The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 15

The suddenly emerging problem of looking top-heavy.

To address this, I’m trying to make the circlet as compact as possible.

And as a result of overcompensating, it somehow ended up looking like a headband.

Well, this is cute in its own way, so it might work.

Initially, I was imagining bulky, futuristic goggles, so you could say it’s been significantly lightened.

“You’re making some kind of incredibly intricate tiara…”

Apparently, it looks like a tiara to Gaga-san.

I wonder if the concept of a headband doesn’t exist in this world yet?

By the way, currently, the heating and forging are done, and we’re at the polishing stage.

Even though the material is iron, I wanted a beautiful finish, so I’ve been carefully polishing it repeatedly. Now that it’s starting to shine, I’m continuously engraving patterns using [Engraving].

First, I carefully engraved the frame part to define it, then roughly carved the design within the frame. Now it’s just a matter of refining the details.

For this kind of work, engraving deeply rather than shallowly creates more impact and is more noticeable from a distance.

So, I continue to engrave with both delicacy and strength.

Hehehe, this is why I have over 100 physical attack! Even though I look like a young girl with thin arms, they’re actually packed with muscle!

Oh.

Oops.

I engraved too deeply and made a hole.

No worries! Let’s go with a skeletal design and make it cool by purposely adding holes here and there!

And after two hours of concentration…

Finally complete!

I’ve created an asymmetrical design with flourishing vines on the left and a speedy design inspired by sea of clouds and wings on the right!

A fighting game character might get angry, but this is LIA where freedom is the selling point. I can make such intricate designs and asymmetry without anyone getting mad!

And due to making too many holes here and there, the defense power is… well, you can guess.

It’s fine, it’s fine! I’m not really expecting it to function as armor! I only expect it to serve as a stopper to keep my head from flying off!

In that sense, do your best, little circlet!

“Alright, it’s done!”

Still, maybe because I did it by hand, it took longer than I thought.

Next, I just need to weld this to a flat bar – not a sotoba – and make a connection part to attach it to the back of the armor, and it’ll be okay.

Perhaps noticing my voice of completion, Gaga-san looks up from the sword he was staring at with a difficult expression.

“…What are you? Are you aiming to be nobility or royalty? Such delicate work isn’t something an ordinary person would wear, you know?”

“Well, I am a headless knight, after all.”

“And that makes it okay? No, I still don’t get it…”

Even if you say that…

But being told it’s at the level of what royalty or nobility would wear makes me a bit happy.

Gaga-san may have a sharp tongue, but he honestly puts his thoughts into words, so it means he’s praising my work as something good.

It feels like I’ve been recognized for something, and that makes me a little happy~.

“More importantly, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

“Then, how about seafood gratin for today? Oh, and please don’t put out the furnace fire, okay?”

“Got it. Your cooking is delicious, so I’m looking forward to it.”

…

Why does he say such things so casually?

And why am I getting a little happy hearing that? I’m too easy to please!

Hmph, I’ll give Gaga-san a slightly larger portion! Can’t be helped!

■□■

“By the way, how’s your magic sword coming along, Gaga-san?”

I ask after our meal, when Gaga-san seems to have relaxed a bit. It’s not easy to casually start a conversation with Gaga-san when he’s in a bad mood. I’d probably get hit.

“You said you were going to use mithril to make the sword, right?”

“Yeah. I made the mithril alloy and forged a sword with it. But it didn’t become a magic sword.”

“Was it because you didn’t mix in enough mithril?”

“Listen… It’s not that the more mithril you mix in, the better. There’s an appropriate amount. This time, I mixed in that appropriate amount and added [Hellfire Grass] ash while forging the sword.”

“Um, what do you mean…?”

“Think a little. Mithril alloy has properties that easily conduct magical power. I mixed in [Hellfire Grass], which is supposed to contain fire attributes, while forging. The plan was to create a flame magic sword, but…”

So, a normal [Mithril Sword] was created.

“My guess is that either using [Iron Ingot] as mithril’s partner was wrong, or the item level of [Hellfire Grass] was too low…”

Although [Hellfire Grass] is said to contain fire attributes, it’s only listed in a D-rank recipe from the Commerce Guild. According to Gaga-san, “It might have been intimidated by the high-grade mithril and couldn’t demonstrate its effect.”

As for the mithril alloy, choosing iron as the partner for the alloy might have hindered the magical power transmission, preventing the [Hellfire Grass] from fully demonstrating its effect.

Gaga-san wants to try again after resolving one of these issues, but he seems to be at a loss because he can’t think of any materials superior to [Hellfire Grass] or any alloy materials with excellent magical power transmission.

Hmm, magical power transmission, huh.

Magical power, magical power…

Hm?

Wait, I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before…

Ah!

“Um, Gaga-san, how about trying this?”

==========================

[Crystal Steel]

Rarity: 6

Quality: High

Performance: Production Material

Notes: A mineral rarely obtained from creatures that prefer to eat minerals containing magical power. It boasts high magical power and hardness like a mineral, making it difficult to process.

