After lunch, we came back to the forge. Rikke was mass-producing knives, and I was finishing the guardian sword.
　Before finishing the sword, I asked Rike.

I don't think we should make another one of these and use the money for the blade.
...... If we go that far, won't that change the heirloom?
That's right.

　In the event that you've got a lot of money to spend, you'll be able to take advantage of it. It's not a good idea, is it?
　As Rikke said, the heirloom of the Amur family might change from the sword to that one. It's a gift from the King, so it's not going to change easily.
　Even if the current heirloom is no longer the one I struck and was given, it is still in existence.

　Apart from that, I need to establish a processing method for the heliocane. I'm going to work on that later.

Let's finish this one for now: ......
"Right. I'll work on this one too.

　I took the sword and Rike took the sheet metal, and went back to my work.

　The shape and surface of the sword had been finished by noon. So, I put the tempered clay on the blade. When the blade is quenched with this clay, there will be differences in the structure of the steel, just as in a sword, and the blade pattern will appear.
　After placing the clay, I went to the kitchen to boil water. I usually use water for quenching. When cooling in quenching, the cooling rate is different between the area where the clay is placed and the area where it is not, so warping occurs.
　Conversely, if the cooling rate is kept the same, warpage will not occur so much. For this reason, mineral oil is used for quenching so that the entire part is cooled slowly, but unfortunately we do not have such a product.
　Therefore, we aim to achieve the same effect as oil cooling by cooling with hot water. The temperature of the water should be adjusted so that it is not so hot as to boil, but so hot that it will surely burn you if you put your hand in it, and it is necessary to take into account the amount that will drop while the blade is being heated.
　Well, in my case, I have a cheat that makes it much easier for me.

　The sword is heated in the fireplace. Just before it reaches a temperature suitable for quenching, I glance at the jar containing the boiled water, and it seems to be at just the right temperature.
　I took the blade out of the fireplace and thrust it vertically into the jar. A sizzling sound is heard, and I feel a cooling sensation from the blade to my hand through the tool.
　It's a cheat, telling me what the current state is and when to take it out.
　When I took it out of the bottle at the timing it was telling me, a slightly warped blade of a dagger appeared. It seems to have worked.

　After that, I lightly roasted it over the fire in the anvil to heat it again for tempering, then placed the blade on the anvil and hammered out the slight warp and distortion that inevitably appeared. The dagger is straightened when the rhythmic throbbing in the forge stops.
　The blade is polished and sharpened by changing the grindstone from rough to fine. In the previous world, there were craftsmen specializing in this process even for kitchen knives, but here, too, I benefited from the process and finished it myself.

　Finally, the surface is polished with an iron rod to make the blade stand out a little, and the blade is complete. This time, too, the cutting edge is not too protruding, and the blade is finished in a loose curve.
　Although I was not conscious of it, it has the atmosphere of a smaller version of the one I made for Nilda before. I've often heard that "you can tell whose hand a work is by its features," and I think I understand why.

　I held the blade of my dagger up to the falling sunlight, and as the orange light reflected off it, the clang of the forge's bell sounded. Everyone who had gone hunting must have returned.

The rest will be tomorrow.

　I listened to the sound and stretched my back, calling out to Rike as I began to clean up the forge.