Had It Not Been for Him
Yu-ha flinched, wrapping her arms around herself as she took a step back.
"W-what do you mean all of a sudden?!"
Her pupils shook with panic.
Is he insane?!
I mean, I did say I'd give him anything if he just fixed my sword!
But did he take 'anything' to mean... that?
In the middle of the night, with a man I just met, and outdoors of all places?!
A chaotic storm of thoughts swirled in her head, making her feel as if steam were about to pour from her ears.
"Ah... I think you're misunderstanding. I just need to check the flow of your spiritual power."
"I-is that really a thing...?"
Yu-ha slowly relaxed her tense shoulders, studying Dohyun's face with lingering doubt.
Only then did the young artisan's face truly register in her mind.
Neatly disheveled short black hair.
Pale skin that gave off a strangely melancholic vibe.
And a charming beauty mark sitting right beneath his cool, indifferently lowered eyes.
...How is a blacksmith this handsome?
She had already thought he looked unusual.
But facing him this close, the man's appearance felt almost cruelly unrealistic.
Thump.
In that instant, Yu-ha's heart skipped a beat.
His face was so devoid of ulterior motives that she felt embarrassed for having suspected him of being a pervert.
It was a perfectly blank expression—cool, transparent, and entirely focused on the task at hand.
He clearly looked much younger than her.
Yet, a strange aura emanated from him.
An unshakeable solidity, as if he were someone who had dedicated countless lifetimes to this single path.
It was an alien atmosphere that didn't match his age at all.
"Yes. That's how the spell formula is structured. Have you not heard of it? Like how no one but your grandfather could wield this sword."
"...!"
Was that true?
...She felt like she might have heard something like that.
Or did they say only their clan could use it?
She seemed to recall hearing something along those lines.
"..."
Still, they were a young man and woman alone in the dead of night.
Yu-ha stole a glance up at Dohyun.
But his face remained utterly indifferent, like someone staring at a pebble on the side of the road.
That detached look, showing he didn't care about the situation in the slightest...
...somehow pricked Yu-ha's pride.
She groaned inwardly.
Ugh, what on earth am I thinking?
Right. Hadn't she resolved to do whatever it took as long as this sword could be fixed?
With a flushed face, Yu-ha stepped closer to Dohyun.
Unable to bring herself to look him in the eye, she cast her gaze downward, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"Go... go ahead."
Dohyun recalled what Baek A-young had done to him at the Apothecary.
...I think it went like this.
Slightly below the collarbone, just above the heart.
Right where a suppressor would have been placed.
Dohyun's long, pale hand gently came to rest.
"Ah..."
In that instant, the unfamiliar warmth filtering through her collar stole Yu-ha's breath away.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump!
Her heart pounded frantically.
The faint scent of the man standing so close, combined with the mental image of his attractive face just inches away if she were to lift her head, made it hard to breathe.
Anyone looking at them would surely misunderstand and think they were doing something scandalous in the dead of night.
Please, heart, calm down...! He's going to hear it at this rate!
At that same moment, Dohyun was also focusing all his attention on her.
Of course, he wasn't monitoring her wildly racing heartbeat, but rather the spiritual power flowing beneath it.
As he closed his eyes, the sensations at his fingertips sharpened.
Fundamentally, it was no different from mana waves.
He just needed to read the flow of her spiritual power.
...Her pulse is quite strong and fast. That makes it easier to trace the flow.
Her spiritual power rose from her dantian and spread throughout her body with every heartbeat.
Dohyun channeled a thread-thin sliver of his own spiritual power into a single strand of that flow.
And he traced it backward, feeling his way along the current.
His power and hers.
The moment the two spiritual energies gently overlapped.
Soon, the wavelength came into clear focus.
In this manner, Dohyun read Yu-ha's pulse.
...As expected. It's similar to what was configured in the sword.
It seemed that each family or bloodline shared common properties in the spiritual power flowing within them.
The moment that thought crossed his mind.
Dohyun suddenly recalled the circuit he had read from the sword earlier.
...Wait. This is...
Dohyun's eyes narrowed slightly.
It wasn't locked just to keep random people from using it.
He delved deeper into the spiritual power touching his fingertips once more.
"Ah...!"
A specific texture, a specific wavelength.
...!
This sword was made specifically for this bloodline from the very beginning.
Only then did the structure of the bizarre spell formula make complete sense.
If he just tweaked the input circuit a little—
The sword would recognize its true master and react properly.
"We're done."
As Dohyun pulled his hand away, Yu-ha let out a long, held breath.
"...Okay."
Ugh, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.
While Yu-ha cupped her burning cheeks with both hands and sighed in relief internally,
"Please wait a moment."
