Chapter 27
Jeong Yushin smiled and held out his hand.
“It's been a while. I heard you got a job at the forge. I didn't expect to run into you here.”
Einhofer took Jeong Yushin's hand and shook it.
“Yes.”
“Have you quit being an explorer for good?”
“I did. I've gotten older, and my skills have gradually declined, so I felt I'd hit a wall.”
Boron scratched the bridge of his nose.
“What? You two know each other?”
“Yes. We were in the same party last time.”
“Is that so? Small world. Anyway, what do you need?”
“A helmet and armor. I want a light type of armor.”
“You don't use a shield?”
Jeong Yushin thought for a moment before answering.
“Not this time.”
“I see. The helmet will naturally be iron, and light armor should be just right. I need to take your measurements, so come into this room. Einhofer, you come in too. I'll teach you how to take measurements.”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin and the two dwarves entered a room in one corner of the forge.
The room contained a large wooden table and a bookshelf. The bookshelf was packed with tightly rolled parchment scrolls.
Boron brought over a wooden chair, strained as he gathered several scrolls from in front of the bookshelf, and spread them across the table.
The scrolls depicted armor.
“This is a light armor design. There are a few more besides this one. Look them over and decide. I'll take your measurements and make it fit perfectly, so don't worry about it not fitting.”
Boron said this while pointing at the remaining scrolls.
“Understood.”
Jeong Yushin carefully examined the designs spread across the table. As he flipped through the scrolls, one design caught his eye and made him stop.
Jeong Yushin's eyes lit up.
‘Not bad.’
It was armor based on a leather armor base, reinforced with segmented iron plates over the chest, abdomen, waist, and back. It also had spaulders—iron plates covering the shoulders—as well as iron plates that could be attached to the thighs, shins, and arms.
Overall, it was a practical design that protected vital areas without significantly reducing mobility.
“How much is this?”
Boron approached, folded his arms, and looked over the design.
“It's a very fine suit of armor. It normally costs five gold coins, but...”
Boron raised his head and glanced at Jeong Yushin.
“Just give me one gold coin.”
“Heh heh heh heh.”
Jeong Yushin ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling.
“One gold coin all of a sudden? There's no way I have that kind of money.”
“We offer installments too.”
‘People really are the same everywhere.’
Installments, huh.
Still, he had to refuse. It was far too expensive. One gold coin was enough to train at the Swordsmanship Guild for three months.
He was about to refuse.
Then Einhofer caught his eye.
He stood there in shabby clothes, one hand clenched tightly into a fist.
Einhofer's eyes met his.
“Don't worry about me.”
As if he had read Jeong Yushin's mind, Einhofer spoke calmly.
‘That's what I should be saying.’
Despite his Negative Engraving, he was a dwarf who walked the righteous path instead of straying like Dito.
He was a man worthy of respect. Unlike himself.
Unable to keep meeting his eyes, Jeong Yushin turned and looked at Boron.
“Let's make a deal. If you give me a discount on weapons and armor from now on, I'll buy this light armor.”
“All right.”
Boron answered immediately.
Business must have been quite difficult for him.
‘Farewell, my love.’
With trembling hands, Jeong Yushin took a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“Heh heh. So you were pretending not to have any money even though you had it. What a sly fellow.”
Boron grinned as he picked up the gold coin.
He had suspected as much ever since Jeong Yushin bought the expensive liquor.
‘That Barbaroi's really made it big.’
Orders had been pouring in for the past few months.
Unable to handle them all by himself, he had recently hired a dwarf with a Negative Engraving as a cheap assistant, but then a decree closing the labyrinth had been issued.
All the orders that had piled up over the past few months were canceled, leaving him with nothing to do but suck his fingers. But today, a promising customer had walked in.
“What about the helmet?”
He couldn't afford to lose this customer.
Boron asked with his eyes shining.
Jeong Yushin felt like tearing his hair out.
‘Fuck. He's wringing a flea dry!’
“The same one as last time for the helmet.”
“I've got one that came out nicely this time. Take a look.”
Boron rushed out of the room and returned like the wind. He was holding a helmet.
It was an iron helmet shaped like a barbute, but it had one difference. It was fitted with a visor that could cover the mouth.
“How about it? Nice, right? I was feeling generous. It normally costs thirty silver coins, but I'll take twenty.”
“You fucking bastard.”
???
Boron’s eyes widened at the sudden curse.
