Chapter 137
“You were ordered to kill a dragon……You do realize that this is not a story that is easily believed, right?”
I smirked and shrugged as she spoke with a very serious expression on her face.
“Given what Don has told me, and my status, I suppose you should believe it, after all. It’s not like anyone else knows about your promise to Don in the first place.”
She clamps her mouth shut at my words.
It’s not surprising, since the Don in her head would never go around talking about this to just anyone.
To not believe me now would be to make a liar out of Vito Corleone, the man she had made a promise to.
“Okay……assuming you tell the truth, then how on earth do you plan to kill Fafnir? Even if you are a Corleone Hitman, you wouldn’t be able to kill him with Ascalon.”
Her point was obvious.
If she could kill him with the sword, she wouldn’t have left it lying around.
“Of course I know that. That’s why I’m going to tinker with Ascalon a bit.”
“Tinkering with……?”
“Lava Cave. I’m going to get some help from the people there.”
“──Dismissed.”
To this the bishop speaks firmly.
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re going to persuade them, even though you know what they’re doing?”
“I’m not a fool, and I wouldn’t mention them if I didn’t know. Isn’t that the place where the best blacksmiths in the country gather?”
Based in the Lava cave where lava is always flowing, these blacksmiths make equipment out of materials and items from Jeju Island.
Their work is said to sell for exorbitant prices on the black market, so there’s no reason to doubt their skill but there was still a problem.
“If it weren’t for that, everyone else would go to them for weapons, but they’re crazy, and they’ll take your weapons and melt them down if they’re not up to their standards! There’s a reason why the Raiders, Scavengers, and even villains don’t go near them!”
They were no ordinary blacksmiths. Even on Jeju Island, a place full of crazies, if someone is avoided, it means they’re even crazier.
All of them were aura masters, using it to procure materials, pounding and melting hard castings.
They are as close to a weapon of war as you can get.
They were the Lava Cave Clan.
“The reason they’re not touching us right now is because I don’t leave the territory of our parish, otherwise they would take the bells of the cathedral if I left right now, and you’re asking them for help?”
Her eyes turn cold as she says this.
“At the end of the day, your plans are all in your head, plans you can’t prove, and while you may indeed be the one who came to kill Fafnir……the responsibilities and duties I have are not worthy of such words.”
“I see.”
Words were not enough, she thought.
Her vows and oaths were more powerful than I could have imagined.
“In other words, I just have to prove it, right?”
“Prove what?”
“I’ll be back by evening, and if I can prove it, I want you to trust me with Ascalon.”
“What…….?”
“Oh, and I’ll also borrow your motorcycle. You see, the one I took was completely wrecked by someone.”
Leaving her standing there dumbfounded I walk in the direction of the church.
The door creaks open as Sister Marie pokes her head out, looking worried.
“Did your conversation with the bishop go well……?”
“Ah, Sister Marie.”
She looks very worried, probably because she witnessed what happened earlier.
“I’m relieved to see that your limbs are still intact, but you didn’t get hit or anything, did you?”
“No, of course not.”
Although my body was almost crushed…….
“The Bishop is a very nice man, but sometimes his eyes roll back in his head when he has to do with us, so I hope you won’t hate him for this.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. We’ve already talked about it.”
Perhaps relieved by my answer, the beaming Sister Marie clapped her hands together.
“Oh, is that so? I’m glad! By the way, where are you going now? I thought you were going somewhere other than here.”
“Oh, yes. I have to stop by somewhere.”
“A stop? It’s not safe outside the church…….”
A valid concern, as she’s one of the people most familiar with the dangers of Jeju Island but I’m the last person she needs to worry about so I smiled and said.
“It’s okay, the people where I’m going are friendly.”
And so much so.
* * *
──Kwalung!
──Kwakwang!
──Kuung!
Arriving at a place called Lava Cave on Jeju Island, I got off the motorcycle and looked at the entrance.
It’s a huge cave with boiling lava that looks like it could be deadly just to touch.
Inside, the sound of thunder was still rumbling.
If it was the wrong time of year and no one was around to make the rounds looking for material, I’d have to go somewhere else, which was a good thing.
“Let’s go then.”
As I slowly made my way into the cave, I could feel the thunder getting closer and closer.
It was a sign that I was getting closer to my destination.
And the sound was coming from somewhere.
T-t-t-t.
It stopped like a lie.
The cave was silent, as if all the sounds were hallucinations.
The only sound is the bubbling and crackling of the lava flowing down the walls.
Unperturbed by the change in atmosphere, I continue to walk forward until I finally come to a large open space.
There was a sign that said.
“If you’re lost, fuck off. We’re in a hurry.”
Dozens of warlords, each with a clenched fist, glared in my direction.
The unidentified men are shirtless, showing off their bulging muscles like bodybuilders.