==========================

When I was checking all the items I had acquired while leveling up [Appraisal], I remembered seeing this flavor text.

As I take out the [Crystal Steel] from my [Storage] and hand it to Gaga-san, he stares at it with a puzzled expression.

It’s a semi-transparent mineral that looks like glass, so he might have found it suspicious.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an item called [Crystal Steel]. I thought it might be perfect for making a magic sword since it seems to contain high magical power.”

“Never heard of it, never seen it… Isn’t it rare?”

“I think it’s quite rare, yes.”

But actually, I have a lot of these rolling around in my [Storage].

— I can’t say that, so I keep it vague.

I haven’t told Gaga-san about the Crystal Dragon incident.

Even if I did, he probably wouldn’t believe me, and I know I’d just get smacked. Better safe than sorry.

“Tch, alright. I’ll buy it at your asking price.”

It seems the [Crystal Steel] has met with Gaga-san’s approval.

But rather than money…

“In that case, I’d like a magic sword forged using this [Crystal Steel]. I’ve been wanting a stronger weapon.”

“It might not turn out to be a magic sword, you know?”

“But it’ll be a sword forged by an almost A-rank blacksmith, right? Even if it’s not magical, a sword made with mithril alloy is more than worth it. I’d even be willing to provide a bit more [Crystal Steel] if needed.”

“You said it. I’ll forge it for you if you add five more.”

“That’s fine, here you go!”

As I casually take out [Crystal Steel] from my [Storage], Gaga-san’s eyes widen.

Was I too careless in handling something supposedly rare? He looks surprised, doesn’t he?

Well, for me, it is rare, so I don’t really want to give out too much.

But in my current situation, with my [Smithing] level, [Crystal Steel] is a dormant material that I can’t even turn into ingots. It’s basically just taking up space in my [Storage].

If that’s the case, I think it’s more beneficial for me to have a sword forged by a top-ranked, nearly A-class blacksmith and use it as my own weapon!

Well, I still have more materials, and when my skills catch up, I’ll finish one with my own hands next time!

“Alright. Let’s make a national treasure-class weapon, shall we?”

“Please do!”

So, I commissioned Gaga-san to make the sword, and thinking I shouldn’t disturb him in the afternoon, I decided to leave the workshop.

■□■

“Well then, shall we resume?”

What, you ask? Of course, it’s completing the [Alchemy] and [Compounding] quests!

Yes! I haven’t given up on becoming “unable to stop laughing” yet!

That’s right, the plan to raise my Guild rank, obtain the [Resurrection Potion] recipe, sell it to players, and live an easy life hasn’t been abandoned!

“I was the type who would take homework on long vacations like summer or winter break when going on trips, you know.”

Though I might not always do it.

Though I might not always do it!

So, on the day I decided to go deep into the forest with Gaga-san, when Milene-san told me to prepare, the first thing I did was take screenshots of the D-rank request board.

And not just for [Compounding], but for [Alchemy] too.

In addition, I quickly stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild and briefly looked through plant and mineral encyclopedias.

Yeah, because of [Balance], you know.

Just by glancing through, I can grasp everything.

So, I’m currently in the middle of searching for materials in the forest while occasionally checking the details of the requests in the corner of my vision.

When I use [Appraisal], I can see the name of the material, so I check if the name is in the recipe for items needed to clear the requests, and then I keep throwing the materials into my [Storage].

I can’t make the requested items right away since [Compounding] and [Alchemy] require specialized tools, but if I collect the materials now, I’ll be able to complete many requests the next time I go to town.

And when I complete many requests, I’ll be able to rise to C-rank!

Plus, getting materials for free is great!

The materials I was buying from Milene-san were quite expensive, so this is a very welcome development!

So, I’m gathering materials like crazy~!

I continue this steady work of [Appraising] and [Storing] for a long time, and as the sky starts to darken, it’s about time to call it a day.

I could keep [Gathering] until late at night, but it wouldn’t be right to keep a hungry Gaga-san waiting.

Also, monsters become more ferocious at night…

So, I return to the workshop at a slightly quickened pace.

Thinking that I’ve gathered quite a lot of good materials today, I step into the safety area of the workshop with a satisfied look. Just then, a human figure emerges from inside.

Oh, that’s unusual.

“……”

“Ah, hello.”

Wow, she’s a beautiful woman.

The person who came out of the workshop and suddenly stared at me was a woman with blonde hair, wearing clothes that looked like a military uniform and a black cloak.

She glared at me with her crimson eyes, then,

“Hmph…”

With a somewhat displeased snort, she disappeared into the night forest.

Wait, is she going to be okay?

Aren’t the monsters supposed to become more ferocious at night?

Isn’t that really dangerous?

As I was thinking these things and watching her back as she left,

“What are you doing at the entrance?”

Gaga-san called out to me.