Chapter 228 – The Logic of Balance(3)

-Klang! Klang!Klang!

One day, when there were no more sounds reverberating in that narrow space, it would be empty. The old blacksmith was whispering to a friend who had casually commissioned him to do the task of a lifetime.

-Janus’s whisper: Grandpa, Grandpa Anvil.

-If I ordered some work, I would wait for the results. What’s theproblem?

The blacksmith responded harshly as he pounded the metal rod in front of him into a sword. The metals that his friends sent him as gifts were usually precious enough to give pause, but this was even more special among them.

-Janus’s whisper: Oh, I was whispering because I thought there was a problem with mygrandpa.

-Go away.

-Janus’s whisper: Nowadays, when you swear so firmly, I feel so strangely thrilled and an odd feeling of pleasure…

-I’ll blockyou.

-Janus’s whisper: Wait, wait, grandpa! It’s my bad!

-Klang! Klang!Klang!

The rod changed little with each blow, but surely it was changing. He reheated it and gripped the tongs harder. It felt like the metal was giving in for him, just a little.

-Janus’s whisper: Is there really a problem? No, can you hit it with your power?

-Even though I’m old, I still have the power to work. You even gave me a special fire, so what’s the problem?

-Janus’s whisper: Wow, then it really works… well, that’s also thanks to grandpa. I sent all the good materials I had, in truth, but I didn’t expect it to be finished properly.

-It’s because you really want it, right?

It was, in fact, a very difficult metal to process. It would’ve been impossible if not for his power to stimulate and lead the source ofthings.

-Janus’s whisper: Thanks, grandpa. Actually, I didn’t expect much… I really need this. I have to kill a god.

-What kind of god are you talking about?

-Janus’s whisper: Hm, is it okay to talk about with you now? He is a god that wants to bring the world back to its originalstate.

As soon as the blacksmith read the words, his hand stopped moving. Bring the world back? How? What would change? However, when he realized he was becoming obsessed with those thoughts, he laughed them off and resumed working.

-It sounds like a real headache again.

-Janus’s whisper: Yes. I will kill him on my own, so my grandpa will live a long time.

-…Huh.

Maybe this friend noticed what he had been thinking. The blacksmith snorted.

-Don’t get killed by that god.

-Janus’s whisper: Of course, you’ll make my sword!

-Klang! Klang!Klang!

The old man smiled at his friend’s compliment and continued to strike the metal.

-By the way, what is this yellow gem?

-Janus’s whisper: Whoa, to talk about that, I need to talk about the first dragon I caught…

-Alright, nevermind.

It was not long afterward that the Godslayer sword was completed.

***

The gate had completely closed. Having lost the sword that had been with him since the moment of his awakening, Kang Shin-hyuk was staring blankly as he sat on the bike.

‘…Tsukuyo?’

The first thing he finally thought of was Tsukuyo. That beautiful woman who acted so strangely. However, the problem was that it was too obvious, too explicit. The enemy had shown their face on purpose and thought their atmosphere resembled Tsukuyo, but he wasn’t convinced that it was her.

‘I don’t know.’

“Haa, grandpa?!”

Kang Shin-hyuk retrieved his spear and landed on the ground, Shu rushing to him with fear plain on her face. It seemed she had the energy to move a little now, but the timing was toolate.

“What happened toyou?!”

“My weapon was stolen. The Godslayer.”

“The Godslayer? Janus was so proud of it…”

Shu stopped in her tracks, stunned. Then, she held onto his arm with a sorrowful expression.

“It’s because of me. I thought it would be over if I caught that snake… grandpa, I’m sorry. If there is anything I can do, I will do it.”

“Yes, then give me all the good stuff.”

“Oh, I see!”

In fact, Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t think that Shu was particularly responsible. It was his own fault that it had been stolen. Had Shu been there, the result wouldn’t have changed much. The Godslayer sword was completely subordinate to him, and he had used the threads that were the materialization of his soul to hold on, but it was still taken. That was evidence that his opponent’s soul was overwhelmingly stronger than his. What could have Shu, who didn’t know of spiritual power, done against such a foe? Rather, it was fortunate she hadn’t been needlessly hurt.

‘I still have to take what I can get.’ Considering what he could do with Shu’s materials, he decided to take them as payment for the bracelet.

“Grandpa, I’ll give you the snake I killed earlier.”

“Okay. Administrator, please expand my inventory further.”

-In order to acquire the space for the snake, you will need to purchase an additional 550 slots of inventory. We will offer them a special VIP discount of 230 million HP.

