Later, I heard that the Fire-Master Artisan hadn’t liked Yeomhwa either.
He’d come out that night specifically to get him kicked out.
But someone had gotten there first.
From a distance, so he wouldn’t get caught, he’d watched them.
They were pouring water into the furnace.
Apparently, he’d been cheering on the inside.
If things went wrong without him even lifting a finger, how perfect was that?
Then the flames suddenly roared up from the furnace instead.
He’d been shocked.
They’d poured water on it, yet the fire had grown stronger.
He’d wondered if those idiots had mixed up oil and water.
Idiots.
He’d thought the future of Heavenly Forge looked pitch-black.
So he’d decided it would be better to step in and take care of it himself, acting like he’d just happened to find the scene while patrolling.
Then he’d sprinkled the Water-Soul Powder he’d brought.
Water-Soul Powder was the emergency extinguishing powder used at the main furnace of Heavenly Forge.
Since it was used for the main furnace, its effect was guaranteed.
He saw the flames die down and, satisfied, smiled and turned to leave.
That was when he noticed something move in the darkness.
“Wh-who’s there?”
At the Fire-Master Artisan’s shout, a voice came out of the dark.
“Man. I don’t even know where to start fixing this.”
A flat voice.
A strange silhouette slowly walking toward him.
As the flames dwindled, my figure came into view bit by bit.
“You’re the one who just became an apprentice, Jeok Wigang?”
“I didn’t think even the Fire-Master Artisan would hate Yeomhwa.”
“You little shit. Who do you think you’re talking to like that? Do you actually want to get thrown out?”
At his shout, I let out a small snort.
“Looks like your situational awareness is shot. You’re in a seriously dangerous spot right now. You should be running, not yelling.”
“What?”
“Too late now, though.”
Right then, in his eyes, the scenery around us started to ripple like water.
What the?
Is something wrong with my eyes?
What’s going on with the surroundings?
Is it because of the Water-Soul Powder?
Through that wavering vision, he saw me walking toward him with full composure.
From the outside, he just looked like a blacksmith whose temper had snapped.
To me, he looked like a blacksmith who’d never seriously fought anyone in his life and was about to learn what that meant.
He was a man who’d swung a hammer at the furnace for decades.
He had a body hardened by labor and some fire-attribute internal energy from tending the furnace.
A strong body, internal energy, and enough martial skill to use them.
From his point of view, there was no reason to be afraid of “some bookish brat” who looked like he’d never thrown a punch in his life.
The only thing that bothered him was the strange rippling phenomenon around us.
“Did you do this weird trick?”
“Yeah. It’s sorcery.”
“I see. And what did you use this sorcery for?”
“So you can’t run.”
“What? Hahahaha! Isn’t it the other way around?”
“No. It’s not. You’re going to have to get hit until you come to your senses today.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Unable to hold back any longer, the Fire-Master Artisan charged at me.
His bulging muscles swelled as if they were about to explode, and he put everything into the punch he threw at me.
WHOOOOSH—
The moment I heard the sinister whistle of the air being torn—
THWUMP—
I caught his fist lightly in my hand.
The Fire-Master Artisan’s eyes went wide.
“Th-this? H-how...?”
What was happening made no sense to him.
Normally, just blocking a punch like that should send the defender flying back.
But I wasn’t just blocking it; my body hadn’t so much as twitched.
Is that sorcery he mentioned some kind of illusion art?
While he was thinking that, he heard my voice.
“From today on, you’re going to live for the safety of Heavenly Martial Castle and the martial world. Make that promise.”
In his eyes, my fist came toward him in slow motion.
For some reason, he even had the absurd feeling that it might not hurt that much if it landed.
He was just about to think he’d take that hit and counterattack—
WACK—
His head felt like it had flown off his neck, and when he came back to his senses, he was already sprawled on the ground.
The Fire-Master Artisan stared at me with a look of complete disbelief.
That skinny fist sent a man twice his size flying?
He clung to one conclusion.
Sorcery.
He convinced himself every last bit of this was my sorcery confusing him.
He looked around.
There were plenty of things lying around that could be used as weapons.
His eye fell on a hammer.
The weapon most familiar to his hands.
He grabbed the hammer and swung it around a few times.
The weight felt just right.
Once he’d confirmed it would do, he immediately hurled it at me.
He threw it with all his strength, thinking not of a person but of forging iron.
If I didn’t dodge, my head would be crushed.
THOOOM—
But the hammer stopped before it even reached my head.
“Th-that’s impossible.”
The Fire-Master Artisan’s eyes went so wide they looked like they might tear.
I had stopped his hammer with just one extended index finger.
It must have felt like a nightmare.
Is this nightmare punishment for having bad thoughts about Yeomhwa?
He desperately wanted to wake up from a dream that didn’t feel like it was going to end.
I wrapped my hand around the hammer.
The Fire-Master Artisan strained with everything he had to wrench it back out of my grip, but it was useless.
POP—
Instead, the hammerhead and the handle separated, and he fell backward on his ass.
The hammer’s head sat in my hand.
CRRRUNCH—
In his eyes, an unbelievable sight played out again.
The hammerhead was crumpling in my grip like clay.
THUD—
When the lump of iron that had been a hammer hit the ground, the Fire-Master Artisan flinched in terror.
The fear that his own head was going to end up like that surged up from his gut.
“You done? Go on, keep going. You don’t want to leave any regrets, do you?”
He shook his head instinctively.
“No?”
“Then it’s time for your education.”
I grinned and walked toward him, and he shouted.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
He tried to get to his feet and run, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate.
All he could do was sit there on the ground, scrambling back and clawing at the dirt.
“Okay, this’ll sting a little.”
