Helios Orb Chronicle – Chapter 575

“Alrighttttttt!!”

“Whoa! You scared me!!”

One day, while I was working at the Crafting Hall, Ed suddenly let out an incredibly loud yell.
Though it was work, I was crafting Hihishirokane, so a slight slip of my hands wouldn’t be a problem.
If I had been in the middle of delicate work, I definitely would have messed up.

“Ah, you startled me. Don’t suddenly shout like that.”
“Yeah, really. By the way, what were you making?”

Ludia and Flam, who were also crafting Hihishirokane like me, complained in surprise.
Anyway, what was he making?

“Hah, feast your eyes on this!”

He showed us a light blue ingot, a shade lighter than Lapis Laz, with a joyous smile.
It was a vivid blue, like the clear sky, I think it was called Sky Color, right?

“An ingot? And it’s blue, so is it a gold-steel alloy?”
“Could it be that you’ve completed Blue-Gray Iron, which rivals Lapis Laz?”
“No, it’s close to Hihishirokane.”

Seriously!
Both Hihishirokane and Lapis Laz are good alloys, but their drawback is that they are lighter than iron of the same size.
Of course, being light isn’t bad, but it becomes a disadvantage when used as a weapon.
In fact, those who use heavy weapons that leverage weight prefer Jade Silver over Blue-Gray Iron, which can be considered a lesser version of Lapis Laz.
Of course, Blue-Gray Iron is also a good alloy, but it becomes unusable once you evolve into an Element Class.
So far, none of those likely to evolve into Element Class prefer heavy weapons, but there are still a few who will eventually evolve, so developing a heavy metal material with performance comparable to that of Lapis Laz was almost essential.
Well, that’s just an excuse; Ed was repeating trial and error almost as a hobby.

“This time, I added Divine Metal and Magic Silver to Blue-Gray Iron. The ratio is 5:2:4.”

Hmm, using Blue-Gray Iron as a base, like with Hihishirokane.
However, reaching that ratio must have required considerable trial and error.
Honestly, I’m surprised Ed, who is bad with numbers, managed to complete it in just a few years.

“Considering you’re bad with numbers, how did you manage to complete it so quickly?”
“Shut up! I may be bad with them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it! Anyway, that’s not important. Show it to me already!”

He’s self-aware, huh.
Well, if he wasn’t, my wives would have to lecture him repeatedly, and then it would be a real problem.
More importantly, I’m also interested in what kind of performance this new sky-colored ingot has.
Let’s use the Craft Magic “Measuring” right away.

“Gah!”
“What? Seriously, this?”
“Th-that’s amazing…”
“Right!”

Ed is beaming with pride, but he can’t be helped.
After all, the ingot Ed created had performance that was no exaggeration to call close to Hihishirokane: Magic Strength 10, Hardness 11, Magic Conductivity 9, Magic Durability 11, Magic Storage 10, and Weight 2,400.
To be precise, it was between Lapis Laz and Hihishirokane.

“Calculating… the overall performance value is 102. I believe anything below 100 couldn’t withstand Arc Class magic, so this might barely withstand it.”
“You won’t know that for sure unless you evolve into Arc Class yourself, but it’s definitely fine for Element Class.”
“True.”

I don’t think I can evolve into Arc Class, but I still think this might be enough to withstand it.

“So, Yamato, what do you want to name this?”
“Huh? No, you made it, so you should name it.”
“I want to give it a name similar to Lapis Laz and Hihishirokane, but I can’t think of anything. I think it’s partly due to the language difference between your country and Helios Orb.”

Ah, I see.
But I understand what you mean; I don’t think you need to worry about it that much, you know?
It’s a bit late to mention this now, but I’ve never had trouble with the language while living in Helios Orb.
However, even for the same meaning, there can be multiple words.
For example, the word for knight can include not only Order but also Knight, Chevalier, and Ritter. The same applies to Father, Dragoon, Phaser, and Beastar.
For alloys, Hihishirokane is sometimes called Flarelight in Helios Orb, and Lapis Laz is sometimes called Lapislite.
It’s like how we use different words in Japanese for different job titles, so I was used to it and didn’t think anything of it. However, my father actually felt uneasy about the fact that the languages were mutually intelligible when he visited, so he had formulated several hypotheses.

The Book of Genesis in the Bible describes how God confused the languages of arrogant people and scattered them across the land, which is why a diversity of languages was born on Earth. Conversely, in Helios Orb, languages are unified under the gods, so visitors and natives alike have no language barriers. My father reasoned that this might be the reason.
Perhaps Helios Orb also has dialects or regional languages, but he also mentioned that with the blessings of the gods, they are automatically translated, and no one notices.

So, Ed probably wants to give it a name that works in both Earth, or rather Japanese, and Helios Orb languages. But honestly, he didn’t even consider that when he made Hihishirokane, let alone Lapis Laz, Jade Silver, or Blue-Gray Iron, so I don’t think he needs to think about it so deeply.

“That may be true, but it sometimes crosses my mind since that time.”
“Well, I can’t say I don’t understand how you feel.”

