The 31st Piece Turns the Tables

Chapter 52

Seol headed to where Kibo told him to go.

It was to confirm the information he received as a reward for beheading Heka.

‘That’s that, but… the timing’s way too tight.’

Due to being swept up in various events during his rest, Seol only had 15 days before his next Adventure started.

He planned on using the remaining days to look for Chao’s traces, but… because he was heading to somewhere that was contrary to his original plans, he was feeling impatient.

‘If it looks like it’s going to take a while, I should just save it for next time.’

Since uncovering Chao’s whereabouts was what was most important right now, Seol didn’t need to desperately clear this as well.

Even so, Seol was excited at the thought of directly meeting Hamun, Orgo’s successor.

‘Is it really the same Hamun?’

Seol planned on visiting Hamun even if his plans went awry, even if he was unable to get anything from him.

Hamun himself was a mark that Seol left in The World of Eternity. Even though it was a considerably sad memory for Orgo, Seol wanted to meet Hamun.

“It should be around here somewhere…”

It was a rather unpopulated region of Nobira, Seol went through one deserted area after another to reach a street nearby.

He wasn’t sure if people simply just didn’t live around here or if something happened, but… it was completely empty.

- It’s so sketchy here…

- Kibo: Kuku… just according to keikaku.

- So there was a place like this in Nobira too… shiiiiiet

Just as Seol was starting to feel nervous as well, he felt a presence.

Rustle…

Seol instantly turned and looked.

He saw a handsome young man.

‘A mole near his eye…’

Seol instantly caught the young man’s unique physical characteristic.

A handsome young man with copper skin and a mole near his eye.

‘He’s Hamun.’

He looked exactly like the Hamun he remembered as Orgo. Well, other than the fact that he was much older than then.

As Seol was looking at Hamun with reminiscent eyes, Hamun spoke to him. “I heard about you from old man Kibo.”

“I apologize, was I intruding?”

Hamun shook his head. “Old man Kibo is my savior. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been buried in the sands.”

Seol was glad that Hamun’s favor for Kibo hadn’t disappeared.

Hamun gave Seol a bow and turned around. “Follow me. I doubt there’s any pleasant conversation we could have while standing around here.”

“Okay.”

It wasn’t normal for rows of houses like this to create a creepy atmosphere. These buildings, surprisingly, had no windows, so it was impossible to look inside either.

Even so, even if it were the slums, there should at least be traces of humans.

‘Did something happen?’ Seol continued to follow Hamun, thinking things like that to himself.

Hamun entered into a creepy, crude house and Seol followed.

He prepared tea for his visitor ahead of time so the moment Seol entered the house, Hamun offered him tea.

“I hope it’s to your tastes.”

“Ah, I’m fine without tea.”

“...Why?”

“I don’t normally eat or drink anything offered to me by someone else, so… it’s just a habit from my job, I hope you can understand.”

“That’s exactly what my master used to say,” quietly responded Hamun.

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Regardless, it does look quite weird for the homeowner to be the only one drinking tea while the guest has nothing.”

“It’s not your fault at all.”

Sip.

Hamun watched Seol while drinking his tea. Hamun was a quiet person.

‘It’s exactly the same as when he was young.’

Hamun even surprised Seol when he was young as his dialogue script was much shorter than the other children around his age. Seol, even now, couldn’t believe that the same Hamun was right before him.

“Is there an issue?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Still, you never know how things go in life. I thought Kibo had forgotten about saving me in the desert, and now… I’m repaying the debt from that day to someone I had never met before.”

Seol was curious about how that happened, so he asked a question. “Who were you being chased by?”

“People who wanted my master’s works. Ah, have you heard about my master?”

Seol knew everything about him. “I know him somewhat.”

“Have you also heard about him before he got that disgraceful nickname?”

“...Orgo, the Golden Hand.”

Since everything Orgo made had strange effects, it wasn’t a stretch to give him that luxurious title.

“You’re exactly right.”

“Why are you so curious about whether I know your master or not?”

