Chapter 63

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The week after Misaki's parents were persuaded, we took a train and a taxi to visit Kyouji's workshop. We had received a message that the reworking of the Shizukanae was complete. We were waiting in the same reception room we used before, drinking tea while waiting for Kyouji.

"Haa..."

"What's wrong, Misaki?"

After drinking her tea, Misaki sighed deeply, gazing at the garden. It was a sigh that seemed to carry a lot of weight.

"A little... I've been thinking about the payment amount Kyouji told us about..."

"Oh, that..."

Understanding the meaning of Misaki's sigh, I also sighed. A few days ago, when Kyouji called, he told us the final payment amount, which was just over 1 million yen. It wasn't an amount we couldn't pay, but for Misaki, it meant an increase in debt.

"Thanks to this, we are now respectable sole proprietors."

"Yeah..."

Yesterday, we went to the tax office and the legal affairs bureau to submit our business registration and minor registration, becoming sole proprietors. By registering as sole proprietors, we can treat expenses as business costs, reducing our taxes. The formula is: <Annual Total Sales> - <Necessary Expenses> = Profit, and profit is the taxable amount. The cost of making the swords can now be treated as a business expense.

"From now on, we need to make sure to get receipts for any money spent on exploration activities."

"...Haa, it's so troublesome. I've never gotten receipts for meals or transportation before."

Misaki sighed, and I wanted to sigh in response but held back. When I asked the taxi driver for a receipt on the way here, he gave me a strange look. Well, it's probably unusual for a high school student to ask for a receipt, so it can't be helped.

Just as I was trying to calm down by sipping my tea, the sliding door to the reception room opened, and Kyouji appeared.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Kyouji, whom I hadn't seen in a while, looked a bit tired.

"Well... It was quite a challenge, but I learned a lot."

Kyouji, sitting across the table from us, let out a roundabout complaint. Well, I don't know what to do if he starts complaining right away...

"The sword I received, I asked a university acquaintance to refine it while adjusting the components."

"University?"

"Yes. We can melt it here, but adjusting the components is out of our field. Since it's only a few swords, we can't ask a steel mill, so I asked a university acquaintance."

"Wow."

Kyouji has such connections.

As I was slightly impressed, Kyouji, who seemed to have a bit of a hard time, started to speak.

"Also, I'm sorry for not getting your prior approval, but when I asked the university to refine the sword, they said they wanted a little of the ultra-high-purity iron for research purposes, so I gave it to them. I'm sorry for making the decision without consulting you."

"Oh, no. We entrusted the ultra-high-purity iron to you to use as you see fit. You can use it however you like, so don't worry about it."

"...Thank you."

Kyouji, hearing my words, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Well, ultra-high-purity iron costs over a million yen per kilogram. The ultra-high-purity iron we gave Kyouji was about 10 kilograms, worth nearly 10 million yen. Even a small amount was a significant amount, so he must have been worried about giving it away without prior approval.

As Kyouji was breathing a sigh of relief, the sliding door opened again, and a woman and a young man carrying a binder and five wooden boxes entered the reception room.

"Kyouji, I've brought the items you asked for."

"Ah, thank you. Please put them on the table."

"Yes... I'll take my leave then."

The woman and the young man placed the tea, binder, and wooden boxes on the table and left the reception room.

Kyouji took a sip of tea and then handed each of us one of the four wooden boxes. One box about a meter long was placed in front of me, two boxes about 60 cm long in front of Yuzi, and one box about 2 meters long in front of Misaki.

"First, please take a look at the items. I think they turned out well."

"Yes, then I'll take a look..."

We each opened the wooden boxes in front of us.

Untying the string and lifting the purple cloth, the items were revealed.

"Oh!"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

I was captivated by the sight of my reborn partner in the box. It seemed the same for Yuzi and Misaki.

The sheath, finished with lacquer, had a refined gloss in a black tone. The hilt was carefully wrapped with black-dyed cotton thread. The tsuba, likely transplanted from the Shizukanae, had a newly plated habaki.

The finish of the exterior was simply perfect.

"Would you like to see the blade as well?"

"Oh, yes."

Hearing Kyouji's prompting, we were startled and picked up our reborn partners.

The weight was indescribable, solid and reassuring.

"Huh? It feels a bit heavier than before..."

Feeling a sense of discomfort, I wondered if it was just my imagination and tilted my head in confusion. However, Yuzi and Misaki also seemed to feel the same way and were tilting their heads.

As we all tilted our heads in unison, Kyouji provided the answer.

"Oh, did you notice? Actually, to increase the strength of the blades, I made each blade slightly thicker."

"Hmm, but why?"

"From what I heard about your purposes, I thought strength was more important than sharpness. So, I took this measure, even though it made them a bit heavier."

"...I see."

Indeed, sharpness is important, but the most important thing is that it doesn't break during use. If a weapon breaks during a battle with a monster, it could be disastrous.

"The swords I made this time were created using the kawabuse method. By melting the swords you gave me and readjusting the components, I used hard steel as the outer layer and ultra-high-purity iron and high-purity carbon as the core. Thanks to this, I believe they are more flexible and less likely to break than before."

"Is that so... Then, I'll take a look at the blade."

I pushed out the habaki and cut the koi-guchi. Pulling the blade out of the sheath, a silver blade with beautiful wave patterns was revealed. Unlike the previous Shizukanae, the blade had a beautiful wave pattern.

"...Amazing. I can't think of anything but 'perfect.'"

While verbally praising Kyouji, I stared at the blade in awe. Kyouji, not getting angry at my attitude, let out a wry smile.

