15
“Let’s end it here for today.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The swordsmanship lesson ended late at night.
Both General Drake, who was teaching, and Minhyuk, who was learning, had been so engrossed in the lesson that they had lost track of time.
“Learning is important, but what’s more important is to repeatedly practice the same movements until you master them and make them completely your own.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
The General was very satisfied with what Minhyuk had accomplished in just one day.
‘It would take an ordinary person over a month to learn what he learned in a day.’
There were some movements that took several months of repeated practice to master, but even those were quickly absorbed by Minhyuk.
“Just to be safe, don’t think about wielding a real sword after only one day of training.”
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“Don’t worry.”
Minhyuk was still a beginner, even if his learning ability was superior to others.
He still had a long way to go before he could handle a real sword.
“It’s late, so why don’t you stay here tonight? … No, why don’t you just stay here while you’re learning swordsmanship?”
“No, I can’t impose on you like that.”
“Impose? We have plenty of empty rooms. Just pick one and make yourself at home.”
“Then I will take you up on your offer.”
He had originally planned to stay at an inn.
Thanks to the General’s consideration, he had saved on accommodation for the time being.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
They decided to continue the lessons tomorrow evening.
Drake was not someone who could afford to spend all day teaching Minhyuk swordsmanship.
And Minhyuk needed his own time as well.
When he was not taking swordsmanship lessons, he would go outside the fortress to hunt.
He needed to accumulate return points.
“And…”
General Drake, who was about to leave, looked back at Minhyuk.
In fact, there were a thousand things he wanted to ask Minhyuk.
How he came to possess such a powerful physique,
Whether he was born with it,
Whether there were others like Minhyuk…
But it seemed that if he asked a barrage of questions, Minhyuk would simply disappear.
Like the man who had saved his life.
Therefore, he decided to ask just one question.
“What is your name?”
Minhyuk was slightly taken aback.
No one had ever asked him his name since he came to this world.
Of course, he had thought that he needed a name that fit in with this world.
The names of the people Minhyuk knew in this world were as follows:
Raymon, who assisted the princess.
Drake, who was also the princess’s closest aide and his own swordsmanship teacher.
Alfredo, one of the princess’s attendants.
Verona, the daughter of the imperial chef.
Luna, the owner of the alchemy shop.
Judging from their names, the name ‘Minhyuk’ did not fit in well with this world.
It was awkward to write in the characters of this world, and it was difficult to pronounce in the language of this world.
‘Minhyuk… Miha… Michael.’
He had intended to take his time thinking about what name to use in this world, but since the general had asked him so suddenly, he had to come up with something on the spot.
“My name is Michael.”
***
The full moon was passing over the imperial palace.
It was late at night, but the emperor still could not sleep.
“Mina, it must be hard for you to look after me.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty! It is my wish to spend my life by Your Majesty’s side, forever watching over you.”
Mina checked the water jug.
There wasn’t much water left inside.
“Your Majesty, I will go and fetch some water.”
“Very well.”
Mina took the jug and left the room.
Someone was approaching in the distance.
It was the princess.
Mina bowed her head and greeted her.
“Your Highness, what brings you here? And at this hour?”
“Is there somewhere I am not allowed to go?”
The emperor called out from inside the room when he heard the princess’s voice.
“Christina?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Come in.”
As the princess entered, the emperor struggled to raise his upper body.
He was someone who couldn’t make even the smallest movement without Mina’s help.
Mina rushed over and supported the emperor.
“Your Majesty, you mustn’t push yourself!”
The emperor ignored Mina’s concern and simply smiled at his daughter.
“Come closer, Christina!”
“I apologize for not visiting you sooner.”
It was the first time the princess had visited her father’s bedchamber since she had met with the emperor in the throne room with the ministers.
“Why apologize? I know you’re busy managing state affairs. You’re suffering because of your incompetent father. At the prime of your life…”
For the first time in a while, the emperor and princess spoke like father and daughter.
“Do you remember? When you were young, you used to ask me to read to you when you couldn’t sleep.”
There had been many times when the emperor had read to the young princess until dawn and then attended the throne room meeting in a state of exhaustion.
“But these days, I’m the one who can’t sleep.”
“Tonight, I will read to you until you fall asleep.”
“Really?”
As the princess selected a book from the bookshelf, the emperor spoke to Mina with a pleased expression.
“The princess will watch over me tonight, so you may go to your room and rest. Or if you wish, you can go outside the palace and get some fresh air.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Mina exited the bedchamber.
And she shivered and bit her lip.
***
Minhyuk woke up early in the morning.
He would go hunting outside the fortress right away.
Before that, he needed to find a dagger.
As General Drake had said, he couldn’t hunt with a broadsword after only one day of training.
For the time being, he would use a dagger as he had been doing.
As he stepped outside his room, the attendant who had guided him yesterday was passing by.
He ran up to Minhyuk and asked, “You’re up early. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thanks to you. But what about the general?”
“The general went to the palace early.”
Minhyuk asked him if there was a weapon shop nearby.
“Is there anywhere I can buy a dagger? A good one.”
“If you go out the south gate of the mansion, you’ll find the market alley. Follow the alley and…”
The attendant explained the location of the weapon shop in detail.
“The blacksmith there is the best in the fortress. Even the general uses his services often. If you show him the Drake family crest, you’ll get a good deal.”
Minhyuk exited through the south gate of the mansion.
And across the street, he saw the market alley.