“I find it very pleasant when I hear his name from other people. Don’t tell me… did I upset you?”

“Not at all, I just thought it was unique.”

Hamun then continued, “As my master became more and more disillusioned by the world and resolved to depart, his works had already either fallen to the hands of evil individuals or were hidden so that no one could find them.”

“So you were being chased down despite all that?”

Seol hid the items so that no one could find them to be considerate to Hamun.

It was so that Hamun could live his own life. Seol knew that even if he left those items to Hamun, he wouldn’t have been able to protect them.

And if those items were left in the world, it would only torture Orgo further.

“I realized then that evil is more tenacious than good. They exhaustively kept an eye on me. They wanted to see if I was living a normal life or if I was in contact with Master Orgo.”

“And that eventually led to you running away.”

“Yes. I thought they would give up if I chose a difficult path, but I didn’t expect them to follow me all the way into the desert.”

“It really was good that you met Kibo.”

“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be able to live like this today. It was thanks to him that I was able to settle here.”

“And nowadays, you…”

Hamun gave a bitter smile.

“It has been a long while since I’ve forgotten the anvil and hammer. Currently, I run a tea shop in the city.”

“...I see.”

“Ah, the debt I have to repay Kibo is still a debt. I planned to repay Kibo no matter what. Now, tell me, Snowman, what do you want?”

As Hamun finished his sentence, Seol saw options.

[[Hamun has asked you what you want. What will you ask from him?]

1. [Required: Hamun’s Changed Mind] A weapon.

2. [Required: Hamun’s Changed Mind] A set of armor.

3. [Required: Blacksmith] To learn his secrets.

4. Repairing or enhancing an item.

……]

It was a disastrous list of options.

‘Everything’s locked up.’

The options were grayed out.

Other than a select few options, they were all grayed out.

‘Hamun’s Changed Mind… I don’t have the time to fulfill this condition.’

Since it was a reward that Seol didn’t anticipate, he didn’t have the luxury in time.

Even now, Seol was worried about finding Chao’s traces. There was no way he could afford to waste time on something he knew nothing about.

Seol, in the end, gave up on requesting a new item from Hamun and chose another option.

Seol then pulled out two items from his inventory.

The first was Karuna’s Moonlight Sword which boasted a sharp, blue edge and the other was a crushed helmet.

[[Helmet of Control(Destroyed)]

Quality: Abomination

Recommended Level: N/A

Defense: 0

Durability: 0/0

Weight: 5kg

A helmet made with a rare material called ‘spirit stone’. It had been corrupted after it was influenced by its maker’s grudge. It is completely destroyed now and won’t have its power returned even if it is repaired.

Basic Effect: N/A

Bonus Effect: N/A]

It was a helmet Seol received in The Hall of Self-Control and a treasure that Borgo used.

“Oho…”

Hamun started inspecting the Moonlight Sword and Helmet of Control as if he were interested in them. This passion was still hidden inside of him.

‘So you’re still the same, Hamun.’

Whenever Orgo made a new item, Hamun would always give him a thumbs up.

Though Orgo left, he remained.

"This helmet is made out of spirit stone."

"Correct."

"Then we’d have to melt this helmet down and remake it. If I simply tried to repair it as it is right now, it wouldn’t be able to bring out half of the spirit stone’s powers."

“Is that so?”

Hamun then took his eyes off the helmet to look at the Moonlight Sword.

Seol waited. He predicted that soon, Hamun would give a similar reaction to the reaction that he gave when he saw the helmet.

But then…

“Hm…”

Even though quite a bit of time had pressed, Hamun didn’t say anything.

“Urm…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hold on a second…”

Hamun pulled out a hefty book from his bookcase and flipped through the pages.

And after that, even more time passed.

- Hamun… A hamun shouldn’t keep people waiting…

- Do you want Private to fuck you up?

- He’s taking so damn long…

Seol waited, quiet as a mouse.

And after a long, long while, Hamun finally spoke.

