Chapter 527: First Anniversary Extra Chapter ~~ Isekai Trip for Two Part 1 ⑤: Amusement Park ~~ (1/2)

After lunch, we traveled by car again until Kuro and I arrived at our destination, the sword museum.

[……Arehh?]

[Unnn? What's the matter, Kaito-kun?]

[No, it's nothing.]

Several buildings lined up and a signboard that said Sword Village…… Arehh? Has this place always been like this? I thought this was just a small place with only a museum…… Did I remember it wrong?

Hmmm, well, the last time I visited this place was when I just became a grade-schooler…… That was over a decade ago, so I guess it's not surprising that the place has been renovated. Of course, it's possible that I might have simply misremembered……

Anyway, it's good to know that there are more places to look around than I had expected.

There was a building that looked like a souvenir stand right in front of the parking lot, but we decided to check out the museum first, so we went through the wooden gate and headed in the direction of the museum.

Thereupon, I saw a directional signpost pointing to ”Bizen Osafune Sword Museum” on the right and ”Sword Master Imaizumi Toshimitsu Memorial Museum” on the left. Who is this Imaizumi Toshimitsu? Is he a great person from this area?

We could check out his memorial museum later, but first, we entered the sword museum. Entering the building, we bought two adult tickets at the ticket counter. Fortunately, the clerk didn't make any remarks regarding Kuro's appearance.

The tickets were designed to look like the saya of a katana, which as expected, looked like fine art.

(T/N: Saya is a katana's scabbard.)

From the pamphlet given at the entrance, it seems that this museum isn't just the Exhibition Room where they display katanas, as it also includes an area called ”Sword World”, where the process of katana-making is being introduced.

So that we could acquire basic knowledge, we headed to this Sword World first.

[Heehhh…… So this is how a katana is made huh.]

[Unnn, this is also the first time I've seen one being made in detail but…… it seems like you need lots of people expert on different things to make even the most basic katana.]

Swordsmiths (toushou) who forge the Japanese katana, the polisher (togishi) who refines the shape of the blade, the engravers (choukinshi) who carve patterns on the blade, the silversmiths (hakuginshi) who make the habaki, the metallic part encircling the base of the blade, the scabbardsmiths (sayashi) who make the saya, the metalsmiths (kinkoushi) who make the various metal fittings, the lacquer master (nurishi) who applies lacquer on the saya, the tsuba-makers (tsubakou) who make the tsuba (handguard), the string-maker (kumihimoshi) who makes the strings winded around the hilt, and braider (tsukamakishi) who wind those strings…… It seems that even just from what is written on this panel, so many people's hands go into the making of a Japanese katana.

[Arehh? Speaking of which, if making a Japanese katana takes a group this much time and effort…… Who is it that made Neun-san's katana?]

[Shalltear made it.]

[……Ah, I see……]

Well, Alice would certainly be able to make it all by herself but…… Well, that one is a complete exception, so putting her aside, making a katana is really difficult.

In the Sword World, there is also a mini-theater where you can learn how to make swords through videos. Watching it makes me feel a little more knowledgeable about Japanese katanas.

Thereupon, well, I found a well-prepared…… ”Art of Katana : Craftsmanship Incoherent Game”.

[……I guess I'll give it a try.]

[I'm not familiar with Japanese words, so I'll just watch. Good luck, Kaito-kun!]

[Alright……]

The buttons I could see tells me that the questions they're giving are multiple-choice questions. Wait, arehh? Is this an Art of Katana Quiz or a Craftsman game? Ahh, there are two kinds of questions huh. So that Incoherent word written on it was just a typographical error, and this is a game about making katanas huh…… Then, let's start with the quiz first.

I know that my knowledge regarding this topic isn't that great when I plunged into this quiz, but Kuro is watching me, so I want to show her my cool side…… Now then, first question…… Fumufumu, tsubazeriai huh…… Fumu…… I see……

(T/N: Tsubazeriai : The act of warding off each other's sword with their tsuba in a duel)

[…………….]

[Kaito-kun?]

I have no idea what the heck that is. Arehh? Isn't this pretty difficult? F- For the time being, it's a multiple-choice anyway, so let's choose randomly…… Oh, I luckily got the right answer.

Let's see…… What does this mean? I have no clue what the answer to the second question is either…… So let's just click on a random button again……

The third question…… Ah, what was the answer for this one again? Errr, I don't remember…… I- It's probably this one…… Alright, I guessed right.

Like that, after a few moments of fumbling around the quiz……

[Ohh! That's amazing, Kaito-kun! You got all the answers right!]

[……U- Unnn. E- E- E- Easy peasy.]

Thanks to my brilliant…… ”luck”…… all the random answers I made were correct, and I ended up getting all the questions correctly…… I don't feel like I showed her my cool side at all. Well, Kuro looks like she's glad, so I guess all's well that ends well?

After gaining some knowledge from the Sword World, we finally headed to the exhibition room.

[Uwaahh, how big~~]

[Amazing…… I guess this is an Odachi?]

I was overwhelmed by the katana that was displayed at the entrance of the Exhibition room, which was bigger than I was. I wonder if anyone could really wield such a stupidly large sword? Well, I'm sure that the little girl next to me can wield it with ease……

After looking at the Odachi for a while, I went into the Exhibition room where there were many Japanese katanas on display.

……To be honest, I can't really tell any difference between them. No, I think there are subtle differences in the patterns and appearance, so I could feel like they're slightly different, and there's even what looks like an explanation next to it…… Hmmm, it's still hard for me to tell the difference. The only thing I can think about, looking at all these katanas was that they're awesome.

If someone more knowledgeable regarding Japanese katanas were nearby, I could have asked them lots of things…… but neither Neun-san, the most promising candidate, nor Alice, who seemed to know a lot about Japanese katanas for some reason, was here.

Well, I don't really need to know the details of things to enjoy looking at them, so I guess it's alright.

[……I had thought of this when I saw Neun wielding it, but Japanese swords are beautiful, aren't they?]

[Yes, it's polished like a mirror, so it looks beautiful.]

[Unnn, the way the light shines on its blade shows how skillfully made it is. I could clearly see the hamon from this distance.]

(T/N: Hamon is that wavy line on the cutting edge of the katana.)