The moment Eiji saw the scene before his eyes; he understood that it was a dream.
That was a japanese-style room.
In the rokujouma[1], one could see wadansu[2], CRT type of TV and video cassettes lined up on the wall.
In the middle of the room, there was a kotatsu[3], however, without a futon.
And most of all, inside of the kotatsu, someone who gave off the feeeling of being very dear to him sat. That was his father, Eichi.
His arms, which were full of burn scars due to his everyday work forging, peeked out from his cuffs. Because of his continuous works nearby, his back was completely bent.
His eyes brimming with strong determination and his thick eyebrows were his features.
ā Eijiā¦ you came back? Sit.
ā Yes.
As his father gave him this short command, Eiji sat in front of him.
For Eiji could sense the seriousness in his fatherās word, he did so without hesitation.
Once his father made sure Eiji sat, he stared at him fixedly.
Uff ā his father grasped his breath.
Eiji wasnāt good at dealing at with that big and strong-willed man whose look made him falter.
On the other hand, Eichiās words were calm as usual.
However, if Eiji were to consider his father words, they had an impact.
ā I received a call from your homeroom teacher. āEven though he gets excellence marks, itās a shame that he doesnāt want to go to universityā ā is what he said. Your answer was, because you wanted to succeed my business, or so it seemed.
ā Yes.
ā Give it up.
Usually a parent would rejoice, hearing that their child want to inherit their business. Instead, Eiji could hear these words.
ā Nowadays, smithing is no longer popular. Presently, even in this vicinity, the only smithing businesses to still be operating are the one from Yamada and ours. You donāt have to feel responsible just because youāre my oldest son.
ā Thatās not true. Iā¦want to do things which I like.
ā What?
ā Wasnāt it you who said that true value comes not from the ready-made goods, but the ones which you deliver to every person? That this is the reason why the blacksmith workshop has a higher regards than factories? Iāll succeed you, because, I love smithing.
ā Eiji.
The reason why Eiji uttered these words spontaneously was due to him watching his fatherās back for many years, which made him understand how important for him this job was.
For Eiji, it wasnāt strange to hear many workshops not being succeeded.
Presently, the number of businesses disappearing one by one, leaveĀ a little more than 100 smithing venues throughoutĀ Japan.
He wanted to change the current state of the smithing industry. As he believed it had the charm which was worth doing so.
Once Eiji said what he wanted to state, his chest was throbbing. The only thing remaining is to await the answer. His throat was sore and stinging.
Eichi had the expression of seeing a mysterious being.
As long as he can remember, he used to listen to his fathersā reasonable advice.
But for Eiji to blatantly oppose his father like this, it was probably the first time.
After Eichi was silent for a while, the next moment a smile appeared on his face.
ā Havenāt you become able to decide on your own? But, go to university.
ā Father!
ā Listen. Now, besides steel, there are a range of different alloys. The stained glass would be a perfect example. Iām not telling you to choose some random faculty. Was it metal engineering? If you to learn this subject of study, it will be useful for your future prospects, unlike me who only graduated middle school. When you have long session breaks, you can come to me any time. Iāll make sure to teach you until you have enough.
Once he understood his father words, Eijiās face was brimming with a smile without him knowing it. He couldnāt oppose that. Eiji was happy, more than anything.
ā Iām saying that Iāll teach you, but Iāll not go easy on you. Thatās why I wonāt let you go. Got it?
ā Thatās fine. Just tell me the things I want to know. Iāll do my best.
ā Iām going to slap that big-mouth of yours. ā¦Right. Letās celebrate this with sake. Youāre going to join me.
ā Iām still a minor.
Once father took out a bottle of sake, he quickly poured some into a cup.
Eijiās field of vision began to fade away.
He could understand his consciousness was slowly returning.
That was a really dear part of his memory.
Even now, he canāt go back to that.
Fatherā
He was leading a life with no anxiety for future, unaware of anything that could happen to him.
Tears began to flow from Eijiās cheeks.
āāāāāāāāāāā
Gon gon ā a relentless sound could be heard echoing.
It was the sound of the water mill which shakes oneās body to the core.
