Chapter 520 – 520. The Thousand and One Nights (3)
Eun-hyeon stared at the two blades that showed off their overwhelming presence enough to take away their eyes inadvertently.
“Ha…”
Before long, staring at the stone tablet on which Oran’s will was written, she lowered her head and let out a deep sigh.
“Look at me and complete it… What do you say…”
A title given to blacksmiths who had the best skills.
How could he be able to complete the sword that Oran, who was a thousand-and-one nightsman, could not complete?
Thinking that it was an absurd number, he slowly pulled out two blades with his face chewing on insects.
Before long, he found out the identity of the metal that was the material of the blade, and muttered with his eyes wide open.
“This… Orichalcum?”
Orichalcum, which is the most precious metal on the continent and is also famous for its material with the nickname ‘God Iron’, is not a metal that can be found anywhere.
The holy sword Durandal, which was produced hundreds of years ago and is now known as a national treasure of the Kingdom of Pernias, is also a special sword made of Orichalcum.
Durandal’s origins began when Ortas, the first king of the Kingdom of Pernias, visited a dwarf village and entrusted him with a metal called Orichalcum and commissioned to make a sword.
“… Durandal is not the work of Oran.”
Eun-hyeon, who was working on restoring the holy sword that had once been broken, knew at once that it was not the work of Oran.
He was not taught for a long time, but there was no way he would not recognize Oran’s work, having received his methods, tendencies, and techniques over the years of his education.
The speculation that he simply started producing these two swords, burning the pride of a blacksmith in order to catch up and transcend them, was soon abandoned.
“Oran… What are you thinking…”
After starting to produce these two blades, he couldn’t finish it and left the later work to himself.
Eunhyeon couldn’t find out what Oran was thinking.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to find out what he’s thinking.
“…”
Eunhyeon thoughtfully looked at the hammers neatly arranged in the toolbox, and soon after took out the hammer.
“Okay. There was no need for words between us.”
The communication I had with Oran was all about my skills as a blacksmith.
If so, the quickest way to find out what he was thinking is to talk to this posthumous work he left behind.
All you need is a fire that burns the inside of the forge, a hammer, and the stamina and mental strength needed to hit the hammer.
Eunhyeon piled firewood in turn into the furnace and threw a kindling stick.
After some time, he put an unfinished blade made of Orichalcon on top of the black anvil in front of the roaring furnace and gripped the hammer tightly.
“Tell me what you were trying to convey to me.”
-Okay. It’s good.
After a long time, the dwarf’s gruff voice recalling the past came to mind, creating an auditory hallucination of whispering in Eun-hyeon’s ear.
◆ ◆ ◆
Caang!
The sound of metal crashing down is very clear and has a strong vibration that makes the air tremble.
Caang!
The Dwarves, who could not guess the situation inside the smithy where a certain sound was repeated at regular intervals, all stared at the entrance of the smithy with interesting expressions.
“The sound is very clear.”
“I don’t know how many hours it is already.”
As more than four hours passed since Eunhyeon entered the forge, the expressions of the dwarves who were dissatisfied with the idea of granting humans the qualifications to take the Thousand and One Nights test began to change little by little with Eunhyeon’s appearance.
The dwarves, who had expressed dissatisfaction with very disapproving expressions, gradually expressed their frustration with their entire bodies.
“Shit! What the hell are you making!”
“Let me take a look!”
“Elder! Please open the door!”
“… It cannot be.”
The dwarves, rolling their short legs and expressing that they would die of curiosity, protested to be allowed to watch Eun-hyeon’s test in Oran’s forge, but Doran did not accept the protests of the Hansako tribe members.
As explained to Eun-hyeon in advance, the Cheon-il-yajang test cannot be helped by anyone, and must be taken alone in an independent space where no one is disturbed.
Of course, when Eun-hyeon is in the middle of a test and she is very nervous, the eyes of the dwarves have many elements that can distract her from concentration.
Doran was equally curious as there was no way to know what he was making in the blacksmith’s shop, but he had no intention of changing the rules of this test to succeed his grandfather, Cheonilyajang.
Doran didn’t take his eyes off the iron door of the smithy where Eunhyeon was inside and glanced at Lily, who was sitting in a chair.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“… It is not difficult.”
Lily answered Doran’s question honestly.
Lily’s tenacity, staring at one place for hours without taking her eyes off, was also very surprising.
“If you are tired, go to the place where you stayed last night and rest. I don’t know how many hours the exam will take.”
If it was the work of ordinary blacksmiths, it would have been finished by now, but since no one knows the contents of the test Eun-hyeon is taking, even Doran, the organizer of the test, does not know how long it will take.
If Eun-hyeon does not give up on this test, the moment when the test of the thousand and one nights ends is when something that is being completed inside is completed.
Doran did not think that an ordinary human woman who was not a blacksmith could survive this time.
This was Doran’s little consideration for Lily, but Lily just smiled and shook her head, not accepting Doran’s consideration.
