Chapter 597: The soliloquy of a craftsman
Careful polishing of metal objects, not just silver, is often done by apprentices in blacksmithing. Polishing cutlery and other items requires a different kind of skill when you get to the top of it, but if you just want to make it shiny, all you need is knowledge and patience. Besides, it is a good experience for young inexperienced apprentices to witness the process of reviving an item that looked like old scrap iron into a brand new item. Well, it’s something that can really only be done with wisdom and patience, so even if you’re not a blacksmith, it’s something that old men do to earn a little extra money in their old age.
“Okay……done”
Generally speaking, I’m good at patience work. I use a chemical reaction to roughly remove the blackness and then concentrate a little bit on polishing out the toothless bits and the necklace is completely restored to its former glory. I look again at the beautifully restored design. As one would expect from a proper craftsman, it is a magnificent, graceful and exquisite piece with no blurring of the overall expression. The more I look at it, the more profound it becomes.
“A necklace as good as this or……”
To be clear, I’m not an accessory maker at all. I can make things that look like the best of what I can make at the moment, but there are a thousand different kinds of ornaments, from children’s wood carvings to works of art worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins and I can make them look like the work of an amateur. It is so naive when compared to craftsmen who have really studied, experienced and honed their craft. As with anything, the world as seen by the real craftsmen is different from that of the rest of us. While amateurs are finally able to reproduce one small technique and become good at it, the real craftsmen’s handiwork goes through the correct answer, which is derived from dozens of standards, silently and beautifully. I doubt that I understand even half of what is intended by the design strangeness I am analysing with a knowing look on my face.
However.
“Just because you don’t think you can win, you shouldn’t despair every time”
Galatia, the pirate girl, entrusted me with this memento of her mother’s and ordered me to make something that would be unbeatable. It may be a very long time before I can make a truly unbeatable substitute. But the problem is not that I can’t do it. The problem is that I don’t do it. When it comes to making things, it is foolish to stand still. If you’re not good at it, if you’re not clever, if you’re not ambitious, if you keep trying and trying, you’ll get to a higher level. There are plenty of examples everywhere and I just have to keep going beyond what I did yesterday. The time I spend on it and the shame of producing a bad piece of work after a challenge are to be feared. That is the craftsman’s worst enemy, Master Sleedo said.
『If you’re being flattered by the ten swordsmiths of the royal capital, well……I sometimes think that I should just keep doing what I can do now until I die. But if I sit down and say that my style is to never change anything, then I’m as good as dead. It’s like watching someone pass you from under the grave. Well, you don’t have to sell everything you make. Try anything at least once. Of course, after you’ve properly learned how to use the tools』
This is a story that the red-faced master, after drinking, repeated to the newcomers many times. Perhaps because of this policy, few blacksmiths from the Sleedo workshop become sharp and specialised craftsmen, but many become the kind of blacksmith who can do anything and everything that is common in the countryside. Anyway, I’m the most rattled.
“For now, it’s the design I think suits Galatia best”
Galatia is a coarse but gorgeous girl. If it were too simple, the accessories would lose their presence to her vitality.
If it’s just a 「Little fashionable」 trinket, that’s fine, but Galatia demands an item that’s as much a memento as a memento. That would not mean a small, stylish trinket.
That said, it would take a lot of courage to go head-to-head with a necklace from this main line of work. I am confident in my precision workmanship, but precision alone is not enough. As long as there is a superior design as a comparison, unless you have a multi-layered design ability that is superior to it, no matter how detailed it is, it will just be a useless art of self-satisfaction. Above all, it is to be worn by a rough pirate girl. It would be too thoughtless to make a design that could easily be damaged or injured. So, let’s keep the design a little more subtle. So where do I make up for that compromise?
