“With this, the five Magic Towers and 125 different fields of study agree to declare Cain our common enemy, and we will be creating a team to eliminate him.”

Thud! Thud! Thud! At the rapping of the gavel, all the magicians in the conference room stood up as one. Nervousness was apparent on each of their faces. The announcement declaring the Hoarder their common enemy was a significant development.

The Magic Towers and different fields of studies didn’t usually work together because they walked such divergent paths. However, after Walpurgisnacht, talks of an alliance began to surface, and the result of this was Necropolis.

The destruction of Necropolis threatened the magicians once more and they again rushed to create another alliance, shocked that they’d been defeated by a rookie who wasn’t even one of the Nine Kings. The lofty elder magicians felt especially stunned to be brought down so much.

However, the alliance didn’t proceed smoothly because of the people behind the Hoarder. “If he were only excommunicated like the Sword God, this would be so much easier, but it’s said that the Hoarder and the One-horned tribe are still close.”

“And he gets along with the potential heir to the throne, the Cheongram boy.”

“There will be a ruckus.”

Now that the Summer Queen and Red Dragon had been toppled, what would happen if they stepped up? Would the magicians be able to take it? There were many opinions, but once the gavel rapped, the decision was made. The five leaders of the Magic Towers stood up and headed for the exit down the stairs, their expressions stiff as they thought of the battle that would come.

* * *

“How dare you come here, you bastard?!” Yeon-woo had been wrong about Henova throwing a hammer at him when he entered the smithy. It was an anvil instead. He avoided it easily with a slight turn of his head.

“Isn’t that expensive? You’ll have to do extra work to fix it because it’s broken. Then it’ll just…”

“Shut up!” Henova frowned at Yeon-woo’s teasing and shouted.

Yeon-woo laughed. Henova was the same as ever.

“What are you laughing about?” Henova frowned even more, not liking Yeon-woo’s attitude.

“Anyway, I apologize.”

“How dare you come in…?!” Henova shouted again, but Yeon-woo didn’t mind him and stepped into the smithy without any hesitation. Behind him, Kahn, Doyle, and Victoria followed with apologetic faces, wondering if it was really fine to enter. Creutz looked around with a strange expression and entered last.

“Y-you…!” Henova’s face was as red as a tomato. The hand that held a hammer trembled, and it seemed that he was about to throw that, too.

“Please calm yourself first. You’re not that young anymore, and you might pass out when your blood pressure shoots up too high.”

“It would be your fault!”

“That’s too bad.”

“You bastard…” Henova ground his teeth. He really wanted to smack Yeon-woo in the head with a hammer, but that damn kid would just dodge it and tease him again. He was too infuriating.

Kahn and Doyle looked from Yeon-woo to Henova with shocked expressions.

‘What? I didn’t realize Cain could joke around like that?’

‘Whoa. No way…’

The Yeon-woo they knew was always cold and aloof. He was like a sword planted in the middle of a battlefield, drenched in blood, and ready to be pulled at any moment. They knew that he was warm inside, but this was a new side that they’d never seen before. They felt their previous impression of him fly out of their heads, but despite the surprise, it made them feel closer to him.

Creutz felt the same way. After he sent the Illusion Knightage back, he was glad to see a warm side to Yeon-woo, especially since Yeon-woo had been treating him like he didn’t exist. ‘Is he like that with the Regiment Leader? Hm. I can’t imagine it.’ Creutz thought of the Regiment Leader, who was as indifferent as Yeon-woo, and grinned.

“What’s that tail behind you? Who did you bring with you?” Henova looked at them with narrowed eyes. Considering how noisy the Phante siblings had been when they came with Yeon-woo, he was sure that Yeon-woo had brought four more nuisances to bother him.

At that moment, Victoria stepped forward with a smile. “Henova, long time no see.”

“Who are…Eh? Victoria?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why are you here?” As two of the top five artisans, they had met each other from time to time over the years. “Ah. I wondered where the rune magic he brought last time came from. It must’ve been you.” Henova clucked his tongue, thinking of the research that Yeon-woo possessed back when they were making the Philosopher’s Stone. Then, his eyes narrowed. “You want my advice?”

“If it’s from you, I’ll consider it.”

“Avoid this guy. He has all kinds of sly schemes. If you can’t get out now, you’ll be stuck forever.”

Victoria burst out laughing.

“I guess you’re already in too deep. Well, anyway. How’s your teacher?”

“Fine, thanks to you.”

“Good.”

Yeon-woo was slightly surprised by their conversation. “You know Anastasia?”

Henova tossed his hammer to the floor and looked at Yeon-woo with a taciturn face. He seemed to be considering whether or not to answer. Then, he took his pipe out of his mouth. White smoke filled the air. “Didn’t she have a pipe like this?”

“She did.”

“I made it. She said she wanted one when she saw me smoking it, so I made her one.”

