Chapter 88
The blacksmith Hasker was dead.
Reinhardt was quite flustered by this fact.
‘He wasn’t supposed to die yet, was he?’
There was no foul play.
Hasker passed away peacefully in his sleep.
The people who had been with him his whole life were by his side.
‘He was alive in the original ga. Why would soone like that die already?’
Moreover, Hasker seed to have known his end was coming.
His attitude towards Reinhardt alone was proof of that.
A feeling of concluding his life.
Didn't he exude an atmosphere of having resolved his lifelong regret and finally passing away without any lingering attachnts?
‘……Wait a minute. Is that really why?’
Lifelong regret.
The sword he had personally crafted had broken, and because of that, the hero who used it had died.
Since the person in question was dead, there was no next chance.
It ant he couldn't say sothing like, "If only I could make it again, I'll do better next ti."
‘But I brought a new Magic Stone. Allowing him to try again. I unintentionally gave him a second chance. Moreover…….’
His attitude, as if he had foreseen his own death.
After mulling over a distant mory for a mont, Reinhardt nodded.
‘He passed it on. To Ria. He passed on the power to control fire.’
What was the reason Hasker's Smithy could grow so large?
Naturally, it was thanks to his outstanding skill as a blacksmith.
And the foundation of that skill was his ability to control fire.
His near-perfect control of fire was a power he had inherited from his predecessor.
It didn't an he was born with it in his bloodline, but that he had literally inherited it.
Through sothing like a ritual.
‘He perford that ritual while crafting this sword. Ria probably doesn't know. He wouldn't have told her.’
That's why such a magnificent result was produced.
Reinhardt looked down at the sword in his right hand.
A crude, yet masterfully crafted piece.
“Excuse .”
Reinhardt entered the smithy.
The inside was filled with mourners.
Even the blacksmiths who usually swung their hamrs without rest had lightened their hands for today, seeing off the master of the smithy.
“Co this way.”
At that mont, blacksmith Kron called out to Reinhardt.
His expression was dark, but not as much as the others.
Inside the smithy.
Only in a relatively quiet place did Kron open his mouth.
“I've heard the rumors. They say you are a great knight.”
“Rumors are always exaggerated.”
“It didn't seem so. In any case, I apologize for my rudeness. And thank you for your help. I'm just grateful that the master seed to have passed on satisfied, thanks to you, Sir Knight.”
“I'm glad.”
Kron smacked his lips bitterly.
“You must have co to see Ria, right?”
“That was my intention. But I have one more thing to do.”
“Over there, if you go forward, there will be an anvil. Along with a portrait of the master's likeness from when he was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Our way is to strike the anvil twice with a hamr.”
Saying so, Kron handed over his own hamr.
Reinhardt took it, nodded, and made his way through the crowd to the center of the smithy.
A murmur rippled through the surroundings for a mont, then quickly subsided.
Reinhardt stood before the anvil.
In the picture fra, a robust middle-aged man was smiling, showing his teeth.
It was clearly Hasker from decades ago.
Then.
Thump- Thump-
Reinhardt struck the anvil.
Not hastily, but with appropriate force and certainty.
It was their way of mourning the departed blacksmith.
Feeling the passing glances, Reinhardt returned to Kron.
“The master would be pleased too.”
“I hope so.”
“Ria is inside. Follow .”
***
She was still too young to accept soone's death.
Ria looked up at the empty air with hollow eyes.
She didn't want to do anything.
Hasker was her family, her teacher, and ultimately, her spiritual pillar.
“……Do you like the sword?”
“More than I expected.”
“That's good.”
Even the sudden guest failed to evoke much of a reaction from Ria.
Normally, she would have asked in detail what he liked about the sword and endlessly poured out the efforts she had put into it.
But to her now, such things were of no concern.
“He said it himself. That the last ember he leaves behind is Ria.”
“……Who did? Hasker?”
“Yes.”
“It probably ans I was his cherished disciple.”
“You should know better than anyone that that's not all it ans.”
Ria didn't answer.
In truth, she knew. Just as Hasker was a precious person to her, Hasker felt the sa way about Ria.
“What good is knowing? He's already gone.”
“Did you not feel any change while crafting this sword?”
“The work went unusually well. It was as if the fire was reading my mind.”
“It will be like that from now on.”
“What do you an?”
“It ans it's a gift Hasker left for you.”
Ria's eyes widened.
It was because she understood Reinhardt's words a mont too late.
“Then it wasn't just that my condition was good that day……”
“He passed on the ability he possessed to you.”
“Hasker did.”
“Yes.”
“……Don't tell this happened because of that?”
“In terms of results, that would be it. But Hasker chose his own end.”
“That!”
Ria shouted abruptly. Tears welled up in her large eyes.
“……How do you know that!”
“It wasn't intentional, but in the process of crafting this sword, Hasker was said to have resolved a lifelong regret.”
Reinhardt relayed the story he had heard from Hasker.
The incident he had experienced in the distant past, the burden he had to carry for his entire life as a result, and.
“He can finally rest in peace now. Hasker.”
The way he looked so peaceful.
And the atmosphere he had, as if not a single lingering attachnt remained.
Ria was now sobbing.
She shed tears endlessly without making a sound.
It was as if the dam of restraint had broken. Wiping away the uncontrollably flowing tears, Ria cried out.
