Chapter 352
Chapter 352
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 352
Chapter Title: Kindre Joins the Guild
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Soo-hyuk shook his head at the question laden with multiple implications.
"A carp is just a carp."
For a brief moment, Soo-hyuk caught sight of it.
A fleeting sense of relief passing over Kindre's face in response to his answer.
The question had been tossed out expressionlessly, as if it were nothing, but it seemed to carry a great deal of resolve for her.
"You don't need to worry about whether you're living wrong just by looking at those carp, or if you should live differently from now on. That's pointless overthinking. Living alone is wrong, living with others is right—where's the logic in that?"
"A lot of people say stuff like that. Like, 'Are you going to rot away in this workshop until you die?'"
"Who?"
"……."
Kindre couldn't answer. It seemed like she didn't want to, or maybe she couldn't remember.
Perhaps it was just one person who said it.
Maybe that one person's single remark had grown and swelled in her mind until it became 'a lot of people.'
No, it didn't matter if it was one or many.
"Whoever it was, tell them to get lost."
Soo-hyuk shook his head as if utterly fed up.
"Even if you make just one friend, you have to do it right. Shallow, wide relationships? I can't stand them. I'd rather live alone."
The last part was said deliberately for her to hear. That she was better than those kinds of people.
Fortunately, it was the right answer.
"That's what I thought."
For the first time, Kindre smiled brightly.
Unhyang was startled. She'd never seen Kindre with an expression like that.
Come to think of it, who doesn't have expressions? She just hadn't had reason to smile.
Kindre, who had been squatting by the pond, stood up.
"What do I have to do once I join the guild? Make the items the guild needs?"
Soo-hyuk, still squatting and feeding the carp, replied.
"The opposite."
"Opposite?"
"Make the items you want to make, the ones you need. That'll help the guild more than making what we need."
Soo-hyuk had no intention of making Kindre churn out items mechanically.
She was someone more passionate about item crafting than anyone. Soo-hyuk believed that if she found joy and fulfillment in her work, she could create exceptional masterpieces.
Asking someone like that to make this or that?
He could say it with certainty. It wouldn't lead to good results.
"What if there's nothing I want to make and nothing I need?"
"It's our job to inspire you to want to create something. If we can't, then we're the ones lacking."
Kindre's eyes sparkled.
He said it that way, but Soo-hyuk seemed confident. Surely, being here together would ignite the artisan's spirit within her.
And Soo-hyuk's words were spot on.
During the journey here, this was exactly what Kindre had been looking forward to most.
"Looking forward to working with you."
At Kindre's greeting, Soo-hyuk stood up from gazing at the pond.
"Same here."
Soo-hyuk extended his hand toward Kindre. She stared at it for a moment before awkwardly grasping it.
As the guild's newest member was confirmed, Unhyang thought to herself.
Why Blue Eyes had such unbreakable bonds. Why Lee Soo-hyuk was at the center of it all. She felt like she understood even more now.
The next morning.
Having joined the guild, Kindre quickly set up her workshop in one corner of the estate.
By then, Si-woo, Ye-ryeong, and Hyo-min had emerged from the formation. The three, looking utterly wrecked, all said the exact same thing after a month inside.
"Feed me!"
"I'm starving."
"I just wanna sleep first. No, actually, food first……."
The three had undergone intense training within the formation for a full month.
They'd slept in fits and starts, and meals were just dried grains and jerky wolfed down hastily. They'd scrimped even on eating and sleeping time.
After devouring their food ravenously, they collapsed into sleep without even washing. Just seeing that told you how hard they'd pushed themselves.
After eating their fill, sleeping soundly, and finally washing up, the three belatedly greeted Kindre.
"I've heard a lot about the renowned demon sword crafter Kindre. Welcome."
Hyo-min, the most composed of the three, welcomed her first.
Having woken up and with some time passed, she looked much brighter. Kindre fidgeted awkwardly at her cheerful greeting.
"Treat it like your own home. Oh, well, it's this old man's place, but still."
Jin-un, who had been playing go alone off to the side, waved dismissively. No need to mind him.
"It's an honor to meet heroes."
"Heroes? We're just washed-up old-timers now."
"That washed-up wave is about to surge back soon."
Si-woo emerged after changing clothes. Dressed in a blue martial uniform, he grimaced slightly.
"Clothes like this are so uncomfortable."
"Stop complaining and just wear it. You're getting it for free, and you're still yapping."
Ye-ryeong jabbed his side while scolding him. With the trio's welcome, Soo-hyuk gathered everyone.
Ye-ryeong scanned the group assembled in the courtyard and asked.
"Where's Hielz?"
Everyone was there except one—Hielz.
"Said he had someone to meet and left."
"Someone to 'meet'? Not a person?"
Ye-ryeong looked baffled at the odd phrasing, but Soo-hyuk just shrugged.
"That's exactly what he said. I don't know the details either."
"So what's going on?"
Soo-hyuk relayed exactly what had happened with Namgung Hwa-young's visit. At the news of the rift between the current Murim Alliance Leader and the former one, Si-woo, Ye-ryeong, and Hyo-min's eyes gleamed.
