Chương 545: 959
Byeok Hae-su carefully examined the woman who had suddenly addressed him.
"Hmm..."
Red hair tied up carelessly, blue eyes.
Freckles scattered across her face.
Above all, her sun-tanned skin and the abs and arm muscles not hidden by the white T-shirt are impressive.
She could easily handle a hammer.
'What a cool woman.'
Her disheveled appearance, with clothes soaked in sweat and stained with soot, was proof of how hardworking the woman was.
Having thought that far, Byeok Hae-su quickly concluded.
"You're a blacksmith."
"That's right, I'm this workshop's blacksmith. To formally introduce myself, I'm Martina, a first-class blacksmith of the 3rd team. I'll be monitoring your work while you're here."
"I'm Byeok Hae-su from Pandora Clan. Nice to meet you. But monitoring, isn't that too blunt?"
Byeok Hae-su and Martina shake hands.
As Byeok Hae-su chuckled and questioned, Martina shrugged nonchalantly.
"But it's the truth? Nominally, I'm assisting your work. If there's anything you don't know here, or if you need my help, just let me know anytime."
"Huh... You're quite straightforward."
"Why? Should I act coy like ordinary women? Be careful, that would be an insult to me."
"No, I didn't mean it that way... If I made you misunderstand, I'm sorry. I meant I like your straightforward personality."
"Really? You have a good eye? You don't need to apologize."
"By the way, you speak Korean well... How did you learn it?"
"I grew up in an orphanage. I learned it from Korean kids who lived there with me. That's why the workshop people assigned me as your monitor."
"Oh... I see. Looks like I brought up a sensitive topic..."
"It's okay, don't worry about it. More importantly, you coming to the workshop today... It means you're making that sword, right?"
Martina waves her hand dismissively.
Then she narrowed her eyes, showing curiosity.
"I heard about it. Our country promised to give your boss, the Pandora Clan Lord, a highest-grade treasure, right? And you're going to make a sword with that treasure."
"You've been saying 'you, you' for a while now, but stop that and call me by my name. It's uncomfortable..."
"But your name is difficult? No, your surname is. What? Byeok? Byok?"
"Byeok."
"It's difficult. No, how can a surname be Wall? What does it mean?"
"Huh... It's not that 'byeok' (癖, habit), but 'byeok' (碧, blue)... You probably won't understand even if I explain. Then just call me by my first name without the surname. That should be easy to pronounce."
"Okay, Hae-su. Anyway, back to the point. You have that treasure with you now, right? What treasure did you bring from the vault... Can you show me?"
Martina asked in a subtle tone, swallowing hard.
Byeok Hae-su nodded as if understanding her desire to see the treasure.
But his answer was a refusal.
"I'm sorry, but I can't show such a precious treasure carelessly. But if you really want to see it... Come watch when I melt the treasure in the furnace."
"Huh? Didn't you come to the workshop to melt that treasure now?"
"I can't just melt it without a proper concept. I can't jump into real work with a furnace I haven't even tried. For now, I plan to get a feel for the furnace while conceptualizing the sword I'll make."
"I see... It's disappointing, but I guess I'll have to see the treasure then."
Martina sighs as if there's no helping it.
Meanwhile, Byeok Hae-su pointed his thumb at the furnace behind him.
"Can I use this now?"
"Sure. No one uses it at this time, so use it freely. You can use the materials in the workshop too. You'll have to pay a fair price, though."
"Well, I brought materials from Korea, so I probably won't need to borrow any... Anyway, got it, thanks."
With that, Byeok Hae-su started lighting the furnace, beaming with joy.
Martina watched him, half committed to monitoring and half out of pure curiosity.
Soon, the furnace was heated up.
"I missed this heat."
While it was enjoyable to see the sea on the way to Italy by ship, people really should be in front of fire.
Byeok Hae-su raised the corners of his mouth at the heat warming his skin.
Regardless, he moves his body and drops the mana alloy prepared in Korea into Vulcan's furnace.
After a moment, the mana alloy melts in the heat and turns into molten iron.
Bubble bubble. Sizzle!
He pours the molten iron into a special jar connected to Vulcan's furnace.
Then, to remove impurities mixed in the molten iron, he blows hot air into the bottom of the jar.
Simultaneously.
Pop!
"I'm counting on you."
Drip... Sizzle!
Byeok Hae-su suddenly took out a vial and poured its contents into the jar.
Martina couldn't help but question his strange action.
"Wait, what did you just put in?"
"Oh, this? It's a potion, made in Korea. The chairman of Alice Group specially..."
"What? A... potion? Why on earth are you putting that in?"
Martina was dumbfounded.
Byeok Hae-su replied casually.
"You could call it a kind of nutrient? I accidentally dropped a potion into the furnace before. But it contributed to performance improvement."
"That's impossible... Is that true?"
"Of course, ordinary potions didn't seem to have much effect."
"..."
At this moment, Martina couldn't help but be excited by this new knowledge.
It felt like her known world had suddenly expanded.
She was so motivated that she wanted to run to the workshop right away and test this knowledge.
But she had to stay put to monitor Byeok Hae-su.
'Ah, if only it weren't for this person, I could focus solely on work... No, if it weren't for him, I would have continued not knowing... Aah! Anyway, still!'
At this point, let's compromise.
After struggling internally, Martina came to a conclusion and proposed to Byeok Hae-su.
"Do you have any other tips besides that? If you tell me, I'll tell you too. How about we exchange one each?"
"Huh, well. Information exchange is good. But since I spoke first, isn't it your turn to tell me something?"
"Okay, good. I'll go first. Hmm, what should I say..."
Fortunately, Byeok Hae-su didn't refuse.
