Chapter 15: Call Me a Westerner Once

Machiya were also traditional Japanese-style buildings.

But they were easy to find; basically, a single glance down the street told him how many machiya there were.

Compared to the thatched roofs of most houses, machiya used a tile roofing scheme hundreds of years ahead of its time, with black Tokonoma tiles laid one by one on the roof, reflecting the faint sunlight of Chang Shi and standing out conspicuously.

Uesugi Toru approached this machiya, and before he could release the Hundred-Eyed Demon Medama to scout ahead, he was blinded by the cold glint of weapon after weapon behind the lattice windows.

Every weapon in sight was either Excellent Quality or Rare Quality, and among them were even two or three Epic Quality blades.

For a moment, Uesugi Toru thought that while the blacksmith was forging deep inside the machiya, he could take all the weapons in the house for himself.

But this thought quickly vanished.

Because in the shadows inside the house, a burly old man with a rough face was dozing on the counter.

This didn't matter.

What mattered was that the aura floating above his head was black.

Not red or blood-red representing "Danger," but likely black meaning "Death."

So Uesugi Toru followed his inner thought and honestly knocked on the door.

Dong dong.

"Come in."

A dry voice suddenly appeared beside Uesugi Toru's ear; his heart jolted, but his movements showed no hesitation at all as he pushed the door open and entered.

"Another Hannya?"

The old man's tone was somewhat surprised, and Uesugi Toru looked at the top of his head.

The two characters "Blacksmith" appeared clearly.

Who was forging iron inside the house?

Blacksmith: "If it's a Hannya, just buy any weapon you like."

Uesugi Toru shifted his gaze and saw the cheapest Excellent Quality dagger in the corner.

【Price: 800 Soul Ash】

Turning his head again, he saw a Rare Quality uchigatana; the blade was clear and beautiful, and with several attached skills that made Uesugi Toru drool.

Only unfortunately...

【Price: 3200 Soul Ash】

The old blacksmith just watched Uesugi Toru turn around inside the house for several minutes, until he reluctantly walked to the doorway before speaking:

"Not buying one?"

Uesugi Toru looked back, smiling beneath his Hannya Mask as calm as an ancient well: "I can't afford it."

No kidding; any random weapon cost over a thousand Soul Ash, and Uesugi Toru really felt this blacksmith shop should be located in Edo Castle.

Instead of being opened in a Guicun like Arakawa Ghost Village, where the Soul Ash dropped from killing monsters might not even be enough to buy a One-Star Map.

"Since you're a Hannya."

The blacksmith's corner of the eye glanced at the Walking Token at Uesugi Toru's waist, and he slowly said: "Forging a weapon for you isn't impossible."

Custom weapon?

Uesugi Toru's first reaction was that this old man was lusting after his body.

Don't let this blacksmith shop's bright and shiny appearance fool you; who knew if these were all traps, and the blacksmith just wanted to turn this Hannya-smiling him into a weapon.

But then again.

He, Uesugi Toru, wasn't a yokai born and raised here; even if he died, he'd just wait twelve hours and be a good man again.

Having reached this thought, Uesugi Toru nodded: "What do you want me to do?"

"More straightforward than that Hannya Haku, not bad." The blacksmith said leisurely: "Less than three hundred meters east of this machiya, there's a small workshop."

"It's noisy every day to death; just shut it down."

The blacksmith snorted disdainfully: "What lousy assembly-line manufacturing; how could it be better than the weapons I forge?"

Less than three hundred meters east?

Uesugi Toru was delighted and hurriedly asked: "East, which direction is that?"

Hearing this, the blacksmith couldn't help but laugh heartily: "As expected, Hannya are all fools with muscles grown into their brains."

After laughing, the blacksmith didn't forget to point out the direction for Uesugi Toru: "That side is east; the method to distinguish direction is also very simple: at night, the direction the Double Moon rises is the extreme east."

Double Moon.

So Chang Shi still had day and night alternation?

