Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 56
Ou Yezi ().
A Chinese-born legendary blacksmith who forged countless famed swords and demon blades.
Those who love history or mythology rated him as a human on par with Hephaestus from Greek mythology or Vulcan from Roman myth.
Well, Hephaestus and Vulcan are the same figure anyway.
'A mere craftsmannot even a great manwho was a real, living human being treated on the level of gods. What kind of achievements could earn that?'
Zeroing in on that point, the system granted the title of 'Ou Yezi'along with Ranker statusto any blacksmith whose forging skills rivaled his.
Ou Yezi himself was long dead, but his name lived on as a title passed down to this day.
It was an immense honor.
"Ou Yezi? That guy's the one?"
"...He doesn't look it at all."
"No way. The Sirius family turned the world upside down looking for him, and he's some washed-up wreck? Ridiculous."
Of course, his disheveled appearance and the ruined forge were far from glorious.
The hammeronce like an extension of his limbswas rusted and devoid of its former shine. The furnacehis very breathwas reduced to a mere wood-burning stove.
It was hard to believe this man bore the legendary name of Ou Yezi.
The students doubted their ears at my words. Even I was skeptical.
Was this old man really Ou Yezi?
Maybe we'd knocked on the wrong door?
Reasonable doubts, but when the old man straightened his hunched back and spoke, they evaporated in an instant.
"Who the hell are you lot? You have the look of fancy folknot debt collectors come to chase me down."
The old man's voice was as limp as a deflated balloon.
Yet the subtle pressure it carried couldn't be hidden.
An S-Rank Player in the top 0.1% of the Player world. Only Rankers and those who lorded over them wielded that aura, one that could reduce such elites to 'nothings.'
I caught a glimpse of their shadows in this old man.
I had no idea why he'd ended up like this, but conviction hit me that he was indeed Ou Yezi. I spoke up right away.
"Ou Yezi, we're here with a commission."
"Wrong guy. Be on your way."
"Oh, do you need the advance payment first? Should've said so sooner."
[1 billion has been deposited into your account.]
A message pinged on my phone.
The old man wiped his face in shock at the huge sum but quickly regained his composure. To him, this was pocket change.
How many guilds and families had thrown money at him to snag his services over the years?
Compared to those fortunes, a billion was nothing.
It was just the astonishment of seeing a kid toss it out so casually, without a second thoughtlike his sense of money was utterly broken.
"What the hell are you...?"
"Hm? Ah, is a billion too low? For Ou Yezi's skills, ten times that makes more sense."
[10 billion has been deposited into your account.]
Ten billion.
No sum to take lightly.
The average person would need a decade of grinding to earn it. Yet this brat wired it without batting an eye.
How'd he even get the account number?
Questions piled up like a mountain, but the old man decided to shoo us out first.
Right then.
"Still not enough? Guess I have no choice."
Before the old man could frantically wave his hands at those ominous words.
[100 billion has been deposited into your account.]
The deposit was complete.
"If eleven billion wasn't enough, you should've just said. Money's all I've got anyway."
"What a crazy little shit."
The old man spat curses.
As the AI voice readout blared the total in place of his cloudy eyes, the students' faces stiffened.
Some were stunned by an amount they'd never touch in a lifetime. Others reeled at the casual wiring of such a fortune.
"111 billion. How's that for an advance? Feeling chatty now? Still short? Fine, we'll call it a contract deposit instead."
"...What do you want from me?"
"Told you from the start. We're here for Ou Yezi. Obviously to commission you."
"...Hah, fine. I'm Ou Yezi, you little punk. Happy now?"
"Yes."
The old man let out a heavy sigh.
Judging he was ready to talk, I shooed the kids outside, saying this was grown-up business.
What came next was deeply personalno need for third parties eavesdropping.
Alone in the ruined space with the old man, he struck first.
"So, you said you tracked me down for a commission? Sorry to disappoint, but my forging skills no longer live up to the title..."
"Ah, I think there's a misunderstanding. I'm not here to commission a weapon."
"...Then why seek me out?"
"A collaboration commission."
The word came out of nowhere, but the old man and I both knew the nuance it carried in this context.
We had to.
He was hiding a lot.
And I knew it all.
"Former head blacksmith of the Nine-Tail Guild. Unceremoniously dumped two years later. Lost your wife and daughter to boot."
"You...!"
"You want revenge on your family, right?"
"What would a clueless pup like you know, flapping your gums...!"
