That Time a Shut-in for 300 Years Continued to Make Antiques , but All of It Turned out to Be Cheat-Level Magic Tools

“No way, I hate that idea!”

“What did you say!?”

I immediately responded. Make was enraged.

“You! To spout such defiance and then say it’s impossible! Ultimately, you lack confidence, don’t you?”

“It’s absurd to agree to conditions that were unilaterally set!”

“Indeed, accepting them as they are wouldn’t benefit Edson-dono at all.”

Guard said with a wry smile. Naturally. Conditions shouldn’t be unilaterally set by one party.

“But, well, if you lose, I’d be willing to accept the challenge if it meant transferring all rights to this workshop to me.”

“What? All rights? That’s…”

“What? Got cold feet after all that big talk?”

“What did you say!”

“Hmm, I thought so. It would indeed be embarrassing for a blacksmith to call himself such if he lost to a son he considers immature. Considering the risk, it would be better for you to tuck your tail and behave.”

“Don’t joke with me! Alright, I accept your challenge!”

“Hmm, it seems the initiative has somehow shifted to Edson-dono.”

“Um, I never said I would do it…”

Krie muttered in confusion.

“But you must have thought it’s not good to continue like this, right? If you want to change something, you have to take the initiative. Sitting around hoping the other party will change won’t make things any better.”

“This guy, just let him talk…”

Make clenched his fist, trembling with frustration. Hmm, he still had some pride left.

“Understood! I’m aiming to be a top-notch blacksmith! I can’t stand not surpassing what my father made!”

“Well said!”

“Ha, to be told off by my own son…”

As Krie got excited, Make retreated to the back and came back with a sword.

“It seems you judge my skills solely by my castings, but of course, I’ll forge for the competition. And this is one of the swords I made earlier. To beat me, you at least have to surpass this.”

Apparently, he was more confident in this than any flawed piece lying around. So, I decided to pull it from its sheath and examine it.

“Ha, see? This has a shine unlike the toy your son just showed, right?”

“Hmm…lick.”

“What?”

As I licked the blade, Make frowned and gave me a look as if saying, what are you doing?

“This won’t do.”

I returned the sword to its sheath and handed it back to Make. As he took it back, he swung the returned sword up in complaint.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What can you tell by just licking it!”

“Don’t be foolish. There are things that can only be understood by licking.”

“Hey, are you sure this guy can judge the quality of things? If he declares a loss based on some nonsensical judgment, that would be ridiculous.”

Make appealed to Guard with a bewildered look, but Guard just chuckled. After all, Guard didn’t know me well enough to know how to respond.

“If you’re unsure, it would be good to have Guard judge too. And let’s bring along a B-rank adventurer. That should settle it, right?”

“Hmm, I see. Indeed, an adventurer would know better than an amateur. So when and how do we do this?”

“The competition will be in a week. The challenge will be swords, the materials iron and magical silver. How about that?”

“Wait, a moment. A week to compete with my father’s sword?”

“What, you’re not satisfied?”

“No, it’s not dissatisfaction, but it just seems too short…”

“Look, I don’t mind the timeframe, but magical silver…where am I supposed to get that?”

Hmm, it seems there’s no magical silver available. Such poor workmanship, not even being able to prepare magical silver.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll concede the material.”

“Concede? Wha…whaaaat!?”

I pulled out about 1000kg of magical silver from my infinite storage ring and placed it on the spot. While I was excessively surprised, it was just magical silver.

“Is this enough?”

“No, where on earth…let’s not go there, it gives me a headache. But, can anything be done with magical silver in a week?”

I looked provocatively at my son. Krie seemed slightly anxious.

“Krie, relax. The blacksmith I’ll introduce you to is truly skilled. And it’s just magical silver. I’m not asking for Hyral.”

“Hyral?”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t know?”

“I don’t.”

“How about Damascus?”

“If you have fantasies for children, do them elsewhere.”

