Chapter 137. Restoration (5)

I had only just met Blacksmith Yeo today.

Whether he quit his forge or not was not my business to meddle in.

I wasn’t the type to poke my nose into other people’s affairs in the first place.

Nevertheless, I posed a question to Blacksmith Yeo.

“Is there perhaps still some trash left to be cleaned up?”

If it were any other matter, I wouldn’t have cared, but if it was related to trash, I had to be willing to get involved.

At my question, Blacksmith Yeo shook his head.

“Not for the time being.”

“If not for the time being, does that mean there could be in the future?”

Blacksmith Yeo asked me back.

“Did you happen to see the blade of Sura Blood Blade that you killed today?”

“It was a sleek blade, befitting of his blade art. In addition to that, despite being a sleek blade, its strength was considerable.”

After answering so, I added just in case.

“Was the blade he used also an item forged by you, blacksmith?”

Blacksmith Yeo nodded and said.

“The Pung’un Merchant Group, which was destroyed at the hands of Sura Blood Blade, was also a frequent customer here. But they fell to a blade I made. And that man even threatened me with the blade I made.”

“But that Sura Blood Blade is already dead, isn’t he?”

“It’s not just Sura Blood Blade. I hear that weapons I’ve forged are circulating in a place called the Black Market. Moreover, the Twin Axes used by that infamous Nine Dragons Fortress Leader were also crafted by me. I didn’t even make them for him, but they’ve somehow become his favorite weapons.”

Blacksmith Yeo made an expression full of regret.

Listening to him, for some reason, the story of the Tang Clan bastard came to mind.

Though similar, there was a big difference.

“In that case, couldn’t you just be more selective about who you craft weapons for from now on? The ones who commit evil deeds using the weapons you crafted. How about crafting weapons for chivalrous heroes who can punish them?”

The Tang Clan bastard’s maternal grandfather and grandmother had already passed away.

On the other hand, Blacksmith Yeo was still alive and well.

“The way things are now is no different from causing trouble and then going into hiding.”

Of course, Blacksmith Yeo hadn’t intentionally crafted weapons for trash.

But that was the result.

And it would be even more so if he gave up metallurgy here.

Even at my point, Blacksmith Yeo just kept his mouth shut with a stern expression.

At that moment, Miss Yeo, from the side, opened her mouth.

“That’s right, Father! If you really can’t stand it, then I’ll do it! I can just take over here and do it!”

Unlike when she was being praised by the Tang Clan bastard a moment ago, she shouted in a confident tone.

“Because those vicious people are using your wonderful works, your name is being tarnished for no reason! I will make wonderful items and surely retrieve your weapons!”

It was an excellent mindset.

I almost applauded without realizing it.

But even at his daughter’s confident appearance, Blacksmith Yeo’s expression remained stern.

Soon, he began to walk.

It wasn’t to go back to repairing the Restoring Name Sword.

After walking to a deep corner of the forge, Blacksmith Yeo soon appeared, dragging a box.

Several iron weapons like swords and blades were inside.

Blacksmith Yeo, who had returned without a word, said to me.

“Please take a look.”

Was he asking me to kill some villains with these?

With that inference in mind, I examined the weapons.

Soon, I realized my inference was wrong.

“They don’t seem to be made by you, blacksmith. They all feel a little soft in terms of strength.”

I turned my head and looked at Miss Yeo.

Unlike her confident appearance a moment ago, her face was slightly flushed.

“By any chance, are these items forged by you, Miss Yeo?”

It wasn’t just a guess based on her reaction.

Throughout the weapons, I felt the same meticulousness and detail as in the silver needles Miss Yeo had crafted earlier.

Just one thing, the fact that the strength was a little soft was the only flaw.

The one who answered my question was not Miss Yeo, but Blacksmith Yeo.

“As you said, Great Hero Jin, these were crafted by my daughter.”

For some reason, the father and daughter seemed to have a habit of answering questions directed at the other.

“Also, as you said, Great Hero Jin, her skills are lacking to be a blacksmith.”

At this, the blushing daughter shouted.

“I can just improve my skills!”

“It’s a skill that cannot be improved. There is a limit to hammering with a woman’s strength, so no matter how hard you try, it is impossible for you to ever craft a superior weapon. In other words, it means that you, as a woman, have no talent.”

