After some time of walking through the trees of the grove around the hill where the Takeru family shrine was located, they arrived at a large 2 stories building located somewhere at the foot of the hill behind the main house, which this building is still in the private land of the Takeru family. Around them and this building are shady trees, which its branches are swaying because of the wind. From the atmosphere around this building, it appears that this building was meant to be built in a hidden area for some reason. A building for weapon forging, a classical modern Japanese-style building with a chimney. Makoto then opened the tall shiny brown polished wooden door of this building.
Inside, there was a middle-aged man with a burly body who was a blacksmith, preparing the large blacksmith forge in the form of a fire oven he needed to forge, it appeared that the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin was already in this room. His name is “Hirazo”, a blacksmith who works closely with the Takeru family. Ken and Makoto then walked into this building. Seeing the arrival of Makoto and Ken, this blacksmith stopped his activities, and he then smiled
"Welcome Makoto, preparations have been completed"
Makoto smiled
“Good, now we just need to finish it”
Makoto looked at Ken
"Now I'll show you why your weapon can't be reforged after done made"
Makoto turned to look at the blacksmith
"Alright Hirazo, please warm up that chunk of Asanuma's body part"
This blacksmith gave a nod, he then lifted the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin with the help of a pulley, then put it in a very hot fire oven. Makoto looked at Ken
“This will take some time, so enjoy it”
Ken's expression turned curious, he then gave a nod
"Yes, of course, Grandpa, don't mind me"
They then witnessed the melting together.
After some time being heated, it appears that now chunks of Asanuma's armor skin have begun to can be formed. Carefully, the blacksmith removed the lump from the fiery oven, using the help of a movable pulley, this chunk of armor skin now looks smoldering. Makoto then took the sculptor here, then turned to Ken
"Now you watch this"
Hearing this, Ken immediately watched what his grandfather was going to do, closely. Makoto then carved a bit of the chunk of the armor skin, it appeared that Makoto had to hit it several times, with all his might, even though this chunk of Asanuma's armor skin should have been more malleable once heated. Makoto finally succeeded, picking off this chunk of Asanuma's armor skin a little, Makoto's breath appeared to be out of breath because of this. The little lumps that were carved earlier then shattered and disappeared, like ash from burning paper. This made Ken surprised because this solid lump could just shatter away. Ken said
“Wait, what happened? The piece shattered a few moments after it was carved”
Makoto replied
"This chunk of Armor skin still contains Asanuma's life energy, which makes it brittle if it is split, the smaller split parts will lose that life energy, and shatter. Also, this piece of armor skin must be forged immediately, because, for the next few days or weeks, this chunk will harden and last like when it's still attached to the Yokai’s body”
Hearing this, Ken looked surprised. Makoto's expression turned serious, he then continued speaking
“Therefore, there must be no mistake, not even once, when forging this Yokai weapon. It takes special skills to forge it. The time spent must also be estimated carefully”
Before long, the blacksmith said
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“You make me sounds great Makoto”
Ken's attention immediately turned to the blacksmith. Makoto said
“But first, I want to thank you for taking your time to come here”
The blacksmith smiled
"No need to be reluctant, this is our ancestral tradition. Besides, I haven't been to this place in a long time, so I feel nostalgic"
Ken looked curious. Makoto then looked at Ken
"He is a member of the Yokai weapon forging family "Hirazo" which has passed down their knowledge about forging a Yokai weapon for generations. Even though of course this is not their main job, they still do it"
Hearing this, Ken appeared reluctant, he then gave a respectful bow to Hirazo
“Thank you for your time uncle”
Hirazo smiled
"You don't have to feel reluctant. Let me introduce myself, I'm Hirazo, A Yokai weapon blacksmith, nice to meet you"
Ken gave a respectful bow
“Nice to meet you too uncle Hirazo, I am Kenshubo Takeru. You can call me Ken"
Hirazo gave a smile, then walked over to Ken. Hirazo crossed his arms
"Okay Ken, what kind of Yokai weapon do you want?"