Uesugi Toru thought to himself that maybe when he arrived, it just happened to be daytime in Chang Shi?

Or maybe the Double Moon could also be covered by dark clouds?

The thought flashed through his mind in an instant; Uesugi Toru remembered the direction the blacksmith's finger pointed, roughly estimated, and realized the large factory he had seen earlier was in the northeast.

A rough map of Arakawa Ghost Village began to form in Uesugi Toru's mind, so he thanked the blacksmith.

If it weren't for him, Uesugi Toru didn't know how many lives he'd spend just figuring out southeast, northwest, up, and down.

"Go quickly, come back quickly." The blacksmith waved his hand in annoyance: "If that workshop keeps making noise, I might not even bother staying in this desolate wilderness."

Uesugi Toru was slightly stunned and nodded to show he understood.

This blacksmith was actually an NPC who could move across maps; no wonder the weapons here were so expensive.

Being able to meet him this time could only be said that his dog luck had arrived...

Uesugi Toru rubbed the Walking Token at his waist.

—Whether it was luck or not wasn't necessarily so.

Walking out of the blacksmith shop, Uesugi Toru immediately decided to go see that small workshop to the east right now.

First, it was close by with fewer accidents on the road; second, Uesugi Toru also wanted to get a handy weapon as soon as possible. Although the Firewood Cleaver was easy to use, once he started using sword techniques, the feel was very strange.

The three hundred meters of distance passed in a flash.

Because it seemed to have reached the time to start work, so halfway through the walk, Uesugi Toru heard the rumbling mechanical sounds from far away.

Arriving at a small cabin tens of meters from the destination, looking at the pale double moon that had just risen, Uesugi Toru only felt his eardrums ache from the shock.

No wonder the blacksmith couldn't sleep...

This sound, it's almost comparable to that factory completely built outside the village.

Standing in place adapting for a while, Uesugi Toru then released the Hundred-Eyed Demon Medama.

Although the blacksmith's request was to shut down this workshop, how could Uesugi Toru let these precious Soul Ash slip away.

And before taking action, the Information Network is naturally a crucial link.

【Clumsy Worker Apprentice】

【Rank: Zero-Star】

This is the information of the little monsters walking back and forth operating machinery in the workshop, Uesugi Toru counted the number, approximately twenty to thirty.

The actual number should be more than this... but Uesugi Toru circled around and did not discover their foreman.

But if it's a contest of patience, Uesugi Toru who can maintain the Heart Like Still Water state for a long time is completely unafraid.

A full half hour more passed, and Uesugi Toru finally saw a burly man wearing a white safety helmet on his head appear in his vision.

The man beat and scolded the apprentices, clearly looking like a leader, but Uesugi Toru only stared at the top of his head, waiting for the information he wanted.

【Worker Leader】

【Rank: Half-Star】

Only Half-Star.

This makes things simple.

The only difficulty lies in the large number of Zero-Star apprentices in the workshop.

If the apprentices in the workshop swarm out, then he can at most exchange his one life for two or three of them, efficiency is out of the question.

Since that's the case, the discovery just now is very important.

Through the observation just now lasting nearly an hour, Uesugi Toru can obviously discover that the little monsters in this workshop are completely different from the factory workers and polluted farmers.

They, without a doubt possess a trace of wisdom, are objects that can be communicated with, that elite leader is the same.

Since that's the case.

Uesugi Toru properly straightened his Western School Uniform.

Not to mention, this school uniform doesn't count for much in Reality, but in this Guicun, it completely counts as top-tier Good Stuff, calling it a Foreign Adult would not be an exaggeration.

With this getup, wanting to fool two or three ignorant apprentices into following him to some uninhabited Corner, isn't that easy as pie?

After calming his mind and waiting another hour, Uesugi Toru finally waited until two apprentices secretly slipped out of the workshop to get some air outside.

He recalled the Hundred-Eyed Demon Medama, re-tied the tie at his Neck, and walked towards those two apprentices with leisurely steps.

(End of Chapter)