283translated
I Killed the Demon King. It was a Mistake.
Chapter 283
As one ages, both body and mind grow rigid.
Rather than seeing a bright future, one tends to recall faded glory, preferring familiar paths to unfamiliar ones.
On the road to meet Pesson.
It was the destination of the ugly inferiority complex that Giggs wanted to hide until his death, and at the same time, an unfamiliar path.
Though he wanted to turn the carriage around immediately, Giggs deliberately closed his eyes.
Why was Giggs heading to meet Pesson?
People sometimes do things they don't understand.
This was exactly one of those times. There was no reason now to reveal the ugly truth that his father and Giggs had hidden for nearly 20 years.
Hundreds, no, thousands of times he had wanted to apologize in front of Pesson, but Giggs had climbed too high.
The place Giggs had reached was the pinnacle of blacksmithing. If he were to fall vertically from there to the bottom, what would become of Giggs?
Giggs wasn't the type to take on things he couldn't handle. Then why was he heading to Pesson? The carriage stopped.
"We have arrived."
Giggs opened the carriage door and went out.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Pesson's forge was busy. Being busy means being lively.
"Hmm... Is this how it's supposed to be done?"
"Yes, that's right."
Pesson was handling a strange machine with an elderly man who appeared quite advanced in age.
The sight of a blacksmith holding a screwdriver instead of a hammer was beyond strange, it was mysterious.
Screech!
After Pesson tightened the screwdriver and pressed a button, the chain began to rotate.
"Ohhh...! Finally!"
"At last... Cough, cough!"
"Hey Theon! You're not dying already, are you? Don't die until you've taught me everything."
"Really now, who said anything about dying."
Seeing Theon and Pesson researching the strange machine suddenly reminded Giggs of when he and Pesson used to work together at the forge.
Back then, Giggs had unilaterally taught Pesson, but when Pesson occasionally asked creative questions, they would put their heads together and research.
Pesson seemed to be living like a man in his twenties, even though he had become an old man with white hair.
"Hmm? What brings you here?"
Giggs didn't know what to say. He had come because he couldn't see an answer, his mind was troubled, and he simply wanted to see Pesson.
When Giggs couldn't answer for a while, Pesson put the screwdriver in his front pocket and said.
"I just got some good alcohol. Would you like a drink?"
"...Do you even know what good alcohol is?"
"If it's alcohol you'll like, then it's good alcohol. Theon, join us for a drink."
Theon, eyeing Giggs cautiously, said:
"Is it appropriate for me to join? You two should drink together."
"Don't say that, you come too. I'll show you how funny this old man gets when he's drunk."
Pesson went straight into the hut. Giggs and Theon looked at each other with awkward expressions.
"You said your name was Theon?"
"Ah, um... Yes, sir."
"You seem about my age, no need for formalities. Let's have a drink together."
Theon followed Giggs to the hut.
***
The inside of the hut was still messy.
Coal sacks were scattered all over the floor, and dust had settled on the furniture.
Every time Giggs saw Pesson's hut, he was reminded of his youth when he ate and slept in the workshop.
Back then, he didn't want to waste time going home, so he would cover coal sacks with cloth and use them as a bed.
Now that he was old, he rarely even entered his workshop because he disliked dust accumulating in his house. Pesson placed several blue bottles of alcohol on the table.
Giggs frowned and said:
"You still drink this watered-down alcohol?"
"You probably drink expensive wine and such, but I have no money so I drink things like this. But didn't you used to drink this stuff well in the old days?"
"That was only to accommodate you."
"Then you won't eat this either."
Pesson pulled out a few potatoes and sweet potatoes from the hearth.
Pesson split a hot potato in half and handed it to Giggs.
The inside of the soot-covered potato was white and steaming.
Giggs couldn't help but salivate.
"...Do you have butter?"
"I've become a bit more comfortable lately, so I do have that much."
Pesson placed paper-wrapped butter and a knife on the table.
Giggs skillfully cut the butter and placed it on the potato.
The butter quickly melted from the heat of the potato. Giggs roughly peeled off the soot-covered skin and took a bite.
The combination of salted butter and hot potato was always fantastic. The smell of coal slightly tickled his nose, but even that felt pleasant to Giggs.
"Aren't you going to pour me a drink?"
Pesson opened the cap and handed it to Giggs.
"Drink from the bottle. Since when did we drink from glasses?"