“……It’s a bit cowardly, but I’ll have to let the materials do the talking”
I don’t see any reason why I should stick to silver at the moment. Gold, white silver, true silver and other materials are all manageable if I want to procure them. Especially if I ask Laila, who has a habit of hoarding and the blue dragons, who have been saving their offerings for years, I can get enough for a necklace or two. Or rather, among the treasures they prepared for trade some time ago, there were many things that could be used for various crafts. So, here is what I have prepared in advance from among them. ……I took out some precious metals from a wooden box at my feet. Some of them are a bit difficult to cast and melt in the kiln here, but if push comes to shove, I’ll call Laila to melt them for me. I use the new tool that Grandpa Dan gave me to cut up the pieces that are not so much related to the design itself, such as chain rings and jewellery that are to be finely decorated. I also carefully handle the intense silver. The material is not strong enough to be used on parts that are prone to bumping. Also, because of its ability to emit light, even dimly, a synergistic effect can be expected by placing it at the base of a highly transparent gemstone. However, diamonds are more beautiful when seen through sunlight or flames, so it is best to combine them with coloured, slightly cheap grade gemstones. This style of jewellery was once popular in the west of Trot, but it fell out of fashion after about 20 years because it looked like a cursed item when seen without knowledge. But when you have a wealth of materials like this, it’s fun to use your imagination in some way. Someday, I will be able to make something like the silver necklace next to it, which is a stoic, single design that makes me sigh, I think, as I continue to move my hands, immersed in the pleasure of freely using the abundant materials to create something that matches my expanding image.
This kind of work makes me think that I am a craftsman’s child after all. I realise that I have the power in my hands to do whatever I want with Kalwin if I want to and it’s a fascinating life, indulging in lust with girls. But I would never trade the pleasure of 「Making it」 for anything else. This is my vocation. No matter how big the scale of the place where I can wield my skills, this is probably the only job that I want to do for the rest of my life, that is fun, profound and beneficial to others.
“Lord. Lord! You’ve been at your desk for half a day now, you’re hurting yourself”
“……Hmm?”
And it was Emma who brought me back from my ecstatic crafter’s high. Together, Old Dan and Sharon watched. Old Dan looked impressed, Sharon a little entranced.
“Eh, that long already? It’s been about four hours, hasn’t it?”
“More than ten hours. It’s totally midnight”
“……Seriously?”
“Well, you certainly have great concentration, don’t you? The work is still a bit rough, but it’s hard to find someone who can devote himself so single-mindedly to his craft”
“Who gave you that necklace? I’m jealous”
“Oh……come to think of it, Sharon only got as far as Sitar before when it came to Lapal……”
As I stretched my stiffened spine, a slightly ominous pain ran through me. It’s not good. If I don’t unwind gently and suddenly do something like this, I’ll probably end up doing my back like the old men of the world. ……Well, with this Polka, I’ll soon be back to normal at the miraculous spring. Then I look again at the necklace in my hand. I had not paid any attention to it because I was driven by the imagination that came up one after another, but overall, the work has already been done.
“It’s taken shape……, but it’s still missing a touch…….”
I lift it up and envision it hanging around Galatia’s neck. It’s not bad……I think.
“Old Dan, do you have any tweaks?”
“……I think it’s quite an interesting piece of work for that arm. But if I had to tweak one thing, it would be the clasp……”
“Clasp?”
I reused the clasp from another necklace. But it’s a common shape.
“I’ve got one that’s easier to fasten, less noticeable and less likely to break. I’ll give you some space. I’ll make you a sample””
“Alright, thanks”
Old Dan moved out of the chair he was sitting in, stood up and quickly made me a new clamp with a new construction.
“This is the guy. This is more common in Afilm”
“Afilm style?”
“There’s a country of dwarves over there too. With its own inventions. They’re more interested in magic than in anything else”
“O, Oh……”
I see. It’s certainly a reasonable and usable shape.
“I’ll take the idea”
“Hmm”
I imitated Grandpa Dan’s clasp and finished making the necklace. The beauty of the design is not so much in the design as in the gorgeousness of the necklace. Now I can go to Lapal.
Incidentally, after finishing the work, my legs wobbled as expected and when I got out of the workshop, Emma carried me in a princess carry and we had to fly to the hot spring. Emma was very kind to me even though I was in a pathetic state, but……yeah. I guess I need to get stronger.