Dohyun was already spinning back toward the cooled sword in front of the forge.
Yu-ha stared blankly at Dohyun's fingertips as he stood before the forge.
She had caught a glimpse of him engraving something on the dagger in the vision earlier, but the situation had been too urgent for her to take it in properly.
But now, watching this scene unfold right before her eyes without any distractions—
It completely shattered her common sense.
Dohyun wasn't holding any engraving tools.
He simply held up two fingers.
Soon, a brilliant blue spiritual power began to condense into a thin, sharp point at his fingertips.
And the moment those fingertips touched the surface of the katana.
Flash! Sizzle!
Along with a chilling screech of friction, bright blue sparks flew wildly in all directions.
"...!"
Yu-ha's mouth fell open.
A thin trail of smoke rose, carrying the acrid scent of burning metal.
As his fluid hand movements left blue afterimages, distinct lines were carved onto the blade.
Is... is that even possible?
She had learned about spell engraving back when she attended the spiritualist academy.
She knew how much concentration it took to engrave a spell formula onto a spiritual tool.
It was an extremely precise, nerve-wracking process where even a microscopic error or a minor fluctuation in spiritual power could ruin the entire formula.
That was why anyone who could do even a fraction of it was immediately hailed as an artisan and treated with utmost respect in this industry.
Even the master craftsmen of renowned families and workshops could barely manage it by wearing special magnifying lenses and using precision engraving tools.
Yet, the man before her.
He drew the lines with absolute composure, without a single shred of hesitation.
Even amidst the violently sputtering sparks, his fingertips did not tremble in the slightest.
Only the bright blue spiritual power gathered at the tip burned with a steady light.
In the pitch-black night, surrounded by darkness, only his fingertips glowed blue.
Stroke after stroke.
The sight of him carving starlight-like trajectories through the darkness was unrealistically beautiful.
Yu-ha could only watch, utterly spellbound.
Picturing the wavelength he had read from Yu-ha's pulse, Dohyun put the finishing touches on the locked input circuit, tuning it to match her.
The final stroke.
...Done. This should do it.
Now, this circuit would properly accept its master's energy.
...Just what kind of person created this?
If they were still alive, he would have loved to meet them.
Well, they were probably someone from hundreds of years ago.
Now, the messy traces left behind by incompetent blacksmiths had been completely erased.
The input circuit had been adjusted to fit her spiritual power.
The request was technically complete...
"..."
Dohyun quietly looked down at the sword in his hand.
...But this felt a bit unsatisfying.
Dohyun glanced back at Yu-ha.
According to what Seo Ji-an had said earlier, the more active this woman became with this sword—
The more famous she became, and the more money she made.
The more it would directly translate into his own income.
Besides, he had already received a generous commission fee.
And she was his very first spiritualist client...
"..."
Well, in that case.
"Yu-ha?"
"Yes?"
Yu-ha cautiously stepped closer.
"...Do you happen to want an upgrade for your sword?"
"...Pardon?"
A subtle smile spread across Dohyun's lips.
It was the unmistakable smile of a merchant.
"Just this once, I'll engrave a few extra things for you as a service."
"...What?"
Yu-ha was already half-dazed.
Not only had he set up this temporary forge and fixed the broken spell formula in no time at all.
But what? He could add other spell formulas?
Was it even possible to engrave multiple spell formulas at the same time?
Adding a new spell formula to an already completed spiritual tool was by no means easy.
If it clashed with the existing formula, the entire sword could be ruined.
And doing it right here, without any prior design or preparation?
But rendering her worries completely pointless,
The young artisan before her simply went about engraving the new spell formulas with indifferent, effortless movements.
Dohyun's hand swept across the blade once more.
Let's see...
Dohyun recalled the flow of her spiritual power that he had felt earlier.
The total amount of her innate spiritual power wasn't particularly abundant.
In that case, there was only one solution.
Make it so that no spiritual power is wasted, keeping it circulating continuously within the sword.
Dohyun's fingertip drew a long line along the outer edge of the blade.
He subtly connected it to the end of the existing circuit, creating a path to pull the escaping spiritual power back inside.
The so-called Mana Circulation Circuit.
Well, translated into the terms of this world, it would be a Spiritual Power Circulation Circuit.
It was a structure designed to capture the spiritual power that would normally scatter and go to waste when swinging the sword, circulating it back into the blade.
That solves the efficiency problem. The second one is...
Dohyun's gaze slowly swept down the sharply extending blade.
He had caught a glimpse of her swinging the sword in the vision earlier.
He could guess instinctively.
...She hasn't properly learned how to use a sword.
It was likely due to the nature of her innate spiritual power.