“Where… did you get this?”

“Where? I don’t really…”

“Is it something that’s difficult to tell me?”

Since it really wasn’t anything special, Seol gladly told Hamun everything he knew about the Moonlight Sword. He told Hamun that he found the sword in a moon ruin forgotten by humans.

“...As expected.”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“Items are always bound to have a record. Like when they were made or what they were made for. And it’s embarrassing to say but I am someone who has the knowledge and eyes to uncover those records.”

Seol hesitated for a moment.

“Are you telling me that the Moonlight Sword has no such records?”

“Yes, precisely. I wonder how a weapon like this could exist… It makes me wonder if my master would’ve known if he saw this.”

“He wouldn’t have known either.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hamun continued to talk to himself. “It probably is a weapon from a civilization right before ours.”

“What?”

“I’m sure you might think it’s strange, but in my eyes, that’s the only way. Everything about this sword is a mystery to me, from the materials used to make it to the powers hidden inside. And the biggest question to me is how exactly the unprecedented power is working in reverse to the sword’s powers.”

“What do you mean?”

“In other words, the sword is restricting the powers inside of it. I’m assuming the spells engraved on the sword probably have something to do with it.

Seol wasn’t asking Hamun for the origin or history of the Moonlight Sword. And as such, he didn’t care for the question after question.

“So?”

“I’m interested, very interested! Could you perhaps tell me who’s using this sword? I don’t think that you’re using it yourself, Snowman.”

Glow…

Frss!

Karuna stood stalwart by Seol’s side.

“...A shadow?”

“Yes, it’s his weapon.”

“A weapon for a shadow… How interesting.”

“So which of the two items will you be taking care of?”

If Hamun chose the Moonlight Sword, Seol would ask him to enhance it and if Hamun chose the Helmet of Control, he would ask him to repair it. Even if the Helmet of Control would have reduced powers from it not being remade completely, there was no way Seol could ask him to make a new item for him.

However… Hamun’s answer shocked Seol.

“I’ll take care of both of them.”

“What?”

“I’ve become interested… in this sword.”

Then all he had to do was accept the sword? Why did he accept the helmet too?

As Seol thought to himself while looking at the Helmet of Control, Hamun answered him.

“If it was something I was uninterested in, I would’ve rejected the helmet. But right now, there’s a fire lit within me. And it made me want to accept the helmet as well.”

“I only have half a month though, Hamun.”

“Half a month is plenty of time. Leave it to me. I am one of the few people on this continent who can awaken the hidden powers sleeping in this sword.”

“...I understand.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

After Seol left, leaving behind his sword and helmet, Hamun grabbed the two items and headed somewhere.

Thud…

Creak…

He was headed underground.

Obviously though, it wasn’t an ordinary basement area.

The basement area had a long tunnel that connected elsewhere.

Clunk…

“Fuu… it’s been a long time.”

It was his equipment, covered in dust. His anvil and hammers. His bellows and furnace.

Hamun, contrary to his words about not working as a blacksmith anymore, had all of the equipment he needed in this area.

This area was also the windowless houses that Seol was curious about.

Hamun had connected all of those houses by breaking down and connecting the interior walls to make a giant smithy.

However, the Helmet of Control and the Moonlight Sword weren’t the only equipment here.

Unsheathe…

A sword that radiated a myriad of colors

It was beautiful to the point that it would leave you speechless.

This item’s name was ‘Storm’.

And it was also his master’s, Orgo’s, first work.

It was a Treasure quality item. It was amazing for someone’s first work, but it was still a bit lacking compared to the other amazing items throughout the continent.

Hamun wasn’t chased down by his pursuers simply because of a vague reason like wanting to know his master’s whereabouts. It was also because of the sole legacy his master left behind.

“It’s just a treasure quality item at best… Why do they want to take even this from me?”

Click…

Hamun, after putting away Storm, let out a calm sigh and spoke to himself as if he were trying to resolve himself.

“Orgo, with this, I will finally surpass you.”