“Fuck, it's really nice. Yes. It's a complete masterpiece! Is it really okay to be this generous, Boron?”
Boron beamed.
“Barbaroi, why say such hurtful things? Isn't there something between you and me?”
‘What exactly is there between us?’
Shedding tears of blood inwardly, Jeong Yushin took twenty silver coins from his pocket and handed them over. Boron pocketed the silver with a broad smile and shouted.
“Hehehe. Great! Einhofer, bring the tape measure! Let's take our customer's measurements!”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin stood there staring blankly into space for thirty minutes.
During that time, Boron and Einhofer moved busily, taking Jeong Yushin's measurements and recording them on paper.
“That's done. It will take about two weeks to finish the armor.”
“Then I'll see you then.”
“Goodbye!”
Boron waved with a smile as Jeong Yushin staggered out of the forge.
On the way back, he stopped at the market and bought the supplies he needed.
He bought torches, healing ointment, rope and bandages, flint, and a thick robe. Just in case, he also bought two small healing potions.
“Do you sell bags too? One that I can wear at the back of my waist.”
“This is our best seller.”
The general store owner placed a small leather bag on the counter.
“A torch won't fit in it.”
Jeong Yushin stroked his chin.
“Tie the torch to the top of the bag with rope. If it gets in the way, cut the handle shorter.”
The general store owner replied indifferently.
“Oh!”
“Six silver coins for everything. Cheap, right?”
“Oh.”
With trembling hands, Jeong Yushin took six silver coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter.
Was this how a mother felt when sending her child off to the army?
His heart felt like it was being torn apart.
“Here, the razor is free.”
As if to show his generosity, the general store owner put a razor that had been rolling around nearby into the bag.
“Whew. Good luck with business.”
“Come by often. Just don't come when my daughter is here.”
“Yes, yes.”
Jeong Yushin left the general store and trudged along. The market street was quiet and deserted.
His head spinning, he crouched down by the roadside for a while.
“Ah, am I crazy? What am I doing this for?”
He had spent one gold coin and twenty-six silver coins just today. He had used nearly all the money he earned by licking Karin's belly.
He had twenty-eight silver coins left in his pocket. After paying the inn rent and the temple tuition, he would have roughly twenty-six silver coins remaining.
His chest suddenly felt tight, and he found it difficult to breathe.
“Ah, no. Get a grip, Yushin. It's an investment in the future. Do you think the labyrinth expedition is a joke? Whew. Peace of mind. Peace of mind. Asura balbalta. Asura balbalta. A man who laughs in hard times is first-rate.”
As he muttered to himself, passersby flinched and kept their distance, looking at him as though he were crazy.
He sat down in the street, meditated with his eyes closed, and then stood up.
He couldn't attain any peace of mind, but there was something he had to do.
It was around noon, and he had training at the Swordsmanship Guild.
The class cost thirty silver coins a month. He couldn't put it off any longer.
He returned to the inn, organized his belongings, left, and ran to the Swordsmanship Guild.
* * *
“Your sword is quite sharp today.”
Ashur, the head of the Swordsmanship Guild, praised him.
“Yes. There isn't much time left now.”
“For what?”
“The time I have left to learn swordsmanship here. There aren't even two weeks left, are there?”
“You got money from Karin, didn't you?”
Jeong Yushin's eyes widened.
“...How did you know?”
“When you're in this position, you hear things even if you do nothing. Didn't we talk about this last time?”
“I spent all that money. Today.”
This time, Ashur's eyes widened.
“All of it? One gold coin and fifty silver coins?! Aren't you a novice explorer?”
Ashur was shocked by the Barbaroi's extravagant spending.
Ashur pointed at Jeong Yushin and continued.
“When I was a novice explorer, you know. Huh? I lived frugally, chewing on one piece of bread and one piece of jerky a day. What is with that ridiculous spending habit?”
“That's how it turned out.”
Jeong Yushin's cool answer left Ashur speechless for a moment.
“What did you spend it on?”
“Let's train. There's no point wasting time.”
“Did you go to a brothel or something?”
“No.”
Just as Ashur was about to say something else, someone approached.
“Big brother.”
Ashur's head turned.
“You're here. Delia.”
A tall elf woman crossed the training ground toward them. She was a beautiful woman with long, straight green hair and a prim, delicate appearance.
“Hmm? Ska? Long time no see!”
The female elf looked Jeong Yushin over carefully before recognizing him.
“Who are you?”
“Del!”
Jeong Yushin's mouth fell open.
