Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19
Finding the Forge with the help of a map proved far simpler than I’d anticipated.
Though it was situated on a hillside some distance from where the Academy’s main halls clustered together, it sat at a far lower elevation than the Dormitory.
Even accounting for the walk back, we’d have plenty of time before the next class.
“This must be it?”
Unlike the other ornate buildings scattered about, the Forge was a squat, unadorned structure of stone.
No sound of hammers ringing from within, yet the air that seeped from its gaps shimmered with heat.
“Should I open the door?”
“Yes!”
I eased the door open cautiously and stepped inside ahead of So-un.
But the vast empty space held only furnaces and anvils—not a soul in sight.
“Pardon me! Is anyone here?”
We hadn’t made the trip for nothing, though.
When I called out toward the inner doors, someone came bursting through one of them.
“New students, is it? Here for apprenticeship labor? We’ve got nothing for you at the moment.”
It was Ya-jang—a muscular man with a thick beard and broad frame.
His bronze-colored skin caught the light as he scratched his head, studying us both.
So they did take on apprenticeship work here, it seemed.
“No, sir. Gwak Do-cheon said he commissioned a sword for my friend here, and we’ve come to collect it.”
“Eh? ……Did he mention it when my brother was around?”
He retreated into the back room, rummaged through what looked like a ledger, and nodded.
“A new student receiving a blade right upon admission? That’s rare indeed. Follow me.”
It appeared the two brothers worked together at the Academy, but fortunately there had been no miscommunication.
Ya-jang opened the rightmost door, and So-un and I followed him through.
“Gasp?”
I’d half-expected him to lead us to a storage room and simply hand over the sword that had been made for So-un.
But the space beyond the door was vast.
Hundreds upon hundreds of weapons filled this chamber—swords, sabres, spears, axes, bows, and more, all displayed in rows.
Some hung plainly on walls or rested in wall-mounted cases.
But some of the blades were unsettlingly wedged into stone.
“Wow……”
“It’s magnificent. Did the Master Craftsman forge all of these himself?”
“Hmm, what you see in this room are merely the lowest grade of works from the Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman.”
“……?”
The phrasing felt strange—where I’d have expected “finest quality,” he’d said “lowest grade” instead.
But I gathered that while they were capable of crafting legendary blades from far superior materials, the weapons here were essentially standard-issue arms distributed to students—serviceable, but nothing extraordinary.
“Not all of these are our own work either. Mixed in are pieces picked up from bandit hideouts or the streets, and failed efforts from apprentices who couldn’t manage their forge temperatures properly.”
“…….”
“Ha! You can take your pick from all these surplus weapons. With a keen eye, you might even find something surprisingly good—far beyond what a new student would normally deserve. Go ahead and choose wisely!”
We were supposed to choose one ourselves from all these weapons?
“Isn’t there a sword specifically commissioned by Gwak Do-cheon?”
“Ha! If you wanted the Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman to forge a blade directly, you’d need ten thousand taels of silver and it still wouldn’t be enough. Without extraordinary merit or a direct request from the Master, why would we craft a sword for a new student?”
Ya-jang added that simply getting the chance to choose a weapon from this room normally warranted one hundred Merit Points.
Gwak Do-cheon had essentially paid the price on So-un’s behalf, he explained, driving home the privilege.
“Ah, I see.”
“Thank you so much!”
One hundred Merit Points felt somewhat ambiguous now that external missions had become possible.
The way he spoke made me suspect there was a separate vault somewhere containing his truly exceptional works.
But since this was all free anyway, So-un simply bowed and murmured his gratitude.
“So we’re to choose ourselves?”
“That’s right. One each.”
Ya-jang clearly wasn’t inclined to hand-pick a good blade for us.
I suspected Gwak Do-cheon had deliberately sent me along precisely because So-un, who’d likely never seen a truly fine sword, would need guidance.
“What Martial Arts have you learned so far?”
I started by asking So-un.
I should have sparred with him beforehand if I’d known it would come to this.
“Gwak Do-cheon taught me the opening passages of the Upright Qi Technique!”
“……That sounds more like an Internal Cultivation Method than a technique name.”
“Yes, it is an Internal Cultivation Method. Thanks to it, I’ve developed some Internal Energy.”
“Have you learned any sword forms at all? Nothing from the Yu Family Estate?”
“No, sir. I wouldn’t teach swordplay to a servant.”
When we’d met at the inn, he’d simply stood there receiving blows without resistance, and I’d suspected he was no warrior.
But External Power completely untouched?
“So you’ve never even swung a sword before?”
