WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 57

──────

My Child

* * *

The 26th floor of the Inner Tower's residential district.

Some Rankers, or climbers in general, lived outside the Tower.

But plenty of them made their home inside it too, just as often.

Marriage was no different. Plenty of them started families there as well.

Yeomhwa hadn't gotten married or anything like that, but…

she was the type who'd settled down inside the Tower regardless.

- Whew…

Yeomhwa stood in front of her own home base, looking down at the ground before her.

- Fwoosh.

Exactly three revolver shots.

Three shots, and the whole area had been reduced to scorched earth.

Yeomhwa lifted her head and looked up into the empty air.

Hanging there was a wall of analysis posts, all written based on the footage of the demonstration she'd given in the plaza outside the Company a few days back.

- Swipe.

Estimates, comparison charts… even graphs.

Half of it she couldn't make heads or tails of, but the conclusion was always the same.

And her own conclusion matched it.

"Even eighteen million gold had been a bargain."

Honestly, when she'd first thrown down ten million gold, she'd been half-convinced she was making a mistake.

Looking back now, it seemed like she'd bought it while it was still undervalued. A good deal.

That price was absurdly cheap.

End-game gear was worth whatever someone was willing to pay for it.

And this bracelet was something that went beyond even what people called the ceiling.

Yeomhwa looked down at the silver bracelet on her wrist.

A simple assessment of the gear:

"It's on a whole different level."

She'd always been skeptical of the whole concept of mana circulation.

But that was only because she'd never set foot in a place that actually knew what it was doing.

As for the bracelet's own performance, how to put it… the instant she used mana, she felt her pulse-lines widen, just for a moment.

It surged through her like mad, radiating energy.

Her output ballooned.

Honestly, she could only describe it in this much detail because of her own animal instincts…

Anyone else would've just said "oh, nice" and left it at that.

But.

If there was a problem, well, if there was just one strange thing about it…

it happened right when she was starting to feel a little worn out from casting spell after spell.

"…Whoa, what was that."

An inexplicable wave of weakness had washed over her.

The kind that buckled her knees and dropped her straight to the ground.

Bad enough that, on an actual battlefield, it probably would've killed her.

She'd tried it a few more times, and it was roughly the same each time.

"Hmmmmm…"

Yeomhwa put a hand to her chin and sank into thought.

If it had a side effect like this, it was gear she probably shouldn't be using.

But now that she'd come down with a bad case of "it's on a whole different level," there was no way she could give it up.

Wasn't there some way to fix this?

As it happened, magic came in several different schools.

Dolores belonged to the Formula School, systematic, calculation-first.

Isabella belonged to the Resonance School, attuning her own magic to the grain of nature.

And as for Yeomhwa…

"As a member of the Intuition School, my judgment is….."

For the record, "Intuition School" was just a name she'd made up herself.

The Mage Tower didn't classify Yeomhwa under any school at all.

'Just some gorilla who lives however she wants and casts magic however she wants.'

"……."

So no matter how long she stared at this thing, she wasn't going to figure it out.

- Snap.

Yeomhwa gave a light snap of her fingers.

"Well, guess I'll ask Dolores."

Talking to Isabella was exhausting anyway.

- Click.

She carefully fastened the bracelet back onto her wrist,

and got to her feet.

* * *

Well, even though I'd gotten the Invitation,

that didn't mean I'd be climbing the Tower or clearing a dungeon or anything like that.

I was thirteen.

Too young an age to actually climb it.

And my whole purpose was just to broaden my horizons a bit, nothing more.

I wanted to see the dwarves with my own eyes, visit the Enchant Room, and watch an actual enchant happen.

It was such a simple reason that if the cost outweighed the benefit, I'd figured I might just skip the whole trip, but…

"They say it's 'Lord' Boldr."

"…Well, well."

I was talking with Hareungar, who'd come to visit the Formless Divine Forge for the first time in a while.

"To think Lord Boldr left an arrangement like that in place…"

Boldr, apparently, had already set down his hammer and passed away long before Hareungar's own active years.

So he said he'd never even seen the man's face.

I'd done a bit of digging into this Boldr myself, but…

he was the one who'd introduced the appraisal machine, and had accomplished plenty of other great things besides, from what I could tell.

Still, if there was one thing that stood out to me,

"…The records did mention he had a Sage's Eye, a gift for seeing the future."

That he was someone who glimpsed fragments of what was to come.

Since he was a figure from the past, there was no way to check any of it against the facts, but he'd clearly been no ordinary dwarf.

"So I'm planning to go into the Tower."

"……."

Hareungar stared at me for a long moment as I said that.

His expression looked a little bitter, maybe.

"…No one gets a result that satisfies them completely, not from the very first step."

