Genius Blacksmith's Game

Hyunsoo smiled as he watched the small crack that had formed in the egg.

‘So it’ll hatch within four days?’

He hadn’t met it yet, but he already felt affection for the one inside the Wolf Egg.

The thought that he would soon see it not as an egg, but in the form of a pet, filled Hyunsoo with a strange anticipation.

‘What if a legendary wolf is born?’

Hyunsoo’s excitement kept rising.

A sudden image crossed his mind: himself as king, and at his side, a single wolf that had reached the level of Fenrir.

Just imagining it was fun.

‘I hope we meet soon.’

And now that Hyunsoo had become a Viscount, there was a place he absolutely had to go.

‘I ended up with a much higher rank than I expected, but...’

Before heading to Vallas Territory, he planned to stop by that place first.

*****

Araham Territory, the Kingdom of Goyard’s soldier training ground.

Soldier Ken had to listen to the other soldiers’ sighing voices again today.

“Ken, how long are you going to stay in Araham Territory? They say it’s the first time they’ve seen someone stay here this long like you, instead of leaving like the other soldiers.”

“I told you, I made a promise with him, and he said he’d come get us within a short time.”

“...How long are you going to keep believing that, Ken?”

The soldiers clicked their tongues.

“Just yesterday, Baron Pureum came to take around a hundred soldiers, and you were chosen, weren’t you? Baron Pureum is the lord of a good territory. You missed an incredible opportunity.”

What was the best choice for soldiers?

To serve a noble with a good rank and a good character.

The greater the noble’s influence, the more chances soldiers had to be treated well.

And if the noble’s rank was high, but the number of soldiers he held was small, that was the best of the best.

Soldiers who latched onto that noble’s rise early had their later years fully secured and were treated well.

Baron Pureum yesterday was exactly that.

On top of that, Baron Pureum’s family had a lot of money, so the others couldn’t understand why Ken and the soldiers who hadn’t left stayed behind.

“You don’t know. He was only a Junior Baron, but he was different from other nobles.”

The soldiers looked at Ken, lost in thought, with tired expressions.

“That look in his eyes. The look that truly cherished our lives and wanted to protect us. I can’t forget it.”

“There’s no such noble in the world, Ken.”

“We’re just a means to protect them.”

“Even if he comes, he’ll probably be nothing more than an ordinary Baron at best. Besides, they say only one out of a hundred Junior Barons ever become a Baron.”

A Junior Baron was nothing more than a knight, and in the noble world, Junior Barons weren’t even treated as nobles.

For someone like that to become a Baron was impossible.

Just then—

“Ken. The commander is looking for you.”

At the words that the commander was calling him, Ken shuddered.

Those who endured here with Ken without leaving Araham Territory had been continuously warned by Commander Philip as well.

He could understand the commander’s position. Soldiers finished with training were supposed to leave the territory.

But soon, Ken’s expression turned puzzled.

Tens of thousands of training soldiers.

And in front of them, several nobles.

They were arrogant nobles rumored to come to Araham Territory to pick soldiers.

But those arrogant nobles were fidgeting, unable to stay still.

‘What is it?’

Ken moved his feet. Beyond the countless crowd, six men and women were standing.

“...?”

On the backs of those six men and women who had turned away, a crest of a hammer and an anvil was engraved.

The one standing at the very center was their master, and the ones beside him were clearly knights guarding him.

‘A high-ranking noble?’

Only Viscounts or higher could designate a crest.

Even ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) in the Kingdom of Goyard, there were fewer than fifty Viscounts.

When the man turned his head, and Ken saw his face, Ken was shocked.

At the same time, the other forty-nine soldiers who had been waiting for Hyunsoo also faced him.

“I am Viscount Hyunsoo, the one who will take you. Will you become my men?”

Under the blue sky, fifty soldiers placed their hands over their left chests and answered.

“Loyalty!”

[50 soldiers swear eternal loyalty.]

It was the moment their waiting bore fruit.

*****

Baron Ronso.

He was the man who ruled the largest territory among the many territories located in the north.

As the owner of the greatest territory in that region, he wielded considerable influence in the north.

