Chapter 162 - Unexpected Use
"Whew. I guess this is good enough?"
“Good work. Aren’t you filling it with water?”
"Not for now. It'll collect when it rains anyway."
“I see.”
The Purification Tank I made was one meter square, and about one meter deep.
It was divided into three layers by stone walls acting as thresholds, with a simple mechanism where only the supernatant flowed into the next layer.
The wastewater overflowing from the third layer flowed through a five-meter-long ditch filled with gravel into the spring. But I wouldn’t know how clean it would get until I actually used it.
Well, it's more for the atmosphere, or for peace of mind, really...
"Woof."
"~~~♪"
Lupi, Sweee, and the fairies appeared together.
The transplanted Greenberry trees were still saplings, so it would be a while before I could harvest fruit from them.
"Going to get Greenberries?"
"Woof-woof!"
"Hold on a second. I'll come with you part of the way."
The remaining time was for blacksmithing. I planned to make a ken-nata and a small shield. Before that, I needed to do some Mining.
My remaining tasks were just the home garden, I guess? Well, those two can wait until after club activities restart...
...
..
.
"It feels like it's been a while since I last did any Mining."
“It’s been since you prepared for the remodel, even for blacksmithing.”
"Ah, right. That was over a week ago, no, more than two weeks, wasn't it?"
Back then, I made all sorts of things like nails and metal fittings, pretty much using up all my iron ingots.
Today, I needed to seriously mine and gather enough ingots so I could blacksmith anytime...
"Hm?"
“What’s wrong?”
"No, I just had an idea... [Excavation]."
“Ah!”
When I cast [Excavation] magic on a mining point, Iron Ore popped out easily.
“Shou-kun, is your MP okay?”
"Ah, yeah. It's a bit much. 'A bit' as in about three times. But this might be good practice. My MP recovery is fast thanks to the mantle."
Did the Iron Ore come out without being pulverized because it was a mining point? If iron plates or rebar were buried here, it's possible it would consume even more MP.
“That’s good. But will your Mining Skill level up with that?”
"Ah—"
Elemental Magic and Civil Engineering would probably level up, but I have a feeling Mining wouldn't.
Is it better to just use a pickaxe normally? Ah, no, wait.
"Can I dig those inaccessible spots up there with this?"
“Ah, you’re right! But please be careful of falling rocks, okay?”
"Roger. Since we're here, I'll give it a try... [Excavation]."
It was quite difficult to activate magic from a distance, but it seemed to hit somehow, and a fist-sized stone fell down.
"Oh, that's good. ...Huh?"
[Mithril Ore]
A stone that serves as the raw material for Mithril. Its rarity is higher than silver but lower than gold. Blacksmithing: After being smelted into an ingot in a furnace, it can be processed into Mithril products.
“Amazing!”
"...Was Mithril commonly available?"
“I’ll go check!”
"Ah, yeah."
This might be another one of those situations where Bell-bucho calls it a 'screw-up'.
But since I got it, I want to make something with it...
“It seems that the Guild Cards of player guilds are made of Mithril, but they are managed by the nation, and general players don’t possess them.”
"I knew it."
Should I make a ken-nata and a small shield out of Mithril here?
But if I'm going to make something, I should wait until my skills are a bit higher... At least until they're level 5 or above.
“What will you do?”
"I'll think about it. First, I'll turn what I've collected into ingots, I guess. I have to process them anyway."
“Yes.”
...
..
.
"Ugh, I used up so much MP..."
I was surprised when I threw a full load of Mithril Ore into the Ancient Magic Furnace and activated it, losing about 80% of my MP.
If my character level wasn't higher, I think I would have been stunned.
“Are you okay?!”
"Yeah, somehow. It'll recover after a while, so I'll carry the Iron Ore in the meantime."
I established a pattern: use [Excavation] magic to consume MP, then mine in accessible areas with a pickaxe while waiting for MP to recover.
However, I ended up with more than I could carry at once.
“Shou-kun, you should check the smelting time first.”
"Eh? Ah, right!"
I thought Mithril Ore would also take 15 minutes, but since the MP consumption was different, there was a high probability that the time required had also changed.
[Ancient Magic Furnace: Operating: 30 minutes until completion]
"Ah—... Should I be glad it only doubled?"
“Exactly. You might as well gather a lot more Iron Ore while you’re at it, right? It’s fine to just leave it as ore.”
"Ah, yeah, you're right. There's space, so I'll just pile it up in a corner."
I was going to make wooden crates for times like this. I'll slowly work on them during club activities.
Some of the old wallboards from the mountain cabin aren't too bad, and it would be a waste to just burn them, you know.
...
..
.
[Ancient Magic Furnace: Smelting Complete]
"Alright, alright. Is it done?"
I put on my heat-resistant gloves for the hearth and opened the furnace door.
There were five ingots produced. So, it takes 10 Mithril Ore to make one ingot...
“The number of ingots produced is different too.”
"I can see why Mithril is so rare. No wonder the nation manages it..."
I went to retrieve the Iron Ore I'd left in the mine, but the Mithril mining point hadn't respawned at all.
Maybe it will never respawn? If so, how I use these five pieces will be a very important decision.
“It doesn’t seem like enough to make both a sword and a shield.”
"It's barely enough, and if I mess up, I'm out. I can't risk using it until the Mithril mining point respawns."
Even if I could melt it down and try again if I failed, it would still likely diminish in quantity.
“Will you make it with iron first?”
"I will. I'll save the Mithril for after my skills have leveled up."
First, I'll make them with iron and try them out, then raise my Blacksmithing, Dagger, and Shield skills, and all related skills.
Alright, then right away... but I think it's getting late.
"What time is it now?"
“It’s almost 10:30.”
"That's a tricky time."
If I get absorbed now, it feels like it'll easily be an hour-long session.
Tomorrow's Saturday, and Mion will be out for her lessons during the day. I'm not sure about making them then either.
“Shall we make it tomorrow?”
"Probably. For now, I'll just turn the Iron Ore into iron ingots and call it a day. Tomorrow, I'll do other things during the day."
“Yes!”
I also have to make wooden crates, and I remember weaving baskets from vines.
I completely forgot about looking for seafood, and I should increase my salt reserves while I'm at it.