Of course, a sword of this caliber would still pack a punch even if swung clumsily, but it wouldn't hurt to add a little assistance for a beginner.
So, Dohyun added a circuit to stabilize the balance of the sword, preventing it from wobbling in inexperienced hands.
Let's establish an axis to hold the center of gravity, and lock the tip so it always points in the same direction...
So that the tip wouldn't stray off course and would always head toward the target.
Just these two should be enough.
One for her lacking spiritual power, and the other for her clumsy swordsmanship.
Two auxiliary circuits on completely different axes fused seamlessly into the existing main circuit.
He could have been greedier and crammed in more things, but...
Simple was always best.
If he engraved too many things at once, her limited spiritual power would end up scattering in all directions.
This was the most perfect balance.
"Phew."
Dohyun pulled his hand away and let out a soft breath.
The crackling blue sparks subsided, and the sword finally settled into a perfect, quiet form.
All that was left was the polishing work to sharpen the newly reborn blade.
Clack, clack, clack.
Dohyun pulled three portable whetstones from his case.
From a coarse stone for the initial grind, to a medium grit, and finally a fine, white finishing stone.
Shhhk, shhhk, shhhk.
The tactile sensation of the rough edges being shaved away brought a slight smile to his lips.
Ah, this is the stuff.
The coarse stone corrected the angle of the misaligned edge, the medium stone smoothed the surface, and the final stone polished the blade to a mirror finish along its grain.
There was not a single moment of hesitation in his movements.
Meanwhile, Yu-ha, who had been watching the entire process with bated breath, could only let out a hollow laugh.
Just how many places had she taken this sword to?
She had visited every reputable workshop across Japan and Korea.
A white-haired veteran who had only worked on legendary swords for generations.
A prestigious family whose entire clan made a living by crafting spiritual tools.
Every single one of them had taken the sword, stared at it for a long time, and shaken their heads.
"This... is not something we can repair."
The honest ones had at least said that much.
Countless others had extorted tens of thousands of dollars under the guise of inspection fees, only to touch the sword they couldn't even fix and return it with previously undamaged parts ruined.
This was the sword she had clung to her entire life.
Yet, the man before her now.
Without even a proper workshop or forge, simply setting up a temporary furnace in someone else's garden in the middle of the night.
In less than twenty minutes.
He had revived a sword no one else could fix, and even engraved two brand-new circuits onto it.
...Does this even make sense?
Despite his youthful face, the way he handled metal didn't look like that of someone his age at all.
It was as if he had lived his entire life in front of a forge.
...Who on earth is he?
Shhhk, shhhk.
Before long, the sound of the whetstone faded.
The moment the final polished edge caught the moonlight and flashed—
Dohyun finally stopped.
"There, it's finished."
Dohyun wiped the blade with a cloth and offered the hilt to Yu-ha.
"Excuse me? Kim Yu-ha?"
"Ah...!"
Yu-ha snapped out of it and took the sword with dazed eyes.
The grip felt solid. The messy, patched-up scars were completely gone, leaving it looking like a brand-new sword that had just been forged.
And as she quietly channeled her spiritual power into the hand holding the sword...
In that instant.
Whoosh.
Her spiritual power, which had refused to enter no matter how hard she tried before,
was sucked in greedily, as if it had been parched for ages.
It drank in her energy without leaving a single drop.
As the sword absorbed her spiritual power completely,
Hummmmm—
From the tip of the blade to the hilt, it began to vibrate with a low, pleasant resonance.
It was proof that the long-dormant spiritual tool had finally awakened.
"Ah..."
Is this a dream?
Yu-ha stared blankly down at the sword breathing in her hand.
Because she simply couldn't believe it.
Her eyes shook uncontrollably.
Her eyes grew hot, and her vision blurred with tears.
The contempt and ridicule she had faced, with people claiming she was only acting up because of her lineage.
The countless nights she had swallowed her tears after fleeing to Korea, only to be turned away by workshop after workshop and scammed out of her money.
“Once you learn to wield this sword, you will surely become a great spiritualist, just like your grandfather.”
The years she had endured, clinging to those single words, flashed before her eyes like a panorama.
This sword, which she had yearned for her entire life,
was now alive and breathing in her hands.
Drip, drip.
Tears she could no longer hold back spilled down her cheeks, wetting the back of her hand.
"Sob..."
Had it not been for this man,
she would still be wandering in that endless night.
When she slowly raised her trembling eyes,
the young artisan
was merely smiling, his face as unreadable and indifferent as ever.
As if washing away all her years of sorrow and humiliation in a mere twenty minutes was no big deal.
"Well?"
Dohyun shrugged lightly and asked,
"Do you like it?"