Chapter 68 - An Interview

The smith gave no response, but the gray-robed middle-aged man paid that no mind and explained why he had come. Still, the only answer he received was the deafening hammering.

"The Alliance Leader wishes to see you, sir."

Whether the smith answered or not, the middle-aged man repeated the same words to his back.

Had the smith only just heard him? Or was he merely annoyed? Only then did he stop his reddened arms, though he still kept his back to the gray-robed man.

"Yeah? And what the hell do you want me to do about it?"

The smith's voice was as harsh and grating as his rough skin. Yet his complete lack of surprise made it clear that he had known of the gray-robed man's arrival all along.

"The Alliance Leader instructed me to escort you to Zhengzhou, sir."

"Who said I was going? Use those eyes of yours. I'm bloody busy, you brat."

At the smith's coarse reply, the gray-robed man finally looked at the iron statue. A peculiar gleam flashed in his eyes. Even at a glance, the metal it was made from was highly unusual.

"...10,000-Year Cold Iron."

"Heh heh heh. 10,000-Year Cold Iron? You've spent so long cooped up in that stuffy Alliance that those eyes of yours have turned into rotten fish eyes, Heaven-Splitting Tyrant Saber."

"Then again, even I don't know what this is. What chance would you have?"

The smith had unmistakably called the gray-robed man the Heaven-Splitting Tyrant Saber.

Eulji Tae, the Heaven-Splitting Tyrant Saber.

That was no insignificant name. Who in the world would dare take lightly one of the Twenty Great Masters under Heaven, the right hand of the Murim Alliance Leader?

Yet the smith of Eight Directions Armory was calling Eulji Tae a brat without the slightest hesitation. And Eulji Tae took the insults in stride, even addressing the smith as "sir"...

Clearly, this smith was no ordinary man.

"Sir, the Cursed Killing Star has appeared."

Leaving the silent Eulji Tae behind, the smith had been raising his hammer again, but his hand faltered at the words "Cursed Killing Star." It lasted only an instant before he resumed his work.

"What's so important about the Cursed Killing Star? I've got a rare piece of metal in my hands that a smith won't see twice in a lifetime."

CLANG!

As the smith's hammer struck the chisel once more, Eulji Tae spoke again.

"It is the Extreme Yin Cursed Killing Star. And it is a complete full star."

TING!

The note was not clear. The hammer had glanced off the chisel.

A missed strike. For this smith, it was something that might happen once in years, or even decades. That alone testified to how shocking Eulji Tae's words had been.

For the first time, he turned to face Eulji Tae.

Bloodshot eyes flashed with lightning brilliance. His lips were pressed together as firmly as an ancient boulder. Wrinkles cracked his face like parched fields. All of it looked as stubborn as the long years he had lived.

"What did you just babble? What, the Extreme Yin Cursed Killing Star? And a full star at that? Are you out of your damned mind?"

A moment earlier, his voice had belonged to a foul-mouthed smith in a corner of the marketplace. Now it was overlaid with a strange authority.

Meeting the smith's gaze without flinching, Eulji Tae spoke in a low but distinct voice.

"Yes, sir. It is all true. They say it was hidden behind the Strange New Star, which is why they have only now discovered it."

Was it excitement? The smith's flushed face grew redder still.

"The Heavenly Demon Castle?"

"We do not yet know."

"You've all gone mad. The Extreme Yin Cursed Killing Star has become a full star, and you don't know yet?"

"That is why the Alliance Leader wishes to see you, sir."

The smith shook his head from side to side. It did not mean that he refused to go, but that he had no choice but to go. He could no longer turn Eulji Tae down.

"What am I going to do about this...?"

Murmuring, the smith gently stroked the iron statue, which had only now acquired a few scratches. He felt its smooth surface through his own rough, cracked fingertips.

Divine iron—the metal of the gods.

That was what he had thought when he first saw it. In all his decades as a smith, he had never seen or even heard of such a metal. What had been fashioned from it was more astonishing still.

If the metal was divine iron, the sword made from it was a ghost's blade. He had prided himself on being the finest master craftsman under heaven... but the instant he saw it, that belief shattered. A tingling shudder had coursed through him from head to toe. Never in his life had he felt anything like it.

A sword forged from divine metal with uncanny skill.

His pride had been utterly crushed.

He had asked the man who brought it where he had obtained it. The man had answered by asking whether he could work with it...

["Can you work with it?"]

["... An insane piece of metal, and insane craftsmanship. Where did you get it?"]

["What do you mean, can I work with it? Surely you aren't asking me to melt it down? This!? This thing? Something so perfect?"]

["Of course. If you can, make this for me."]

["This!? Isn't this you?"]

["It is. Once it is finished... if you can finish it, cut it into pieces as shown in the drawing beside it."]

