124. Baek A (2)

Two people who are frozen for different reasons, face each other and wait for about a minute. After leaving the place to bring the sword for a while, Thomas came back and saw the two of them in the same posture they first met.

“Hey, do you two know each other? Did something go wrong? Why are you still standing there?”

The answer came quickly from Theodora, who had released her restraints first.

“No, I’m not someone you could call an acquaintance. just… , I’m only a little familiar with it.”

“yes? Then, let the two of you have time to get to know each other. I will come after finishing the work on your sword.”

“… all right.”

Hearing Theodora’s hesitant answer, Thomas narrowed his brows as if in doubt, then waved his hand as if telling him to take care of it and walked away to the workspace.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you like this.”

Maxim came to his senses with Theodora’s words. Theodora, who was embarrassed by the unexpected face, soon shook off her surprise and approached the chair where Maxim was sitting. Of course, Maxim’s inner feelings for the approaching Theodora were burning incomparably.

“My name is Theodora Benning of the Knights of the Ravens.”

It was an attitude that did not regard Maxim as an enemy. Maxim accepted Theodora’s greeting with a dry voice.

“Arsene Bern, you belong to the 2nd Guards now.”

Theodora sat down on the chair across from Maxim and looked at Maxim. It was as if he was searching for something in his face. Maxim looked at her with half-closed eyes. Theodora withdrew her cloud-colored gaze and raised her hand on the table.

“I watched the preliminaries match well.”

Maxim nodded his head as if in agreement with Theodora’s words. He looked awkward, like a wooden doll nodding, but Theodora didn’t seem to mind his odd appearance. Maxim decided what to say to answer, then gave up on thinking and opened his mouth.

“thank you. You too, as rumor has it, have great skills. His sword skills were very powerful and elegant.”

“… I appreciate your words, but rumors tend to spread exaggeratedly. I was worried because there seemed to be a lot of inflated rumors floating around all the time.”

Theodora continued with a bitter expression. Maxim realized that Theodora was still not completely free from the war in the no man’s land.

“You know how important it is for knights like us to judge each other. Wouldn’t it be okay if you just accepted it?”

When Maxim asked, Theodora shook her head resolutely.

“Nope. You can’t do that. No-man’s land should always remain as a pain in my heart, so I can’t carry around with my head up as a badge of honor that people arbitrarily attach to it.”

That day, Theodora was in such a terrible pain. When the monster was defeated while losing the comrades who fought together, the precious person disappeared without a chance to correct the misunderstandings and misunderstandings. A week after the war ended. Ignoring Leon Benning’s warnings and searching for the existence of Maxime Appart and Christine Watson in every way, a notice of the dead came flying.

The notice had the two names she had been searching for. But Theodora did not for a second think that the notice was telling the truth. He wasn’t dead until he saw it with his own eyes.

“… sorry. It looks like you’ve been fooling around.”

Maxim bitterly apologized. Even in the pain of the person left behind, Theodora did not break. Should I be happy about that fact or should I be sad? Theodora smiled more bitterly than Maxim’s voice and shook her head.

“Nope. Because it’s something I have to deal with. I can’t stay down like this forever.”

From the back of the studio, the sound of sharpening knives could be heard. After a brief conversation, silence passed between the two. Maxim did not force himself to break the silence and just stared down at the table. Rather than being awkward, it was difficult for Maxim himself to bear. I wanted to talk. I wanted to tell Theodora who learned the truth that it wasn’t her fault and that it was okay.

“… Why did you come to this workshop?”

Breaking the silence, Theodora spoke. Maxim nervously crossed his fingers and raised his head at Theodora’s question.

“I came to forge a new sword. Since the sword I was using was old, I thought it would be difficult to fight with that old sword if I went up to the finals.”

“Did you go to this workshop often?”

Maxim shook his head.

“Nope… This is my first time. I was introduced by an acquaintance, so I came here by chance.”

Theodora widened her eyes as if surprised by Maxim’s words.

“Meister, you got a new guest?”

Maxim asked, bending his eyebrows as if he was trembling at Theodora’s surprised reaction. Prince 1 only told rumors about the craftsman and the location of the workshop, and said, ‘If it were you, I’d accept you as a guest.’ He didn’t tell me more details.

“Is that such a surprise?”

Theodora tilted her head, as if Maxim’s flirtatious reaction was rather strange.

