Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Upon their return from Mount Silver Moon to Babel, Se-Hoon was immediately brought to Askus, still cradled in Eun-Ha’s arms.

His entire body, covered in blood from all the cuts by Vollmond’s claws, was under considerable strain due to forcibly enhancing his physical abilities.

My condition isn’t even that serious...

However, Se-Hoon determined the severity of an injury solely by whether he was still able to forge. Thus, he considered his current injuries manageable since he believed that he could still forge if he just acted a bit more carefully.

“Just stay still.”

But Eun-Ha was not like him. She dismissed his claims outright and immediately had him hospitalized.

And soon, she was proven correct.

“It’s a six-week recovery.”

“...Excuse me?”

Surprised by the unexpectedly long recovery period, Se-Hoon puzzledly looked at Professor Jung-Wan who had conducted the examination.

“Are you sure you didn’t mean six days?”

“You heard me correctly. It’s six weeks.”

“How can that be...? With these injuries?”

Even though he acknowledged that he had pushed himself a bit too far, six weeks was excessively long.

Sighing at his reaction, Jung-Wan began explaining.

“Take a look at this first.”

Snap-

With a flick of his fingers, three images were displayed in the air, showing diagrams of Se-Hoon’s muscles, bones, and mana circuits.

His muscles were torn everywhere, his bones were cracked in several places, and his mana circuits, the most severe of them all, had been severely damaged in many areas. Some parts of his mana circuits had even shriveled or been blocked up to as much as two-thirds.

“In over thirty years of my medical career... I’ve never seen anyone who has meticulously wrecked their body to this extent.”

When the body reached its limit, usually the weakest parts would fail first, leading to serious injuries there. In Se-Hoon’s case, however, his injuries had been evenly distributed across his body, leaving no part unscathed.

“Your body is like... cracked glass. It looks fine on the outside, but even just a little stimulus can cause it to shatter completely.”

“In other words, as long as there’s no such stimulus—”

“How will the treatment proceed?” Eun-Ha asked, cutting off Se-Hoon.

Responding to Eun-Ha’s question, the Jung-Wan erased the images before answering.

“Rapid treatment will be risky since his mana circuits have been weakened overall. Thus, we’ll likely go with catalyzing his natural healing. We also plan to bind him with special bandages for compression; it’ll protect his body.”

“Please take good care of him.”

“No. Wait...”

Completely disregarding Se-Hoon’s input, the treatment proceeded swiftly. A blink of an eye later, his entire body had been meticulously wrapped in gray bandages.

“These are special bandages engraved with physical support and mana suppression enchantments. It won’t interfere with your daily activities, so don’t worry.”

Feeling the special bandages clinging tightly to part of his body, Se-Hoon frowned in discomfort.

Meanwhile, Eun-Ha nodded gratefully to Jung-Wan.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“I’ll be leaving you two then.”

With the exit of Jung-Wan, who bowed before he left, a heavy silence enveloped the room.

The silence, which was a bit different from the one he experienced on Mount Silver Moon, was filled with indescribable discomfort. Se-Hoon cautiously looked at Eun-Ha.

Seated by his side, Eun-Ha was silently lowering her head slightly, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing her posture, he made a curious expression.

I can’t tell what she’s thinking right now.

Compared to other high-ranking heroes, who usually seemed to be missing a screw each, Eun-Ha had always been relatively easy to deal with. She treated those who forged good equipment well and, conversely, decisively cut off those who forged subpar equipment, even if she had known them for years.

Some called her cold-blooded, but her clear standards made her a lot easier to deal with.

This time it’s a bit different...

Before the regression, she would sign regular supply contracts with blacksmiths she favored, the duration depending on their skill. And Se-Hoon had managed to make a deal to supply her once a week, which was already far more often than other blacksmiths; the normal was usually once a month at best. It was not an exaggeration to say that her standards were on a completely different level.

Thus, with that in mind, he had decided to try and maintain some distance from her this time around.

“Would you make my meals every day from now on?”

But, her recent proposal had turned all of his plans upside down.

Even when they had a level four bond before the regression, all he had managed was supplying her with equipment at a maximum of once a week. Yet now, with just a level two bond, she was craving his equipment so much that she even asked if he would forge something for her every day.

I didn’t expect that understanding the taste of equipment would bring about this much change.

