kscans

Chapter 132 - The Long Road to Woodworking 2. The Buddhist Sculptor

He considered making it out of Rosewood heartwood, since he was going to the trouble, but while that wood has a beautiful grain, it is hard and dense, and would undoubtedly be too much for Yuri, who didn't even have the Woodworking skill. He could only see a future where he misjudged the force needed and ruined the carving. It also felt wrong to fail while carving a divine statue, so he decided to start with an easier wood. He could use the Wood Deformation skill to restore any mistakes, but carving with such a cheat felt somehow disrespectful.

"Well, I'm a beginner, so I can't expect to do it all in one go."

To avoid failure, he decided to carve a little at a time, with great care. He repeatedly checked his work, striving to make it resemble the image of the god in his memory.

"Phew... Oh... is it this late already..."

He had started carving in the morning, and before he knew it, the sun had already set. It seemed he had unconsciously been using Light for his work light. His muscles had completely stiffened from sitting in the same position for so long. He stretched with a groan and gazed at the half-carved statue. It was still far from complete, but the rough shape was taking form. Looking it over again, there didn't seem to be any major mistakes so far. All he had to do was continue carving as he had. But...

"............Something.........just doesn't feel right............"

There shouldn't be anything wrong with it, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, that this wasn't it. Harboring this sense of dissatisfaction, he decided to end his work for the day.


"Hmm... maybe... trying so hard to make it a likeness was a bad idea?"

The next morning, Yuri was re-examining the statue he had carved partway and was thinking that perhaps trying to carve a likeness was the problem. The Christian God, Jehovah, was said to have forbidden the making of idols of himself. Maybe this god was the same.

"...Darn it. If I had gone to a church in Laurenzen, I probably could have found out whether it's okay to carve divine statues..."

He gave up, knowing it was no use saying so now, and decided to try carving again, this time without consciously trying to make a likeness.

With single-minded focus, with an empty mind, pouring in only his feelings of gratitude.


"............It's done............"

Just as the sun was about to set, Yuri stopped his work. Compared to the statue he was carving yesterday, the clothing and proportions were more ambiguous. Furthermore, the carving at key points was rough, and it looked for all the world like it was unfinished. And yet, Yuri felt that this shape was its final form. No matter how he might try to add to it, he could only see a future where it became worse than it was now. It was a contradictory way of putting it, but this statue was complete precisely in its incomplete form.

However... one thing that bothered Yuri a little was the pose. He seemed to remember the god sitting in a more relaxed manner, but the finished statue had a feel like the pensive half-lotus pose of a Miroku Bosatsu. He worried that his memory of the national treasure, the Hanka Miroku statue at Koryu-ji, had gotten mixed in and wondered if he should remake it. But he had a strong feeling that it wasn't necessary, that this was fine. He couldn't imagine he had received a request or a correction from the god, but...

"...Well... the god is probably saying this is fine..."

He placed the finished statue on the divine altar. He hadn't made one yet, so he built one in a great hurry, but without being sloppy. The materials for the altar were proper wood. He could have made it from particle board, but that also felt like it lacked respect, so he made it from the planks he had bought in Laurenzen. For now it was bare, but he wondered if he should build a small shrine for it.

"Hmm... this is fine for now. It feels incredibly right, somehow."

He poured wine into a small, unused cup he had purchased in Laurenzen and offered it as sacred sake. It seemed to be some kind of fruit wine, but he hadn't asked what it was made from. It was a portion that Yuri, with his memories of being thirty-seven, had secretly bought, thinking a little bit would be fine. Fortunately, he hadn't opened it yet, so offering it as sacred sake would not be disrespectful. He unthinkingly clapped his hands twice and bowed, then remembered he would have to check the formal etiquette later. His almighty Appraisal-sensei would probably know.

He suddenly realized and checked his status. With faint hope that Woodworking might have been unlocked, he checked the status board, but what was displayed was...

"...`Buddhist Sculptor`... What is this?"

What had been unlocked was not Woodworking, but Buddhist Sculptor. Was it because he had dabbled in carving a Jizo Bosatsu in his past life? Or was it because he had made a pensive half-lotus statue, even though it was supposed to be a god?

"I mean... I'm grateful that the god seems to have approved, but..."

Yuri couldn't help but feel a little conflicted, wondering when the Woodworking skill would be unlocked, and what would be required for it.