Chapter 19
Finding the blacksmith’s shop by following the map was not particularly difficult.
Although it was located at the foot of the mountain, a bit further away from the area where the Academy’s main halls were clustered, the elevation was much lower than that of the dormitories.
Even accounting for the time to return, there was plenty of time before the next class.
"Is this the place?"
Unlike the other ornate halls, the blacksmith’s shop was a crude, stone-built structure.
It was quiet inside—no sound of hammers striking—but a scorching heat seemed to be leaking out.
"Shall I open the door?"
"Yes!"
I carefully opened the door and took a step inside, leading the way for So-woon.
However, the open interior was lined only with furnaces and anvils; there was no one to be seen.
"Excuse me! Is anyone here?"
Still, it wasn't a completely wasted trip.
When I called out loudly toward the inner doors, someone popped out from one of them.
"New student? Are you here for labor duty? There’s no work right now, though?"
A large, muscular blacksmith with a thick beard.
The bronze-skinned man scratched his head as he examined us.
So, they assign labor duty here as well.
"No, that’s not it. Master Gwak Do-cheon told me that a sword had been commissioned for this friend, so we’ve come to collect it."
"Huh? ...Did he mention that when my brother was here?"
He went back into the room, rummaged through something like a ledger, and nodded.
"It’s been a while since a student received a sword right after entering the Academy. Follow me."
It seemed the brothers worked together at the Academy, but fortunately, there was no communication error.
The blacksmith opened the door on the far right, and So-woon and I followed him inside.
"Oh?"
Unless something particularly strange happened, I had expected him to pull a sword made for So-woon out of a storage room.
However, the space inside the door was quite large.
Hundreds of weapons—swords, sabers, spears, axes, and bows—were on display.
Some were hung normally on walls or placed on shelves, but there were also swords stuck into rocks in a highly suspicious manner.
"Wow..."
"It’s impressive. Did the Master Craftsman make all these swords?"
"Ahem, the ones in this room are the lowest-grade works of the Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman."
"...?"
It sounded strange to hear them called "lowest-grade" when I expected the term "highest-quality."
I understood it as them being mass-produced weapons for students, as the craftsman himself could likely forge legendary blades with superior materials.
"We didn't make all of them, either. Some were scavenged from bandit dens or marketplaces, and some are failed works that students on labor duty ruined because they couldn't control the fire."
"..."
"Haha, just pick one from the many weapons overflowing in here. If you look carefully, you might find something surprisingly useful—more than enough for a new student—so pick one with your own skill!"
We were supposed to choose for ourselves among all these weapons?
"Isn't there a sword specifically commissioned by the Sword of Radiant Light?"
"Ha! If you want to commission a sword directly from this Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman, ten thousand silver taels wouldn't be enough. Unless you’ve performed a great deed and the Academy Master personally requested it, why would I forge a sword for a new student?"
The blacksmith grumbled, adding that just getting the opportunity to choose a weapon here would normally cost 100 merit points, but Gwak Do-cheon had paid for it instead.
"Ah... I see."
"Thank you!"
Since 100 merit points were a bit ambiguous until external missions became available, and judging by his tone, I suspected there might be a separate storage for the high-quality items he was actually proud of.
Regardless, since it was free, So-woon just bowed and expressed her gratitude.
"So we have to choose it ourselves?"
"That’s right. You have one *gak*."
It didn't seem like the blacksmith had any intention of picking out a decent one for us.
Gwak Do-cheon had likely sent me along because he was worried about So-woon, who had probably never seen a good sword before.
"Hmm... what martial arts have you learned so far?"
I asked So-woon first.
If I had known this would happen, we should have practiced sparring beforehand.
"The Sword of Radiant Light taught me a bit of the opening formula for the Righteous Qi Technique!"
"...That sounds like an internal cultivation method?"
"Yes, it is. Thanks to that, I’ve built up a little bit of internal energy."
"You haven't learned any sword techniques at all? Even at the Yu Family Manor?"
"No. They wouldn't teach a servant how to use a sword..."
I had thought she didn't seem like a martial artist, given how she just stood there and took the hits when we met at the inn.
But to be a complete blank slate in external arts?
"Then you've never swung a sword even once?"
"No."
