Chapter 45 - Seriously?
Morning training session, the next day.
“Bent, starting today, you’ll be using this sword for your training.”
The target boards were ready. Arnold handed Bent a wooden sword Dan made.
It’s more than twice as long as the sword I use. Well, that’s to be expected because his body is bigger than mine.
“Swing the sword down through this gap. If you swing it incorrectly, the sword will break, so be careful.”
"Okay!"
Bent replied happily. Meanwhile, John's training changed to a sparring format starting today. He was also allowed to use Fighting Spirit.
“Hiaat!”
He's really fired up, huh. It's amazing that Arnold can keep up with John's speed even though he isn't using Fighting Spirit himself. There's a less risk of injury since Fighting Spirit also increases John's defense. Because of that, Arnold is attacking him quite fiercely. That being said, he's probably still holding back quite a lot.
John dodged Arnold's attack by jumping backwards and then counterattacked with an upward slash.
Nice move, John! It's really fun to watch them fighting.
Gail glanced at Bent's direction and saw that he was just standing there with his head down instead of swinging his sword.
What's wrong with him....
Oh, so close! John's sword almost hit Arnold. His movements are getting sharper and faster. It's becoming difficult to follow him with my eyes. Arnold seems to be enjoying this, too.
"Ugh!"
Arnold's attack landed. Gail could see blood dripping from under John's armor.
"Sorry, John. I used too much force and couldn't stop it in time."
"No, I'm glad that you fight me seriously."
"Let's end today's training. Go ask Aina to heal you after this."
"Yes, thank you for your guidance."
John bowed cheerfully despite his injury and left the training ground.
Today's training was really worth watching. This makes me want to work even harder in my own training, too.
"Bent, how did it go? Did you manage to swing your sword through the gap?"
"Dad.... the sword broke."
"There are spare swords, right? You can use them."
"They all broke."
"Did you break all ten swords in such a short time?"
“I mean, what's with these wooden swords? They are wide, weirdly shaped, and break easily. This is not my fault!”
Bent snapped back.
"You don't understand the purpose of this wooden sword, huh.... Bent, I need to reconsider your training method again. You will do what you have been doing until yesterday in the meantime."
The morning training session ended with a heavy atmosphere. Then, after breakfast, the two went to school like nothing happened.
"Aina, I'm going to the forest with Gail today."
“No, you can’t. You just went there recently.”
Aina sounds like a mother scolding a child who wants to play outside.
"I have something important to discuss with Dan about Bent.”
Arnold sounds like a child making up up excuses so he can play outside.
"You can just call him to the study after dinner like usual."
The mother blocks the child's attempt.
"The study won't do."
If reason doesn’t work, try emotion.
“No means no.”
Here it is, mother’s ultimate move.
Next will be:
But everyone else is going!
Who is this everyone? Tell me their names.
---and so on.
Maybe I should step in here. Arnold doesn’t seem capable of breaking through Aina’s NO.
"Dad, why don't you finish all your work in the morning and come over in the afternoon?"
"Hey, Gail."
"Y-Yeah, I can do that."
"Mom, Dad is really worried about Bent. I'm sure he is not planning to play around."
"What do you mean?"
"Dad started using a new training method for Bent today, but it didn't go well. However, he can't spend much time on Bent because he is busy training John to prepare for his entrance test. That's why he wants to discuss it with Dan. Isn't that right, Dad?"
"T-That's right. It's just as Gail said."
"You should have told me that."
"S-Sorry."
Looks like he got Aina's permission. You owe me one, Arnold.
"In that case, hurry up and get to work. What about lunch?"
"I'll eat with Gail and the others there."
Having said that, Arnold left the dining room in hurry.
I have to tell Dan that Arnold will be having lunch with us later.
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Gail, Dan, and Miguel headed to the forest.
"Dad will be having lunch with us later."
"Is he coming all the way to the forest just to eat lunch with us?"
Gail realized that his explanation was lacking, so he told Dan about what happened this morning.
"I figured he'd break the sword, so I've prepared some spares. However, I have never expected he would break them all in such a short time. That's pretty bad."
"You think so too, Dan?"
"He must have been training secretly and developed some bad habits."
"So that's why you keep telling me not to train without supervision."
"That's right. The more he trains, the worse he becomes."
