Seiun wo Kakeru Chapter 51

Chapter 51 – Mining (last part)

Returning back from Siena to the mining place, the sky continued to cover in dusk.

Pietro and the rest were probably doing their best.

Pietro, together with everyone else, was sitting in a circle while having completely exhausted faces.

Once they noticed Eiji’s return, Pietro was the first to stand up.
Putting a carefree smiling face, he welcomed Eiji back. The rest of the pupils too, stood up at once.

Ah, indeed, I received a lot of pupils.
Finally, Eiji could feel what it means to carry people under his arms.

As soon he stood in front of them, Eiji put down the luggage he was carrying.
What he brought were pickaxes different from the one Pietro was using a while ago.

– Welcome back, Master.

– Everyone was working their hardest during their first day. It’s just that Dante became worn out half-way.
– You idio–! Didn’t you watch me working? I probably dug the most out of all of you.

Being pointed out, Dante retorted firmly; however, his expression didn’t seem to display the same cheekiness as usual.

His arms that had the same size of a woman’s waist were probably digging out the whole time.
And saying that he dug the most wouldn’t be far from truth, or so Eiji thought.

Katharina looked similarly exhausted as well.

Despite Eiji roaming about, his body didn’t conduct much of physical labor.
In comparison with them, he was still considerably fit. Nevertheless, having the rest work in his stead made him feel a little bad.

– Well then, looks like everyone was doing their best. Still, I’m going to ask you: are your bodies tired?

– I guess you could say I’m fine, but tomorrow, I’ll surely be able to work more than today.

– I see. Good to hear that. Then, let’s resume the work once more.

At Eiji’s words everyone, including Pietro, became surprised.

And then, Katharina showed a bit of a displeased face.

The fact that his emotions didn’t explode was proof the he matured within this single day.
In order to clear the misunderstanding which had probably occurred, Eiji lifted up both of his hands while trying to hold back the inquiring voices that were about to happen.

– Despite saying so, I don’t plan to have you work for a long time. As a reward for all your effort, I’m going to tell the most important thing which I mentioned this morning.

Eiji held the pickaxe in his hands.

Eiji borrowed them from the farmers doing their work, back when he returned to the village.
They possessed size, shape, and various attributes.

Everyone, apart from Pietro, took the pickaxe shown by Eiji to their hands while being immensely curious about them.

At first, they would check in turn the pickaxe between them, but after a while, each of them chose their own pickaxe that naturally matched their physique.
Once Katharina picked the L-shaped one, she asked Eiji.

– Is this….?

– Perhaps so, but is this the iron that you mentioned?

– …..Hmph, you could say so from the beginning. So confusing.

Despite Dante speaking bitterly, his expression was that of a child that was given a new toy.

His manner of walking looked as if his feet were dancing buoyantly.

Katharina and the three other guys followed him as though they were unable to bear the fact of being left behind.
Pietro, who had already witnessed the properties of the iron pickaxe, drew closer to Eiji’s side.

– Master too, is mean, Aren’t you?

– Because if everyone was to get this motivated you could have lent us these pickaxes from the beginning? Were you to do so, wouldn’t we have been able to work more efficiently-su?

– Is that so? I’m happy to be the who was allowed to touch a fine tool from the beginning, but-su….

– Uff, that was an unnecessary trouble I brought upon myself.

– Please give me a break.

I’m beat – Such words were seen on Pietro’s face. Seeing that, Eiji thought that, indeed, he’s still a child.
Nevertheless, it looked like he had done a good job as the senior apprentice by consolidating everyone.

Even the fact that he shouldn’t underestimate Pietro was enough to make Eiji feel admiration for his considerable work.

– Well then, should we go and check their reaction?

– I guess  so.

A scene that Eiji predicted unfolded before his eyes.

It seems that whenever a person enjoys something, they will temporary forget about any exhaustion.

More than a surprise, a smile appeared on their faces.

