The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 93

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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 93
093. Overlooked Things
First place reward.
Divine Whistle Scroll.
The moment Geumson saw it, he couldn’t step back.
‘I must have that, no matter what.’
The Divine Whistle Scroll—the very artifact that had granted Geumson the Sun’s Right Hand.
He couldn’t afford to miss it.
Not even if it meant competing against Kang Mu-jin.
Geumson’s declaration of first place.
Audacious words were admirable, but no matter how skilled Geumson was, he remained an individual.
Kang Mu-jin, by contrast, was the head of a massive Guild.
When calculating Contribution, the disparity would naturally widen.
From Roentus’s perspective, it seemed realistically impossible.
Even if he was the cherished disciple of Astrid, whom he held in the highest regard.
“Don’t misunderstand me, but no matter how much of a Star’s Successor you are, first place seems a bit… unrealistic, doesn’t it?”
But Geumson’s thoughts ran differently.
No—there was a reason he couldn’t back down.
“I’ll do it regardless. I can’t lose the Divine Whistle Scroll to anyone else.”
“Hmm, it sounds as though you know exactly what that is? Did Astrid tell you?”
“That couldn’t be. Astrid wouldn’t….”
As Geumson began to speak, Roentus’s mana stirred.
In that same moment, a message bloomed in his mind.
[Sound Barrier has been generated.]
[Conversations within the barrier will not leak outside.]
“From here on, it wouldn’t do for others to overhear….”
A barrier that severed sound.
A transparent membrane materialized in an instant, encasing both Geumson and Roentus.
Within that barrier, Roentus spoke.
“Quite a few eyes are watching you. I see even the Shadow Hawk of the Laurel Kingdom soaring through the sky. And… a Forgotten Ancient Being is keeping watch over you as well. Kekeke, truly the Star’s Successor.”
“A Shadow Hawk of the Laurel Kingdom? An ancient… what?”
“Ah, you didn’t know? Dear me, I’ve slipped up. Well, it’s fine. It shouldn’t cause you any direct harm. Just a great deal of discomfort, perhaps.”
At the word slip-up, Geumson’s eyes gleamed.
Roentus, the Tower Master, had slipped up?
That couldn’t be.
A man prone to such errors would never become the head of the Magic Tower.
It was a warning disguised as a slip of the tongue.
A small courtesy for the Star’s Successor, Astrid’s disciple.
‘The Laurel Kingdom… that must be the Arcadia Kingdom. Shadow Hawk? What is that?’
A kingdom that took the laurel as its symbol.
It had to refer to the Arcadia Kingdom, where the third prince collector Kalis ruled.
Yet there was no reason for Kalis to watch over him.
Geumson had already raised his Affinity with him to the maximum.
Moreover, the keyword ‘Shadow Hawk’ was something he’d never heard before.
Not even among the memories of his previous life.
Much less.
‘A Forgotten Ancient Being?’
This too was a keyword he’d never encountered.
Yet in that moment, a suspicious memory flickered past.
‘Could it be… that shadow brat?’
The child who carried around that strange book called the Record of Oblivion.
A peculiar little thing with small horns sprouting from its forehead.
Perhaps it was somehow connected to that child.
But nothing was certain in this situation.
Geumson wanted to ask about it.
Yet Roentus seemed unable to say more than that.
As if merely revealing that existence was already beyond what he could offer.
Instead, Roentus posed a question to Geumson.
“How is she doing….”
His expression darkened.
His cautious question carried multiple layers of meaning.
Roentus seemed to know something about Astrid’s condition.
“My master is in recovery,” Geumson replied.
Roentus’s eyes went wide.
It was an answer he had never anticipated.
“Recovery? What did you say—did you say recovery?”
Roentus’s voice rose without his meaning it to, and he gripped Geumson’s shoulder with trembling hands.
As if asking him to say it once more.
“You’re telling me—truly telling me—that she is recovering?”
“So long as she doesn’t overexert herself with Mana, there should be no difficulty in her daily life.”
“That’s enough—more than enough! That’s all we need! Ah, blessed Mana…… thank you, thank you!”
Tears glistened at the corners of Roentus’s eyes.
And yet now understanding dawned on him, and he turned to Geumson.
“So she’s recovered…… Now I understand why you aim for first place. Yes, with her magic, it’s certainly possible.”
Roentus seemed to be under a misunderstanding.
He appeared to think Geumson had learned some remarkable offensive spell from Astrid.
But Astrid had never mentioned offensive magic or large-scale lethal spells at all.
From the beginning, she had disapproved of players relying on magic to fight monsters.
“I actually didn’t learn offensive magic. What I learned was Mana Engraving Magic.”
“Mana Engraving Magic? Hmm, how remarkable that she would teach you that. But that’s…”
“Yes, it’s not lethal magic.”
Roentus seemed to know of Astrid’s Mana Engraving Magic as well.
Though it was undoubtedly a spell with tremendous potential, it wasn’t one that would greatly aid in combat.
And so Roentus stared hard at Geumson.
“And yet…… you aim for first place? Without even that magic?”
“Yes. I have to succeed regardless.”
Roentus laughed—a bright, uninhibited laugh that burst from his chest.
But it wasn’t mockery of Geumson.
It was a clear, refreshing laugh, as if he had glimpsed the youthful days of someone he’d missed long ago.
“You resemble her greatly. Even in that recklessness.”
“You mean my master? I don’t think that’s quite right.”
“Well, you never saw her in those days…… so I suppose I can’t fault your thinking. Heh.”
Geumson tilted his head in confusion.
The Astrid he remembered was calm and quiet.
That was the image of her etched in his mind.
But the Astrid that Roentus remembered seemed to be someone different.
Still, there was no time to reconcile those different memories now.
Even as they spoke, the battles between players had already begun.
“Forgive me for stealing your time when you have first place to claim. I look forward to it, Star’s Successor Geumson.”
The magical barrier dissolved, and the air trembled.
Having finished his conversation with Geumson, Roentus turned slowly to face the hundreds of mages arrayed in the Central Square.
The plaza, emptied now that the players had departed, fell silent as if the very air had been dampened by his single movement.
Every mage’s gaze fixed upon him.
Roentus fell silent for a moment.
His eyes swept across each face of the mages standing before him, one by one.
In their eyes he perceived anxiety and confusion, and a subtle competitive tension directed toward the foreigners.
He saw through it all.
“Proud mages of Aertos, disciples of the Stars.”
At last, he spoke.
His voice was soft, but the resonance infused with Mana echoed across the entire plaza and reverberated throughout the city.
At those words, every mage straightened their spine without thinking.
“Do you see the courage of these foreigners? They have risked their very lives on the battlefield to defend this place, though it is not their home.”
His gaze turned toward the players rushing forth to face the monsters.
And Roentus spoke again, his voice rising.
“But who are we?”
Roentus began to pour strength into his words.
His voice was no longer soft.
It thundered like a storm, shaking the hearts of all who heard it.
“We are the masters of this land! We are the shield and sword of the magical city of Aertos! While those foreigners shed their blood, have we been such weak creatures, cowering behind these walls and fretting over our own safety?”

