Chapter 43
1.
Good news.
Of course, the source is me, Lionel.
I think there are about three of them.
The first is that a good idea came to me.
I’m going to ask the Imperial Princess for a top-grade smelting furnace as payment for the earrings.
At minimum, I’m going to ask for an ultra-high-temperature smelting furnace.
I’ve been putting myself through this misery for weeks because I don’t have a smelting furnace.
I have to wring one out of her somehow. It’d be seriously unfair to just hand this over.
The second is.
As I continued working, I ended up examining the Imperial Princess’s face for a very long time.
To cut to the conclusion, the Imperial Princess had a beautiful neckline and distinct features.
If a marriage agency were evaluating her looks, I had the feeling they’d say she had distinct features, very fair skin, and a well-groomed appearance.
Top-tier.
…Actually, she is older than me in this world, but she’s still young, so I didn’t evaluate her appearance beyond that.
I didn’t have any particular thoughts about it, either.
From the beginning, it had been purely research into ‘What would suit her?’ so there weren’t any ulterior motives involved.
If only I could see Gaia’s face.
It was just unfortunate that I had no way to use it as a reference.
If one wanted to see a god’s face, the fastest method for a human seemed to be achieving excellent results while climbing.
The third is.
“Say my name.”
[Match rate 97.7%]
I had done it again.
At the time when I was making absolutely no progress.
The moment I discovered a tiny mole on the left side of the Imperial Princess’s neck, right beneath her ear.
“Oh!”
Something opened its eyes.
[……….]
I finally did it.
I think it was around the third week.
This is seriously fucking hard.
Gaia, you’d better brace yourself.
“I’ll make it so you won’t even remember those other shoddy divine artifacts.”
From now on, you’ll be waiting, looking only at me.
In the end, I completed the white-iron earring frames, along with the Ochre Essence frames that would support the gems inside them.
All that remained was to carve the green jade properly and place it inside.
Gem cutting itself was far easier than what I had just done.
As for setting the gems, my experience was practically nonexistent, but.
At least, fuck, it was within the realm of human ability.
Now, there are three stages to it.
The first is cutting.
The stage where you cut the rough stone and roughly establish its shape.
I raised the green jade above my head and held it up to the light.
As expected, there was a hairline crack visible inside. Since gems have grain, you have to inspect their internal condition carefully.
They say that if you touch it without seeing this, it simply splits clean in half.
Avoiding this grain and placing the chisel in a safe spot before striking it lightly with a hammer—that was the basic cutting technique of the elves’ gemcraft.
Precisely avoiding the grain, setting the chisel in a safe spot, and with a hammer, lightly….
- Tap.
- Crack.
With a clean sound, the green jade split to the desired size.
“Now, then.”
The second is polishing.
You shave down the gemstone, but this is a little tiring.
Even the slightest deviation in angle tends to trap the light inside instead of letting it behave properly.
There are usually two methods: the facet cut, which creates an angular gemstone by sharpening its facets.
Or the cabochon cut, which grinds it down smoothly into a dome.
There was nothing to think about.
Gaia had a rounder, softer feel rather than an angular one.
- Scritch, scritch….
I ground the surface of the green jade into a round, domed shape.
Normally, that would be the end.
But the elves had a secret technique.
I turned over the ground green jade, and on its back.
- Scritch, scritch.
I carved a grid of facets so tiny they were invisible to the naked eye.
This was the essence of elven craftsmanship.
The front was a dome, but the back had minute grids that received light and reflected it back from within.
“If I do this….”
The green jade looked as though it were softly glowing on its own.
Because it was reflecting the light wildly from within.
The final stage was polishing, giving it a shine, but that wasn’t particularly difficult.
I slowly rubbed the surface of the green jade with a cloth, and.
How much time passed?
- Sparkle.
The green jade gradually cleared and became transparent.
“…Oh.”
It really is a fine gemstone.
I nodded in satisfaction and.
I brought the finished green jade over to the frame.
First, I slightly widened the Ochre Essence rim that would embrace the green jade.
If I applied any more force here, the painstaking work I had done would be ruined.
‘Careful….’
- Tap.
I pushed the green jade through the opened gap.
Then I closed the loosened Ochre Essence back up, clamping the green jade firmly in place.
- Click.
With a satisfying sound, the green jade locked into place.
The seed had found its own patch of soil.
One earring complete.