"Bent doesn't seem like the type to slack off, but Sarah should have always been with him.”
"There would be no problem if Sarah has some knowledge about swordsmanship. However, she probably simply let Bent train a lot on his own."
"I can imagine that."
"Unlike the knight's swordsmanship, Master Arnold's swordsmanship is meant for slaying monsters, so he doesn't pay much attention to the details. That being said, his swordsmanship is by no means inferior."
"Have you ever studied knight's swordsmanship, Dan?"
"Well, something like that."
"Hmm...."
"In any case, since Master Arnold will be having lunch with us, let's try catching something other than rabbits."
Dan tried to change the subject.
Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. Dan doesn't pry into my business too much, so I'll pretend I didn't notice it either.
"Can we stop by Pops' place for a bit?"
"I don't mind, but do you have some kind of business with him?"
"I'm just looking for something."
The group stopped by the trading company
"Kiddo, I haven't finished it yet."
"No, I'm not here for the fishing reel."
"So, what do you want?"
"I'm looking for a metal that is as light as possible.”
"What are you going to use it for?"
"I want to try something. I don't know if it'll work, but if it does, I'll show you the product later."
"What's this? Acting all mysterious."
While grumbling, Dwan brought an ingot of some kind of metal from somewhere.
"This metal is hard to obtain, so this is all I have right now."
"Pops, isn't that mythril!?"
Dan was surprised.
"That's right. If you're looking for the lightest metal, this is it."
(Dan, is mythtill expensive)
(That ingot would cost around 10 gold coins.)
10,000,000 yen!?
"P-Pops, it doesn't have to be such a rare metal, just something more common is fine."
Hearing that, Dwan went to the back while grumbling.
Was he really planning to give me such a precious metal?
"How about this?"
Dwan showed Gail a different metal ingot.
Is this perhaps aluminum?
"This is aluminum. It's difficult to process, and it's not very strong, but it's a light metal."
It’s aluminum, after all. I think mixing it with other metals will increases its strength. I'm sure aluminum also has high thermal conductivity.
“Thanks, Pops. I’ll give this a try. How much is this?”
"I don't need your money. Just come and show me the finished product. I don't know what you're going to make with that aluminum, but it's probably something I've never seen before, right?"
Dwan said that while grinning.
“Okay, I will come back later.”
The group left the trading company.
"What are you going to use that for, Young Master?"
"I thought I'd try making a cooler box."
"Oh, a box that can keep fish fresh longer, right?”
"Not just fish. You can also use it to store chilled ale or wine, so you can enjoy it anywhere."
"You have to make it!"
"Eh?"
"You have to make this cooler box and sell it to me!"
Miguel told Gail enthusiastically.
Oops. Using alcohol as an example in front of a dwarf was a mistake. I should have used juice or meat as examples.
Gail told Miguel that he would try making it as soon as he arrived at the cabin.
I've never done it, so I'm not very confident. I wonder if it’s possible to process metal using earth magic.
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Alright, my goal is a high-end cooler box with vacuum panels on all sides. Back on Earth, it would cost over 50,000 yen. This is a must-have item for summer fishing. First, let's make a vacuum panel for the lid.
Gail separated 1/6 of the aluminum ingot with magic.
Hmm, it looks more like it's torn than cut, but that's not important. The important thing is that it turns out that I can manipulate the aluminum with earth magic.
Gail imagined a chunk of aluminum on his hand inflated like a balloon. He then slowly turned it into a rectangular shape with dimensions of 60cm x 40cm x 2cm.
Yeah, I did it! Next I just need to remove the air from inside the panel to create a vacuum.
Gail made a hole of about one centimeter in the finished panel and stuck his finger into it. He then imagined sucking the air with that finger like a powerful vacuum cleaner.
*suck*
*suck*
*suck*
Is this the limit? No, just a little more.
*suck*
*suck*
*dent*
Oh no, the center of the panel became dented. Even though I've made it this far...
Just in case, let's check my magic power.
【Magic Power】: 32/85
I’ve used more than half of my magic power. Let's go hunting while waiting for it to recover,
"Dan, let's go hunting."
"Alright, let’s prepare a feast for Master Arnold."
"I want to eat poultry today. Can we find pheasants around here?"
"I think we can. I heard their cry the other day."
Come to think of it, I've never eaten pheasant.
