25 – Sword Saint (5)
The morning was bright and I went to the place where the old man’s business card was written.
I didn’t go alone, but I went with my sister.
Originally, I was going to go alone, but when he saw me going out, he asked me where I was going.
As soon as we told them the circumstances, they were forced to accompany us at the earnest request that they could not go together.
He said he wanted to see me holding a sword, and he was curious about what kind of sword he would get.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult request, so I came with you after accompanying you now… There were difficulties from the start.
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“Are you here?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“The door is closed. Is there no business?”
“That’s probably not it…”
A small shop located on a deserted street.
However, the shutters were firmly down.
Did I come too early?
Hey, I said I was going in the morning, but I didn’t say what time I was going…
It’s rare, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t cafes or amenities nearby, so I wanted to wait for a while.
The moment I turned my steps, I heard a warm voice and greeted me.
“hahahaha! Are you here?”
“Ah. Seniors. Are you here? The door is closed, so I must have come to the wrong place.”
“Oops! I’m sorry. Yesterday was the last time I didn’t want to open the store again.”
“Is that so?”
As I bowed down to greet him, the old man came closer to me and tapped him on the shoulder.
Then he saw the sister behind me and asked puzzled.
“Huh? Who are these kids? Are they your daughters?”
“I’m not a kid!”
“Right!”
“Ahahahaha… not my daughter, but her sister.”
When Lee Seo-jin introduced her shyly, her sister muttered inaudibly, a bit sullen.
“She’s not even my sister…”
“Right…”
After the introduction, the old man laughed again.
“hahahaha! I was just kidding! Judging from your age, I don’t think you would have gotten married.”
“It’s still a long way. There’s no one there.”
“Is that so? For some reason, I thought I was going to marry that junior girl.”
“It’s just juniors. Juniors. No relationship.”
Lee Seo-jin shook her head and firmly denied it.
But even these short words were enough to catch her sister’s attention.
As soon as her words came out, the sister grabbed her by the collar and gave her a bloody look, looking at her as if asking for an explanation.
“Brother? Wife? Married…? What does this mean?”
“If you’re a junior… Sujeong unnie? When did you secretly meet again?”
“Huh? That… That’s…”
Noticing the sudden change in her mood, Lee Seo-jin hurriedly urged the old man to get out of her situation.
“I’ll talk to you later! Elder. Do you want to go in?”
“hahahaha. That’s right. Let’s see… Opening…”
She was Lee Seo-jin, who was sweating profusely over the situation.
She was
She was a sister who kept an eye on her and passed on as if she couldn’t help it.
“Ah. Here you go.”
Drreuk-
When the shutters went up, a shop with large windows was revealed.
And when I looked inside through the window, admiration came naturally.
“This. This is…?!”
Innumerable swords were lined up in a row.
Swords with different shapes, shapes, and sizes come in a variety of colors.
I couldn’t help but admire it because I hadn’t seen so many swords in my previous life.
“That’s amazing. So many swords…”
The old man looked at Lee Seo-jin, who was admiring him blankly, and then guided him into the store.
“Go in.”
“Ah. Yes.”
Three people follow the old man.
The sisters couldn’t take their eyes off the inside of the store, as if it was quite interesting.
“The swords in the store are roughly this. Ah. Come to think of it, I didn’t even say a word.”
The old man smiled and asked Lee Seo-jin to shake hands.
“My name is Baek Tae-hwan.”
“This is Seojin Lee.”
After shaking hands, the two continued their conversation.
“Well. The shouting is over. Alright, is it time to go as a customer and shopkeeper?”
Baek Tae-hwan smiled and went to the counter, then stood still and gazed at Lee Seo-jin.
Since he didn’t know what that meant, Lee Seo-jin slowly started looking around the sword.
“Wow… Is this a sword? My brother uses something like this…”
“Sometimes… Ugh! It’s heavy…”
“It will be heavier because it has no mana. Don’t touch it just in case you get hurt.”
