Chapter 49
A wildly popular restaurant on par with a three-Michelin-star establishment.
Pungryugak.
Naturally, I had come here again today.
“You must really like the food.”
Seo Ji-an asked.
It was already my third visit this week alone. Even I had to admit I was coming a little often.
I kept thinking about the food here before I went to bed....
But!
Today, I had a perfectly reasonable excuse to come here.
“Well, you're a VIP who purchased an E-rank ritual implement. It's only right that we treat you this well.”
We had decided to meet here so I could provide after-sales service to the customer who had bought the Bow of Lightning.
Ahem.
“Yes, yes. Of course. VIP management is important.”
Seo Ji-an replied as though she understood everything.
Of course, Seo Ji-an had made the reservation.
I'd heard it was incredibly difficult to get a reservation here, but a veteran broker really was in a league of her own.
There was still some time left.
Let's see, then....
“Ms. Ji-an, would it be all right if I worked for a bit?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
I rummaged through my bag and took out a carving knife and a block of wood.
I'd already gotten permission from the restaurant to do some simple work beforehand.
Whew. Expensive places really did have a different service mentality. I should learn from them.
‘Then, shall I get started?’
First, I spread out a cloth so shavings wouldn't scatter across the floor.
Scritch. Scritch.
Scritch-scritch.
The carving knife slid smoothly.
Feeling the grain of the wood, I carefully refined it piece by piece.
...When I focus on my fingertips like this, all distracting thoughts just disappear.
‘Ah, this is nice.’
Scritch, scritch.
The block of wood in my hand slowly began to take shape.
How much time had passed?
The block in my hand had become a fairly convincing carving before I knew it.
“Oh... Master Craftsman! Is this...?”
Seo Ji-an, who had been quietly watching beside me, asked.
“Yes. It's a rabbit.”
Lately, I'd become completely absorbed in the fun of carving.
A blacksmith making carvings?
This was my new business item.
I learned one new thing while making the gourd.
That spirit beasts were made up of spiritual bodies.
In other words, they could escape the physical limitations of a fleshly body and be carried around in a sealing implement!
Apparently, everyone was having quite a hard time hiding and carrying their spirit beasts around.
It was so bad that people who contracted larger ones apparently bought delivery trucks first.
If you had to drive a truck all the way to every job site, how could you possibly have the energy to work properly?
So what I made was!
A sealing accessory for transporting spirit beasts!
I attached a small chain and made it into a keychain.
Jingle―
I slipped the carvings I'd whittled onto my fingers and showed them to Seo Ji-an.
Ahem.
For now, I'd just made them however my hands felt inclined.
Rabbit, horse, and chicken shapes.
“Are they any good?”
After all, blacksmithing sometimes involved carving when it came to designing the exterior.
So I supposed I had a passable amount of skill?
“Ooh... They're absolutely adorable!”
Seo Ji-an's eyes lit up as she fiddled with them.
Each was about the size of a finger.
They were only big enough for one spirit beast each, but that was still something.
My goal had only been to make something simple in my spare time, after all.
So I'd optimized the circuits as much as possible and designed them simply.
‘Still, I should probably be able to seal a level-3 spirit beast, at least.’
Of course, I couldn't put in ones that hadn't fully become spiritual bodies and still had part of their physical bodies remaining.
…The spiritual thread connecting a spirit body to its soul was far looser than the thread connecting it to a physical body.
“But you carve whenever you have a spare moment these days. Don't you get tired of it?”
“Come on, doing the same thing over and over would get boring for me too. If you look closely, they're all different.”
“Huh? How so...?”
I took several more rabbit carvings I'd made in advance out of my bag and set them down.
Seo Ji-an rotated the keychains one by one, examining them closely.
“Oh...! They really are!”
…That's right. Their poses were all different.
Some made a V sign, some bared their teeth, and even their appearances differed slightly.
I had even engraved a number on the bottom indicating which one it was.