“No, sir.”
“Are you naturally strong? Or unusually quick? What did Master Gwak say your talents lay in?”
“Well… I’m not sure. You see, the Brilliant Sword came to the Yu Family Estate at the lord’s invitation, and when he happened to see me, he suddenly said I had exceptional aptitude.”
What was this—some natural disposition to absorb techniques instantly?
I couldn’t discern anything about So-un’s talents or peculiarities.
…Shouldn’t Gwak Do-cheon have come and chosen the blade himself?
He’d seemed kind enough to do so, and I wondered if there was some rule forbidding a martial master from helping with blade selection.
“Then we have no choice. Let’s pick something versatile. So-un, you do want to use a sword, yes?”
“Ah, yes. The Quick Sword, wasn’t it? I’d like to learn directly from the Brilliant Sword!”
Ya-jang had limited us to a single hour, so I had no time for lengthy deliberation.
I simply selected swords that fit his height and looked reasonably light, then quickly checked their blades.
Of roughly five of them, one was utterly ruined.
Three seemed slightly better than the weapons carried by the Yu Family Estate’s fighters, though they fell short of what the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace typically bore.
I found myself curious whether, since the Northern Sea was the birthplace of Cold Iron, their refining techniques surpassed those of the Central Plains.
“But understand—the truly great masterworks of the Twin Hammer Divine Craftsman are not here. The blade in your right hand I forged forty years ago, and the one in your left was made by a disciple who ran off soon after.”
“Ah, yes.”
I hadn’t said anything, so why did my feet feel itchy.
After watching me examine the blades and select the better ones,
he’d launched into a gratuitous excuse as if he thought he knew something.
Forty years ago—when Ya-jang looked to be barely in his early forties. Quite the embellishment.
“Either of these two should suffice nicely.”
In any case, it seemed as though someone had deliberately mixed in a certain proportion of decent blades, for there were indeed quite a few excellent ones.
I selected two light ones from among them and handed them to So-un to practice swinging.
“If you wanted something unusual rather than ordinary, wouldn’t that one be it? I can pull it out, right?”
And I pointed to the blade that had been nagging at my attention the entire time—the one lodged in the rock.
The other blades emanated no particular aura from the steel itself,
but that one radiated something indefinable and strange.
“Kha-ha-ha, that one? Of course. Everyone who comes here for the first time always tries to pull it once.”
Ya-jang spoke with supreme confidence.
“Did you deliberately infuse it with strange energy when you forged it? How did you embed it in the rock?”
“Hmm! That one I didn’t make. Gwang Yeom-do brought it back, along with the rock, from an old Demonic Cult stronghold.”
What?
I could accept that a blade picked up from a bandit den had been mixed in,
but the Demonic Cult was a different matter entirely.
Could that sinister aura emanating from the blade actually be Demonic Qi?
“You mean during the Righteous-Demonic War? Shouldn’t something like that be kept away from the Academy?”
“There’s no time to collect trifles during war. Three years ago, at the Martial Alliance’s request, Gwang Yeom-do led several disciples up to Tianshan and back.”
“So it’s been kept here as an Academy war trophy…”
“They said they’d burn it, so I asked for it. Doesn’t the atmosphere suit it?”
The atmosphere certainly was impressive.
“When you grasp it, you won’t suddenly become possessed by ghosts that make you want to kill people, or have the blade speak to you or anything like that, right?”
“Do you believe in such strange powers and absurdities?”
“Well…”
“The Demonic Cult has so many bizarre things, who knows. Not a single student has managed to extract it yet.”
“Really?”
“I… I’ll go with this one.”
While Ya-jang and I were talking, So-un had already chosen one of the two blades.
Wait—he didn’t feel curious about that suspicious blade?
Even if you chose an ordinary sword, it seemed natural you’d want to at least try the strange one.
“Do we still have a little time left? I’d like to give it a try!”
“Suit yourself.”
So-un seemed genuinely untroubled by the choice.
I sought Ya-jang’s permission and quickly seized the blade.
I planned to give it just one gentle pull, and if it didn’t work, I’d accumulate merit points later and try again directly.
Contrary to my worries, no strange sounds echoed, nor did killing intent suddenly surge forth.
“Huh?”
Yet, disconcertingly enough.
The sword slid free without her channeling any particular force into it.
Northern Sea Ice Palace: Surviving as a Doomed Young Lady (Serialized)
Author │ Fragrant Musk Deer
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Publishing House │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, Ace Tech No. 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Fragrant Musk Deer 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. No part of this content may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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