Chapter 602: Repair
I managed to gather a lot of green stones, aside from Es’s Traveler’s Protection Stone. They weren’t exactly what I was looking for, but since they were brought to me after all that searching, I gratefully took them home.
After bringing the stones, which had been buried in sand for years, back to my house, I diligently began to clean them up. By the way, the yarn decoration on the Traveler’s Protection Stone turned out to be made from camel hair.
I want to clean it up, but there might be some significance to the way it’s tied, so I plan to ask Haulon before I touch it. There are quite a few patterns, after all.
For now, I decided to start with the ones that look more naturally formed rather than jewelry. I secured two or three cool-looking Thunder Pipe Stones and Tektites, setting the rest aside to gift to the Mailman.
Besides the Traveler’s Protection Stone, there were many stones that weren’t just loose but were in the form of necklaces or rings.
Not being very knowledgeable about gemstones, I found myself pondering over an emerald. —Or so I thought, right?
When I used [Appraisal] on it, I discovered it was actually an Alexandrite, and upon further inspection, I found a bunch of different stones. I had no idea garnets could be green.
Well, if I dig into my memory, I do have some knowledge about them. I probably just caught a glimpse of them before, or maybe it’s because of [Appraisal] or my Production Talent that I can recall memories that would normally be forgotten.
I just didn’t think about it because I assumed it was an emerald. So, I sorted everything again, and the variety increased.
Even though the variety increased, I ended up choosing based on whether I liked the appearance or not. I don’t really plan to wear them; I just want to display them.
I decided to fix the ones with warped metal or scratches. For those I could somewhat recognize the shape of, I worked according to that image. For the ones whose original shape I couldn’t discern, I gave up.
However, some of them contained spirits. Most had been sleeping for a long time while buried, but I gently infused them with magic power to awaken them and help with the repairs, or rather, to have them fix themselves.
But for that, I needed to prepare replacement parts, so I ended up visiting Naruadeid’s shop to gather supplies and buying old accessories from Es to salvage parts. I also repurposed gemstones that had no spirits and whose original shapes were unknown for repair materials.
After several days of fixing rings and brooches, I was now attempting to repair what seemed to be a necklace. It was a piece of crushed metal adorned with numerous emeralds.
“Alright, alright. Wake up~”
“Hmm~?”
I channeled a bit of magic power to awaken the spirit.
The spirit residing in the stone loves that stone, but it also has other favorites. Especially the spirits dwelling in cut gemstones seem to be particularly pleased when gold, silver, or soft fabrics are nearby.
There are also spirits that reside within the jewelry itself, but when their power weakens, they usually sleep within the largest stone among them.
I placed the necklace-like item in the center of the table, surrounding it with items that were clearly used for the necklace. Spirit Gold, pearls, rubies, and diamonds. I had enough to fill in the missing parts.
On the table, I also laid out Spirit Silver, platinum, various colors of velvet, and assorted gemstones—or rather, Spirit Stones. Ideally, I should have prepared regular gold and silver or gemstones, but I just don’t have any at home. Please let that slide.
After gathering various materials, I thought about starting in earnest tomorrow, but when I laid everything out on the table to begin the repairs, the spirits gathered around…
“I want to restore your bed to its original shape, but I need your help. What do you need? What do you like?”
“Hmm~ I like gold.”
“You can do whatever you want with the things on the table.”
I had prepared various Spirit Gold. The Fire Spirit’s “small ones,” the Water Spirit’s “small ones,” and the Atmosphere Spirit’s “small ones” all have compatibility, you know. I even had a nearly disappearing “small” Spirit Gold that had lost its attributes, so I was well-prepared.
As for gold and silver, I was fortunate to have a variety on hand since I had been hoarding them for a while. Originally, they were just regular gold and silver.
The spirit within the emerald gently reached out toward the Spirit Gold. In response, the Spirit Gold flowed smoothly into the necklace. It mixed with the altered metal, as if swallowing it, and began to form a shape.
Wait a minute.
Isn’t that a bit tall?
“Hmm~ The red stone feels nostalgic.”
The ruby was drawn in.
“Hmm~ I was surrounded by sparkles.”
The diamond was drawn in.
“Hmm~ The one that swayed.”
The teardrop-shaped pearl was drawn in.
Yeah, this isn’t a necklace.
It clearly looks like a crown. Whose is it?