I Was Called Incompetent ch.34

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Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki

Episode 34: Brand New

『I’ve kept you waiting! It’s finished!』

After getting a call from Hagar-san, we immediately headed to his workshop in Historia’s commercial district.

As expected from Nibelugh’s center of commerce.

The blacksmith workshop wasn’t just a single house like in Ist. Here, there were enough workshops to occupy a section of the district. 

The mostly brick house-filled cityscape was illuminated by morning sunlight. Down the route, I saw different collections of soot and dirt as well as iron scraps and abandoned ores at the edge of the street. 

When I looked up, a lot of white smoke rose to the sky. In this maze-like town, I couldn’t really tell from where those smoke came out. 

The noise of metal being hit or scraped, various sounds coming from the production processes filled this part of the town. 

The buildings, which acted as both the workshop and living quarters, had narrow spaces between each other. Although it’s not exactly pretty, it gave off the sense of profound and quaint. 

[Leather and woodworking is done here while over there is the area for magic stone processing… This area here is for monster material processing. Ah, there is the workshop.]

When I took a peek at the smithy, there was a dwarf whose arms were as big as logs in the midst of hammering steel.

The sweaty man was in the middle of processing the red hot metal with his hammer. 

He also happened to be one of the town residents I often came across on the street before. So I was no longer phased when he greeted me with a kind “Yo there, Hero”.

[There are still many dwarves around after all. Their production technology is top-notch. They have various special skills and magic related to production. Truly born craftsmen.]

“Humanity” of this continent consisted of humans, elves, and dwarves. Just like humans, dwarves also received their magic from the temple at the age of 15.

But aside from that, which we had no control of, most dwarves are born with special skills related to craftsmanship.

Dwarves are short but blessed with a strong body which also makes them good warriors.

Also. each one of them has a beard. One feature that makes it hard to discern the young to the old.

Their hands are dextrous and their technology had supported the living up till this day.

[They look cool each time I see one. This is… craftsmen! Sorry, I just couldn’t help it.]

[Fufu…I can understand that feeling. Ah, Rhode-sama, over there. That is Hagar-sama’s workshop.]

Even among these many dwarves, Hagar-san seems to be skillful enough to be able to establish his own workshop here. 

It’s good to have a friend who is good at crafting; basically anyone who’s good at anything other than adventuring. I saw Hagar-san waving at me just when I thought all that.

Hagar-san’s workshop, which was also a brick building, was slightly bigger than the others.

Is he actually a very good blacksmith?

Looking inside the workshop, there were about 10 people moving around busily. Even at a glance, anyone could see that they’re working happily.

I could probably watch this all day and never get bored… it’s that kind of scene for me.

[Good morning!]

However, I can’t afford to wait for Hagar-san here all day. So I raised my voice in order to pique their attention  in a good way.

[Yooー! If it isn’t the town’s saviour! Oi, Hagar, where are you!?]

[Welcome, Rhode-kun. Let me fetch that idiot steel magic user here for you. It’s a bit of a noisy place, but please make yourself comfortable.] 

[Thank you. Sorry for disturbing your work…]

[Look at what our saviour here says! Inea was right when she said that you are such a kind guy.]

People started coming out from the back room to greet me.

All of them are good people.

[Ah, good morning Rhode-kun! You look quite excited today. Inea-san? IーNーEーAーSーAーN ! !]

Responding to the guys’ calling, Inea-san’s short [Yeーs!] could be heard from the back room.

[Rhode-kun, sorry to have you to come over… Hagar is on the second floor so let me guide you there. He might say that it’s finished, but it still needs some fine adjustment.]

[It’s okay. I’m already thankful that he crafted it for me.] 

[Now now, you saved our life after all! Come and be careful of where you step.]

Climbing the stairs while responding to everyone’s greetings, we were guided to Hagar-san’s workspace on the second floor.

Once inside, we were greeted by the sight of Hagar-san in white shirt and blue trousers, stroking his chin while staring at a set of armor. 

[Hagarー! Rhode-kun is here!]

