Chapter 68 – Playing Under The Moonlight
Crimson Fla, Hestosias.
He was, in fact, closer to the human ideal of a craftsman than just an ordinary blacksmith.
Though he deeply loved the strange magic of the fire, where hard things softened and softened things beca sharp again within the crimson flas.
He was thirsting for a more unique challenge.
“I’ve ntioned the Cyclopes workshop, right? It’s truly a different world. They recreate all the magic that gods and humans can imagine with their hands and make what exists only in imagination into reality.”
Yet, their greatest feat, he said, was none other than turning things that even imagination couldn’t reach into reality with a few words and designs.
“Maybe if you just let a few words slip about the techniques of Hyperborea or the magic used there, it would be reproduced in the workshops in no ti.”
“Is it really sothing to boast about?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
What flashed through my mind were electronic devices from the 21st century, now just a faint mory, like smartphones or TVs.
If this eccentric craftsman was saying that, then maybe…?
‘Nah, that’s a bit too much.’
No matter how incredible the magic and technology here were, reproducing electronic devices would be tough.
Even if they managed to make similar communication devices, what about the internet or electronic information?
Lost in these idle thoughts, I chuckled and turned my attention back to Hestosias’s story. He was now almost done with his work.
“In that sense, how impoverished are the minds of those boring people who co looking for ? They only pester to make sharp tal objects they can hold and shake.”
So, when I first visited the smithy, thinking I ca because of his reputation, he enthusiastically recomnded any weapon to drive away.
“Why is a man who looks like he should be pumping bellows and hamring tal not taking orders and instead playing the role of a rchant? That’s what I thought.”
“I was already working just enough to et my quota, but the idea of taking on another custom order made feel sick.”
I’ve t many so-called divine craftsn and renowned artisans in my ti.
Hestosias was the most unpredictable person among them.
He wasn’t an old master nor a skilled veteran.
Ah, I’m done with this drudgery. It’s boring, not doing it anymore, bye.
So, he was saying he just slacked off until a fresh challenge ca out.
“Hey, it’s not like I just slacked off, okay? Do you think there’s anyone else among those blacksmith blockheads who can handle accounting besides ?”
“Did I say anything…? Why are you getting all defensive on your own?”
“You’ve got ‘pathetic’ written all over your face, but you sure talk well.”
Despite grumbling to himself, Hestosias continued to work with delicate and quick hand movents.
He inspected the barely visible strings of the gayageum, checking for any cracks or uneven parts.
He ticulously examined the body, checking for any cracks, leaking sounds, or uneven parts, and only after confirming there were no issues did he carefully hand it to .
“How about it? Isn’t this comparable to the old instrunt you lost?”
“……”
I could only accept it silently from the boastful Hestosias.
Just as I had imagined, just as I had expected.
The gayageum instrunt, born for the first ti on Greek soil, was nothing short of mythical.
The raw bark left intact, the mysteriously shimring strings with a milky sheen.
Though it appeared rough and crude, its natural beauty was so evident that it seed as if a single tree and the spring water flowing beneath it had been transford into the form of an instrunt, exuding an air of mystery.
What is this ticklish feeling?
A flood of tears seed to fall, bringing a faint, nostalgic feeling.
The familiar yet unfamiliar image of the gayageum was vividly imprinted in my mind.
Beyond the heavy weight and the rough texture of the bark in my hands, life pulsated.
The familiar yet unfamiliar appearance of the gayageum.
The unfamiliar but unchanged appearance of myself.
Because of , the gayageum that had been asleep in my mory was brought out into this world in a form both similar and different from .
Along with the old emotions I had tried to bury.
“Even if spring returns, I have no place to return to. Even if I climb the mountain and look east, I cannot see that place. Only the old gayageum longs for that place. The place I miss and long for.”
-Ding…
The unfamiliar-looking gayageum that I lightly plucked softly resonated with the sa tone I rembered.
There were a total of three gayageums that passed through my hands.
One was a Central Plains style guqin1 given to by a musician who said he couldn’t handle the instrunt that produced such a lody after I demonstrated my skill once at the Cult Leader’s banquet.
Then, to commorate the eradication of the corrupt Cult Leader’s faction and my complete control over the Heavenly Demon Cult, a Gayageum was lavishly crafted with jade and tal strings by the cult’s top artisan.
