I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 15. new daily life

After that, several conversations between Skleos and his parents led to a roughly new life pattern.

For two days out of every three days, they live in the village, helping shepherds.

The same daily routine as before, taking sheep or goats to graze in the pasture, watering them, and shaving their hair.

When I come back, I pray a simple prayer to Pan, the god of the shepherd, while eating dry bread, cheese, and meat stew with my family.

Except for the bleating of sheep, the rustling of grass in the wind, and the chattering of villagers, it is quite quiet, desolate and peaceful.

And after two days like that…

“I brought you.”

“Oh yeah. Always a lot of hard work. Your name is…”

“This is Theo, Master Skleos.”

It was the beginning of the smithy work.

“You can leave the child here. When the time comes, I will take you.”

“no. Wouldn’t it be better if I wait here and take you?”

At Theo’s words, Skleos seemed to be pondering something, then called me aside.

“Is that person your brother?”

“no. It’s not like that… He’s the older brother who helps with things around the house, but he knows my situation.”

“Are you trustworthy?”

“Ah yes?”

“So, are you the one who won’t spread the fact that I brought in a disciple and not just an attendant?”

“Maybe… too?”

I answered awkwardly, and Skleos groaned as if he didn’t like my attitude, and finally nodded.

“Well, your parents must be trustworthy to have entrusted it to you. Doesn’t anyone else know about it besides that young man?”

“Perhaps.”

“i get it. Hey, Theo?”

“yes!”

“I hope you will come here too!”

-Kang! kang! kang!

“@$#$, water! Give me some water!!”

“yes! I’m going now!!”

Instead of silence, the sound of hitting and metal friction fills the air, and instead of moderately warm sunlight, the heat of the furnace makes you sweat profusely.

Skleos’ fellow blacksmiths, fascinated by the equipment of the forge bestowed by the gods, gave up their work and rushed in, stroking furniture nonstop and clapping their hands in amazement at the intense heat of the furnace.

-Kang!

“The way you hold the hammer is wrong. Pull the sack a little closer to you.”

Of course, he didn’t just come and watch, he also helped Mr. Skleos in his class.

“What are you talking about? Pulling towards the body, where’s the bone harpoon? Right now, his problem is with using his wrist too much. By moving the entire arm…”

“That’s the basics, and I learned this from my father!”

“Was only you the father and I was the younger son? My mother raised me while eating iron rice, but where…”

It wasn’t all that helpful.

It wasn’t factory work in the first place, and they didn’t become blacksmiths because there was a proper manual or qualification test.

In most cases, it was only the skills and talents passed down through their bloodline that led them to their destiny as blacksmiths.

All the know-hows that family members have taught each other are mixed and mixed to become their own ways and their own secrets to work.

“Now, I’ll show you as a test, so take a good look.”

“I-I-I can’t move like that? What are you doing together?”

“Don’t just give advice on things you don’t even know, you should come and try it too.”

“Yes, [email protected]#$. Look at what this lady is doing. This is what being the example of hammering is all about.”

As the unsystematically accumulated knowledge pours into piles, naturally, the head becomes dizzy and the hands and feet start to play separately.

“stop. Don’t think about anything else, and let go of the strength in your hands and arms.”

It was Mr. Skleos who was directing traffic here.

“It’s nothing else than asking him to move his entire arm. This is all because you habitually tense your wrist and move the hammer.”

“Wrist?”

“Hammering is the process of hitting that impure lump of iron with a weight and crushing the impurities into small pieces. I have to use all my strength to make iron tough and strong, but don’t you only put strength on your wrists? Look.”

The man who picked up another hammer from the side did not hit a soft wooden block like I did, but held a real forged iron and put it on the anvil.

He probably brought the forged iron made in Hittite as it was. Wasn’t it only distributed in the form of refined iron ingots?

With the technology of this period, iron ore cannot be melted properly yet.

There are two ways to make steel.

One way to make steel is to make pig iron with a higher carbon content than steel, and then remove the carbon from it.

Conversely, one method is to make soft iron with low carbon content, then mix it with charcoal while heating to increase the carbon content to make steel.

