**Side Marina**
“Magic silver is light, just as I expected,” Marina said.
“That’s the characteristic of magic silver,” Ed replied. “Still, this battle dress is a valuable item, isn’t it? Ed, old man Richard, and Talos were all surprised.”
Marina was currently helping Prim with her battle dress maintenance.
Though Marina, a half-fairy, was short for a Dragonewt, she took pride in her ample chest.
However, Prim was even larger than Marina.
Prim was so large that Marina worried it might get in the way during battles.
Marina didn’t mean she wanted Prim to be gouged by monsters, though.
“What’s wrong, Marina?” Prim asked.
“I was just wondering about your relationship with Yamato,” Marina confessed.
“W-we’re just partners!” Prim stuttered, her face flushing.
Her denial was unconvincing, especially with her bright red face.
Most hunter pairs of men and women were lovers or spouses.
The “most” part was to account for siblings who formed pairs. Other than that, they were all lovers or spouses. Marina wondered if Prim understood that.
Marina decided to probe a little further.
“I-I know that, but weren’t those hunter pairs not lovers from the start?” she asked.
“Well, yes. But they all ended up as lovers, so maybe it’s not wrong?” Prim replied.
This time, not only Prim’s face but also her ears turned red. Marina had never seen a White High Fox blush before, but Prim was turning pink.
Given this reaction, it was certain that Prim was infatuated with Yamato and had already “fallen” for him.
“Wh-what?!” Prim exclaimed.
“Why do you look like you’re asking how I know? Anyone can tell,” Marina responded.
Even though they were sharing a house room, Marina thought Yamato must have noticed Prim’s feelings.
Besides, Marina hadn’t heard of Yamato visiting any brothels, so he might be interested in Prim too.
Marina believed it was up to Prim to express her feelings, but it wasn’t her place to interfere.
“I’m rooting for your feelings to reach him. I hope Yamato feels the same,” Marina said.
“Oh, um. Thank you,” Prim replied.
Marina truly hoped it would happen.
Marina still wanted to talk, but time was short. The battle dress was ready, and it seemed the gauntlets and greaves were adjusted to fit perfectly, so she decided to head to see old man Richard and Talos.
Ah, “Adjusting” was a type of Craft Magic classified under Guild Magic, used to fine-tune sizes.
It was a magic that was imbued into clothing or armor, and it could adjust to a certain degree of size difference without any problems.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Prim. Your battle dress is done. Adjusting is also problem-free, so you can fight with it as is,” Marina announced.
“Yamato is still taking his time. He’s adjusting the magic silver armor, and he seems unaccustomed to it, so it can’t be helped,” Ed said.
Unaccustomed to wearing leather armor?
Marina thought Yamato’s level was ridiculously high, so he shouldn’t be unaccustomed to anything.
“It’s his father’s policy. Apparently, he can handle anyone with one hand, so mediocre armor is useless. Following his father’s policy, he’s never used armor,” Ed explained.
Wait a minute.
Yamato’s level was 57, strong enough to defeat a Catastrophe Species, the Black Fenrir, on his own.
If Yamato could be handled with one hand, how much of a monster was his father?
“A monster’s parent is a monster, I suppose. So, Prim’s equipment, including the Adjusting, is all fine?” Ed asked.
“No issues. The battle dress was originally Prim’s, so it was just minor adjustments to the gauntlets and greaves. Oh, it looks like Yamato is done too?”
“Talos is watching over him, so he’ll be fine. Grandfather, what about the weapons?” Richard asked.
“They’re ready. They’ve lost magic strength and shortened lifespan due to the forced modifications. And those two have already broken several weapons, so these are disposable,” Richard explained.
Disposable weapons made of magic silver and crystal silver? That was outrageously extravagant.
The previous morning, Yamato and Prim had requested the same weapons they had previously given them.
The reason was that the weapons they used for test cuts had broken almost immediately.
Marina was surprised when she saw the broken weapons, which were magic silver swords and spears that had become battered due to magic fatigue.
They had hunted a tremendous number of monsters, which was likely a contributing factor, but Marina hadn’t expected them to break several weapons in just one day.
They hadn’t intended for this to happen, but they claimed they wanted to save the Mithril Blades and Mithril Halberds for the Evil Drake subjugation. Seeing the condition of the weapons, Marina had no choice but to accept their explanation.
They had also looked incredibly apologetic, so Richard and Talos had put crystal silver into ten swords and ten spears each.
This was out of their own pockets, making it an unforeseen expense.
Mithril Swords and Mithril Spears were quite expensive.
“It can’t be helped,” Richard sighed sadly.
Richard didn’t seem happy. He crafted even the mass-produced items requested by the Crafter’s Guild with great care, and he wouldn’t have liked to see them used this way.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Richard. I don’t want to use them like this either…” Yamato said.
“Me neither. We can only use them like this because we don’t have proper weapons yet. We won’t use them this way once we get good weapons,” Prim added.
“That alone is enough,” Richard said, sounding pleased.
