It was worthy of being called an excellent sculpture park. This hill had already become quite famous in the Versailles Continent as the Light Park. Moreover, a fabulous view of Morata village and the Lord's Castle could be seen from the hill! The pretty buildings and the Goddess Freya Statue were visible from above.
Weed went up to that place with Yellowy.
“It's the Lord of Morata.”
“Lord? Then he's the Sculptor who sculpted the Tower of Light.”
“It's the Wargod Weed.”
As Weed went up the hill, the tourists who recognized him shouted out. Weed went right past them, took a position on the hill of sculptures, and pulled out his sculpting knife.
'I have to make something necessary for the quest.'
He had felt his limitations even while doing the Alliance of the Deliverer quest. His stats were higher than others because he was a Sculptor, but his fighting ability fell somewhat short. Even if he were to make up for it with Sculpting Blade or other skills, he was in a shaky situation considering the quest he had in front of him.
'I can't even use the Power of the Deliverer anymore, and if another enemy like Balkan or the King Hydra shows up, I'll lose for sure.'
It was a battle Weed had used all his cards to fight in. He had entirely used up the Power of the Deliverer that had been in the wand, and the Copper Plate of Rest's durability had fallen, so he couldn't issue the Sentence of Death. He had to complete the 2nd and 3rd steps of the quest as well, but all his cards were exhausted.
He had suffered to death completing the 1st step of the S difficulty quest, so there would be nothing more mortifying than failing the 2nd and 3rd steps.
Slice, slice.
Rocks were cut with every movement of the sculpting knife.
There were many sculptures Weed had thought of making. The Church of Freya did not shun other religions. Therefore, he was planning on making a statue of the God of Lugh, who matched well with Freya. The Church of Lugh revered brightness and was the natural enemy of monsters that attacked under the cover of darkness. It wouldn't be bad to have an Idol of Lugh, even if only to improve public security.
[T/N: Lugh is pronounced as “Lu”, he is the Celtic hero of the Sun God.]
'Durability has to be good for a huge statue, so I've gotta make the foundation with stone.'
Weed quickly cut the rock that would become the sculpture's foundation. A sculpture similar in size to the Tower of Light was being made! Statues of Lugh were set up all across the Versailles Continent. Lugh wasn't vague in appearance like Goddess Freya, so it did not take long to sculpt.
“The really important part starts from this moment onwards.”
Weed took a deep breath. The materials were so precious that they made him bead up with cold sweat, but an investment in the sculpture was necessary.
He was at Advanced Sculpting 6. If he made just a few more sculptures, he would soon reach level 7.
“It's really a shame, but…”
Weed sorted the metal fragments he had acquired at the Embinyu Fortress. Excluding the blacksmithing materials with high solidity, he melted the broken metal shards.
“Aahhh, precious things…”
Glowing yellow, the molten gold was completed.
When a Blacksmith improved their skill, they could paint on a thin layer of gold. In technical terms, gilt!
“I won't even be able to paint half of it with this much…” Even after melting all the metal shards in Weed's possession, it was slightly insufficient to paint the entirety of the huge statue. “Should I try mixing in a few impurities?”
Weed shook his head. It would deal a blow to the sculpture if the gold's purity was lowered.
“The gold has to be 24k no matter what.”
Weed melted in the ancient gold coins and the gold bars he had acquired from hunting.
“Aaahh, these precious things.”
Every time he stirred with a rod, the molten gold was mixed as it let off an indescribable luster. For Weed, who had only ever stirred watery soup, it was a luxury among luxuries.
The tourists couldn't repress their astonishment.
“Is Sculptor Weed making an enormous statue right now?”
“It looks like he's gonna cover it all in gold.”
They were curious about how the idol of Lugh would turn out. That was the way things were; no matter what it was, the expectant mentality would amplify right before something was finished.
As it was Weed, the tourists kept on increasing.
“How much tax did he scrape from Morata to be able to invest in a sculpture like that?”
“As expected, Lords must have a ton of money.”
“I'm telling you, they're all scammers and thieves. How much money do you think he earned as players gathered in the North?”
There was even the appearance of those who saw him as a millionaire and envied him. However, Weed's fame was enormous.
“Do not criticize our Lord!”
“That's right, our Lord is maintaining a really low tax rate.”
“He's the one who emptied his own pockets to make sculptures and raise buildings in the ruin that was once Morata. To such an awesome Lord…”
“You don't even know the reason why he was trying to squeeze out every last Copper when he was selling goods to everyone in the market, right? Sob, sob!”
The female beginners who saw him as kind even showed tears at the criticism directed at Weed as they defended him.
“He's trying to get just one more Copper to invest it in Morata. All for our sakes!”
The players who defended him while calling him a living saint; an excellent Lord who treasured his residents and players!
Weed was so taut with tension that he couldn't even give a shit about the the tourists' dispute.
“I can't spill even a single drop.”
He poured all his attention into the business of gold gilding.
He had a background of papering the walls in his house since he was little. They had lasted a winter by pasting the newspapers left from his delivery onto the walls, layer by layer.
“Papering must be done quickly! It absolutely must not overlap. It'll be tough if there are bumpy raised parts or crooked portions.”
He revived the experience of papering to perform the gilding. Of course, there was a considerable difference between the two. In gilding, gold had to be spread thinly and brushed on, so it had a far greater difficulty.
However, he received assistance from his skills to make up for what he was lacking. He had shitty drawing ability, but thanks to raising his Drawing skill beforehand, there was even a slight effect on his brushing.
At last, the head part was all painted on, and the idol of Lugh's head reflected the sunshine, sparkling golden. He put in blue jewels for the eyes. They were azure eyes gazing far into the distance on a golden head that looked like it would sparkle away at any moment.
The statue of the proud Sun God was being made steadily from the head down.
“Oooh.”
“It's so cool.”
The sight of the statue being completed was broadcasted real-time on the Internet through the tourists. The golden idol of Lugh made by Weed!
It was completed with a majestic appearance and was even holding a huge bow and arrows. For a normal Sculptor, it would have been too daunting to make just the idol, but Weed had a history of making huge sculptures now. He had kept some spare materials on hand, even when making such a large sculpture, and had even sculpted Lu’s equipment.
Ding!
You have completed the Idol of the Church of Lugh!
Yet another major work brought into the world by the great leader in sculpturing, the pious Sculptor Weed.
One of the Gods on the Versailles Continent, the idol of Lugh, who symbolizes the sun, has been completed.