1.
Those who lived in My Tower could, by default, use something called an auction house.
You could say it was another function granted to them when the Tower opened.
It was new technology as well… The younger crowd seemed to use it quite often, but for older people, it was not so easy to get the hang of.
Then, on the 89th floor, a small commotion broke out inside the enormous tent of the Sun Dwarf settlement.
"...High Chieftain."
"What is it?"
"The Sunwheel Iron we put up at the auction house has just sold."
"..."
Iron that held the sun… Sunwheel Iron was the mineral most familiar to the Sun Dwarves, and one with the highest value.
As an Heir of Fire, it was the kind of mineral one would inevitably want to handle more and more as time passed.
That was why Ricardo had listed it, hoping the heir would purchase it.
Hoping that someday, the heir would recognize its necessity and buy it himself…
"It was five hundred thousand gold, was it?"
"Yes."
"...It must have felt quite expensive."
One might ask why he had not simply sold it cheaply… but the true value of Sunwheel Iron approached ten million gold.
It was among the minerals stored in the treasure vault passed down through their ancestors.
That was why he had set the price at five hundred thousand gold—a sum burdensome enough to deter intervention from other groups that might recognize its worth.
An Heir of Fire would surely have no trouble making money… He had merely hoped the heir would buy it one day.
The wait was over.
And sooner than expected.
He is progressing well.
So he had recognized its value.
There was not much Ricardo could do for the heir now… Only things like this.
All he could do now was watch and see what the heir would create with Sunwheel Iron.
2.
"...This is scary as hell."
This was a mineral worth five hundred thousand gold, after all.
Unlike Whiteheart Iron, it was not a material I could just trade away for peanuts or melt down and replace later.
It was time for temperature control to become even more important.
"Hwiri, I need your help."
"Yes!"
I lit the crucible furnace… placed the Sunwheel Iron into the crucible, and pushed it inside.
Whoooosh!
With Hwiri’s help, I raised the heat.
Sunwheel Iron was iron that held the sun. This crucible furnace would probably experience the hottest day of its life today.
Naturally, the same went for me…
"Yeah, I’ve got Hwiri."
"Yay!"
It seemed I would not have to worry about being steamed alive.
Fwoosh…
Just a little more, just a little more…
The most intuitive way to tell that the heat was rising was by the changing color of the flames.
From red to orange, from orange to yellow…
And as I gradually raised the heat further—
Fwoooosh!
White flames bloomed.
"...Like this… Slowly…"
Hwiri and I had worked together a great deal lately, and we had talked extensively about managing the fire.
Once we decided the exact temperature to maintain… Hwiri only had to gently blow air into it once every twenty-five seconds.
If she blew too hard, the heat would rise too much and melt the crucible furnace. But if she blew too gently, the temperature would drop.
"Good. Keep it like that."
Now all that remained was to wait until the Sunwheel Iron thoroughly absorbed the heat.
Standing on the stairs, I watched the Sunwheel Iron being heat-treated amid the white flames.
...About five minutes passed, and just as I thought there had been no change yet—
Sunwheel Iron was basically silver with red veins running through it.
Then suddenly, as if an earthquake had struck dry earth, the red veins cracked open with a crack.
"W-Wait."
Bzzzz…
The silver exterior began to turn completely red.
I had heard that Sunwheel Iron’s appearance could change during refinement depending on its properties and quality.
"No, but still…"
Was it supposed to turn this bright red?
The edges of the reddened Sunwheel Iron grew soft, then began to slowly collapse like ice cream in summer.
"...Well."
Come to think of it, red would be good for making rose petals… Mm-hm. It actually suited it better.
Maintaining a positive mindset, I took up the rod and gently stirred the melted Sunwheel Iron.
"At least I saved myself the trouble of painting it."
Not that I had intended to paint it in the first place.
The red molten metal melted thickly within the crucible, and I poked it a few more times to make sure no clumps remained.
"...Hwiri, you can stop feeding the fire now."
"Yes!"
Whoosh…
I dragged the broad mold I had prepared beforehand onto the workbench.
Now I needed to pour the Sunwheel Iron into it and let it harden into a sheet, but it was much thinner than I had expected.
That made the pouring far more difficult. If it overflowed, I would be screwed.
I lightly heated this too. It could not be too cold.
Once all preparations were complete, I picked up the tongs and firmly hooked them onto the crucible.
"...I won’t spill it."
[Are you trying to hypnotize yourself?]
I carefully descended the stairs, lifted the crucible, and tilted it over the sheet mold.