Yeon-woo thought of how Anastasia’s pipe had split in two after he annoyed her too much. He thought it best not to mention what happened since he didn’t want the hammer to fly towards him. Victoria glanced at Yeon-woo.

“I also made a place for her to keep her strange weapons, called the Ten Thousand Weaponry. I used to fix it for her whenever she had any problems with it.”

Yeon-woo had destroyed the Ten Thousand Weaponry single-handedly, along with the weapons inside it. He decided not to say anything about that, either.

“I built a villa for her to live in, too.”

Yeon-woo remembered how he’d blown up Anastasia’s residence.

「How many works did you break? Think of all that money. You say he’s like a father to you, but you’ve destroyed everything he’s done…that personality…!」 Shanon teased.

‘Shut up.’ Yeon-woo shot back at Shanon internally and decided to feign ignorance, grateful that he was wearing a mask. Victoria kept on shifting from foot to foot, not knowing what to say.

“You can think of her as an old customer, hehe. Anyway. So, what’d you come to ask me for this time?” His forehead wrinkled as white smoke wafted around him.

“You say that like I only come when I have something to ask of you. I’m hurt.”

“You’re acting like you don’t. Stop with the nonsense! What is it this time?”

Yeon-woo smiled wryly. Henova knew him too well. However, this was something that was important to Henova as well. His eyes were serious. “There’s something I want to speak to you about.”

Henova realized that it was a serious matter and put his pipe out by tapping it on the ground.

* * *

Henova’s face was still dark as they moved to a room inside the smithy. He felt annoyed that the guy who hadn’t even visited him once had come to ask him for something again. It was also really noisy outside.

“Whoa! What’s this? I might cut my hand just touching it. How did he make this?”

“He’s definitely the Artisan of Ironblood like the rumors say.”

“Do you think I can ask him for something?”

“Don’t you think you’ll get in trouble?”

“Or maybe I can just swipe one…?”

“Hyung, I beg of you—please grow up.”

Kahn and Doyle were busy looking at the weapons and armor on display in the smithy.

“Amazing. He’s gotten even better? What did he use here?” Victoria exclaimed as she looked around. Her eyes were shining for the first time in a while as she admired Henova’s new works.

As for Creutz, he stood blankly in front of a liquor cabinet in the corner. He enjoyed drinking with his subordinates regularly, and he gulped when he saw the oak barrel inside. Beer made by dwarves was priceless.

Henova couldn’t endure it anymore and stuck his head out the door to shout. “Shut up! Go talk outside!” Boom! He shut the door and came back with a furious face. “Why are the kids you go around with all the same?”

“It just happens that way.”

“With those Cheongram kids added to those…arrgh.” He rubbed his temples as though he were getting a headache already. He didn’t understand why his smithy was becoming the place where Yeon-woo and his friends hung out.

It quickly became noisy again outside, and since Henova hadn’t expected them to listen to him anyway, he just put his pipe back in his mouth with a dissatisfied expression. “So. What do you want to talk about? Do I have to make something strange like the Philosopher’s Stone again?”

“Something like that.”

“You have something annoying to ask again.”

“This time, I have to make Kynee.”

“Kynee?” Henova cocked his head with a grimace. It was a familiar name, but he didn’t remember what it was. Then, he recalled something from deep within his memory. “Are you talking about Hades’ great artifact? The helm that Olympus’ King of the Underworld used?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ha! You’ve hit a new high this time. Why do you have to make that?” Henova’s face was incredulous. There was never a quiet moment whenever Yeon-woo showed up with a request.

Yeon-woo didn’t say anything for a while. Countless thoughts were going through his head. On the way here, he’d contemplated several times how Henova always helped him whenever he needed it and never asked for details. Although he was probably curious about what Yeon-woo was up to, Henova always trusted him.

It was the same now. Even though he was asking for a reason, as long as Yeon-woo said he needed it, Henova would help him willingly.

‘Can I really do that?’ Hadn’t he relied on Henova’s generosity and trust too much? Moreover, what he was doing this time couldn’t be spoken about easily. He would have to get Henova involved in his plans and could potentially expose him to danger. Also, it was related to the whereabouts of his little brother, whom Henova missed.

Asking for help without explaining anything was akin to deceiving Henova, even though Henova might not mind. Yeon-woo came to a decision after much thought to trust Henova.

“It’s fine. The hardest tool to make in the world is probably the one that will pry your mouth open. What do you want me to do now? You’re not gonna tell me to go to Tartarus with you…?” Henova’s words trailed off when Yeon-woo suddenly reached for his mask.

Clack! Yeon-woo took off his mask. It felt strange because he hadn’t taken it off in a while. He felt dizzy from nerves. He didn’t know what Henova would say when he saw his face—would he be resentful or grow depressed? Yeon-woo felt a bit worried.

Henova was surprised that Yeon-woo would take his mask off like that. When he saw Yeon-woo’s face, his eyes narrowed slightly, and then he scoffed. However, a smile lingered on his lips. “So now you’re quick to show me. You bastard.”