Chapter 69
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Moonlit Melody
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Under the moonlight, a performance.
Crimson Flame Hestusias.
He was less an ordinary blacksmith and more a man embodying the ideal craftsman.
He adored that bizarre fire magic where the hard softened and the soft sharpened again amid crimson flames.
Yet he thirsted for a different kind of challenge.
"I've told you about the Cyclops' forge, right? It's a whole other world. They recreate every magic imaginable by gods and men with their own hands, bringing fantasies into reality."
However, he said their greatest feat was creating things no one could even imagine, through a few words and designs made real.
"Just drop a hint about Hyperborean techniques or the spells used there, and they'll whip it up in their workshop in no time."
"That impressive, huh?"
"Impressive? That's an understatement."
For a split second, visions of smartphones and TVs from the fuzzy memories of the 21st century flashed through my mind.
If this grumpy artisan spoke so highly of them, could they really...?
Nah, no way that's possible.
No matter how incredible their magic and craft, replicating electronics would be a stretch.
They might manage something like a communication device, but what about the internet or digital data?
I chuckled at the silly thought and tuned back into Hestusias's tale. By now, he was nearly finished with his work.
"In that light, those dullards who kept pestering me—how empty must their heads be? Demanding I just make sharp bits of metal to swing around."
That's why, when I first visited his smithy, he'd assumed I was another one drawn by rumors and tried to shoo me off by enthusiastically recommending some random weapon.
"I thought, 'What the hell is this guy doing playing merchant when he looks like he belongs at the bellows and anvil? Why won't he take commissions?'"
"I was just hitting my quotas and calling it a day, but then these commission pests show up, and it turns my stomach."
I'd met plenty of so-called divine craftsmen or the era's master artisans.
But Hestusias took the cake for unpredictability.
Not some endgame sweatlord or anything.
Ah, 'content's all cleared, no fun left, gg.'
And just drops his work to chill until new content drops, huh.
"Hey, I wasn't just slacking off, you know? You think any of those forge blockheads besides me could handle the books?"
"What did I even say...? Why are you getting mad when I'm the one who's offended?"
"That pitiful look in your eyes says it all, yet your mouth runs fine."
Unlike his grumbling lips, Hestusias's hands moved with delicate speed to finish the job.
He peered so closely at the installed gayageum strings that you worried they'd prick his eye, checking for cracks or uneven spots.
He inspected the body repeatedly for splits, leaks, or inconsistencies, and only once satisfied handed it to me carefully.
"Well? Doesn't this rival that old instrument you lost?"
"..."
I took it from the smug Hestusias without a word.
Just as I'd imagined, just as I'd hoped.
The first gayageum born on this Greek soil was mythical.
Its bark still alive and rough, the milky threads gleaming mysteriously.
Rugged and crude at first glance, yet brimming with natural beauty—like a tree plucked whole with its spring below, shaped into an instrument, mystical even.
What was this tingling feeling?
This wistful ache threatening tears.
The gayageum's familiar yet strange form etched clearly in my eyes.
Beyond its heavy weight and bark's rough touch in my hands, life pulsed.
A gayageum both strange and familiar.
A me both strange yet unchanged.
My gold, dormant in memory because of me, dragged back into this world in a form like yet unlike mine.
Along with long-buried ancient emotions.
"Spring returns again, but I have nowhere to go.
Climb the great mountain and gaze east—still that place eludes my sight.
Only this worn gold yearns for it.
That place I long for, so dearly missed."
-Ding...
A light pluck of the unfamiliar form rang low with the exact timbre I remembered.
* * *
Three golds had passed through my hands.
One was the Central Plains-style antique given to me by the musician after I showcased it at the cult leader's banquet—he swore he couldn't handle drawing such melodies from it.
Next, to commemorate purging the corrupt leader's faction and fully seizing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the cult's finest artisan gifted a gayageum lavish with jade and metal threads.
And finally, the divine relic Hyun Sa-geum offered when I ascended to Heavenly Demon—Guixian Scholar's last gift before vanishing heartlessly once all was done.
After everything settled—even the imperial court acknowledging our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as Central Plains' overlord—it was my sole companion wandering between outer realms and the heartlands.
When it finally crumbled after harsh years, I'd thought I'd never hold a gold again in life.
Who'd have guessed it'd revive on this distant land, letting me grasp one anew—a feeling beyond words.
"Hoo..."
I came to my senses holding the gayageum in both hands, walking deep into the forest.
The wriggling constellations afar and bright moon lit the woods enough; my skyrocketing realm had long passed light's limits on vision.
-Ding...
"Finding the spot to tune your first note, eh?"
The gayageum wailed softly alone in my arms, as if possessed, whining to go here or there.
Like a child tugging its father's hand in tantrum.
Could a newborn object house a spirit?
But forged from living wood on an altar with divine fire and magic, I just shrugged it off.
Anyway, following where it led with chirps big and small, a moonlit clearing soon appeared.
A small spring bubbled under a flat rock; forest creatures drinking moonlight fled at my uninvited arrival.
"...The glorious first note's birth can't be rashly shown to others."
Careful and sacred, the moment a new gold births its first sound, the Nostalgic Phantom Melody had said.
Treat your gold like a lover, especially the first note—like unwrapping a bride's ribbons, soft and cautious.
Music fanatic through and through.
I had no idea how, but seeing him clutch his beloved (?) even in death hinted at the Nostalgic Phantom Melody's obsession with his gold.
Yet I agreed on one thing.
For warrior or musician, a thing's first touch is profoundly special.
"Alright then, shall we play a tune."
The moon perfect overhead, surrounding woods thrice lush and serene.
Curious beasts gathered between trees and grass, ears perked in hush.
Wondering what this stranger would do with his strange instrument.
The first note should be secret and holy, but my new companion seemed eager for an audience to inspire the melody.
No better spot than this.
-Ding...
"Oh..."
Opposite Hyun Sa-geum's heavenly threads, Hestusias's pearl-silver ones felt warm and soft.
Yet their core felt as taut as those threads under fingertips, the tone deeper—like caressing a woman's skin, tender even.
"What an insane piece I've got again."
No, after that ordeal, anything less would be a scam.
"Still, a treasure worth multiples of that effort..."
Even courtesans and musicians lit up craving Hyun Sa-geum's worth.
This nameless gayageum exuded divinity from form to aura.
And above all, this sound.
Clear and profound beyond any other gayageum.
Just a light pluck made my heart tremble; I paused, savoring it.
"Mm... perfect."
Would've been nice with a sip of clear liquor.
Such idle thoughts as I slowly tuned it.
Hestusias had prepped it well as craftsman, not musician, so adjusting strings perfectly took time.
-Dee-dee-dee-ding~
"This'll do."
Strumming a test run, the tone sharper and clearer than before—my shoulders danced, fingers leaping ahead on the strings.
And so.
Forest bustle of wind, streams, beasts' whispers, trees' chatter—quiet yet lively—hushed gradually, a single melody threading through.
Beautiful, refined tones to enchant even gods.