"I know that well."

Probably better than most.

"Still, if I'm going to do it anyway…"

I said, meeting his eyes,

"…it's better to do it well."

The hammer was the same story.

I didn't think for a second that whatever hammer I made now would be the one that carried me all the way to the end.

But if I was going to make one anyway, I had to give it everything and reach as high a result as I could.

Every field had a ceiling somewhere in it, and in this case, that ceiling was Hareungar's hammer.

Now that I'd seen that ceiling… I meant to go past it.

I'd lived my whole life with that mindset,

so my attitude toward this couldn't help but be different.

"…Anyway, I'm heading out tomorrow."

For one night, two days.

"Is there anything you're curious about?"

"…The dwarves inside the Tower. And that company…"

He said that, dipping his head slightly.

I'd originally meant not to bring up the company at all, but…

the longer I spent time with him, the less I could keep hiding it.

"I am curious what the Sun Dwarves look like now, through an Heir's own eyes."

"I'll see it for myself, and I'll tell you everything."

"…Thank you."

With that resolved,

I woke from the Formless Divine Forge.

* * *

Using the Tower Invitation basically required one companion.

That person naturally had to be a climber,

and you could only visit residential floors up to however high that person had climbed.

This time, my guardian was Maman.

I'd already attended the imperial palace with her listed as my guardian before,

so word that I was Dolores's child had probably already spread everywhere by now.

So, in my judgment, there was no problem with her coming into the Tower together with me.

'Should be fine.'

Dolores's judgment.

[Fine by me]

That one was Kim Yuna's judgment.

Triple approval, and the matter was settled.

Ruby had originally been planning to come along too, but…

since I couldn't spend this precious one night, two days centered entirely around just one person,

we decided this trip would be mine, and the next one would be Ruby's.

"…Have a good trip."

"What about your big brother?"

"…Then just don't go."

- Bleh.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at me, then ducked straight into her room.

Is this puberty setting in, maybe?

If I really didn't come back, she'd obviously bawl her eyes out.

Anyway.

I looked down at the golden sheet of paper in my hand.

It was about time to go in.

"Wait… Lionel…"

Dolores suddenly bent down, crouching to look me straight in the eye,

with a worried expression on her face.

"Once you tear the Invitation and go in… you'll probably drop into a pitch-dark space. Something called the Tower's administrator will come up to you."

"……."

"It won't hurt you, so try not to be too scared, though it might look frightening. I don't know exactly what it looks like myself, it's different every time. Just stand still and ask it to send you to floor 88, floor 88. Understand?"

Honestly,

I'd already heard this about a hundred times by now.

I'd cross into a dark, frightening space (according to Dolores),

and once some frightening-looking administrator confirmed I'd used the Invitation,

I just had to follow whatever floor my companion had chosen.

"Okay… got it…"

Still, it just meant she was that worried,

so I let it slide.

"……."

And to set her at ease, I gave Dolores's hand a firm squeeze.

"…Ready?"

"Yes."

I tore the ticket in my hand,

- Riiip…

and along with the sound of paper tearing,

- Flash.

my vision washed white,

and however long it had been,

I opened my eyes.

"Ugh."

God, everything's spinning.

Dizzy enough that I could've thrown up right then.

This was one warning Dolores had never bothered to give me.

I lifted my head and looked around…

"…Huh?"

Unlike Dolores's ominous warning,

the space I'd landed in…

was actually quite warm.

Thick brush and densely grown trees surrounded me on every side, sunlight filtering down between them.

- Rustle…

Underfoot were blades of grass and flowers I didn't recognize.

A little further off, a meadow stretched out, and beyond it, a forest.

A pleasant breeze blew past…

- Rustle…

and the sound of it brushing by lingered in my ears.

Warm.

The temperature… felt genuinely perfect.

- Tweet, tweet.

I could even hear what sounded like a sparrow chirping somewhere.

However you looked at it, this was a far cry from some dark, frightening space.

It was the kind of place you could just curl up and nap in.

According to Dolores's warning, some frightening-looking administrator should have shown up by now…

And just then.

- Rustle.

Footsteps, treading through the brush behind me.

- Rustle.

Honestly, I was worse with scary things than people might expect.

I braced myself and slowly… turned my head.

And then,

"Welcome, honored guest."

"…… Hello."

A black suit buttoned all the way to the collar, a pocket-watch chain draped down over his vest, and gold-rimmed glasses that stood out.

A perfectly ordinary-looking gentleman, a folded coat over one arm, greeted me.

So much for "frightening-looking."

This was, if anything, a pretty gentlemanly, solid first impression.

- Bolt up.

I got to my feet, for starters.

