The Blacksmith's Misunderstanding
"Aargh... doesn't Mom know the meaning of moderation?" My back still burned like it was on fire from what happened yesterday. I'd slapped a pain patch on it, but it hadn't done a thing.
"Han Jin!" Someone waved at me from across the way. It was Won-ae, who had come down with us a few days ago.
"Finished talking with your parents?"
"Yes, they're absolutely blazing with determination now that we've got a noble title. They said they'd help with everything they've got."
"Tell them I'll pay them a visit soon."
"Got it."
I'd given my parents and Won-ae's a brief account of what had happened in North Korea. Thankfully, mine took it well, saying we'd done them proud. Not that it stopped Mom from whaling on my backside.
From what I've heard, the Branch Director seems to have taken a positive view of all this.
If she was willing to cooperate even after hearing everything, odds were good she'd be helping us not as an individual, but as the Black Market's Korea Branch Director. If she'd intended to help us personally, she would have prefaced it by saying she'd help us as a private individual.
Well, they don't call her one of Korea's top businesswomen for nothing. Her nose for money is uncanny.
Her offer to use the Black Market's resources to help me probably meant she'd seen the future of our land. She'd lend us a hand first, then negotiate from a position of favor later.
Not that Baek Hyuk is going to let that slide.
If Baek Hyuk had been born in this country, he'd have been running a company as CEO before he turned thirty. The man's business acumen is that sharp.
He'll sort out all that complicated stuff later, anyway.
Lost in those thoughts as I walked, I finally arrived at my destination.
"Well, well... looks like this place got a proper remodel." The shabby building was gone, replaced by a tidy, well-kept one. A respectable shop wedged between rundown ones gave off a rather odd vibe, but that was none of my concern.
"This is it? The place that made your weapon, Han Jin?"
"Not a weapon. The place that made my ring."
"The Legendary+ grade item?!"
Won-ae stared at the smithy with wide, astonished eyes. Honestly, from the outside, it didn't look like the kind of place that would produce a masterpiece like that.
"And by the way, Won-ae."
"Yes?"
"Could you drop the honorific?"
Being addressed with the utmost formality by a friend from before my regression had been grinding on me for a while. As Silver Wolf, she'd had no choice. But now that I knew her real name and her face, the stiff politeness still bothered me.
"Then what should I call you?"
"Just call me Jin. And speak casually to me."
"Oh, okay. Sure thing, Jin."
The moment I said it, she slipped into casual speech so naturally you'd never guess she'd been using honorifics a second ago.
I knocked on the door and stepped inside. A male employee sat at the counter. Oh, an actual employee. I was genuinely surprised. Going by appearances, I'd assumed Grandmaster Seo Jincheol or Inha would be the ones minding the shop.
"Welcome. What brings you in today?"
"I'm here to see Grandmaster Seo Jincheol."
"Ah."
At my words, the man's expression flipped in an instant. His eyes gleamed like he was looking at an enemy.
"So you're the loan shark who kidnapped Miss Inha, I take it."
"Excuse me?"
"I distinctly remember you saying you'd never come back... and yet here you are again. I'd say that means your gall has grown clear out of your body, hm?"
With those words, the employee drew his sword. I was too stunned to say anything. What on earth is he talking about?
The loan sharks who'd kidnapped Miss Inha — yes, that had definitely happened. And at the time, I'd definitely rescued Inha and brought her back... Don't tell me this idiot thinks I was one of the loan sharks?
It was absurd, but the man in front of me seemed utterly convinced it was true.
"As long as I'm here, you won't lay a finger on the Grandmaster or Miss Inha!"
"Look, there's been some kind of misunderstanding—"
I tried to talk it out, but the man had already moved. CRASH! His swinging sword smashed into the floor. It was a deafening blow, yet the floor was completely unharmed.
"You dodged that well enough. But you won't dodge this one!"
The man roared and pressed his attack. Each time, I evaded everything with the barest minimum of movement.
Hmm... how do I handle this guy?
I didn't appreciate being attacked, but since he'd at least stated his reasons before charging in, this guy was clearly a fool. And I had no intention of holding back against a fool.
THWACK! Won-ae resolved my dilemma in a single stroke.
"There, all done?"
"Huh? Oh... yeah."
While I'd been deliberating, Won-ae had stepped in and clocked the man behind the ear, knocking him out cold.
Isn't that supposed to only work in the movies? It was impressive, but cleanup came first. I propped the fool up on a chair by the counter, then considered my options.
Should I smack him awake? Cheek? Hand? Shin? The top of the head?
As I was deliberating where to strike, someone walked out from the back of the smithy.
"Now what in the blazes is this?"
"Ah... it's been a while, hasn't it?"
I offered the Grandmaster an awkward greeting. An unconscious employee sprawled on the floor, and a customer pondering over him. To any observer, I'd look like a terrorist. But the Grandmaster and I had met before, so surely—
"You cursed customer, you!"
"Huh?"
THWACK!