“No. Thank you for your words, but… I want to be here.”
Lily insisted on waiting until Eun-hyeon’s test in front of the blacksmith was over.
It’s not that it’s not hard.
However, what is more difficult than herself right now is not Eun-hyun, who is trapped in the heat beyond this door and is pounding the hammer nonstop.
The clear, uninterrupted sound of a hammer hitting the metal with all its might is proof that Eun-hyeon is working hard.
Then, being blocked by this door and unable to provide any help, the only thing he can do is to greet Eun-hyeon who comes out after the exam.
“… I guess so.”
Doran, who understood Lily’s thoughts, nodded her head without saying more.
“On the contrary, thank you. Take care of us.”
“… No big deal.”
“No. Actually… I didn’t know that Doran-nim would be so considerate of my master and me.”
Even if all the dwarves in this village, including the Black Anvil tribe, do not have bad feelings for Eun-hyeon, Eun-hyeon has nothing to say at this point.
It just happened because of Oran’s arbitrary action, Eun-hyeon didn’t know, and it was full of unfair parts.
As a result, there is no excuse for being the cause of the highly honored position among the dwarves, which is called the Cheonilyajang, which has not been inherited for 300 years.
Eunhyeon and Lily thought that Doran, the grandson of Oran and the current chieftain of the Black Anvil tribe, would hold grudges against them for his grandfather’s arbitrary actions.
However, contrary to reality, Doran greeted Eunhyeon and Lily very kindly and provided them with a place to sleep and even provided meals.
“Don’t Doran resent Master for coming to the Dwarf Village too late?”
“Resentment… I don’t know.”
Doran’s face, which always maintained a calm expression, changed for the first time and expressed his complex feelings.
“Maybe I too have been waiting for the author.”
“… Our master?”
Lily’s head, which had been staring at the door of the smithy where Eunhyeon was, turned to the side for the first time and stared at Doran’s face.
“Before my grandfather passed away, there was a story he always told me when I was still young. Much of the story was about the author.”
It is the story of Eun-hyeon’s past in a dwarf village that Lily doesn’t know about.
“Can you elaborate?”
“… Hmm.”
At Lily’s request, who showed interest, Doran nodded calmly.
As the endless test continues anyway, Doran talked about Doran and Eunhyeon’s past story as a chat to pass the time.
◆ ◆ ◆
Underground in a deep underground tunnel where sunlight does not reach.
The dwarven village built there is a village of artisans who illuminate the day with magic lamps that continue to operate semi-permanently.
Kaaang!
The dwarves’ night is full of alcohol and food, starting the day with the sound of lighting a fire and tapping iron, and ending the day as if cooling off the heat that heated up the entire village.
Oran, which has the title of Cheonilyajang, was no different.
Using his metallurgy, he hammered iron all day, and at night, drinking alcohol with his fellow countrymen, he went home drunk and went to sleep.
The change in his daily life was due to a rumor he heard from a fellow Dwarf.
“Hey. Oran. Did you hear about that?”
“What are you talking about?”
His drunken friend, who knows all the rumors going around the village, is not a blacksmith who wields a hammer, but a friend with a luxurious temperament who collects these stories and rumors.
Although he was a dwarf and showed no interest in metallurgy, he was the worst as a craftsman, but he was very funny at drinking parties, so we met often.
This time he asked half-expectedly what kind of rumors he would bring and dispel them as a snack.
“I heard a human came to the village?”
“… A human?”
“Okay. Human. That’s what it means to be ‘that person at that time’.”
“Who is ‘the man at that time’?”
At the words of the drunken dwarf, who kept using ambiguous expressions, Oran asked back with a sour expression.
“This person is real! Have you forgotten the incident that nearly led to a war with those long ears!?”
“Joy. If it comes, I will, and if it doesn’t, I won’t.”
“It’s because I’m not interested in town work like this!”
“That’s what tribal chiefs do. I am a craftsman who makes weapons.”
Oran didn’t really care much about the politics or events that almost led to war with the elves.
All he is interested in is improving and achieving his skills as a blacksmith.
“So, who the hell is ‘that person at that time’?”
“Ah, well, the human who helped us to mediate an agreement with the long-legged ears has come to our village alone this time!”
“… Hmm. Turn it off!”
Oran drank beer while listening to the story of the drunken dwarf.
He let out a burp that ran up his throat and continued to speak with a sour expression on his face.
“But, what does that mean?”
“I hear that person is learning metallurgy here?”
“… Hmm?”
With an expression of disinterest, Oran’s hand, which was holding a beer mug, hesitated for the first time.
Of course, the topic of the storybook that the drunkard friend knows of Oran’s personality that he is only interested in metallurgy is related to metallurgy.
“How is it? Do you have a little appetite? If you buy this drink today, I will serve this story as a side dish.”
The drunken dwarf grinned and started talking about ‘a man who beats a hammer like a madman’ as a snack for Oran, who was just beginning to show interest.
