Chapter 24
1.
I scurried across the dark garden toward the workshop.
The door closed, and.
Doloris’s socks were clutched in my hand.
To make things easier to describe, I’ll keep calling them socks.
But you can think of them as sock liners worn inside footwear, or something like that.
They were unquestionably a type of equipment.
“…They are cold.”
Tmir’s Frozen Footing.
Even as I held them, a cold energy slowly seeped out.
They seemed like good equipment in many ways.
Both in appearance and performance.
The surface was made of blue mesh, with ice crystals densely embedded across it like jewels.
When the moonlight shone on them.
- Sparkle.
Each crystal reflected the light at a different angle.
“…Insane.”
I had sensed that they were extraordinary….
But I hadn’t expected craftsmanship of this quality. The outside was covered in ice-like gemstones, making it rough to the touch, but.
The inside was… smooth as velvet.
They had been crafted to handle cold while still wrapping comfortably around the feet.
Equipment that achieved function, aesthetics, and wearability all at once.
Equipment to replace this.
I had to make it starting now.
To objectively reflect on my previous work.
The replacement equipment I had made for Gorgon’s White Gauntlet, the ‘Apprentice Blacksmith’s Warming Gloves,’ had been the result of a great deal of luck.
There had been relatively little to worry about, and the process had been simple.
That’s what I mean in retrospect. I’m not saying I couldn’t make them.
But from now on, things would be different.
I had to excel in every field and every process.
I wasn’t going to expect to finish it in one go.
“First….”
I began the process I had first thought of.
I wanted to make warming socks, in the same vein as the warming gloves.
This was a test of whether I could ‘make them warm just like last time.’
The Sun Dwarf novice tailoring list contained quite a lot of techniques.
The warming gloves were one of them, and the warming socks were as well.
This time too.
“Start with tanning.”
Earlier today, thinking of her socks, I had soaked the leather in water steeped with oak leaves.
I had left it outside and dried it as well.
I brought the dried leather in from outside. It was fluffy and in good condition.
Even if it looked like I had recklessly dashed out in the middle of the night, I hadn’t been unprepared.
The difference between the glove and shoe processes wasn’t particularly significant.
Take a pattern, cut it, and sew it.
The cutting and sewing processes didn’t require any special tricks so much as….
“They’re straightforward, aren’t they?”
They were simple. The more you did them, the better you became.
Just like studying.
So I had expected this to be easier than last time, but.
“Ah, what is this?”
Was the problem that I had underestimated the fact that feet were larger than hands?
The structure and size were both more complex, so although my skill had improved, it took more time.
“…If socks are this difficult, how am I supposed to make underwear?”
Underwear would probably have far more clothing-related detail.
But that was a story for later.
- Slide….
On the other hand, I didn’t prick my fingers this time.
That was what made them straightforward. Last time, I had pricked my fingers a ridiculous number of times.
It meant I was improving.
- Slide….
- Snip.
- Chop.
Before I knew it, I had completed one fairly neat sock.
“……”
The completed sock.
It looked like a black sock liner.
“Huh….”
There were a lot of things I wanted to say for now, but.
It wasn’t finished yet, so I held my tongue.
I looked outside for the final process.
“What the hell?”
I had thought there was still plenty of time left.
But dawn was slowly breaking.
“How many hours has it been?”
[Six hours….]
Considering the gloves had taken eight hours last time….
I really had improved.
“Good.”
I took the completed sock and went outside.
The sky just before dawn.
Beneath it, where pale navy and gray blended together, I held the sock up in both hands.
The sun was rising slowly beyond the estate’s walls.
- Swoosh….
How much time passed?
I could feel my hands, which were supporting the sock, gradually growing warm.
Across the leather’s surface, the Apprentice’s emblem slowly began to appear.
An engraving mixed with gray spread across the black leather.
- Sizzle….
The emblem was completed as it greeted the rising sun.
Clutching the sock liner, I went back into the workshop.
It was certain now.
This was an embarrassing thing to call a sock.
After entering the workshop, I immediately squeezed Doloris’s sock (not really) tightly in my hand.
It was the same one she had worn until this morning.
[……?]
And then.
- Knead, knead….
I kept kneading it with my eyes closed.
“It’s definitely soft.”
[…Pervert]
It’s not like that.
Then I touched the sock liner I had just made again.
“This one’s stiff. As expected.”
That was how it felt to me.
To check the result, I imagined Doloris in my mind.
Her status window appeared, with several slots blocked off.
But now, two slots were open.
The sock liner and the gloves. The sock liner slot over the footwear slot was currently empty.
Then I picked up the newly made sock liner.
The newly completed Lionel MK.2 Warming Sock Liner was, of course….
─────────────────
[Apprentice Blacksmith’s Warming Sock Liner][★☆☆☆☆]
[Unique Equipment][Compatibility][- /40]
─────────────────
『If socks are this difficult, how am I supposed to make underwear?』
- Apprentice Blacksmith L-
─────────────────
Ah, fuck.
“Agh, seriously.”
I got tricked again. Seriously.
Wow.