Laughed off, I wondered what was going on with the technology in this country…

“Well, fine. We’ll do it in a week then. I’ll take care of Krie until then.”

“Do as you like. But Krie, don’t expect any mercy just because you’re my son.”

With that, our conversation concluded, and we left the Adamant Forge.

“Are you sure it’s okay to only have one week?”

“If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, yes. Oh, and when you gather the materials for the magic bag, please take care of making the bag part.”

“Yes, I’d be happy to.”

After parting ways with Guard for the time being…

“Um, what should I do now?”

“Let’s head back to the inn for now; we don’t have much time.”

“Is the craftsman at the inn?”

“Not exactly, but we can get there from the inn.”

Though he tilted his head in confusion, I took Krie to the inn and then through the teleportation door, Telepodoor, straight to Benz’s workshop.

◇◆◇

“Wow, wow, wow! Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!”

“Really, you always do things so abruptly…”

Krie was almost beside himself just seeing the teleportation door, but upon arriving at Benz’s workshop, his eyes sparkled and he began to frolic.

And there stood Benz, as grumpy as ever, yet with a look of disdain.

“Come on, it’s just a week.”

“Don’t joke with me. I’m not free, you know.”

“This is the legendary dwarf’s workshop, isn’t it? And look, real dwarves! Working! Hammering iron!”

“This annoying brat, I’d be done with him in three days.”

Indeed, Krie was extremely excited. The forge was always operational under Benz’s command, with many dwarves bustling about.

To me, it was a familiar sight, but it seemed quite rare for Krie.

“An average human couldn’t possibly forge.”

“But I think there’s a lot to see here.”

“You’re just an elf. You wouldn’t understand forging.”

“Why not just teach him? In return, Edson can take me to a human town, right?”

Benz’s daughter Rauls approached with pleading ruby eyes, slightly blushing. She’s nothing like her father.

“Absolutely not. A human town is out of the question.”

“Oh come on! It’s all part of learning.”

“No way.”

Rauls seemed interested in human towns, but Benz opposed it.

“Anyway, I don’t want to deal with human brats.”

“Look at this! The craftsmanship is so delicate. It’s like a jewel. You can feel the passionate soul of the craftsman in its beauty. Oh, it’s frustrating not being able to put this wonder into words!”

Fearlessly and with heavy breaths, Krie handled the swords in the workshop, expressing his immense admiration. Benz watched him closely, seemingly altering his gaze slightly.

“Does this kid have anything he’s made?”

“Yeah, I borrowed it.”

I showed Krie’s sword to Benz, who sniffed disdainfully and examined it closely.

“Oh, how embarrassing. Compared to the masterpieces here, my sword is…”

“I don’t hold back. You’re right. If you had come boasting about this, I would have kicked you out.”

“Father is really uncompromising when it comes to forging,” Rauls commented with a dismayed look. For dwarves, especially an Overdwarf like Benz, forging is their lifeblood.

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s not up to par at all, but I can feel the passion. Hmm, well, one week with a human kid here won’t make much of a difference. But I won’t be holding your hand every step of the way. If you really want to learn, watch and steal what you can.”

“Yes, of course! Just being able to see the work of such artisans is enough! I’ll learn as much as I can!”

“Understood. But don’t think you can study here for free. As long as you’re here, you’re considered an apprentice, a greenhorn!”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I hoped for!”

“Hmm, looks like we’ve reached an agreement.”

“Tch, feels like I’m being used, which is annoying.”

As I nodded in satisfaction, Benz scratched his head and grumbled, though he seemed somewhat pleased.

“Krie, right? You’ll be spending a week here then. Take care.”

“Uh, oh, haha, I’m overwhelmed.”

Rauls smiled at Krie, who blushed and seemed a bit smitten. Benz then grabbed Krie by the neck.

“Listen, if you lay a hand on my daughter, I’ll throw you into the furnace, melt you down, and mix you with iron to make an alloy!”

“I wouldn’t! I wouldn’t!”

Krie frantically shook his head as Benz glared fiercely at him.