Richard seemed happy. These two were fundamentally different from the hunters currently at Feel.
Marina was a seamstress, not a blacksmith, but she had pride in her work as a Crafter.
She wanted to make something for them someday.
“By the way, about your weapons, is it okay if they are further strengthened and developed versions of the weapons I gave you the other day?” Richard inquired.
“Huh? No, aren’t those the rewards for defeating the Evil Drake? We haven’t even gone hunting yet, isn’t that a bit hasty?” Prim replied.
Marina thought that even if it wasn’t a reward, they could forge weapons for them anytime.
Ed and Talos intended to, and so did Marina.
Magic silver might be a bit unreliable, but any weapon they gave them would be more trustworthy than the ones they had given before. And they could use adamantine steel for the blades.
“Does that mean you’ll forge a core of adamantine steel and cover it with magic silver?” Yamato asked.
“Indeed. It will be heavier than making it purely of magic silver, but it will be stronger and harder than magic silver, and it will conduct magic as well as divine metal. I intend to use carefully selected adamantine steel and magic silver, so the lifespan will be longer,” Richard explained.
“I didn’t know such a technique existed…” Prim marveled.
Technically, it wasn’t a core, but a blade.
It was a cutting-edge technique where the blade, excluding the edge, was cast with magic silver covering it.
Richard had spent 30 years repeating trials and errors to finally perfect it.
This technique was recognized by the Crafter’s Guild, and Richard became one of the few A-rank Crafters.
It was an extremely difficult technique, and only Richard could use it yet.
“I see. In that case, are they trying this too?” Yamato asked.
“Trying what?” Marina questioned.
Marina wondered why Yamato looked thoughtful, while Prim was astonished by the new technology.
“I’m curious too,” Richard said.
“Me too. Yamato-kun, may I ask?” Ed added.
Not only Richard, but Ed and Talos were also showing interest. Marina was curious too.
Marina wondered if Yamato, who wasn’t a Crafter, had tried something.
“Has anyone ever tried mixing magic silver and adamantine steel?” Yamato inquired.
“…Yes?” Richard replied, surprised.
“…A metal mixture of adamantine steel and magic silver?”
Marina didn’t understand what Yamato was saying. Was he serious about mixing different metals?
That was impossible.
“…As expected, that’s not possible. Metals melt when heated, but bronze, magic silver, crystal silver, adamantine steel, and divine metal require magic in addition to heat. While bronze, magic silver, and crystal silver are manageable, adamantine steel is difficult to conduct magic through, and divine metal requires a large amount of magic. Even if it were possible, our magic power wouldn’t be enough,” Richard explained.
Marina understood.
While fire was essential for blacksmithing, and heated metal was shaped by hammering, melting it completely was unheard of.
Even when making ingots, they were merely heated to a certain extent.
In fact, magic silver, crystal silver, adamantine steel, and divine metal were all difficult to process and expensive, so no one would waste them.
Oh, bronze also required magic, but it didn’t need much and was easy to process, making it a good starting point for magic metals.
It was once called “spirit-bronze,” but due to its blue color, it eventually came to be called “bronze,” and that name became official.
“No, doesn’t it sound interesting? If adamantine steel is difficult to conduct magic, perhaps using crystal silver would work. It would certainly cost money, but I think it’s worth trying at least once,” Ed said.
Marina was shocked that Ed was the one who was motivated!
Where would they get the money for that?
“Magic silver, adamantine steel, and crystal silver. Ed, I’ll provide the funds, so would you try it? If it works, we might be able to create a metal with magic conductivity and weight comparable to magic silver, and strength and hardness comparable to adamantine steel,” Mr. Talos said.
“If that’s the case, I’ll contribute too. I’d love to use such a metal if it can be made,” Marina added.
This was too much!
If the Crafter’s Master found out, he would turn pale and faint.
Even though there was a magic silver mine nearby, they hadn’t received any new shipments recently, so the price had soared.
Furthermore, adamantine steel could only be mined in Labyrinths in Amister, so they would need to purchase it from Valentia, who owned the mine.
“It will certainly cost money, but I think it’s worth a try at least once. And this might sound selfish, but if Yamato and Prim are providing the funds, we won’t lose anything,” Talos said.
Marina agreed with Talos, but she wondered if it was worth spending time on something that would only end in failure.
It would be much better to forge weapons using Richard’s technique.
“No, I’m interested too. Ed, go ahead and try it,” Richard commanded.
“You got it! You never know unless you try!” Ed exclaimed, full of enthusiasm.
There was no stopping Ed now.
Marina sighed. She didn’t think it would work, but since Ed was so eager, she decided she would help as much as she could.
She remembered that the Crafter’s Guild had some adamantine steel in stock.
She would have to negotiate to buy some, though she couldn’t buy it all.
Also, since they couldn’t use the magic silver and crystal silver from their workshop, they would need to acquire those as well.
If they said it was for Yamato and Prim’s reward, the Crafter’s Guild probably wouldn’t object, but she would have to go immediately after tomorrow’s fishing trip.
