One mountain after another. That summed up exactly how I felt.

After all the trouble I’d gone through to mine the mithril, all I got back was word that even the dwarf couldn’t melt it.

The news left me utterly deflated, but I barely managed to pull myself together.

I had no idea how this damned mithril worked, but I needed an explanation.

Explain in more detail, please.

Is it seriously just because there’s too much mana?

Passing Dwarf

Yep. It’s hard to melt, and even if I did, a regular furnace couldn’t handle it.

Explain why.

I think I need that to wrap my head around this.

It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just the situation.

Passing Dwarf

I get what you mean.

Ordinary metals...

I read the dwarf’s explanation carefully.

Most metals were buried underground and naturally absorbed the mana in the earth.

Ordinarily, the earth didn’t contain much mana, so putting metal into a furnace posed no problem.

But the deeper you dug, the more mana there was, and some places, like the Forest of Four Seasons, had abnormally high concentrations.

Minerals mined in such places generally held dense concentrations of mana, requiring a special furnace.

He explained that using an ordinary furnace instead could cause an explosion.

Passing Dwarf

Force enough of any substance into a confined space and set it off, and you’ve got a bomb.

The mithril would obviously be blown away too.

What the hell are these special furnaces made of, then?

Passing Dwarf

They’re just furnaces that hold a ridiculous amount of mana.

Can’t an individual own one?

Passing Dwarf

The furnace is bigger than a whole mansion, you idiot.

They barely get used in the first place, so the state manages them directly.

Why the hell is it so inefficient?

Passing Dwarf

Fuck, do you think dwarven technology is a joke?

You have no idea how cutting-edge this is, do you?

Sorry.

So there was nothing I could do. All I could do was sigh.

Building a furnace was already enough to drive me up the wall, and now I needed a special one?

He’d even said it was much bigger than a mansion. Building one was out of the question.

At this rate, the mithril I’d worked so hard to mine would be useless, yet too valuable to throw away.

I needed to find a way, but nothing came to mind.

Passing Dwarf

Try making it yourself.

You’re in the Forest of Four Seasons. It should be no different from ordinary metal there, right?

You said it could only be done in a special furnace.

Passing Dwarf

That place is loaded with mana to begin with.

So give it a try.

I don’t know how to build a furnace.

Passing Dwarf

It’s solid mithril. Just heat it in a forge and hammer it. That’s it.

If you want to use a mold, build a furnace and melt it.

That doesn’t add up.

Didn’t you say I needed a special furnace?

Passing Dwarf

Is your head an actual anvil?

When it changes shape, the mana escapes and makes it explode.

I thought you needed it quickly, so I tried casting it and noticed the problem.

If I’d noticed any later, or started hammering it, I’d be in the hospital right now.

Ohhh. Got it.

Passing Dwarf

This really hurts.

I felt sorry for you and wanted to get it to you quickly.

And you don’t even appreciate the thought...

Sorry.

Is there anything you want?

Passing Dwarf:

Just give me one crab shell lol.

Oh, fuck...

All right.

He’d given me useful information, so I was happy to give him a crab.

I ended my conversation with the dwarf and contacted the registered users I’d given mithril to.

It was essential, if only to prevent an unforeseen accident.

Heavenly Demon

You mean the true silver?

I still have it.

That’s a relief.

Apparently, it could explode if you try to make equipment out of it.

Could you send it back?

Heavenly Demon

Is it because of the amount of energy the true silver contains?

Oh.

How did you know?

Heavenly Demon

A simple matter.

I was tempted to absorb it, but I feared the material would lose its essence, so I waited.

If you return it, I’ll make you a sword myself.

Heavenly Demon

May I look forward to it?

Um... no?

It might take a while.

Heavenly Demon

I appreciate your honesty.

I shall wait without getting my hopes up.

Any weapon suits me, after all.

Thank you.

I got back the mithril I’d given Heavenly Demon.

All Hail the Sun

Not hammering it, but I can’t have it carved either?

I’ll go ask.

He says carving it is fine.

