Otherworld Metal Factory (Patreon)

Chapter 67

-Wake up...-

There are times when you feel overwhelmingly sleepy, even if you're not tired.

Channing, thinking today was just one of those days, closed his eyes and savored the sweet slumber.

"Wake up!"

At that moment, a loud shout rang out, startling Channing awake.

Tehez, dressed in her work clothes, stood beside him with her arms crossed, glaring at him.

"You scared me!"

"You're the one at fault for sleeping in broad daylight! Hurry up and weld. I've finished cutting everything."

Channing yawned, stretched, put on his gloves, and walked to the workbench. Tehez placed the steel plates on top.

"Yaaaawn! Where'd the Factory Manager go?"

"Master? Why are you suddenly looking for Master?"

Channing slightly frowned and looked at Tehez.

"Why am I looking for him? Because he's not here."

"You're still half asleep, aren't you? Stop talking nonsense and weld quickly. They said they'd come to pick this up tonight."

At Tehez's scolding, Channing scratched his head and put on his protective mask.

"By the way, Tehez. You look a little old?"

Channing said casually while putting on his mask. For some reason, the atmosphere around her seemed more mature than usual.

Channing spoke without thinking, not knowing why he felt that way, and his thoughtless remark was immediately met with punishment.

With a swift motion, Tehez slapped Channing's back with a loud clap.

Channing let out a silent scream as a tingling shock ran through his back.

"Uwaaaaah..."

"Honestly, you never change! Even after getting married."

Tehez sighed as she watched Channing, who was barely breathing and holding his back to ease the pain.

Hearing that, Channing asked back.

"Married? Me?"

"Are you serious?! You forgot you got married?"

Tehez said with a look of disbelief, and Channing awkwardly laughed and scratched his head.

"Don't joke around!"

"No... Hahaha..."

Tehez put on her safety glasses and picked up the hand grinder, starting to polish the welding surface. Channing awkwardly laughed and quietly lowered his welding mask again.

******

After that, Channing started welding with concentration.

Someone approached Channing as he was welding.

The person, shielding their eyes from the welding light with their hand, lightly touched Channing's back and spoke.

"How's it going?"

"Huh?!"

Slightly startled by the sudden voice, Channing put down the welding torch, lifted his welding mask, and looked back.

Seeing the woman smiling brightly, Channing was so surprised that his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"Uh?! Huh?! What?"

"Why are you so surprised? Like you're seeing your wife's face for the first time."

"Ah... Uh... Huh?! No! Wait a minute!"

At the woman's words, Channing stammered and his hands started to tremble. Words that couldn't form sentences swirled around in his head.

Although it was his first time seeing the voluptuous woman, he could tell who she was.

Long silver hair and slightly protruding horns above her head. And, although they looked a bit different, the features were all too familiar.

Channing, finally calming his racing heart, shouted.

"Illia?!"

***

"Uwaaaaah!"

Channing screamed, shaking his body violently, and rolled off the chair onto the floor.

His shoulder and knee, which he had slammed hard against the hard cement floor, ached, but he was too shocked to feel the pain.

Tehez and the Factory Manager approached Channing.

"Why is this guy sleeping in a chair and then doing this?"

"I don't know...?"

"He must have had a nightmare."

Oran, who was sitting on a chair, replied and clicked her tongue.

Channing jumped up from his spot and looked at Tehez and the Factory Manager.

"Factory Manager! You didn't go anywhere, right?"

"Huh? I'm right here."

"Tehez! Ah! You look young!"

"What are you talking about!"

Channing frantically turned his head and spotted Illia, sitting on a chair and staring at him with wide eyes. He quickly ran over to her.

"Illia!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Channing lifted Illia from the chair, looked her over, and nodded.

"Thank goodness! You're the same."

Illia tilted her head and looked at Tehez.

Tehez approached Channing with a worried look.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

"No. I'm not sick. I just had a weird dream. Haa. I'm back to my senses now."

Channing brushed his chest and smiled brightly.

"What kind of dream was it?"

"Ah. A dream where Illia and I got married..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tehez and Illia took a step back, looking at Channing as if they had seen something they shouldn't have.

"Wow... Channing, you..."

"Uh... Ah..."

Noticing Tehez and Illia's gazes, Channing was startled and waved his hands frantically.

"Ah! No! It's not like that!"

"Channing, you punk! You're thinking about a kid who's 10 years younger than you..."

"No! Factory Manager! It's not like that! In the dream, she was older! Her chest was this big..."

At that moment, Illia's kick landed squarely on Channing's shin.

"...!"

Channing couldn't even scream from the sudden pain and just writhed in agony. Oran burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha! It was just a dream. Don't be so hard on him."

"I'm offended."

Illia glared at Channing with a truly offended expression, and Channing pouted while rubbing his shin.

******

"I'm telling you, it was just a dream. It's not like I can control my dreams."

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep your hands busy. You need to finish that quickly. You said you have to deliver and install it tomorrow, right?"

After scolding the grumbling Channing, Tehez used the handpiece to smooth out the sharp edges and weld points of the decorations.

They were the hand guard, the decoration between the guard and the handle, and the pommel that acted as a counterweight, attached below the handle.

"Yeah, yeah. If we're late, we'll get another earful from the Factory Manager. Speaking of which, that sword will be finished today too, right?"

"Yes. He said he'd come pick it up tomorrow, so we need to finish it today. Master said he wants to go somewhere with me tomorrow, so I need to finish quickly too."