[Nnuoh!? Ah, Rhode-kun! Sorry to have you coming over. I need you to try wearing them once before making the final adjustment…]

[Good morning, Hagar-san. All the same… I’ve also bothered you with making this set of armor.]

[No, I told you… Ah, honestly… talking with you tends to make me ashamed of myself.]

Hagar-san said that with a wry smile.

Did I say something wrong…?

[Well, it’s mostly completed as of now. What do you think?]

[Yes, it looks amazing… no complaints at all…]

If I have to be honest, I’ve been longing to own and wear my own set of armor.

Defensive power aside, it’ll be worth the expense for me as long as it looks cool.

The set of armor Hagar-san made for me was not the so-called full plate armor that covers the entire body. This one only partially covers the torso, arms, hips, and legs. 

The red-black scales of the wyvern were polished to a shiny finish. The fangs and claws served as decorations for the armor.

Anyways, it’s amazing…

[I crafted these to match the clothes you’re wearing. The color of the Inferno wyvern scales can go well with anything anyway. Okay, please try it out.]

Contrary to the profound air that surrounds it, the armor was surprisingly light.

There’s no problem wearing them over my clothes. It’s also easy to move in.

The torso part extends to protect the shoulders. Only the abdomen part was made from steel. The rest was made of the red-black wyvern scales.

The gauntlet extends from the elbow up to the back of my hands, leaving the fingers exposed. I could tell that the craftsman put a lot of consideration into details here.

Around the waist, there are faulds made of a combination of steel and wyvern scales. The culet was made of sturdy lightly tanned leather of the wyvern. It extends from the waist down to the heel, making it look like the tail of an overcoat instead of a regular culet.

[Rhode-sama… You look wonderful…]

[Fufufu… Rhode-kun is an Invoker Knight, isn’t he? That’s why I made the armor with the concept of a fusion between knight and mage armors. The waist area holds the key that supports this concept. Ah, and of course I made this with the intention to look cool! Why is the lower area lightly armored, you ask? Of course, I know that protecting the waist area is as important as protecting the upper body. But look at how the design forms a triangle with the head as the apex? Beautiful, isn’t it? The torso and shoulder parts are actually simple, but the scales and fangs that decorates those parts make them look strong. Therefore, I made the upper arm part look slightly more intricate to balance them out. Lastly, the leg parts that serve as the foundation. At first glance it looks heavy, but it’s lightweight, right? That’s the best part of wyvern scales. It’s hard to process, but if one can handle it, it’s one hell of a great material. Oh, I went off a tangent there. The waist area! We in the industry simply call those parts “skirt” to save the uneducated from having to remember the actual terms for them. Anyways, I needed to decide the length after considering the balance of the design. So I came up with this… “Short at the front and long at the back” style. And next is…]

[Hagarー! STOP!]

[Wha, but why Inea… I was just getting to the good stuff…]

[You’re scaring Rhode-kun with all your jabbering! Just cut it short will you…]

[Ah, no, I don’t really mind…]

Now that you mention it, I didn’t know that Hagar-san was such a talker.

Apparently when he really gets going, he couldn’t even see his surroundings anymore.

[Ah, sorry, sorry… anyways, I’m very confident with this piece of work! And next is, that fellow.]

Hagar-san took out the iron sword which was previously just a plain sword.

[Oh, amazing! Now it looks like a proper sword!]

The sword looked as if it had been reforged into another sword.

The scabbard was decorated with wyvern scales and so did the handle.

Wyvern teeth decorated the crossguard. 

That barebone iron sword, it had turned into a sword that would probably fetch for a decently high price at the market.

I drew it from its scabbard.

The ordinary sword now had a different feeling when I held it in my hand.

The blade actually looked thicker than before.

It was slightly wider and the color in the center of the double-edged blade was different from the rest.

[Hagar-san, this is…]

[Ah, you notice? I put my steel magic on top of it. It’s sturdier and sharper than before now. Then there’s that color gradation. Cool, isn’t it?]

[Yes… it looks great now!]

[Hahaha! Good, that’s good to hear!]