All Hail the Sun

Then I’ll keep it.

I want to use it for a ring.

Be careful anyway.

All Hail the Sun decided to keep his.

When I asked the dwarf, he said the risk of explosion came when the material changed state.

Carving it down without changing its state was no problem.

‘True. Otherwise, it’d be like carrying a bomb around.’

Even if heat changed its shape, it wouldn’t be an issue. Why?

If it was hot enough to deform metal, the person wearing it would already be dead.

After picking up all sorts of information, I closed the forum.

‘At least I don’t have to do everything myself.’

The dwarf said he could put an edge on it for me. All I had to do was flatten the mithril out.

If that didn’t work, I could get a mold and pour molten mithril into it.

‘The downside is having to build a furnace.’

Besides, the mold wouldn’t necessarily withstand the temperature of the molten metal.

In the worst case, the furnace I’d worked so hard to build might melt down too.

Each option had clear advantages and disadvantages, so I couldn’t help agonizing over it.

‘Let’s eat first.’

Whatever happened, meals were important. I could go back to worrying about mithril tomorrow.

When I went up to the river, there were two fish in the trap. A satisfying catch.

I was about to clean them as usual when a thought stopped my hands.

‘Should I try cutting them with mithril?’

Some of the mithril fragments chipped off during mining had sharp edges.

Just how sharp would mithril be? Curious and hopeful, I sliced open a fish’s belly, drawing the shard smoothly through it.

It felt similar to using a dagger. That was about it.

I hadn’t sharpened it, but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

‘Would using aura make a difference?’

So I tried using aura, and lo and behold.

With only a little mana, aura blazed up like fire.

Thinking I might simply have gotten stronger, I infused my dagger with aura too, but the difference was clear.

I tried aura on other tools to make sure, with similar results.

They needed more mana than the mithril before the aura became effective.

‘So that’s it.’

It had incredible fuel economy. That explained everything.

This must have been what the dwarf meant when he said the performance would be excellent.

Since this was mithril rather than orichalcum, I could be sure.

‘It’ll be a huge help in a drawn-out fight.’

Aside from the fight with the orichalcum guardian, I’d never run out of mana.

But mana—or rather, aura itself—was an extremely fuel-inefficient technique to begin with.

It might be different if it held a shape like an aura blade, but anyone could see how inefficient it was when it blazed like fire.

It might even be more efficient than Heavenly Demon’s sword. It could help me step up my training too.

‘So it’s not completely useless.’

For someone like me, whose priority was survival, efficiency was an important consideration.

This mithril increased that efficiency so dramatically that it was practically a necessity.

I’d have to make all sorts of tools with it.

It even performed similarly to steel while being lighter, making it perfect for the job.

‘Mining it is still a problem, though.’

Nothing I could do about that. I’d just have to try reeeally hard.

After finishing dinner, I tidied up to get ready for bed.

I left the hole in the back as it was, planning to dig more tomorrow.

‘The Elixir... I’ll put it above my head.’

A thief could sneak in during the night and steal something.

The speed-sloth would wake up and stop them, but it was better to be prepared.

Once everything was arranged, I logged onto the forum.

I didn’t have anything in particular to say. I was just curious what was going on.

‘Tomorrow makes exactly fifteen days.’

Those fifteen days had been eventful. Today, the monkey chief had thoroughly kicked my ass.

Tomorrow, I planned to bring back orichalcum from the orichalcum cave and receive the crystal orb that would serve as CCTV.

I’d also work on building a furnace while I was at it. I could ask the dwarf about its design.

‘So much to do.’

Finish one task and two more appeared. Finish two and another five popped up.

The mithril in particular could only be worked in the Forest of Four Seasons.

With mixed feelings, I browsed the forum. I needed to unwind.

Wild Grylls, Your Shoes Are Finished.

One post caught my eye as I browsed.

I thought it was ordinary clickbait, but then I realized a registered user had posted it.

‘Who’s this?’

Gonna Be a Duke. The username seemed familiar.

Curious, I opened the post.

