The New Gate

“I was certainly fascinated by your unknown technique. But I was also moved by the sight of you hammering the iron. It was like I was catching a glimpse of the pinnacle of blacksmithing that I had only heard about.”

Jayf spoke in a slightly dreamy tone, perhaps remembering the scene of the work.

He wasn’t completely wrong, but it would be inconvenient if he followed up on it, so Shin revealed the information to him.

“I can’t tell you everything, but my method is to imbue the material with magic. I wrap the entire hammer in magic, and when I strike, the material itself is soaked with it. It’s like water soaking into cloth. It’s a difficult technique because you have to manipulate magic at the moment the hammer strikes. If your method adds additional magic to the free space in the magic capacity, then my method adds magic and increases the maximum capacity”

With Jayf’s method, one could only add 3 parts of magic to a material with a maximum value of 10. No matter how hard they tried, the maximum value was only 10.

However, with Shin’s method, you could increase the maximum value itself. They could increase the maximum capacity from 10 to 20, 30, and so on. In a sense, it could be said to be a process of exceeding the limits of the material. However, there was a limit to that. Since this was about infusing magical power, Shin did not mention that the material could automatically take the form of a weapon.

“I see. In the past, there have been cases where the quality of the materials used did not match the description, but is it possible to achieve this using this method? No, I already missed the point.”

Seeing Jayf unable to hide his excitement, Kluck was stunned.

However, if Shin had been in Jayf ‘s position, he would have had a similar reaction.

To learn a technique he didn’t know. That alone was interesting. And if it was something similar to their own skills and looked like it could be applied, they couldn’t help but want to try it out right away.

In a sense, the craftsmen were researchers. If it seemed possible, they would do it. If it seemed possible, they would make it. For better or worse, there was no hesitation in doing things that interested them.

“Now let me ask you, do you know how to forge iron by folding it?”

“That’s how you make layers of iron. In that case—”

Shin, Jayf and Kluck had a heated discussion that lasted until the last minute, when Shin returned to the inn.

It was such a fun time that Shin thought he could keep them company a little longer by contacting them via 【Mind Chat】.

It was also the day he got a better understanding of what “normal” is in this world.

◆◆◆◆

The next day. Shin was walking down the street with Filma and Milt, who had easily passed the preliminary round.

“By the way, what are you doing today? You made the sword for the preliminaries yesterday, right?”

“Apparently I can visit the places where the other preliminary rounds are being held. I’m planning to look around. Actually, that’s the same for Milt, isn’t it? Apparently the preliminary round was a piece of cake.”

Not many blacksmiths could finish making swords in one day like Shin and Jayf. Most of them were still at it today. One of the rules of the Wrought Iron Festival was that visitors were allowed to observe, so Shin was planning to look around without hesitation.

Milt and Filma wanted to participate in the lottery to determine the participants for the main tournament in the arena.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

In the middle of their conversation, Shin noticed that the flow of people about 50 mels in front of him had become a little strange.

The flow of people had become partially circular, as if they were avoiding something. In the center of the circle, a single presence was moving around. He used his skill to check on the situation, and saw a man swinging his sword and raging just like the other day.

“Again? That’s way too many, no matter how you look at it.”

“I saw someone raging like that yesterday too. It doesn’t seem like he’s suffering from any abnormal conditions, but I wonder what it is.”

Shin’s 【Analyze】 also didn’t show any abnormal conditions on the man. However, he had encountered them two days in a row, and Milt and the others had also encountered a similar scene in a different place, so it was too many to be dismissed as a coincidence.

“Ah, he was arrested… Shin-san?!”

With Milt’s voice in his back, Shin ran through the crowd and approached the man and the guards.

Without jumping out, he blended into the crowd and appraised the weapon the man was carrying.

“I thought so.”

Confirming the “certain words” that appeared in his field of vision, Shin waited for Milt and the others to come.

“So, what did you find out?”

Filma, who had rejoined them, asked Shin as if it was the obvious thing to do.

“The weapon the man carried. It was cursed. It’s one of those that confuses you only while you’re holding the weapon. It’s not very effective, but it’s dangerous for ordinary people or low-level adventurers.”

A different guard from the one who had arrested the raging man retrieved the sword, but he didn’t seem to be affected. The guard’s level was high at 170. He didn’t know if they were Chosen Ones or not, but Shin’s senses told him otherwise.

Considering the weakness of the curse, it seemed safe to assume that even if they weren’t Chosen Ones, they wouldn’t be affected by the status ailment.

“Maybe there is a miasma demon?”

“I’m not sure, but based on past patterns, it seems likely that it is involved.”

This was a well-deserved break. He didn’t want any trouble. However, with all this turmoil, he couldn’t just ignore it.

“For now, if you find anything, please contact me. I’ll let Schnee and the others know.”

“All right!”

“Okay.”

𑁋

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