kscans

Chapter 239 - Bounty of the Sea and Mountains (Part 2)

("...Perhaps Yuri-kun has some idea of his own.") ("It just looks like he's being penny wise and pound foolish.") ("Hmm... Dona, when you say ‘high-quality ore,’ you mean stones with a high iron content, yes?") ("Of course. If you’re going to buy it, that kind of stone is a better deal, isn’t it?")

To Dona, who sounded as if she were stating the obvious, Old Man Audel replied,

("But Yuri-kun might not be looking for just iron. If he wants to buy a variety of minerals all at once for some experiment, like iron, copper, lead... then it’s possible he’d be interested in a pile like that.")

Old Man Audel’s speculation had almost perfectly hit upon Yuri’s plan.

Yuri’s reason for eyeing the pile of junk ore was singular, its impurities. It was true that all the ore before him was low quality, meaning it had a low content of metals like iron and copper... but that, in turn, meant it contained a high amount of other elements. In normal blacksmithing, these would be treated as impurities, but...

(To make special steel, you need to add trace elements other than iron... I didn’t have a source for those trace elements before, but with this stuff...)

Yuri was not the child he appeared to be. Adding his previous life, he had accumulated nearly fifty years of life experience. He knew enough to discreetly use Appraisal on the pile of junk ore from a distance before approaching. His actions were a result of confirming that it contained useful elements like chromium and nickel. In order to not repeat the failure of his mottled blade sword, discovering the correct alloy composition was a paramount mission. ...It was a line of reasoning that would likely infuriate Adon and Kudol if they heard it.

In any case, Yuri was thus able to obtain the materials he desired, in exchange for Dona’s trust.

What looked like a normal transaction, a shady merchant tricking a naive child into buying junk ore, was in reality a needlessly high-level game of wits between "a merchant chuckling to himself for offloading troublesome junk ore" versus "Yuri chuckling to himself for acquiring rare metals at a throwaway price." They were a fox and a raccoon, each believing they were the winner of their little deception, but since both were satisfied with the transaction, this was probably what they called a "win-win situation." Blessed are the believers.





"Hey, um, Yuri-kun, and I know this is a strange thing to say, but... I don’t think that was very good quality stone..."

As Yuri left the great market venue with a look of utter satisfaction, Dona spoke to him, her tone hesitant. She knew it wasn’t her place to say anything since it was Yuri’s money and he had bought what he wanted, but she apparently couldn’t stay silent.

"Ah, yeah. But because of that, there was a wide variety of types and qualities all in one place."

Even Yuri had the good sense to know that it was best to refrain from revealing information about special steel here. So he gave a vague explanation that was not entirely off the mark.

(I-I see... just like Grandpa said...)

Though a feeling of not being entirely convinced remained, Dona, for the time being, accepted Yuri’s explanation.