Ruri no Houseki - Vol. 5 Ch. 26 - What Makes Stones Shine

[MangaDex]

 

[semi_truck]

Enjoy.

 

[friendly]

I'm actually really jealous.... all the knives in my kitchen feel like they're getting duller, and we dont have anything big enough for even sharpening.

 

[Serenata]

I thought it would end up with a gag because the second half forgot about the leeches... also thought they should strip right there in the river to make sure they don't have any in places they can't see for themselves.

Wish I had a river closer to home.

 

[xanon]

Ruri's range of interesting rocks is increasing!

 

[fight2live]

i remember long ago my dad taught me how to use whetstone to sharpen a knife and grade-school me kinda got obsessed with it 😂 my mom loved that phase because every single knife in the house got really sharp again. the fact that it didn't end up with me cutting myself was kinda miraculous

 

[Draugadrottinn]

Good whetstones were important for thousands of years, when knives were expensive and could not just be thrown away when they became dull. The best and most sought after whetstones in Europe came from Eidsborg in Telemark (Norway), where there were an industry producing them at least as early as 700AD.
The small wooden ships back then, like viking ships etc. used rocks as ballast. When they visited Telemark they would dump the ballast and fill up with whetstones instead, so they could sell them in the next port they visited. The whetstones from Eidsborg were one of the longest lasting export goods from Norway at 1200 years + until cheaper cast whetstones took over the market in the 1950s.
I watched a British documentary about the importance of these whetstones, but couldn't remember the title. Instead I found this short video.

 

[Sancturil]

Thank you for the translation!
I'm so happy to be able to read more of this series beyond where the anime stopped!