The sound of a pair of bellows blowing wind, the sound of the hot burning furnace, and then the sound of striking metal, all of these sounds were harmoniously reverberating in the blacksmithās workshop.
ā Master, this is quite a large number, isnāt it? Do you intend to repair all of this?
ā Yeah. It was beyond my expectations, but the hoe and the plough are still no good. Because of that, your work became more difficult, but please treat me well, Pietro.
ā Iāll do my best. However, itās still too early for me to do the finishing touches, isnāt it?
ā If you do the middle part, it should be fine. I understand that Iām rushing you butā¦
Inside the workshop, there were lots of hoe tips lined up.
These covered most of the things which Eji made, since the start of his job here.
The reason why theyāre being repaired is because most of them had the tooth part broken, due to land reclamation.
Perhaps, there was still too much carbon remaining than what he expected -is what he thought.
If thereās too much of carbon in the steel, it will be hard and sharp, however, easy to break.
Or was it due to the large amount of stones? ā he thought.
All the new hoeās tips which he prepared were to be used as replacements.
After that, Eiji considered extending the edge of the blade; nevertheless, this would take quite a lot of time.
Carefully heating the chipped bladeās edge one by one, he cuts them using shears, and attach a new steel-made one. As for the one that were cut, he melts them again, so as to reuse.
And once the day was about to end, an unexpected guest visited.
That was Mike the hunter.
He was holding a leather scabbard with a somewhat large butcherās knife.
-Thatās rare for you to visit me. Do you have any request?
ā Yea. Itāll soon be autumn. So if we donāt make our cows and boar livestock into a smoked product, it will be bad. Iād like to entrust you with this knife.
As he said, Mike handed Eiji the butcherās knife.
ā It cuts well through skin and fat, so itās a good knife. I know what youāre capable of, therefore, Iād like to have you make me another, but with a smaller size.
ā But, why do you want to use it for smoking?
Mike became unusually silent after hearing this simple question coming from Eiji. For someone like him, it was bound to happen, since he had never endured the winter in this village. The atmosphere turn silent due to this common question, but Eiji couldnāt understand that.
Because there are no developed techniques of preservation in this era, it would be better keep the stock alive ā he honestly thought.
ā Thatās right youā¦ Donāt cha know that during the winter, thereās no grass or weeds growing? Therefore, you wonāt be able to supply the livestock with enough food. Even if itās just a little, itās better to kill them and take their meat, rather than letting them die from starvation.
-Ohā¦ I see. Because this is the first time that Iām introducing the crop rotation system here, it would be natural. Sorry, it didnāt cross my mind.
ā Seriously, wonāt you brace yourself? Just how absentminded can you be?
Ahaha- Eiji laughed, while trying to coverĀ up his gaffe, and scratched his head.
Because life here was different from what he would normally expect, lots of discrepancy could be noticed in various aspects of life.
ā So,Ā byĀ when do you want me to make it?
ā I think that by the next week would be good.Ā There are going to be six other hunters helping me with preserving livestock. So just make as many as possible.
ā Understood. I still have to make the hoes, so I donāt know how many I will be able to forge. ā¦Speaking of which, you extract the fat when you do the smoking, right?
ā Oh, youāre quite knowledgeable aināt you? Thereās usually some remaining, but we do take out the fat.
ā In that case, If you donāt need, would you mind sharing it with me?
ā Well, there is not much of a use for it, and we canāt preserve the fat, so you can have as much you like. What do you intend to use themĀ for?
ā For soap. Because my work involves producing a large amount of ash, I was thinking of any other use for it, asides from the field work.
For Mike who wasnāt familiar with soap, Eiji explained it to be simply something used to clean off dirt.
Unlike smithing, this was a real, first challenge for him.
Eiji didnāt know how far it will work; however, he knew this challenge was worth doing.
Translator and reference notes:
[1]: Six tatami-mat room (I think some of you have heard, like for instance, from this anime: Invaders of the RokujyÅma!?)
[2]: Japanese chest drawers. picture:Ā http://webjapanese.com/archive/albums/userpics/10001/wadansu.jpg
[3]: Japanese Table frame. During cold days itās usually used together with kotatsu (blanket). Source:Ā https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu