ch121-ch140 · 133-ch133

Chapter 133: O, Mu, Ra, I, Su

"There wasn't anything like a 【Blacksmith King】 or 【Blacksmith Saint】 on there. Well, that's about what I expected. What there was..."

【Master Craftsman】

【Master Artisan】

【Swordsmith】

【Master Hammer User】

【Elemental Smith】

【Namer】

That was the list of high-rank production jobs Mia-san ran through.

【Master Craftsman】 is like the basic job of the high-rank production line.

It can learn the upper skills of things like 【Woodworker】, 【Craftsman】, and 【Leatherworker】.

Mia-san apparently makes leather armor and the like too, so it's a valid option, I suppose.

(Specialize it further and it becomes something like 【Master Woodworker】, maybe?)

【Swordsmith】, as the name says, must specialize in making katanas.

A spearhead is basically a katana blade too, right?

She makes nagamaki regularly anyway, so no surprise it showed up in her job options.

But I've heard of a few Triples who hold it, and apparently hunting down the best katanas carried by skeletons in the late 40s floors gets you something stronger...

Katanas drop easily, so pulling a rare out of that pool is easier too, or so the story goes.

If anything, their real main work is reforging those dropped katanas, plus making beginner-grade ones.

(Is 【Master Hammer User】 even a production job?)

【Hammer User】 is a combat job—and Mia-san's sub-job.

From the name, a production job that uses a hammer...

Sounds like it'd specialize in woodworking, but maybe it's good at forging katanas and other weapons too.

Though it seems like it could fight just fine...

(【Elemental Smith】—famously the production job nobody recommends.)

【Elemental Smith】 is the job that grants elemental attributes to weapons you make yourself.

But on its own, the effect is extremely weak.

It grants whatever magic you yourself can use, so you only get worthwhile attributes if your main job is a mage class that can cast powerful spells.

Take a magic high-rank job at Floor 30, then take 【Elemental Smith】 at Floor 40—only then does the job mean anything. But clearing Floor 40 is hopeless in Japan, so right now nobody holds it.

Overseas, there's someone famous who can grant fire attributes.

There are also similar buffer jobs—【Attribute User】 and 【Enchanter】—that can grant temporary attributes to weapons.

Incidentally, no magic high-rank jobs showed up for Mia-san, so Magical Girl Mia will not be happening.

"My real pick is 【Master Artisan】. It's got synergy with 【Blacksmith】. For making metal weapons, this is the one."

There's 【Master Artisan】, 【Master Craftsman】, and 【Swordsmith】 on the list, but Mia-san is apparently going with this one.

If it's got synergy, can I take that to mean it's 【Blacksmith】's high-rank evolution?

"If it's metal, there's also the 【Alchemist】 job, isn't there?"

"I always bought my materials, so I figure that one'd only show for someone who actually smelts steel from iron ore. By the way, 【Alchemist】 is a mage-type job, so strictly speaking it's not production at all. ...Though if we're splitting hairs, 【Namer】 has general-class job stats too..."

Come to think of it, she did say buying spear shafts beat making them.

At low ranks you can't compete with industrial products like carbon fiber, and even at high ranks, reforging drops from the 40s floors yields better goods—that's the reality for Japan's production classes.

And even so, she'd rather be 【Master Artisan】 than 【Namer】?

With 【Namer】, she could reforge Floor-40 weapons with her 【Blacksmith】 skills and put a name on them for even stronger gear.

That's the build of the artisan hailed as Japan's number-one production class...

"If... no, look—if Kasumi-san told me to take 【Namer】, I'd take 【Namer】. The whole reason I even started wanting to be 【Master Artisan】 was Kasumi-san's influence... She's looked out for me all this time, and today she's even getting me promoted to Triple-Rank. I want to be useful to Kasumi-san. So... I'll take 【Namer】."

"Because of my influence...? As I said last night, this Triple-Rank promotion is not a request we hired you for. I'm doing this of my own accord, so there is no debt to repay, and please choose your job freely. What we need is a companion who understands Haruki-san and will keep his secret—the job is irrelevant."

A girls' night!

Just what exactly did they talk about last night?

"Well, I just found out that understanding this guy is impossible, so?"

"Hey!"

"Your skills are absurd, your strength is absurd, and your head's absurd too. Ah, wait, I'm not supposed to talk about that, huh? Well, can't blame anyone for wanting it kept secret... That part's fine, but..."

Even worse!

"Hmm~? Either one's fine, no? On Floor 40 tho—...moga moga."

Right as Shiraishi-san gets going, Kasumi-san claps a hand over her mouth.

What's going on?

Kasumi-san's lips move.

No sound comes out.

O, mu, ra, i, su?

"Omurice? Is that tonight's dinner?"

Kasumi-san presses a finger to her own lips—shh.

Then shakes her head.

"Moga moga!"

"What? What's wrong? Keep that up and Shiraishi-san's going to die."

It's at an angle Mia-san can't see.

A secret from Mia-san, then?

Kasumi-san's lips move again.

Sa・pu・ra・i・zu.

(Ahh—a surprise! The plan is to surprise her on Floor 40 too and have her grab one more job.)

"Moga moga!"

Shiraishi-san is nodding along vigorously.

Seems she got the message.

She's been released.

"I'd also like Mia-san to choose her job freely. May I hear that story—how Kasumi-san's influence set you aiming for 【Master Artisan】?"

Time to change the subject.

"No, wait—what happened to the omurice?"