Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Psyche's Blade
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"Next time, you should make some time to have a meal just the two of us! Si-woo."
Baek A-rin smiling straight into my eyes.
It's scary. So scary.
"HA! Our cutie pie is welcome anytime! Kyahaha!"
"This girl, even when you're not around..."
Baek A-rin, who no longer even uses polite speech.
She's fully on guard now.
'Even if you don't throw a fit like that, we'll be eating together soon enough.'
I'll force her to bet her successor position on me.
Don't you dare run away then, Baek A-rin.
I'll make you cry your eyes out.
"SHIT.... Siwoo KIM, how do you manage to smile so creepily sometimes…."
"Why? What's wrong with it?"
Why hurt her fragile heart like that.
"Well... yeah, you're right."
Even Baek A-rin agrees.
My expression is that bad...?
"Anyway, I'll get going."
Baek A-rin had to leave early due to personal matters, leaving me alone with Erina Esnatia once again.
"Why are you still hanging around?"
"Got a problem with that? Siwoo kimchi! Aren't I coming along just in case YOU need to take the fall?!"
"Sure…."
As long as you're happy, that's fine.
"Shit!! Why are you looking at ME with such longing eyes?! It's creepy!!"
"Nah, it's fine."
"What....!"
"What's up with her...?"
The stares from the people around her were growing darker by the minute.
"So, where the hell are we going?"
"You wouldn't know even if I told you."
"Are you ignoring ME right now?!"
"Yep."
Erina Esnatia furrowed her brow and glared at my response.
"K-Blacksmith? Deoksu KIM? Or maybe Youngdeok LEE?"
She muttered guesses to herself before suddenly going quiet.
What is it?
"Oh... There's no way Siwoo KIM would have connections to people like that. Sorry, Siwoo KIM."
"...Good that you know."
Erina wouldn't know anyway even if I told her.
The place we're headed to is a blacksmith shop that's not even properly known by name yet.
"KIMCHI... Just how far are we going...?!"
"Why, tired?"
"We've been walking over an hour, WHY not take a car?!"
"Like I have one."
"SHIT! ME has one!!"
"You could've said something."
You can't even drive here anyway.
Not with roads this rough.
"Does a place like this even exist? You sure you didn't get it wrong, Siwoo?"
"It really exists."
Far from the academy, on the outskirts of Seoul.
An undeveloped area where hardly anyone sets foot.
Erina Esnatia and I had been trekking this path for a while.
"Found it."
A tiny, crumbling plank building.
The exterior looked like a shoe repair shop, and the size was maybe 100 square feet at best.
"No sign either...?"
Erina Esnatia stared at me, speechless.
"Yeah, I see it too."
This is the blacksmith shop where the genius blacksmith who'll produce the best gear in [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy] lives.
"Alright, let's go in."
"OH... Something's off about this..."
What's off about it.
Get in here already, you idiot.
Screeech—
I flung open the sliding door, a rarity in modern times.
"Anyone here?"
...
No answer.
That's weird. Doran never leaves her forge empty….
"See? No one's here! No one would live in a dump like this, Siwoo KIM..."
At that moment, someone burst out from the back.
"I-I'm leaving!!"
She must've been deep in work—hammer in her left hand, face smeared with soot.
Short stature, big face.
No doubt about it. This is….
"Dwarf?"
Erina Esnatia's shocking remark.
"SHIT!! YOU know a dwarf, Siwoo KIM?! What the hell is YOUR identity!!"
She rushed over to Doran, inspecting her from every angle.
"So tiny and SO CUTE... Like something out of a movie.... No wonder you wouldn't like anyone I introduce if she's a dwarf...."
"Um... I'm human..."
Doran averted her eyes, overwhelmed by Erina's sparkling gaze.
...This girl's completely insane.
"Hey!!!!!!!! You fucking racist!"
"SHIT!! Why are you yelling all of a sudden?!"
This is straight-up racism.
She's rewriting the <Awakening> world on her own whim.