I can’t think about anything while making this.
I’ve become a potential underwear maker now.
…I’m not denying it.
I’ll have to do it someday. Yeah, yeah.
“……”
Apparently, to see what it was really like, I had to take it to a high-ranking appraiser.
For now, I might as well check it.
[Replace?]
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly hopeful at this point, but.
The interface soon opened.
─────────────────
[Apprentice Blacksmith’s Warming Sock Liner][★☆☆☆☆]
[Unique Equipment][Compatibility][13 / 40]
─────────────────
[The warming effect of the Sun Inscription slightly suppresses the wearer’s amplified yin energy.]
[However, the innate grade, material, and appearance do not match the wearer’s own grade.]
[The material’s strength also does not suit the wearer’s physical characteristics.]
[The wearer’s charm is diminished.]
─────────────────
The compatibility had naturally increased.
But at the same time, the feedback was quite sharp.
It would be fair to say that I could feel how disappointed it was. In truth, I felt the same way.
Or perhaps I should say that it confirmed the things I had unconsciously guessed.
Let’s look at them one by one.
The first line of the assessment was good.
The problem began with the second line, and it was possible to question the grade and material.
‘Wait, the gloves were made of the same material, and they didn’t say anything about them.’
That wasn’t it.
What I felt when I saw Tmir’s Frozen Footing was that everything was relative.
The difference in the high-end ceiling created by putting effort into the design.
Doloris’s Gorgon’s gloves and my gloves weren’t very different in appearance.
Adding a little bias, mine were actually somewhat more refined and stylish.
But when I looked at Tmir’s Footing… its material and level of craftsmanship were overwhelmingly superior.
The appearance went without saying. That sock was pretty enough to wear on your head and walk around in.
That doesn’t mean I wanted to wear it.
‘Maybe it means they don’t match because there’s such a difference in their upper limits.’
‘It should naturally be better than the equipment currently being worn,’ but it also had to suit the wearer’s own grade.
I was currently replacing equipment relatively.
So it had to be superior in most respects.
Next.
The third line: it didn’t suit the wearer’s physical characteristics.
I thought I understood this one too.
I crushed the sock liner in my hand.
- Creak.
It was quite stiff. Wrapping leather around something cylindrical had made it quite thick as well.
Doloris had slender ankles.
Unless someone had a sturdy build like Eric’s, it would be difficult to wear. Simply put, it would be uncomfortable.
Even more so for walking around the house.
And finally.
‘The wearer’s charm is diminished.’
“I admit it.”
I nodded and gave it a standing ovation.
- Clap, clap, clap.
[……?]
Its charm really was diminished.
The thing that had kept bothering me throughout the entire process was precisely this.
I lifted Tmir’s Frozen Footing.
The core feature of Tmir’s Frozen Footing was that you could see what lay beyond it.
If we compared it to stockings, it would be around 10 to 15 denier.
A style where everything underneath could be seen through transparently.
In other words, sheer.
These SEE-THROUGH socks showed almost all of Doloris’s pretty, dainty, long, straight feet without filtering anything out.
With just a little lighting, it would be the icing on the cake. SHIT.
But this clunky-looking sock liner covered all of that up.
“No, no.”
That absolutely wouldn’t do.
This was the most serious problem.
Doloris was planning to walk around the estate wearing this sock liner.
It had to be semi-transparent. That was the right answer.
The discomfort that had lingered the entire time eased considerably.
“Phew….”
[Pervertpervertpervertpervert]
[Die… no, that’s not it]
[Anyway, how about holding your breath for real ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Ignoring Yuna, I placed the sock liner on the bedside table.
“What kind of pervert do you take me for?”
[Anyone who happened to see a picture of a woman wearing stockings, then turned Yuna off while nervously looking around for fifteen minutes, knows what Oppa did: ㄱ- ☠️☠️☠️]
No, how did she know that…?
I definitely turned her off properly….
I ignored Yuna’s words with the most detached expression I could manage.
So.
“Overall, it would be difficult to replace it.”
It might work temporarily, but it failed as a permanent replacement.
That was my conclusion.
“I wasted six hours.”
I said it calmly and nodded.
[But why are you smiling…?]
Did I smile?
I might have.
Actually, I was very happy right now.
Even while pursuing my doctorate… and in everyday life as well, I suppose.
I didn’t like things working smoothly and succeeding on the first try.
This was my personal conviction, but.
I believed that results like that always contained an element of luck.
In other words, there was room for a fluke to play a part. You couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was an irreproducible success.
That was why I loved appropriate failures like this.
Why?
They presented a landmark showing me where to move forward.
Because I had failed, there was a mountain of things to learn.
How could anyone dislike a failure that showed all the places where it could be improved?
I could produce a better result, couldn’t I?
Without a fluke, with my own hands.
Besides.
There were no failures in this world that kindly explained themselves with three or four lines of feedback.
Even my professors had never gone that far.
“It saves me the time of figuring out why I failed?”
That was something to be grateful for.
If I really was a pervert.
It wouldn’t be in the field of eight-denier sheer stockings and feet.
It would be in this very area.
