Moving on until we finish lunch and come again, me and Black arrive at our destination, the Sword Museum.

'........Huh?
Yeah?　What's up, Kite?
No, it's nothing.

　Several buildings lined up and a sign that said "Swords Village"... Huh?　Was it like this?　It seemed to be a smaller place, with only a museum in it... but maybe I'm wrong?
　Hmmm, well, the last time I visited this place was when I was in the lower grades of elementary school...................more than 10 years ago, so it's not surprising that it's been renovated. Of course, it's possible that I'm simply mistaken in my memory, but....
　Anyway, it's good that there are more places to visit than I expected.

　There is a building right in front of the parking lot that looks like a shop, but first, we headed through the wooden gate in the direction of the museum to take a look at the museum.
　Then I saw an arrow for guidance, and on the right was the "Bizen Osafune Sword Museum" and on the left was the "Imaizumi Toshimitsu Swordsmith Memorial Museum". Who is this Imaizumi Toshimitsu?　Is he a great man from the area?

　I entered the sword museum first. I bought two adult tickets at the ticket counter. Fortunately, we didn't get any complaints about Kuro's appearance here.
　The tickets are designed like the scabbard of a sword, and it's a fine art.

　According to a pamphlet at the entrance, this museum has not only a sword exhibition room but also an area called "The World of Swords" where you can learn about the process of sword making.
　We headed to the area called "The World of Swords" to learn the basics first.

"Wow, this is how a katana is made, isn't it?
''Yeah, I've never looked at it in detail before either but it seems like there are a lot of experts in making a single sword.

　Swordsmiths who forge swords, swordsmiths who sharpen swords, metal engravers who carve patterns on swords, swordsmiths who make the habbaki, the part of the sword that is attached to the base of the sword, scabbard makers who make the scabbard, metalworkers who make various kinds of metal fittings, painters who apply lacquer on the scabbard, braggers who make the brim, kumihimo masters who make the tangles, etc., and hara-maki masters who actually wrap the sword around the handle.

'Huh?　Come to think of it, it takes such a lot of work to make a Japanese sword, but... who makes the Japanese sword that Noin-san has?
It's Chartier.
"...Oh, I see...

　Well, it's true that Alice could do it all by herself... well, that thing is a complete exception, so I'll leave it at that, but sword making is a really hard thing to do.
　In this world of swords, there is a mini-theater of sorts, where you can learn how to make swords with images. I feel like I know a little more about Japanese swords.
　Then, for good measure, there was something called "The Language of Swords, Master Craftsman Tonchinkan Game" on the table.

I'd like to try it out.
'Yeah, I'm not familiar with the Japanese language, so I'll be watching you, Kite. Hang in there, Kite!
Okay.....

　As far as I can see from the button on hand, it seems to be a question in the form of three choices. Or is it?　A sword language quiz and a master craftsman game?　Ah, there are two kinds. So, pompousness is a game in which you make swords, not questions.
　I know it's a tacked-on question, but since Kuro is watching me, I thought I'd give him a little something to think about... Well, the first question... hmmm... A battle of wits... hmmm... .........I see.......

.........
Kite?

　I have no idea. Huh?　Isn't that pretty hard to do?　And anyway, I don't know the first question, so I'm just going to take it as it comes... and luckily, I got it right.
　What does that mean?　
　The third question........oh, what was it?　Well, which one was it?
　Well, after trying the quiz for a while, the result was....

'Oh!　That's great, kite!　You got all the answers right!
Uh-huh. D-Do you want to know what's going on?

　It was a brilliant piece of luck that I got all the answers right, thanks to all the random presses I got right, but it was a nice touch. I don't feel like I'm being cheated on. Well, Black's happy about it, so why not?

　After gaining some knowledge about the world of swords, it's time to head to the exhibition room.

'Wow, they're so big!
Wow ... a big sword?

　I was overwhelmed by a sword larger than my height that was displayed at the entrance of the exhibition room. Can they wield such a ridiculously large sword?　Well, the little girl next to me will swing it around lightly....
　After gazing at the big sword for a bit, I went into the display room and found that there were many Japanese swords on display.