Sweat dripping from their bodies, they each hold aura in their hands.
Confirming that I was in the right place, I smiled broadly.
“Is this the Blue Night Workshop?”
The men fell silent once more, but it was the man with the bushy beard who spoke first.
“I’m guessing you’re not in the wrong place since you recognize the name, but what exactly are you looking for?”
“If a stranger comes to the workshop, it means he’s a customer.”
I responded in kind and stood in front of him.
As I stare at him, his gaze suddenly fixates on one place. His gaze is fixed on my face.
“Now, wait a minute. Is that suit the work of……Maestro?”
“What? Maestro?”
“He’s wearing the work of a maestro?”
As if I hadn’t drawn enough attention to myself, the people gathered around me, one by one.
Soon, my surroundings were filled with muscles.
There were about …… 20 people, all of them except for a few.
Although the goal is different, the goods of those who have finished making them are eye-catching, so is it natural?
Of course, for them…….
“I wonder what will come out if I make an item with that…….”
“Captain, if we take that off and process it, we can actually jump over walls, right?”
“Awesome, an item that looks like this.”
I hadn’t even said a word yet, and they were already thinking of DisPater as their subject.
It was just as I knew it would be.
They felt a wall of nothingness that they couldn’t overcome with their own power, and sought an answer to it with an item.
This is the ‘Blue Night Workshop’. Despite their appearance, they were a force that thoroughly pursued martial arts.
“Hey. We won’t kill you if you take off all your clothes and drop what you have. It’s a win-win proposition, isn’t it?”
He smirks and makes crackling noises like he’s already thinking about taking my stuff.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I came here to make an offer.”
“What?”
And another characteristic of the guys…….
“I’m here on the orders of Master Kwak Chun-sik.”
I reached into the cube and unfolded Kwak Chun-Sik’s letter of recommendation to them.
“I am Eugene Han Corleone, a true heir to the Aura style and a direct student of Master Kwak Chun-sik. My proposal is very simple.”
“──Grovel, bastards.
How dare you try to compete with someone so far up the line?
Groping.
* * *
In the Aura system, the rows are like an unbreakable oath that must be honored.
It was a sort of unwritten code, even for those who no longer attended the dojo.
And that’s why I felt comfortable talking to them, putting faces to names.
If they betrayed me, the other students, not me, would come to punish them, and I would grind their bones into powder until they couldn’t use them.
That’s why I can do this.
“The water is lukewarm.”
“I apologize, but the water is warm because of the high temperature around here.”
“The water is lukewarm, eh eh eh eh!”
“I’m sorry, you crazy bastards! Bring me the snowflakes you have as ingredients!”
“Ha, but boss, that’s for making armor later──”
“‘Big’ Master said he wanted some cool water!”
Yes, this was the society I was transferred to.
I wondered if Kwak Chun-sik had become an idiot because he had lived his life thinking that this environment was natural.
See, it’s so comfortable.
“Hey. That guy called the boss. Is your name……Yoon Kwangsoo?”
“Yes. Please feel free to call me Kwangsoo.”
“Okay, Kwangsoo, just out of curiosity, if you bury me here, won’t anyone know about it? You’re not thinking about that, are you?”
He jumps in place at my playful question.
“Oh, no, that’s not what you mean, how dare I think such a disastrous thought to the master!”
“No, no. I was just worried about you. I even told Master myself that I was coming to see you guys, and I even got your address, and I was just wondering if he’d be worried if he lost contact with me.”
“……?”
“Why? Is it hard?”
I ask, trying to make it easier.
“Twice a day. If I can’t reach him, Master will come to kick your asses himself, so you’ll have to make sure I don’t get hurt or anything, right?”
“Uh, yes, of course.”
He cringes at my threatening joke and barely manages a smile.
My request to Kwak Chun-sik was simple.
I simply asked him to write a letter of recommendation using his aura-infused ink.
The moment they see the aura-infused ink, they’ll realize that it’s not something I can manipulate.
“We were wondering if you had any requests for us.”
“Requests? Oh, yeah. I have one or two.”
“Two, two things? Yes. Go ahead.”
Kwangsoo, who is characterized by a scruffy beard, rubs his palms together and asks me.
There were only a few things I wanted from them.
The first was.
“I want you to make a thing with me.”
“You mean……stuff?”
“Yeah, stuff. There’s no one around who can do it but you. I need you and your apprentices.”
Getting them to provide the labor.
“Well, if it’s making things, that’s what we usually do, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but…… what else do you have for us?”
“Oh, something else. It’s more of a favor than a request…… Yeah. It would be easier that way.”
“You mean a favor? Tell me, I’ll help you with anything I can.”
“Really?”
Well, then, I guess I have nothing to lose.
“I want you to give me your arcane skills.”
“What? What does that mean ──”
“Give it to me.”
Oh, I want new skills.
