Chapter 23
"……."
What are you all doing? Just standing there.
I casually held out the dagger toward the slumped Jin Muyeong.
"Here. Your blade."
"…Huh? Uh, uh."
Jin Muyeong took the dagger in a daze.
Then he stared blankly at the blue circuit engraved on the blade before looking back up at me.
He still looked completely stunned.
"H-how... how on earth did you do this?!"
Then, having finally come to his senses, Yu Seonu staggered toward me.
Just moments ago, he had been all smug, saying a man who only bangs on metal wouldn't know anything.
Now he was crowding right up to me, his face drained of color, asking me.
'...Is he asking because he doesn't know?'
Well, it wasn't anything special.
Circuit... no.
Wasn't calling a craftsman in the first place basically a request to look at the spellcraft and fix it?
'...Well, this guy did seem like he didn't really know.'
Jian had been right after all.
So there really were people from the Four Great Families who only sounded knowledgeable but actually knew nothing about spellcraft.
It sounded like she had been talking about exactly this sort of person.
I replied casually.
"…I merely read the spellcraft."
"W-What did you say?!"
Yu Seonu's eyes widened as if they might pop out.
***
Merely read the spellcraft?
Yu Seonu doubted his own ears.
This greenhorn brat was spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
'...He read the spellcraft in the painting?'
With trembling eyes, he turned to look at the sunflower painting hanging on the wall.
Of course, that didn't mean he was unaware that a spellcraft formation had been inscribed in that painting.
He was, after all, the painter of the Vermilion Bird Clan.
That within a single painting, a path of spiritual power was woven from layers of pigment, form, and the artist's thoughts.
He knew that better than anyone.
But.
The problem was that he couldn't read it.
If it were a standard inscription etched onto metal or some other cast object, that would be one thing.
But a painting's spellcraft wasn't something you deliberately drew in from the start.
After the brushwork completed the image, it was closer to something that, as a result, would twist and grow on its own like vines.
So each strand ended up twisted and tangled in its own way.
Analyzing that logically and reading it
was considered nearly impossible even among painters.
Wasn't he proof of that himself?
Even after seeing Master Cheongram's genuine work up close just moments ago,
he had only looked at the sunflower—the most iconic symbol—and marveled at its ability to 'draw wealth' and at the master's brushwork.
He hadn't the faintest idea how the spellcraft inside flowed to produce that effect.
And yet.
This young blacksmith.
In the midst of that rampaging illusion.
had read through that absurdly complex flow of spellcraft in an instant.
He had pinpointed the core of it exactly.
Then he'd thrown a sword straight into it and shattered the illusion completely.
"H-how... how is this..."
A dazed sound escaped Yu Seonu's mouth.
Only then did a bad feeling sweep over him.
That overwhelming feat by the craftsman from the Mount Heaven Sect, known only through rumors,
might not have been exaggerated nonsense after all.
'...No way.'
Yu Seonu shook his head in a hurry.
'N-no, that's impossible...'
He must have just gotten lucky and struck the weak point.
Yes. That had to be it.
It was Master Cheongram's spellcraft, which even he, the Vermilion Bird Clan's painter, couldn't lay a hand on.
There was no way some mere blacksmith could read it in an instant.
...There was no way, was there.
***
'I'm telling you, I read the circuit.'
Dohyeon glanced over blandly.
Yu Seonu was staring at the painting, making a foolish face with a hollow look in his eyes.
He said this was his first time getting trapped inside a painting, so he must have been quite shocked.
Dohyeon turned his gaze back to the sunflower painting on the wall, as if he weren't interested at all.
As if nothing had happened.
The sunflowers in the canvas were blooming quietly in place again.
He infused it with spiritual power and looked closely.
'...Hmm.'
The circuit that had been running wild just a moment ago was now quiet like any ordinary painting.
'’Was it the "Vengeful Spirit Transfer"?'
If what he'd heard from the butler was right, this painting might not even be the real host.
In the first place, most of the items in this storeroom were cast objects imbued with spiritual power.
They were all things designed to hold and channel energy by default.
So it was likely that some malicious spirit had temporarily possessed it, run wild to its heart's content, and then hidden somewhere else when the situation turned unfavorable.
Well, or maybe everything really had started from this painting.
For now, though, it looked utterly ordinary.
Either way, it was still too early to be sure.
'Still, I'm worried about the butler.'
Dohyeon turned to look at the butler.
He was leaning against the wall, looking quite startled and in a cold sweat,
but fortunately, he hadn't collapsed like the chef had then.
'...At least that's a relief.'
***
That wrapped up the tour of the storeroom.
The butler said everyone must be tired, so he led the group to their respective rooms to rest first.
Phew.
As soon as he returned to his room, Dohyeon tore open the herbal medicine pouch and dumped it into his mouth.
Ugh.
Cold herbal medicine seemed twice as revolting as when it was warm.
'...Still, I did say I'd control it, and I guess it was fine.'
The spiritual power he had let leak while breaking the illusion a moment ago bothered him a little.
The butler was an ordinary person too—someone from whom he could barely sense any spiritual power at all.
And unlike the people he'd seen at the party, he didn't seem to be hiding it with a suppressor talisman.