Gluuug…
At the same moment the truly bright-red molten metal poured into the mold—
"Slowly…"
The mold gradually filled, just as I intended.
Uh, the corners too—there too. Fill it right up.
Before I knew it, I had successfully poured the molten metal evenly into the large mold.
The fact that I had not spilled a single drop on the floor was an incredible achievement, seriously.
...Since each drop was worth roughly a hundred thousand won.
As I said, the sheet was extremely thin, so it did not take long to harden.
Even after cooling, its color remained unchanged.
I lightly pressed the sheet with a spatula.
"...Mm."
It had not hardened yet. Perfect.
I immediately took out Dawn Bringer and lightly tapped the surface.
Tap… tap…
It was both a flattening process and a process of imbuing it with the hammering of an Heir of Fire.
And once the sheet had been flattened, what I needed next was a knife.
Using the cutting knife I had sharpened yesterday, I scored the Sunwheel Iron sheet in long strokes.
I had already finished analyzing the structure of a rose. Its petals grew larger toward the outside, while those inside were small and curled inward.
All I had to do was divide the Sunwheel Iron sheet into three sections—large, medium, and small.
Then I would subtly adjust each piece differently to turn them into petals. That was the process.
"In the end, it’s manual work."
Scrape…
I dragged the blade across the metal sheet, separating it into sections. That took care of the large, medium, and small sizes.
Now I just needed to cut each section to size.
Scrape… scrape…
Maybe because Sunwheel Iron was fundamentally a mineral, the sound of the knife scraping it was quite ASMR-like.
And so, I succeeded in dividing the large sheet into countless pieces.
"...Now, by hand."
Manual work had to come into play eventually.
If someone threatened me into making a flower with nothing but a hammer… Well, I probably could.
But I guarantee Yeomhwa would receive not a rose, but a red cabbage.
Sunwheel Iron absorbed heat quickly, but it cooled quickly too. It was basically a pot-like material.
In fact, that made it incredibly advantageous when used as equipment.
After all, it started up fast and was less likely to overheat, making it a material that suited Yeomhwa very well.
"..."
Still a long way to go.
The moment I put down the knife, I picked up the smallest piece first.
I curled in both sides… then rolled the tip slightly inward.
Press.
"...One."
I had finally made one.
One petal complete.
Bzzzz…
According to Yuna’s hologram floating in the air, the number of petals remaining was…
[Nine large ones, twelve medium ones, and fourteen small ones!]
I still had thirty-five petals left to make.
Normally, this was the sort of thing you did not count.
So I immediately picked up the next piece.
After curling it, I pressed each petal at a different angle.
The point was for all thirty-six petals to differ in size and shape.
If they were all the same, it would be a mass-produced product.
How much time passed like that?
Press…
"...Thirty-six."
I carefully set the final petal onto the workbench.
...At last, I had gathered all thirty-six petals.
I had finished making them, but…
My fingers would barely move, and something felt wrong with my back too.
"But seriously, how much time has passed?"
[...Twenty hours.]
"..."
Yeah, it was fine.
I would rest properly after I finished this. Yeah. Okay.
Now for the final step.
If there was a rosebud, then of course it needed a stem to support it.
So what would I make the stem out of?
"Whiteheart Iron."
The material that had gloriously failed to become the main ingredient was getting reemployed.
If you were good at anything, there was always a chance for reemployment.
The core circuit through which mana flowed ultimately had to be the rosebud, while the stem only needed to support it properly.
For that purpose, there was no material better than Whiteheart Iron.
It lacked impact when used as the protagonist, but it was great in situations like this.
I retrieved the Whiteheart Iron stem I had made in advance from beside the workbench.
It was a silver stem no larger than half my pinky. The color combination differed from a real rose, but I preferred this.
Silver and red looked classy, did they not?
"Let’s assemble it."
I set the Whiteheart Iron stem upright in the holder.
It was a small detail, but I had carved tiny grooves very closely together at the end of the stem.
So I could fit the petals in without issue.
"Put it up."
[Okay.]
Bzzzz…
A translucent hologram of a rose appeared above the Whiteheart Iron stem.
It was identical to the three-dimensional blueprint of the rose I had brought from the garden.
Creak.
When I fitted in the first petal, the Whiteheart Iron stem snapped tightly around it.
"About this much."
Next, the second petal went to the opposite side, wrapping around the first.
Click.
The third petal filled the gap between them.
Click.
With every petal added, a small flower bud took shape at the tip of the stem.