“Usually, just being able to set foot in this workshop means that you are recognized by Meister. Meisters mercilessly chase away people who come to the workshop if they feel that they are not satisfied at first sight.”

“The Meister says you belong to that special category.”

Theodora let out a small laugh.

“is that so? At that time, Meister said that he would not accept new guests for the last time. I didn’t expect to receive a new guest in that time.”

Theodora then looked intently at Maxim again. Maxim felt chills every time Theodora looked at him in the form of Arsene. It felt like he was trying to figure out who he really was behind this mask.

“Well, the skills you saw back then were enough for Meister to acknowledge.”

“It’s not that great.”

At the same time as Maxim said that, he looked at Theodora with judgment. During his academy days, he always had a slight advantage in pure swordsmanship. Including the aura, he couldn’t keep up with Theodora’s endurance, and if he couldn’t finish it quickly, he had no choice but to raise his hands and surrender.

now? Can I beat you now?

Theodora, who met Maxim’s eyes, quickly changed her attitude and looked at Maxim with a pair of judgmental eyes. Where her breathing, small movements of her body, posture and gaze are judged. How long has it been since we exchanged gazes that explored each other like this? Maxim was soaked in a strange feeling, and for a moment, he was not looking at Theodora’s momentum or breathing, but only looking at Theodora’s figure.

You remain the same no matter when I see you.

Eyes looking a little tired. Even in the dry air of winter, small lips with a slight gloss. Maxim remembered the time when his hand was caressing that cheek. When her thumb passed those lips, Theodora would always brush her lips with her own fingers, with a mischievous eye.

Do you remember?

When he came to his senses, Maxim’s hand was slightly lifting the hair that was disheveled from Theodora’s mouth. Maxim quickly cleared his throat and pulled himself back. It was the moment when I realized that habit is so scary. Maxim resented his unconsciousness and quickly apologized.

“sorry. My hair got in the corner of my mouth, and I didn’t know… .”

A lame excuse. Theodora stared blankly at Maxim for a moment as if caught off guard, then slowly shook her head.

“Nope. Fine.”

Then, with a hardened expression on his face, he got up from his seat, opened the studio door, and went outside. Maxim stared blankly at him as he left, and hit himself on the head.

crazy guy I’m sure you’ll think I’m crazy. No, a real madman was right, just now.

Maxim then threw himself on the table and let out a long sigh. Thomas, who had been sharpening his sword diligently in the parlor that had become noisy, thrust his face into it again. Looking blankly at Theodora’s departure and Maxim scattered across the desk, Thomas scratched his head as if speechless and carefully asked Maxim a question.

“Did you even win?”

Maxim shook his head while banging his head on the desk. Thomas looked at Maxim’s abnormal condition, then scratched his head and returned to the polishing table.

“Looking at the situation, you’re right.”

The last words pierced Maxim’s brain like an awl.

—

‘Crazy.’

Theodora stepped out of the studio and breathed in the cold winter air. My head was confused. When I first saw the article Arsene Bern, I thought it was just a knight with a strange atmosphere. Somewhere, such an article that gives off a familiar feeling.

When our eyes met at the gymnasium, my heart fluttered. Even though it was a different look and different eyes, Theodora couldn’t help but think of Maxim in that gaze. In the second game of the qualifiers, he got angry when he saw him talking to Rione, so he ended up venting his anger in his own game.

‘… No, Theodora. That person is not Maxim.’

The frozen expression when they met face to face for the first time in the workshop, and the gaze afterward as if they were trying to gauge their own skills, were very similar to those of Maxim. Right before they exchanged swords, the gaze of exploring each other’s breath and movement and the gaze of that knight named Arsene Bern exploring himself were exactly the same.

Theodora wanted to reject the kind of warmth hidden in that dark gaze. Theodora wanted to deny that the emotion in those eyes was not longing.

but that touch.

The hand that, so naturally, brushed her hair. Theodora couldn’t help but be dazed at the thin fingers that didn’t seem to belong to a knight and the gaze at the tip of them. Very lightly, when her fingertips brushed her cheeks, brushed off her hair, and fully captured that face in her eyes, Theodora couldn’t deny that it wasn’t Maxim.

Even the way she apologized while withdrawing her hand was the same as Maxim’s, so Theodora had no choice but to leave.

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No, no, no.

It’s just a coincidence, it’s just a resemblance. You shouldn’t be looking at him in that way. Theodora shook her head. The cold winter air cooled his head.