"Then, today's target is pheasants. Let's catch some rabbits too in case we don't find any."
"Yeah!"
Dan hunted two rabbits before looking for pheasants
It's quite difficult to spot pheasants because their dark feathers blend perfectly with their surroundings.
"I heard something from over there."
I didn't hear anything, but let's trust Dan's ears.
"Young Master, please wait on the tree."
Dan disappeared after saying that. Then, after a while, he came back holding a black bird.
That's not a crow, right?
"Let's go back. Also, this is not a crow."
How did he know what I was thinking? I didn't say it out loud, right?
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Arnold was already waiting when the two returned to the training ground.
"You could have waited for me to go hunting."
Arnold said it while sulking.
You didn't come here to have fun, remember?
Gail almost blurted it out loud.
“More importantly, you finished all your work before coming here, right?”
"Y-Yeah, of course!"
Hey, I won't help if Aina scolds you later.
After that, Dan butchered the rabbits while Arnold butchered the pheasant.
"Dad, please don't throw away the feathers."
"What are you going to use them for?"
"That's something to look forward to later. I might not be able to make it, though."
"Just tell me now!"
"I will use them to make artificial flies for fishing."
"You can catch fish with something like that? What about the bait?"
"Those artificial flies will act as bait. I probably can't catch carp with it, but I should be able to catch trout and catfish with it."
"Have you ever fished before?"
"The revelation."
"It's from the revelation, huh."
Hooray for the revelation!
"Let's quickly grill the meat. Look, I've already lit the fire."
Miguel was getting impatient.
He can use fire magic too, huh.
The four started grilling the meat over the fire.
The pheasant meat has a wild taste, but it's still delicious. I usually prefer salt for yakitori, but pheasant meat seems would go well with teriyaki sauce.
I really miss soy sauce.
I wonder if it exists in this world.
"Dad, do you know what soy sauce is?"
"Is that also something used for fishing?"
Looks like he doesn't know it.
"Kiddo, do you mean fish sauce? It smells fishy, so I don't really like it."
So they have fish sauce in this world. I wonder if there's sea nearby.
"Miguel, is fish sauce a food?"
"It's a condiment. You put it in soup instead of salt. I'm personally not fan of it, though.”
Due to his job as a carpenter, Miguel had visited various places. He ended up in this town because there were a lot of construction works here.
"So, Young Master, what's this soy sauce?"
"Fish sauce is made by fermenting fish, while soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans. It goes well with both meat and fish."
"Where can I buy that?"
"That's what I want to know."
"Gail, I've never heard of soy sauce even in the capital. Is this also from the revelation?"
"That's right."
"Soybeans are sold in the market. Can you just make this soy sauce?"
That's a good idea, but I've never made soy sauce.
The ingredients are soybeans, salt, wheat, and koji, right?
How do you make koji?
It's made from rice, right?
Speaking of rice, I also miss it.
Gail's thoughts shift from soy sauce to rice.
"Do you know about rice?"
"Huh? What happened to the soy sauce?"
"To make soy sauce, you first need to make koji from rice."
"Speaking of which, rice is a staple food in the country where fish sauce's originated."
"Seriously!?"
Everyone was surprised by Gail's reaction.
"Please tell what country is it? Do they really have rice there?"
"It's the Kingdom of Southland. You can get there via the Central Kingdom, and it takes about two to three weeks by carriage."
Two weeks by carriage at the shortest, huh. If the horse runs eight hours a day at about 10 km/h, that's 80 km a day. 1120 kilometers in 14 days.
That's about the distance from Hakata to Sendai, isn't it? Since Miguel said it's via the Central Kingdom, the straight-line distance might be around 800 kilometers. It would only take two hours by plane.
Gail was indulging himself in pointless daydreams about riding an airplane.
"Are you okay, kiddo?"
"I was just thinking that the rice was in such a far away place."
"If it's rice plants, they also grow around here."
"Seriously!?"
"Yes. They're not cultivated, but grow wild."
"Please take me there now!"
Miguel was shocked by this two-year-old boy with a bald head's obsession with rice.
The harvest season should be approaching, so I absolutely have to go there.
"I got it. I got it. I will take you there later."
After finishing his lunch, Miguel spoke to Gail.
"So, is the cooler box finished?"
"Not yet."
"Hurry up and finish it!"