Since the temperature cannot be raised beyond a certain level, it is difficult to properly melt iron and mix it with charcoal to inject carbon.

Therefore, when forged iron with low carbon content comes out in a moderately molten state, impurities that have clung to it must be broken with a hammer to increase its purity.

-bang!!!! bang!!!! bang!!!!

Just like that.

The feet ground the entire body to the floor, and the legs hold and balance.

The waist rotates softly to give a rebound, and the entire upper body rotates to apply great force.

That power is connected to the arm… The hammer at the end of the arm strikes a chunky piece of iron with force.

Again and again, with a force that is difficult not only for the seven-year-old me now, but also for the late 20s me in my previous life.

The stories other blacksmiths have told us show that each contains fragments of the whole picture, like the facets of a coin.

And when you collect those fragments…

-bang!!!!!!

A huge flow is created.

The holey lump of iron was firmly pressed down, and lumps of impurities of this kind were scattered all over the nearby floor.

It seems that people did not know before that the shape of a lump of iron can be changed by human power.

“… Huh… Like this… Do you understand?”

“···yes.”

“Hey Hippolytus, clean up the leftovers from the floor. Because I think I need to talk more with this guy.”

“Look at that. It’s okay to pull it toward your body.”

A man called Hippolytus grunts and quickly brings a broom and sweeps the dark shards off the marble tiles.

Skleos, who stared blankly at it, grabbed me by the shoulder and took me to the room where the hammer was placed and locked the door.

“Hey, take out the hammer.”

“all right.”

I snap my fingers.

Soon, a haze rises above your hand, and the landscape beyond it appears distorted as if you were looking through a lens.

As the amorphous distorted image is gradually fixed in the shape of a hammer, the distorted shape now becomes opaque and gradually acquires shape and mass.

Naturally, that part of the handle comes to my hand. He sighed and exhaled, and Hephaestus’s hammer, now fully formed, was lifted.

“…It’s an admirable sight every time I see it. By the way, it took less time to load than when I first did it.”

“Because I practiced every day as you said.”

It took quite a while to get used to bringing in the hammer.

Would it make sense if I explained it as the sensation of kneading air to create something out of nothing?

I honestly don’t understand. The fact that I have a hammer gifted by God in my hand still makes me stunned.

Anyway, the more I get used to this bizarre sensation, the more I get used to it, the more sensitive the hammer becomes.

It feels like it is gradually melting into me, like a part of my body.

“But why are you hiding this from the other blacksmiths? After all, Hephaestus-sama revealed the workshop he gave you.”

“Okay.”

After stiffening his face at my question, Skleos peered out through the crack in the door for a moment. It is full of people who are happy like babies, bending and unfolding the tongs made of rhymed iron.

Some of them got stuck in a barrier or something like a barrier while trying to sneak a meteoric iron tool out the door.

Pointing at that figure with his finger, Uncle Skleos said.

“Look at that figure. No matter how many people I’ve seen all my life, I can’t trust them just because they’re people I wouldn’t be able to run away from.

No, it would be difficult to add the modifier ‘reliable’ in front of the word human. Even in this situation.”

“…”

“Besides, this isn’t just good stuff. This is a divine thing.”

Uncle Skleos speaks with his gaze taken away by the hammer.

“Maybe you think like this. ‘Ah, the child who receives God’s prettiness has received a gift from God. It seems that the hammer serves and obeys that child as its master…’”

The words stop for a moment.

There is silence, and Mr. Skleos glances at me for a moment.

Greed passes me by.

“’If I kill that kid, maybe I can get the hammer?’”

“uh, ah···”

“Of course, those people I know are not like that. But there is such a thing as an if. I don’t want to kill you for my stupidity.”

Hagisa, how many usurpations and thefts did the kings and heroes in Greek mythology I know?

Even if he was favored by Hephaestus, killing a mere slave boy wouldn’t be enough to remain a story.

“Of course, even if that’s not the case… well, this space can be said to be a gift from Hephaestus-sama to all of us because we introduced you to it…

It is truly a gift given only to you alone. Envy may arise, or, on the contrary, some strange faith. I’m thinking that if I bow down to you right now, nothing will fall, ha!!”