‘… At all, I couldn’t find any traces. It’s not easy for one person to disappear like this.’

These were the words the adventurer’s guild entrusted with the request told me. The more I followed the traces, the more I added that an unknown group kept interfering with the search.

‘Still, one thing is for sure, the person you are looking for is highly likely to be alive. Perhaps they are hiding their identities, or there is a possibility that they are in seclusion, obliterating traces in order to escape from pursuit.’

‘… Please give me even a little clue.’

‘customer. In the case of a determined and hidden appearance, the customer’s search for the person may end up putting the person in danger. Please wait with a little patience. We will also resume the search once the group obstructing our pursuit disappears.’

Theodora came close to the studio again and glanced at the closed studio. I made a mistake because I was not cool. Going in and saying I should at least apologize, Theodora sighed and went back to the workshop.

“… Did you go back?”

The heat in the furnace seemed to intensify. Theodora looked at the empty seat. At that time, the artisan’s clattering footsteps were heard from the studio’s workspace. Thomas raised his eyebrows as he looked at Theodora, who had returned to the workshop. It looked like he had a lot of things he wanted to ask.

“You didn’t leave, did you?”

“Yeah. I went out to get some fresh air.”

“yes? Well, anyway, I’m back just fine. Polishing is over.”

Saying so, the craftsman raised Theodora’s sword and showed it. Theodora received the sword from her father-in-law and pulled it out of the scabbard. The sword body of Heilang (黑狼) was quietly radiating spirit with its ink light. Theodora nodded in satisfaction.

“thank you.”

“What. That sword is a work that can be called a masterpiece. We can do any amount of repairs for free.”

The work in the studio is over. Theodora put the sword back in the scabbard and stopped to leave the workshop.

“Where is Arsene?”

“I was banging my head on the desk in a weird way, so I told him to cool his head with a bellows while he was lying around like that. He must be making a fire in that corner right now.”

Thomas gestured towards the back of the workshop.

“Why, are you going to say hello?”

Theodora frowned at Thomas’ words, seemed to ponder for a moment, then shook her head. With my head already confused, I didn’t have the confidence to look at that figure any longer. If you clear your head, you will be able to face that person again.

“Nope… Today, I’ll just go.”

“… yes. If you need to sharpen your sword again, you can always find it again.”

Thomas bowed slightly to himself and watched Theodora leave. It was clear that there was something going on between the new customer and that knight, but the father-in-law didn’t bother to intervene. It was an experience that came from my age, and it was also because of the expression Arsene showed.

‘I wonder if he’s still dying.’

The craftsman clicked his tongue and returned to the workspace. The black-haired knight, unexpectedly, erased his deadly face, and was diligently lighting a fire in the furnace. His sweaty, concentrated face was worth watching.

“It’s enough.”

Maxim stopped his bellows, stood up, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The furnace was burning bright red, emitting heat. Originally, the work of refining his sword was going to start tomorrow, but the craftsman decided to start the work now as well. While refining Theodora’s sword, he also came up with the idea of how to recreate the sword of the knight named Arsene.

“I will refine your sword from now on.”

Maxim raised his head and faced Thomas. Thomas drew Maxim’s sword from its scabbard and held it up, the sword side resting on his palm.

“I’m thinking of putting this white iron, which is often called mithril, into the material. Your sword has cut a lot of people, but more than that, the karma left behind by something unknown that you cut down remains the strongest.”

Thomas brought a rag and wiped the sword once.

“That’s why, rather than a demonic sword or a magic sword, it seems to have properties closer to that of a holy sword or divine sword used by a hero. That’s why I’m trying to add mithril with a pure nature.”

Thomas tapped the refined mithril ingot.

“Can you imagine what the new sword will look like?”

Maxim looked at the sword in his father-in-law’s hand. As he imagined the blade that would glow white, a name flashed through Maxim’s mind like lightning.

“Baekah (白牙),”

white molars. The father-in-law laughed at the name that came out of Maxim’s mouth. It was a word that couldn’t help but recall the name of the sword Theodora had received.

“You already made a name for yourself.”

“… suddenly came to mind. There seems to be nothing else.”

A black wolf made of black iron and white fangs made of white iron.

Is it a coincidence, or is it really a relationship of some kind? The craftsman picked up the sword and threw it into the furnace, anticipating the story the two swords would create.