"Apoitakara ......? I've never heard of it. Is it different from Mithril or something?

　Helen nods her head, not quite sure.

"Yeah. It's a special mineral from the north, but it's not widely available. It's no wonder you don't know about it.

　If you are a seasoned mercenary, you probably have some knowledge of minerals ...... or materials, but you don't know about Apoitakara?
　Well, the mineral of the north is probably heliocane.

Light and strong. Lighter and stronger than orichalcone or adamantite. It's only used in a small part of the world, so it might not change that much.
But it'll still change things, right?
Yeah. It might feel the same when you shake it, but the biggest difference is .......
What's the biggest difference?
The glow.
What?
Apoi Takara glows blue.
Oh, yeah?
Doesn't seem to do much.

　It's apparently effective against ghostly demons (and the installation says it is), but you're unlikely to run into it, and it's unlikely to be more than a decoration.

So I'm going to rebuild it, so just wait a little longer.
That's fine with me. ......
But what's wrong?
Are you sure? It's expensive, right?
It's for my family. It's like half my hobby. Don't worry about it.
I don't mind.

　Can you at least guess that a mineral you've never heard of is expensive? I don't know if you think two gold pieces (I paid for one) are worth what we have.

Oh, speaking of family.

　I offer Helen the knife I made yesterday and left in the smithy.

I'll take this one.
You sure?
Everyone in my family has one, except for Krull.

　When I said that, they all took knives out of their pockets and showed them to me. The picture of four people pulling out knives at once might be a little scary to normal people.
　But it's a proof that they are our family.
　Then Helen knelt down in front of me. She looked like a knight being knighted.

"Thank you, sir.
"Oh, oh, .......

　I could not help but be stunned. Helen grinned and reverently accepted the knife I held out to her.

Helen smiled and accepted my knife. Aren't you surprised?
I'm not surprised at all.

　I replied to Helen with a look of surprise on my face. I was surprised, partly because I was genuinely surprised, but also because I thought that she might have noticed my birth.
　But I couldn't tell him my reason, so I just smiled and played it off.

Don't scare me too much. It'll shorten my life.
"It's the world's loss, master! We need you to make as many as possible!

　You have to make as many as you can!" Lique said loudly, and the whole place was filled with smiles. I have a feeling that this family will be fine no matter what.
　I had no reason to think so, but I did.

　I clapped my hands twice and gently lifted the apoitakara on the altar.
　As I expected, it was quite light for its size. If I wanted to use the whole thing, I would have thrown it into the furnace, but since I wanted to break it, I put it into the fireplace to heat it up.
　After a while, the temperature rises to the point where it can be processed, and I make a slit in it with a hammer.
　Then, place it on the anvil and hammer it so that it bends at the cut point. I hammered with a lot of force, but it did not bend easily.
　After bending it for quite a long time, I repeatedly bent it to the opposite side, and with much effort, broke off the appropriate amount and cut it out. I leave this feeling to the cheats.
　However, it is quite difficult to cut out with a steel screw. If the difficulty of cutting iron is 1, Apoitakara seems to be about 10. An ordinary blacksmith may not be able to cut it.
　I suppose the reason why it is not widely used is that it is not easy to process.
　In the end, the day ended with the cutting.

　Just before I went to bed that day, I said to myself

I realized that I should have melted it down in the furnace and solidified only the necessary amount.

　but that is a different story.