“I need to work on the material.”
It seemed there was a limit to our spotted-cow leather.
Just then.
I noticed the sack of ore Doloris had brought, sitting in one corner of the workshop.
I had been too distracted by making stockings… no, sock liners to pay attention to it.
I headed over.
There were several kinds of ore in their raw form.
Then.
“……?”
A sheet of paper had been tucked in there.
It was written in Korean. How fascinating.
[Lionel! The list below is a list of raw ores!]
[Iron Ore x4]
[Copper Ore x3]
[Flame Ore x5]
[White Ore x2]
[Obsidian x6]
[Ice Crystal Ore x1 (This is a fairly valuable ore, so I only brought one for now. Tell me if you need more!)]
And so on.
There was an enormous amount. Doloris’s kindness truly reached the heavens.
“……”
Looking at them, it seemed that Tmir’s Footing had gemstones worked into it as well.
To match it….
“There are a lot of gemstones too, right?”
[I’ll search for a moment.]
Yuna searched.
[There are a lot of ores, but there are quite a few rough gemstones too.]
[A lot of them are expensive.]
Really?
She really did have high expectations of me.
Then I would do it too.
Let’s surpass Tmir for once.
But if there was a problem, it was that although I had greatly raised my theoretical grade in metallurgy.
Gemstone cutting.
Naturally, I was hopeless at this field.
I hadn’t even read the theory yet.
Apparently, the gemstones of this world contained a power called mana.
So simply cutting them wasn’t considered craftsmanship; they also had to undergo strict procedures.
The dwarves seemed to focus more on ore and metallurgy than gemstones.
That was probably why the fairy folk were famous in this field.
“…Can I do it too?”
It wasn’t as if I had never opened the fairy folk’s documents.
I had read their leather-softening method before.
“……”
I was getting a little sleepy now that I had relaxed.
But what would happen if the Sun Dwarves’ equipment-making methods and the fairy folk’s gemstone cutting were combined?
“Wouldn’t I be the first?”
Equipment combining only those two strengths.
That curiosity kept me awake.
[🔑] An Introductory Guide to Fairy Equipment Making.
Let’s read just a little and go to sleep.
I opened the equipment-making guide to the exact section on gemstone cutting, and.
“…Gemstone cutting begins with physical labor…?”
I was already feeling uneasy from the very first line.
No, surely not. The fairy folk who had discovered ways to polish leather easily and efficiently.
I trusted them.
Then, at that moment.
- Ding!
Something appeared before my eyes.
【A message has arrived!】
【A message has arrived!】
Huh?
A message?
[Uh, huh?]
Yuna was flustered.
One thing I had learned in life was that Yuna didn’t get flustered very often.
And when she did, rather than recklessly charging ahead as a mere human, I should.
“……”
I should maintain my position and wait for my first-rate AI little sister to finish making her judgment.
[Oppa, wait a moment?]
Where had the message arrived from?
And not long afterward.
Yuna’s razor-sharp briefing began.
[All right, I’ve got it sorted out.]
I knew I could count on you!!!
[First, the message did arrive on your end, Oppa.]
[They probably identified the user through the log of who had accessed the document, then sent it.]
[The Sun Dwarf documents and the other documents didn’t have any kind of logging mechanism.]
That made sense.
I had been going in and out of the Sun Dwarf documents like my own bedroom, yet there had been no response.
[But the fairy folk must really, absolutely have wanted to catch whoever read it. It looks like they embedded a security mechanism in the document itself.]
I see.
[But that’s as far as it goes.]
[All they can do is identify the unknown user and send a system-generated message.]
[That’s all.]
[They can probably use the messenger function to distinguish whether you’re inside or outside the Tower.]
[Backtracking is impossible.]
So they could only send a DM within the limits of what the Tower’s system allowed.
“Then the conclusion is….”
[It means you can read it.]
I nodded.
My mind relaxed in an instant.
I lifted the corners of my mouth and was about to open the message.
But then.
[Wait, wait! Oppa, hold on a second?]
[Things you must never do in a DM]
[1. Expose Oppa’s identity]
[2. Reveal your address]
[3. Act cocky by saying, ‘I’m the maker of the +20 gloves.’]
[Got it?]
Yeah, I got it.
She was treating me like a baby.
I wasn’t that bad.
[……. ]
“Ahem.”
I opened the DM window with an excited heart, and.
【WhereDidYouGoChildOfTheForestPleaseComeBack】: Hello? I’m Erien, the Grand Chieftain of the Great Forest of the fairy folk.
【‘WhereDidYouGoChildOfTheForestPleaseComeBack’ changed their nickname to ‘Grand Chieftain of the Great Forest, Erien’】
【Grand Chieftain of the Great Forest, Erien】: Do you need my help?
There.
“……”
[……?]
A rather desperate-looking.
DM had arrived.
And the moment I read the message.
【Grand Chieftain of the Great Forest, Erien】: Ah!! You read it!
【Grand Chieftain of the Great Forest, Erien】: Child of the Future Forest! Where do you currently live?
The census began immediately.
The census began immediately.