And lastly, the sacred instrunt, Finger Piano, dedicated to when I ascended to the position of the Heavenly Demon.
It was the final gift from Gwi Hyun-sa, who vanished abruptly as soon as everything was settled.
After everything was sorted and even the imperial family acknowledged our Heavenly Demon Cult as the dominator of Central Plains martial arts, it beca my sole companion as I wandered between the Central Plains and the Great Wall.
When it finally succumbed to the ravages of ti, I thought I would never again hold an instrunt in my lifeti.
I couldn’t believe that I had co back to life in such a distant land and was holding a gayageum again; it was a feeling hard to describe.
“Hoo…”
When I ca to my senses, I was walking through a deep forest, holding a gayageum in both hands.
Thanks to the wriggling constellation stars and the brightly shining moon in the distance, the forest wasn’t too dark, and my rapidly advancing level had already surpassed the point where light intensity limited my vision, so it wasn’t too difficult.
-Ding…
“Yes, are you looking for the place to tune the first note?”
The gayageum, which was quietly crying alone, seed to have a will of its own, nestled gently in my arms, and whimpered, asking to go this way and that way.
Like a child throwing a tantrum while holding their father’s hand.
I wondered if it was possible for a newly made object to be imbued with qi.
The object was crafted from a living tree, imbued with divine fire and magic, so by now, I had just co to accept it.
Anyway, as I walked and walked to the sound of the gayageum, a wide clearing bathed in moonlight gradually appeared.
Below a flat rock, a small spring flowed gently, and the forest animals, big and small, drank from it under the moonlight, scattering hastily at the sight of an uninvited guest like .
“…This is the mont to release the first glorious note, but it cannot be revealed hastily to others.”
The delicate and sacred mont when the first note is played by a newly born gayageum.
The Longing Ghost Sound told that one must handle the gayageum as one would handle a lover, especially when playing the first note, approaching it softly and carefully as a bridegroom unties the sash of a new bride.
‘Anyway, as expected of a Sound Arts fanatic.’
I couldn’t understand how he did it, but seeing him holding his beloved instrunt(?) even in death, I could guess the extent of the Longing Ghost Sound’s passion and obsession with his instrunt.
However, if there was sothing I could relate to…
It was a profoundly special mont for anyone, whether a martial artist or a musician, to wield sothing for the first ti in their hands.
“Now, then, shall we pluck a tune?”
The moon in the sky was beautiful, and the surrounding forest was indescribably serene.
Large and small audiences gathered out of curiosity among the trees and grass, holding their breaths and listening intently.
Were they curious about what this unfamiliar foreigner intended to do with this unfamiliar instrunt?
It was supposed to be the mont to present the first secret and sacred note, but my new friend seed to be more enthusiastic about performing with an audience.
There was no better place than this.
-Diing…
“Oh…”
The pearl silver thread tempered by Hestosias was warm and soft, in stark contrast to the heavenly thread of the Heavenly Hall.
Nevertheless, the tension felt at the fingertips was as firm as the heavenly thread, and the sound was even deeper, almost as gentle as stroking a woman’s skin.
“I’ve received an incredible item once again.”
No, after all that hardship, if it didn’t turn out at least this good, it would truly be a scam, wouldn’t it?
“No, even if I went through several tis more suffering, it’s a treasure that cannot be easily obtained…”
Even the courtesans and musicians who recognized the value of the instrunts were eager to obtain it.
The yet unnad gayageum was divine and mysterious in both appearance and the qi it emanated.
And above all, this sound.
A sound so clear and deep that no other gayageum in the world could produce.
Just plucking it lightly made my heart tremble with that sound, so I paused for a mont and just listened quietly.
“Hmm… good.”
It would have been nice if I had a glass of clear liquor.
Thinking such trivial thoughts, I slowly tuned the gayageum.
Hestosias had done his part in fixing it, but he was a craftsman, not a musician, so it took a little ti to loosen and tighten the strings just right.
– Dittidididing~
“This should… do it.”
Testing the strings, I found the tone even more refined and clearer than before, which excitedly made my shoulders bounce and my hands spontaneously start dancing on the gayageum.
Before long.
The wind, the stream, the whispers of animals, and the chatter of trees made the forest seem both quiet and noisy, but it gradually fell silent, and amidst that, a single lody began to flow slowly.
With a sound so beautiful and pure, even the gods would be enchanted.
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