I finished the remaining earring the same way.
- Click.
And so.
The pair lay side by side on a blue cushion.
A beautifully crafted pair of white-iron earrings.
I’d never been interested in earrings in my previous life, but honestly, I was confident the ones I made were a little prettier.
Finally, I picked up a cloth and polished the two earrings one after the other.
Just as I gave them their final polish.
- Diiing.
─────────────────
[Cradle of Earth][★★☆☆☆]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility][- / 60]
─────────────────
[Divine Artifact] [Target God: None]
[Blessing][None]
─────────────────
I chose the soil and laid its sprout within.
These hands had thought of only one person throughout their making.
An ode to that warm, cozy earth—
silent when trampled, opening its embrace when dug intoㅡ
─────────────────
『I’ll make it so you won’t even remember those other shoddy accessories.』
- Certified Blacksmith L -
─────────────────
“Oh, fuck.”
This is an emergency.
A state of emergency.
If there was one thing I had keenly realized while making equipment all this time.
It was that this Origin Script was utterly beyond my control.
How was I supposed to control every word I said at every moment while making equipment throughout the entire process?
It wasn’t as though that was my personality, either.
“Oh my God.”
For the record, “God” is Gaia.
This is seriously a huge problem.
Could this really be viewed as confidence?
Of course, I was confident in the accessory itself….
But from the perspective of the god and the Imperial Princess who would receive it.
‘I’ll make it so you won’t even remember them.’
…Honestly, there was ample room for that to sound rude.
At least, I suppose it was fortunate that my ulterior thought hadn’t been carried over as well.
‘You’ll spend your whole life looking only for me.’
“……”
I thought it over for a moment, and.
Then.
“Wait a second….”
A really good idea came to me.
“I can tell the Imperial Princess that I was thinking of Gaia, and tell Gaia that I was thinking of the Imperial Princess, right?”
I could lie that the same words had been meant for different people.
I’d call it an occupational hazard.
This is what you call Solomon.
That didn’t seem to leave any major problems.
“Phew….”
I caught my breath and looked at the earrings.
For now, if there was one difference from the equipment I had made until now.
The earrings probably didn’t currently bear the Sun Dwarf engraving.
“They say the engraving only appears in the Celestial Realm because it’s a divine artifact.”
Well, according to the professor.
『It is impossible for two engravings to exist on a single accessory. Since it is a divine artifact, that engraving will appear only in the divine realm. Do not worry.』
Once I offered my prayer.
When the equipment took shape in the divine realm and Gaia received it.
Apparently, the engraving would be carved only on that accessory.
From my perspective, that was actually better.
It meant I could give the earrings to the Imperial Princess without revealing that I was a Sun Dwarf.
This was an unexpected stroke of luck.
Jackpot.
Just as I lowered my head and looked at the earrings.
- Ziiiing….
“…Huh?”
Something began to be drawn inside the green jade.
At first, it was just a single pillar.
As the pillar was drawn and tangled inside the green gemstone… it soon became a single picture.
“…A tree?”
What the hell was this?
Just as I was staring blankly at the gemstone.
“Oh, wait.”
Something came to mind.
I had a hunch about what it was.
I had seen it in the textbook before.
Not the Sun Dwarf one,
the elves’
textbook.
『A gemstone lovingly worked by a Child of the Forest with all their heart will sometimes hold that intent of its own accord.』
At the time, I had simply thought it was elven romanticism—in other words, superstition.
“I didn’t know this could happen!!!”
Then does this mean.
It’s the Forest Child’s artisan mark…?
But what was truly, truly fortunate was.
『Their grains differ because their lives have been different. Thus, their forms are all different as well.』
This was a unique mark, of which only one existed in the world.
The countless leaves attached to a single tree.
No one would find out.
In other words, by simply looking at this, there was no way to tell whether it belonged to a Child of the Forest or an Elder of the Forest.
Because all their shapes were different.
“Let’s just insist it’s some random engraving.”
I had no intention of deliberately revealing that I had learned the Forest Child’s gemcraft.
For the same reason, I didn’t want people to see that I was a Sun Dwarf, either.
“Haah….”
With that resolve, I finished cleaning up.
I stretched my back and carefully placed the earrings on the cushion.
“That took way too long.”
It had taken a full month and a half.
Oof, I’m exhausted.
Looking back, it had been a truly brutal job.