…Ahem. Well? Doesn't it make you want to keep collecting them?
‘That's how every little detail stimulates a collector's desire.’
“Wow... You really do have a unique sense of style, Mr. Do-hyeon.”
Seo Ji-an admired the keychains as she turned them over, then asked casually.
“Hehe... I never knew you had such a cute hobby, Mr. Do-hyeon.”
“Hm? These are all ritual implements, though.”
“What?!”
***
Seo Ji-an was startled after hearing Do-hyeon's explanation.
‘These are all ritual implements?’
He said they were sealing implements that let people carry their familiars around in keychain form.
“Apparently, hiding familiars is what everyone finds hardest. They're heavy, too. Ah, of course, it's only for moving them, not long-term storage. If you seal them for too long, the ritual implement might get damaged.”
It was unbelievable.
A ritual implement that could hold a familiar in a totem and let you carry it around....
It was a ritual implement she'd never seen before.
…How was this even possible?
‘No. Of course, I knew Master Craftsman Do was a once-in-an-era super-ultra-genius blacksmith.’
…But was he really churning out ritual implements like this?
Ritual implements were normally all handmade.
You had to channel spiritual power directly into them while densely engraving inscriptions thinner than a strand of hair.
And that wasn't all. Even with the same material, the naturally occurring grain inside was different every time.
So you had to feel out those minute grains with your fingertips, then alter and refine the inscriptions to fit them each time.
If you went against the grain even a little or misaligned the formula, the ritual implement couldn't perform its function properly.
That was why automation was impossible.
‘Right. Even a ritual implement that small would take ordinary craftsmen at least several weeks.’
But that insane craftsman was casually whittling them out whenever he had spare time!
…Just how much money was he planning to rake in?
Seo Ji-an was thinking that when.
“Doesn't it sound fun?”
Do-hyeon smiled as he fiddled with a keychain.
“You go to a job, and when everyone gathers, they all pull spirit beasts out of their accessories and fight. It'd be a little like a cartoon movie, too.”
“…….”
…Ah.
Perhaps because she'd watched him from close by all this time, Seo Ji-an felt she could finally read a little of what went on inside the expressionless Do-hyeon's mind.
Money wasn't what mattered to him.
He simply liked making things. That was the kind of person he was.
He was genuinely enjoying himself.
Only now did Seo Ji-an begin to understand why Do-hyeon sat in front of the forge all day.
“…….”
As she gazed at Do-hyeon like that.
Knock knock knock.
“Um... excuse me.”
The door opened, and a man entered.
He was carefully cradling a long case in his arms.
.
.
.
It's done.
“Huh? Already? That quickly...?”
“It was a simple job to begin with.”
“Oh? Yes....”
Tae-gyeong thought something seemed strange, but let it pass.
He knew nothing about engraving, after all.
‘Hiss, was it always possible to engrave by hand?’
“Here... please eat to your heart's content.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
But even with a lavish Korean table spread before him, Tae-gyeong couldn't sit still.
He kept sneaking glances at Do-hyeon across from him.
‘......This is Do-hwang?’
The Do-hwang he'd seen in person was quite shocking.
Just as the rumors on Dokkaebibul claimed, his face alone looked unreal.
‘He's seriously handsome as hell. More importantly....’
He was far younger than Tae-gyeong had expected.
No, he was young.
…He was this young, and he'd made that insane bow.
Tae-gyeong wanted to open his mouth and gush right away, but he held himself back.
He was technically a second-rank sorcerer. He couldn't act like an excited fan.
Ahem. Stay calm, Han Tae-gyeong.
Master Craftsman Do had explained that the spirit stone set in the bow normally leaked a tiny amount of spiritual power.
…That was why spirits might gather around it.
Apparently, he'd modified it so that it would only activate when it was actually being used.
‘…Well, I don't know the details, but it must be better now.’
“Were you injured anywhere?”
“No. I was overseas for a while, so I only received it not long ago.”
“Have you been using the bow well?”
