kscans

Chapter 220 - # The Artisans 6. The Armorer (Part 3)

"Hm? I don't mind as long as you don't get in the way... but it's not going to be anything interesting for a kid to watch."

"No, I'd like to use it as a reference for when I make my own."

Ah, I see, in that case... Baldo started to nod, but then a realization made him cry out.

"Make your own... Wait a minute. Don't tell me... those trousers and that jacket too...?"

"? Yes, I made them."

"Hah!?"

Behind Yuri, Adon and Kudol wore expressions that said, "He went and said it." They had likely decided that divulging the information was unavoidable to get the stubborn artisan to agree. They could just make him promise to keep it a secret later.

As Baldo's eyes darted between Yuri, his clothes, and the pelt in bewilderment, Kudol explained the, public, circumstances. Listening to the story, Baldo grunted but seemed to accept it. There were many suspicious points, like why such a thing had happened, or why he was still holed up on Salt-Sour Mountain, but he decided that was the child's own business. What he could and should do was not to pry or investigate further, but to teach him how to process the pelt. Having reached that conclusion with an artisan's line of thought, Baldo decided to teach him the fundamental techniques of leatherworking.

"With magical beast hide, the first big task is just cutting it..."

"Huh?"

For Yuri, who had been slicing through it with ease using his magic stone tools, this was shocking information from the very start.

"...Looks like you haven't had much trouble cutting it... ?"

"Um... I sort of brute-forced that part with a skill."

"I'm jealous of whatever skill you've got, kid."

However, Baldo seemed to decide to brush that part off. ...After all, Adon was clearing his throat insistently in the background. Understanding what a valued customer wanted was a basic skill for any merchant.

"...About the Rigbear hide, you need a bit of a trick to cut it without damaging its magic. First, you have to cut it from the back while leaving the fur intact. Second, you need to use a tool enchanted with the dark attribute. ...Normally, anyway."

For some reason, this kid seemed like he could cut it without worrying about attributes or anything else. It was enviable that he could brute-force it like that, but it would probably be best to give him a warning... about various things.

Having made that decision, Baldo not only demonstrated the basic techniques but also had Yuri try his hand at some simple processing under his guidance.

And, thanks to that...

.........

(Wow... a leatherworking skill popped up♪)

After returning to Adon's mansion, Yuri was secretly checking his status in his room. He confirmed that he had acquired `Leatherworker (Strange) Apprentice` as a sub-skill of `Rural Life Guide` and gave a complex smile.

(If the skill appeared just from today's practice, the (Strange) part wouldn't make sense. ...Which means... it must be the tanning...?)

The only thing that came to mind was when he had tanned the magical beast hides during his first winter. At that time, he had even used Light Magic and Dark Magic, a method that, even he had to admit, was quite strange. He hadn't acquired a `Tanning` skill, so he had sort of forgotten about it... but if he considered that it was now reflected in this `Leatherworker` skill... it all seemed to add up.

(Well... the (Strange) part is nothing new at this point. More importantly...)

In his heart, Yuri offered a prayer of thanks not only to Adon and Kudol, who had acted as intermediaries for him all day, but also to the artisans who had taught him so many things.