“See! I wasn't that important!”
“I don't think that's the way to look at it.”
“I still had so much to learn! I'm not old enough to be left alone! I still needed Hasker!”
“Ria.”
It was like soothing a whining child.
What was I supposed to do in tis like these? What advice had that doctor, who was treated like a god of early childhood education on TV, given?
While Reinhardt was thinking, Ria opened her mouth with a much calr voice.
“……I know, too.”
It was the voice of soone who had poured out all their energy.
Reinhardt listened quietly.
“I know Hasker adored , and I know he couldn't have resisted as a blacksmith. He would have wanted to resolve his regret. But Hasker was too old.”
Ria was a smart kid.
“He wouldn't have been able to do it on his own. He would have wanted to do it himself, but he probably thought he might make the sa mistake again. That's why he passed that power on to . Right?”
“My thoughts are the sa.”
“No wonder the work went so well. No wonder the flas listened to so well today.”
Hasker was an aged blacksmith.
An opportunity to fulfill his long-cherished wish had co, but it was sothing he could not accomplish himself.
Thus, he borrowed the hand of his most precious disciple.
By passing on everything he had, he was finally able to face the result he had desired his entire life.
“……Then it's as if I resolved Hasker's regret.”
“Yes.”
“He must have been happy, right?”
“More than any other mont.”
“All blacksmiths are like that, but Hasker was particularly severe. It's natural that he was happy. Because he created such a masterpiece.”
“It wasn't just the sword.”
Reinhardt knew what kind of person Hasker was.
And what Ria ant to him.
“Hasker ignited a fla hotter than anyone else here, and the ember he left in those ashes was you, Ria.”
“That……”
“It ans that you are the masterpiece he dedicated his life to creating.”
Ria was at a loss for words.
The tears that had stopped for a mont burst forth again. This ti, she cried out loud.
Reinhardt gave her so space.
***
The funeral was over.
The smithy began to return to normal.
Elmore, which had been in an uproar due to the presence of warlocks, also regained its daily routine.
“Good job, Bitdori.”
“Piit.”
Having completed its mission, Bitdori was once again perched on Reinhardt’s shoulder.
The cold was no obstacle to the creature.
In fact, the sa was true for the heat.
Whether in a blizzard or in a blazing fire, Bitdori could fly freely without any hindrance.
‘I should ask them to send so people here too.’
Reinhardt added Elmore to his ‘List of Cities to Protect’.
The reason, of course, was Ria's smithy.
It wouldn't be right away, but one day she would be the talent who would craft the equipnt of many heroes with her delicate touch.
‘If need be, I’ll have to call Miya. Miya will take care of it.’
Miya Luxpenber was like an appraiser of human value.
She would spare no support for Ria.
It was ti to leave.
Reinhardt visited the smithy one last ti.
Ria was engrossed in her work. The flas of the furnace were reflected in her eyes. The flas flickered as if dancing to the rhythm of her hands.
“Isn't it Sir Fermil? Have you co to see Ria?”
“Yes. I have to leave soon.”
“Thanks to you, Ria has regained her strength. Thank you so much. Oh, you don't have to wait like that. Even when she's working these days, Ria hears when her na is called.”
“It's fine. I'll wait.”
It wasn't a matter of urgency anyway.
It was more important to properly punctuate his relationship with Ria than to return in a hurry.
The work continued for a long ti.
Reinhardt sat patiently and waited for nearly two hours.
Since there was the [Community], there was no chance of being bored.
“……Huh? Sir Knight. How long have you been waiting?”
“I just got here.”
“Really? That's a relief. Then wait just a little longer. I've prepared a gift.”
Sizzzzle-
Ria plunged the red-hot tal into the water.
It vaguely looked like the shape of a sword.
After a few more hamr strikes, the quenching continued.
The finished product was a sword.
“You said there was another knight with you, right? I heard they protected our smithy.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't know. When I'm focused on work, I can't hear anything around .”
“It's not sothing I can't understand.”
“Here. It's a gift for your colleague.”
Ria handed the sword to Reinhardt.
Its color was white.
If it were thrown in a snowy field, it would surely take a while to find.
[Sword of Chilling Frost]
A masterpiece ticulously crafted by a master.
Additional effects will be granted when equipped by Evangeline.
Frost attribute has been granted.
Attack Power 110
‘This one too… is better.’
Not as good as Reinhardt's sword.
But it was of much better quality than the weapon Evangeline used in the original ga.
It even had an option that specialized in handling the [Frost] attribute.
‘She could craft a weapon like this from ordinary materials?’
It would be understandable if it were the result of processing a Magic Stone like Reinhardt's sword, but for sothing made from ordinary iron, its performance was excessively good.
“You really know your stuff. There are tis when even you can't control your expression, Sir Knight?”
“……This is a really good sword.”
“It should be. You said your colleague handled cold energy, right? I thought this was it and raided Hasker's warehouse. It's made by slting iron that can only be mined in the north.”
Only then did Reinhardt realize.
Millennium Cold Iron. A crafting material with a na that sounded like it belonged in a martial arts novel definitely existed.
The only problem was.
‘Why is that coming out already.’
It was the fact that it wasn't yet ti for Millennium Cold Iron to appear.
Even in the original ga, Millennium Cold Iron was a crafting material that appeared only after the story had progressed to a certain point.
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