“...That goblin?”
“That's right.”
He couldn't get used to her transformed appearance.
“I heard you'd retired. Did you save money and have the Goblin Engraving removed?”
“That's right. I retired. I couldn't save the money, though. I had the Engraving removed with my family's help.”
Jeong Yushin couldn't make sense of it and was confused.
“Was there a reason you kept the Goblin Engraving on? Couldn't you have simply had it removed with your family's help?”
“Explorers can't receive help from their families. Especially the children of distinguished families in the Eastern Alliance—they have to stand on their own. It's the law of Labyrinth City. There are no exceptions.”
“I see.”
It didn't make sense to him, but an otherworlder had no place quibbling over such matters.
Karin's extravagant spending briefly came to mind as something puzzling, but he set it aside.
Even if people of high standing talked about laws and exceptions, it was useless information to him. It had nothing directly to do with the labyrinth.
He could only accept it and adapt.
Del bowed her head slightly toward Ashur.
“Big brother. I came to say goodbye before leaving Labyrinth City.”
“All right. Be careful on your way home. Shall I arrange an escort?”
“No.”
“I see.”
Del turned to Jeong Yushin and spoke.
“Ska, thank you so much. I was able to survive thanks to you.”
Del reached out and clasped both of Jeong Yushin's hands tightly.
Their eyes met.
“Don't mention it. I only did what I had to do.”
As he answered, Jeong Yushin subtly pulled his hands free.
“And this is a gift. Thank you for saving our party.”
Del took a scroll sealed with a blue seal from within her clothes and handed it to him.
“What is this?”
“It's an anti-poison scroll. An area-wide cleansing spell.”
”I’ll put it to good use.“
Jeong Yushin tucked the scroll into his clothes. The elf had already been beautiful, but she seemed even prettier to him now.
“See you later, Ska.”
“Yes. I'll see you around.”
Del smiled at Jeong Yushin's reply, turned around, and left the training ground.
Once Del disappeared beyond the training ground, Jeong Yushin turned and looked at Ashur.
“She was your younger sister?”
“She's the youngest of our family.”
“There seems to be a big age gap?”
“Don't ask. It's embarrassing.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, what did you spend the money on?”
Ashur asked again, evidently curious.
“Let's not ask about it. It's embarrassing.”
“Ha. You little punk.”
A vein bulged on Ashur's forehead.
That day, Jeong Yushin was beaten black and blue by Ashur's sword until evening.
* * *
A week passed.
The city's order closing the labyrinth remained in effect.
Baseless speculation ran rampant in the streets, while the Explorers' Guild was buried beneath an endless stream of inquiries.
More and more explorers gathered in taverns and inns, sitting around and gossiping.
But Jeong Yushin's daily life remained unchanged.
It was a continuation of endless training.
The growth of his body, altered by leveling up, had settled into a fairly gentle curve.
He had reached his limit.
He added several exercises to his dawn workout.
After asking Darmong for permission, he started doing squats with a sack of flour on his shoulder.
Next, he ran around the yard carrying the sack of flour.
Finally, to deploy his Engraving ability, Sacred Weapon, more quickly, he summoned it repeatedly and ruthlessly drained the mana left in his body.
“Whew. Whew.”
“Working hard?”
Someone spoke behind the exhausted Yushin as he finished his dawn routine.
When he turned around, Karin was standing there with her arms crossed.
“What brings you here?”
Karin slowly approached.
“The lockdown will be lifted in a week. Get ready.”
“I've got everything ready.”
“That was fast. You didn't leave anything out, did you?”
“Nothing.”
As Karin drew near, her nose twitched.
Seeing this, Jeong Yushin took a step back.
“Why?”
“No. I thought my sweat smelled unpleasant to you.”
“Not at all. I'm an intermediate-rank explorer. Do you think I'd be bothered by a little sweat?”
“I was thoughtless.”
“And if you're going to be a porter, you need to be able to carry about three of those flour sacks with ease, so practice properly.”
“Yes.”
Karin tossed him a white towel.
“Here. Wipe your sweat with this.”
Jeong Yushin accepted the towel. Its soft, fluffy texture suggested that it was fairly expensive.
“Thank you.”
He wiped his face and neck with the towel, then draped it over his shoulder.
“Let's go eat breakfast, Lady Karin.”
“All right.”
The two walked side by side out of the yard.
Jeong Yushin didn't realize it, but Karin's eyes were fixed on the towel.