“Don’t worry, older brother. We’re not kids, are we?”
“That’s right! It’s not my child. Stupid oppa. Heung!”
“Yes yes. Be careful.”
Following Lee Seo-jin, her sisters also started looking at swords.
The way she grumbled was cute. After watching her sister for a while, Lee Seo-jin looked at the sword she was holding.
‘Great.’
No sharpness, no detail, no weight.
Perfect swords without missing anything.
There are many things that look better than the swords I own, and I’m sure I’ll be able to use them better than before no matter what I take.
But from the moment I came here, there was one thing that kept bothering me.
That’s right—
“Old man Taehwan. You said that the sword in the shop is all here.”
“Yes. Why?”
“Then…”
Lee Seo-jin hung up her sword again, then she looked straight at Baek Tae-hwan.
Then, strange glances passed between the two.
Like an adventurer looking for a hidden treasure. I was asking if this is not all.
“Isn’t there a sword ‘outside’ the shop?”
“…Outside.”
Spitting out a meaningful question, Baek Tae-hwan crossed his arms.
There was silence for a while.
What are you thinking?
Lee Seo-jin just watched, earnestly praying that he would keep an eye on him but not refuse.
“…Follow me.”
A short word.
However, he was able to discern that it contained many meanings.
What was it that made him suddenly serious?
As I followed behind nervously, her sister also started following me cautiously.
I passed the counter and went down through the door to the basement.
Dubuk… Thump…
The atmosphere changed seriously with the sound of footsteps, and soon a large space appeared.
“Wow…”
“This is…”
“It’s a workshop.”
“hahahaha. It’s a bit embarrassing to show this workplace.”
The sister exclaimed in admiration and began to look around her.
But Baek Tae-hwan and Lee Seo-jin were still serious.
I wondered what was going on here and approached.
“That’s great. It doesn’t look like it was used in a day or two.”
“My family has been a field farmer for generations. Thanks to superhumans like heroes, I was able to live without interruption…”
“Has it become difficult for you to inherit your life because you mainly dealt with swords?”
“Not necessarily. They say they are field masters, but they are not necessarily only able to make swords. Rather, what I want to tell you is not about my circumstances.”
“Then…?”
Baek Tae-hwan looked at Lee Seo-jin for a while and then approached a corner of the workshop.
I found something in the gap where various clutter and things were piled up and took it out.
Lee Seo-jin immediately recognized that the object surrounded by cloth was a sword when he saw its shape.
“I wanted to give you this.”
Emotions swirled in the eyes of the elderly man who was watching.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but one thing I could tell was that one of the emotions in those eyes was longing.
When he looked at me again, he showed a glimpse of anticipation, and after looking at me, I handed him the sword in his hand.
Carefully accepted, the cloth was unwrapped to reveal the sword.
“This is…”
There was a sword that emitted an indescribable aura.
Should I call it a sword or a sword?
As long as it has a scabbard, it should be called a demonic sword, but since it exudes an elegant and elegant atmosphere, the yodo would have been more suitable.
“The sword my grandfather forged.”
“If it’s your grandfather… It must have been quite a while.”
“That’s right.”
Baek Tae-hwan crossed his arms and recalled his memories for a while, then he began to tell the story.
“I don’t know when, but my grandfather picked up a hard stone from outside.”
“Is it a meteorite?”
“I don’t know. To call it a meteorite, it doesn’t look like a stone, but from what I’ve heard, it’s the only thing that can be compared to it. Anyway, you made a sword with the stone you brought, and you made a famous sword among famous swords…”
Baek Tae-hwan pointed at his handle.
“No one has been able to pull this sword out. They say that the moment he grabbed the handle, he was possessed or scared and threw the sword away.”
“Demon sword, urethra… Is that so?”
“Maybe. But didn’t you want it? The strongest sword. All I can give you is this.”
