Blacksmith Volume 2 Chapter 16
Campus life was peaceful for once, and with summer vacation approaching, I received news from Toto that our prototype was completed this morning.
“There have been great changes since the last batch, but the overall effect hasn’t changed. It’s still a natural facepack, and as you requested there is now a scent that’s left behind after use. The fruity fragrance isn’t too strong, and is non-persisting.”
“Really?”
I picked one up with my hand and tried sniffing it. Truly, it did give off a nice fruit scent that was slightly acidic, giving it a somewhat refreshing impression. This is more than what I had expected.
“Has it been tested?”
“Of course it has, the effects have been confirmed. No doubt about it.”
“No, I mean have you used it yourself?”
“No, but-”
“Then let’s use it right now, the two of us.”
“Right now?! I, um… okay.”
“Its decided then, come on, lets do this outside of the greenhouse.”
Outside the plastic building, we carried the product over to a bench big enough for two.
Then respectively, to each his own we took our seats.
Once we were ready, we immediately applied the face packs.
Maybe because he wasn’t used to it, when I looked at Toto I found that he was suffering while squirming on the spot.
I can’t really make fun of him though, I couldn’t help but squirm myself, this is so frustrating to wear!
After a while Toto suddenly became quiet. I guess he fell asleep or something. Lucky.
Guess I should try to get a nap in as well, I can’t take this off for a while now can I?
It was hot outside due to summer, but because the bench was in the shade we didn’t have to worry much.
The wind the occasionally breezed by felt so nice.
With my face covered in the paste from the leaves, I was lying down on the bench.
…what am I doing? Probably something stupid, but I shouldn’t think about it now. I only have one regret, I wish that we did it inside, it’d be less embarrassing.
“Hey Toto, do you think it had any effect?”
I asked Toto who was lying next to me.
“I don’t know.” he responded indifferently.
Honestly my face doesn’t feel any better, only itchier. …wait, is this the effect?! I could feel my anxiety growing in me.
“Hey, Kururi?”
“Yeah?”
“Wouldn’t this have been better if we did this in the greenhouse? How many hours do you think we have to stay like this?”
“…”
This is so awkward, I’ll just pretend I’m asleep.
A few hours had passed, I had actually fallen asleep until noon.
Probably because of the heat, the face pack had become sticky with sweat.
It’s been about three hours since we put them on, but I can’t take this anymore! It’s too hot! I immediately stripped the mask off and stood up.
“Puha!” I could finally breathe normally after so long. The hot air even felt cooler than usual.
“You took it off, Kururi?”
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” looking up, it seems that Toto had taken off his face pack as well.
“…wait.” this is good, even if was just a bit. There’s something here that I need to be more worried about. What are the results?!
“That’s right!”
“-!! Your face is shiny.”
Toto’s face was shining like a marble that had just been polished. This is already a good effect, but we only used it for three hours out of its expected use time.
“Your face as well, here a mirror.” I took the mirror he handed me and checked my reflection, and honestly, I was surprised.
My face was shiny, and when I touched it with my finger, it was a little sticky.
I think I just opened a new door for myself.
“This is amazing! I feel like my skin has been reborn!”
“Sometimes my overwhelming talent scares me.” Toto said proudly.
Well, I’m happy as too, it was a success!
“It also has some shortcomings though.”
“Yeah, its way too hot to wear. To the point where we couldn’t take it anymore, the summer heat sucks, right?”
“Its weaknesses are clear, now we need a cooling effect placed on it.”
“A cooling effect? What’s that?”
“I want it so that you get a cold feeling when it touches the skin, to compensate for the heat.”
“There’s not enough time though, summer vacation is right around the corner.”
“No, this is good. With how it is now, there’s already such a great effect, and its not even complete! Next time when there’s a cooling effect installed as well, we’ll raise the prices even further! What do you think?”
“It’s tempting.”
With the two of us looking at each other, a creepy laughter started to rise up between us.
Yup, we’re both weird in this way.
“You two look like you’re having fun.”
Iris suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, disrupting our laugh.
It looks like she’s come to visit Toto’s greenhouse today.
“Fun, yeah. Really fun.”
“That’s nice.”
“Come to think of it, you were trying to develop vegetables, right Iris? How’s that going for you?”
When I asked this Toto made a proud face again, looks like they’ve had some success.
“It was completed around the same time as the face pack, and because I wanted to show the two of you the fruits of