Star-Embracing Swordmaster - Chapter 1

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Boy in the back alley (1)

There were things that carefully lit up in the dark night.

The back alleys of the city shine brightly at night.

On one side of the road that runs through the city, one side was asleep and the other side was quietly raising its head.

Two worlds of life that cannot mix.

And only now was the time when people hidden by the bright light of the city could reveal themselves.

An alley full of merchants soliciting customers and drunkards shouting.

There was a blond-haired boy standing alone among the shabby things that were constantly moving.

“That’s great.”

The place where the boy stopped was in front of the blacksmith shop, and there was a handsome sword hanging there.

A sword that shines, showing off its slender body where anyone can see it.

It was the only thing shining on its own in a dirty alley.

And the light that started from the sword entered the heart through the eyes and was enough to illuminate something in the boy’s soul.

“…….”

Because he stood in one place for a long time and looked at the sword, his feet were sinking into the mud on the road, but the boy didn’t care.

“And again and again.” “I’m losing my mind.”

There was someone approaching the boy who was staring at the sword as if he were looking at the sword.

“Vlad. Do you know how crazy you are these days? “People around me are starting to talk about this and that.”

The girl, who was wearing worn-out clothes but had rich red hair, was a colorful being who did not fit in with the back alley full of filth.

The boy looked at the girl who spoke to him with blank eyes.

“What do you think? “I don’t have anything to do today anyway.”

“Why is there nothing to do? “Is it just work that Madame and Jorge tell you to do?”

The red-haired girl raised her palms and placed them in front of the boy’s eyes.

“Do you see this? I’ve been soaking my hands in water so much while washing dishes that I’m starting to get eczema. “For someone whose beauty is their asset, does eczema even matter?”

“Where are you pointing me at? “It’s disturbing.”

The boy called Vlad frowned and removed the girl’s open palm.

“It’s one of the few moments of rest in my noisy day. “Don’t touch it.”

“Hmm~.”

The boy’s reaction could have been considered an outrage, but the red-haired girl didn’t care.

I couldn’t live in a rough back alley just to get hurt by this level of cold treatment.

Rather, the girl looked at Vlad’s expression and carefully whispered into the boy’s ear, sounding worried.

“…So, if I just hold on to something like a stick, I can still hear voices?”

“…….”

The girl’s brow furrowed as she saw the silent affirmation.

“What kind of crime did I commit in my past life to get to this point after being struck by lightning out of a dry sky?”

Even in the back alleys of a city that is always bustling, the rumors going around tend to be similar.

And the rumor going around here these days is about a blond boy who was struck by lightning out of the dry sky.

“Besides, even if you get hit by lightning, it’s probably like this because you get hit by black lightning.”

“If you’re going to disturb me, just get out of my way.”

“……”

A feeling of disappointment rose up in her throat at the boy’s harsh rejection, but the girl kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

“I have to endure it.”

Because I understood.

The more rough and rough a place you live, the more time you need to get your mind together.

“But can we stop going back now?”

But now was not a good time.

“Don’t hang around for no reason, just stay in the store and stay still for the time being. “You know the bishop is sensitive to such things.”

“To what?”

The girl smiled deeply as she finally saw the boy looking at her instead of the sword.

“symptom.”

The girl quietly approached Vlad’s ear, as if she was wary of who might hear.

The girl’s breath lingering in my ear was tickling.

“He was promoted from the position of Heretic Inquisitor, so if he shows any sign of evil, he is burned at the stake.”

“Mr.

Vlad hurriedly picked his ears with his fingers and pushed the girl away.

“Did you spit?”

“This is absurd. really.”

The girl put her hand on her waist as if she was dumbfounded as she saw Vlad pushing away her favor as if it were dirty.

“Everyone is whispering behind my back, but I’m telling you not to stand here distracted. “What are you going to do if you get caught and taken to church?”

“……”

Vlad didn’t talk back this time.

Because there was nothing wrong with what the girl said.

And I also knew that he was saying this out of concern for himself.

“But just look a little more…”

“It’s really frustrating. Just buy it on credit! “How much is that?”

The girl got irritated looking at Vlad who was still mumbling.

“I wonder how expensive it is to sell it at a blacksmith shop in a back alley!”

“…That’s 5 gold.”

“……Hey, look a little more.”

The red-haired girl unconsciously opened her mouth when she heard the amount of money flowing out of the boy’s mouth.

“…With that one thing, I can have fun without doing anything for a year.”

Although I didn’t have great insight to know the value of the sword in front of me, I at least knew the value of 5 gold.

5 gold.

It’s not like I couldn’t earn it by working all my life, but this dark back alley wouldn’t allow me to save that much money.

