The Sword Meets the Sword (3)
One day, I felt deep regret when I woke up.
The craftsman’s pride was gone. All that was left was disillusionment with myself.
It was a feeling that I felt for the first time in my life.
As always, I stood in front of the furnace. I placed a heated iron on the anvil and hammered it.
It was the work that I have repeated countless times before.
However, this time, I felt like he was forging his own heart and life, not a sword.
Soon, the blade was completed.
However, I was not satisfied with it. It was full of impurities, like my heart.
They made a lot of fuss around the sword, saying that it was another luxury product.
However, in my eyes, it was full of impurities.
Without hesitation, I threw it back to the furnace and watched it melt.
Saxony, the head of the workshop, was upset, but I didn’t care.
I took the hammer again and began refining and forging another sword.
I was unsatisfied with it. It felt like my inspiration has dried up.
Again, I threw it back to the furnace and watched it melt.
Then, I started working on another one. And another.
Whenever I discarded an imperfect sword, the remorse and self-doubt in my head faded little by little. I became more excited about the work.
Soon, all the regrets in my heart were gone.
It was replaced with a craftsman’s longing.
Before I die, I want to make even a single proper sword.
However, there seemed to be not enough time left.
My weakened body would not be able to lift the hammer soon.
So, I have to hurry.
I picked up a fresh batch of iron. As I held it, a song passed through my mind.
[Heat like the sun rising on the horizon; cool like the king’s magenta coat.]
[Then, a sword will rise like the sun, and like a king, it will be born.]
The furnace was lit. When the iron turned red like the sun, I removed it from the flames.
And started hammering.
Clang-!
Clang-!
When the iron turned magenta, I dip it in precious whale oil and put it back into the furnace.
The process is repeated countless times.
A day, two days, a week, forty days have passed.
Normally, the sword would have taken shape at this point.
Strangely, it had not revealed itself yet.
Clang-!
Clang-!
The change was still insignificant.
I thought my energy was going to run out before I could see the end of my journey.
The thought that my last sword would remain unfinished fueled me more.
Then one day, the workshop became noisy.
It seems that a high-ranking noble has visited.
At that moment, a change took place with the iron.
As if it was taking shape on its own, it gradually began to take the shape of a sword.
My impatience disappeared; my heart started to relax.
I learned who it was that visited the workshop.
A prince. The First Prince of the kingdom visited them.
However, I could not stop working. I burned myself more and more.
I could almost see the end of the journey.
The iron took shape surprisingly quickly.
“I wanted to see it before we left.”
The Prince’s words pierced my ears.
Shortly thereafter, Saxony told me that the Prince would be leaving soon.
That day, I did not leave the anvil. I hammered without stopping for a break.
As a result, by the time dawn came, the sword was finally completed.
Then, I saw Count Ellen’s eldest son, Torrance, appear with the Prince.
I didn’t realize where the confidence came from. It was as if the sword took control of my mouth.
I found myself standing in front of the Prince, with the sword placed carefully on both my palms.
“I dedicate this sword to Your Highness.”
***
“Does it have a name?” I asked the old man.
“What if we call it Twilight?”
“Is that twilight at dusk, or twilight at dawn?”
“It will be dusk for me, but dawn for you.”
I laughed, then reached out to take the sword.
As I took the sword off his hands, it seemed like the old man’s body was emptied.
He stumbled and fell to the ground.
I immediately reached out to catch him. I felt his light frame. He was so weak that he would have died on the spot.
I watched the light fading from his eyes.
“Tell Uncle,” I turned to Carls.
“Your Highness?”
“Tell him I think we should spend the night here.”
* * *
Count Balahard arrived after the Prince moved the old man to a secluded place, away from the heat of the workshop.
“What is it? Why are you delaying our departure?”
“I received an unexpected gift, but there is no way to pay the price, so I am thinking of staying by his side.”
People were amazed at the thoughts of the Prince, and they were more surprised to see that Count Bale Balahard, famous across the kingdom, gave way to his nephew.
The night has come. The torches were lit.
Well-armed court knights surrounded the Prince, and Count Ellen’s troops protected them even further.
Count Allen rebuked Torrance at the side, away from other people’s eyes.
“I bet, even if we combine all the swords that the master has ever made, it will not reach the value of that single sword.”
“I know! I have eyes, too. But what could I do? He already offered it to the Prince.” Torrance was full of resentment. “How about doing this: let’s offer His Highness a sword suitable for his age, and get that sword back?”
Count Ellen frowned and looked toward the Prince.
