"Oh!

　When Rike saw the bright blue breastplate, he couldn't help but exclaim.
　When everyone looked at him to see what was going on, their faces were also filled with surprise.

"Wow, ......!

　Among them, Helen was the one with the brightest eyes. I guess she genuinely likes this kind of thing, partly because it's hers.

"I'm going to paint the rest of the body this color, okay?
"Of course it's good!

　Helen shouted loudly, as if the whole air in the forge was trembling. Helen shouted loudly, as if the whole air in the forge was shaking, "It's worth it if you're this happy.
　If it were possible, I would have added a gold pattern to it, but even though the blue already stands out enough, I didn't want it to stand out any more than it already does, and it seems to affect my status.

"So that's how you add the colors.

　Anne murmurs as if she is truly impressed.

"Have you seen it?
"I've never seen it done before. I've never seen it done before, but she's a princess and I've seen more messy decorations in the royal court.
Wow. I'd like to see that.
Oh, you're always welcome in the Empire.
No, thank you.

　A knight in the royal court of the empire is no small thing. I'm just a blacksmith, so I don't know anything about it, but I'm sure there are famous knights in the kingdoms and republics.
　The armor of such a knight would not have been hammered and polished. It would have been richly decorated in a manner befitting its status.
　The more intricate the decoration, the more time and effort it takes, and the more money it costs.
　And if they can pay for it, they have a source of income - in other words, a territory. In other words, they are of high status.
　In a place like a royal palace, it is necessary to show what kind of status you have.

　It is also important to know who is wearing the armor, because the war recorders, who were not there when the demons were defeated (perhaps Miss Frederica was also there), would say, "I can't see the coat of arms clearly, but that big lion's head ornament is Lord Somehow.
　It's good to be able to make a big name for yourself on the battlefield, but if you don't know who it is, you may literally lose a lot of money.
　In that case, it would be better to have some kind of decoration, even if it is not gold. If you're a mercenary, your exploits on the battlefield may be related to your reward.

　Thinking about this, I hesitantly asked Helen.

"Hey.
"Yeah?
Do you want me to put a wolf ornament on your ......?
No!

　I don't need it!" She denied it with great force. Well, that was an unnecessary concern. As I was thinking that.

"I understand what you're thinking, and I appreciate it, but I don't want to make it too heavy with unnecessary decorations, because my main focus is 'fast'.

　He followed up.
　It's true that if the armor is too heavy and slows down the lightning, it's useless. It would ruin the name. I tried to make the back armor as heavy as possible so as not to add extra weight, but if I make the armor too heavy by adding decorations, it will be the end of the world.

I'll just match the other colors then.
Oh!

　Helen, with a big smile on her face, and the others went back to their work. Now, I have to continue.

　After that, the dorsal armor was done as well as the thoracic armor. The armor and shin guards were also molded and colored in a straightforward manner. The shape of the armor is not as complicated as the chest armor, and the range of motion is not as severe as the back armor.

　In this way, a complete set of blue parts was completed, but this is not the end. I painted the inside of each one with crepe and stretched a cloth.
　The cloth is then covered with deerskin again, and the edges are riveted (naturally in blue).
　The cloth is then covered with deerskin and riveted at the edges. The one I had before was like that.

　The thoracic armor and dorsal armor are connected by belts at the shoulders and armpits. The metal fittings of the belt are blackened with an oxide film of black rust in the same way as the thoracic armor. It's no use if the belt is ruined by rusting from the metal fittings. .......
　The final fixation for armor and shin guards is the belt.

　It took me about four days to complete the whole set. I wonder how much time it would take to make a full body armor.
　In my case, I feel that the work time and the profit are not worth it. In that time, I could make any number of swords and knives.
　When I complained to Rike about this, he said.

I complained to Rike about this, and he replied without hesitation, "Why don't you just take that money?

　He replied in an indifferent manner.

I don't think so.
I don't think there's anything wrong with taking the amount of time a craftsman spends to make something. I don't think there's anything wrong with a craftsman getting paid for the time he spends making things, though for some reason the master doesn't like to get paid for that.
Ugh. ...... I'm sorry about that.

　I somehow think in terms of the quality of what I have done. In my old job, I used to include the work time in my estimates and invoices, but here, perhaps because I'm doing what I love, I can't seem to get the idea of including the work time in my thinking.
　I'll have to work on this gradually.

　Now that I had a complete set of armor, I asked Helen to try it on. It's just before nightfall, and the sun has long since passed midnight, but there's still time for it to turn orange.

Let's see if you can put it on by yourself.
Okay.

　Even though it was the first time for her to put everything on, Helen put it on quickly and easily. Eventually, the figure of "Xun-Lei" appeared, wearing the blue partial armor.



How are you feeling?
It doesn't look out of place. It's not like it's going to take much to put it on.
I see.

　Helen bent over and rolled her body back and forth to check her condition. If it doesn't feel uncomfortable after all that movement, then it's okay.
　That's when I was relieved.

"Hey...

　Helen looked at me with serious eyes. I was a little intimidated by her determined gaze.
　The next thing Helen said was something I knew she might say.

The next thing Helen said was something I knew she might say, "Would you be willing to test me, Eizo?