#43
“Ugh… ! Ah, my ankle!”
“Mr. Sehyun?!”
Sehyun limped and pretended to fall straight to the side. Soon, a huge hand like a pot lid grabbed Sehyun’s arm and strongly pulled it up. Yoon Je-ha’s shocked face was covered in bruises. One of her eyes was so swollen that it seemed difficult to even open it.
When Sehyun saw that, his jaw tightened. As if remembering what he was like, Yoon Je-ha turned his back again. I was told that my trembling back also looked bigger than usual, but that wasn’t true, it was just swollen.
Sehyun finally calmed down and relaxed her jaw. His hands, clenched into fists, were shaking.
“… who… That’s right, Jeha.”
“no! No, it’s not like that… .”
“It’s not like that, so why hide it?”
“This is… Because it was my fault… .”
No one had the right to be beaten like this for doing something wrong. Whoever it is, they should not have abused the residents like this, and whoever they are, they should not have persecuted each other.
Sehyeon looked at his trembling back in despair. If she presses Yoon Je-ha here, she could end up hurting him again. Se-hyeon had no desire to open up Yoon Je-ha’s painful wounds.
“Jeha, shall we go in first?”
As I gently held his arm and opened the door to the weapons refinery, Yoon Je-ha quickly stepped inside like a cat looking for a place to hide. Only after closing and latching the door did Se-hyeon approach Yoon Je-ha, who was sitting in the corner and shivering.
Yoon Je-ha was a person with low self-esteem from the beginning. He was too thin for his size, and although he was capable, he had a very low opinion of his own worth.
Se-hyeon thought that this was something that Yoon Je-ha had to overcome on his own. He certainly was, until he saw this.
“Jeha, doesn’t it hurt?”
“Mr. Sehyun… This is… It was really my fault… . So it’s true that I got hit… .”
The moment Se-hyeon saw Yoon Je-ha shaking with his head covered, he was seized by an impulse. If this is going to happen, it would be better to take him to the empire. He said that only those who have experienced it know, and Se-hyeon has seen and experienced a lot of what Yoon Je-ha has been through since she was young. At least I could understand that feeling better than anyone else. That feeling of pain, bitterness, frustration, and sadness.
“… Jeha. Among the people I know, there is a man as big as Jeha. Even though he is old, he is so lively that I am amazed every time I see him. See that sledgehammer over there? “He holds that hammer in one hand and pounds it.”
“… “That one?”
Yoon Je-ha’s eyes widened for an instant. Yoon Je-ha seemed more interested in the word hammer than other words. When the head that was trapped in his arms lifted up, Sehyun nodded.
“It lifts something bigger than that. The metal shakes every time I hit it, but I have never seen the part where I hit it miss. “He was so perfect, but his personality was so impatient that he got scorched when he touched the fish tank with his bare hands, so I ended up swearing at him to my co-workers.”
“With bare hands… uh… It’s so hot that I have to hold it with tongs… .”
“yes that’s right. But that person doesn’t know that. If you focus on one thing, that’s all you can see. There was a time when I was locked in a workshop for three days without sleep and made a sword. After I finished making it, I crouched down and slept in the corner of the studio, not even at home. “You don’t even know if people kick you as you pass by.”
“Well, then… I lost concentration… It’s not efficient. The skill effect disappeared… .”
Yoon Je-ha showed concern and agitation as if it were his job. With Yoon Je-ha’s face like that, Se-hyeon slowly stretched out his hand. And he whispered to himself.
‘<Will to Heal>’
[‘Preparation for injury’ The will to heal has exceeded the range of possible healing. Cast the skill.]
A calm light glowed faintly inside the smelter. Nevertheless, Yoon Je-ha’s gaze did not leave Se-hyeon. His eyes were shining like a child, as if he was asking me to tell him the next story.
“They say that person has already reached many levels and is unstoppable. He is a person who is talented, greedy, and passionate, so everyone looks up to him. But there’s just one thing he doesn’t have.”
“that is… “What is it?”
“Disciple.”
Yoon Je-ha’s eyes wavered. Those eyes were full of desire. It was curiosity and passion.
“There were no disciples who could follow in his footsteps. He tried to find people, but there were no people who could bear his passion. So, it has been left empty until now… “Now I want to find it.”
Yoon Je-ha’s mouth was tightly shut. Yoon Je-ha turned to face Se-hyeon with an expression that looked like he was about to cry. Thirst seeped through her youthful face. Her large, tightly clenched hand was trembling in a different way than before.