Those who had tucked away their spiritual power with suppressor talismans had given off some telltale sign, like heat haze.
Hmm, that's a relief.
Dohyeon tapped the suppressor talisman hanging inside his clothes.
He'd been told that letting spiritual power leak carelessly around ordinary people could have bad effects.
In fact, the chef had collapsed then.
That was why.
Dohyeon was suppressing his spiritual power as much as possible, aside from the bare minimum needed to change his face.
And there was one more reason he was hiding it so carefully.
It had been in the car on the way to make the request.
.
.
.
"Oh, right, Mr. Dohyeon. Just in case, please keep the suppressor talisman on unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Ah, yes... You said there were side effects for ordinary people, right? And that strange spirit beings might come looking or something."
"Well... that's true, but..."
Seo Jian trailed off oddly at the end.
"Actually..."
"...?"
And at her next words, Dohyeon went blank for a moment.
The one who had caused such a huge uproar at the gallery.
The so-called 'Dokkaebi Market bomber.'
It turned out they were talking about none other than him.
'...Huh.'
According to her, any spellcraft of grade 2 or higher, or spiritual power use equivalent to it, required prior approval.
For safety reasons especially, places built underground like Dokkaebi Market were even more sensitive.
Who could have known that simply trying out a talisman would blow up into something this big?
Before Dohyeon could even say anything,
"…W-well, I didn't know something that outrageous would come out either..."
Seo Jian stammered out an excuse, looking as if she were the guilty one.
"No, no. Haha! I should have stopped you earlier."
She gave an awkward laugh and smoothly changed the subject.
"Anyway, it seems they're still after you at the Bureau of Supervision. Luckily, they seem to be chasing the wrong lead."
Seo Jian shrugged.
"Still, foreign sorcerers don't have mandatory spiritual-power registration yet. Since you aren't registered in the first place, there's not much to worry about."
"Then do I have to hide my spiritual power for the rest of my life?"
"No, no. They don't usually trace spiritual power. There shouldn't be any big problem. I'm just saying it'd be best not to let your spiritual power leak around for no reason until things quiet down."
.
.
.
So that was why.
Anyway, since everyone else was hiding their spiritual power with suppressor talismans anyway, there was no harm in being careful.
…And while I was blankly staring up at the ceiling.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
Dohyeon opened the door.
Standing outside was Jin Muyeong.
"…?"
"Big brother!"
The guy bowed at the waist at a full 90 degrees without warning.
"I-I have committed an unforgivable sin...!"
'...What's wrong with this guy now?'
Good grief.
As expected, he seemed to have noticed.
"Come in first."
At Dohyeon's words, Jin Muyeong timidly stepped into the room.
And as soon as the door closed, he bowed his head again.
"Heh... You were the one who inscribed the spellcraft on my dagger earlier, right? I knew it immediately."
'So it was because of that after all.'
Well, still, there had been no other way.
If he'd been even five minutes late, the group would have ended up as fertilizer for the sunflower field by now.
Where had that prickly attitude he'd shown in the storeroom during the day gone?
Before he knew it, the guy had gone back to the tail-wagging demeanor he'd shown at the hotel then.
"Oh no, I kept acting that way without recognizing you, big brother... I'm truly sorry, big brother!"
He kept apologizing over and over.
"To be honest... I thought some thug was shamelessly running around pretending to be you, big brother."
Jin Muyeong scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"So I was going to dig into what that bastard's true identity was and tell you everything, big brother. I couldn't just let him smear our big brother's good name like that, could I?"
'...So that was why? Why he kept tailing me around like a little puppy.'
There must have been a reason he kept sticking right beside him and picking fights in the storeroom.
He'd only thought the guy was a bit of a nuisance.
'...Huh. He's got some loyalty, after all.'
"I was already hoping to see you again, big brother. To meet you like this—what an honor! Dohyeong!"
Oh, please.
…And what is 'Dohyeong' supposed to be?
"But, Dohyeong, how did your face even..."
The guy stared intently at Dohyeon's face.
Dohyeon just stood there silently, looking at him.
"Ahaha... Well, if it's a Mount Heaven Sect secret technique, I guess that's about right!"
He drew his own conclusion and grinned again.
'...Yeah, think whatever you want.'
At this rate, he looked like he'd cling to him all day long.
Dohyeon began slowly pushing him toward the door.
"Big brother! Then I'll see you again at dinner!"
Jin Muyeong waved through the crack in the door, chanting 'Dohyeong, Dohyeong' over and over.
What was with that guy, some kind of dog or something?
After finally sending him away, Dohyeon caught his breath.
It wasn't long before,
someone knocked on the door again.
'...Jin Muyeong again?'
He opened the door in annoyance.
Standing there was not Jin Muyeong.
This time, it was the woman who had been holding that Japanese sword during the day.
She was standing timidly in front of Dohyeon in loose pajamas.
Her face was flushed red, and she couldn't even raise it, fidgeting with just the tips of her fingers.
"Um, um..."
'...What is it?'
As Dohyeon looked at her in confusion,
the woman who had hugged that sword all day and sworn she wouldn't lend it out no matter what
suddenly thrust the sword she had been holding in her arms out toward him.
"P-please...! Please fix my sword, master!"
'...Now what is this?'