Tang So-yeol,
The future world’s best artisan.
Is he in his late 20s or early 30s now?
Creating a connection with this Tang So-yeol is quite difficult.
Those affiliated with either sect or family generally share a certain level of reputation. Speaking as Ho Cheon-an, I have some connections with the Tang Clan. Even if I meet a stranger from the Tang Clan, I could say, ‘I, Ho Cheon-an, have gambled with the Poison Doctor and prank-pulled the Family Head, and I’ve ridden Bicheongmacha twice!’ and they’d likely bow their heads in surprised respect.
Except for this Tang So-yeol standing right in front of me.
Why is Tang So-yeol the exception? It becomes quite clear after just one look.
His hair is so chaotically tousled that it seems to defy being tied together.
A pipe perpetually clamped between his lips.
Indifferent eyes showing no care for others’ actions. A negative gaze that looks upon the world with cynicism.
When he stands, he has a habit of crossing his legs, and he walks with a slouch.
His words lack any refinement; he only responds when he feels like it, spouting meaningless nonsense.
Just a brief observation of this man, and it’s plain to see: ‘Ah, this guy doesn’t care about the clan or anyone else’s chatter.’
Even the Wolbok-dang members, who are usually very sociable, would find themselves awkwardly backing away in the presence of such a strong aura of misanthropy.
That Tang So-yeol, with his crossed legs, shakes them while exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke.
“Haaa, honestly, I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t even learn the basics like you.”
“Well, who else would bother looking for a master but me?”
Tang So-yeol casually ignores my comment, putting the pipe back in his mouth.
Wow, he sure knows how to brush off anything that makes him look bad.
It’s already been a week since I’ve been lectured by Tang So-yeol. I mean, it’s one thing to get scolded, but to sit at the forge without progress for a whole week? That’s just crossing the line.
Initially, I tried hard to leave a good impression on Tang So-yeol, but now I’ve given up.
No matter how polite I try to be, he probably thinks it’s all worthless anyway.
“I’m not aiming to be the world’s best artisan, so let’s just get it over with and move on to the next step, shall we? I didn’t come here to become an artisan.”
“Don’t spout nonsense. Foolish disciple.”
Tang So-yeol flicked the ash from his cigarette.
“To understand the sword, you must first understand iron, and controlling the heat of the forge is basic to understanding iron. Your calves must be sturdy.”
He brought up some incomprehensible metaphor again.
And then he has the audacity to wear a proud expression as if he’s doing a great job for his disciple. How infuriating.
“Excuse me, Master.”
“What is it? Foolish disciple?”
“When we first met, it seemed like you could explain the theory quite well.”
“Ah, that? It was what the master who taught me how to infuse qi into weapons said. It was so impressive that I remembered it.”
Oh, this might lead to a breakthrough.
“I see. Did that master say anything else?”
“Well, even though I call him my master, I’ve only seen his face for about two hours. That’s how long it took to learn how to infuse my qi into the weapons.”
“….”
“So step it up. Foolish disciple. Since there’s nothing left to teach you, try to manage to temper the iron properly.”
“But you haven’t taught me anything today!”
“Haaam, I’m tired…”
Tang So-yeol completely dismisses me and heads into his room.
“This… is troubling.”
Though my blacksmithing skills haven’t improved a single step in a week, I have definitely realized one thing.
If I remain in this state, I could be stuck at the forge not just for a week but for a year.
I need a plan.
—
Recently, Tang Rye-ah has been entirely cooped up with Black Cat and Miss Yeo Il-ye. It’s based on the logic that if she accomplishes something, she deserves a reward, but since Black Cat and Miss Yeo Il-ye aren’t members of the Tang Clan, there’s no reason for them to reward Rye-ah who solved the Tang Clan’s problems. Still, they’ve been meeting her various demands.
Lately, Rye-ah, who has been acting spoiled, was asleep in Black Cat’s arms.
“Rye-ah.”
Seeing Tang Do-gyeong come in search of Rye-ah, Black Cat waved her hands to signal him not to disturb. After confirming that his little sister was asleep, Tang Do-gyeong quietly sat down nearby.
Black Cat was gently brushing Rye-ah’s hair away from her face, preventing it from getting stuck in her mouth.
Miss Yeo Il-ye watched this scene and smiled slightly.