"Are you physically strong? Or are you quick on your feet? Did Master Gwak say where your talent lies?"
"Um... I don't know. The Sword of Radiant Light came to the Yu Family Manor at the invitation of the Manor Master, saw me by chance, and suddenly said my aptitude was excellent."
What is this? Is she the type who absorbs everything she’s taught?
I had no way of knowing So-woon’s aptitude or characteristics.
...Shouldn't Gwak Do-cheon have come to pick it out himself?
He had such a kind impression that he surely could have done that much; I wondered if a martial arts master was forbidden from helping with the selection.
"Then it can't be helped. Let's just pick a versatile weapon. So-woon, you do want to use a sword, right?"
"Ah, yes. Fast Sword... that’s what you called it, right? I want to learn it directly from the Sword of Radiant Light!"
Since the blacksmith had limited us to one *gak*, there was no time to chat.
I simply picked out swords that matched her height and seemed reasonably light, then hurried to check the blades.
Roughly one in five was a complete mess.
Three of them weren't quite up to the standard of the swords carried by the North Sea Ice Palace disciples, but they seemed slightly better than the ones the Yu Family Manor martial artists had been carrying.
I even wondered if the smelting technology in the North Sea was superior to that of the Central Plains, given that it was the source of Cold Iron.
"I’ll say it again, the truly great works of this Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman are not here. The sword in your right hand was made forty years ago, and the one in your left was made by a disciple who ran away soon after."
"Ah, yes."
I hadn't said anything, so why was he being so defensive?
He watched me swing the swords to pick out a decent one, and perhaps thinking I knew a thing or two, he started making unnecessary excuses.
Forty years ago? The blacksmith looked to be in his early forties at most; what a bluff.
"Picking between these two seems like the safest bet."
In any case, there were a few excellent swords, as if he had intentionally mixed in a certain percentage of decent ones.
I narrowed it down to the two lightest ones and handed them to So-woon to try swinging.
"If you want a unique sword that isn't just 'safe,' wouldn't that one be it? We are allowed to try pulling that one out, right?"
I pointed to the sword stuck in the rock that had been bothering me the whole time.
While the other swords didn't have any special energy emanating from them, that one was radiating an indescribable aura.
"Hahaha, you mean this one? Of course. Every newcomer who comes here tries to pull it out at least once."
The blacksmith said confidently.
"Did you make it by intentionally imbuing it with strange energy? How did you get it stuck in the rock?"
"Ahem! I didn't make that. The Mad Flame Saber brought it back along with the rock from the old base of the Demonic Cult."
What?
I could accept that there were swords scavenged from bandit dens mixed in, but the Demonic Cult was a completely different story.
Could the unpleasant aura radiating from that sword be Demonic Qi?
"Are you talking about the Great War of Righteous and Evil? Is it really okay for something like that to be in the Academy?"
"Where would we have had the time to worry about such things during the war? Three years ago, at the request of the Murim Alliance, the Mad Flame Saber led a few students to the Heavenly Mountains."
"So you just left it here as a war trophy..."
"I asked for it when they said they were going to burn it. How about it? Doesn't it set the mood perfectly?"
The mood was certainly impressive.
"It’s not like it’s possessed by a ghost that makes you want to kill people, or that the sword talks to you, right?"
"Do you believe in such strange, supernatural phenomena?"
"Hmm..."
"Well, there are so many strange things in the Demonic Cult that you never know. No student has succeeded in pulling that sword out yet."
"Pardon?"
"That, that one. I’ll go with this one."
While the blacksmith and I were talking, So-woon had chosen one of the two swords.
No, was she not even curious after seeing that suspicious sword?
Even if she chose a safe sword, I thought it would be natural to at least want to check that one out.
"We still have a little time left, right? I want to try it once!"
"Do as you please."
So-woon truly seemed to have no lingering attachment to the other options.
I asked for the blacksmith’s permission and quickly grabbed the sword.
I intended to just give it a light pull, and if it didn't budge, I would try again later by earning the merit points myself.
Naturally, there was no strange sound or sudden surge of bloodlust, as I had feared.
"Oh?"
But, to my great bewilderment, the sword pulled right out, even though I hadn't imbued it with any particular energy.
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