Muichiro Tokito grew curious again. "What's this?"
"Some tools." Tetsu no Sosuke opened the box, revealing pliers, tweezers, and similar implements, along with a small hammer, a whetstone, and more...
"You actually carry these around with you all the time?" Muichiro Tokito was like an endlessly curious child.
Tetsu no Sosuke laughed heartily. "Kid, let me tell you: a boxer never stops practicing his punches, and a singer never stops practicing his songs..."
Muichiro Tokito looked utterly blank.
Tetsu no Sosuke paused. "In short, you must always keep your trade in mind and constantly practice if you want to improve your skills. Every craft is the same, really. As the saying goes, rowing against the current means falling behind unless you move forward. Do you understand that?"
"Rowing against the current?" He more or less understood that part. Then, after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Why not go with the current?"
"Going with the current means going downhill," Tetsu no Sosuke said. "It's really a way of describing how difficult these things are. If you stand still, like you are now, without learning anything, then a towering mountain stands before you, and you haven't taken a single step up it. Naturally, you don't have to worry about sliding backward. But once you've climbed one step, then two, and made it halfway up the mountain, climbing any higher becomes very difficult. It's like a boat going against the current. If you don't make an effort, the water will sweep you back where you came from. In the end, you'll be back at the foot of the mountain, gazing up at its lofty heights and sighing helplessly."
Muichiro Tokito understood a little, but much more of it remained beyond him.
Still, he felt that those words made a great deal of