Chapter 50
[HOT] Jirisan Restricted Area Cleared in Half a Day—Is This for Real?
└ Yeah, it was crazy easy. The Yuseong Unit carried.
└ They said it would take days, but it was done in half a day? As expected of the Yuseong Unit.
└ Damn, I got called in too. I should've just gone.
└ Ahh~ Yuseong Unit, give me a carry too~ Don't only carry Tae-gyeong all the time~
└ No no no, I heard Han Tae-gyeong carried the whole thing by himself this time?
└ Tae-gyeong, welcome.
└ How's an arrow-picking bastard supposed to carry?
└ Nope;; I watched it live, and it was fucking insane. He was shooting lightning arrows. It was a formula I'd never seen before.
└ ????? What the hell is that?
[Question] Is this the formula Han Tae-gyeong supposedly used in Best earlier??
Author: An Archer Is All About Romance
(GIF of a foreign sorcerer shooting lightning arrows)
Reposted from a foreign sorcery community.
This is a first-rank formula, isn't it? Almost nobody in Korea can use it, right? Especially the lightning infusion.
└ Wow, what the hell is that? That's fucking awesome.
└ No, how'd you get into the foreign sorcery forum? Damn.
└ I'm Korean American, yeah.
└ Whoa, lightning infusion? The romance is insane.
└ Whew.... Can someone's skill really improve this much all of a sudden?
└ So is Tae-gyeong world-class now too?
└ No, that's not it. I watched it live, and he didn't even have arrows? He was making lightning arrows in midair and shooting them.
└ ??? Lightning came out without arrows?
[HOT] Hey, I was there in Jirisan, and this is definitely the bow Han Tae-gyeong was carrying.
(Photo of the 'Bow of Lightning' posted on Manbogak.)
I saw it up close with my own eyes.
That pitch-black bow with the yellow jewel set in the grip.
I wondered where I'd seen it before, but it's definitely Do-hwang's ritual implement that was posted on Manbogak.
└ ?????
└ Holy shit lol, why is this actually real?
└ So Tae-gyeong bought it??? WTF?
At first, everyone was skeptical.
Some thought Han Tae-gyeong had gone abroad and secretly learned the secret technique, while others thought it was a newly purchased ritual implement.
Since a formula like that couldn't be learned overnight, public opinion was gradually leaning toward him having bought the Bow of Lightning.
[Exclusive] E-rank ritual implement 'Bow of Lightning' bought by Han Tae-gyeong of the Yuseong Unit...
[Interview] Han Tae-gyeong: “Master Craftsman Do personally engraved a binding formula for me... This bow is mine for life now.”
└ A binding formula, wow... He knows how to engrave those too? Is there anything our Do-hwang can't do?
└ Is Tae-gyeong loaded? He actually had a binding formula engraved on this? Damn.
└ What a selfish bastard. He put a binding formula on that precious E-rank implement so he could use it alone for life? Is the E-rank implement his property or something? Isn't this a national loss? -_-
└ Fact: It is his.
└ Honestly, I don't think I'd be able to sleep either if I didn't do this lololol.
***
“Did you see the interview article that came out? The response has been good.”
Seo Ji-an slid the tablet toward me.
On the screen was an interview article with Han Tae-gyeong.
A binding formula, huh.
From what I'd heard, craftsmen who could engrave binding formulas were so rare that even famous workshops generally refused to do it.
“Mr. Tae-gyeong can sleep soundly now.”
Now that it had been made public, even if someone stole that bow, they wouldn't be able to use or sell it.
The moment they tried to pass it off as stolen goods, the culprit would be identified.
Even so, it seemed a little wasteful to pay that much for something and then engrave it so it couldn't be sold at all.
‘He says he likes it that much.’
I remembered Han Tae-gyeong's face as he hugged the bow with shining eyes.
‘He seemed to like it quite a lot.’
Ahem.
I picked up my carving knife again.
Scritch.
Scritch.
“Oh, you've already made this many?”
Seo Ji-an bent over after looking toward one side of the workbench.
Stacked there were the sealing keychains I'd whittled whenever I had spare time.
Rabbits, horses, chickens, and even a cat I'd carved today.
