01. A sword for you (6)

Fuck!

I shoveled a magnetic rod into the sand under the river like a shovel.

“Suck!”

Then he waved his arms as hard as he could.

Steel puck, iron puck-!

The resistance of water and the weight of sand doubled, so the burden on the arms was considerable. Stirring the same place over and over again is inefficient, so I took one step forward and swept the sand like a broom.

I wanted to sweep the sand to some extent and pulled the magnetic rod out of the water. Then, black sandstone powder was clinging to the magnet.

I hand-sweeped iron sand attached to the magnet. Even though I stirred it so hard, I collected less than half a handful.

Even so, I collected the dust, carefully collected half a handful of powder called Taishan, and put it in a bag.

It’s heavy.

Soaked iron sand is quite heavy. Since I wear it around my waist, it is only natural that the weight increases whenever I repeat the work.

But we still have a long way to go to reach our goal. The road ahead was bleak. I wondered if the farmers who farmed with only two hands and a hoe felt like this.

“Whoa….”

He wiped his forehead wet with sweat from the hard work with his forearm.

Perhaps it was because he was constantly touching iron powder, the black powder stuck to his forearms, and he could feel the grainy powder every time he swept his face.

Now my appearance must be completely spectacle to the point of being like a miner working in a coal mine. And it will be similar to Yoon Seo-hee.

I glanced at her profile as she was gathering iron sand from a little distance away.

Yoon Seo-hee changed into her gym clothes and with the bottoms of her pants rolled up to her knees, she was digging through her sand with her magnet stick like me.

Even though her stamina would be exhausted from her long work, she does not show a single expression and sweeps through the seasons.

Even though her sweaty hair and iron powder clung to her forehead like soot, her beauty did not fade at all.

On the contrary, I felt that her white skin was emphasized even more because of the black iron powder, just as black and white contrasted on drawing paper.

The figure of Yoon Seo-hee taking in the sunlight reflected in the river under the setting sun was a bit dazzling, perhaps because of the backlight.

“… ….”

Are you too tired? I keep thinking about things.

Honestly, after I arrived here, I was engrossed in work for almost two hours. I am used to harvesting iron sand, so even if I can endure it, the fatigue of Yoon Seo-hee, who is the first to do something like this, will not be easy.

Because of her excellent melee stat correction and sincere personality, she just doesn’t say anything, and even now, the slight trembling of her forearm muscles as she held the magnet rod could be seen here.

“Let’s take a break.”

“Huh? No it’s okay! Am I still fine?”

Yoon Seo-hee twirled one arm around her as if to show that she was fine, but because of that, she slightly frowned as if she could feel her pain.

I shook her head and said.

“It’s not like I’m only working today, so don’t overdo it. When you rest, you should rest.”

“Is that so….”

She didn’t show it, but maybe she wanted to rest as well. I got out of her water and took her dry towel from her bag and handed it to her.

“Wipe your face with this.”

“Thank you. Oh, I think I will live.”

I took out my share of towels and wiped off her wet face and limbs. It took an instant for the pure white towel to become dirty with black stains.

It was already well past six in the afternoon.

I thought I should eat something, so I took out a sandwich I brought from home.

“Are you hungry? Eat this too.”

“Ouch, really? Preparation is good I will eat well.”

The expression on her face as she took the sandwich was very bright, as if she was hungry after the hard labor.

“Is it a sandwich? Delicious!”

Yoon Seo-hee opens her mouth wide and takes a big bite of the sandwich. She stumbles a few times and then looks at me with her eyes wide open.

“… It’s very delicious even though it’s not included. Where did you buy it from?”

“I’m glad you like it. That’s what I made.”

“You made this binary?”

I nodded lightly. After telling Yoon Seo-hee to change into her gym clothes and wait first, I went home for a while to get what I needed. Towels, magnetic poles, and sandwiches were all brought back then.

“You knew how to cook? Well….”

It is an exaggeration to use the word cooking for a sandwich. It didn’t require great skill and the ingredients weren’t special, so it was simply made with bread, sliced ham, green lettuce, and tomato sauce.

The market is a side dish, so it just tastes better because you’re hungry.