The administrator was supposed to check the Invitation, so I figured I should show it first.

"Ah, just a moment. The Invitation's…"

- Rustle, pat pat.

Right as I was patting myself down,

"That won't be necessary. Your identity's already been confirmed."

"…… Excuse me?"

"The moment you stepped into this place, you were already verified."

"…Sure, I guess."

Guess that was a good thing. Either way, the whole atmosphere was way better than I'd expected.

"Now then, your companion has selected floor 88, so-"

"Right."

Dolores must have headed for the 88th floor.

The gentleman bowed his head slightly.

"I'll guide you there directl-"

"……."

He suddenly cut himself off.

His gaze had drifted past me, fixed on something else,

his mouth hanging open, unable to close.

"…Um."

"…Ah."

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

"Understood."

Understood what, exactly.

The gentleman turned his body the other way, and then,

"…may her blessing be with you."

- Rustle…

"Wh- what?!"

Before I could even say anything,

the gentleman's body turned transparent, and then,

- Hop.

he turned into a rabbit and bolted off across the meadow.

- Hop, hop.

"…… Am I dreaming?"

The scene in front of me felt like something out of a dream, the kind no one would ever believe.

I rubbed my eyes a couple of times.

"Yuna, is this a dream?"

[I wish it were, what even was that]

"If it's not a dream, then what am I supposed to do?"

Did I just get lost, or something?

Right as I was looking around, flustered,

- Crackle.

there was a sound of something pushing through the brush behind me.

Right, there was no way I'd really just be abandoned here like this.

I slowly turned my head,

"……."

and immediately stopped breathing.

There stood a woman.

Beautiful enough that I finally understood what people meant by "breathtaking."

Her light-green hair caught the sunlight, glowing softly.

"…Who are you…?"

She stood there with a white flower in one hand,

gazing steadily at me.

"……."

No answer.

Instead,

- Beckon… beckon…

she slowly beckoned to me.

"……."

Did that mean come here?

I hesitated for a moment.

Dolores had always told me never to follow a stranger.

And even if they weren't a stranger, she'd told me not to follow Isabella, of all people.

But a woman this beautiful was a different story entirely.

More than anything, if I just kept standing here, I'd end up becoming, by imperial reckoning, the first ever thirteen-year-old to get lost inside the Tower. That much was a foregone conclusion.

"……."

- Step.

I started walking.

As I pushed through the grass toward her, she came slowly toward me too, without a word.

She didn't say a single thing the whole time we crossed the meadow.

"Um… ma'am."

"……."

"Where is this place? Is this actually the Tower?"

- Nod, nod.

The woman in front of me nodded.

Ah… I guess she couldn't speak.

"By the way, I need to get to floor 88. Which way should I go?"

- Shake, shake.

She shook her head.

What do you mean, no.

I really do need to go, though.

Instead,

- Reach.

she held out the white flower.

"…… Is that for me?"

- Nod, nod.

"Why?"

- Shake, shake.

Unbelievable.

I really should've learned some sign language.

"Thank you…"

For now, I took the flower,

and glanced down at my feet for a moment.

"……?"

But then.

The whole path I'd walked was flattened, the grass all pressed down.

Of course it would be. I'd trampled straight across it, no way around that, but…

I turned my head a little and looked at the path the woman had walked.

"……."

It was untouched.

She must have walked over it too, but not a single blade of grass had bent.

At this phenomenon I couldn't explain,

right as I was looking up at the beautiful woman with a puzzled expression,

she suddenly looked up into the empty air.

"……."

She bit her lip slightly,

her expression turning anxious.

"Um, what's wr-"

And right then.

- Flash.

my body slowly began washing white.

"Huh?"

The same thing had happened when I tore the Tower Invitation.

So going by the pattern, this meant I was about to vanish off to somewhere,

and most likely, that meant floor 88, right?

"……."

I hurriedly bowed my head to her.

"Um, th- thank you."

- Squeeze.

She took my hand and pressed it more tightly around the flower I was holding.

"……."

And then she said something.

Her lips moved, but I couldn't quite make out the sound.

"I, I can't hear you well."

"……."

- Fading…

My body was growing fainter by the moment.

I focused every bit of my attention on my hearing,

"……."

"…Don't push yourself too hard…"

"……!"

"My child."

I heard it.

And in that instant,

a green light spread out from the woman's ear,

the light gathering and taking shape,

until, right there,

"…Huh?!"

hanging in plain view was something more familiar to me than anything else could be.

The Cradle of the Earth.

The earrings… I'd made for Gaia.

Which meant the woman in front of me…

"…Lady Gaia?"

- Smile.

She simply gave me a soft smile,

and with that beautiful face left behind me,

- Flash.

my body vanished completely.

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