At her father’s blatant criticism, Miss Yeo’s face, which was already flushed, turned red as if it would explode.

Miss Yeo, who was trembling with her fists clenched so tightly they could break, soon turned around and ran out of the forge.

“Miss Yeo!”

At this, even the Tang Clan bastard suddenly chased after her and ran out of the forge.

It was a sight that made me genuinely worry if that man had really gone crazy for women.

I turned my head and sent a sound transmission to Junior Sister Choyeon.

– Junior Sister. Follow those two.

At that, Junior Sister Choyeon lifted her heels and asked me in a whisper.

“Who should I kill?”

I answered for my junior sister, who thought of ‘pursue’ and ‘kill’ as synonyms.

– For now, just watch. And if the Tang Clan bastard……

I was originally going to say to subdue him if he did anything strange.

But I thought my junior sister wouldn’t be able to interpret the expression ‘strange.’

– No. For now, just watch. We will follow soon.

“Understood, Senior Brother.”

Junior Sister Choyeon left the forge, following the traces of the two who had run out.

Only then did I turn my body and clasp my hands in a salute to Blacksmith Yeo.

“Please don’t worry about Miss Yeo. Two have followed her, so there will be no danger.”

Blacksmith Yeo let out a deep sigh.

“Haaah. I understand for now.”

For some reason, he seemed to have very little faith in the Tang Clan bastard.

At that moment, Junior Sister Baek Hyang gently raised her hand and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Umm. May I ask just one thing?”

“Please feel free to ask, young lady.”

“Is it because of Miss Yeo that you are trying to quit the forge?”

Nam Geon blinked as if wondering what this was all about.

I, too, at first wondered what it was about, but I could easily read my junior sister’s thoughts.

“Was it because the work of a blacksmith is dangerous and you didn’t want to get Miss Yeo involved?”

Come to think of it, that Sura Blood Blade bastard had also seemed to have threatened Blacksmith Yeo using Miss Yeo.

For a father, there could be nothing more nerve-wracking.

At my question, Blacksmith Yeo let out another deep sigh.

“Haaah. I’ve lived my whole life obsessed with iron. When I came to my senses, my wife had already passed away, and the only family I had left was my daughter. But that precious daughter is trying to follow in her foolish father’s footsteps.”

Junior Sister Baek Hyang, who had been listening quietly, threw a question.

“Why did you say it like that instead of telling the truth? You said she was precious. Your relationship will only be strained.”

Even Nam Geon nodded his head vigorously and chimed in.

“Th-that’s right! L-lying is bad!”

At this, Blacksmith Yeo smiled bitterly.

“It is a hundred times better to be a father who is resented by his daughter than to be a father who lets his daughter walk a path of hardship.”

So, instead of saying it was dangerous, he meant he told her to quit because she had no talent.

Quit because you have no talent.

It was something I had heard often in my past life.

So I said to Blacksmith Yeo.

“Hearing that one has no talent at a hot-blooded age will only make them train more tenaciously.”

“I am aware. That is why I plan to close this place down so she cannot hammer at all.”

He was an extreme man in many ways.

“I have no intention of meddling in other people’s family affairs, but it seems there is one misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding do you mean?”

“This world is overflowing with trash. Even if it’s not the work of a blacksmith, you will inevitably be pestered by trash anyway.”

Because that man had lived his whole life as a blacksmith, he thought he was pestered by trash because he was a blacksmith.

“If you run a business, they’ll extort protection money, and if you farm, they’ll extort your crops.”

“Th-that’s right! B-bad guys take everything!”

Nodding at Nam Geon’s chime, I added one last thing.

“So, it would be safer to use those skills to entrust yourselves to a just and upright sect or clan. Or, as Miss Yeo said, it’s also good to try entrusting weapons to a chivalrous hero.”

But since the choice was ultimately up to that man, I didn’t meddle any further.

“Then we will come back again tomorrow. Ah. We will also find Miss Yeo on our way and send her back here, so please don’t worry.”

Saying so, I turned and left the forge.

On the way, following the traces of Miss Yeo, the Tang Clan bastard, and Junior Sister Choyeon, Junior Sister Baek Hyang muttered with a bitter expression.

“There are surely many ways to solve it, but why did he choose such an extreme method?”

For my junior sister with her excellent insight, it seemed she couldn’t easily understand.

“It is natural for the vision of a person with something to protect to become narrow.”