Getting spasmodic over filigree, surpassing machines, and examining the Imperial Princess’s face.
Looking at the earrings before me seemed to ease some of the hardship.
“I did this by hand…?”
No joke, I didn’t think machines and the like could even hold a candle to me.
I had never known I possessed this kind of talent.
But it wasn’t over yet.
For now, they were merely well-made accessories.
I carefully placed the earrings in the case I had prepared and rose from my seat.
“To the temple.”
It was time to offer them to Gaia.
2.
In this world, every region had several temples dedicated to various gods.
Since each temple worshiped a different god, the important thing was to go to the temple of the god you wanted.
However, the temples in the Imperial Palace were a little different.
If they were a local deity with too few worshippers or a nameless minor god, they couldn’t even have a temple of their own.
There were apparently cases where people simply erected a statue in one corner of the Imperial Palace temple and prayed to it.
“That makes sense.”
There can’t be only one or two gods, after all.
But if it was Gaia, that was a different story.
Gaia, the Goddess of Earth, was one of the most famous gods in this world.
Thanks to that, Gaia’s temples were scattered throughout the continent.
The particularly amusing thing here was.
‘The largest one among them.’
Happened to be at the Ducal House of Doloris.
Well, since she was the Goddess of Earth, it wasn’t strange for a great estate like a ducal house to have a temple.
Thanks to that, I could skip the travel time.
Even at this hour before dawn, when there wasn’t a soul around.
With Mama guiding me, I could head to the temple.
“Did you make the earrings well?”
“Yes, they’re not bad.”
“May I see them?”
“……”
I’m not allowed to.
Apparently, divine artifacts were supposed to be shown to the god first, without exception.
Since I couldn’t bring myself to refuse her, I hesitated and simply stopped in the middle of the road.
“……I see.”
Doloris nodded and took my hand again, but.
With her cheeks slightly puffed out, she looked a little sulky.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Doloris smiled and shook her head, and.
As we continued that conversation.
Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of the temple.
- Creak….
When the door opened, the scene inside came into view all at once.
Inside was an audience chamber where one met the god.
In front of it, an open prayer room was laid out where believers offered prayers.
It was a little ambiguous to call it a prayer room; maybe just a worship space?
“Normally, offerings are supposed to be entrusted to a priest, but.”
- Swish.
Doloris pointed toward the audience chamber.
“This time, why don’t you go in and greet her yourself, Lionel?”
“Yes.”
That did seem right.
I opened the door to the audience chamber and went inside.
And then.
“……”
I stopped walking.
It was a space neither particularly wide nor narrow.
Surrounded on all sides by stone walls, without a single window.
At its very center.
A statue of a woman stood alone.
A plain stone statue, more modest than I had expected, carved from earth-colored stone.
There were no jewels or gold.
Just from the pose, with both arms spread as though she were trying to embrace something, I could tell which god this was.
I slowly approached the statue.
The problem was what came next.
‘How am I supposed to offer this?’
No matter how I racked my brain, no particular procedure came to mind.
The textbook hadn’t explained how to offer a divine artifact like this, either.
Just as I began to suspect this was some kind of scam.
‘Screw it.’
I decided to do it however I felt.
- Click.
I opened the case I had taken from my clothes.
I knelt on one knee before the statue.
Holding the earrings up in both hands, I extended them toward the statue.
“This is a divine artifact I made….”
The voice of a boy who had not yet gone through puberty echoed through the audience chamber, and.
“My skill is lacking, but I put my heart into it.”
However.
There was no answer.
Only the statue stood there with both arms still spread.
Naturally; it was a block of stone. It couldn’t talk.
I closed my eyes without thinking much of it, and.
Just as I raised the earrings I held out a little higher.
- Fwoom….
From the earrings held high above both hands.
Light began to seep out.
“Oh, oh. Oh…!”
I almost became boorish for a moment, but.
Realizing I was in the audience chamber, I barely held myself back.
I couldn’t make a spectacle of myself in front of Gaia, of all gods.
- Fwoooosh….
The earrings shone even more dazzlingly in my hands, then….
- Voooom….
The light died down, and.
I carefully raised my head and lowered my hands.
And there before my eyes were the changed earrings.
─────────────────
[Cradle of Earth][★★☆☆☆->★★★☆☆]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility : - / 80]
─────────────────
[Divine Artifact] [Target God: Gaia]
[Blessing: Highest (崔上) ㅡ Blessing of Earth]
└ Blocks external interference from affecting a target designated by the wearer, using the energy of the earth.