["You're mad. You want to melt this down just to make some pieces of full-body armor?"]

["Then I will return in a month."]

["Are you insane? What will you do if you simply leave something like this with me and I run off with it?"]

["I will find you."]

["Heh heh heh. No, you won't. I don't know whether you came here knowing who I am, but if I decide to hide, no one under heaven can find me."]

["I will find you..."]

["Fine, let's say you can. What will you do once you find me?"]

["I will kill you."]

["..."]

["And take it back."]

["Ha, hahahahaha! You really are an amusing fellow. Yes, yes. If I ever do something like that, make sure you do exactly that. Hahaha!"]

From that day on, the smith had begun melting down the mysterious sword.

"Hahahahaha! Yes, that's how it went. I do believe it did. Hahaha!"

Recalling that day, the smith could not hold back the hearty laughter welling up inside him.

Eulji Tae stood quietly watching him. He had known the smith for a very long time, yet he had never seen him laugh so loudly. No, this was the first time he had even realized the smith could laugh. The smith he knew was simply the greatest—no, the worst—eccentric under heaven. And now he was laughing so merrily? Even seeing it right before his eyes, he could hardly believe it.

'Who? Who in the world made that old monster laugh?'

As Eulji Tae silently asked himself that question, the smith stopped laughing.

"Since that old fart of an Alliance Leader is so damned desperate to see me, I'll go for now. But in exchange, there's something you'll have to do for me."

"What is it?"

TAP! TAP!

In answer, the smith tapped the iron statue with his free hand, rather than his hammer.

"Bring this fellow to the Alliance."

Eulji Tae immediately understood that he meant to find and bring the statue's owner, not the statue itself.

"... Understood."

"You there. Don't give me that half-hearted answer. You have to bring him. Otherwise, I'm dead. And if I die, it's all your fault."

"... Understood. Then what is his name?"

At Eulji Tae's question, the smith opened his mouth with a look of belated realization.

"Ah! I don't know that. Come to think of it, I never asked the fellow's name."

Eulji Tae took no offense at the smith's seemingly facetious words. That was simply the sort of man he was. What amazed him more was that the smith had taken such an interest in someone whose name he did not even know.

"You don't need to go looking for him anyway. Just wait here, and he'll probably come back in about a month."

"Understood, sir."

"Well then, shall I get going and see that old fart of an Alliance Leader?"

Had he been waiting for Eulji Tae's answer? The moment Eulji Tae finished speaking, the smith gathered the iron statue into his arms and walked straight out of Eight Directions Armory. So swift were his steps that he soon dwindled to a speck and vanished.

Eulji Tae stared for a long while in the direction the smith had disappeared, then abruptly murmured a question.

"Who in the world is he...?"

As it had when he arrived, a biting wind blew into Eight Directions Armory once more, then carried Eulji Tae's voice away into every corner of Datong.

"Ear Ghost?"

It was an uninvited visitor's voice. Returning to his wooden house from Eight Directions Armory, Dong Bongsu stopped in his tracks at the voice coming from inside. Considering that no one here dared enter his house without permission, the uninvited guest was unlikely to be a vagabond.

Just as Dong Bongsu suspected, those who had entered his house without permission and were waiting for him were an officer and soldiers from the Datong General Administration, sent to fetch him on Lee Jasong's orders.

"You'll have to come with us to the General Administration, Ear Ghost."

It was an exceedingly rude thing to say to a homeowner after occupying his house without permission and coming out to meet him, but Dong Bongsu did not particularly mind. Here in Datong, officers and other officials were the employers, and vagabonds like him were mere hired hands. Of course, that only held so long as they did not swing a sword at him. Since it was not a matter that threatened his life, he had no intention of quibbling over such minor rudeness.

Without much comment, Dong Bongsu followed the officer to the Datong General Administration.

After arriving and undergoing a brief search, he was allowed inside. Although he had gone ear hunting dozens of times, this was his first time entering the General Administration.

The grounds within were as imposing as the towering walls. Beyond the main gate, which stood some ten meters tall, stretched a long path paved with closely fitted square flagstones that looked as though they had been hewn from rock. Large halls lined both sides in straight rows, and at the far end stood a three-story palace in the ancient Chinese style.

The officer led Dong Bongsu toward that three-story palace.

Upon reaching its entrance, he saw a large plaque hanging from a beam.

'Northern Unity Hall. Is this where the commander's office is?'

As Dong Bongsu surmised, Northern Unity Hall was the central building of the Datong General Administration. The Northern Commander-in-Chief resided here and oversaw all affairs along the northern frontier.

Soon the soldiers all withdrew, leaving only Lee Jasong's adjutant to escort Dong Bongsu into Northern Unity Hall.

'Why does the commander want to see me?'