store it at my warehouse. She can use it when she needs it, and when she doesn’t, it will stay at my warehouse.」
「But…」
Fina still didn’t seem to agree with my reasoning.
「Also, she will only be allowed to use it when you’re present, Fina.」
That was already the case anyway, but it seemed that I finally started to sway Fina.
「Fina, you should also consider this; do you think that even if I made a mithril knife for myself, would I be able to use it?」
I said while thrusting my chest out. (Not like the action could be seen though my suit, though.)
I had tried dismantling once, but I hadn’t been able to do it.
I was able to cut the wolves bellies and such; I had already experienced doing that in battles.
There was no way I could put my hands into those cuts, however.
That was simply too much for a girl born in a Japanese city.
I also hadn’t experienced it in the game since items had been automatically sent to my item box after I had defeated the monsters.
「Big Sis Yuna, you’re an adventurer, aren’t you?」
Yes, I was an adventurer.
Fina looked at me exasperatedly.
I couldn’t do what I couldn’t do, okay?
Giving me a mithril dismantling knife would be like giving pearls to a kuma (buta).
It would be great if my Bear Cheat had given me dismantling skills…
Well, no use in asking for the impossible.
I showed a depressed expression, and Fina started to laugh.
(TL note: Kuma is japanese for bear, and buta for pig…. Yeah, she made a bad pun here…)
「Fufu, it was a joke, Big Sis Yuna. Please don’t get depressed.」
「Fina?」
「I already resigned myself to be your dismantler. I would be troubled if you could suddenly do it yourself, since dismantling is the only thing I can help you with. So, it’s okay if you can’t dismantle, Big Sis Yuna. If you had known how to dismantle, we might not have been as close as we are.」
Fina showed a sad expression for only a second.
「 I will dismantle in your stead, Big Sis Yuna.」
「Fina…」
「I will help too.」
Shuri declared while still holding our hands.
「Well then, next time I will defeat a dragon and will be counting on you two then, okay?」
「Yes, I will do my best to dismantle it.」
「I will do my best!」
I petted Fina’s and Shuri’s heads.
They were a really cute pair of sisters.
「You still have to fix your sense of money, okay?」
「I will do my best.」
We all smiled.
Fina finally let me off the hook, so the three of us continued on our way to Gold-san’s smithy.
Author’s note:
This makes me remember the moment when I wanted to make her learn the Bear dismantling skill… (Around the second chapter.)
Thinking back on it, it’s great that I didn’t do that. ｗ
Bear Dismantling Skill: Touch the fallen monster with your Bear Hand to dismantle it and place it into the Bear Box.
That’s what I planned on making it look like.