Chapter6. When you feel safe, hit your back. (4)
It may have appeared suddenly like this because he was unaware of his power until now.
‘It would be different if you let me know.’
But before that, there were some things we wanted to talk about first.
I took out the leather pouch I had in my arms. I put it on the table and loosened the knot that secured the entrance.
“…What is all this?”
Alessia checked the inside of the bag and asked in a surprised voice. I tilted my head.
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
The ore that flowed out from the loose entrance gave off a bright light.
“It’s an ore, right?”
“okay.”
I tapped the sack once.
As the entrance opened further, the ore contained inside poured out.
“I want to make a ring out of this.”
“Now, I mean.”
Alessia’s devastated eyes swept over the ore.
“You want me to make a ring out of this?”
“So, is it difficult?”
“But this….”
Alessia picked up one of the ores, examined it closely, and shook her head.
“You’re not telling me to process this ore into a ring shape, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“I understand what you mean, but I can’t put it in a ring in its current state. Not before it’s been crafted.”
At that moment, I felt someone approaching behind me. I said with a slow laugh.
“I know that. So you just have to do the work and make it.”
Alessia’s eyebrows furrowed in embarrassment.
“Boy, I only know how to pound metal and make things, but I don’t know how to do crafts….”
“Melina.”
When my name was suddenly called,
“yes?”
Melina, who had just entered the blacksmith shop, answered in a new voice.
I turned back and stared at Melina. I could already see her trembling with her big eyes wide open.
“You do the work.”
“yes?”
“First, practice until you can get an emerald cut. Try to keep the curvature as consistent as possible.”
I continued speaking in a slow tone.
“The deadline is about 3 weeks. That should be enough. No matter what ore you receive, it must be in a state that can be crafted.”
After speaking, he tapped a piece of ore rolling on the table with his finger.
“Let’s practice with these ores.”
There was silence in the blacksmith shop for a moment.
Alessia’s gaze turned to me with a blank look on her face, and Melina’s gaze was turned to me with a mix of confusion and anticipation.
“Master Abel.”
Alessia was the first to speak.
“That’s impossible. I’m not an expert in crafts, but I do know that what you just mentioned is very difficult.”
Her eyes turned to Melina, who was frozen.
“But you’re entrusting this to a child who has never made jewelry before. This is too….”
“So, what?”
I asked back in an unimpressed voice.
“……That’s too much of a treatment on your part.”
Alessia gritted her teeth and raised her gaze.
“I’m sorry about what happened last time. But weren’t you clearly satisfied with those gauntlets?”
Alessia’s hands, visible under the table, were trembling. She had a fear that she could not hide on her face.
But still, she gathered her courage like a mother deer protecting her cub in the face of a wild beast.
“So, please, please take away my order.”
When Alessia was gathering all the courage she had,
“Hmm.”
I was examining my fingernails with a carefree expression. It was a blatant distraction.
“Have I said everything I wanted to say?”
I lowered my hand and looked at her blankly. Of course, my face was completely unaffected by her earnest appeal.
“…….”
Alessia closed her mouth as if speechless. Her face slowly turned towards the floor.
‘Tsk tsk.’
I clicked my tongue in disapproval.
I’m just trying to do something nice for you. How can a mere commoner know my deep meaning?
‘There’s nothing we can do.’
After taking a long breath, I opened my mouth.
“I have three things to tell you.”
It was very inconvenient, but I decided to endure it just once for the sake of the future. If you don’t explain it properly, you’ll end up throwing away valuable items like last time.
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“I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.”
He spoke in a reluctant tone, as if he was benevolent.
“First, there is one thing you don’t know about your daughter.”
“……yes?”
At one unexpected word, Alessia lifted her bowed face.
I gestured towards Melina.
“Melina knows how to do crafts.”
“……Yes?”
Alessia’s mouth opened wide. When she turned her face in confirmation, she saw Melina frozen in place like a plaster statue of herself.
“Melina, is that true?”
“Hey, that’s it.”
Melina tightly grabbed the width of her skirt. This was something she often did when she wanted to hide something.
“So, Mom. I-”
When Melina stuttered, Alessia raised her eyebrows and pushed her fiercely.
“Tell me quickly! Is it true?”
Melina’s skirt was wrinkled indiscriminately. Melina clutched her skirt tightly and her shoulders shook.
“Melina, come on!”
At the root that shoots like an arrow,
“……yes that’s right.”
Melina finally admitted in a quiet voice. Alessia touched her forehead as if she was shocked.
“Oh my god, since when?”
“It’s okay.”
“How did it happen?”
“Simply polishing the surface of the blade… or adjusting the cross guard if it is not balanced.”
“Why are you doing that?”
Alessia took a deep breath and then sighed.
There was a tense silence for a moment. What broke it was,
“…I knew you would do this.”
