Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, if you expect too much from something, the feeling of betrayal which result from reality being worse than expectation--it’s unpleasant.”

 

“Blowing?”

“It’s swelling”

 

Pochi and Tama are rapidly looking around in fascination, pointing at the workers. They are pointing at the blowpipes that the workers are using to make glass bowls.

 

There are users of Air Magic who make sure that the passage used for touring stays cool--but the worker’s faces are ruddy and dripping sweat.

 

When Nana sees the swelling of the glass bowls--she looks unsteady, almost as though she’s being lured away from the tour and towards the glowing glass. Lulu and I grab her hands from both sides, to stop her wandering off--she wouldn’t do anything disruptive, but the distraction of a beautiful woman staring as though captivated at something you are doing; it can cause even the best of workmen to slip up.

 

“Master, I propose the need to initiate a more detailed inspection.” Nana is so captivated by the glowing glass that she doesn’t even glance at me as she asks in a monotone.

 

“We’re observing from here, okay.”

 

“Nana, you’re just going to hinder the workers. Please endure it.” Lulu spoke kindly, but her eyes were smiling.

 

She is so distracted, she doesn’t even get depressed by the denial.

 

In contrast with Nana, who interested to a strange degree, Arisa just glances around and yawns--I can understand that. When I heard about Oak Glass Workshop, I was expecting some kind of fantasy workshop--but it looked very much like the one I toured when a friend started working for a glass workshop on Earth.

 

The workers wear thick materials to protect themselves as they have metallic containers in their workspace. The metallic containers are all connected to a large cistern filled with bubbling, glowing, melted glass--there is some Magic used here, an array of Magic Circuits keep the glass at melting temperature. There are Runes and Magic Arrays running along the pipes, and a permanent Air Curtain surrounds the cistern, so that the workers don’t succumb to the fumes.

 

“If you’re interested, how about trying to make one yourself, when the tour is over?” The tour guide asks--he is a depressed-looking man, the head of the workshop. He’s bizarrely thin, and his level is low, so he looks old.

 

“Yes please.” I reply to him.

 

Next, we’re guided to a place where the raw materials for the glass is produced--all the workers have cloth covering their noses and mouths, these cloths have glowing symbols sown into them. This is probably to stop the dust.

 

“This is where we crush stones such as granite and quartzite, which will become glass--after we melt the resulting sand”

 

The last room in the tour is the main event.

 

“This is the sheet-glass Magic tool used for making windows, mirrors, and other glass products--it’s a legacy from the Oak Empire, the empire that preceded the Shiga Kingdom.”

 

So that’s why it’s called the Oak Glass workshop.

 

“It looks like a normal pressing machine, huh?” Arisa says, she is looking a little more interested now.

 

Red-hot liquid glass is poured onto the top of a pedestal, which is one meter wide and 2 meters long. Then a flat sheet of metal, with some Magic Circuits carved into it, comes down and creates sheet glass.

 

Furthermore, we’re showed the process to make mirrors from the sheet glass. It seems that they use Silver Nitrate, the completed mirror looks very similar to mirrors from Earth. I happen to have some Silver Nitrate, since it’s used in Alchemy--so I can also use it to make some mirrors.

 

“It’s like Soruna’s compact mirror.”

“It’s big!”

 

Pochi and Tama look at the completed mirror.

 

I see, they’ve seen the one that the Baron Muno’s eldest daughter, Soruna, uses. But they seemed surprised that they could see their entire bodies reflected.

 

Not only Tama and Pochi, but also Arisa, Mia, and even Nana and Liza are looking at the mirror--while taking poses. I should buy one on my way back. However, only Lulu turns her face from the mirror--it’s unfortunate that she still considers herself ugly.

 

This is unfortunate.

 

I wonder if there’s a way to make Lulu stop hating her own appearance--other than the way that I had to. I was a very ugly kid through almost all of my school life, and it took years before I learned to accept my looks. Right now, all I can do is tell Lulu that she is good looking, and show her that I don’t mind her looks--she will probably accept herself, but it will take a long time.

 

I had already spoken to Arisa about it, and she also had the same suggestion as I was already trying to carry out.

 

They’re charging a fee for experiencing the glass-making process, the use of blowing instruments, so I pay. Once we are finished, we get to keep the blowpipe as commemoration.

