In the end, Shinobu did come to dinner!
There was no need to punish herself for someone else's mistakes. So she resolved not only to eat, but to eat heartily and properly!
At the dinner table, Shinobu ate with such gusto that the others couldn't help but glance at her repeatedly.
Kanae looked at Sosuke with a puzzled expression, wondering why her sister seemed even more combative today than yesterday.
Sosuke could only shrug, feigning innocence.
'I can't exactly tell her that our little incident yesterday was seen, and the girl was so heartbroken she nearly executed me on the spot, can I?'
After finishing their meal, Kanae led Sosuke to a room. Before they could even sit down, the door was pulled open.
Shinobu entered, carrying a tray with a teapot and cups. She deliberately sat down in the third seat, further solidifying the tense atmosphere.
Kanae glanced at her sister, but Shinobu closed her eyes, pretending not to notice.
Sighing, Kanae turned to Sosuke and asked, "When would you like to begin learning sword techniques?"
"The sooner, the better!" Sosuke replied.
He frowned. "But the Serpent Pillar came yesterday and asked me to forge a new Nichirin Blade for him. So, I probably won't have the entire day to dedicate to sword training."
Kanae nodded.
She knew perfectly well what Sosuke didn't.
Understanding Kagaya's true intentions behind this arrangement, Sosuke nodded. "Alright. You can set the schedule. Decide how much time each day you want to spend forging Nichirin Blades and how much time practicing sword techniques. You can find me anytime I'm not on a mission."
"Not at night!" Shinobu suddenly interjected.
Sosuke was speechless. 'Is she trying to warn me about something?'
Kanae's face flushed crimson, then darkened. She stood up, grabbed Shinobu by the scruff of her neck, opened the door, and tossed her outside.
After sitting back down, she let out a deep sigh and glared at Sosuke. "What exactly did you do to provoke her?"
"Hey, don't blame me," Sosuke said helplessly. "She's been acting like a battle-crazed warrior all morning. She claims she saw us lying on the roof last night..."
"She saw us?" Kanae's eyes widened in shock. She finally sighed deeply. "I'll explain everything to her."
Sosuke nodded.
"Don't blame her," Kanae said softly. "She's just... a little worried about me."
Sosuke nodded repeatedly. "I understand. I won't mind."
"...What do you understand?" Kanae's face flushed slightly. She felt awkward whether she explained or didn't.
Sosuke scratched his head and smiled. "Alright then. If possible, I'd like to start learning sword techniques from you this afternoon. In the morning, I want to purify the materials first."
Kanae nodded, then hesitated before asking, "May I observe?"
"Of course."
This was exactly what Sosuke had hoped for.
With their discussion concluded, the two stood up, opened the door, and found Shinobu curled up alone in the corner, her fingers unconsciously tracing patterns on the ground.
Kanae glanced at Sosuke. "You can go attend to your duties."
Sosuke swept his gaze over Shinobu, who was drawing circles in the corner, and sighed helplessly.
'If this continues, it'll be a real problem. I need to find a way to make my sister-in-law not just stop being an obstacle, but actually become an ally.'
As he pondered this, he walked toward his courtyard.
Shinobu pointed at his retreating back, her voice filled with accusation. "Elder Sister, look at him! He's definitely plotting something sinister! You must be careful!"
Her voice was tragic, each word dripping with anguish, like a loyal retainer ready to die by smashing his head against the palace pillars.
Kanae: "..."
Even after returning to his courtyard, Sosuke hadn't come up with any good ideas.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He lit the furnace and fed the materials into it.
Then he went inside to retrieve paper and ink, placing them nearby.
Today, he planned to calculate precisely how much Yang Flame Attribute he infused into a Nichirin Blade during its forging.
With concrete data and comparisons, he could categorize the blades into different tiers.
This would allow him to refine his techniques and forge even better Nichirin Blades in the future.
"If only my Golden Finger were more reliable," he grumbled. "It could have summarized all the data for me at a glance. Imagine how much effort that would save!"
The metal heated to the predetermined threshold. He pulled it out and placed it on the anvil.
Gripping the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer, he adjusted his breathing, channeling Gale Sun!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A whirlwind of strikes, each blow swift as a storm, echoed through the courtyard. In that instant, a ringing filled Sosuke's ears as the sounds of attribute fluctuations surged around him.
Carefully discerning the changes, Sosuke frowned and wrote "3" on the paper.
Under the scorching sun and howling winds, the Yang Flame Attribute increased three times, each time by one point.
Compared to when he had forged the Flower Pillar's Nichirin Blade, his technique seemed to have improved considerably.
Sosuke readjusted his breathing, and the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer blurred into countless afterimages.
He wrote another 5 on the paper, his brow furrowed as he stared at the hammer in his hand, a hint of conflict in his eyes.
After these two rounds of strikes, he had noticed a problem.
The Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer enhanced the impurity removal effect.
Gale Sun essentially mixed a large number of "-1 Impurity" effects with a few "Critical Hit" attributes.
Yet after these two rounds, he had noticed far fewer "-1 Impurity" sounds and many more "-2 Impurity" sounds.
If this wasn't due to the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer, it would be difficult to explain.
This meant that the time required to remove impurities—already significantly reduced by the Gale Sun Hammer—was further shortened by using the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer.
While this might be beneficial for forging blades, it wasn't ideal for enhancing the Yang Flame Attribute.
After a moment's thought, Sosuke set aside the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer and picked up a regular forging hammer.
After a round of hammering, he placed the gradually cooling iron back into the furnace.
Then, he wrote a "2" on a piece of paper.
"The growth of the Yang Flame Attribute has diminished?"
Sosuke tapped his forehead with the pen. "Hmm, my control is a bit lacking. I've been out of practice lately and need to regain my touch. But even in this state, the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer can still produce up to five Yang Flame Attribute enhancements... If we follow this logic, we can probably understand how the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer works."
"I've enhanced the efficiency of impurity removal while also increasing the critical hit rate of the Yang Flame Attribute. Hmm, once it reaches the target temperature, I'll use a regular forging hammer to adjust the state and strike once. Then, using the same state, I'll try again with the Heavenly Artisan's Forging Hammer. That should give me a definitive answer."
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P.S. Every 250 power stones = 1 Bonus chapter