As he walked down the alley, he could hear the sound of metal being struck.
Clang-
Clang-
Minhyuk headed towards the direction of the sound.
Then, he saw the signboard of a blacksmith shop.
＜Balin’s Smithy＞
In the open workshop, a blacksmith was striking iron.
His physique and face were a bit different from ordinary people.
As he looked at him, a message popped up before Minhyuk’s eyes.
＜You have discovered a Dwarf.＞
＜You may accumulate 10 seconds of return time as a reward if you eliminate the Dwarf.＞
It wasn’t only humans who lived inside the fortress.
Minhyuk approached him.
Clang-
Clang-
He continued hammering.
Minhyuk watched him silently.
After hammering for a while, he put the iron he was striking into a black liquid.
Sizzle-
A pungent smoke rose up.
Only then did he look at Minhyuk and speak.
“Oh my, we have a guest. When I’m focused on my work, I wouldn’t notice even if someone was making out with my wife right beside me. hahahaha!”
The blacksmith had quite the thick lips.
“Are you Balin?”
He was asking if he was the owner of this smithy.
“Balin is my teacher. My teacher went outside the territory of Kaho 20 years ago and hasn’t returned. I’ve been in charge of the smithy since then. My name is David.”
“I’m looking to buy a dagger. A really good one. I heard I can get good stuff if I come here.”
Minhyuk discreetly showed Drake’s badge to David.
“We have an honored guest from early in the morning. Please come this way,”
David put down his tongs and guided Minhyuk inside the store.
All sorts of weapons and armor were hung on the walls of the store.
David stopped in front of a display case in the back of the store.
It was a display case filled with daggers.
“These are the best products in our store. Take your time and have a look.”
Information about the items popped up before Minhyuk’s eyes as he looked at the daggers.
＜Steel Dagger Crafted by an Artisan＞
– A dagger made of steel refined using a special method.
Only the designs were different, but they were all made of steel.
A steel dagger was the dagger Minhyuk had used before.
He had used it to kill dozens of swamp vipers, and its blade had become completely dull.
“How much are these?”
“That one will cost you 1000 crowns.”
You could buy ten steel daggers for one gold coin.
“Don’t you have anything better?”
“Oh, you’re looking for the very best! Follow me.”
I followed the blacksmith through a side door into another room.
It was lined with fancy display cases, each one holding a single sword.
Some of them were daggers.
“This is the second-best dagger in my shop.”
A tooltip popped up before Minhyuk’s eyes.
＜Dagger of Obsidian from Hilkel＞
– A dagger crafted from rare obsidian found only in the Hilkel region.
– Sharper than steel daggers, and the blade doesn’t dull easily.
Obsidian has a glassy, razor-sharp edge when broken, so it has been used for blades since ancient times.
However, it has a fatal flaw: it breaks easily.
But the rare obsidian in this world was harder than steel.
“How much is it?”
“20,000 crowns.”
That was the price of two gold coins.
“Is it that expensive?”
“Hilkel obsidian used to be common. But the Cataclysm happened, and the Hilkel Volcano, the only place where Hilkel obsidian could be mined, became a nest of monsters. We can’t make them anymore because it’s hard to get the materials.”
The dagger itself was good quality, but the price was higher because of the rarity of Hilkel obsidian.
Unlike high-level potions that no one wanted to buy, the Dagger of Obsidian from Hilkel was a collector’s item for some rich nobles.
Anyway, Minhyuk didn’t have two gold coins.
But maybe I could borrow it for a little while and put it in my inventory.
If it turned into a toothpick or a cotton swab, it would be easy to get.
“What’s your best dagger?”
“This one here. The best dagger in my shop.”
The display case that David pointed to contained a golden dagger.
＜Dwarven Dagger＞
– A dagger made of Dwarven ingots.
– Sharper than the Dagger of Obsidian from Hilkel, and the blade doesn’t dull easily.
Dwarven ingots—they didn’t even exist in the real world.
“How much is this one?”
“100,000 crowns.”
One Dwarven Dagger cost ten gold coins.
“Dwarven ingots used to be common. But the Cataclysm happened, and the Ogoros Mountains, the only place where Dwarven ingots could be produced, became a nest of monsters. So now, no one can make Dwarven ingots.”
The reason the Dwarven Dagger was expensive was similar to the Dagger of Obsidian from Hilkel.
Things that used to be common before the Cataclysm had become rare now.
I was about to ask if I could just hold the Dwarven Dagger for a bit, but the blacksmith spoke first.
“Actually, the strongest dagger I can make is the Dagger of the Star.”
Dagger of Stars,
Minhyuk pricked up his ears at David’s words as the story piqued his curiosity.
“Sometimes, a very rare and special mineral is mixed in small amounts with the shooting stars that fall from the sky. When you collect and refine it, you can create an incredibly strong metal that is incomparable to others. That is the metal of the stars. A dagger made of that metal is the Dagger of Stars.”
A rare metal found in trace amounts in meteorites.
Even before the Cataclysm, the metal of the stars was a very precious material.
And after the Cataclysm, it became an even more valuable material.
“Take a look at this.”
David took out something the size of a fingernail from the small pouch he wore around his neck and showed it to him.
A mysterious glow emanated from the small mineral.
“This is the mineral of the stars. But with this amount, you can’t make anything. If you had about 500 of these, you could make one dagger.”
Minhyuk spoke to the blacksmith.
“Can I borrow that for a moment?”