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Volume 3 Sequel 1.4

Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes

「So you really need a gigantic furnace like this？」

　Makoto asked the thing that was most on her mind as she watched the forest giants put up the scaffolding and build up the bricks. The building that had taken Hiroshi five hours was about six meters high from the outside. But on the inside it was three and a half meters higher. In other words, the inside went down another floor or so. The furnace’s height was seven meters. The space between the roof and the furnace was two whole meters.

　Maybe because of the sheer height, the furnace’s outer wall was exceptionally thick, with seven super heat resistant bricks a meter and a half thick. Considering how they had only used two bricks for thickness in Darl, this was a hilarious difference.

　Incidentally, the large amount of sediment that came out of the ground when digging through it was now intended to be used for the farmland near the slums and for the new fields near Ortem Village. According to Hiroshi, the most crucial part of construction was not letting anything go to waste.

「If I had some holy steel on me, I wouldn’t need this kinda furnace. And if I planned to make a god ship or somethin’ then I’d be makin’ the steel frame with this.」

「Ah～、I see……」

　Apparently the rail stretched around the ceiling that screamed “Attach a crane to me!” was in fact going to have a crane attached to it. The structure of this building was almost completely identical to factories in Japan. As per usual, the fantasy elements were thinning out. Sure, cranes are overall similar to one another, but there was no reason to have such a mechanical, advanced, present-day, convenient appliance.

「But if that’s the case, was there even a need to dig up this area？」

「Speakin’ from the size of the buildings, we gotta hold down the sides with somethin’ this large, else there’ll be a lotta complaints later on I think.」

「……Right, that’s true.」

　Looking up at the mostly completed smelting furnace, Makoto nodded, recalling some of the lawsuits in Japan relating to scenery or the right to sunshine. There were workshops and storehouses lined up in the area, so having a six meter high building wasn’t an issue. But having the furnace enter the ten meter class did worry her that there could be trouble with those around.

「But if you’re going to talk about the environment, what about the gas and heat expelled from the furnace？」

「Already thought about that. I’m gonna equip it with a recycling system based off the state of the art tech they got in Japan, so there ain’t gonna be no toxic substances leakin’ out. Heck, the exhaust and drainage can prolly be converted to be even cleaner than regular air ‘n water.」

「Isn’t all that a bit much？」

「But that’s what we need for this, don’tcha think? Plus, puttin’ aside the exhaust, the drainage can be recycled for a different use and doesn’t even hafta go outside, and then after usin’ it for somethin’ else we can bring it right back to be used in the furnace.」

「……That’s rather advanced for what’s supposed to just be a simple furnace……」

「Cause there ain’t no point doin’ any of this if we get complaints ‘bout worsenin’ the environment. Y’know, prevention is better then cure ‘n all that.」

　All said and done, Hiroshi was always aware that he and his team were foreigners. In order for them to be accepted, they had to respect those around them.

「Okay, last question. Was there any point in me even coming over here？」

「I’m gonna put some fire in the furnace soon enough, so the first thing I’m gonna make is yer katana, Makoto-san.」

「Oh, I get it now.」

「I plan to forge all the remaining magic steel into katanas, so I wantcha to throw a buncha ideas at me.」

「Now wait just a minute.」

　Hiroshi had just said something Makoto couldn’t ignore. She immediately pressed Hiroshi for information as she glared at him sharply.

「What do you mean ALL of them? Didn’t you say we had plenty left over after you made the submarine?」

「We did, but after putting some aside for the golem car, I figured the rest could be used for about five katanas.」

「When do you plan to use all those katanas？」

「Just in case, I guess？」

　Makoto still felt like questioning Hiroshi, even if she somewhat understood what he was getting at. Hiroshi was probably taking Gale Slash into consideration. She got that. She really did, but wasn’t it a bit much to make five katanas just for that？

「I’m fine with two katanas, spares included. Why don’t you just remake your maul or something.？」

「Even without a maul I got my pole axe, and in my case I need better materials than yer weapons, otherwise the effects won’t be as good.」

　For Hiroshi, who generally could only use skills that didn’t multiply attack power, weapon capabilities changing by twenty or thirty percent would hardly benefit him. True, he might end up breaking a weapon again using Titanic Roar, but unlike Makoto, he still didn’t know the precise rules for activating it.  Hiroshi just didn’t feel like making a bunch of weapons with minimal improvements for a special move that he didn’t even know how to use.

　Also, as for the orichalcum they obtained from the tower golem, if they were to make new tools with it, there wouldn’t be enough to allocate to katanas, hence why he had abandoned the idea and allocated it to the anvil and smithing hammer.

「Oi Hiroshi, we done wit da bricks o’er here, come take a look, eh?」

　Makoto was about to argue vehemently with Hiroshi when they heard the forest giants’ call letting them know the work was done.

「Roger. Wait just a minute, y’all.」

　Hiroshi raised a hand in response and began checking the cement and other parts of the furnace. He filled in areas that didn’t have enough cement, fine tuned the placement and tapped it to make sure the sound was the same all around, correcting what needed to be corrected. Writing it out like this, it sounds like a job that would take quite a bit of time, but the work was actually done in a matter of fifteen minutes.

「Right, that’s that. All that’s left is the finishing touch.」

　Writing letters on the surface of the giant smelting furnace, Hiroshi put the magic stones in their place and began preparing the ritual.

「Right, time to start the machine！」

　Hiroshi’s boundless mana poured into the magic circle the same time that his war cry sounded through the air. The complex energy changed the furnace, tempering it into an appropriate container for storing god fire. The co-starring of thirty different mana elements continued, and after all the energy had been swallowed up, the former cluster of boorish bricks had transformed into a magnificent, practically godly structure.

「Alright, success.」

「This is……？」

「Yup. It’s one of the holy equipments called True Furnace. Then again, I barely managed to get it to that rank with the materials, so it’s a bit of a thin line as to whether we can make the highest ranked holy steel or not.」

　Makoto just looked up dazed as Hiroshi said something quite manly. Though this goes without saying, even supplies that didn’t quite reach holy steel ranking could create the highest ranking if you tried hard enough.

　Incidentally, the other holy equipments also included Kitchen of the Gods and Loom of the Emperor. As they did not have a single shred of the ingredients for those, Hiroshi could not make them right now.

「Now, ignite the flame and strike the katanas!」

　Hiroshi did a trial run as per usual, ignoring Makoto as she lost her words at the sight of this part of the world of the gods. Maybe because he knew that he would later be suffering under the smell of chocolate, the day’s smithing continued longer than usual.