We were able to finish plowing the field in no time. Even though there was one person who was not used to it, it was the work of three strong people, and the area was not so large.
　So, we decided to join in the sowing. Strictly speaking, we are planting seed potatoes on the ground we have just plowed.
　It's not difficult in terms of what we have to do, but we have to do a lot of it.
　The potatoes are thrown out of the burlap bag, and we cut them one by one as we plant. As we were planting, Anne picked up one of the potatoes and casually said to me.

"Can't we just eat this potato?
Because it has sprouts. ....... If you remove the sprouts and the skin is green, you can eat it. It's poisonous.
"What?
Don't do it, just in case.
I will.

　If it's the same as the potato I know, it's mainly the buds and skin that are highly toxic.
　It looks okay when you cut it, but there is a possibility that it is inedible, so it's better not to eat it.
　Helen, who had been listening to the conversation between me and Anne, said to me while planting the potatoes.

"Oh, that's why some people ate potatoes and had stomach problems?
If you eat a lot of potatoes while they're poisonous, you'll die if you're not careful.
Is that so?
Yeah. Helen, if you ever go back to mercenary work, be careful.
Okay. I will.

　I told her to be careful, but if Helen goes back to mercenary work, it will be on the battlefield. You can't always have enough supplies.
　There will be times when you have to eat this or you will die anyway. In such cases, you cannot stop yourself from eating.
　But even if it is only a stomachache, I hope you will avoid what you can avoid.

　Thanks to the efforts of a total of seven people plus two supporters (not to mention Krull and Lucy), the sowing was finished by nightfall, and the soil had absorbed water and lost its brightness.

If the animals don't come here, we don't need a fence.
"Well, yes. In the village, we built them.

　The other thing to watch out for is humans (including beastmen, dwarves, elves, and giants), but it would not make much sense to deal with them.
　I don't think there are many people who would come all the way to a remote place like this to try to get a crop from a not-so-great field. .......

　Although they grow all year round, they don't grow to the point where you can just plant them and say, "They'll be ready tonight. I'd be hesitant to eat it if I did.
　I thought about expanding the menu in the future, and started to prepare dinner for today.

　The next day, I started working on the delivery again. Today it's knives. After going through the morning routine, I put the sheet metal in the fireplace to heat it up.

Oh, by the way, I haven't finished Anne's yet. ......

　I muttered to myself as I watched the sheet metal slowly heat up and turn red.

"Do you want to make one?
"It's a sign of family. There's nothing to say you can't have one.
I'll watch.
Yeah.

　Not as much time has passed since Rike came to our house as I thought. Even so, she had absorbed a lot of techniques and her skills had become quite good.
　Still, in her opinion, "I'm not good enough yet. My skills also still rely on cheats, and it's frustrating that I can't teach her efficiently, but I'm getting by with this apprenticeship.

　All of my family members have custom-made knives from Eizo Kobo.
　The sharpness is too great, but it is for daily use, for self-defense, and as a proof of family.
　On the other hand, knives of this level are not sold on the market. It is not because of the leakage of technology, but simply because it is dangerous.
　Therefore, there are not many opportunities to make custom-made knives. Not wanting to miss out on such a rare opportunity, Rike looked into the fireplace with me.

　He pulls out a piece of red-hot sheet metal, places it on the anvil, and hammers. It's as if he's tapping into the magic that pervades the Kuro Forest. The loud sound of metal clashing against metal echoed, and the magic that had not been fully absorbed at once scattered around like glittering grains of light.
　Next to her, Rike watched unblinkingly, trying not to miss it all.

　Tap, heat, tap, heat. The process was repeated many times. The shape of a knife covered with magic power was formed. Of course, it was still just an iron rod in the shape of a knife.

　After shaving it so that the magic would not be lost, and adding the engraving of a fat cat sitting on it, I put it in the fireplace and heated it.
　When it reaches a good temperature, take it out and put it in a water tank to quench it. From the water's point of view, this is rapid heating. The water in the tank makes a loud "sizzling" sound, and steam rises up.
　The knife now has hardness. The next step is tenacity. The knife is exposed to the flames of the fireplace, which is slightly heated by the air. As soon as the temperature was raised just a little, the knife was removed from the fire.
　Now comes the finishing touches, but that will have to wait until after lunch. I called out to the others and took a break for lunch.

　After lunch, I polished the entire knife. The vaguely cloudy blade of the knife began to shine, reflecting the flames here and there in the forge.

All that remains is to sharpen it.
Yes.
Do you want to try?


No, I'm afraid I'm going to mess this up if I sharpen it. ......
I think you'll be fine. I don't think it's a good idea to force it.

　I want him to be able to sharpen steel that contains a lot of magic power eventually, and from what I've seen he seems to be able to do it, but I don't have the taste to force him to do something he says he can't do. You can do it yourself.
　I dipped the whetstone in water and started to put the blade on it by rubbing it against the blade of the knife.
　Once the blade is attached, the last task is done. I wrapped a piece of deerskin around the grip.

All right, it's done.
"Well done, sir. May I see it?
Sure.

　You hand the knife to Rieke. She looks around at the knife, scrutinizing it with the eyes of a child who has just received a new toy.

It's getting a little better, isn't it?
"Really?

　I didn't notice much of a difference in my response to the previous ones, but if Rike said so, then maybe it was.

You can watch while I make the sheath.
Thank you.

　While I was splitting, pasting, and shaving the wood to make the sheath, Rike kept looking at the knife, saying things like "I see" and "I see".

　When the sheath was finished, I called out to Anne, who was working on putting the ironstone into the furnace. She pulled down the cloth she was wearing to cover her mouth.

"What is it?
I'll give you this. I could have given it to you at dinner, but I thought the sooner the better.

　He sheathed the knife and handed it to Anne.

"Is this a ...... knife?
"Yeah, I made it myself. It's very sharp, so be careful with it.
"Okay. But why?
Because it's family property. Everyone in my family has one.
You do?
Yeah. Now that we're a family, we have to give it to Anne.

　At my words, everyone took out their knives from their pockets and showed them. I guess the horror of the picture is too much now. Anne looked at it and nodded once.

"Yes. I guess I'm really a family now. ...... Thank you.

　She then held the knife to her chest for a while.