‘Sister has become quite skilled at acting.’
When Black Cat first interacted with Rye-ah, she was so flustered that she pretended to be haughty and elegant, much like a broken cat, but now that demeanor has completely evaporated, and she’s tending to Rye-ah from the heart.
Miss Yeo Il-ye revised her thoughts, realizing that it wasn’t just sisterly acting but that she had become accustomed to her role.
Tang Do-gyeong spoke in a hushed voice as all three present were at the Peak Stage, allowing them to converse easily even at a low volume.
“Thank you for taking care of Rye-ah.”
“It’s nothing to be thanked for. Rye-ah is adorable.”
“Haha, that’s why I’m thanking you. Now that you two are taking care of her like this, my heart can rest easy.”
“It seems our Young Hero has quite the responsibilities on their shoulders.”
“Indeed. As you both know… I’ve been causing all sorts of incidents outside. Thanks to that, I have a fair amount of work to do.”
“Is that so? But since a considerable amount of time has passed since then, and you greatly elevated the Tang Clan’s reputation during the Sacheon City incident, it seems the clan’s regulations are quite strict.”
“A merit is a merit, and a punishment is a punishment. Those events in my mind feel like they were just yesterday, yet it was a year ago already.”
Tang Do-gyeong chuckled at the two of them.
“I didn’t expect you two to become this close.”
“I didn’t either.”
Miss Yeo Il-ye smiled and looked at Black Cat. Receiving her gaze, Black Cat huffed slightly but didn’t deny it. While she felt instinctively wary towards Miss Yeo Il-ye, there was no denying the bond that had developed between them.
The catalyst was Bicheongmacha.
The extreme experience of sharing Bicheongmacha made Black Cat’s guard towards Miss Yeo Il-ye peel away, and the three of them, centered around Rye-ah, were moving together daily, making it impossible for them not to warm up to each other.
“Lately, I’ve heard that the Honorable Person is undergoing special training. While the content is, of course, the Tang Clan’s vision, do you have an idea of how long this will take?”
“Hmm. Most of the Tang Clan members undergo that special training to learn how to infuse qi into their weapons, but… as for me, it might not apply, so I can’t give an accurate timeframe.”
“I see.”
“However, the So-yeol I’m currently teaching has successfully infused qi into memorization as soon as they reached the Peak Stage, being a genius at that. Despite being a crazy guy, there’s literally no one in the Tang Clan who can handle him, but… if it’s Senior Ho, So-yeol could learn properly.”
“…Wait a second.”
Black Cat’s hand brushing Rye-ah to soothe her stopped. A sense of foreboding washed over Black Cat’s spine.
“That So-yeol artisan isn’t alone with Senior Ho, right?”
“In the Tang Clan, one artisan has one workshop. If it’s just the two of them, then yes, you could say that.”
Seeing Black Cat’s face turn rigid, Tang Do-gyeong raised an eyebrow and soon grinned, as if he understood Black Cat’s concern.
“Oh dear, so that’s what you’re worried about? So-yeol is truly a weirdo who doesn’t care about anything except producing something. Right now, So-yeol may be thinking of ways to kick Senior Ho out of her workshop as soon as possible, so there’s no need to worry.”
“…I hope so.”
“Yes. She absolutely hates having her research time taken away. If she dislikes Senior Ho, then she’ll dislike him even more than like him.”
Black Cat let out a soft sigh to suppress her racing heart. Right. Whenever something happens, it’s always Ho Cheon-an captivating someone, but this time there’s no incident, so he’ll probably just be focusing on learning.
‘These days, he hasn’t caused any of his usual chaos and has been quietly practicing.’
For nearly half a year, Ho Cheon-an has lived on the down-low without causing trouble daily, indicating just how engrossed he was in improving his martial arts.
Black Cat shifted her gaze back to Miss Yeo Il-ye.
‘Although this feels different than how it was with Miss Yeo Il-ye or the Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin.’
Both of them had received aid from Ho Cheon-an in various ways. Not just them; even Black Cat received full support from Ho Cheon-an. That’s probably why there are feelings of favorability.
On the other hand, when it comes to the artisan Tang So-yeol, they are in a position to receive teachings.
“If So-yeol could just realize a little about the feelings involved, maybe that quirky demeanor could change. Hahaha!”