[Blessing:
High (上) ㅡ
Embrace of Earth]
└ Condenses the energy of the earth to restore the wearer’s vitality.
─────────────────
※ It has safely reached the Lord of the Divine Realm.※
─────────────────
For starters.
The first thing that caught my eye.
One star had been added.
I never expected my first three-star experience to be stolen from me like this.
My solo crafting skill itself was still two-star, but.
With Gaia’s blessing added to the divine artifact, it seemed to have evolved into a three-star item.
Nice.
Now this star would become a goal for me to look up to.
I didn’t feel bad.
And the second change was the blessing.
“Legendary.”
This was genuinely unbelievable.
Throughout the work, I had kept thinking to myself: I was making earrings for the Imperial Princess, but.
They were, at the end of the day, the Imperial Princess’s item.
‘What about the Crown Prince left behind?’
I had kept thinking that.
Even if it protected Princess Solau’s pendant, the Crown Prince’s condition would ultimately wither away.
Taking off the Moonlight Essence would remove the debuff, but it wouldn’t restore the vitality that had been drained.
So, getting a little greedy in my heart.
‘It would be great if the Crown Prince could wear Solau’s pendant, while the Imperial Princess could sustain herself with these earrings…!’
Even though I prayed with completely selfish intentions.
Gaia granted all of it.
This way, the Crown Prince could wear Solau’s pendant, and the Imperial Princess could wear this Cradle.
If she designated the Crown Prince as the target to receive its blessing, both of them would be safe.
I was perfectly satisfied.
Gaia had perfectly granted the blessing I wanted.
Just then.
- Diiing.
A message appeared before my eyes.
─────────────────
[Divine Oracle]
[Gaia, Goddess of Earth ▸ Certified Blacksmith L]
『I never imagined there would be someone who would make something so lovely and noble for me.
The feeling you put into it was so great that I placed upon it the greatest blessing this mother could bestow.』
『Over the long years, I have received a great many things.
Yet what you gave me today is by far the most beautiful of them all.
I am not joking; I am sincerely astonished.』
[Remaining Divine Oracles : 6 / 8]
─────────────────
Gaia had once again sent me a long letter of thanks.
Apparently, after delivering a divine artifact, the divine-oracle chances were refilled for a final farewell.
Sorry, but I was the one who wanted to express thanks.
I’m glad you like it.
And, wearing such a pleased smile, I….
- Ding ding ding.
─────────────────
[Divine Oracle]
[Gaia, Goddess of Earth ▸ Certified Blacksmith L]
『I do not know at which temple you called this mother to you.
Yet someday, surely… I would like to meet you face-to-face and chat together.』
『……Child. Please, do come find this mother again.』
[Remaining Divine Oracles : 4 / 8]
─────────────────
…Another one came.
I don’t know what to do with myself, now that she likes it this much.
There was something a little provocative written there, but apparently Gaia’s eyes didn’t see even that.
I decided no further explanation was necessary.
With a smile, I rose from my seat….
- Ding ding ding.
─────────────────
[Divine Oracle]
[Gaia, Goddess of Earth ▸ Certified Blacksmith L]
『It said, “I’ll make it so you won’t even remember those other shoddy accessories….”』
[Remaining Divine Oracles : 3 / 8]
─────────────────
For a moment, my body flinched.
“……”
I froze in place.
What should I do? Should I apologize right away?
But.
Contrary to my expectations.
─────────────────
[Divine Oracle]
[Gaia, Goddess of Earth ▸ Certified Blacksmith L]
『Yes, you truly did.
I really couldn’t think of any of the others anymore, not even a little…
Child? Your item was the loveliest and best. It was the very best.』
『I think it will stay that way, to the point that all the countless things that have come to me before now feel meaningless.』
[Remaining Divine Oracles : 1 / 8]
─────────────────
“……”
I had prepared a whole pile of excuses.
But faced with Gaia’s oracle, which seemed to be rejoicing with her entire body.
I swallowed all my excuses.
So much for Solomon.
“…Th-thank you.”
I bowed my head toward the rough, earth-colored statue.
───────────────
『Come find me again… Shall we meet next time?
Don’t overdo it, child.』
───────────────
With that final divine oracle.
I slowly left the audience chamber.