You say this is a love game?

"What if an exorcist comes to our house?"

"...Kneel down and beg for mercy."

I understand. You said begging for mercy, but you will dare to do it again next time, right?

Mizutani Makoto rubbed his brow and changed the subject: "Then this swordsmith in front of me...does he do the same thing?"

"Him? About the same."

"He had just arrived at Night Light City a few years ago and was so happy when he found this house because the previous owner who lived here seemed to have a habit of forging iron and had left a set of ironwork equipment in the yard... He fell in love with the place immediately. Then, as luck would have it, the old owner passed away, and the house became vacant, so he moved directly into the basement to live."

"But lately, the swordsmith has something else troubling him. The new owner of that house is planning to sell it... The swordsmith is reluctant to move out, so he's been making a fuss in the basement lately, pretending it's a haunted house, and scaring off a lot of people."

When talking about the things he was good at, Wow Yao immediately started talking nonstop as if he had opened a box of conversation.

"..."

Mizutani Makoto was the only one who didn't say a word.

Looking at Wow Yao's proud expression, he felt even more complicated.

The monsters do have a pretty sound logic for survival.

With a secret sigh, Mizutani Makoto followed Wow Yao into the house.

This is an ordinary single-family building.

Makoto Mizutani and Yoshiko Satori examined the house with critical eyes and found that the house was quite good. The interior decoration was warm and practical, and the furniture was very complete. Apart from the fact that the monster living there was so focused on blacksmithing that he had no time to take care of housework, so there was a lot of dust on the furniture and floor, there were no special flaws.

Direct access to the basement.

Walking up the stairs in the basement, Mizutani Makoto suddenly heard a familiar commentary voice.

"…Forged from three twisted hammers of 1095 high-carbon steel and 80crv2 high-carbon steel. The handle is made of walnut and riveted. It has also been subjected to dynamic killing tests by Dog Brother."

"A nest of Q~"

Mizutani Makoto: "?"

After realizing what kind of video he had listened to, Mizutani Makoto's mouth corners seemed to be unable to hold back.

"What the hell is this sword-forging competition!"

Under Satori Yoshiko's puzzled gaze, the boy's pace suddenly quickened a lot, and he had walked up the stairs in just a few seconds.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, an extremely dull nasal sound was heard in the air.

Yoshiko Satori quickly caught up.

The basement was quite spacious, with some miscellaneous items piled up inside. The most conspicuous thing was a huge bed, and there were many strange-shaped swords leaning against the edge of the wall.

In the field of vision, there was a small giant about two meters tall.

His appearance is characterized by one eye and one leg, and he looks like a human. His arms are extremely slender like an ape, and his upper body is covered with thick hair. His strong muscles bulge, making him look like a one-legged gorilla.

And now the little giant was holding a hammer and looking at the young man in front of him.

"A bellows."

Mizutani Makoto read out the monster's name.

Bellows refer to the bellows installed on both sides of the earthen furnace used for iron smelting in ancient Japan. This iron smelting technology was later eliminated due to its low production efficiency. Now this bellows equipment can only be seen in some science popularization places.

"Ippondo" is a legendary monster.

According to legend, in Wakayama Prefecture and nearby areas in southern Mie Prefecture, Japan, people sometimes see some large footprints more than 30 centimeters wide in the snow, but those are not footprints left by two feet, but by a huge single foot. These are the traces left by the monster "Ippontazu".

People imagine it as a one-eyed, one-legged monster, similar to a snow monster. This is also the setting that the Japanese people prefer to use - people generally believe that monsters or mountain gods living in the mountains are one-eyed and one-legged, and Ippon Taro is no exception.

The changes in a Tailing Legend are also quite complicated.

For example, the Ippon Taro in Homomine, Nara Prefecture, is a variant of the Ippon Taro in this area. It looks like a telephone pole with eyes and a nose. It somersaults in the snow, leaving a long string of footprints of a one-legged telephone pole. The date of the appearance of this monster is set at December 20th. According to legend, if people enter the mountains on this day, they will encounter this strange monster.

