After leaving the archeological museum, we headed for the art gallery next. The means of transportation is, of course, the bus driven by Mr. Hiishi.
“You know, it was the same with the archeological museum earlier, but don’t you think this place feels more like a folk museum rather than an art gallery……?”
“A folk museum?”
“Uh, cuz it somehow has this rustic feel to it.”
Mimi tilted her head in confusion. Maybe she just couldn’t relate to my words.
Basically, all of the elven-style buildings we’ve seen until now kinda resembled Japanese-style buildings for some reason. Most of them were single-story, and the biggest we’ve seen just went up to two stories. Their roofs were made out of black tiles, and the rest were basically made out of wood. The facilities were certainly well-made, but I just couldn’t help feeling that they resembled those folk museums found in the rural countryside back in Japan a little bit too much.
“C’mon Boss. Don’t just stand there and hurry up already.”
“Ok, ok, I know already, so stop pulling me! You’re gonna tear my arm off!”
Tina pulled me by the arm toward the art gallery. Man. Just where was Tina getting all this power from anyway? She’s so small and yet so strong. Well, it wasn’t just Tina. Whisker was the same as well. The strongest member of our crew was undoubtedly Mei, but the ones following after her should be Tina and Whisker. Oh, and by the way, despite the two’s small size, they actually weigh…… Oh boy. I’m suddenly feeling intense bloodlust from both the front and back. I ain’t thinking anything rude, ladies. Nope. No siree.
“Wow… These sure are pretty.”
“Hou, lacquerware huh?”
The first thing that caught our eyes after entering the gallery was an exhibit of lustrous, black boxes resembling lacquerware decorated with golden patterns. They resembled Japanese multi-tiered food boxes, with their gleaming black exteriors rife with golden plant motifs.
“Lacquerware?”
“They’re made by repeatedly brushing layers of resin on a wooden base, sprinkling metal powder to create decorations on the surface, then leaving it to dry. I’m not sure if these are produced the same way, but they sure look similar.”
After reading the exhibit description, I confirmed that they really were similar to wooden lacquerware. It seems they’re made by applying the sap of a tree native to Refill IV to a wooden box lots of times, and then sprinkling powdered gold in order to form the decorations on the surface.
“It’s just like how you described, Boss.”
“These boxes are really pretty…… I think I’ve never seen such a deep black color before.”
“Fumu. They do give off a unique elegance, I guess.”
Anyway, they certainly might be pretty to look at, but I’m not sure if they were that practical. The ladies might want to use them as cosmetics or accessory cases, but a boorish guy like me probably won’t find much use for them. I’d rather give them out as gifts. I might be able to use something like a lacquerware comb…… but plastic brushes are more than enough for me anyway. It just doesn’t suit me, but it might suit Mei and her lustrous black hair. I guess I’ll take a peek at the souvenir shop later and buy one after all.
Afterward, we proceeded deeper into the art gallery and found a variety of other items in addition to lacquerware. There were excellent-looking silk fabric rolls that were apparently made by weaving silk-like threads spewed out by silk moth larvae the size of a large-breed dog, as well as local outfits made from the said fabric. Among them was a Chinese-style dress similar to what Lilium was wearing. As for the description, it seems these were traditional dresses worn by Rose clansmen for generations.
“Oh, hey, Boss, I think that’s a spirit silver hunting blade over there.”
“Hou…… It kinda looks like a hatchet sword huh.”
It looked like a fairly large single-edged knife. As the name suggested, it boasts a blade made out of spirit silver. Regular silver was basically a metal that wasn’t fit for making blades, but it looks like that wasn’t the case for spirit silver. Does that mean it was stronger and tougher than the silver I was familiar with? It had ‘silver’ in its name, but perhaps it was a metal with very different physical properties.
“Isn’t it dangerous to go up against ferocious creatures with such a short blade?”
“Un. Well, as far as I’ve heard, some of the animals they hunt seem quite dangerous if provoked, so maybe they finish them off from a distance by using bows and arrows instead of this? They might only be using blades like this as a backup weapon or something to that effect.”
“Or maybe they use them as sub-weapons for instances when their prey manages to close in on them.”
“They might also be using them simply for delivering a coup de grace or dissecting their prey.”
“Ah, sis, there’s an unsheathed spirit silver blade we can pick up and try over here.”
Whisker, who was walking a bit ahead of us, suddenly called out. As I and Tina headed to where Whisker was, I glanced back and saw Mimi, Mei, and Elma talking in front of the exhibit displaying the various elven folk costumes. It looks like the former two were asking Elma about something.
“Oh, Boss, this thing is a lot lighter than it looks.”
“Hou? Let me see.”
The spirit silver’s hilt was actually fixed to a stand by a sturdy wire. It was probably an anti-theft measure. The blade was quite thick. Its length was probably about 30 centimeters or so. It was fairly large for a knife. It was a straight single-edged blade that looked quite sharp. This thing would probably run a human through quite easily even if you pulled your punches a bit. It actually kinda resembled a Japanese katana, or rather, a tantou[1].
“It really is light…… It’s so light that it feels like I’m holding a toy instead of a dangerous weapon.”
“It’s really light compared to iron. I think it’s as light as aluminum.”
“If it’s strong enough to be used to make blades, that’d make it plenty useful.”
“But PAM metals aren’t that heat-resistant though.”
“Their structural integrity will be instantly compromised the moment a laser hits them, so they aren’t suitable as materials for making starships. They also aren’t that great for making monoswords either. That’s because they would be practically useless the moment you block laser fire with them.”
“I see.”
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