The Grandmaster's hammer came swinging out of nowhere and cracked me right on the crown of the head. It was a perfect ambush — I'd never imagined he'd attack.
"What kind of customer disappears for months without a single word!"
"Isn't that how it usually works?"
"Watch your tongue with me, boy!"
The Grandmaster swung his hammer again, but this time I dodged without difficulty. I'd been on my guard this round, which made it far easier to slip aside.
"You cheeky little..."
The Grandmaster clicked his tongue, strode over to the employee, and brought his palm down on the back of the man's head. THWACK! With a dull thud, the employee's eyes fluttered open.
"Grandmaster?"
"That's right, you cursed fool."
Hearing the Grandmaster's voice, the man's eyes snapped into focus. Then he launched into an earnest explanation of our relationship.
"It was definitely the men who kidnapped Miss Inha! He announced the Grandmaster's name right away! I lost to him, regrettably...!"
It took a long, winding while before the employee finally got his story straight. It was a blatant misunderstanding, but the man had committed so wholeheartedly to that misunderstanding that I had to fight to keep a straight face.
Then, at last, the Grandmaster moved.
"First, I'll need to crack open that head of yours."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing at all."
Saying this, the Grandmaster quietly raised his hammer. Then he grinned at the employee.
"It won't hurt too badly."
"Huh? G-Grandmaster?"
Only then did the man look between the two of us, and his face went ghost-white. He'd probably just realized I wasn't the loan shark.
Do I call that oblivious, or sharp-eyed?
While I was mulling it over, the Grandmaster began administering his justice.
"AAAGH!"
And so, for about an hour, screams echoed through the smithy.
"I am so, so sorry!"
"Um..."
I could only stare at the Grandmaster, at a loss. The man, fresh off a punishment bordering on torture, bowed at the waist and apologized — deeply, and extremely uncomfortably for me.
"Hmph. That idiot of mine is forgiven, at least."
The Grandmaster said this while glaring daggers at his employee. Apparently he hadn't been pleased with the man for picking a fight on nothing but a wild assumption.
"Please raise your head. If you keep this up, it's going to be awkward for me."
"May I really lift it?"
The employee tentatively straightened up — then caught the Grandmaster's eye and bowed again.
"Huh?"
That made a full two bows. Which meant... I'm the deceased?
I hurriedly hauled the man to his feet. Then I said it straight.
"Bow again, please."
"Excuse me?"
"Bow. Now."
When I glared at him, the poor man still not quite following, he bowed yet again without a word.
"Whew."
I have no idea what meaning three bows carry, but two bows to the living beats two bows to the dead any day of the week.
"You may rise now."
"C-Can I really get up?"
"Yes, get up."
Only then did the employee sheepishly rise from his spot. And the old man barked at him.
"Get back to the counter, and fast!"
"EEK!"
At the Grandmaster's shout, the employee scrambled back to the counter. And Won-ae watched the whole spectacle, giggling away.
"Don't laugh."
"How could I not? You made him get up and bow all over again... come on!"
I sighed at her peals of laughter. Once Won-ae starts laughing, she doesn't stop. Not unless something major happens.
Where on earth did that polished lady act go?
Complaining to myself wouldn't change anything, but grumbling at least privately made me feel a little better.
"Hurry up and follow me inside!"
The Grandmaster, who had already headed into the back, turned and barked. Won-ae and I quickly trailed after him.
"So? What brings you this time?"
"I wanted to have all my equipment checked over. And I'd like to buy some gear for this girl here."
"Then go set your gear down over there. I'll be having a chat with this young lady."
I went where the Grandmaster had pointed, set my equipment down, and returned to my seat.
"So, Chae-won really said that?"
"She absolutely did, the old dear."
I returned to find myself wearing a giant question mark above my head. Setting down the gear had taken no more than a few minutes. Yet in that time, those two had apparently become fast friends and were deep in gossip.
What on earth happened while I was gone?
As I watched them, wondering, the conversation finally wound down.
"You could've mentioned you were done putting your things away, you know."
"Well, I got back and you two were deep in conversation, so I enjoyed the show."
I said it with a grin. But it genuinely had been fun to watch. It felt like a grandmother and grandfather chatting over tea.
Does he talk with Inha like this too?
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than it was shot down.
"That girl's gone full adolescent — she won't say two words to me these days."
"Ah..."
Well, if it's puberty, there's nothing to be done. Those are stormy years, after all.
"Though that's mostly your fault for not coming around, I suppose..."
"Sorry? What was that?"
"Nothing at all."
He'd definitely muttered something, but it hadn't reached my ears clearly.
"By the way, you two know each other?"
"I go back with this girl's mother."
"Ah."
If he knew Jin Chae-won, that conversation made perfect sense. And judging by how they'd talked, their connection was on the friendly side, not the hostile one.
"Then pick out her gear with the thought that you're buying it for your own granddaughter."
"My only granddaughter is Inha!"
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Just then, I sensed someone's presence behind us.
"Oppa?"