Mages.
Beings who conjure miracles simply by existing.
And yet such beings were being compared to a foreigner.
The affront alone was unbearable.
Still, Roentus provoked them.
One mage cried out, her voice trembling with indignation.
“No! We are not weak! We will not hide!”
That cry became the spark, and the eyes of the mages began to change.
Shame and fury bloomed across their faces.
The casual dismissal they had shown the foreigners—born merely of prejudice—now circled back as mortification.
When the foreigners stepped forward for the city, they had done nothing but stand.
In this moment when miracles were needed.
Instead of drawing miracles, they merely held their ground.
Watching themselves squabble uselessly over pride, powerless and paralyzed.
Roentus, gathering the yearning in the mages’ eyes, raised his staff toward the heavens.
“I bring you tidings. Our great master, the guardian of this city itself…… has returned.”
The Central Square fell into suffocating silence.
The being ‘she’ referred to was singular.
In every mind, in every heart’s hidden corner, a star’s name bloomed.
And the words she had left behind.
– Magic must draw miracles.
That forgotten truth now kindled fire in the hearts of Aertos’s mages.
For this moment, now more than ever, was when miracles were needed.
“The Archmage Astrid watches over us still, even in this hour!”
Roentus’s proclamation, thunderous and absolute.
The mages’ eyes widened in disbelief.
Shock transformed into joy, then into overwhelming emotion.
And Roentus cried out to them.
“We are those who received the star’s teaching! Mages of great Aertos, inheriting the star’s will! Will you truly entrust our city to these foreigners? Show these outsiders the measure of our strength! Let them see clearly who the true guardian of this city is!”

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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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