Chapter 46
- The Smithy (1)
- Ting, ting, ting.
The sound of metal striking metal filled the small hut.
Each time the sledgehammer crashed down on the red-hot iron ingot taken from the furnace, sparks flew like exploding fireworks.
As the coppery-skinned arm wielding the sledgehammer moved, veins bulged and receded between the taut muscles.
Soon, beads of sweat began to form on the man's forehead.
After hammering for some time, he grabbed the ingot with tongs and quenched it in water.
- Tsssseee
The water instantly boiled upon contact with the red-hot metal, and thick steam billowed up.
Only then did the man wipe his forehead with a cotton cloth around his neck.
His hair, tied up haphazardly, was fringed with stray wisps.
His firmly closed lips seemed to starkly reveal his stubborn nature.
He appeared to be in his mid-thirties.
A handsome man with a striking presence.
Yet, there was a unique impression that a scholarly disposition was hidden somewhere within his gaze.
Just then, a voice calling out to the man was heard from outside the hut.
"Hey, Chun-saeng, is Chun-saeng there?"
"Aren't you Hwang from the lower village? What's the matter?"
"Well, it's nothing much..."
Wiping away sweat, the man called Chun-saeng stepped out of the hut, and a villager held something out to him.
It was a sickle, broken clean in half.
"...I was working in the field, and suddenly it just snapped like this. Talk about bad luck."
Chun-saeng took the sickle from the man and examined it closely.
"It's bongswae (High-carbon steel).""
"Huh?"
"Give it here. Even if the material is strong, it'll break like a rotten tree trunk if it's not properly forged."
Chun-saeng used tools to pull the broken sickle blade from the wooden handle.
Then, he added another red-hot piece of metal, wrapping it around the broken pieces as if sticking taffy between them.
Wrapping the bongswae with siuswae (Low-carbon steel) like this will make it usable again."
As the newly joined metal was struck with the sledgehammer, sparks flew and the sound of metal clashing echoed.
After hammering for a while and quenching the metal to cool it, Chun-saeng began to sharpen the blade with a whetstone.
His movements seemed rough and careless, but he thoroughly addressed every important point without missing a single one.
"Here, it's done."
Presenting the seamlessly repaired sickle, the rugged yet sharply honed Joseon sickle revealed its form.
"It shouldn't break easily now."
"Oh, it's truly amazing. Thank you, Chun-saeng. I've never seen anyone as skilled as you."Goodness, how many blacksmiths have you seen in this remote village."..?"
"I have an eye for talent. Here, it's not much, but... I'll leave it as payment."
After checking the contents, Chun-saeng simply chuckled.
The hemp bag left by the village farmer was filled with barley grains.
It might not even be worth the price of a single piece of metal, but Chun-saeng wordlessly tossed the hemp bag into a corner of the hut.
'It's enough to make a living, what more could I want? All it does is ruin my life.'
Chun-saeng muttered to himself and was about to go back inside to finish the work he had been doing when another villager's voice was heard from afar.
"Hey, Chun-saeng, Chun-saeng! Are you there?"
"What's going on today? Why is everyone looking for me? I have a lot of work to do."
"Hey, Chun-saeng. Huff, huff."
The man was panting heavily, as if he had run non-stop from the village to this rather distant place.
"Someone's looking for you."
"...Looking for me?"
"They seem to be from Hanyang. They looked like important people. Their clothes were very fancy."
"..."
At those words, Chun-saeng frowned as if displeased.
That morning, early. Sajungjeon Hall in Gyeongbok Palace.
Two people in plain clothes, Royal Secretary Im Soong-jae and Royal Cuisine Master Yeon Ji-yeong, were kneeling before Yeonsangun.
"...Are you sure this is alright?"
"There is no other way."
Ji-yeong carefully continued.
"There is a piece of equipment that is absolutely necessary when dealing with the Ming Dynasty envoy at the final Farewell banquet. The only way to obtain that equipment is to do this."
"Couldn't we just send someone to get it?"
Ji-yeong shook her head at Yeonsangun's words.
"...We cannot know where or how the information is leaking, so we must bring it back ourselves to be sure."She did not explain the full details of the damaged wheat flour powder, but even with just that much, Yeonsangun seemed to grasp the situation."
Indeed, he was a man who lived comfortably even with the court, no, the entire world as his enemy, so such things would not be surprising to Yeonsangun.
"Then where are you going? Is it far?"
Sungjae answered in his stead.
"We are going to find the blacksmith in Anseong that was mentioned during the wheel meeting a few months ago." If we depart in the morning, we will arrive before dinner, so please do not worry."
"...Hmm."
Even so, they would need an escort.
However, the talks with the Ming Dynasty envoy would begin in the next few days, so the Royal guard captain in charge of Yeonsangun's security could not leave his post.
Gong-gil, who had to perform every day while the delegation stayed, could not leave either.
'Im Soong-jae is a clever fellow, but he's hopeless at martial arts... So I'll have to assign trustworthy Royal guard martial officers as escorts.'
As if he was still uneasy, Yeonsangun scribbled something on a small piece of paper.
"Take this and go immediately to the Naesaboksi (the office that manages the King's carriages and horses) in front of Yeongchumun Gate.""
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"During the last incognito outing, we had to disguise our identities because we had to inquire among the people, but this time, since the destination is set, swift travel is more important than disguise."
"That is correct."
