kscans

Chapter 154 - A Fine Sword, It Seems ~Act One~ 4. The Fittings

He had created the "Mottled Blade Sword" from a Damascus steel-like special steel and a "katana" of magic iron forged from ordinary steel. For now, he had made two blades, but at the moment, they were just bare blades. The "Mottled Blade Sword" had a temporary handle, but it was far from practical as it was. Since he had made the blade in the form of a Japanese sword, the fittings and other parts should probably also conform to that style.

"Let's see... hmm, hmm, before the tsuba... how do you read this... It's nice that the update reduced the katakana, but... the metal radical with... is this the old form of 'so'? Ah, it's read 'habaki'... So, I need a metal fitting like that... I see, it fits tightly into the koiguchi of the scabbard to prevent the blade from accidentally slipping out. ...To think it has this kind of information too, Professor Appraisal is amazing..."

This time, he was following the links from the Appraisal result for "Japanese sword" to find a general explanation of Japanese swords. Yuri was constantly impressed by the richness of the content, and indeed, Yuri's Appraisal was exceptional, or rather, abnormal. The explanations covered knowledge from his past life on Earth, and as a result, it was already functioning as more than a small encyclopedia. Well, part of it was that it was being updated in response to how Yuri used it. In any case...

"Hmm... I need to make a scabbard too, but I can probably manage that with the wood I bought in Laurenzen. Before that, I have to make this 'habaki' thing."

And so, Yuri diligently worked on making the habaki. The simple structure and method of making it were described in the Appraisal's explanation, which was practically an encyclopedia, so he somehow managed to create something that looked right using Smithing (Strange). The important thing was that it fulfilled its role as a habaki.

"For the tsuba... just its function as a guard is fine. I'm not confident I can make intricate openwork or inlay... for now, it'll be purely practical."

Based on that judgment, a rugged, circular tsuba was attached.

"...Huh? The tsuba is held in place with something called seppa to prevent rattling? ...As long as it's fixed so it doesn't rattle, it should be fine."

And so, it's a secret that quite a few parts were omitted.

As for the handle, he made it with Wood Deformation as usual, but...

"...Huh? You wrap the handle with sharkskin for a non-slip grip...?"

He did not have such a thing. ...Or rather, there was no way there would be sharks in the mountains.

"I didn't see any sharkskin in Laurenzen either... Basically, as long as it's rough and provides a non-slip grip, it should be fine..."

Among the materials he had bought in Laurenzen was lizard skin, said to be an import from the south. It was moderately rough, and the sales pitch was that it was durable, so he tried wrapping it, thinking it would work as a temporary measure...

"Whoa... it fits in my hand better than I thought..."

For a proper Japanese sword, you would wrap a flat cord-like thing called a handle wrap over the sharkskin, but unfortunately, he did not have that kind of cord on hand. So for the time being, it would be bare lizard skin, but it did not seem like it would slip. Even with amateur craftsmanship, once the handle, tsuba, and habaki were in place, it strangely started to look like a Japanese sword. Now, all that was left was to make the scabbard. Fortunately, he had bought some wood that seemed suitable for a scabbard at a woodworking shop in Laurenzen. Initially, he had not intended to use it for a scabbard, but had bought it thinking of making geta sandals.

"I could make it with Wood Deformation, but it's hard to visualize a scabbard that a curved blade would fit into perfectly. I'll take the classic route and try making it by hand. ...I could use a woodworking skill, too..."

He prepared two boards cut into the shape of the scabbard, so that each would be the left and right side of the scabbard... It was a strange analogy, but if you filleted a fish into three pieces, with the bone as the blade, the two opened fillets would be like the scabbard. He roughed out the shape. On the inner surfaces, he drew an outline along the shape of the blade, leaving a little room, and carefully carved to a depth of about half the blade's thickness, but...

"...Yeah... I think I carved too deep..."

He later learned that the proper way was to oil the blade, sheath it, and then gradually shave down the parts of the scabbard's interior where the oil had adhered, as those were the parts that were catching. At the time, he had inadvertently carved too deeply, and it seemed like he was about to break through to the outside of the scabbard. He had no choice but to gradually fill in the carved parts with Wood Deformation and correct it to a suitable depth. He carved out the part where the habaki would fit and confirmed that the sword could be sheathed perfectly, then glued the two sides of the scabbard together. For a real Japanese sword, the left and right sides of the scabbard are apparently glued together with a paste made from rice grains. This allows the scabbard to be split into two again for cleaning or repairs, but Yuri did not think too deeply about it and firmly glued the scabbard together with Wood Magic. After that, all that was left was to shape the scabbard, but around this point, Yuri got tired of it and shaped the scabbard entirely with Wood Deformation, without using a plane or a chisel. Not only that...

"Yeah... the mouth of the scabbard is one thing, but it might be better to reinforce the surface more."

And so he used Wood Reinforcement, strengthening it like a type of compressed wood. This increased the weight of the scabbard itself a little, but he decided that it was a price worth paying for strength. Thus, a Japanese sword-like sword was completed, but...

"Hmm... it's a shirasaya, but it has a tsuba, and on top of that, the handle is wrapped in lizard skin... there's a serious sense of disharmony..."

Unfortunately, he had not thought that far ahead in Laurenzen, so he did not have any paint on hand. He had bought a magic tool for dyeing handkerchiefs, but it was not compatible with wood. Even if it were, it would probably dye the wood, not paint it.

"I'll leave it like this for now and buy some paint and handle wrap next time I go to Laurenzen..."

This was late February, ten days before Yuri's visit to End Village.