"You must be doing well these days. There was a time when you would buy me drinks."
"Stop talking and just eat."
Giggs drank straight from the bottle.
A watered-down distilled liquor made from potato peels and sugarcane.
It was a drink favored by poor blacksmiths with no money. It was an accessible drink because orphans would carry this alcohol on their heads, going around forges selling it, so when one craved alcohol, they could immediately buy it with money.
Even when Giggs was young, he had quite a bit of money, so there was no need to drink such cheap alcohol, but after he began spending time with Pesson, he drank only this day and night.
"How is it? Tastes good, right?"
"Not bad."
Giggs quickly downed the alcohol. He emptied one bottle, then two.
Giggs couldn't tell if he was drinking old memories or just alcohol. After enjoying the drink for a while, Pesson spoke.
"So, what brings you here? Your expression looks completely miserable."
Giggs opened the bottle cap with his mouth and spat it out.
"You know how to read people's expressions?"
"Of course. When I was young, I had to be perceptive to survive as a beggar."
"And such a person doesn't accommodate his customers' feelings, and makes weapons so recklessly?"
"Recklessly? When did I ever make anything recklessly?!"
"Don't you make weapons as you wish and then sell them? That's what I call reckless."
"I don't make them as I wish, I make weapons that suit that person. How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?"
Giggs put down his bottle with a thud.
"A weapon suitable for a knight is what the knight wants. Not something you subjectively decide to make."
"More nagging. Most knights don't know what weapon suits them, that's what I'm saying. When someone who clearly suits a spear stubbornly insists on using a sword, how can I bear it?!"
"Has your stubborn attitude ever been broken even once?! Huh? Isn't that why you get cursed at?!"
"What does it matter if I get cursed at or not?"
"Is living as a beggar without making money that good to you?"
Pesson slammed down his bottle.
"It's good! Why?! What's the reason I opened my own forge? I'm the boss here because I want to do things my own damn way!"
"Do you think it makes sense for someone with your skills to live like this? You...! You shouldn't live like this! Damn it!"
Giggs had so much he wanted to say, but unable to spill it all out, he blocked his mouth with the bottle.
Pesson also picked up his bottle and gulped it down.
Giggs felt that if they continued on this subject, his anger would boil over and explode.
Giggs looked at Theon, who was peeling and eating a sweet potato while observing the two.
"So who is this person? Seems like you've been together for quite some time."
"He's a magical engineering technician sent from Homigraph. They sent him for technical exchange."
"Technical exchange?"
"Yes. This gentleman doesn't know how to handle things like magic steel or iron at all. So I taught him basic metallurgy and such."
"And what are you learning? Are you learning how to handle that strange machine?"
"It's quite interesting. Theon, can you show us by any chance?"
Theon put down his bottle and brought a strange sphere and a remote control that were on the table.
"...What is that?"
"You'll see."
Theon pressed the red button protruding from the sphere.
Then the sphere started rotating on its own and began rolling around the workshop. Giggs's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Since it's not emitting steam, it doesn't seem to be a steam engine... How on earth does it move?"
Theon made the sphere jump onto the table. And with a proud smile, he said:
"It's an artifact."
"What? An artifact?"
"An artifact refers to an object engraved with magic. In that sense, this is indeed an artifact."
"You made this?"
"That's right. I have the technology to convert magic energy contained in magic stones into physical energy. If you interpret that technology magically..."
"It's telekinetic magic."
"That's right."
Giggs felt as if he had suddenly sobered up.
Telekinetic magic is a very basic, fundamental magic that magicians can use.
No, honestly, it's hard to even call it magic. It's just that when a magician wills something to move this way or that way, objects move with just a thought.
"Using this remote control, you can stimulate the magic stone inside this metal ball to make it roll in the desired direction. This can be seen as playing the role of a magician's wand."
"How can you stimulate the metal ball when they're not even touching each other?"
"When a magician uses telekinetic magic, a specific magic wave occurs. I've developed a device that can detect, generate, and resonate with that magic wave."
Giggs felt goosebumps.
Wasn't a non-magician ordinary person stepping into what was considered a sacred domain of magic? He says that now they can only use simple telekinetic magic, but later other magics would be possible too.
"...Don't magicians give you shit about this?"
"There's been no interference at all. Probably thanks to Lord Caesar."
"Caesar? Do you mean Caesar El Lindger?"