That Baron Ronso had been carefully watching a small territory that had begun rapidly reviving from some point onward. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

That territory’s name was Vallas Territory.

Vallas Territory’s growth was tremendous.

The revenue of that small territory had grown to rival that of Baron Ronso’s territory, which was five times larger.

So Baron Ronso grew greedy.

“Belin, didn’t I tell you? I’ve cherished you since you were little. Before your father, Baron Benso, died, he asked me to protect you.”

With a bulging belly, Baron Ronso stroked his long-grown mustache.

And Belin, trapped for a long time inside the lord’s audience chamber, bit her lip.

“Bullshit. My father warned me. He told me to always be careful of you.”

Baron Ronso’s face quickly hardened, then smoothed again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

With a sly smile, Baron Ronso soon spoke in a cold voice.

“Hurry and write the letter I told you to write, Belin.”

At those words, Belin shuddered.

What Baron Ronso was plotting was horrifying.

No matter how much Vallas Territory was reviving, it was still only a small border territory.

In this rural backwater, Baron Ronso, who reigned as king over these territories, was forging letters.

“Hurry and write it. If you don’t, for every single character you refuse to write, one of your territorial people will die.”

“......!”

Belin’s face twisted.

It wasn’t a lie.

When she didn’t write the letter he wanted, a few days ago he murdered dozens of her territorial people right in front of her.

Belin’s hands trembled violently. Clearing his throat, Baron Ronso spoke.

“‘Your Majesty, this humble one is lacking, and so I wait for him. My territorial people as well cannot forget him who passed by. I wish that as soon as possible he becomes the new master of this territory. As for me, it is not easy to govern this territory as it grows larger day by day.’”

Belin wrote down Baron Ronso’s words.

She clenched her teeth and struggled not to cry.

FLAP-FLAP—

A pigeon flew to the king.

“Good work. In a few days, it will be over.”

The reason he was sending letters like this was to emphasize Belin’s inadequacy.

And if sending such letters proved impossible, he intended to send content saying she wanted to entrust the territory to Baron Ronso.

“Your Majesty will know as well. That it will be too much for you to govern this territory.”

He had been emphasizing that again and again.

There was something Baron Ronso couldn’t understand.

“But was it sincere? That promise of yours—saying if that blacksmith, Hyunsoo or whatever his name was, returned as a noble, you’d share the territory shares with him.”

This was something Baron Ronso had heard through his own person he had hidden in the territory.

And of course, because of that information, Baron Ronso could plot this.

Belin bit her lip.

The obvious reason was right in front of her.

Belin knew there would be many people who would covet her territory.

And Blacksmith Hyun, who had visited this place.

She also knew he led a guild called Radiance.

At the time, Hyunsoo was the owner of a forge that was far too small and shabby.

But Belin saw potential in him.

“It’s better than giving the territory to someone like you.”

When Ronso realized that was truly Belin’s sincere feeling, he was dumbfounded.

“So you were prepared to hand over even the lord’s seat.”

The fact that she had decided to share the shares was proof enough.

Perhaps she planned to hand over the lord’s seat only after he gained Vallas Territory’s shares and became a higher-ranking noble.

“That won’t happen. Not for a while.”

It couldn’t.

Baron Ronso was someone who knew well how difficult it was to raise one’s rank.

Ninety-nine percent of people died while staying in that rank their entire lives.

And wasn’t he a commoner at the time he left?

“A commoner becoming a noble and returning to become the master of a territory.”

In a continent dominated by pure noble bloodlines, it was a ridiculous expectation.

‘Especially for some blacksmith.’

Tsk. Ronso clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Next time I come, we’ll write the final letter. And my knights should be receiving instruction on writing the manual from the blacksmiths by now.”

What was a manual?

Surprisingly, Blacksmith Hyun hadn’t grown the blacksmiths with some special power.

The simplest, and the hardest thing in the world.

Based on his own skill and experience, he passed it on to the blacksmiths and raised them to greater heights.

The blacksmiths would create that manual, and that manual would spread to Baron Ronso’s territory as well.

