episode_0024

“And, I lost. Park Min-geun, who had made up his mind, fabricated some of the documents I had entrusted to him, and Kim Jin-hyeong presented them as evidence.”

Was it an illusion that her eyes, briefly visible through the cigarette smoke exhaled by the universe, looked longing?

Shihyuk took a cigarette out of her pack without saying a word and asked her. She didn’t really stop him.

The universe had to pay huge fines and damages.

Not only that, the business she and Eunha had slowly grown together and finally established was ordered to suspend operations for a year, and the sisters, left broke, had no choice but to work as freelancers.

Even space has been blacklisted.

“The blacklist is a type of judicial sanction that imposes penalties on the person and his party members when purchasing equipment or entrusting repairs if they have tarnished the honor of the association of master-level craftsmen belonging to various large craftsmen’s guilds or have caused harm to the craftsmen belonging to them.”

“But because it is so large and many production masters are joining, the country only frowns at it and does not stop it.”

There are only a handful of ‘Grand Meister’ level craftsmen in the world who can create [Unique Grade Equipment].

Only four in South Korea.

No, [Greatest] Baekhyun is dead, so there are three left. And two of them are members of the Master Association, so their influence extends to the government and even the world’s leading conglomerates.

And Kim Jin-hyung, the son of the CEO of the [Daon Hammer] Guild, is a man of thoroughgoing strength and weakness, and as soon as he joined this association, he expanded his network with the artisans and their vast wealth.

Through that breath, the universe and the galaxy were instantly put in a disadvantageous position.

“When we needed to buy or repair equipment, the masters belonging to the association would either turn us down or demand ridiculous amounts of money. In extreme cases, they would even issue an order to ban us after only receiving the repair fee.”

If the sister had belonged to a large-scale guild, things might have been different.

Large beasts would avoid touching each other if they fought each other, because even if one of them won, they would still get hurt.

But the universe and galaxy started out as private businesses. Even if the sisters were wronged, no one could stop them. They had little influence and were swept up in the storm.

… The simple nest that the universe and the galaxy had worked so hard to create fell to the ground and shattered into pieces as soon as it was built.

In this situation, Woojoon had no choice but to go around and buy [rare grade equipment] overseas for several times the amount of money.

Even to get it repaired, you had to bow your head and ask for repairs from craftsmen below the level of a master, or, in very rare cases, a master who was not affiliated with the association.

The universe was not a beginner.

She is also a veteran 5-year-old Awakener who has been through many ups and downs. She knew that when repairing equipment, if it passes through the hands of one craftsman, or at most three, the wear and tear will become severe.

But what can be done?

As such, there was some reason why she began to dislike the Awakened members of the production line.

-.-.-

After finishing his story, Woo-joo stood up and bowed deeply to Shi-hyuk once again.

“Thank you for listening to my story. And once again, I apologize.”

The brown curly hair of the universe fell to the ground again. The words of apology, more firm and proud than before, which were gaunt and unsightly, were heard gladly by Shihyuk.

“Raise your head. As I said, I don’t care.”

“No. Just because there was a special story doesn’t mean I can justify repaying kindness with enmity. I will definitely repay this debt.”

Shihyuk couldn’t help but stick out his tongue at that firm determination.

Finally, after a bit of a struggle, the eyes of the universe standing in front of him who had accepted the apology were clear and bright.

“Regardless of whether or not they are forgiven, it is only natural for the person who did something wrong to admit their mistake.”

‘Is that a given?’

Shihyuk just let out a subtle laugh. It was hard for him to understand, since he had never received something so obvious in the past 20 years, but he just thought it was meaningful.

Before we knew it, it was well past midnight.

The dawn in Gangwon-do was chilly, and a fierce wind swept through the room with a whoosh, as if someone was swinging a bat outside the window.

Woojoo’s ears sparkled and shone as he straightened his hair that had become tangled in the wind and pushed it back.

“Those earrings.”

“Ah, isn’t it a bit unusual? This is made from the pieces of my broken dagger. It was my first [rare grade weapon] that I bought by saving up a few pennies, and I was quite attached to it, but it ended up in a terrible state. I wanted to keep it like this.”