　.........honestly, I can't really tell the difference. No, the patterns and shapes seem to be slightly different, and there are explanations next to them, but...hmmm...it's hard to tell. It's difficult.
　If someone more knowledgeable about Japanese swords, they would have told me a lot of things, but neither Noyn, the leading candidate, nor Alice, who for some reason seems to be an expert on Japanese swords, was there.
　Well, even if you don't know all the details about this kind of thing, it's something to look at and enjoy, so it should be fine.

''.........I thought when I saw Noin holding it, but Nihontou is beautiful.
It's definitely polished and clean as a mirror.
'Yeah, and you've got a great way of shining the light. I can see Hamon very well.
Huh?
'Is this a butterflyfish?　It's a little hard to see with the keshoutogi.... And the Nakago is so fine and amazing.
Mr. Black?

　Huh?　What do you mean?　Something about Black seems to be more detailed than that!　There's a lot of jargon-y stuff in there that sounds like jargon!
　What do you mean?　What happened to Black?

"Yeah?　What's going on?
'No, no, how do you know so much about this?'
'Oh, look, didn't I see a space in the earlier area with a bunch of books?'
'Oh, yeah, there was a place that looked like a reference room...'
The book that was there, 'I learned it all!
....

　When I heard Black tell me with a smile, I cringed. Have you memorized all those amount of books?　When did that happen?　Oh, speaking of which, I remember Black acting strangely earlier when he picked up a book and then put it back on the shelf... you don't think it was all that time?　And it's incredibly high specs.

'.........I mean, I didn't realize it until now since I've been so normal, but.......can Kuro read Japanese in the first place?
Huh?　
...What?

　I managed to keep myself from just screaming out. Even if I didn't see anyone else here right now, this is an exhibition room ... you can't scream out loud.
　I don't know, but........Black was speaking Japanese?　No, I didn't notice it at all. I was speaking so fluently that I didn't notice any difference at all from the Japanese language I usually hear through translation magic.

'It's not like Shiro or the Earth God's translation magic is going to work on me. I may be okay with Kite, but I can't get through to the people in the store and so on... I'm learning it. It's hard to pronounce it, though, so I'm not perfect yet.
I had no idea...
Yeah?　Are you speaking well?
Yeah, yeah. It doesn't feel different at all.
Really?　Thank God~

　It's really amazing. I'm sure Black, who can memorize all those books in an instant, will be able to remember Japanese by the time he gets home.





　Black's shocking statement startled me, but there was no particular problem, so I continued my visit.
　On the second floor of the museum, I was impressed by the sophistication of the swords made recently by a swordsmith called "Setouchi Swordsmith Association".
　On the second floor, there were not only swords, but also spears and naginata (Japanese cleaver), and thanks to Kuro's knowledge, we were able to see them in an easy-to-understand manner.

　After that, we left the museum and moved on to the Bizen Osafune Sword Studio, where we could see how swords are actually made.
　It is said that you can get a little hands-on experience in the smelting room where Japanese swords are made. Unfortunately, most of the workers seemed to be absent today and we couldn't see them working directly.
　However, the workshop, where the tools were displayed for the first time, was worth seeing, and there was an explanatory panel about the work, and with Kuro's explanation, we were able to see the work while understanding it.
　There seemed to be a lot of autographs on display in the workshop...signatures of people related to swords, perhaps?

　After that, we stopped by the Imaizumi Toshimitsu Swordsmith Memorial Museum. It is a memorial to the master swordsmith and his tools.
　There are some minor differences, but the tools are basically similar to those in the workshop we visited earlier, and in that sense, the techniques have been passed down from generation to generation.

　Finally, we stopped by the "Fureai Product Museum" to pick up a knife made in the way of Japanese swords and, in a slightly different way, a piece of braided cord.
　The scissors with a Japanese sword design were a bit interesting.
　I decided to buy a pair of Japanese sword shears, one for Kuro and one for me, to commemorate my visit to the swords village.

　On the way home, talking to Kuro with my newly-remembered knowledge of swords, I realized that I had enjoyed the visit more than I had imagined. I'm really glad I came.
　If I have the chance, I'd like to come back again.