"Take the horse that the official at the Naesaboksi provides and depart quickly. And..."
Yeonsangun turned to Ji-yeong's face and continued.
"...You must return safely."
"Please do not worry."
Ji-yeong bowed her head and answered hastily.
Could that psychopath be worried about her?
...Just as Ji-yeong was thinking that.
Yeonsangun's cold voice rang in her ears again.
"If you are not there, the banquet will be ruined, so if you do not return safely, you will be severely punished."
"Ah, yes..."
Ji-yeong was slowly getting used to Yeonsangun's way of speaking.
Arriving at the destination, Anseong, was much earlier than expected.
This may have been because Royal guard martial officers rode alongside Sungjae and Ji-yeong, allowing them to maintain a good speed.
But what surprised Ji-yeong the most was...
'...He actually let us ride these all the way here.'
She had been told that these were specially trained fine horses from the Naesaboksi, prepared for when women of the Inner Court, such as the Queen Dowager or the Queen Consort, had to ride.
"His Majesty actually lent out fine horses that he had personally trained for months. What a waste of pearls on a pig."
Sungjae seemed very displeased, and he continued to say such sarcastic things throughout the ride.
Indeed, the horses were fine horses.
Even Ji-yeong, who was riding a horse for the first time, was able to mount without much difficulty.
Moreover, after riding for a while, she could change direction by pulling the reins without much difficulty, and she could increase or decrease speed with simple whips.
'This isn't much different from driving...?'
Moreover, they automatically kept pace with the other horses running alongside them, so Ji-yeong felt like she was riding in an almost self-driving car.
If there was any difficulty, it was the nausea and muscle pain that came after dismounting.
"Judging by the looks of it, it seems to be around here. This village is Gisol-ri. That over there is Guksabong Peak."
Im Soong-jae was comparing the map in his hand with the visible terrain.
Perhaps because he had traveled all over the country as a Red Envoy, he was incredibly accurate at such things.
"...And that over there is the smithy."
On the foothills in front of them, a small hut stood alone, emitting black smoke.
Feeling good about the premonition that the task would be completed sooner than expected, Sungjae dismounted, tied the reins, and ordered the Royal guard officers escorting them.
"You two follow three paces behind."
"Yes."
"Alright, Ji-yeong. Let's go quickly."
Adjusting his hat and tidying his attire, Sungjae put his hands behind his back and began to walk towards the smithy with a deliberately swaggering posture.
As she followed behind him, several questions continued to swirl in Ji-yeong's mind.
'There are plenty of blacksmiths in Hanyang, so why did we have to come all the way down here?'
It wasn't that she hadn't heard the story Sungjae had told her last night.
Jang Yeong-sil, a genius engineer who held the position of Daehogun during the reign of King Sejong.
Water wheels, the Gabinja Typeface metal type, the Water Clock, the Armillary Sphere, the portable Sun Clock, and the Rain Gauge.
The man who had created countless devices boasting cutting-edge technology for the time, yet had completely disappeared from all records.
Ji-yeong, as a modern person, knew this much.
But, that his descendants remained? Moreover, a grandnephew who looked exactly like him in his prime?
What unheard-of nonsense...
"Come here."
Sungjae's voice echoed triumphantly in front of the hut.
There was clearly a sign of someone inside, but there was no answer, so Sungjae raised his voice even louder and more authoritatively.
"Come here!"
After a while, a coppery-skinned man with disheveled hair strode out of the hut.
"What are you doing inside, not coming out quickly? This official is a Senior Third Rank Royal Secretar..."
Before he could finish speaking, a handful of salt was thrown into Sungjae's face.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey... What, what is this!"
"If you don't leave when I tell you nicely, I'll pour molten metal on you next time. I can't stand people like you..."
Glaring at Sungjae, who was making a fuss spitting out the salt that had hit his face, the coppery-skinned man, Chun-saeng, snapped sharply.
His face was a mixture of anger and disillusionment towards the government, and a deep-seated resentment hidden within.
"You, you... Do you really want to die!"
- Swish
At Sungjae's shout, the sound of two Royal guard officers drawing their swords was heard from behind.
But there was not a trace of fear on Chun-saeng's face.
"Ha, of course. Go ahead and try it."
Ji-yeong could tell immediately. This man was not afraid of swords.
It was because he held something stronger than a sword in his heart.
Such a person could not be subdued by force or threats.
"Wait, just a moment."
Ji-yeong quickly stepped in front of him.
'...Huh?'
Chun-saeng's pupils wavered strangely.
Indeed, Ji-yeong's appearance was quite bizarre at the moment.
She was wearing Military Uniform clothes worn by men because she had to ride a horse, but she hadn't exactly cross-dressed.
Moreover, her hair wasn't long enough to be braided down like other Joseon women, so she simply had a ponytail tied at the back of her head, so it was bound to look strange.
'What is that strange woman... Is she a barbarian...?'
With a face full of suspicion, Ji-yeong suddenly held something out in front of Chun-saeng.
"I need your help."
"What?"
Chun-saeng carefully examined what was in front of him.
"Wait, this is..."
It was something he had seen before.
It was a symbol that only the people who bought the sharpest and best-quality blades in this area, especially the leaders, could possess...
Chun-saeng's eyes narrowed, and he began to stare intently at Ji-yeong's face.
"...Why do you have the Butcher's mark?"
