Chapter 68

Chapter 68 – Playing Under The Moonlight

Crimson Flame, 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 became sharp again within the crimson flames.

He was thirsting for a more unique challenge.

“I’ve mentioned 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 time.”

“Is it really something 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 memory, 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 come looking for me? They only pester me to make sharp metal objects they can hold and shake.”

So, when I first visited the smithy, thinking I came because of his reputation, he enthusiastically recommended any weapon to drive me away.

“Why is a man who looks like he should be pumping bellows and hammering metal not taking orders and instead playing the role of a merchant? That’s what I thought.”

“I was already working just enough to meet my quota, but the idea of taking on another custom order made me feel sick.”

I’ve met many so-called divine craftsmen and renowned artisans in my time.

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 came 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 me?”

“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.”

The delicate and sacred moment when the first note is played by a newly born gayageum.

The Longing Ghost Sound told me 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 instrument(?) even in death, I could guess the extent of the Longing Ghost Sound’s passion and obsession with his instrument.

However, if there was something I could relate to...

It was a profoundly special moment for anyone, whether a martial artist or a musician, to wield something for the first time 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 instrument?

It was supposed to be the moment to present the first secret and sacred note, but my new friend seemed 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 times more suffering, it’s a treasure that cannot be easily obtained...”

Even the courtesans and musicians who recognized the value of the instruments were eager to obtain it.

The yet unnamed 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 moment 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 time 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 melody began to flow slowly.

With a sound so beautiful and pure, even the gods would be enchanted.