– Hey hey, even though it felt hard before, isn’t the job progressing smoothly? Just what’s this?!

– Amazing.

– I’m glad that I came here without opposing Franko. So this was made by the person that’s our Master? I’m happy to have met the right person.

Each person’s impression was different, still, their amazement by the pickaxe’s flexibility was all the same.

Unlike casting, an iron that is the object of forging can change its hardness depending on its position.
For that reason, the tip of the pickaxe was strengthened so as to allow a more powerful excavation. The core part was made considerably soft, and small adjustments were added in order to lower the impact.

Because Dante looked overenthusiastic about digging, Eiji decided to ask Katharina more about her impression.

– How is it?

– That’s right.

– Is there anything else you noticed?

– That’s because we were able to replace the tip which allows you to perform round movements. I folded the the steel around it like putting a skin on it. In my hometown there were few people who could do that, but well…[1]

In Japan nowadays, all the pickaxes are made solely from steel.

Since the amount of time that is required to cover the steel with ferrite doesn’t pay off, as long there are no hackneyed blacksmiths, no one will probably bother to do that.

– What’s more, isn’t my pickaxe alone different in shape from the rest?

– How did you know that?

– Ha– seems like there are lots of things I don’t know yet.

– It will become good knowledge for me.
– Yes. It should be fine if you try the other pickaxes without continuing to work.

Katharina exchanged her pickaxe with the T-shaped one and swung again.

This girl will probably become a fine blacksmith if she continues like this.

– Dante, how was it?

– Is that so? Well then, can I have you continue til tomorrow morning?

– Calm down, I was joking. Then, what’s your impression?

– Dante….

A weapon?
The fact this topic turned up first in his opinion was honestly painful.

The very reason why Eiji let them use a pickaxe was because he wanted them to hold an affection toward using the tools as a mean to improve one’s life instead of just tempering their body that is needed for forging.

To think that a weapon could extend beyond its own use.

However, there was nothing wrong with having such way of thinking.
There’s no doubt that the development of smithing skills was closely related to weapons.

If one checks the history of Japan, one could say without hesitation that a blacksmith, who was considered one of the most prominent of people, was at the same time a swordsmith.

Still, Eiji didn’t want to casually make weapons that can take away one’s life. Therefore, he didn’t want his disciples to follow that route as well.

It would be nice if Dante too, could think that way someday. – Is what Eiji had in his mind.

Dante seemed to be pondering about something as well, as he didn’t utter anything.
Once Eiji turned silent, Dante resumed his work again with lively movements.

After each of them had frequently exchanged pickaxes and their impressions, the work was concluded.
So as not let them become rusty, they cleaned the pickaxes from mud and leaned them against the wall.

Seeing his disciples that finished tidying up, Eiji spoke to them in a serious manner so as to convey his thoughts, even if it was just a little.

– Thank you for your hard work today, everyone. I can imagine that it must have been difficult for you since it’s not the kind of job you’re used to, and you probably had gone through many inconveniences. In the end, making tools is divided further into two categories. The first one is when you want to create a new item using something that is already efficient. It’s called ‘originality’. The second one is about wanting to add improvements, and is called ‘figuring out’. We don’t know what kind of a blacksmith you’ll become in the future, but you mustn’t forget about today’s inconvenience, which is what everyone usually goes through. I want you to remember and treasure this experience from now on.

Hearing Eiji’s words that were brought to a finish, Pietro and Katharina seemed to be greatly impressed.

Dante probably thought about something.
Holding the pickaxe silently, He stared at its tip.

Making tools is about bringing more convenience to certain people and making them happy.

The reason why Eiji deliberately made them use the bronze-made tools and feel the severity of physical labor was because he wanted them to learn about those hardships.

Someday in the future, when they become strong enough to stand on their own, these disciples will probably grow to understand the meaning behind Eiji’s words.

That alone as well, was a great success for this time’s event, or so Eiji thought.

Translator and reference notes:

[1]: not 100% sure about this part.

Chapter end