They were the three with the deepest grudges against Jin Do-ha in this group.
"The Alliance Leader is here right now?"
"In the guest hall. Resting briefly."
He couldn't stay long. He couldn't leave the leader's seat vacant forever, and with the inter-guild war coming up, preparations were needed.
"What do you plan to do?"
Ye-ryeong asked after Si-woo.
"Wanna go wipe 'em all out?"
She said it jokingly, but it wasn't a joke.
Blue Eyes' forces were strong. Few in number, but these were people who had become legends with such a small group.
That's why the Murim Alliance Leader, sensing the threat, had come here.
"Should we? Go wipe 'em out?"
Soo-hyuk replied slyly.
Knowing there was a part of him that truly thought that way, Si-woo waved him off.
If they did, it would really spark a war. That wouldn't align with their goal of restoring Blue Eyes' honor.
"Don't mess around."
"Sorry. Can't say the thought didn't cross my mind."
Soo-hyuk's gaze took in the two of them.
"Ye-ryeong, and Unhyang."
"Me?"
Unhyang, singled out, asked in surprise.
Si-woo was here, Hyo-min too. Hielz wasn't present but was still a guild member.
Why her, of all people?
"Don't you still have unfinished business, Unhyang?"
"Ah……."
Unhyang let out a small sigh before nodding resolutely.
On top of that, Soo-hyuk called one more person.
"And, old man."
"Me?"
Jin-un, who had been playing go alone as usual, responded in surprise.
The look in Jin-un's eyes toward Soo-hyuk asked, 'You can't mean...'
You're gonna use this old man?
Soo-hyuk answered with his eyes.
Yes, we're using you.
Ignoring it, Soo-hyuk said.
"Come take a walk outside with me after so long."
In the Murim Alliance's reception room, two men sat facing each other. The tiger-like man asked.
"Why me, of all people?"
He was Im Mu-gwang, captain of the Alliance Leader's guard.
He now stood at a crossroads in life.
The current Alliance Leader he served, Namgung Hwa-young, or the former one he'd served before, Jin Do-ha.
Jin Do-ha was forcing the choice. He'd approached Im Mu-gwang during Hwa-young's absence.
"Because no one else is up to the task."
From midday, the two shared drinks. A simple table with no side dishes.
Jin Do-ha poured, but Im Mu-gwang didn't drink.
"Sorry, but I'm on duty."
"Can't that duty wait? The Leader's away."
You knew that too? Im Mu-gwang's eyes sharpened.
Jin Do-ha sipped his self-poured drink with a pleased smile.
"I like that upright nature of yours. Reliable."
"Right now, that uprightness is directed toward the Leader."
"Of course. I was Leader once too."
In other words, weren't you once mine?
"Then just switch Leaders."
Treasonous words, yet they felt natural. It had been his originally, so reclaiming it seemed right.
Why say this to him, of all people?
Before he could voice the question, Jin Do-ha spoke first.
"I know you won't betray me. Even I would trust you."
"I……."
"You've spent far more time with me than with Hwa-young, haven't you? Stand by my side. Let's take back the Murim world together."
Jin Do-ha didn't beat around the bush. He demanded a yes or no.
His immediate choice would make the man before him an enemy or an ally.
Im Mu-gwang stared at his reflection on the liquor’s surface. Jin Do-ha silently refilled and drank, repeating the cycle.
After a long deliberation, as the brought liquor was half gone.
"……It's an honor to serve as Leader once more."
Im Mu-gwang took the cup, turned his head, and downed it.
And at that moment.
"Captain."
As if fate itself decreed it, a report came.
"The Leader has returned."
The returning Namgung Hwa-young wasn't alone.
She'd left by herself and came back with two others. Im Mu-gwang, who had gone out to greet her, asked politely.
"Who are these people?"
"Guests. My guests, so inform the guards."
With bamboo hats and face masks, they looked suspicious to anyone. As guard captain, suspecting them was natural.
But the problem was that the one who'd brought them in as guests was his charge.
Murim Alliance Leader Namgung Hwa-young.
She gave Im Mu-gwang a friendly smile.
"I had to head out alone on urgent business. Met some good connections along the way. Sorry for going without a word, but don't take it too hard."
"Please don't do it again."
It was guard-related, so he spoke his mind despite the impropriety.
Im Mu-gwang's attitude was truly trustworthy. His passion and sincerity in protection shone through.
"Sorry. Give me a little time, though. Need to talk with these two. Surely nothing dangerous in the Leader's quarters?"
For a split second, Im Mu-gwang's eyes twitched faintly.
A beat less than half a second later, he replied.
"Understood."
At his firm response, Hwa-young smiled warmly and passed by him. Naturally, her 'new escorts' followed.
Im Mu-gwang didn't know.
The color of the eyes watching him from beneath the bamboo hats and masks.
'Murim Alliance guard captain Im Mu-gwang.'
Soo-hyuk memorized his face clearly.
'You were there too.'
That day, when we were dying in despair.