As expected, you read my thoughts with your eyes.
There was one thing I felt while looking at the sword.
These swords… It’s like a by-product.
I was able to instinctively feel that I made something, but I couldn’t do it, and there was regret and regret.
An unconscious feeling that even I don’t know.
“After hearing the story, I wanted to make a sword that surpassed this one. But I couldn’t pull it out, so I never saw a sword, so I just imagined it.”
“That’s the sword in the shop. But the swords outside are also very good. You won’t find a sword like that anywhere.”
“hahahaha… Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, even if I couldn’t see it, I vaguely knew that it was a great sword, so I was able to make a good quality sword… In the end, it was impossible to make a sword that surpassed it.”
The elder shook his head with a bitter smile.
Are you reminiscing about the years that have passed?
Looking at the sword with a sad face, then looking at me with a serious atmosphere.
“If you can take that sword, you can take it. You don’t have to pay for it.”
“…Are there any conditions?”
“hahahaha. I noticed right away. The condition is to draw the sword. But it won’t be easy. A lot of people tried to draw the sword, but everyone got scared and gave up.”
“…”
I looked at the sword in my hand.
There was a scabbard drawn with dragons, flowers, and orchids, and even though years had passed, the sense of liveliness was conveyed as if it had been made right away.
But there was an indescribable atmosphere that I could feel from the first time I saw it and something that stimulated me deep inside.
I had a lot of thoughts, but there was only one action I had to take.
“…I will draw.”
I grabbed the handle of the sword and looked back slightly.
Then her sister was very concerned and she seemed at a loss.
Are you worried after hearing the story? I’m sure you’re hoping I don’t pull it out.
But I have no choice but to pull it out.
That hell.
That nightmare.
Because I don’t want to have any regrets again.
“…Whoa…”
Chin.
After taking a deep breath, I grabbed her handle.
And the moment the sword was pulled out of the scabbard a tiny bit.
Something started to sweep through me.
‘!!’
Time seemed to have stopped.
No words came out.
What is it that keeps me bound like this?
I had doubts, and soon the doubts turned into fear.
I started screaming, slowly eating away at my body and mind.
─Can you really pull out that sword?
It was as if thousands of ghosts were running through my head and mocking me.
Is this what it is like to insert a sword in the deepest part of the underworld and bring it back after thousands of years pass by and contain the soul?
From noble mtl dot com.
My hands shake and my vision blurs.
I had a strong desire to leave this sword and withdraw immediately.
However, the will was not broken.
My conviction that I won’t regret it wasn’t enough to give in to this unknown fear.
“Whoa…”
Take another deep breath.
After ignoring the screams in your head.
Sereung—!!
I drew my sword.
Giying──
The sword rings.
It was as if a hundred demons had been released from the seal and were about to run amok.
Undeterred, he grabbed the handle with both hands and fired a straight sword.
Then the sword trembled like a howl once again.
Slowly the vibrations stopped, and when I stopped moving, something that was gnawing at my body and mind was gone.
“Heo-euk… Heo-euk…”
Tae-hwan Baek was astonished at seeing Lee Seo-jin, who exhaled heavily and stood upright.
“…Huh. What the… you… did you really draw the sword?!”
“…I guess so.”
Looking at the elderly, he smiled.
When I came to my senses, I was sweating like a marathon runner.
Are you so nervous?
Since I worked so hard, my vision was blurry and my mind was clouded, so I decided to look at it later.
After putting the sword into the scabbard, he was greatly surprised and thanked the elder who was looking this way.
“…Thanks for the nice sword.”
“No. I’ll have to thank you… Thank you for drawing that sword out.”
Rather, the elder patted my shoulder and thanked me, and I gazed at the sword gently.
I got a sword.
Many times more than the sword from my previous life…
No. A sword hundreds of times better.
All that’s left now is to test it out.
When you suddenly think about where there is a good opportunity.
♬~♪~♩♩
The cell phone rang.