Even if you work hard to save it, someone will steal it or steal it.

Because that was the way of those who lived here.

“With that money…”

That was the moment when the boy and girl were momentarily intoxicated by the light emitted by the sword.

“What are these guys doing, blocking the front of other people’s stores so they can’t do business?”

The owner of the blacksmith jumped out and shouted in a sharp voice.

“This is not something that back-alley bastards like you would aim for!”

An old blacksmith who chases away young onlookers with a loud voice.

Perhaps because he had been watching the fire for so long, his eyes were sore even when he was still, and he was always frowning.

“What’s the point of doing business in the back alleys and not selling to the back alley guys?”

The girl with curly red hair shouted in an angry voice as if she was dumbfounded.

“The two of us together have been here longer than you! “Back alley bastards is a word that suits you better!”

“This… this young prostitute who can’t even sell her body yet, just keeps her mouth open!”

The frowning old blacksmith recognized the girl who was talking back and spat phlegm on the ground.

“Go back to your store and do the dishes! “This is all that has happened!”

“Something that has come to fruition? What a done thing! To a grown lady!”

The girl, who had a sense of entitlement due to her small stature, even vented her complaints about the boy to the blacksmith, as if it were a good thing.

“But I’m debuting next year! “If you pay for my virginity, that kind of knife is only worth a glass of beer!”

The girl stroked her proud red hair and smiled coquettishly at the old blacksmith.

It wasn’t hard to seduce someone, but the effort was just a fake smile.

“I think I’ll buy it then and just use it to cut sausages.”

“This…this crazy bitch.”

The old blacksmith trembled as he saw the girl trying to use the sword he had worked so hard to create for nothing more than cutting sausages.

“This! To the back alley guys! “I’m not selling it!”

“It’s hung in a back alley, so only people from the back alley can see it, so why aren’t they selling it? “You’re senile!”

“Why are you guys like this?”

The boy’s expression crumpled as what should have been the most peaceful time of the day turned into chaos.

“Let’s go now, Jemina. “Gyeonggam, we’ll go.”

“For the next 10,000 years, get the hell out of my store!”

“Why don’t you just make it like you normally would and create a sword that only knights use and create this mess! “Isn’t it time to die?”

“this person!”

Vlad, who realized that the other would not give in, hurriedly grabbed the back of the neck of the grinning Jemina and pulled her to the end of the alley.

“okay! “It’s because it’s almost time to die, you bitch!”

The old man, who was shaking from his rising blood pressure, trembled with his hands as if he was still angry even though the girl’s red hair was gone.

“What a rotten bitch… Maybe it’s because she didn’t starve, but she’s full of poison…”

The old man remembered.

Children wandering around with blankets wrapped around them on a cold winter day.

The three young tramps who shared the warmth of one blanket were able to survive because they ate the poison of the dirty back alley instead of someone’s sympathy.

“How much food did you give me back then, you damn bitch?”

As soon as the red hair that annoyed him disappeared from the alley, the old man spat out phlegm again and suddenly felt something catching his eye.

It was pathetic.

“You idiot. Are you just thinking about making a living?…”

A single footprint deep in the dirty mud.

The footprints that showed that he had been standing here for a long time were enough to awaken feelings other than anger toward the girl in the old blacksmith.

The blacksmith shook his head and went back into his shop, sighing for someone else.

“Nimi… The little ones are so annoying to the old man.”

The old blacksmith stretched his trembling hand high, lowered his dangling sword, and oiled the old cloth.

“……Sweetheart. “It’s hard to have a dream in a place like this.”

Despite what he said, the old blacksmith began to carefully polish the sword, which could be said to be his last work.

“I know very well.”

The wrinkles around the eyes of the old man cleaning his sword twitched.

The young blacksmith who had a dream was crushed by reality, trapped in a back alley, and ended up sitting here.

For black hair to turn white.

Those born in the back alleys cannot escape from this area for the rest of their lives.

The old blacksmith did that, and the boy standing here probably did that.

And even the last masterpiece he created.

But the old blacksmith still dreamed.

“I can’t let my last work rot in a place like this.”

A bright light shone from the tip of the sword the old man picked up.

“…So I’ll only sell this to someone who can get out of here.”

In a dark alley filled with dirty poison everywhere, the old blacksmith hung his sword high once again.

A shining star was hung in a dark back alley as the night sky.

The sword polished by the old man’s unfulfilled dream was shining brightly.

For the boy whose feet were still in the mud, but whose eyes were still chasing the sparkling thing.

The boy’s eyes as he looked at the old man’s sword resembled stars.