Not just Ed, but Ludia too.
For me, having a common language is just convenient, and I just have the impression that names given in Japanese are automatically translated. But this might be because I’m a visitor from another world.

“How about Sky-Blue Iron then? I also considered ‘Blue Life Soul’ because it’s close to Hihishirokane, but it’s better to have uniformity if possible.”
“That’s true. So, Sky-Blue Iron… is it Skylight? Yeah, it’s not bad.”

Blue Life Soul is tempting, but I recall it being similar to a different shade of Hihishirokane, so Sky-Blue Iron feels more fitting.
In Helios Orb language, it’s Skylight, which is also very similar to Hihishirokane = Flarelight, Lapis Laz = Lapislite, Jade Silver = Emeraldlite, and Blue-Gray Iron = Dilatite, so it has a good sense of uniformity.

“You’re the one who will report this to His Majesty and the Crafter’s Guild, okay?”
“It’s troublesome, but it can’t be helped.”

Since you’re the developer, that’s only natural, isn’t it?
With a Float, you can easily go to the Gate Stone installed at the Tenten Residence of the Three Houses, so hurry up and go.
Though, I have a feeling that the manufacturing method for Sky-Blue Iron will be kept secret, treated the same as Hihishirokane.
Currently, Hihishirokane is only used by Wing Crest owner privileges, but it is scheduled to be used in the Arms and Armor of the Celestial Emperor’s Family, Grand Ritter’s Master, and Grand Hunter’s Master soon.
However, Grand Beastar’s Master and Grand Phazer’s Master use heavy weapons, so the issue was whether to forge new ones with Hihishirokane or stick with Blue-Gray Iron.
But now that Sky-Blue Iron is complete, that problem is resolved.
Although it’s inferior to Hihishirokane, it can undoubtedly withstand Element Class magic, and if it can withstand Arc Class magic, then you won’t have to worry about wielding your weapons while considering magic power anymore.

“This makes it the fifth alloy with a color name. Are you going to make any more?”
“No, I think that’s enough. After all, the reason for making alloys started when Yamato asked me if I could make something because Magic Silver and Adamantine Steel couldn’t withstand High Class magic or higher. We’ve already completed Hihishirokane, the alloy with the highest performance, so there’s probably nothing more beyond this.”
“Also, by combining Solemne’s techniques and Yamato’s knowledge, highly precise steel is being refined, and by adding chromium, a stainless steel that is rust-resistant and heat-resistant has also been developed.”

Oh, right, stainless steel was completed too.
There are quite a few iron mines in Helios Orb, and the iron mines in the Amister and Solemne regions, in particular, produce a lot of ores of unknown purpose.
Some of them have been identified by comparing them with the high school textbooks installed in the Engraving Tool, but not all of them.
However, among the identified ores are chromium, manganese, molybdenum, and cobalt, and the development of alloys using them is underway.
This has been outsourced to the Crafter’s Guild and Scholar’s Guild, but stainless steel was one of the alloys completedrelatively quickly.
For some reason, the Japanese name is “Fushohi,” and the Helios Orb name is “stainless steel,” but I have no idea why.
Another alloy developed is heat-resistant steel, which mixes iron with chromium and molybdenum to improve rigidity and heat resistance.
I have something to say about the names, but they are already registered, so they can’t be changed.

“Stainless steel and heat-resistant steel? Both have better performance than ordinary iron, so I hear they are often used for Normal Class weapons.”
“Yes. In particular, the hardness of heat-resistant steel is superior to that of Magic Silver, so it is said to be becoming the mainstream for B-rank Hunters.”
“Indeed. Also, since stainless steel is rust-resistant, it’s highly regarded by chefs.”

I’ve heard that too.
The performance should be roughly as follows: Magic Strength, Hardness, Magic Conductivity, Magic Durability, Magic Storage, Weight.

Stainless Steel: 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 1,200
Heat-Resistant Steel: 6, 7, 5, 7, 6, 1,150

The overall value is 60 for Stainless Steel and 62 for Heat-Resistant Steel. Both can withstand High Class magic, so it’s a big plus that you don’t have to worry about weapon degradation even if you evolve during combat.
In particular, the heat resistance of heat-resistant steel is superior to that of Magic Silver and Adamantine Steel.
Well, it’s limited to High Class at best since it’s iron-based, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it can’t be used for Ancient Class or higher. Nevertheless, the demand for iron is undeniably increasing.
Since iron alloys can be made from C-rank, it’s good that they are easy for Crafters to make.
Of course, in the Solemne region, there are few people who can use Inn, so most alloys are imported, and blacksmithing is similar to Earth, so many blacksmiths have gone out of business, which is a problem.
However, most of those people also change careers, and Hilde is taking good care of them, so it seems to be okay for now.

Alloys are increasing, and research is still ongoing.
Personally, I’d like to research copper alloys, which are said to be the Orichalcum of Earth.
But I believe Beryllium and Cobalt were necessary for that, and Beryllium in particular has not been found, so currently, we have to use another ore.
Well, it might be found in the future, and my lifespan as an Element Class evolution is at least 300 years, so I’ll take my time and research it.