It's modern fantasy.
No such thing as dwarves.
"Sorry, she's not feeling well. Bad eyesight, bad head."
"I-It's fine."
"SHIT!! Who's not feeling well?!"
"You, you! You racist!"
"Racist?! ME, who's more equal than anyone...!"
"I-I'm fine. It felt like a compliment..."
Doran approached to calm the shocked Erina.
"So, what brings you here?"
Doran eyed me anxiously.
"What other reason to visit a forge?"
"Could it be!"
Her face lit up at my words.
"If it's a commission, I can make it with the highest quality and give it my all!"
"In a dump like this... No way proper gear comes out..."
Erina muttered gloomily from the corner.
"Hey!!!!!!! Racist, stay crouched there!"
"Sob.... ME is a fucking racist...."
Erina shrank even further into the corner at my words.
She's not entirely wrong.
But a master's masterpiece comes in one perfect strike after starving days.
In fact, her masterpiece was made during this very time.
'She hides it out of shame, though.'
"I-I may not know my skill level, but I can work really hard!"
Her confidence was wrecked from gaslighting at her old forge internship.
But look at that eager face, dying to hammer something.
"Of course I'm here to commission. You can do any gear, right?"
"Y-Yes! What should I make? Kitchen knives, hoes, farm tools, utensils—all possible!"
...The old genius Doran, huh.
How'd she end up like this.
"What I want is a dagger. For hunting monsters."
"Mo-Monsters?!"
Her eyes sparkled at the request for a dagger.
Yeah, figured.
What you want to make is a 'weapon'.
"What material do you want?! Alloys available, or if you like, I can use my special method...!"
She poured out words in excitement.
Good, stay like that.
"I want you to process the material."
"The m-material?"
I pulled a box from my bag and showed her [Psyche's Blade].
"B-rank material from a boss monster."
"B-, B-rank material...?!"
She gulped, staring wide-eyed.
Yeah, you'd kill for it.
Boss materials in <Awakening> are treasures no ordinary person can even glimpse.
For an unknown smith like Doran, getting to touch one is like reaching the stars.
'To her, burning with desire to craft weapons, nothing's more tempting.'
"Y-You want ME to make a sword with this...?"
"Why? Too hard?"
"N-No! I'll do it! I can! Please let me! I'll make it!"
That's the spirit.
Just handing over good material puts her in my debt.
I get the masterpiece from the best smith and build rapport. She satisfies her craving.
What a sweet deal.
"But... why me for something like this…."
"Not confident?"
"!!"
She snatched the box and clutched it to her chest.
"No! I am confident! Just... curious why you chose me!"
Why her, huh.
I trust she'll figure it out without me saying.
"I've used one of your daggers before."
"My... dagger...?!"
"Saw your mark on it. It was a dagger, right?"
"I-I have made daggers before...!"
Yeah, of course.
What smith hasn't made a dagger.
"Lightweight with perfect balance. Sharp edge that doesn't dull for ages. User-friendly design for easy swings. And the looks—super sleek and functional."
"R-Really?!"
Doran beamed, flustered by the praise.
Of course I've never used it.
But a skilled smith's dagger would be about that, right.
"Where's that dagger? If you give it to me, I'll reforge it as thanks for using it!"
...
"Sadly, I lost it in a recent monster fight."
I turned away, pressed my hand to my eyes, and fake-sobbed.
"N-No way! Don't worry! This time, I'll make sure you never lose it!"
Good. One of the features in Doran's masterpiece: it sticks to the owner.
"And if possible... keep the design simple…."
"No worries! I decided that the moment I saw the material!"
!
Perfect!
My vision was inching toward her masterpiece.
I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Then I'll trust you, Master."
"Of course! Just trust me!!"
Yeah, have confidence.
Bring all the worries and knowledge from your future masterpiece and pour your soul into it.
Turn my dagger into that masterpiece!
"Hey! Racist! Open your wallet. Atone for insulting a K-citizen."
"YES...."
"She'll pay."