Wild Grylls, Your Shoes Are Finished.

Gonna Be a Duke

(A photo of finely made leather shoes)

(A photo of the leather shoes remaining unaffected by water poured over them)

(A photo of the shoes resisting cuts from a knife)

Pictures of shoes. Come to think of it, I’d completely forgotten.

I’d offered a mature mandrake in exchange for good shoes.

Several people had posted pictures of shoes as soon as I’d said that, but most hadn’t appealed to me.

One guy had even tried to scam me, so I’d casually flipped him off and left it at that.

Then the competition had died down thanks to the shoes the dwarf—or rather, his friend—had given me.

Everyone said that however hard they tried, it was pointless against a dwarven craftsman.

I liked the shoes the dwarf’s friend had made, so I hadn’t given the matter another thought.

‘But this person...’

This registered user was different. Even after all this time, they’d kept at it.

Of course, I would have ignored them if effort was all they had to show for it.

(A video of someone’s shoe-clad feet being struck repeatedly with a sledgehammer)

└S-sir... Y-you can stop now...

└How many times are you gonna hit them, fuck lmaooo

└You’re gonna smash your feet doing that...

└Not a single scream. They must be seriously sturdy lol

└Maybe they’re just keeping their mouth shut and toughing it out lmao

└Gonna Be a Duke (A photo showing the wearer in a mask) I anticipated that concern and filmed this as well. I recorded it with a crystal orb.

└Fuck, look how thorough this guy is lmaooo

└What’s with the mask? Looks like something you’d wear to a ball. A noble?

└And who’s swinging the sledgehammer?

└Gonna Be a Duke My son.

└LMAOOOOOOOO

└Hahahahaha

└Filial devotion on fire, holy shit lmaoooo

└Even if he’s your son, he’s hitting way too hard lmaoooo

I would have, if not for that video. No matter how sturdy the shoes were, hitting them with a sledgehammer?

That made him more trustworthy. Hadn’t he put his own body on the line to prove his product’s performance?

My unease lasted only a moment before I hurried to comment, afraid he’d hurt himself further at this rate.

The performance was fine, so I figured I could make the trade.

└Wild Grylls S-sir. You don’t need to do that. You aren’t hurt, are you?

└Gonna Be a Duke (A video of the feet being taken out of the shoes after the sledgehammer strikes) I am not.

└Wow. Fucking thorough. Now that’s a product demonstration.

└Who made those? I want a pair.

└I’ll buy those!

└Buy me some too!

└Passing Dwarf Hey. You win. Those look better than my friend’s...

└Whoa, the dwarf admits defeat.

└If a dwarf’s admitting defeat, you know they’re legit lol

└Wild Grylls I’ll buy them. It’s late, though. Could we trade tomorrow?

└Gonna Be a Duke Certainly.

└Wild Grylls I’ll send you a message.

I sent him a message, thinking we needed to speak privately.

Despite his stiff manner of writing, he was passionate. I liked that.

Hello, Gonna Be a Duke.

I had a good look at the shoes.

You need a mature mandrake, right?

Gonna Be a Duke

That is correct.

You don’t need anything else?

Gonna Be a Duke

Nothing else.

I urgently need a mature mandrake.

He urgently needed a mature mandrake. His desperation came through.

Apparently, someone was suffering from an illness.

Otherwise, there was no reason to pass up everything else and insist on a mature mandrake alone.

‘He seems trustworthy.’

Between the video and his messages, he seemed like someone I could trust.

I told him I would send a mature mandrake tomorrow and closed the forum window.

Tomorrow would be day fifteen, a full half month. I also planned to consume an inner core.

Building a furnace, trading with Gonna Be a Duke... I had plenty to do.

‘A guardian isn’t going to wake up while I’m sleeping, right?’

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.

“Oh, come on. What’s this now?”

Except that every bit I’d worked so hard to mine had grown back.

I didn’t want an unlimited supply, but apparently I was getting one whether I liked it or not.

‘Is this thing a planarian?’

Planarian mithril. What a horrifying hybrid.