142 – Tomb of the Sword (1)
“… “I’m going to the blacksmith shop today.”
Everyone stopped eating and looked at me at the sudden declaration during the meal, but that only lasted for a moment and they turned their heads and resumed eating.
It’s strange, this must have been a touching moment for me to shake off my fear and face reality, but the reaction was colder than I expected.
I thought everyone would be in tears and cheering, but looking at their reactions, it was just like a normal conversation in passing.
“I’m going to the blacksmith shop?”
“I heard everything. Why are you going overboard so much that you only broke one sword? Go quickly and fix your sword or get a new one, and… and….”
Thinking about what was going to happen, Jessica seemed to be overheated, so she put down the utensils she was holding on the table and jumped up from her seat.
“Jessica! What are you doing so rudely!! “You shouldn’t do something like that!!”
Despite my sarcasm, Jessica didn’t even look back and left the restaurant with steps that I wasn’t sure if they were elegant or inelegant.
I thought Jessica was feeling better today as she was able to eat without spewing out venom like usual, but she was still the same.
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“Are you going to Otar’s blacksmith shop? “Then, I’ll go with you because I’d like to say hello to you two for the first time in a while!”
“So, what do you want to do Elaine?”
“… I’ll go.”
Elaine, who had been murmuring her meal, briefly nodded her head and then started eating again.
Now that I think about it, I remember one time, at Otar’s blacksmith shop, Elaine broke the armor with her mouth and ate it.
It was like that at the time, but now that I look at the confrontation, it seems like a lot has happened since that day.
After finishing the meal and changing clothes, I left the mansion, holding the broken Yeongta dearly as if I were holding a baby.
As soon as I took a step outside the mansion, the carriage was already ready without even having the butler prepare it.
When I got on the carriage, thinking that Horina Elaine had prepared it for me, Jessica with a disapproving expression sat down with the two of them first.
“What, didn’t you say you weren’t going?”
“… I never said anything like that. Or something, are you dissatisfied with me going with you?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
Rather, having more people go will help relieve this anxiety.
As the carriage departed, the closer I got to the blacksmith shop, the closer my heart began to shake like a rattling carriage.
For a sword, not being able to repair it is practically a death sentence.
When I thought that I might have to say goodbye to Yeongta forever today, the anxiety coiled in my heart ran wild and disturbed my mind.
I was just a little sad when I parted ways with the sword I used in the past, but perhaps because it was my first specially made sword, I became even more attached to it.
If you just measure time, it wasn’t a very long time, but considering the affection I gave to Yeongta, it was no exaggeration to say that Yeongta was my lover.
Ah, if she could turn back time, she wouldn’t have used Yeongta as her bait.
I felt regret late, but even if I regretted it, it did not mean that the already broken sword could be put back together.
After a while, when I arrived right in front of the blacksmith shop, my heart pounded even louder.
The sound was so loud that Hori, who had been sitting next to him, turned around wondering what it was, so of course Jessica and Elaine could have heard it.
“Jessica…. “I’m so nervous. Can you hold my hand?”
“Stop being so pathetic and come quickly!! “I’m just on my way to get my sword repaired in the first place!!”
Having said that, Jessica walked towards the blacksmith shop without even paying attention to the hand I held out.
My future husband is so anxious, but I just ignore him and go on my way. Has the revenge that Jessica mentioned already begun?
“Ha….”
When I looked at my hands that had nowhere to go and sighed, I suddenly felt a warm touch in my hands.
“Elaine?”
“I’ll catch you. Let’s go.”
“…… Huh.”
It was truly pitiful that the guy who I hadn’t even met yet was more like my wife.
Holding Elaine’s hand in one hand and the broken sword in the other, I steeled myself and knocked on the door to the blacksmith shop.
Jessica glared at him disapprovingly, but since she was in front of people, she only glared and didn’t scream.
“Come in!!”
After a while, we heard Otar’s permission and we went inside.
The workshop was still extremely crowded due to production requests coming from all over the place, and there was little room to step, so I had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on anything.
“Nogong, it’s been a while.”
“Okay, it’s been a while. I have heard your story. However….”
Otar glanced at Elaine, who was holding hands with me, and made a somewhat complicated expression.
“When did you two become like that? Of course I made a recommendation….”