At the same time, people in the area would call the one-legged monster transformed from the giant wild boar's soul "a one-legged monster".

The "Ippon Taro" in the area of ​​today's Honda Border City has become a close relative of Kappa and Yamado, and has directly transformed from a snow monster into a monster that likes to wrestle with humans.

Of course, the most abstract Sakamoto... is that some people believe that this monster is the image of the forging god "Tianmu Ichishen" after he fell into poverty.

Tianmu is a god.

This god, whose name is somewhat abstract, is also known as "Ichimokuren". He is the son of Tianjin Hikone God and the grandson of Amaterasu Omikami. His powers include the gods of wind, mountains and blacksmiths. In folk legends, he is famous for causing storms, and there are even legends that he can quell floods and save the people.

You said that even if a third-generation god fell into such a miserable state, he would never become as miserable as Yiben Ta'e.

This can only be said to be an association derived from the word "踏鞴".

Now, the Ippen Taling in front of Mizutani Makoto is the most authentic mountain monster Ippen Taling. It jumped in front of Mizutani Makoto on one foot, holding an iron hammer, and bent its upper body. Its huge single eye stared straight at Mizutani Makoto.

"Are you the Lord Mizutani who is described by Wa as having wisdom that shines like the sun and kindness that is as warm and amiable as the warm sun?"

Hearing this, Mizutani Makoto subconsciously turned his head and glanced at his loyal minister.

As expected, the Wow Demon was looking at him expectantly, and the reverence in the Toad Spirit's eyes didn't seem fake.

...How can you blame it?

It's just a true fan of Mr. Mizutani.

"You spoke very well this time, but you can be more humble to the outside world in the future."

"Wow!"

Mizutani Makoto turned around and took a deep breath: "Just call me Mizutani."

The Ippon Taro in front of him was a very powerful monster.

His Buddha head bead had no reaction, proving that Yiben Taling was not at the Paper Rank. At the same time, this swordsmith gave him a vague sense of crisis. He had a powerful aura, but was not as strong as Tang Shizi back then. He guessed that he should be at the middle or upper rank, and was an extremely rare and powerful monster.

Such a monster is actually a good citizen?

The double buff of being a nerd and a blacksmith can reduce the danger of a bellows to the lowest level.

"Well, it's okay... Your spiritual power is pretty good too, you've reached the rank. Those paper-rank guys, whether they're monsters or exorcists, are all incredibly poor, and there's really no money to be made from them."

Yiben Taling said this and couldn't help but cast a curious look at him.

"Wow, you've already told me you're looking for a craftsman who can forge swords, right? I happen to have some blacksmithing skills and am quite good at it... Whether it's forging a new weapon, forging and strengthening an existing one, or even smelting and reforging it, as long as the materials you provide are up to standard, I can help you complete it... but there will be a small fee."

"By the way, Wow said you can use souls as payment. I've never seen anyone trading souls before. Can you show me?"

Mizutani Makoto nodded and showed the [Weak Soul] in his backpack.

"Oh, a rare one... Usually, souls like this only form inside cracks, right? Are there more souls?"

It was not until Mizutani Makoto took out the [Ordinary Soul] that the swordsmith finally showed an expression of amazement.

"That's no problem."

[The swordsmith Ippondar will provide you with weapon forging services.]

1. Stores

[2. Forging weapons]

【3. Weapon Enhancement】

【4. Weapon Repair】

[Five, a dream of a horse pattern on a bellows (?)]

To forge a weapon, Yiben Taling would charge him 5000 souls as a labor fee each time.

Weapon enhancement services are divided into two categories: "Weapon Enhancement" which provides forging stones, and "Weapon Quality Change" which provides materials, both priced at 500 souls.

Weapon recasting is counted as weapon forging and the price is the same as 5000.

The strengthening materials during this period are provided by Mizutani Makoto himself, and his business scope covers all the weapons in the mortal world. He can even strengthen some legendary swords.