Ken replied
"Looks like I just want Katana sword uncle"
Hirazo's expression turned curious
"May I know the reason?"
Ken looked at his grandfather for a moment, which made Makoto look curious. Ken replied
“This is because before this, I tried grandpa's katana sword, and getting used to it, made me decide to choose that type of weapon, but with a slight difference. I want this katana to be longer than most katana, approximately 1.5 meters long”
Hearing this, Hirazo appeared even more curious
“Ho… wouldn't it be difficult to pull it from the scabbard? That sword is even close to your height”
Ken replied
"Therefore, I want this long katana sword to be made a special scabbard that makes it easy to pull it out of the scabbard"
Hirazo rested his chin, and appeared to be thinking for a moment, he then replied
“Hmm… well, but you still haven't fully answered my question. That katana sword, why does it have to be longer than most katana?”
Ken replied
"Because before this, I sparred with Asanuma, and realized that his attacks would be easier to block if the katana was longer"
Hirazo replied
"I see… by the way, I never met Asanuma, and only heard stories about him”
Ken looked surprised
“But, aren't you also a person who is used to forging Yokai weapons?”
Hirazo replied
"Yes, my family has known about Asanuma for generations, but I haven't seen him myself, ever since the Takeru family decided to stop taking care of the Yokai controller thing"
Hearing this, Ken appeared even more curious. On the other hand, Makoto walked up to Ken, then said
“It happened to the generation before you Ken, to be more precise, my generation. After a long time, you opened the veil again”
Ken looks curious
"So long you guys stopped, may I know the reason?"
Makoto appeared hesitant for a moment to answer
“In that case, we will discuss it after this”
Ken replied with a nod. Before long, Ken remembered something, he then took out a piece of paper from his pocket. Ken then handed it to Hirazo. Hirazo then accepted it with an astonished expression.
Hirazo opened this piece of paper, inside it appeared to be a drawing of a katana sword, with information on its length, blade, and sword hilt. Along the blunt side of this sword, depicted has a sturdy carved addition part. With a scabbard that looks unique and somehow also looks frightening. This scabbard also has a sturdy carved part on the curvature part like on the sword. It appears that on the engraving on the scabbard, it is given the caption "The blade of the sword" and another caption written "The opens and closes mechanism". Hirazo looked at this design closely and appeared to understand it. Ken said
“This is a design drawing of the Yokai weapon I want. Uncle can also help perfect it"
Hirazo turned his gaze which had been on the sword design drawing to Ken. Hirazo nodded
“Yes, now I understand what you mean by “Special scabbard”. With this, your long katana sword will still be easily pulled from the scabbard, even if it’s long. Alright, then we'll get started with this, I'll make and perfect it to the best of my ability"
Hearing Hirazo's words, Ken smiled happily. Hirazo operated the movable pulley here and brought back the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin. The heat of this oven was then raised by Hirazo, to soften the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin. Hirazo said
"This process is quite time-consuming, so if you guys want to do other activities, you guys can leave this weapon forging to me"
Makoto looked at his watch, then replied
"Okay, then I'll excuse myself, I have some work to do"
Makoto looked at Ken
“Are You okay to by yourself Ken?"
Hearing this, Ken became reluctant
"Of course Grandpa, it's okay if you want to go"
Makoto nodded
"Okay then, I'll excuse myself"
Makoto also ask for leave to Hirazo, Makoto then walked out of the building. Hirazo smiled excitedly at Ken
"Alright, let's make your Yokai weapon Ken"
Ken replied with a smile too.
Hirazo operated the device here, which then moved the pulley on the ceiling. Hirazo pointed this pulley over the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin, he then tied the steel rope to this chunk. While binding, Hirazo said
“A Yokai body part is something very hard to forge, the heat required to be able to forge it is several times the heat required to forge steel. Therefore, we also have to be careful”
Hirazo then re-operated this pulley from a nearby device, this pulley then moved back towards the large oven and entered it. When he was done, Hirazo untied the iron rope and pulley on the chunk of Asanuma's armor skin, then closed the oven door.