I Wanted to Use Magic, So I Trained My Magical Power. I Wanted to Eat Meat, So I Went Hunting. And Then, Before I Knew It, I Had Become the Strongest... - Episode 14: What the heck is this!? I can't pull a bow like this!

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Episode 14: What the heck is this!? I can’t pull a bow like this!

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After finishing the last hunt of the year, we descended the mountain.

Our prey: one serow, three wild rabbits, one deer, and one boar.

It was a hunt worthy of closing out the year, with a solid sense of accomplishment.

As always, Grandpa took the lead. But lately, more adults from the village have started joining in the butchering.

That’s because there’s a deal that if they help with the butchering, they get a portion of the meat.

Still, if the whole village came, that’d be a problem. So we’ve set up a rotation system.

“Ooh, today’s haul is huge,”

Grandpa saw the big catch. He then told Ucica-neesan to call in two more adults.

I check the arrows I used today to see if they’re still usable. I also do maintenance on the Divine Blade Kern.

Some of the arrows were no good.

I remove the metal arrowheads and resharpen them to reuse.

Even if they can’t be reused, we can melt them down into iron and forge them into swords or arrowheads again.

Gotta be careful with resources.

The Divine Blade Kern has been in use since spring.

It’s cut down many beasts, including a big bear. So it looks like it’s finally time for proper maintenance.

“Kern-niisan, can you do some maintenance on this for me?”

“Let me see it.”

I hand the Divine Blade Kern to Brother Kern. And he checks the condition of the blade by changing angles.

“There are a few small chips in the edge. It’s also pretty warped. It’d be better to make a new one.”

“Ehh…?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll make you another one.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah. I should be more skilled now than when I made this one. I’ll get you an even better blade.”

“Yay! Thank you. I’m counting on you!”

He really is the creator of the Divine Blade Kern. So reliable!

“Nois~!”

“Clarissa? What’s up?”

“I came to pick up Ritt-niisan.”

“I see. He’s helping with the butchering. But I think they’ll be done soon.”

“Can I stay with Nois until then?”

“Of course. Come on over.”

I took Clarissa to my room in the warehouse.

Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not planning anything indecent.

The second floor of the warehouse is where I, Kern-niisan, and my younger brother Maruda sleep.

The first floor also has farm tools. But lately, it’s become my workshop.

There’s a workbench and chair, chisels and other tools, various types of wood, and crossbow prototypes packed tightly in the space.

“Hey, what’s this?”

“Oh, that? I’m carving a doll.”

I do wood carving as a hobby.

Right now, I’m carving a cute version of Clarissa. But it’ll still take a while before it’s any good.

In my previous life, I used to make figures. So this is kind of an extension of that.

Cute girl figurines are soothing to the soul.

“I see~ Nois, you do all kinds of things.”

“If I carve it well, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, for real.”

I take the half-carved piece of wood and continue shaving it.

As we chat, I keep carving the wood.

Clarissa watches me carving the doll with a happy look on her face.

Eventually, the butchering finishes. And the kids carry off their share of meat.

“See you later~”

“Bye~”

Clarissa left with her brother Ritt.

Ritt is still only seven years old and small. But he’s sharp.

I think he’ll become a successful merchant someday. But since he’s the fourth son, he probably can’t inherit Altan-san’s shop.

Also, during today’s hunt, I came across something unexpected.

There was a cave, so I went in.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any bears or the like. But I was able to bring back some ore.

This ore, in my past life, would probably be called scheelite.

In my previous job at a metal processing company, we occasionally had metal study sessions.

I remember seeing something like this during one of those.

If this really is scheelite, it should contain tungsten. I should check to make sure.

—

This year passed peacefully with no wars. And we’ve made it to winter.

The sky above is gray, and snow has started to fall.

My breath turns white. It’s as if it’s announcing the arrival of a harsh winter.

Wearing a serow fur coat, I shave Yuge wood in the first floor of my warehouse room.

This Yuge wood is used for the limbs (bow part) of the crossbow — it’s a springy kind of wood.

I prepare three long, thin boards about two millimeters thick.

Then I carve Saln wood the same way, making two boards.

I apply an adhesive made from resin, and press them together in this order: Yuge, Saln, Yuge, Saln, Yuge — five layers total.

Basically, I’m making laminated wood.

After letting it sit for a while to dry completely, I increase the heat in the brazier and heat the laminate.

If it catches fire, it’s over — so timing is everything.

“Alright, this is it.”

Once the laminate is sufficiently heated, I bend it.

I fix the bent laminate to a long curved iron plate that Kern-niisan made for me.

“Man, this is hard!”

This is a bow.

I’m making a composite bow of iron and laminate.

“Uuuuugh!”

Stringing it is a real struggle.

I try to bend the composite bow using full-body enhancement magic, but it’s really stiff…

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

With my current full-body enhancement magic, I can lift a 200-kilogram bear.

And even so, I can barely bend this bow.

This thing is way too strong!

So I decided to build a device to bend the bow.

If I had screws, I could make a vise. But that’s pretty hard to do.

So instead, I’ll use pulleys here too, to apply force.

Pulleys really are amazing.

Somehow I manage to string the bow — but of course, I still can’t pull it.

“If I could pull this bow, I might become the strongest archer in the world.”

That’s what I said, trying to sound cool, but…..… this is a tough challenge.

It’s not just about basic body training anymore — I also need to increase the efficiency of my body enhancement magic.

Even now, at six years old, I can lift 200 kilograms with my enhancement. But I should aim to push that even further.

But how can I increase the effect of body enhancement magic?

Maybe with partial enhancement, I could get more power than overall enhancement for a short time.

But using a bow requires your whole body. So enhancing just my arms won’t cut it.

Man, this is tricky.