But Seohee Yoon stared at the sandwich in her hand and carefully chewed it as if to savor it more than before. It was funny, but it looked cute for no reason, so I burst out laughing without even realizing it.

We sat side by side on the sandy beach, ate sandwiches, and watched the sunset over the Han River.

The sky dyed red with the glow of the sunset. A soft orange color swaying over the river.

The scenery in everyday life, which usually did not attract attention, looks different today.

“Pretty… I didn’t know there was a place like this at school.”

“Sure.”

I didn’t even know there was a place like this until I looked around at the beginning of the semester to see if there would be a good place to get private seasons.

The academy was built using the entire site of an artificial island in Seoul, so the building is floating on the Han River. So, there are parts that touch the river like this, and thanks to that, I was able to get good quality iron sand that flows along the river.

“Anyway, it’s amazing. How do you get iron from something like this?”

Yoon Seo-hee swung her magnetic stick, which she had been carrying all afternoon, in the air.

“Sand is formed by the weathering of various rocks. That is why the iron component mixed in the sand is attracted to the magnetism and comes out.”

“Heh, is that so?”

“It’s the traditional way. In the past, everyone made swords like this.”

“Everybody went through so much hard work to make a sword? Old people are great….”

Yoon Seo-hee pounded my shoulder with her fist, saying that her waist and her shoulders were already going to fall out. The whole time she looked down at the floor and worked hard, so she deserved it.

“You keep doing this all weekend? Then how much do I need to collect to make one sword?”

“Hmm. Considering the process of removing impurities and refining, we need at least 30 kg.”

This is also the minimum. Considering the possibility of failing a few times in the middle, it is safe to have twice that amount.

Of course, considering the remaining time, it’s not realistic to collect that much, so I set the target amount at 30kg.

“3, 30Kg… You can collect them all, right?”

“It will depend on how hard the two of us work.”

“… I will work harder.”

Yoon Seo-hee, with her spleen expression, tightened her hand holding the magnetic rod as if to reaffirm her resolve.

Kudeudeuk. A dangerous sound of wood being squeezed was heard. It looks like it will break, so please don’t squeeze it any harder than that.

“I can’t do it anymore after it gets dark anyway. Let’s finish it in just 30 minutes today. You shouldn’t miss the last train either.”

“Yeah, that’s right….”

My house is right in front, so even if you say you can walk, Seohee Yoon has to take a shuttle bus to the station and then take the subway from there. It would be better to send it early.

I got up and resumed my work.

–

Puck!

“Suck!”

Steel puck, iron puck-!

How long did you stir the stick in the water? I lifted my head to wipe the sweat from my forehead.

The sky, which had been orange, darkened before I knew it and was dyed indigo blue.

… What time is it? The concept of time is blurry because he is so absorbed in his work.

After wiping off the water and iron powder on his hands with his pants, he took out his smartphone from his back pocket and checked the time.

[19:45]

Has it already been this time?

“Yoon Seo-hee!”

“Heo Eok… yes?”

I raised her voice and called Seohee Yoon. She looked this way with her weary face, probably because she was too absorbed in her work.

“Go ahead! Miss the last train like this!”

“What? Has it already happened?”

The shuttle bus service lasts at 8:00 PM.

So I was planning to do it for 30 more minutes, but an hour passed unexpectedly.

Yoon Seo-hee slipped away to shore with her weary steps. Wiping herself with a towel, her eyes widened as she checked the time.

“It’s too late… ! I have to go soon. Lee Jin-ah, come out quickly too!”

“Go first. I want to do more.”

Puck! I replied as I stuck a magnetic rod into the sand.

“Uh… ?”

I couldn’t even reach 1/3 of my goal. Even if today is Friday and tomorrow is the weekend, you really can’t be here all weekend digging all year round.

I have to work on turning iron sand into ingots, and I also have to draw blueprints for the sword. Since the state-of-the-art equipment of the smelting workshop was not available, the time required to forge the sword almost doubled.

It’s a board that splits time and splits but it’s not enough. It was a waste of time to rest at home.

As I was stirring the magnetic rod vigorously, I heard the sound of splashing water behind me. The sound came closer to me like angry footsteps.

It was Yoon Seo-hee. She grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

Seeing her up close, her expression looked very uncomfortable.