Having gotten the answer she wanted, Martina smiled brightly.
From there, the two exchanged information and gradually built up their friendship.
*
After leaving for Bracciano, Byeok Hae-su continued to stay there without showing any signs of returning to Rome.
Meanwhile, according to what Eun-ha heard through Hermit... It seemed that Byeok Hae-su was currently holed up in the workshop, focusing on his work.
And.
'They say he hit it off with a female craftsman he met there. To think that hyung would date a woman... I thought he wasn't even interested in women...'
Byeok Hae-su started dating!
Hearing this unexpected news, Eun-ha couldn't help but feel a bit dazed while also feeling happy for him.
So he also had doubts.
'Could she have approached Hae-su hyung with some ulterior motive?'
It was a meeting with a strange woman in a foreign country.
It was enough to be wary.
However, contrary to Eun-ha's concerns, according to Hermit's story, fortunately, the woman doesn't seem to have any impure intentions.
No, she does have intentions, but she seems to be a person with a bold and straightforward personality, so there's probably no need to worry.
Eun-ha was somewhat relieved.
'But what will he do when it's time to return... Surely hyung won't say he's staying in Italy because of a woman?'
Although Byeok Hae-su is known to become completely absorbed when he's into something, he's not an entirely impulsive person.
So Eun-ha earnestly prayed that wouldn't be the case.
Time passed.
[Eun-ha, I finally made it! Come!]
The news from Byeok Hae-su came one day, when there wasn't much time left before the <Dungeon of the Deep Sea> conquest.
Eun-ha headed to Bracciano with his companions immediately upon receiving the contact.
"Welcome everyone! You came quickly."
At Italy's top-rated workshop located in Bracciano, Lazio.
Byeok Hae-su greeted Eun-ha's group warmly.
Meanwhile, beside him stood a woman with striking red hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin.
She was Byeok Hae-su's lover that Eun-ha had heard about through Hermit.
"Say hello, guys. This is Martina, a craftsman of this workshop..."
"Hi! I'm Martina, Hae-su oppa's girlfriend. Nice to meet you."
"Ahem! You heard? That's how it is. We're dating."
"..."
As Byeok Hae-su was about to introduce her formally, Martina suddenly cut in.
She greeted them cheerfully.
Naturally, people who had heard the news beforehand couldn't help but show interest in her, Byeok Hae-su's lover.
Eun-ha was no exception.
'Fortunately, it doesn't seem like she approached Hae-su hyung with impure intentions. I'll need to observe more, but...'
For now, it seems the worry can be eased.
Eun-ha inwardly felt relieved after briefly observing Martina as she exchanged greetings with the others.
Now that they had exchanged greetings, he turned the topic to the main point.
"So hyung, where's the sword?"
"It's in the back of the workshop. Shall we go? Let's end the conversation here."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"It's definitely something to look forward to. You'll love it, Eun-ha. Follow me."
Byeok Hae-su chuckles and leads the way.
Eun-ha, along with the others, followed his steps.
They head to the workshop that was temporarily assigned to him while working here.
Soon after.
Thud!
Under everyone's gaze, Byeok Hae-su brought a metal box and placed it on the table.
"This is your new sword. Open it."
"..."
Byeok Hae-su confidently urges.
The others also seemed curious, urging Eun-ha with their eyes to open the box quickly.
Eun-ha didn't hesitate.
Clank. Click! Swoosh!
He takes the key Byeok Hae-su gave him and unlocks the metal box.
Eun-ha opened the metal box.
"..."
"How is it? It turned out great, right?"
Byeok Hae-su rubs the bridge of his nose.
Eun-ha didn't respond to him and quietly looked at the sword inside the metal box.
'It certainly turned out well. It's a masterpiece.'
A sword with a jet-black blade that captivates the viewer while staying true to basic decorations.
Eun-ha couldn't help but feel drawn to that sword before his eyes.
On the other hand, he instinctively realized.
'It's absolutely not inferior to the Dawn Sword.'
He carefully reaches out with both hands and draws out the sword.
The jet-black blade, reflecting the light, scatters a mysterious ink-like color.
Eun-ha admired it blankly.
"Try infusing mana into the sword."
"...Okay."
He follows Byeok Hae-su's advice.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
A change occurred in the blade that absorbed Eun-ha's internal mana.
Red flower petals bloomed profusely on the jet-black blade that had been empty before.
Moreover, the flower petals fluttered vividly as if they were real.
Not only Eun-ha but everyone who saw that sight couldn't help but let out exclamations of admiration.
"How is it? Amazing, right? I was so surprised when I first saw the flower petals fluttering too."
"...Yeah, it's amazing."
Byeok Hae-su's shoulders shake with laughter as if he had succeeded in a prank.
Then he added.
"But unfortunately, I'm not sure what power is imbued in that sword. It seems it won't tell anyone except the master it acknowledges. So you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"...It's okay, I've already figured it out."
"Oh, as expected."
Even without recalling what future Yu-seong had said before.
Eun-ha could intuitively understand the moment he grasped the sword.
What kind of sword this is. And what he could do with this sword.
"Thank you for making it, hyung. I really like it."
"It's nothing, I should be thanking you for letting me make something with such a precious treasure. It was a great honor as a craftsman."
The corners of Eun-ha's mouth curve into an arc.
Byeok Hae-su also raised the corners of his mouth.
"By the way, what will you name it?"
"The name..."
Since the profusely fluttering red flower petals are impressive, he decides to use the character for 'red' (紅, hong) and 'flower' (花, hwa).
Therefore, naming it.
"Honghwa Sword. I think Honghwa Sword would be good."
Eun-ha spoke the name of the new sword.
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