"Because I'm the Family Head of the Heavenly Fox Baek Family. The money man behind Nine-Tail Guild. Ah, purely on paper, of course."
"...What'd you say?"
The old man was speechless for a moment.
One day, out of the blue, he'd lost his cushy job and loving family.
And now, the head of the bastards he'd desperately wanted dead all this time stood before him.
Close enough to lop off his head with the magic sword or demon blade he'd prepared for this very day.
He stealthily slid his hand under the chair.
A dagger kept therejust in case thugs came for his head. Ready to end it himself if they did, honed extra sharp for a quick suicide.
His fingers brushed the hilt.
I, of course, knew and smiled warmly.
"That eager to kill me?"
"What do you know, you little shit! You, the head of that cursed familyhow could you understand the pain of us commoners? They took my wife and daughter hostage, slaughtered them, left me with nothing!"
Ou Yezi wailed.
A cry no ordinary holy figure could musteronly one who'd lost family.
Proof of his grief over his wife and child.
A pain I couldn't fathom, never having built a home.
But no matter the form, those scarred by the same foe shared something.
"I get how you feel."
"Bullshit! How could the Heavenly Fox Baek Family Head know my suffering?!"
"Because they screwed me over too."
"What?"
"Think about it logically. You're not that dumb. If I were really Nine-Tail's big shot, would I be here alone with you? An old man gripping a dagger, radiating kill intent?"
The old man, hand on the dagger, clamped his mouth shut.
Revenge within reach, his blood surged.
Hotter than in his youth, it dyed his vision and reason red.
But I slyly wormed into his heart.
He ached to swing that dagger, yet hesitatedcould this kid share his wounds?
Hah, kinder than his actions or aura suggested.
"...How do I trust you?"
"Believe me or not, your call. But is that really okay?"
I peppered him with questions.
Questions bred doubt, doubt illusion, rippling through his chest.
He looked deep in thought.
'...This side of him matches those folks exactly.'
Ou Yezi was born from my advice.
Eve wanted realistic details for the blacksmith character, incorporating my suggestions heavily.
The result? A composite of the blacksmiths I knew.
Steering him my way was child's play. Easier than rice pudding.
'That hair-trigger kill aura is like Old Man Yang's. The soft ears? Straight out of Old Man Shin.'
Not just superficial.
Strengths, flawseven scratching his head with his pinky before clappingidentical.
Reincarnations of those men, plain and simple.
Sorry to my grandpa-like smiths who'd forged my swords and more.
Provoking their Ou Yezi double was effortless.
"One swing of that sword, and I'd be dead. These skinny arms blocking? No chance. Instant kill, guaranteed."
But I knew his type.
My neck wouldn't satisfy him.
"But you'd never settle for just that, right?"
Like I knew everything.
With utter certainty, his expression wavered.
Even the aura around me loosened.
Almost there.
One killer line to seal it.
"Killing me alone won't cut it. We get revenge on them all. The ones who reduced you to this. In the way only you can."
"The way only I can...?"
"What's a blacksmith's calling? Forging arms and armor."
"Weapons I make..."
"Yeah, you're a smith. Picture it slow. Your swords lopping off their limbs. Your spears piercing throats."
Axes beheading, guns shredding flesh and bone.
Just imagining made limbs tremble.
A spark of vengeful thrill bloomed in his heart.
Thrilling from imagination alonewhat bliss if real?
But Ou Yezi knew.
Pure fantasyimpossible.
"Not fantasy. Your creations carving them up with lethal edge. Don't you want to see it?"
"...!"
"I'll make it happen."
I proposed revenge to Ou Yezi.
Thrilling payback beyond what he'd suffered.
Some call revenge pointlessempty words from those who've never tasted it.
Plan it true, execute it true.
Only then the catharsis.
Like a masseuse scratching the perfect itch, I eased his torment.
Finally, he spoke.
"...What do I do?"
"Yours is always one thing."
Hammer heated steel, forge weapons for me alone.
Weapons solely for revenge. My arsenal.
If he did.
"Your revenge? I'll deliver it with your children."
An offer impossible to refuse for vengeance-blinded eyes.
He'd accept even if it choked him. He'd already savored success in his mind.
A lifetime delusion turned possible reality.
Even a rotten ropehe'd grasp it without hesitation.
Hesitated a lifetime already.
Time to vow revenge.
"..."
Determined eyes in the old man.
Looking down, I swallowed a sly smile.
Uncannily spot-on.