“We haven’t become that kind of relationship yet. “It’s actually this side that has developed that kind of relationship with me.”
Then Otra looked back at Jessica and let out a deep sigh with an expression of sincere disappointment.
“Miss, you look fine, but why are you with this crazy guy…” .”
“…… Well, I was caught up in the atmosphere at that time…. And this person isn’t all about bad things.”
“This is so bad….”
“Why don’t you talk about such trivial things later…” “I came today because I have important business to attend to.”
As I said that, I held out the broken spirit sword I was holding in one hand to Otar.
Even though it was now broken and couldn’t be traced back to its once lovely appearance, Otar immediately recognized that it was Youngtime just by looking at its base.
“Youngtaro. Is it broken? “It’s not a magic sword, nor does it use any special iron, but it’s survived well in your hands until now.”
That’s right. It is not a magic sword made of special materials like Nanga, but a weak sword made of ordinary iron, but it has survived well until now.
Thinking of Yeongta’s suffering until now, I almost shed tears without realizing it.
“Can you fix it…?” ?”
“It’s impossible. “The blade is broken, so I can’t fix it anymore.”
“Why?! Since the sword blade is broken, just replace the sword blade….”
“You can use it if you replace the sword, but can you really call this sword Yeongta after replacing the sword?”
“… ….”
This can be said to be a kind of problem similar to the ship of Theseus.
Let’s say that during the arduous journey of Theseus’ ship returning to Athens, one of the boards broke, so he removed the board and replaced it with a new board.
Up to this point, it falls under the category of repairs, so this ship can still be said to be Theseus’ ship.
But if all the planks are replaced on a ship through this process, can it really be called Theseus’ ship?
In this case, if the blade, which is almost all of the katana, is replaced, can this really be called a spiritual strike?
Although the hilt of Yeongta remains, there is no special magic attached to the hilt, so there is no need to stick to this hilt.
I even thought that if you were going to change anything, it would be more effective to change the hilt of the sword as well.
“When the meaning of repairing it is lost, the sword is as good as already dead. I don’t want to recreate a ridiculous sword like a reverse-edged sword…. Looking at the hilt of the sword, it looks like he wasn’t just carrying it around for show, so I’ll make you another one….”
Otar’s words were truly grateful, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Yeongta yet.
More than anything, I was reluctant to get a new sword since I had lost it not long ago, because it felt like remarrying as soon as I lost my sword.
“Bereavement…. As a blacksmith, I don’t know whether to be happy or upset about this. “If that’s how you feel, why don’t you at least go to the Tomb of the Sword?”
“…… Tomb of Swords?”
I wondered if the possessed person had created something strange by interfering with the unfamiliar words, but upon closer inspection, I found out that it was a separate place unrelated to the possessed person.
The Tomb of the Sword, a tomb managed not by nature but by a spirit born from a swordsman’s sword, is called the Tomb of the Sword, but it was the final resting place of weapons that had been used for a long time, including swords.
However, not all weapons could sleep here. To sleep in the sword tomb, one had to undergo three tests posed by the sword spirit.
“What are the three tests?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything specifically prohibiting external leaks, but I have to go to places like that. In any case, if Yeongta sleeps in a place called a sacred place by prosecutors, will his twisted mind be relieved a little?”
“… ….”
I felt like if Yeongta could sleep in a place that prosecutors looked up to as a sacred place, I could at least let him go.
“…… “I think that will ease my mind a little.”
“Then go quickly. “The Tomb of the Sword is quite far from the academy and is overflowing with pilgrims, so it would be best to get there quickly.”
“I really…. I wonder what all the fuss is about just a sword….”
“Then Jessica, do you want to look at the house? “We can go there on our own.”
Hearing those words, Jessica glanced at Elaine and shouted with a grim expression on her face, as if she was about to hit someone with a hammer.
“I’m going with you too, so don’t even dream of nonsense!! Really, why am I with someone like this? .”
“I don’t know what it is, but it looks good. “But are you guys okay with the number of days you attend?”
“Yes? Exit… , what?”
“The number of days of attendance. Even if it were an incident like the collapse of the wall, it would be difficult to get the number of days of attendance recognized for this incident….”
“…… Ah.”
I forgot for a while because my presence at the academy was so small, but I was a student.
But… Now there doesn’t seem to be much point in going to the academy….
‘Should I just drop out?’