At my answer, Nam Geon also seemed to sympathize and nodded his large head vigorously.

“Th-that’s right! W-when I try to protect someone, I can only see that person!”

“Yes. In that sense, Miss Yeo could be called a true heroine.”

She, too, had a family to protect.

But unlike her father who tried to run away, she revealed her ambition to create better weapons and give them to chivalrous heroes.

After walking for a while with such thoughts in mind, I saw a scene in the distance of the petty Tang Clan bastard and the heroine Miss Yeo talking.

***

A little while ago.

Yeo Yun, who had run out of the forge, did not go far before stopping.

Dang Sopyeong, who had followed her, coughed and asked.

“Ahem. A-are you alright?”

At that question, Yeo Yun, who had stopped walking, turned around.

Contrary to Dang Sopyeong’s expectation, she was not crying. Far from crying, she looked angry.

She repeated a few deep breaths as if to calm her anger, then let out a deep sigh.

“Haaah. My father, isn’t he really too much?”

“Indeed. How could he say such harsh things to his daughter……”

Dang Sopyeong, who was happily badmouthing her father with her, belatedly shut his mouth.

Yeo Yun’s expression was not very good.

After frowning and glaring for a moment, when Dang Sopyeong shut his mouth, Yeo Yun sighed again and said.

“Haaah. I know why my father said that. He’s probably worried about me.”

“No, you’re not. Miss Yeo’s skills were excellent!”

“That’s not it. If I work as a blacksmith, I’ll definitely get involved with people like Sura Blood Blade.”

“Ah……”

While Dang Sopyeong, who had finally learned the truth, let out a faint exclamation, Yeo Yun rambled on as if venting.

“Still, isn’t he too much? I don’t know why he talks like that.”

Dang Sopyeong, who had already received a fierce glare for taking her side once, just smiled awkwardly.

“I was serious. I really wanted to restore my father’s honor by making excellent weapons. I wanted to get them back from those vicious people who are using my father’s weapons as they please.”

“I-I see.”

Perhaps because she had vented her anger and expressed her emotions.

Seeming a little calmer, Yeo Yun sighed and muttered.

“Haaah. But, what my father said is also true. I learned all of my father’s techniques over his shoulder, but no matter how much I do it the same way, they don’t come out as strong as my father’s. Is it really the limit of a woman?”

It wasn’t that she wanted an answer from the man who had followed her. She was just complaining out of frustration.

But what do you know. Dang Sopyeong, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“I am a physician. My mother was also a physician, and my maternal grandfather and grandmother were also physicians. And those two lost their lives to an unorthodox master.”

At the sudden story, Yeo Yun looked at Dang Sopyeong with a puzzled expression.

“In a way, it is similar to what your esteemed father was worried about. When they treated that unorthodox master, he instead threatened them to hand over an elixir.”

Only then did Yeo Yun, realizing why Dang Sopyeong had brought up such a story, mutter with a bitter expression.

“……It’s just as my father worried.”

But Dang Sopyeong shook his head.

“It’s different. As I said, I am also a physician, and my mother was also a physician. They are the bad ones, so why should we live while being mindful of them?”

As if it were a story she had never thought of, Yeo Yun let out a faint exclamation.

“Ah……”

Dang Sopyeong took out the needles he had put away again and said.

“Actually, I was reluctant to use needles as hidden weapons. I felt it was somehow cowardly. At that time, a strange man told me this. Is it a good deed to kill a commoner with a sword, and an evil deed to kill a villain with a hidden weapon? What do you think, Miss Yeo?”

“Are you saying that the tool is not important, but how it is used is important?”

Dang Sopyeong nodded and said.

“It’s the same for you, Miss Yeo. Is there a law that says a weapon must be strong to be excellent? With Miss Yeo’s delicate skills, you will surely be able to craft a special weapon of your own. So please use me.”

“Use you?”

When Yeo Yun asked with a puzzled expression, Dang Sopyeong smiled faintly and answered.

“I will punish the villains who handle your father’s weapons with your weapons. By doing so, in addition to retrieving your father’s weapons, wouldn’t it be proof that Miss Yeo’s skills have surpassed your father’s?”

Saying so, Dang Sopyeong held out the iron needles to Yeo Yun and added.

“So please craft the hidden weapons I will use. The greatest hidden weapons under heaven.”

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