The master’s work stood upright next to the Prince. It was a long sword, with an odd wave pattern throughout its blade. It looked quite precious.
“Unless he is an idiot, he wouldn’t exchange that sword…”
“We can’t offer him just a sword. Something that would be tempting to hold…”
Soon, some soldiers headed for the castle. When they returned to the Count and Torrance, they brought a large chest with them.
Torrance opened the chest and pulled out a gorgeous sword studded with red jewels.
“Your Highness. I believe that this sword would be better for a prince to use. This is a magic sword that I was going to offer you in exchange for…”
The Prince shook his hand and look at him with a gloomy face.
“Later.”
It was short, but the will contained in that response was too strong. Torrance had to turn back, embarrassed.
Soon, the old man opened his eyes.
The Prince and the old man had a long conversation. They laughed and chatted as if they knew each other for a long time.
It was a strange sight.
The noble First Prince hanging out with a filthy old blacksmith.
The guards who watched the scene felt a strange feeling.
Candles burn the brightest at the last moment. The old man’s death is not far away.
The conversation between the old man and the Prince paused.
The Prince leaned in and whispered to the old man.
A whisper that no one except the old man could hear.
Then, the old man turned pale with shock, as if he had seen a ghost.
“Oh my God! You!”
“Yes.”
“Huh, huh!”
The old man chuckled. At first, there was embarrassment in his face; then, there was wonder. Finally, there was hope.
“May this sword be great like you…”
“It will be so.”
The Prince smiled gently.
The old man’s eyes closed. The smile on his mouth was more peaceful than any other smile he had in his life.
* * *
Originally, I just wanted to stay with the old man on his final moments, but when I learned that there was no special ceremony for his funeral, I stayed one more day to attend it.
“We have to hurry.”
Uncle was impatient. It seems that he had something to do in the Templar Castle, just as he had an unknown mission in Count Ellen’s.
However, I have to finish my own work at Count Ellen’s before I go.
“Are you done?”
“Almost. Don’t worry.”
I beckoned Torrance, who finally came to bid his goodbye.
“Give it to me.”
“Your Highness?”
“The magic sword.”
At my words, Torrance’s eyes widened. Then, he looked as if he was hiding a smile.
“You’ll love it very much.”
Torrance beckoned a soldier. It seemed that he had prepared for it in advance, and the gorgeous sword was brought to me in no time.
“It feels good,” I said as I held it.
The magic sword would be quite useful to me.
The sword itself wasn’t bad, and the energy felt from the jewel stuck in the middle of the hilt wasn’t unusual.
It was at least a mid-level artifact.
Torrance’s eyes were shifting as if gauging if I knew the true value of Twilight or not.
Of course, I knew it more than anyone else.
“Your Majesty, then…” he started to whisper.
“Thank you for the gift that I will receive along with the master’s sword. It is proof that the Ellen family’s loyalty towards the royal family is truly unique.” I interrupted him.
His lips wriggled as if he wanted to say something. Then, his shoulders drooped as if he realized what just happened.
I turned around and started making my way towards the royal convoy.
Uncle, who watched the whole scene, clicked his tongue as we walked together.
* * *
We were delayed for a day before reaching Count Allen’s castle and delayed two more days because of the old man’s death.
So, we ran as if we were messengers of war towards the Templar Castle.
The knights and the cavalry were at maximum speed, the wagons and the infantry were to follow.
As a result, the trip to Templar Castle, which was estimated to be at two days, only took half a day.
“Wow!”
I exclaimed as the massive fortress came into view. Soon, its gate opened up, and a group of people poured out from within.
They were knights dressed in iron armor.
The Templar Knights ran towards us menacingly, only slowing down when they reached a certain distance from us.
As soon as we heard their greetings, we went straight to the castle.
“York Willowden greets His Highness, the Royal First Prince!”
Count York Willowden, Lord of Templar Castle, and head of the Templar Knights met us, with two hundred knights roaring behind him.
Excessively spirited hospitality.
Probably, if I was really an idiot, I would have been overwhelmed by their spirit and lied low for the whole visit.
Of course, I wasn’t that guy. I had no intention to leave this place quietly.
“Uncle, do what you have to do.”
He turned to me. I continued. “I have things to do here, as well.”
Uncle’s brows furrowed as if he wanted to know what I was planning.
There were hundreds of knights in front of us.
Among them, there was one that caught my eye.
Arwen Kirgayenne.
My first knight was among them.
We nodded at each other. At the same time, I could feel the blood of the Templar Knights around her boil slowly.
The outright jealousy that I feel in them made me happy.
“Today is going to be great,” I told Uncle.
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