"That's right. The one who sent me to Pesson, and the one who is sponsoring me so I can focus solely on research is all Lord Caesar. Honestly, I didn't think I could develop this technology so quickly... All this is thanks to Lord Caesar. Indeed."
Giggs looked at Pesson and said:
"Come to think of it, wasn't Caesar also the one who asked you to make an axe?"
"You remember well. That's right."
"That guy seems to have his fingers in everything."
"What do you mean?"
Giggs hesitated for a moment, then took a sip of alcohol and casually revealed his concern.
"Yan has given up Nameless."
Pesson's eyes widened.
"...He gave up that demonic sword?"
"Yes. He said he almost became a devil because of my weapon. So Caesar and Raven persuaded him not to use Nameless anymore. Yan accepted it."
"How did you hear this news?"
"Haven't you heard the recent news from Shalibi? Didn't Raven come to Shalibi?"
"This place is so isolated that I don't hear such news."
"It's because you don't have a single customer."
"This old man keeps rubbing salt in my wounds?! Don't want to drink?!"
When Pesson tried to take away the bottle, Giggs quickly snatched it.
And after emptying an entire bottle, he spoke.
"Anyway, Raven came to me directly and told me that Yan had given up Nameless. Just... that's it."
Pesson nodded as if he finally understood.
"So that's why you looked so miserable? You knew that sword would ruin the hero, didn't you? You have a habit of doing things even when you know you'll regret them."
"Regret..... Yes, regret."
Giggs opened a new bottle and drank.
"Raven came to me and requested that I classify Nameless as a demonic sword."
"... She made such a request to you?"
"Yes."
Theon slipped in with curiosity.
"What happens when it's classified as a demonic sword?"
"It gets thrown into the deep sea for sealing or gets destroyed."
"Has that happened before?"
"Quite often. It happens when making weapons or armor using only Terra."
Terra is a substance that is very sensitive to the user's will and magic.
When there's a slight abnormality in the blacksmith's touch and mind as they directly infuse magic and will into Terra to craft a weapon, a sword with bizarre abilities is born.
Such weapons tend to harm people's minds and turn them into devils, so they are classified as demonic swords and completely destroyed, or if destruction is impossible, they are discarded in the deep sea.
"To classify a sword I made as a demonic sword is absurd. This goes beyond dishonor, it's humiliating. That tiny magician looked me straight in the eyes and boldly said it. Damn it."
"So what did you decide to do?"
Giggs emptied an entire bottle of alcohol.
"I don't know. She said she would come tomorrow for an answer, but I have no idea what to do."
Giggs was not someone who easily said he didn't know.
The most important thing when a blacksmith makes a weapon is a consistent mind.
Especially when handling Terra, a clear self-conviction is needed because the moment the mind scatters, either a demonic sword is born or it turns into useless scrap metal.
Pesson took a sip of alcohol and spoke.
"I had such an experience once too."
"You made a demonic sword?"
"In my case, it was an axe. Barre's axe, Wilderness."
"Wilderness was a weapon with demonic energy? Did you give that to Barre?"
"I don't know what possessed me back then. Barre wanted revenge, and I was also bewitched by that desperate vengefulness and made Wilderness. As a result, I made an axe that calls for blood, similar to yours."
Pesson opened a new bottle.
"It was clear that it would damage Barre's mind. But I couldn't not give it to him. It was a weapon I made by spending all my wealth and even going into debt."
"But I never heard that Barre went berserk with revenge... Or did he? I think I might have heard something about him being a bit crazy."
"That might be his nature. I neutralized the vengeful spirit contained in Wilderness."
"...How?"
"I engraved a name on Wilderness. For three days and nights, I engraved my wish that when Barre finished his revenge, he would return to his family through Wilderness."
Pesson still remembers that time. With each strike of the chisel against the axe, Pesson's earnest will neutralized the bloodthirst contained in Wilderness.
"Giggs, I know why you didn't give that sword a name. You couldn't possibly give it one."
"......"
"Then engrave a name on Nameless. Who knows? Nameless might be suppressed by your will and become a holy sword instead of a demonic one."
Giggs drank the entire bottle at once. This tasteless alcohol felt incredibly sweet.
"I never dreamed I'd learn something from my apprentice."
"Didn't you know? I surpassed you quite a while ago."
Pesson's light words hit Giggs heavily.
"...That's right. You're an excellent blacksmith."