“ha ha ha···.”

I laughed awkwardly at Uncle Skleos’ joke.

Everything Skleos said to me… was disturbingly full of reality.

The fact that there may be more dangers to come to me than I think is very unsettling.

And, more than anything else, the gaze that had just passed by me was uneasy.

I looked at the uncle for a while.

Uncle Skleos approached me with a face that was no different from usual and brought an anvil for practice.

“Get down with it from now on. It will be the hammer that suits you best.”

“···all right.”

I breathe in, then exhale. Let the air out of your body and relax your arms.

‘Strike with the power of the body. With the power of the whole body…’

The head of the hammer moves slowly. The hammer that best fits my body. My own hammer that can be used to break foreign objects or shape metal objects as its shape changes freely.

Now, I empty my head with one single thought of applying strong force to that iron to make it pure…

hit

-bang!!!!!

A power so strong that it cannot be compared to before.

Rather, the practice I had practiced outside of this room before might have been more like scraping metal.

However, the forged iron on top of that anvil, now lowered to my height, clearly distorted its shape from the point of impact.

“…”

I was speechless at the sight, and Mr. Skleos came up behind me and tousled my curly hair.

“Good job. It’s not just that he’s a good hammer… he’s also talented. Hephaestus-nim must have chosen the right person to show such strength even though he is only seven years old.”

“I just did what I was told.”

“… And besides, the young guy is good at flattering.”

As the uncle bursts into laughter, the power to tangle his hair increases.

This time, I was able to laugh along.

***

The work of the blacksmith wasn’t all about hammering, cleaning molds, managing fire…

If there is something more important than that…

“Hey, am I going to order a knife?”

“Do you alternate writing with both hands? Then the price should go up a little bit.”

meeting people.

“Now, did you just see it?”

“···What?”

“That’s what I just asked before making the knife. Think about how the question came up.”

“… Is it because the muscles in both arms are evenly developed? That’s why I’m not left-handed or right-handed, but I use both hands…”

“Wrong. Normally, when using a sword or spear, a shield is also used, but there is no difference in muscle mass. Let’s try to develop more observational skills.”

The positions of blacksmiths… are very ambiguous.

“It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Skleos. I have heard of a famous name for a long time.”

The wealthy merchants (of course, free people) who dominate this colonial city also bow lightly to Skleos and greet him like this.

Skleos nodded moderately and said, “Are you here? The extent to which the commissioned object is currently being completed.”

Even if the nobility came, the situation was not so different. The daughter of Skleos has already been engaged to a son of a noble family with a lot of history, and the same goes for the son who is troubled by not thinking about learning the technology.

It’s been a long time since the prejudice against blacksmiths who cringe and say, ‘Schoen, what can I help you with?’

Somehow, I wanted my parents to come out with a very low profile, but now that I work with them at work, I finally understand.

Skleos may have been a master craftsman at work, but when he went to meet clients or to a banquet of some aristocratic family, he wore an ornately embroidered mantle, recited verses with dignity, and skilfully praised the proprietor’s generosity and gentleness.

Yes. There is no label of nobility, but a status comparable to that of nobility.

. . . And the fate of having to break the feet like cattle to prevent them from escaping.

It was still difficult for me to understand how the two could coexist, but that is what being a blacksmith in this era is like.

That is to say…

“You shouldn’t dare to talk about or ask about the client’s secrets, weaknesses, or flaws he doesn’t want to reveal. But you must make rings, shields, and spears with awareness of it.”

It is said that you need to master the so-called ‘aristocratic way of speaking’.

It was fortunate that there was no need for me to entertain guests.

I am here…

“So, it means putting on pockets. Then, by opening and closing the two handles, wind is generated. Let’s call this thing a bellows for convenience.”

“Hmm, but that alone won’t be enough to generate strong heat.”

“So the forge should be built near the river. By attaching a water wheel, the handle is turned by the power of the river instead of the power of human hands.”

Create something new like ‘scissors’.