"Oh."
Now it actually looked like a flower.
Following the hologram, I kept fitting in petals without stopping.
The small petals held the interior tightly, while the medium petals were arranged in alternating layers to complement one another.
And the largest petals were placed so they could embrace all of it.
And, most importantly… so the petals could bloom when needed.
Click.
Only one petal remained.
The thirty-sixth and final petal found its proper place.
Creak…
"..."
At the same time, the Sunwheel Iron and Whiteheart Iron tore into one another and interlocked tightly.
So firmly that the joint was invisible, as though it had been welded…
"..."
At last… a bright-red rose had been created.
I picked up my rose and compared it to the rose I had brought from the garden…
"..."
After studying them back and forth for a long time, I came to a conclusion.
"Mine’s better."
I had surpassed the original and succeeded in making a perfect rose.
"Heh-heh."
I wore a wicked grin as I inspected the flower for a while, when a thought suddenly came to me.
"...Flowers need sunlight."
It was only natural.
I rose to my feet with the rose in hand—
Sway.
"Whoa…"
I barely managed to support myself by bracing a hand against the table.
"I nearly fell over."
I could collapse after it was complete.
If I had collapsed with thirty-five petals left, I would have died too frustrated to even close my eyes.
On trembling legs, I opened the workshop door and stepped outside.
Creak…
Pouring sunlight greeted me…
I lay down in the workshop garden and held the rose out beneath the sun.
"...Go photosynthesize a little."
That instant—
Tremble…
The rose clenched in my hand trembled.
Then—
Rustle…
The curled petals slowly unfurled.
"W-Wait."
I had not even activated it yet?
Then, from atop one petal at the very center of the fully bloomed rose, a spark leaped out.
Crackle…
A golden crest began to form.
"...There it is."
The mark of the Sun Dwarves, an Heir of Fire, and among them, a Skilled Blacksmith.
Once again, a crest proving that an Heir of Fire had completed a piece of equipment.
The golden crest was engraved upon the innermost petal.
"..."
Pop!
Then the equipment interface appeared before my eyes.
─────────────────
[Fiancée: Rose Bloom Finale] [★★★★☆]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility] [- /100]
─────────────────
[A rose that embraces the sun does not wither.]
[Equipment possessed of beauty enough to make even gods jealous.]
[The wearer gains a certain amount of divinity.]
─────────────────
[Sunwheel Bloom]
[The thirty-six petals absorb sunlight and ambient heat, storing them in independent chambers.]
[While the bud remains closed, it accumulates heat. The moment it blooms fully, all chambers activate simultaneously.]
[As long as sunlight or heat is supplied, ammunition reloads infinitely.]
─────────────────
『Hiding is your freedom. If you can evade it, that is.』
- ??? -
『Equipment that holds fire, and equipment for my daughter as well.』
『I understand your intentions perfectly.』
『Gaia, surely you know the meaning of roses?』
- Goddess of Fire, Ignia -
『.........................』
- Goddess of Earth, Gaia -
─────────────────
Along with the equipment status floating before me, something I had never seen before appeared.
─────────────────
[A new set effect is being established.]
─────────────────
A set effect was being established?
That was a thing?
─────────────────
[Fiancée]
─────────────────
[Fiancée: Rose Bloom Finale] [★★★★☆]
[Fiancée: Tmir’s Grimoire] [★★★★★]
─────────────────
[Tmir’s Grimoire is forcibly incorporated into [Fiancée].]
[The instant the grimoire converts a spell formula into a magic bullet, it is duplicated and loaded into the rose’s chambers.]
[For loading and firing, the heat accumulated in the rose is consumed before the wearer’s mana.]
─────────────────
I needed a moment to understand the flood of information hitting me all at once.
"W-Wait a second…"
Let us look at this one step at a time.
The rose I made had gained a set effect.
And as if that was not enough, it had incorporated Tmir’s Grimoire—which had been doing perfectly fine on its own—however it pleased.
The effect was even simpler. From now on, Yeomhwa would no longer have to squeeze out her own mana for every reload.
Sunlight and heat would create new ammunition in the rose’s chambers.
In the end, the rose bore the entire mana cost.
"...It’s done."
It would help Yeomhwa’s rehabilitation, since she could not use mana.
It would work in tandem with her main armament through the set effect.
"..."
And it was equipment good enough to satisfy me.
I had achieved it all.
"That’s why you get greedy, damn it…"
As the corners of my mouth lifted…
I hugged the rose to my chest.
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