“Ugh, looks weird,” Samya had said, scrunching her features and making a face of utmost displeasure.
Never seen that expression on her face... Well, red’s out, then. Man, I thought it looked pretty cool.
And so, I decided to use Krul as my model once more—I would paint in green, just like her skin tone. I already was pretty partial to using green, and the empire would eventually piece together that I’d crafted this blade (the kingdom planned to say that the blacksmith who’d been the target of recent rumors had fashioned the weapon; the emperor and those close to him would likely intuit that I was the smith). Knowing all that, I felt it was best to add a bit of Black Forest flair to this hilt. Green’s perfect for that.
Lidy would help me with the painting part—she’d recently been dyeing some items around the cabin. She hadn’t really done anything like that before I’d made that blade for Marius’s wife, but it seemed I’d lit up a passionate fire within the elf’s heart. Whenever she went out for hunts, she would also forage a few plants that could be used as dye, and I spotted her planting some seeds in the corner of the garden as well. In other words, if I wanted something dyed, Lidy would be my boss for the day.
Neither Rike nor I have ever dyed anything aside from that one knife. Color also tends to change based on the oil used in the varnish, so we have to be precise and account for all these factors. Lidy knows better than any of us.
“Do you want the hilt to be the exact same color as Krul?” Lidy asked.
Obviously, “green” wasn’t descriptive enough. There were so many shades of green, from deep forest to brighter and lighter hues. If I was allowed to choose on this spectrum, then naturally, I wanted to choose Krul’s color. I asked Lidy if it would be possible to imitate that color.
She cocked her head to one side. “What color’s the hilt naturally?”
I showed it to her. Since I’d already planned on dyeing it, I’d chosen an antler that was a shade whiter than most; it was a nice, light hue, but there were a few flecks of black. According to Lidy, this was due to magical energy.
After staring for a while, she concluded, “Starting from this shade...I think you can get a close match.”
She smiled at me; Rike and I exchanged a small high five. All right! We’re getting closer to our goal!
Once we decided on the color, Lidy headed for the storage shed—Rike and I hastily followed her. The moment she set foot in the shed, she made a beeline for the shelf lined with various herbs and bark. Thus began her selection process.
“Uh, this one...and this one...” Lidy muttered.
Rike and I stared at her as she handed various materials to me. I carefully inspected each item she chose and tried to commit it to memory, hoping that this knowledge would come in handy in the future. No matter how good my cheats were, I couldn’t quickly come up with a color combination that would match my needs. Outside of smithing, my production-related cheats usually did the heavy lifting, and while these abilities made me better than the average artisan, my skills were nothing too impressive. Both Rike and I wanted to learn new things at every opportunity. But as I saw Lidy digging through the shelves while humming a tune, I wasn’t quite sure just how elaborate this process would be. I quietly watched over her, worrying a little bit.
“You just need to boil this for a bit to bring out the color,” Lidy explained.
She took one of our workshop pots (one large enough to fit all the plants), boiled some water, and used her special knife to chop up the ingredients before tossing them into the water. She also used a mortar to grind some herbs, then added those too. At a glance, it almost looked like she was trying to make some kind of medicinal potion, and I probably wasn’t too far off. The temperature of the water went down as the ingredients were added, and it took a moment before it heated up once more—soon the various herbs were dancing in the bubbles.
Once Lidy saw the water boil again, she turned the heat off. “We just need to wait for the water to cool, then we should be good to go.”
She was so quick and skilled at the entire process that Rike, the rest of our family, and I could only gasp with awe. We really didn’t have enough time to learn anything. But at least I memorized the items she used, and I roughly know how she went about it. With a bit of testing and coaching from Lidy, I’m sure I could manage.
Once the mixture cooled and the green color turned a shade deeper, it was time to paint. I took my brush, dipped it into the dye, and dragged it along the handle’s surface. After one swipe, the hue was faintly reflected on the hilt. I could tell that the whiter parts of the hilt had a bit of color, but I could hardly see the green on the darker spots. This process couldn’t be finished in one coat—I had to paint many layers, slowly dyeing the hilt to my desired color. With every stroke that glided across the hilt’s surface, I could see it turning greener and greener.
After I finished the first coat, I had to set it out to dry before beginning the process anew. Luckily, the forge was always hot and dry thanks to the fire, and the dye would dry rather quickly. I wanted the thinnest layer possible—that would make for faster drying, thereby allowing me to apply a new coat as quickly as possible. And in our family, we had a bit more help on top of that.
“I’m counting on you,” I said.
“I’ve got this!” Maribel exclaimed.
My youngest daughter could apparently control her fire precisely enough to avoid burning the hilt or changing the dye’s color while drying it.
“That’s what I trained for!” Maribel said.
I trusted my reliable daughter and borrowed her help to continue my work. Even so, the dyeing process couldn’t be completed in a day. So for now, I wanted the color to somewhat resemble my goal—that was good enough.
After closing down the forge for the day, I quickly polished off my dinner and prepared for tomorrow. Everyone seemed to notice that the orichalcum blade was almost complete, and the usually noisy and cheery dinner table was a touch quieter. We all retired to our rooms earlier than usual.
⌗⌗⌗
The next morning, as dawn brought in a refreshing breeze, I knew that spring was closer than ever. There was still a nip in the air, but I could also sense a hint of spring’s warmth. I set out to fetch some water with my daughters; the mere thought that I would finish the orichalcum knife today put a little pep in my step.
I wasn’t sure if my daughters caught on to my mood, but they were more energetic than usual as we all headed for the lake. After we brought back the water, I made some breakfast, swiftly polished off my plate, and prayed in front of the kamidana. Two bows, two claps, one bow. Another normal morning routine complete.
I felt like the goddess statue, the hihiirokane, and the adamantite shone brighter than usual as I tried to pump myself up for work. I tightened my focus. I just needed to continue what I’d done yesterday: painting, drying, and painting again. But I’d also ask Lidy for her help and astute eyes, just to see if the knife was aesthetically pleasing.
As I continued the dyeing process, a dragon’s fingers and claws slowly emerged right before my eyes.
“Oh...” I muttered.
It looked quite lifelike, though I took some of my own artistic liberties. The hilt wasn’t totally realistic, but if it had begun to move on its own like it was part of an actual dragon, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Did I try too hard on this? Nah, the hilt has to pair with the orichalcum blade. I’d rather make an overly intricate hilt than one that’s way too plain.
“Are you finished?” Diana asked, noticing that I’d taken a breather.
“Just a bit more.”
One important step remained. I went to the kamidana and took the orichalcum blade that decorated (or enshrined) the little altar. I positioned the grip end of the knife, slipped it between the two halves of the hilt, and added a rivet to secure everything into place. The head of the rivet had been made from a dyed piece of tree deer antler as well. At a glance, it was hard to tell if there was a rivet at all.
“And now, it’s done.”
Cheers filled the forge as we all celebrated the blade’s completion.
“Will you name it?” Rike asked me.
“A name? Hmm...”