kscans

Chapter 100 - The Tree That Becomes Gold 2. The Sawyer's Craft

"I see... the remains of a standing dead tree. ...Does that mean you can get more?"

"Probably, if I look for it. However, I don’t think they will all be of the same type, so I can’t guarantee it."

"That’s true..."

The workshop owner, who introduced himself as Ems, seemed to have decided not to concern himself with why a child of ten or so was living on Salt-Sour Mountain, or the abnormal capacity of his magic bag. He asked only the questions that were important to him.

"It was a dead tree, so I’m not sure about the quality."

"No, that’s not a problem. I’ve been in this business a long time, so I can judge the quality of the wood. It seems to take well to magic too, so it’s definitely a first-class... no, a special-grade product."

"...Magic?"

Seeing Yuri’s puzzled frown, the workshop owner Ems explained. He said that the heartwood Yuri had brought was a rare material called Rosewood, that it was not only hard and strong but also had a fine, dense grain suitable for detailed work, that a beautiful wood grain appeared when polished, that it was also an important material for magic tools such as magician’s staves due to its excellent magic conductivity, and that despite all this, very few of them were in circulation, so everyone scrambled to get even a scrap of it...

"...Eh? So, this is...?"

"Literally, a mountain of treasure. Even after paying you a hundred and fifty gold coins, I’ll make more than enough profit."

...It was a hard, slow-burning wood, so if I put a suitable amount in the stove before bed, it would smolder until morning. ...Was it a bad idea to try using it for heating at night? Yuri secretly decided to keep quiet, but Ems, oblivious to his expression, continued.

"...No, more than that, to be able to work with Rosewood heartwood to my heart’s content is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's like a blind tortoise finding a floating log, or the udonge flower blooming, or the endless rubbing away of the five kalpas of Jugemu Jugemu..."

"No... I mean, there are still a few more logs..."

"...Just leave him be, Yuri-kun. He can’t hear you..."

Eventually, once Ems seemed to have calmed down somehow, Yuri made him promise not to spread the word about him, and then got down to his own business.

*

"You want to see the wood sawing site? I don’t mind that much, but...?"

To the bewildered Ems, Yuri explained his situation, briefly and with some embellishment. Since he lived deep in the mountains, it was difficult for him to saw the trees he acquired into lumber.

"...Even so... we use some pretty special tools, like a great saw... It’s not something an amateur, let alone a child, can do, you know?"

"Ah, no, I’m not so arrogant as to think I can do the same things as seasoned craftsmen. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could learn from. I wanted to see the work of a skilled craftsman if possible, so I made an unreasonable request to Adon-san."

"O, oh... so that’s what it was."

Whether it was the effect of the adjectives "seasoned" and "skilled," or because the young Yuri had asked with an upward glance... in any case, Ems showed him the site where logs were sawn into lumber and even taught him some simple tricks. Yuri, who could fell trees of considerable thickness with the wind magic Wind Cutter, found it difficult to turn the felled logs into proper square timber and planks. He couldn’t seem to cut them straight, and they would curve halfway through. He had been thinking of asking for advice on what he was doing wrong, or buying planks and going home if that failed... but as he watched Ems’s work and listened to his explanation, he realized he had been mistaken.

(I was trying to increase the power of Wind Cutter and cut with force and speed, but...)

His memory from his previous life had him trapped in the image of a high-speed rotating circular saw, which seemed to have been the problem. Because it had so much momentum, it was difficult to control the direction of the force.

(I mean, you can cut wood with a hand-pulled saw too...)

In that case, could he perhaps form a blade with non-elemental magic and cut by moving it? He could move objects with something like psychokinesis, and he could also apply impact. If so, couldn’t he also create a magic blade and cut with it? Speed and momentum didn’t seem to be essential for cutting wood...

He didn't know if it would work, but he had a general plan. The rest would have to wait until he returned to the "village." ...He should probably buy some square timber and planks, just in case.

*

"...Even so, it fetched an incredible price..."

To Yuri, who was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the bourgeois price like a commoner, Adon casually remarked that the reaction to the pencil would surely be similar, regardless of the price.

It was immediately after that that Yuri, sensing trouble, decisively handed over the method for making pencils to Adon.