Tehez said as she rubbed the sandpaper.

"Are you done with the surface finishing?"

"Mostly done."

Oran approached and asked, and Tehez held up the pieces she had been polishing.

Oran picked them up and examined them closely.

"Good job. Then I'll finish them up and do the plating."

"Plating?"

"Yes. It'll look prettier if it's shiny, right?"

Oran lifted the pieces and moved them to the side.

Standing in front of a transparent box on the workbench, Oran opened it and placed the parts Tehez had polished inside.

"What is this?"

"A sandblaster."

Oran sealed the box properly and then inserted her hand through a hole in the front. The hole was fitted with thick rubber gloves.

Holding the parts through the rubber gloves, Oran lifted a nearby tool.

It was an object with a long cord extending out of the box, and Tehez thought it looked like the airbrush the Factory Manager used for painting.

"How do you use it?"

"Just watch."

Oran pressed a button with her chin. The sound of the air compressor running filled the air.

After that, Oran pulled the trigger of the tool to check its operation and then lifted a part and started blasting it with the air coming out of the tool.

"Oh? The surface color is changing?"

"Yes. The surface is being polished."

Tehez moved closer and observed the object more carefully.

She noticed that something fine was being sprayed out along with the air from the machine in Oran's hand.

"It looks like some very fine powder is being sprayed out?"

"Yes. It's sand. When you blow sand with air, the sand grinds the surface. It's easier than sanding."

Oran lifted another part and blasted it with air.

Tehez watched with fascination.

"Ah. Come to think of it, I've heard stories about putting chainmail in a barrel with sand and rolling it around to remove rust."

"It's a similar principle. The sand scrapes off the rust."

Oran finished treating the surface of all the remaining parts.

Finally finishing the pommel, Oran turned off the machine, took out the parts, and rinsed them clean under running water.

Then she walked back to the workbench, used the air compressor to thoroughly dry them, and hung the parts on a wire.

"Okay. Now let's do the plating."

"It's done with electricity, right? I've seen Master do it before."

"Ah. Well, there's that method too, but this time we'll do it differently. First, Tehez. Take this and go to the backyard. I've placed a rubber basin near the faucet. Hang them there."

Oran handed the parts hanging on the wire to Tehez.

Tehez went out the back door with the parts.

A fairly large rubber basin was placed near the faucet, and a frame made for hanging the wire was placed on top of it. The frame was made by assembling angles.

Tehez hung the wire on the frame and let the parts dangle. While she was wondering how the plating would be done, Oran came out with spray bottles.

Oran put down the spray bottles and handed Tehez long rubber gloves and a mask, putting them on herself as well.

After finishing the preparations, Oran looked at Tehez and spoke.

"Now, we're going to do silver plating. It's more like coloring than plating, but it's similar. What we're doing this time is called silver mirror coating, often called chrome plating, but it's actually different from chrome plating. People call it that because the finished product looks similar."

Oran picked up a large spray bottle filled with a transparent liquid and started spraying it all over the guard.

"This is a reactive agent. You need to spray this on so the coloring will take place properly later. If you don't spray this, that part won't be colored properly."

"What are the ingredients?"

"I don't know the details. I just buy the ready-made product and use it. Anyway, once you've sprayed it well like this..."

After sufficiently spraying the liquid, Oran picked up another spray bottle and started spraying again.

"And then rinse it with pure water. You need to spray this enough and rinse it well too. Otherwise, the reaction won't happen properly and it'll become a mess."

After rinsing thoroughly, Oran picked up a spray bottle with two bottles attached and started spraying it all over the hilt.

"Once you spray this, it will be silver-plated."

"You're saying it will be silver-plated so easily?"

Tehez asked in surprise. Oran smiled brightly and continued spraying.

Tehez slightly frowned and looked at Oran's hand, and a moment later, she stepped back in surprise.

"Oh my! It's becoming so shiny?!"

"Right?"

Seeing Tehez's reaction, Oran excitedly turned the parts around and sprayed them with the solution.

After confirming that enough solution had been applied and the silvering reaction had taken place, Oran picked up another spray bottle and sprayed again.

"This is a solution that removes impurities and forms a protective oxide film. Of course, this too..."

"You need to spray it sufficiently. If you skimp, it's hard to get a good finished product."

"You're smart."

Oran praised her and sprayed the solution generously, changing the spray bottle.

"And finally, you need to rinse it with pure water again. Then it's done for now. Tehez. Try spraying it well with this. I'll go get something."

Oran handed the spray bottle to Tehez and hurried back into the factory.

Tehez sprayed every nook and cranny of the parts. The guard part started to shine even brighter than before. Tehez thought she had never seen metal this shiny before.

While she was spraying the solution, thinking it was a truly amazing thing, Oran came back outside, pulling the air compressor.

"Okay. Finally, let's blow off all the water with air and it'll be complete."

Oran started blowing the guard with the air compressor. Strong winds blew away the water.

Once all the water was gone, a mirror-like shining guard was complete.

Oran removed the hanging wire and checked every corner of the guard.

"Good. It's clean. Well done."

"Oh my! To get such a shiny silver plating so easily! It's truly amazing! I want to know the detailed principle behind it."

"Haha. Sorry, I don't know the details. Anyway, let's finish the rest quickly. Tehez. Do you want to try doing it yourself?"

Tehez nodded and lifted the spray bottle.