Well, he was planning to expand it someday anyway. Kang Shin-hyuk made the purchase with clenched teeth, and the body of the snake was divided into parts and transferred over to his inventory.

“Wow, did you have room for it all? Grandpa had a lot of money.”

“Not anymore…”

He replied in a lonely voice as he surveyed the situation around him. Although the Godslayer had been stolen at the last moment, the war itself had gone exceedingly well for their side. Since Shu had taken care of the snake and Kang Shin-hyuk had dealt with the black flames and the fire lizards, the Yeomin had been left to take care of the rock wolves and storm turtles.

[Sweep them allout!]

[Show them no mercy!]

[Don’t leave enough to attack us again!]

The Yeomin were fed up and frustrated with the foreign powers, and they faced them with anger in their eyes. Their strength was originally on the higher end, but now that they had the backing of the wall and the weapons Kang Shin-hyuk had made, their victory wasinevitable.

“Wow, look at that. It’s a really wasteful weapon for Fireball.”

In particular, each time Kwati swung her sword from the wall, the wire stretched out to cut through the enemies around them.

“They clear it up soon. So… our job is done.”

“Yeah, we’d just be a hindrance if we jumped in now.”

Shu nodded gently toward Kwati, then soon looked over at Kang Shin-hyuk’s waist. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.

“What should I do? It was the perfect weapon for my grandpa.”

“It’s okay; it wasn’t originally intended to be used by me, so don’t bother. Also, maybe… no,no.”

“Huh.”

Kang Shin-hyuk stopped himself, but Shu nodded as if she knew what he was trying to say.

“It’s a bit weird to end like this, but let’sgo.”

“Grandpa, thank you very much. I won’t forget any of the things you did for me.”

Shu grabbed his arm; then, with a light jump, she left a kiss mark on his cheek.

-The wrongapproach!!!

“The next time you see me, I’ll be big enough not to need to jump!”

“What a cute guy.”

Kang Shin-hyuk felt the heartfelt sentiment from Shu, which freed him a little from the shock of losing the Godslayer. Shu kissed him goodbye and disappeared straight away. He was going to leave right after her, but…

[Oh, Anvil!]

Kwati, who had been sweeping the battlefield with her sword, saw him alone and ran towards him with her eyes shiningbright.

[Where did the little one go?]

“She went back first. The fire lizards won’t be much of a problem now. Even if they come back, it won’t be dangerous. The dimensional quest endshere.”

[Then, will you alsoleave?]

“Yes, thank you for thistime.”

[We only causedinconveniences…]

That was true, but he couldn’t say that without embarrassing them. Kang Shin-hyuk took a step back with an ambiguous smile. Kwati stepped forward as if to close that distance with her lips pouting, but he quickly stepped back again.

[That guy called the administrator is a really noisy guy.]

“What, when did you join the Hero Universe?”

[A little while ago. Maybe the moment we won the war?]

Was that why she had left the wall? Although she hadn’t been particularly helpful with the lizards, Kwati was a capable person worthy of joining the Hero Universe. If they competed head-on, Kang Shin-hyuk knew he would be the one pushedback.

[My ID is Hwaho. The administrator recommended it, but I liked it because it only had two syllables.]

“Yes, ah… yes.”

It sounded like Chinese characters, and he thought he knew which ones without an explanation. The administrator was nothing if not obsessive. With that thought, Kang Shin-hyuk stepped back again.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you. We did everything we could here and received everything we could. Thanks to you, I received some good abilities and that brazier.”

[Yes. I wanted to give you guidance on how to deal with the fire.]

“There will be another chance later. Maybe there will be another dimensional quest soon.”

[If there is one on Earth, then I will go tohelp.]

Kwati spoke vigorously and reached a hand out to him. He held her unexpectedly soft hand with a vague expression. He felt like an idiot for never thinking that a dimensional quest could occur on Earth.

“…Okay. I’ll ask you should that time come. Train a lot so you can beat monsters that are immune to your flame.”

[It’ll be no problem with this sword you gave me.]

Kwati locked eyes with Kang Shin-hyuk, her face full of regret. It was probably only because of his natural affinity to fire that she felt connected to him. Kang Shin-hyuk could be said to be a human that reached the limit of fire below the Yeomin, after all.

“Okay, then see you later.”

[At that time, please take care of me, my friend.]

After Kang Shin-hyuk added Hwaho to his friend list, he returned to Earth.

-I guess that firefox is right. It makes me want to sigh.

“…Me too.”

On the day he lost the Godslayer sword, Kang Shin-hyuk’s connection with Jormungand became a little more solid.

However, he had no idea when the day would come when he would hit them back.