These were words from a young Melina.
“what?”
Alessia removed her hand from her forehead. Melina came into her eyes, sniffling.
“Mom said she knew it would be like this.”
“…….”
“You don’t want me to take over the family business.”
Alessia looked like she was out of breath.
“…Then, are you going to tell my daughter to live this kind of life?”
She lifted her forearm. Arms full of burn marks and scars.
“Look at this, Melina. This is a blacksmith’s arm. It’s something to be proud of as a professional, but I don’t know.”
A deep remorse passed over Alessia’s lips.
“Not as a woman.”
“mom!”
“So, I was hoping you wouldn’t be interested in this.”
“Then why last time!”
Melina cried out with tears in her eyes.
“Last time, when you were making the master’s gauntlets. You said you were grateful for my help!”
“…….”
“I want to work at the blacksmith shop! I want to continue helping my mother!”
Alessia dismissed Melina’s crying with a firm voice.
“It’s okay to help, as long as it’s a chore like bringing you the necessary tools. But making it your business is a different matter.”
“that,”
“Don’t even dream of working in this branch. I can’t tolerate that.”
Alessia glared strongly at Melina.
“It’s the same with craftsmanship. In the end, it’s about working with iron. You can’t do that.”
“Mom, I still-”
“Melina.”
“…….”
Melina seemed speechless and only pursed her lips. She seemed to have a lot to say, but the stern look in Alessia’s eyes made her purse her lips.
“Ugh….”
Suddenly, Melina started to shed tears. With a face full of sadness and upset.
“Mom, I really want to do it.”
“…….”
“You’re not hitting hot iron. You’re just polishing it. But that’s really fun. I really enjoy that detailed work.”
Alessia’s eyes shook violently for a moment.
This may be because the way Melina stutters out her opinions overlaps with her appearance when she was working as a blacksmith.
She also had fun and enjoyed banging on metal. But she knew very well that that wasn’t all there was to her life.
Alessia worked hard to tighten her eyes.
“I said no.”
“But uhm…!”
“Melina!”
Eventually, Alessia’s voice rose. Her shouts echoed loudly throughout her forge.
And at that point,
“Until there.”
I interrupted the mother and daughter’s tense argument.
“Let’s fight later when I’m not around.”
Only then did the mother and daughter realize my presence and lowered their tails.
“……sorry.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
I continued talking without showing my bored expression.
“Second, the green identity that often appeared when Alessia was making things.”
Alessia stood up with a start.
It seemed like he didn’t expect his name to come out of my mouth. Especially if it was a strange power that even he himself found suspicious.
I looked at her intently and said.
“That is the power of the guardian.”
“……!”
Alessia opened her mouth wide, but hastily covered it with her hand.
“oh my god.”
A groaning sound came out from between the covered mouth.
“The power of the guardian?”
Melina, unaware of the situation, tilted her head. His red eyes looked just like a small hare.
‘That’s cute.’
Instead of explaining everything to Melina, I asked Alessia.
“You know what that is, right?”
“Well, I’ve heard of that….”
“Yes. It’s a legend among blacksmiths.”
Alessia stammered in disbelief.
“I-I am the Guardian’s Hand…?”
“okay.”
I agreed briefly and then added.
“Don’t have any unnecessary doubts. I’ve already tested it.”
“Maybe last time… Ah, that gauntlet? But that was…”
Alessia, who had spoken unconsciously, closed her mouth again under my cold gaze.
“……No, no.”
I realized that I shouldn’t wonder what the gauntlet was for. I said, satisfied with her wise action.
“The key is the desire to protect. That unlocks the power of a guardian.”
“ah.”
Alessia slapped her forehead as if she had finally come to enlightenment. Her eyes, which had been filled with suspicion and disbelief, spread with joy.
“So, that’s why.”
After thinking carefully about the time when I unleashed that power, I realized that my words were true.
“Really, this is such a ridiculous thing….”
Alessia shook her head to the side a few times and asked.
“But how do you know that, young master? That story is not well known even among blacksmiths. Moreover, you even know exactly the conditions for the manifestation of power.”
Alessia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity and suspicion, and I responded in an indifferent tone.
“I’m kind of smart.”
“…….”
Alessia was about to twist her lips for a moment,
“Third, why is the Guardian’s power rarely passed down?”
He froze at my single word.
“What…what do you mean?”
Fear appeared on Alessia’s face. It was because I realized that the weight of the words I had spoken was unusual.
“I guess you didn’t hear what happened when the Guardian’s Hand was born.”
I opened my mouth with a kind face, like an adult telling an old story.
“It protects the user from all evil and harmful things. What could be sweeter than this?”
“…….”
“To the nobles who value one of their fingers more than another’s life.”
Only then did Alessia’s face turn blue as if she realized what I meant.
“no way…….”
fantasy,
