The next day, after I finished my morning routine, I started on the steel. Today I was going to use it to sandwich Apoitakara.
　I thought so when I touched Mithril, but perhaps it was because I struggled even more this time than I did then that steel seemed like a good, honest material.

　In fact, I'm grateful that it extends as much as I expect it to.
　At the moment I'm just stretching ordinary steel, so I haven't even visited the rake.
　The rhythmic sound of my hammering echoes through the forge. Helen is making a mold for a shortsword with Diana.
　I watch her for a moment and see that she is quite handy. Deanna learned rather quickly, but I guess it's easier to get a feel for something you know well (which is actually something related to it).

"Hey.
"Hmm?

　As I watched Helen, she approached me.

"Did you use this mold to make your last one?
No, when I made yours, I beat it and stretched it.
What's the difference?
Oh, ......, yeah. The more you beat it, the easier it is to contain the magic.

　I was a little lost, but I decided to be honest.

"Oh, you can do that too?
Yeah. Yeah, Rike can do that too.

　When I said that, Rike gave me a big hug. She has a good body despite her youthful appearance, so she has a certain power.
　Although the ratio of cute is much higher. I'd say 7:3. Of course, the cute one is 7.

But you're happy?
What's good?
For telling me.
It's good that we're family.

　Yeah, Helen's family now. We've only been a family for a week or so, but we're still a family.
　When I smiled, Helen turned red and looked down. If she was as beautiful as Helen, she would have had one or two guys coming on to her, but she was overreacting, as if every gesture by a guy was unusual.

It reminds me of when I first came here.

　When Deanna saw this, she mixed it up. I remember you weren't so naive, probably because you had a lot of male siblings, but I don't want to say anything about that because it would make you really sulky.

"Come on, come on, work, work!

　I urged them, and they went back to their work. I started on the steel again.
　I got four sheets of steel, slightly thicker and smaller than Apoitakara.
　I took two of them, put the apoitakara between them, and grabbed them together with a saw and put them in the fire pit. If you want the steel to stick to each other, you need to prepare borax or something, but this time I'm going to try my best without it.

　The processing temperature of Apoitakara has a narrow range, but it overlaps with the processing temperature of steel. I'm trying to find the edge of the range.
　The amount of extension per strike is different between steel and apoitakara, so you have to take this difference into account. That's where you have to show your skills. I am ashamed to admit that I used a cheat to do this.
　Take it out of the fireplace and hammer it. The response is different from that of the steel itself, probably because there is apoitakara in between.
　Perhaps it is because the temperature of the steel does not drop easily, but also because the temperature of the apoitakara does not drop easily, the processing time is longer than expected.
　During this long but short period of time, I try to process as much as I can. I want to make sure that the magic power will spread to the steel as much as possible.
　I don't feel the disadvantage of having a different material in between. Thanks to the cheat.

　With lunch in between, I finally managed to get the length I wanted in the evening. The result was two pieces. Of course, they are both the same length and the same weight.
　I tapped them both lightly with my hand. The sound ...... seems to be slightly different from that of striking steel, but I don't know. It may be my imagination.
　After shaping and sharpening, it will be done. I finished the work for the day, leaving it for the next day.