“Ah! Yes, of course. I'm using it really... really well.”
‘Damn it, I can't hold it in.’
He had tried to act composed in front of Do-hwang, but he couldn't contain his swelling admiration.
Tae-gyeong began showering him with praise without even realizing it.
The grip, the accuracy, the spiritual power efficiency—there wasn't a single thing it lacked.
“Whew.... It's so nice not having to go around picking up arrows anymore. Honestly, I'm a second-rank sorcerer, for crying out loud.... Having to go pick up my own arrows after shooting them was really embarrassing, you know? But I couldn't exactly leave them there. They don't come cheap....”
“…….”
“And, well... the performance is one thing, but isn't it honestly just way too cool? An archer is nothing but a corpse without romance, you know? Otherwise, who would use a bow these days? But listen. I just drew the empty bow, and it went crackle―boom, and lightning shot straight out. Wow, the first time I did that, I got chills all over...! Man. Seriously.”
And so Tae-gyeong ended up gushing for a long, long time.
Oh no.... Had he gotten too carried away?
Ahem.
“I'm glad to hear you're using it well.”
The craftsman was merely smiling, looking pleased.
“Haha... But since it's so good, there is one thing that's slightly troublesome....”
“Is there some problem with the ritual implement?”
“Ah, no, that's not what I mean!”
Tae-gyeong waved his hands in surprise.
The more he used the bow, the more he felt it.
‘…It's incredible. Beyond anything words could explain.’
He'd never used an E-rank ritual implement before, so he couldn't say for sure.
But it seemed like it was fairly high-ranking even among E-rank implements.
It felt like a dream that such an item had somehow ended up in his hands.
“That's why I'm worried.”
It was a problem precisely because it was too good.
If he casually carried around a ritual implement this amazing, wouldn't someone hit him over the back of the head in some secluded spot during a commission when no one was watching?
That was what he had been thinking.
“Haha... I even had a nightmare about it.”
“…….”
“Ah, I only mean that it's that good.”
Only after saying it did Tae-gyeong wonder what on earth he was talking about.
What was the craftsman supposed to do even if he complained to him about something like that?
Hire a bodyguard for him?
The craftsman's role was only to make ritual implements, after all.
…He'd probably said something pointless.
“Please don't worry about it. I'm a second-rank sorcerer myself, after all. I can at least protect my own body.”
But then.
“Ah, if that's the problem, there is a way I can help.”
“What?! How...?”
“I can make it into a ritual implement bound exclusively to you.”
“...What?!”
.
.
.
“Are you really sure? Once I engrave a binding formula, I can make some modifications, but it won't be possible to sell it to someone else.”
“Yes! That's fine!”
Tae-gyeong answered without a moment's hesitation.
“Sell it? I knew it from the first day I used it.”
He grinned as he looked at the bow.
“We were meant for each other.”
“Ah... well, if you say so.”
Do-hyeon nodded lightly, then reached out and gently placed his hand beneath Tae-gyeong's collarbone.
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if probing a little deeper into his spiritual power.
Then he quickly opened his eyes and picked up the bow.
And he began gathering spiritual power at his fingertips.
Bzzzzzz―
Tae-gyeong stared blankly at the scene.
Vivid blue spiritual power seemed to condense into a thin strand at his fingertips.
Delicate lines, too fine to see, began to be engraved rapidly over the bow's grip.
Crack. Crackle.
Blue sparks flew in every direction accompanied by a pungent smell.
‘He really is... completely insane.’
It had happened so quickly earlier that Tae-gyeong hadn't even realized that Do-hyeon had been engraving a formula.
But now he was watching the engraving of the legendary Do-hwang right before his eyes.
Even now, I need to burn this historic moment into my memory....
Just as Tae-gyeong made up his mind.
“It's done.”
“……What?”
“Finished.”
“Already?”
It looked like he'd only just started.
“Ah, I designed the other sections to repel spiritual power so no one can read the internal formula.”