 

>>Skill: Glasswork Acquired.

 

I decide not to activate that skill for now, since I don’t know when I would get the chance to use it--and I should really save Skill Points, just in case.

 

As we leave, the tour completed, I ask the price of a full-length mirror--but all of the reservations are completely full, so I would have to wait 2 years.

 

Artistic glass-works seem to be popular for the senior nobles of the Royal Capital, however, glass is mostly used here to make windows--so their rate of production can’t keep up with the demand.

 

***

The Oak Glass workshop was fun to visit, but I can’t say the same about the brewery--it really stinks, and is inefficient. I made a better Still in my highschool chemistry class…

 

Apparently, everyone is tired, so I decided to postpone the scheduled visit to the Barrier Support Workshop for tomorrow--just the name makes me curious, could there be a place that makes Magic Tools that create little shields--like the ones that the Golden Boar-Headed Demon Lord used.

 

Shelna nodded and noted down the changes.

 

By the way, today’s lunch is pickled meat from a stall that wasn’t there yesterday, and an odd soup--it tasted a little burned, but is quite delicious. I only note this down because according to Arisa, there’s a similar dish in her previous Earth, though there doesn’t seem to be one in mine--I like hearing about Arisa’s Earth, for two reasons: the first being that parallel worlds interest me; the second is I like learning about Arisa, whether about her current life, or her previous world.

 

“What should we do in the afternoon? How about watching the Martial tournament qualifier?” Arisa looks up from her food and asks me.

 

“Will Master participate too?” Pochi asks instantly, she and Tama sit up straight with excitement in their eyes. Tama looks intently at me, “Peerless, hence wonderful?”

 

She seems to have high expectations of me.

 

“I won’t.” I deny straight away, because I think that watching would be more fun--more than anything, the demerits for being the champion outweigh the merits.

 

Pochi and Tama look disappointed when they hear my words--diving back into eating their food, rapidly cheering up.

 

Liza looks up, “I think Master would become the champion--are you really not going to participate?”

 

Mia nods, “Nn, champion.”

 

“Master, there are both a museum and an opera house nearby--how about going to one of those?” Lulu changes the topic.

 

Taking the opportunity, I quickly check my map that the museum is close enough that the tired girls won’t complain, “Right, let’s go to the Museum, then.”

 

I don’t think any of the girls, except maybe Mia, and possibly Nana, would enjoy an opera--I know I wouldn’t…three or more hours sitting still and listening to singing so piercing that it feels like someone driving stakes through my eyes and ears. I went once, when asked by a female friend of my sister, and it wasn’t enjoyable--she was there with her boyfriend, and my sister…So it wasn’t even a date.

 

There’s an Elf from the same village as Mia in the opera house, but when I ask Mia about it--she doesn’t seem to recognize the name.

 

***

The other visitors in the museum seem to mainly be women who look to be financially well-off, and their servants.

 

“Yamato?”

“Oh.”

 

Pochi and Tama look at a certain exhibition, they seem excited.

 

“Hmm, it seems they’re holding exhibition of the Ancestor King, Yamato.” Arisa says.

“It’s quite crowded there.” There are quite a few people.

 

“Nn.” Mia agrees, holding my sleeve and partially hiding behind my back--so cute.

 

The museum is constructed from three interconnected main halls. Among them, the biggest hall is currently holding an Ancestor King Yamato exhibition, for a limited time only.

 

There are arrows and guides to show us the order which we are to look at the displays--I decided to follow the order.

 

First, there’s an area with stuffed Monsters and Skeletons.

 

The impression is different from normal museums because of the stuffed Monsters.

 

“It’s dangerous, please this to Pochi and go ahead!”

 

“I’ll wait it to you.”

 

“Pochi, we’ll wait ahead after defeating the Demon Lord!”

 

Pochi, Tama and Arisa seem to be acting out a small drama for some reason--and Tama, it’s ‘I’ll leave it to you’, not ‘I’ll wait it to you’.

 

“Master, are they not going to move?” Nana points at the stuffed forms of a small kingfisher and squirrel-like small animal.

 

“Well, they are stuffed--so, they probably won’t” Though, if they somehow became Undead, they would move--whether or not they were stuffed.

 

“It’s cute.”

“Nn.”

 

Lulu and Mia are looking at a penguin--so, even a fantasy world has these.