“… Is that so?”

Like many young girls who can’t throw away old dolls, Woo-joo was a woman who was bold but had a sweet girlish heart. She was really lovely, smiling bashfully with her cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment.

But unfortunately, Shihyuk seemed to be more focused on the earrings than on Woojoo’s beauty.

He opened his mouth, staring at her perky ears.

“Can you lend me this for a moment? I’ll return it to you later.”

“I feel sorry towards Shihyuk, so it doesn’t matter… but why?”

“Since I have it, I will clean up its rough appearance a bit. I am no longer a crafting series awakener, but I still have some talent.”

… Is that ability really just talent?

However, Woo-joo, who did not know the details, quickly took off the earring and handed it to Si-hyuk.

The earring held in his thick, large palm looked smaller than a fingernail. Sihyuk lowered his head, holding it tightly in his hand.

“I won’t lie. I will definitely return it.”

There was a strong will in that heavy bass. Woo-joo, who smiled like a peony with the corners of his eyes raised, gave a look of trust.

“Believe me. That makes sense, Sihyuk has a strange power that gives people faith without having to wait a long time.”

As she spoke, she continued to speak, fiddling with the lighter in her hand as if she was quite embarrassed.

“Also, although I hesitated at first, I felt more refreshed and better than I thought to trust people once again and to be able to tell them things I couldn’t tell others. It felt like old congestion had been blown away.”

Indeed, the universe, free of hostility and vigilance and free of trauma, finally looked dignified and majestic.

It didn’t suit her to be full of poison and hissing, or to be consumed by guilt and dig a hole.

The sky cleared up after shedding its dark clouds. That was the true nature of her, the universe. Shihyuk thought.

He suddenly thought that the two sisters, the universe and the galaxy, looked similar.

It was a very random and ridiculous thought, even to Shi-hyuk himself. The two were different in terms of not only their physiques but also their facial features. The younger brother had an overwhelmingly stronger ability, and the cool and energetic Woo-joo and the gentle and innocent Eun-ha had completely opposite personalities.

Moreover, since the two have different parents, doesn’t their blood flow differently?

Nevertheless, for some reason, Shihyuk felt confident in that far-fetched idea.

Yes, that’s right.

The two had many differences, but they were not that different.

They were both just good girls who wanted to be happy.

Even though an absurd conspiracy is lurking around them again,

Even if someone is lacking and someone is insufficient.

These sisters will always move forward, relying on each other without breaking.

“Thank you, Sihyuk. You are a really good person.”

-You are a good person.

It may not be just his imagination that Eunha’s shyly smiling words overlap with Eunha’s words while chatting with him at the cafe.

purple,

Don’t they look alike?

-.-.-

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

“Sleep well.”

After seeing Woo-joo off to his room to get some sleep so as not to disrupt tomorrow’s schedule, Shi-hyuk sat on the edge of the bed.

[Daon Hammer] started as a club formed by those among the first generation of Awakened who were capable and proud of being blacksmiths.

First, does the current guild still have the same beliefs as back then?

… Si-hyuk also knew that the CEO of [Daon Hammer] was a materialistic and greedy person, unlike his predecessors. He even planted his own people as leaders among the craftsmen, incited factional strife, and tried to push back the old trend by calling for reform.

His teacher, Baekhyun, was the first to find out about this and was displeased, but for the sake of Shihyuk and the people around him, he could not leave the guild that had turned into a merchant.

Looking at the cigarette butts in the ashtray, he thought of Woo-sik.

How has Mr. Woo-sik been doing over the past year? Does he know about this? Various thoughts swirled through his head.

“… The craftsman’s duty has been thrown into chaos.”

It was no wonder that he ended up lamenting.

Shihyuk opened his clenched fist. The earring he had placed on his palm was trembling and shining as if it were a living creature. As if it was expressing his resentment.

Shihyuk closed his eyes and listened to her complaints.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

When I opened my eyes again, his eyes, glimpsed through his messy hair, were strangely fluttering and rippling like a separate creature. Like a living flame.

“The time is not far away.”