While he was deep in thought about how he should gauge the distance with her now, Eun-Ha raised her head.

“Lee Se-Hoon.”

After being lost in thought for a while, Eun-Ha finally spoke up.

“Do you remember the proposal I mentioned on Mount Silver Moon?”

“Yes. You asked for a meal every day...”

Hearing his response, her eyes flickered slightly before she quickly looked away.

“What I was referring to was the equipment you forge. I apologize if my words led to any misunderstanding.”

“Hm? There’s no need to apologize. There is nothing wrong with using the term ‘meal’ given your abilities.”

In fact, since she could maintain her physical condition by just consuming equipment, she had never eaten conventional food before. While it wasn’t like she couldn’t, it wouldn’t be enjoyable since she would hardly taste anything and the energy efficiency would be very poor.

“Ahem... I’m glad you understood it that way.”

With a quick clearing of her throat, she regained control of the atmosphere. Looking at him again, she continued, “Anyway, though hasty, my proposal to secure the supply of your equipment was sincere.”

“Supply, you say...”

“When I consumed the Radiant Long Sword, I was truly shocked. I was moved by the taste, which transcended the mere tier of the weapon.”

“That’s a bit too...”

“No, it’s not an exaggeration. I can honestly say that the satisfaction I felt at that moment was in no way inferior to when I consumed Legendary equipment in the past.”

Hearing her repeated compliments, his face twitched.

While he, being a human himself, didn’t mind receiving compliments, it was difficult to get used to, especially coming from someone like her.

“Can’t you do better?”

“It’s not bad, but not impressive. Try harder.”

“Do you really think this is your limit?”

She always gave out critiques that, when put positively, pointed out flaws, and when put negatively, were just complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction. There was a reason she was always avoided by blacksmiths.

For her to praise him using a word as strong as “moved” was both pleasing and oddly unsettling.

“So... what do you think about my proposal?” she asked, carefully gauging his reaction.

“I will offer more than ten times the market price for each piece of equipment provided. And I can also pay for the materials and equipment needed for the workshop.”

She was essentially offering him the privilege of being able to focus solely on forging equipment. In some ways, this would allow him to grow faster than studying at Babel.

“I’m sorry.”

But he immediately shook his head to decline.

“If you’re not satisfied with the conditions, I can offer more...”

“The conditions are more than sufficient. It’s just that I prefer gaining a variety of experiences over being tied down.”

“I see...” she murmured bittersweetly, seemingly understanding his point.

It’s a lie, though, Se-Hoon thought to himself.

No matter how good of an educational institution Babel may be, it wasn’t likely that it would provide experiences valuable enough to turn down such an offer. He had declined for only one reason: the offer was from none other than Eun-Ha herself.

She feels like this right now, but she’ll change her tune once she gets used to it.

It was just like how home-cooked meals would be moving to someone who had been living abroad for a long time, but to someone who ate it routinely, it would lose its charm once eaten for months on end.

If he did accept the offer and supplied her with equipment every day, then one day the taste might become too familiar, making her tired of it.

“Anything...?”

“You heard me. Tell me whatever you need; it doesn’t matter. I’ll try to compensate you for the fame you would have gained.”

Though his proposal was extremely vague, the fact that it came from Babel’s chairman, a Perfect One, made it far more creditable.

The fame I would have gained, you say...

Knowing that Ludwig must have some calculations in mind, Se-Hoon started with the easiest request after organizing the list of things he needed in his mind.

“I’d like to research the taste of equipment that Dean Ryu Eun-Ha perceives. Could you approve that?”

“Oh.... With Dean Ryu?”

Seeing Ludwig looking at her, trying to verify the truth, Eun-Ha nodded.

“That’s correct.”

“So, this young man has managed to make something to your taste?”

“Yes. I can’t say for sure yet, but... it was the closest among all of the equipment I’ve tasted.”

At her response, Ludwig smiled brightly.

“Then of course we must research it. I’ll approve this request independently of the current matter. Next?”

Hearing that it wouldn’t be counted as part of the compensation, Se-Hoon celebrated internally and moved on to the next request.

“I’d like the upcoming extermination practical location to be the Black Lotus Seas.”

Surprised by the request, Ludwig asked, “This is an unexpected request. Do you have a reason for it?”

“I think I can earn the fame I missed out on this time here.”