Do-hyeon said as he held out the bow.
“So I only need to modify the part that receives spiritual power—here, where your hand touches, and here.”
There. Easy, right?
‘Wahaha....’
What was he talking about?
He hadn't understood a word of the detailed explanation.
…But it looked cool.
The aura unique to an expert.
‘Anyway, this is fucking awesome....’
“Um, then... how much do I owe you?”
Tae-gyeong asked cautiously.
“Ah, it's fine.”
Do-hyeon waved his hand.
“It's for the customer's safety. I'll consider the engraving free of charge.”
“What? No, but how could I...?”
“But only this time.”
He had engraved it for free to ensure his safety?
Tae-gyeong felt a tingling in one corner of his chest.
‘…This is what a true craftsman is.’
The craftsmen he'd seen until now hadn't been like that.
They'd been desperate to sell him even one more arrow.
Some places had even slyly tampered with their products to prevent them from being reused.
But this man....
‘Sob. He did it for the customer's safety?’
Twing....
That's what a true craftsman was.
As Tae-gyeong was inwardly moved.
“Ah, now that I think of it.”
Do-hyeon suddenly asked, as if he'd just thought of something.
“Do you perhaps keep a spirit beast?”
“Huh? Ah, no. I don't keep one separately.”
“I see.”
Do-hyeon nodded lightly.
…What was that about, all of a sudden?
It was a baffling question, but Tae-gyeong didn't think much of it.
After finishing their meal, the two of them left the restaurant.
“Then, I'll be going.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you so much, Master Craftsman!”
Tae-gyeong bowed repeatedly.
“Oh, right, Mr. Tae-gyeong. An article will be published tomorrow stating that this bow is bound to you.”
Seo Ji-an, who had been standing beside them, spoke up.
“……An article?”
“Yes. Unless it's publicly known who it's bound to, people will keep targeting it recklessly. This will make it safer.”
“Ah, yes! Of course.”
Ever since the Jirisan incident, the rumors had already spread as far as they could.
“Thank you.”
Tae-gyeong watched Do-hyeon's departing back for a long time.
“Wow....”
Seriously, what was with that guy?
Such skill at that age.
It was like he'd seen a ghost.
‘That guy is just so damn cool. Seriously.’
Tae-gyeong had of course known about his skill at making ritual implements.
But even from seeing him only briefly, he could feel the incredible conviction and professionalism he had toward his work.
‘Even to another man... he's really cool.’
‘So that's why they call him Do-hwang.’
I... I think I've become a fan!
***
Click.
He opened the front door and stepped inside.
The familiar living room.
That's right. Since he'd sold even his house to buy the ritual implement, Tae-gyeong had decided to stay at his family home for the time being.
“You're home, son? Have you eaten?”
“Yeah. I ate out.”
Tae-gyeong answered vaguely as he lowered the case from his shoulder.
“I'm going to get some sleep....”
His body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
After being put through the wringer overseas for several days and then going straight into one operation after another, it would've been stranger if he weren't exhausted.
Tae-gyeong entered his room and carefully stood the bow case upright inside the wardrobe.
‘Heh heh, see you tomorrow.’
Then he collapsed straight onto the bed.
Rumble....
Was it the jet lag? The moment his head touched the pillow, sleep came crashing down on him.
Tae-gyeong soon fell into a deep sleep.
Swish.
.
.
.
Knock knock knock
“……Hyung, are you asleep?”
Whisper whisper.
Through the slightly open door, his younger brother Si-woo poked his head inside.
“…….”
There was no answer.
Soft, even breathing.
Only his brother's breathing could be heard.
Si-woo rose onto his tiptoes and carefully entered the room so he wouldn't wake his brother.
He gently opened the wardrobe door.
Then Si-woo carefully lifted the long black case standing inside with both hands.
Thump, thump.
“……I'm just borrowing it for a bit, hyung.”
And like a stray cat, he quietly slipped out of the room.