Ch.169Chapter 169 – The Repairman Becomes a Divine Grape

In the carriage heading toward the capital, an awkward silence hung between Pathos and Baek Yu-wol.

The cause was Baek Yu-wol’s rejection of Pathos’s offer.

Pathos had planned to use his abilities to heal the burn scars on Baek Yu-wol’s hands, hoping to gain her assistance in the upcoming war against the demon cult.

Even in this world where magic and various sorceries were advanced, techniques to remove scars like burn marks remained undeveloped.

Even those who had made their names in the world through magic and alchemy struggled with something as simple as baldness, and there were no methods to remove burn scars or other blemishes.

Moreover, in the Eastern Continent, it wasn’t alchemy or magic that had developed, but martial arts. Thus, erasing scars caused by burns was nearly impossible.

‘Could these scars… really be removed?’

Baek Yu-wol had acquired various scars, large and small, during her martial arts training.

Since her martial arts primarily involved using a bow, most of the scars on her body were on her hands or arms.

In particular, the most severely scarred area was her entire hand, including the palm.

One of the treasures of her family, the Western Baek Clan, was a weapon once used by the clan head, Baek Dan-hyeop.

The bow named “Phoenix Feather,” made using feathers from the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts, contained some of the bird’s essence and was as difficult to handle as its name suggested.

Though just a fragment, because it contained the essence of the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts, this weapon was inherently selective about its wielder.

If the person holding the weapon wasn’t qualified, it would heat up enough to burn their hands, naturally forcing them to let go.

However, if the wielder had sufficient skill and was qualified to hold the weapon, it would no longer heat up and would willingly lend its power.

Only two people had used this weapon: Baek Dan-hyeop and Baek Yu-wol. But there was one difference between them.

Baek Dan-hyeop had picked up the Phoenix Feather after his body and martial arts were fully developed, so he had no burn scars on his palms.

But Baek Yu-wol, as the martial arts successor chosen by Baek Dan-hyeop, had to grasp the Phoenix Feather even though her body and martial arts weren’t fully developed.

As a result, Baek Yu-wol’s palms were left with severe burn scars from the Phoenix Feather, and she had to repeatedly grasp and release it until her body and martial arts were fully developed.

Now she had reached such a high level of martial arts that she could hold the Phoenix Feather without any issues, but one regret remained.

‘I wanted to have pretty hands too.’

In her innocent childhood, she had been a girl with slender, beautiful hands often described as “jade-like.”

But after her father, Baek Dan-hyeop, discovered her talent for martial arts, her hands began to deteriorate from handling the Phoenix Feather.

Her slender, pretty hands disappeared completely, replaced by rough, coarse hands suitable for drawing and releasing a bow. Her hands were literally overworked.

Through her enhanced physical abilities, her overworked palms had improved to a level where they didn’t cause discomfort in daily life or when using martial arts.

‘Would anyone in this world be able to like me after seeing these hands?’

Compared to other women her age, Baek Yu-wol’s hands resembled not hands but the paws of a beast.

Despite her outstanding martial arts skills and exceptional beauty that others envied, her damaged hands detracted from her charm.

Because of this, while marriage proposals from various clans had come her way when she was young, they all disappeared after she began handling the Phoenix Feather.

This wasn’t because they disliked her damaged hands, but because as the martial arts successor of the Baek Clan, any children she bore would take their mother’s surname rather than their father’s.

This was a rule common to all sixteen great clans: children of those who inherited a clan’s techniques or martial arts must belong to that clan.

The purpose of marriage between clan members was to strengthen their clan through the union, but marrying Baek Yu-wol would mean their children would become members of the Baek Clan—which clan would welcome that?

Baek Yu-wol believed this was her fault.

Of course, Baek Dan-hyeop knew this too, but he judged and thought of everything strictly as the head of the Baek Clan, not as a father to his daughter.

To him, Baek Yu-wol was merely a tool to strengthen the clan and to reach martial arts heights he couldn’t achieve, bringing glory to the family.

Had she been without talent, she might have grown up as a beloved youngest daughter, but her talent—which had elevated her to the ranks of the fifteen great masters at just over twenty years of age—was not a blessing but a curse.

In that sense, Baek Yu-wol’s hands were like a kind of restraint.

She too was a person with emotions.

A person who could love, resent, miss, and grieve.

But whenever she looked at her hands, disfigured by burn scars, she hesitated to harbor romantic feelings toward others.

She could maintain friendships, but she couldn’t entertain the idea of forming a lifelong bond with a partner.

And then appeared a man named Pathos before her.

He said to her:

“Miss Baek Yu-wol. You seem to have undergone quite harsh training.”

He was the first man to look at her hideous hands and comment on her harsh training.

“Well, my hands have become somewhat unsightly, but I don’t particularly mind. These scars are proof that I’ve achieved strength with these hands.”

“Still, haven’t you ever dreamed of having smooth, beautiful hands without scars?”

Baek Yu-wol was left speechless at Pathos’s words.

This was the first time she had met someone like him.

Someone who understood her heart so well.

“…N-no! I’ve never thought that these scars on my hands were disgusting or hideous, or felt any resentment about them!”

“Is that so? That’s a shame. If you wanted, I could use my abilities to heal your hands.”

What did he just say? That he could heal her hands?

These hands that countless doctors and pharmacists had given up on, shaking their heads?

“You heard me correctly. With my abilities, I could easily heal Miss Baek Yu-wol’s hands, but if you’re so proud of your scars, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“N-no… that’s… I… it might be fine…”

“No. I seem to have troubled your mind with unnecessary words. I apologize for that.”

But that’s not it. That’s not what I meant…

Baek Yu-wol felt despair when Pathos stopped offering to heal her hands.

If he had shown even a hint of hesitation or deceit, she would have scoffed and told him not to lie.

But in the eyes of the man who claimed he could heal her hands, she couldn’t find even a trace of falsehood.

This meant that he truly possessed the ability to heal her hands.

However, Baek Yu-wol soon changed her mind.

‘But if he had such remarkable abilities, his name would surely be known throughout the world.’

It wasn’t unreasonable for Baek Yu-wol to think this way.

After all, if he truly had the ability to heal even her hands, shouldn’t she have already known his name?

But she had never heard of his name or title in the Eastern Continent.

The only thing she had heard was from her clan head, Baek Dan-hyeop: “There’s an interesting rumor circulating in the Western Continent. They say someone called the ‘Sword Destroyer’ has appeared.”

Beyond that, there was nothing else known, so Baek Yu-wol decided to think of Pathos as “someone with strong self-conviction and overflowing confidence,” since he didn’t seem to be lying.

Among the people she had met so far, those who didn’t appear to be lying about what they said fell into one of two categories:

Those who were truly speaking the truth, or those who strongly believed what they were saying was true.

‘This person probably belongs to the latter. The escort to the capital is probably an attempt to establish new trade connections by leveraging his status as an Eastern Continent native who became a Western nobleman.’

Baek Yu-wol became convinced that Pathos didn’t actually have the ability to heal her hands, but rather just had strong self-conviction that he could.

Of course, her thinking resembled that of the fox who convinced itself that “those grapes must be sour anyway.”