Expectations raise the bar.

"Look, Aruji-sama, I made an instrument!"

"Ooh, you finished it… Wait, why are the mallets moving on their own!?"

When Aishia called me over to see the glockenspiel, the mallets were floating in the air and playing ping-pong-pang-pong on their own.

No wait, this isn't "on their own." It's playing what Aishia was hitting just before!

"C-could it be that you can auto-play? With the bard skill."

"Huh? Yes. You can't make a living off just singing without this."

Ehhhh, how do the laws of physics even work in this world… wait, it has magic. Can't rely on that, I guess.

"… So wait, don't you ever sing while playing instruments?"

"Singing while playing? Oh. That's auto-playing. It looks better when you rest your hands on the instrument, but in reality the skill moves them on its own, so you don't even need to rest them there. Sure, I could play while singing, but isn't the singing better when you can focus on it?"

In this world, bards apparently play their instrument parts in advance before performances, unless it's a really spontaneous situation… If I made a music box, there might not be much demand for it here!

Ah. Wait.

Come to think of it, Aishia mentioned before that she couldn't sing while playing the flute, saying "Strange!" or something… I see. She can probably auto-play the flute too. Surely the flute would float in the air like this glockenspiel for auto-playing.

When you think about it that way, not being able to combine auto-flute with singing does seem a bit strange in the opposite sense. I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but Aishia's attitude and comment back then make more sense now.

"Hm? So when you're having the glockenspiel play, your hands can't do anything else?"

"Well, I can do things that don't involve the bard skill, more or less… but I can't do anything very dexterous. Playing instruments is out."

Aishia's dexterity is apparently tied to her bard skill. Meaning both arms' worth of bard skill are "in use." So a one-woman band isn't possible.

… In that case, there might still be potential for music boxes, maybe?

"Man, that was pretty fun! Thanks, I learned a lot! Oh, but if you're taking that home, I'll need to collect for it. Just the cost of the ingots used, 5 silver coins."

"I'll pay that much. Yeah. Thank you too."

Unexpectedly, Aishia ended up with an instrument. Good for you, Aishia. Your performances will really take off now.

"So this glockenspiel is a present for Aishia."

"Really!? Thank you so much, I'll add color to our lives!"

"Ah, no, you don't have to put in that much effort."

I'm more the type who finds peace and quiet relaxing. Yeah.

"Oh, that reminds me, do you need kitchen knives or anything?"

"Kitchen knives, huh. I'd kinda like one, but are they expensive?"

"Not too much if it's iron. My Pops' work goes for 50 silver coins like it's nothing even for iron, but I'm still basically an apprentice with some experience. Mine would be about 10 silver coins."

Also, this dwarf is apparently only allowed to sell kitchen knives when it comes to bladed items.

"If kitchen knives are fine, what about regular knives?"

"Nope, can't do those. Knives can be used as weapons, right? My Pops still has me banned from weapons. Since people often stake their lives on them, it makes sense."

I see, kitchen knives aren't something you'd typically use in emergencies.

You apparently need to be clear about that when selling, too.

"Dwarf workshop kitchen knives can easily cut through ordinary knives though."

"That's exactly it. Since our workshop's products get used that way, Pops still won't give me permission…"

Expectations raise the bar, I guess. You need quality worthy of the name "dwarf workshop." The dwarf sighed, burdened by those high standards.

"By the way, what kind of performance is expected from a dwarf knife?"

"Well, with the same materials, it'd need to cleanly slice through any ordinary sword."

"You have to make something like that… tough life, dwarf-kun."

"Yeah. It's tough. Thanks for understanding… so, for the sake of training, it'd really help if you bought a kitchen knife."

He says if they sell, he can make more. Oh, smooth salesman. Well, I'll buy one.

I'm not averse to investing in the growth of young people who put in the effort.

… However, I won't be using my Shounin funds. As a merchant, I'm still totally a young newcomer myself!