‘I've built up quite a collection now.’
Of course, I wasn't only carving figurines.
My real job was being a blacksmith, after all.
I only made these when I had time to spare.
“Let's see, the next client is....”
Knock, knock, knock.
“Oh, she's here.”
Seo Ji-an opened the door.
“Welcome, Ms. Yu-ha.”
*
Creak—
The door opened, and Kim Yu-ha dragged in a large suitcase and a bag, straining under their weight.
That's right.
Today's client was none other than Ishihara Yua, who had been making waves lately.
Kim Yu-ha.
…But why did she have so much luggage?
“Today is the day, you know. The day Ms. Yu-ha moves in.”
Seo Ji-an said as she took the suitcase.
Ah. Was it already today?
Yu-ha had left her old agency and decided to transfer her affiliation here altogether.
As it happened, there were plenty of empty rooms above the workshop, so Seo Ji-an seemed to have offered her one as part of her exclusive contract.
“Master Craftsman. I brought what you asked for.”
Yu-ha carefully set down the bag she had been carrying.
Ziiiip.
When she opened the zipper, what poked its head out was—
“Mreeeow.”
A gray cat.
“Oh my, it's a cat? How cute.”
Seo Ji-an approached and reached out to pet it.
Chomp.
“Eek!”
The little thing promptly bit her hand.
Patter.
Then, with its tail held proudly high, it walked straight toward me with elegant steps.
Pounce.
It lightly jumped onto the table, then stared intently at me.
Hmm... It has a rather pretty face.
“She's female, isn't she?”
Slide.
When I reached out my hand, it began rubbing its face against it.
[Mreeeowwwww.]
No, she was really cute.
Maybe I did like cats.
“……Tch. She bit me, though.”
Seo Ji-an blew on the back of her bitten hand and muttered incredulously.
“I guess she likes Mr. Do-hyeon.”
“The appraiser in Japan said she's a third-grade spirit beast.”
“Thank you for bringing her all the way here from so far away.”
“Not at all.”
I had been needing a spirit beast to test something on anyway.
As it happened, Yu-ha said she'd rescued a spirit beast while on a commission in Japan, so I'd asked her to bring it along.
‘All right, then.’
“We'll look at her in a bit. Shall we discuss the commission first?”
What Yu-ha had commissioned this time was a defensive ritual implement.
In fact, there was a reason I'd taken Yu-ha's commission first while requests for ritual implements were pouring in.
Yu-ha had been earning a lot of money lately.
And there was no way I wouldn't know that.
A certain percentage of what she earned ultimately came to me.
Besides, if the ritual implements I made increased her success rate on commissions, that would ultimately increase my share too.
…Well, a VIP is a VIP.
Ahem.
“I heard you're looking for defensive gear?”
“Yes. Well, what happened was....”
Ritual implements normally operate on the sorcerer's spiritual power.
To summarize Yu-ha's situation, it was this.
Because her spiritual power ran wild, she hadn't even dared use defensive implements; only after her sword was repaired and her spiritual power became somewhat more controlled had she finally started wearing them.
But defensive implements were meant to remain active throughout a battle, so the spiritual power they consumed was no joke.
‘So that's the problem.’
As I'd observed last time, Yu-ha's innate spiritual power wasn't particularly abundant.
In short, she wanted me to make a defensive ritual implement that consumed less spiritual power.
'Something that can replenish spiritual power… Should I attach a spirit stone or something?'
But even so, if something like a spirit stone were embedded in the armor, it would probably be uncomfortable to wear and liable to break if she rolled around.
“But then, did you go on commissions without any protection before that?”
“Ah, well, this.”
Yu-ha rummaged inside her clothes, then pulled something out and showed it to us.
A single yellow sheet of paper.
“This is... a protection talisman, isn't it?”
Seo Ji-an recognized it.
As for protection talismans, I'd seen them in 『You Can Make It Too! From Today On, I'm the Talisman King.』.
Put simply, apparently you could think of them as items that blocked one fatal hit.
I thought I'd seen it in one of the advanced volumes at the very end.
“That's quite a high-end one too, isn't it?”
Apparently, only top-tier talisman sorcerers could make these.
They were disposable and monstrously expensive, too.