Se-hyeon held his hand and faced Yoon Je-ha deeply.
“If you only want Jeha, I want to let you meet him. Jeha Yoon is a person with more passion and talent than anyone I’ve ever seen. I’m sure he will become a blacksmith second to none. Jeha… I’m definitely not someone who should be ignored. Don’t think of yourself like that.”
Tears passed between Yoon Je-ha’s tightly closed lips. The eyes that were trying not to cry were clearly reflecting Sehyun.
Sehyun wiped the tears with her sleeve and smiled.
“That person is a person who has great pride in his job. Jeha will definitely change when he meets him. And he will cherish my Mr. Ha and lead him well. So, Mr. Jeha.”
I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. Rather, it may be a means of blocking Yoon Je-ha’s future path. Nevertheless, because it seemed like Yoon Je-ha’s roots would die if it wasn’t now, Se-hyeon couldn’t help but make a suggestion.
I didn’t want to let his talent die. So it was like that.
“With me… Would you like to go?”
Yoon Je-ha ended up shedding tears after hearing those words. She may have been anxious about her own ambiguous position. Due to the nature of being a blacksmith, he was unable to shine in the beginning, so he may have been shaken by the power around him and felt greatly intimidated and denied his existence. He must have had a very difficult time.
However, blacksmithing was never an occupation to be looked down upon. As his capabilities were revealed from the middle to the latter part of the story, he ended up in a situation where he was in trouble because he couldn’t make a request even after paying hundreds of millions of magic stones. That is why the blacksmiths within the empire were very skilled.
Se-hyeon hoped that Yoon Je-ha knew that. He hoped that people would realize that blacksmithing is not a craft that should be looked down upon.
“… yes. Hmm, if it’s okay with me… no. Ugh… I really want to go. Him… “I really want to meet you, Sehyeon.”
Yoon Je-ha answered in a tearful voice, shedding tears. Sehyun smiled warmly at Yoon Jeha. And she hugged me tightly.
“That’s enough.”
“Yes, huh… .”
“Don’t go around getting beaten.”
“Yes, yuck…” “I won’t hit you.”
“And from today, you will come with me.”
“… yes.”
As I patted Yoon Je-ha’s head and comforted him, who answered consistently, the tears gradually disappeared. Se-hyeon looked closely at Yoon Je-ha’s face, whose wounds were all healed, then helped Yoon Je-ha up and left the smelter.
Yoon Je-ha looked back several times with a gaze filled with regret, but he did not let go of Se-hyeon’s hand.
“You’re going to go there anyway and get your fill, so don’t go to the weapons refinery for the time being. “There is no need to go to a place where all kinds of factions will gather.”
Yoon Je-ha was probably caught up in violence while receiving a request from the Kural people. He knew that these days, the Kural tribe was requesting a lot of weapons because they were going to the Maseokjo, but he never thought that they would be flocking to Yoon Je-ha.
No, it may be that I knew it but passed it over carelessly.
“There is no need to accept all of their requests, and there is no reason for Yoon Je-ha to be beaten just because the grade was low. There is no need to listen to them while they are campaigning, especially since it was not a formal request by paying money, nor was it a formal request from the village chief.”
“Sehyun, just now… “You didn’t hurt your leg.”
“Does it matter? Anyway, since Yoon Je-ha is the boss, there is no need to accept everything. If you get hit even once in the future, tell me. “I can’t bear to see my people getting beaten, even if I die.”
It was true. Sehyeon could not bear to see his vassals beaten or ignored. Perhaps because he was persecuted so much in the beginning, he was quite traumatized, so when one person was beaten and returned, Sehyeon dispatched dozens of troops to completely destroy the opposing empire. After going through the ritual a few times like that, I eventually reached a point where I could wander around as I please and still come back unharmed.
So, even if Yoon Je-ha came to Se-hyeon’s empire as a temporary resident, Se-hyeon was her own person and had no intention of letting him go around beating her.
Se-hyeon sat on the edge of the well with Yoon Je-ha and leisurely admired the village until people came out. Yoon Je-ha kept squirming as if his hand was itching, but when Se-hyeon held his hand, he later sat calmly, holding the hand tightly with a red face.
“hey! “Why don’t you let go of your hand right now?!”
That was until I saw Jaeyoung Lee running from afar, fuming and ready to throw a kick. Perhaps because Lee Jae-young was scared, Yoon Je-ha quickly let go of Se-hyeon’s hand and stepped aside. Yoon Je-ha’s seat was instantly taken by Lee Jae-young.