SMACK—
It didn’t “sting a little.”
It felt like his head disappeared.
More than anything, the fear came from the look on my face as I slapped him—as if I were genuinely enjoying myself.
With the thought that he’d gotten himself tangled up with a crazy evil bastard, a very long night began for him.
*****
“I-I was wrong!”
Kneeling and begging, the Fire-Master Artisan looked pitiful enough that even I almost felt disappointed.
“Already? I haven’t even really started enjoying myself yet.”
A perverted lunatic. He actually enjoys hitting people.
He really had latched onto the wrong person.
He bowed so hard his hands and feet were going to wear out.
“I-I was wrong! I-I’ll do anything you tell me to!”
“Anything? Then let’s go a little longer.”
Tears welled up in his eyes.
Why did I even come out here?
I should have just stayed home like usual, drinking and going to sleep.
Regret hit him full force.
“You said you’d do anything. Was that a lie? If you lied, you have to be punished, right?”
“T-that...”
No matter what answer he gave, he was going to get hit.
“Please spare me.”
“I’m not going to kill you. Why would I kill you? You’re a valuable asset of Heavenly Martial Castle. Aren’t you?”
Just [N O V E L I G H T] who is this man?
What is he that he keeps talking about Heavenly Martial Castle like that?
Even in the middle of this, he was curious.
They say people die from their curiosity; maybe that was true.
“Why? Curious about who I am?”
“N-no.”
“I told you not to lie.”
“Y-yes! I am curious!”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
You son of a—
“Oh? You just cursed at me with your eyes.”
“N-no.”
He’s a ghost.
“Since we’ve started, let’s see... how about another two hours of education? You agree too, right?”
Crying, the Fire-Master Artisan nodded with the resignation of a man who’d given up.
*****
Two hours later.
He was kneeling again, posture even more respectful than before.
“Why do you hate Yeomhwa so much?”
“I-I was jealous of his talent.”
“Pathetic. You never thought to try working harder, and the best you could come up with was bullying him?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Whatever. In your eyes, where do you think Heavenly Forge went wrong?”
He thought for a moment at my question, then opened his mouth.
“I-I think the biggest problem is that Master Smith Cheon is indifferent to Heavenly Forge.”
“Right? I think so too.”
“But there is no artisan who can go against him. We can’t help it. Even the Lord of the Castle doesn’t say harsh things to him. He’s afraid Master Smith Cheon will leave.”
So even Grandfather can’t say anything he doesn’t want to hear.
No wonder the man is doing whatever he wants.
If I wanted to straighten out Heavenly Forge, I would have to start with Master Smith Cheon.
Master Smith Cheon was the cause of this entire mess.
What good is cleaning the floor when someone keeps dropping trash from above?
I asked.
“What kind of person is Master Smith Cheon?”
“There’s not much to say. He’s just a man crazy about iron. He immerses himself only in his own work and isn’t interested in anything else. The only time he personally gets angry is when the iron that’s supposed to go into the furnace isn’t delivered on time.”
“Ah.”
So that’s why Yongmyeong had been so terrified about arriving late back then.
“Other than that, he doesn’t come out?”
“No.”
“And there’s no way to make him come out?”
“There is one way.”
“What is it?”
“Disparage the weapons he makes.”
“What, that’s all? Sounds easy.”
“T-that... isn’t simple. If you disparage them, you have to have grounds. If you disparage them for no reason... you’ll be killed by Master Smith Cheon.”
“Killed? He knows martial arts?”
“Yes. I understand Master Smith Cheon is at the Mystical-View level.”
“Yeah? Then he really is a man crazy about iron.”
A Mystical-View-level expert shutting himself in a forge just to hammer iron.
If you didn’t truly love iron, that would be impossible.
“He only reached the Mystical-View level because he said his strength was lacking when he was forging Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.”
“Right. Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron can’t be forged with any ordinary strength.”
I stroked my chin.
If I wanted to disparage Master Smith Cheon’s weapons, I would have to see them.
Only then could I find their flaws and point them out.
I considered myself an artisan too, so I had no intention of randomly badmouthing another artisan’s work.
“Is there a chance to see the weapons Master Smith Cheon makes?”
“Yes. There is. Any weapon Master Smith Cheon completes is shown to all the artisans.”
“Is that his way of showing off?”
“It’s not showing off. He shows them so we can try to find flaws.”
“And if someone finds a flaw?”
“They are given a chance to work with Master Smith Cheon to fix it. They get the fortune of seeing his techniques right before their eyes.”
“That’s supposed to be a good thing?”
“Of course! It’s a dreamlike opportunity for any artisan.”
“So whenever he finishes a weapon, he shows it to the other artisans?”
“Yes. But apprentices aren’t included in that. You have to be a full artisan to see them.”
“That’s nothing to worry about. Once this promotion test is over, I’ll be a full artisan.”
“Wh-what?”
How can he say that with such certainty?
Come to think of it, since I’d become an apprentice, he hadn’t seen me make anything.
I turned my gaze on the Fire-Master Artisan.
“What are you going to do about what happened with me tonight?”
“I-I’ll forget it!”
“If even a word leaks, we’re going to meet again. I’ll leave what happens then to your imagination.”
At my wicked smile, the Fire-Master Artisan gulped.
“You can tell, if you want. Give me a proper excuse to do whatever I want to you.”
“N-no! I-I’ll never give you that excuse.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
The Fire-Master Artisan swore to himself he would never speak of this for as long as he lived.
“What are you going to do about the ones who poured water into the furnace?”
“I’ll take responsibility and punish them!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“How?”
“Wh-what?”
“On what grounds are you going to punish them? What did they do wrong?”
“T-that...”
“What punishment do they get if their furnace goes out?”