However, some special weapons are not included in this category...

Seeing Mizutani Makoto's curiosity, he explained, "Don't you have one with you? I wonder which god bestowed it upon you... I can't forge weapons like these. If you still don't understand, let me simply say that I don't have the ability to forge certain weapons related to the Fierce and Berserker ranks."

Mizutani Makoto touched the [Senko Guri] on his wrist. He had never used this equipment since he got it, so he almost forgot about the bow.

only--

"What is a Dama Pattern Dream?"

Makoto Mizutani's black question mark face.

"Haven't you heard?"

Speaking of this topic, Yiben Taling suddenly became interested: "Among human sword-forging techniques, there is a metal called Damascus steel. Weapons forged from it have exceptionally exquisite patterns."

Mizutani Makoto: "I've heard of it, but Damascus steel shouldn't be that hard to make, right? It's essentially just a stack of metals. If you want to try, you should be able to make it even with simple equipment."

Unexpectedly, Yiben Tiaoling shook his finger and said, "I don't want Damascus steel."

"what?"

"Human Damascus steel, even if forged into weapons, is too fragile for me... I'm a swordsmith, forging weapons for life-or-death combat. How can such a weak metal be forged into a sharp blade? I don't need Damascus steel. I simply imagine studying the techniques, trying to make the weapons I forge possess exquisite, naturally formed patterns."

A Taliang, just want to forge those handsome swords with gorgeous patterns.

"?"

Don’t want Damascus steel, but still want Damascus pattern?

Would you like to guess why this pattern is called "Malaysian pattern"?

Mizutani Makoto held his forehead, but unexpectedly a task pop-up window popped up in front of him.

【Side Quest: Uncle's Troubles】

[Quest Description: This is my uncle, once a talented young man in the village, now an elderly dream chaser living in the old blacksmith shop. Do you hear that? The sound of hammering always rings out at four in the morning - that's my uncle hammering out the dream he had as a boy thirty years ago~]

[Task requirements: Realize the dream of a Damascus pattern on a pedal bellows]

Tongzi, what are you doing naughty again?

Mizutani Makoto felt speechless and rubbed his head helplessly, but he accepted the task without refusing it.

It's just barely acceptable. It's true that he hasn't triggered Tongzi's new task for a long time.

Mizutani Makoto then asked, "Do you offer armor forging services?"

Ippon Taro: "...I am a swordsmith."

Forging armor and forging swords are two different things!

You want to buy armor from the swordsmith?

Do you think he is an old woman? He is a professional who sells you all kinds of cosplay clothes?

At this point, Mizutani Makoto also understood the scope of service of Ippeng Tadashi. He took out four [Small Forging Stones] from his pocket and handed them to Ippeng Tadashi, who was immediately surprised.

"Forging stone of such high purity, brother, do you even have something like this?"

"Is it okay?"

"Of course, but you have to think about what kind of weapon you're going to forge this thing with... Honestly, I feel like both of your katanas are pretty weak. Not to mention the low upper limit for forging, even if you forge them to the highest level, they're just two ordinary katanas. They'll probably break if you try to cut through iron."

This is the "capacity" of weapons.

Mizutani Makoto pondered for a moment, then took out the [Sword Demon's Nodachi]

"What about this knife?"

"This sword is passable, keeping up with the standard of my forged weapons. But I noticed that you first took out the twin swords. You seem to be an expert swordsman, but now you want to strengthen the Ōdachi?"

"So what do you mean?"

At this moment, Yiben Taling smiled cheerfully: "Brother, why don't you come to me to buy a katana?"

"It just so happens that I forged a batch of weapons when I was itching to do it. Would you like to take a look, young man?"

【Liaoyuan Sword】:10000.

【Shimizu Tachi】:8000.

[Flying Winged Naginata]: 8000.

[Tiandao Onaginata]: 15000.

【Crescent Moon Sword】: 30000.