And he would also bring several skillful blacksmiths from Vallas Territory to his own territory and have them teach the blacksmiths there.

It was a measure to prepare for a true worst-case situation.

“...Don’t lay a finger on my territorial people!”

As he was about to leave, Baron Ronso spoke with a generous expression.

“Don’t worry. I am magnanimous, so I won’t touch them.”

Then he smiled darkly.

“However, I don’t know about my subordinates.”

Watching him leave, Belin shed scorching tears.

******

Ger could never forget that day.

With dead eyes like rotten pollack, he had been busy mechanically stamping out weapons, thinking this territory was already ruined.

A great blacksmith?

Outstanding craftsmanship?

He thought things like that were useless now.

But after a blacksmith named Hyunsoo appeared, many things changed.

For days and nights, he taught them, awakening the spirit of blacksmiths within them.

The weapons he made showed them that their goal had always been to create things like that.

Because of him, the blacksmiths who had left also returned to the territory.

Watching him leave, forced to go, was painful.

But Ger thought it couldn’t be helped.

He believed that what they could do for him was make sure that, with the strength of that grace, the story of the blacksmiths of Vallas Territory would reach him.

Ger hammered for the day he would meet him again.

And in the end, he completed it.

[It is Unique grade.]

Closest to legend.

Ger, who had reached the realm of a true craftsman, was happy.

The name of this sword, which he would present to him.

Lord’s Sword.

A thought that he shouldn’t hold as one of Belin’s people.

But Lord Belin had understood.

And now.

Countless knights and soldiers who had seized Vallas Territory. Even by rough estimate, the number was close to several hundred.

And the knights surged forward and dragged the blacksmiths into one place.

“Is the manual finished?”

Knight Pon asked.

Wielding clubs, they had beaten the blacksmiths indiscriminately every time, ordering them to create the manual.

Under their violence, they had completed it to a certain extent, but they didn’t want to hand it over.

Something precious that held his teachings.

“It’s nearly finished.”

But they had no choice, and brought it to nearly ninety percent completion.

After checking it, Pon handed it back.

“A manual isn’t enough. From now on, as their representative, swear that you will follow the new lord.”

Ger didn’t comply.

At that moment, the knights poured oil over the blacksmiths.

SPLAAAAASH—

“H-Hhiiik!”

“Ugh!”

“Will you comply?”

Ger ground his teeth as he watched their brutality, pulling out matches.

Soon, a knight wrote the oath’s contents and shoved it at him.

Ger looked at the paper the knight handed him and recited it as written.

“...Thus, from now on, I will transfer the territory, and I will live only for that territory. Also.”

The end of his voice shook.

“I will, for my entire life...”

Reading the final sentence, Ger looked at the blacksmiths.

“No!”

“How can you abandon our lord and serve bastards like these?!”

But Ger knew he had no choice.

When Ger hesitated, a knight dragged out one blacksmith.

“Uaaagh...!”

Ger’s eyes shook violently.

That blacksmith was the youngest in this territory—a sixteen-year-old boy.

“U-uaaah...!”

His body convulsed intermittently.

Looking at Ger stalling, the knight sighed.

“In the end, I have to make an example.”

FSSST—

Fire caught on the match.

“I’ll show you what happens when you disobey.”

That match fell toward the boy.

In that instant, Ger’s eyes flew wide open.

After finding something, he spoke in a resolved voice.

“I will, for my entire life...”

He looked up high.

“...serve only Lord Belin and Sir Hyunsoo.”

And the knight soon witnessed a bizarre sight.

The match that had been falling toward the boy.

The small flame stopped in midair, and from above, a voice came down.

“...I’ll kill every last one of you.”

The knights’ heads snapped around.

On the rooftop, unknown figures were standing.

[Dragon Knight Ressel Lv.338]

[Growing One Bark Lv.331]

[Divine Archer Ian Lv.341]

[Saint’s Child Belia Lv.241]

They stood as if waiting only for one person’s command.

On top of a forge—

[The most brilliant star of the Kingdom of Goyard.]

[Viscount Hyunsoo appears.]

The man who had left as a commoner and returned as a noble was truly furious.