Of course, his real intention was to acquire the special material hidden there, but there was no need to say that.

Seemingly understanding, Ludwig nodded.

“Asking for an opportunity rather than compensation... that’s not a bad choice. Next?”

Though Se-Hoon thought it would be quite a burdensome request, given its impact on the curriculum, it seemed like it wasn’t a big deal to Ludwig.

Now encouraged by Ludwig’s generosity so far, Se-Hoon moved on to his main request.

“I need the Southern Flame Feather, the Vermilion Bird’s feather.”

This Hero material was the final material he needed for the forging of the memory device that he had been putting off due to incomplete preparations and designs.

I hope he actually has one.

While Dream Ivory and Inkstone Ore had both been rare enough on their own, a Southern Flame Feather was in a different league entirely.

Firstly, the material itself was a drop from the S-tier magical beast Vermilion Bird. Moreover, its properties made it particularly troublesome to acquire.

Even if one somehow managed to defeat the beast, its whole body would suddenly ignite, evaporating ninety percent of its physical form.

I heard that its feathers are almost never recovered...

It was such a rare material that even Se-Hoon had never seen it before.

He had just asked out of hope, thinking that Luiwg might actually possess one.

“Southern Flame Feather, you say.... Wait a moment.”

Ludwig waved his hand through the air nonchalantly.

Click-

And just like before, a golden keyhole appeared in the air, rotated ninety degrees, and then split vertically.

From the white void that appeared, something began to stir, and soon an item fell out.

Thud-

A neatly cut, rectangular crystal appeared, housing a palm-sized red gemstone inside. Se-Hoon’s eyes widened.

“Could it be...?”

“You may take a look.”

Examining the information message of the crystal that Ludwig pushed over to him, he wore a slightly tense expression.

[Southern Flame Feather]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Perfect]

[The feather of a Vermillion Bird that rules over fire.

It contains powerful fire mana and has the power to resist psychic interference.

*Increases fire resistance.

*Increases resistance to psychic attacks]

“...”

What lay right in front of Se-Hoon’s eyes was a perfectly preserved Southern Flame Feather.

Seeing how Ludwig had nonchalantly offered an ultra-rare material, Se-Hoon immediately revised his opinion of Ludwig’s ability.

There’s something fishy about him... I should keep him close.

Who could possibly be more important to a blacksmith than a dealer or customer who provided him with the necessary materials?

Noticing Se-Hoon’s eyes sparkling at the sight of the feather, Ludwig asked calmly, “Is the quality sufficient enough?”

“Ah, yes. It’s enough. Thank you.”

“That’s a relief.”

With this feather, Se-Hoon could now forge the equipment that would aid in examining his pre-regression memories. He was completely satisfied with the appropriate trade.

“So, what next?”

But it seemed like Ludwig was not, as he asked again with a gentle smile.

“...Pardon?”

“What else do you need?”

“...”

Se-Hoon blinked multiple times at Ludwig’s question.

The Southern Flame Feather alone was already easily worth billions, yet Ludwig was still offering more compensation...?

Deciding to just accept after a moment of contemplation, Se-Hoon proposed his next request.

“Do you happen to have a Dragon Lung Stone?”

This was something he needed to upgrade the Hero-tier tool, the Black Flame Hammer, which he won in a bet with Jake.

Originally, he had been considering asking Sung-Ha since it was a difficult material to obtain. However, he felt like Ludwig, who had nonchalantly provided an ultra-rare material like the Southern Flame Feather, would be able to easily provide him with one.

Thud-

Quickly confirming his expectation, a dark red ore soon fell onto the desk. Pushing it to the edge of the desk again, Ludwig calmly spoke.

“Take a look.”

[Dragon Lung Stone]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Excellent]

[An ore that can accumulate fire mana.

If the internal mana is stimulated in a certain direction, it can release the stored fire mana in one go.

*Can store and release fire mana]

“Ho...”

With just a glance, he knew that this was enough to upgrade the Black Flame Hammer.

Seeing the two Hero materials, Se-Hoon was satisfied with what he had obtained.

“...?”

But for some reason, Ludwig was still smiling and staring quietly at him. He seemed like he was waiting for Se-Hoon to continue.

“Next?”

Hearing that, Se-Hoon was immediately prompted to correct his opinion of Ludwig.

He was a very, very, very, nice person, one that was rare to find in this harsh world.