As I heard Kyouji's wry smile, I pulled the rest of the blade out of the sheath, holding it up to the light to admire the reborn Shizukanae.

---

Meanwhile, Misaki was asking Kyouji a question.

"Kyouji, my spear... Has the shaft changed as well? It feels heavier, and the grip is thicker than before, about one or two sizes larger, right?"

"Yes. For your spear, I reinforced the shaft with a thin iron tube made of ultra-high-purity iron."

"Reinforced?"

"The original shaft was made of wood. To meet your request that it should not break when clashing with a sword, I thought the only way to achieve this using the original shaft was to cover it with an iron tube. It did become a bit heavier, but thanks to the ultra-high-purity iron tube, I believe it can withstand clashing with a sword without breaking."

"I see."

"Yes, and the tape wrapped around the shaft is carbon tape, which is also part of the reinforcement."

Curious about the conversation between Misaki and Kyouji, I sheathed Shizukanae and turned my gaze to Misaki.

In Misaki's hand was a spear with a silver blade with wave patterns and a black shaft. Compared to the previous Isuzu, it had a more substantial feel.

"..."

Misaki, careful not to hit anything with the spear, lightly swung it up and down and side to side with one hand to check it. Kyouji, watching this, opened his eyes slightly.

"...Isn't it heavy? I tried to minimize the weight increase, but as I mentioned, it should be 2 to 3 kilograms heavier than before..."

"Not really. This weight is fine."

"R-Really?"

Misaki's calm response seemed to slightly surprise Kyouji.

Well, if a girl like Misaki can easily swing a spear weighing a few kilograms with one hand, it would be surprising.

"Yes, the balance is also fine."

After checking, Misaki reattached the sheath to the spearhead and placed Isuzu back in the wooden box.

---

While Misaki and I were talking to Kyouji, Yuzi was quietly examining the two small swords he held in his hands.

"Hmm."

"Um... Do you have any questions?"

"No. They are excellent, Kyouji. They are a bit heavier, but the center of gravity is almost the same as the original small swords. I can get used to them quickly."

"R-Really?"

Yuzi sheathed the small swords and put them back in the wooden box.

Seeing this, Kyouji let out a tired sigh.

"Haa, for some reason, I feel quite tired."

Kyouji placed his right hand on his forehead, shook his head slightly from side to side, and took a sip of the cold tea.

"Huu. Well, then. Is it okay to consider the delivery of the requested items complete?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then, here you go."

Kyouji handed the last wooden box, which he had placed in front of him, to me, who was sitting in the middle. It was a 30 cm square wooden box.

I untied the string and opened the lid of the wooden box.

"...What is this?"

Inside the box were three tanto with plain wooden sheaths.

I don't remember ordering anything like this...

"These were made from the leftover materials when I was making the swords for Kusakari and Hirose. Since I extended the deadline by a week, I thought of these as an apology."

"Oh, I see..."

"Although they are shorter because they were made from leftover materials, they have the same strength as the swords you have, so they can be used as practical weapons."

We each took one of the tanto from the box. Pulling the blade out of the sheath, a silver blade with beautiful wave patterns, similar to Shizukanae, was revealed.

...Can I use this as a secondary weapon?

While admiring the blade, which reflected light like Shizukanae, I thought about this.

"Well, then. Is it okay to consider the delivery of the requested items complete?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then, if there are no problems with the delivered items, could you sign this delivery note?"

"Yes."

We read the delivery note Kyouji took out from the binder and signed the receipt section.

Kyouji, after reading the delivery note, nodded in satisfaction.

By the way, this was Kyouji's first job as a swordsmith. He must feel relieved to have completed it successfully.

"Then, can we move on to the payment?"

"Yes."

Kyouji, putting the delivery note back in the binder, gently handed each of us three invoices. The amounts on each invoice were different, but all exceeded six digits.

"As I mentioned on the phone, the amounts are higher than the estimates. ...Is it okay?"

Kyouji, who had submitted the invoices that were higher than the estimates, looked at our faces with a worried expression.

Well, if we couldn't pay more than the estimated amount, it would be a fatal loss for Kyouji, a new swordsmith.

"It's fine. I knew the amount beforehand, so I prepared it. So, please don't worry."

"R-Really?"

I took out a bulging tea envelope from my pocket, and Kyouji breathed a sigh of relief.

While I can't help but think it's a bit rude to act like this in front of customers, we look like ordinary high school students. I can understand Kyouji's relief, so I won't pursue it.

We each handed Kyouji the amount on our invoices and completed the payment.

"...Indeed. Then, here, this is the receipt."

"Thank you. With this, everything, including the payment, is complete, right?"

"Yes, it's complete."

We put away the receipts we received, and Kyouji also put the money in the binder.

"Still... Your request was quite a challenge from the start."

"Haha, it seems so."

"Absolutely. But, it was a good learning experience."

"Then, I'll request again in the future, so please take care of us then."

"Haha, I'll try to be a bit gentler next time."

"I'll consider it."

We said our goodbyes to Kyouji and left the workshop.

By the way, the results of the appraisal of Shizukanae and the others were as follows:

Shizukanae +31, Isuzu +42, Shigure +46, Murasame +46, Tanto +10, Tanto +15, Tanto +15

As a result of the reworking, Shizukanae and the others successfully inherited the level-up effect. Additionally, the tanto also had a level-up effect, about one-third of that of Shizukanae and the others. The +10 tanto is mine, and the +15 tanto is for Yuzi and Misaki.

Although it took a lot of time and money, this is good news. If we continue to be explorers, we need to maintain a good relationship with Kyouji.

---

My partner is back.

And I also got a secondary weapon made from the leftover materials.