“Hmm…”
Black Cat held back her unease at Tang Do-gyeong’s attitude. If her deep-seated thoughts are so ridiculous, it makes sense that they can joke about it openly like this.
Right. Maybe I’m just too sensitive.
While she thought this, Black Cat was suddenly hit with the thunderous declaration.
“I’ve decided to live in the workshop from tomorrow.”
—
Change was necessary.
I knew about Tang So-yeol’s personality from the game knowledge, but after clashing with him for the past week, I have realized something.
Tang So-yeol is not the kind of person who can adjust himself to others, to begin with.
It’s not about will; he’s just fundamentally a quirky person born that way.
Even though I’ve tried to make some demonstrations and explanations so he can understand my progress, from my perspective, it only feels more complicated. His words and actions, meant to align with my perspective or thinking, made it even harder to comprehend.
As he watches my stagnation, his motivation to teach wanes, and it increasingly feels like he’s treating it casually.
It’s quite vexing, but the disappointment’s on my side, so I realized that to learn blacksmithing skills from this Tang So-yeol, I needed to understand him as a person.
“Are you crazy? Senior? You think it makes sense for a young lady to sleep alone in a house?”
“I oppose this as well. At least come back for sleeping.”
Black Cat and Miss Yeo Il-ye fired back, their eyes blazing. Since when did they start to align so well?
“Still…”
“Still, nothing!”
“No…”
“No ‘no’ either! You’re not going to argue with me! Tomorrow, I’m going to personally go to the workshop and make it clear! Got it?!”
“Yes, I’ll accompany you.”
“Rye-ah too! I want to go too!”
What kind of situation is this?
I never expected that the two, who’d been cherishing Rye-ah and spending peaceful days, would suddenly jump into my business.
“No, please don’t…”
“Don’t? What do you mean don’t! Senior, just be quiet!”
“What Black Cat said is right.”
I tried to stop them, but there was no way to counter the jumping Black Cat and the supportive Miss Yeo Il-ye behind her.
So, the hopping Black Cat joined by Miss Yeo Il-ye and the following Rye-ah went toward Tang So-yeol’s workshop.
Tang So-yeol glanced over the rush of people before shooting me a glare.
“Foolish disciple, what on earth is going on here?”
“Well, it’s…”
“Hold on, Senior! Let me handle this!”
Black Cat interrupted my explanation and stood in front of Tang So-yeol. Maybe he was surprised by her beauty, but Tang So-yeol’s eyes widened as if he had to drag himself through life.
“You’re Tang So-yeol?”
“I’m surprised.”
“…Yeah, are you seriously Tang So-yeol?”
“Hmm. I see, is that how you control your qi?”
“Hey! Tang So-yeol!”
“Ah, yes. There was no need to ask if you already knew.”
Black Cat’s fists trembled. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself, then looked at him with seriousness.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable for a Senior to stay in this workshop! Do you understand?”
“Hmmm, why not? The workshop is spacious enough for more than just two people to use. I figured it would be better for my foolish disciple to have more training time to learn how to forge.”
“It doesn’t make sense for a man and woman to live under the same roof! I won’t allow it until I’m six feet under!”
“Then what if it’s not just the two of us?”
Black Cat blinked in surprise. The unexpected response clearly caught her off guard.
“Then you should come in and live here too. That would solve it.”
“…What?”
“If you’re worried about that girl and the kid behind you, they can stay here too.”
Then, with that closing statement, Tang So-yeol nonchalantly puffed his pipe and walked back to his workshop.
“W-Wait a minute!”
“I’ve said all I need to say. Feel free to unpack in any room you like. And foolish disciple, hurry up and get working at the forge.”
He really slammed the door of the workshop shut.
Miss Yeo Il-ye, who’d been observing the situation, finally spoke up.
“Let’s move our base to this workshop.”
“Ah, wait a moment! If we go in like this…”
“There’s no other way. It’s the same for Black Cat. She also wouldn’t want to disrupt the Honorable Person’s training.”
Though her words were gentle, Miss Yeo Il-ye showed no signs of backing down. Her resolve seemed firm; she wouldn’t let Tang So-yeol be alone.
“I thought saying this would make you back off easily. Hahaha.”
Even as she spoke sweetly, something about it sent a chill down my spine.
…Things were starting to go strangely awry.