“I couldn't help it. I couldn't wear a defensive ritual implement....”
…Hmm.
I could naturally reduce spiritual power consumption through optimization.
But that was too ordinary.
There had to be some more groundbreaking way....
A spirit stone would be heavy and inconvenient. Wasn't there something that could replenish spiritual power separately?
Hmm... A talisman?
…A talisman.
'Ah.'
This is it.
Grin.
Another new method had occurred to me.
…This could be fun.
It would be fun.
Since I'd normally have to start from the development stage, I'd thought it might take a long time.
“Maybe I can make it faster than I thought.”
“Pardon?”
“Shall we take your measurements first? Please take off your outerwear.”
“Ah, yes.”
Yu-ha took off her outer garment.
Rustle.
The curves of her body, hidden until then, were revealed in full.
Ahem.
More than I'd expected, uh....
“Excuse me for a moment.”
I cleared my throat and unrolled the measuring tape.
“Y-yes....”
Yu-ha held her arms awkwardly out to the sides and lowered her gaze.
I brought the measuring tape around from behind her back to the front.
Flinch.
Yu-ha's shoulders trembled slightly.
I quietly looked down at the number on the measuring tape.
‘…Hmm.’
Apparently, I was going to need quite a lot of material.
Only after I put away the measuring tape did Yu-ha let out the breath she'd been holding.
Her face was oddly bright red all the way to the tips of her ears.
.
.
.
“All done. Give me a few days, and I'll have it made in no time.”
“Y-yes....”
While we were discussing things, Seo Ji-an had been playing with the cat on one side and feeding it Churu.
Tap.
“Oh, kitty?!”
The gray cat jumped onto the table again, then came straight over to me and rubbed against me repeatedly.
Rub. Rub.
“I guess she likes Master Craftsman. She did nothing but hiss at me....”
Yu-ha muttered glumly.
What a rascal. Does she recognize her owner?
When I stroked its head, it purred contentedly.
All right, now that the consultation was over.
Shall I test this first?
I took out a sealing keychain I'd already engraved.
I'd carved it in the shape of a cat beforehand.
All right, then.
When I pulled on the chain part of the keychain,
Pop.
A small hole appeared at the end.
I aimed it at the little creature.
And let spiritual power flow into it.
[Mreeeowwwww!]
Fwoooooosh.
The gray cat turned into a streak of light and was sucked straight into the keychain.
…Whoa.
It may have gotten smaller, but the tactile sensation was exactly the same!
‘This has a pretty nice feel to it in its own way.’
Mm-hmm.
Kitty, you're mine now.
“Wow....”
Yu-ha, who had been watching, seemed a little surprised.
“It's a new ritual implement I've developed recently. You could call it a portable spirit beast sealing keychain.”
Yu-ha stared intently at the keychain.
“Oh, do you perhaps keep a spirit beast, Ms. Yu-ha?”
“Uh... My family does have a spirit beast that's been raised for generations. But it's hard to take it around normally, so I leave it at the main house. I can't really bring it on commissions.”
“I see.”
That worked out perfectly.
“I'll give you one of these. Would you like to try it out?”
“Really? Is that all right?”
“Consider it a sponsorship.”
Yu-ha was practically a celebrity in the sorcery world now, so just carrying it around would serve as advertising.
*
“But where should we sell these sealing keychains?”
‘We could put them up on the Dokkaebibul Market tab....’
But that felt a little unsatisfying.
There was something about watching the price skyrocket in real time as bids came pouring in—the dopamine rush!
I'd gotten hooked on that thrilling auction system!
“An auction really is the best way to get their proper value, though....”
“Right?”
Seo Ji-an seemed to agree, as she stared intently at me.
“Manbogak probably won't work.”
They'd obviously take our items down again to avoid antagonizing the clans.
But if I kept listing things like this in general auctions, sooner or later the Bureau would come after me over it.
‘A regular auction would be so bland.’
“Hehe. Mr. Do-hyeon.”
Seo Ji-an raised her index finger with an oddly triumphant expression.
“As it happens, I've brought some hot-off-the-press news.”
“……?”
“Apparently, Dokkaebibul is launching a new auction system this time.”
“……What did you say?”