[Cheonryuje side story] Setting up I-L (1)
****
The act of sharpening the sword and sharpening the blade. Follow a consistent and regular process.
Leave the knife. Lay down the whetstone. If the blade is very rough, use a sharp, coarse-grained whetstone. Otherwise, use a whetstone that is hard on your fingertips.
Moisten it with a little water and with regular and constant force. Throw away a part of the sword that was once the sharpest and become sharp again.
Cheonryuje thought that human life was the same.
“Mercenary King. Sword Demon. A sword without a handle… I guess it’s because he’s so famous. You have many names. Isn’t it funny? People in the world really like to give great names to famous things. As such false names keep accumulating, it is important to be able to tell what he does just by hearing his name. test. If that alone isn’t enough, a name to distinguish it from other prosecutors. That’s enough. “Isn’t that right?”
Instead of answering, Cheonryuje raised his sword towards the swordsman standing in front of him. It was a nameless sword and I couldn’t even remember where I got it. I just liked the way it looked full of blood and rust, unlike the expectations that it was just overflowing and gushing out.
“…You talk a lot.”
“Hehehehe…. Hehehehe! but! Since the two swordsmen have raised their swords, there is no need for further discussion! But… I want to tell you something, because you’ve changed yourself so much, so this time, I’ll be the one to show you off as a favor.”
Sreung.
A dreary plateau. Under the sky where the morning stars are just setting. A man with beast-like eyes lit up and drew his sword.
“Argalian Sword. “It’s heartbreaking, but now I think there’s no one who can match me with the sword.”
“…Cheonryuje.”
….Okay.
Argalian Sword. The swordsman, who is said to have cut down the sky, split mountains, and cut down gods and dragons, put the last piece of the root he was chewing between his molars.
“I don’t hate people like you. I also have a connection. “It’s the same with this strange tree root that I chew whenever my food doesn’t taste good.”
“….”
“El-Farna. It was that kind of name. Contrary to his name, which is like a female elf, he is the kind of guy who swings a hammer first when he is in trouble. Did he… go well? As a warrior?”
I don’t know the name. However, Cheonryuje was able to recall a similar situation through the sound of his breathing gradually becoming more frequent and his concentration becoming sharper. Elf. Battle hammer. forest. And the sound of tree roots chewing.
‘He doesn’t care where the tip of his sword goes and only sharpens the edge. Are you planning to cut down the world without meaning or intention?’
A small elf village we met on the Blue Line. Unlike other elves who had no taste for cutting, the elf female warrior who drove him close to death. It was a match that day that I unusually brought souvenirs to remember that moment.
thud!
When Cheonryuje took out the nearly chipped Great Mother’s battle hammer from his subspace pocket, Argalian’s face hardened for a moment.
sigh. smile. A fierce smile that seemed to show all its teeth and a sword gripped as if it were about to be crushed.
.
.
.
.
Ah!
-Ugh!!
Cue the crunching of tree roots in your mouth as if you were mulling over an old memory. The sword of the swordsman, said to be the strongest on the continent, and the swordsman, clashed.
Just from that impact, the thick trees broke in concentric circles as if they had been swept away by a tsunami.
While the earth, unable to withstand the pushing force of the two swordsmen, split apart.
Sword light and flames. Between shock and murder, Cheonryuje was feeling joy.
It was as if a shock that shook his insides pounded him and an eerie feeling cut him down. As if grinding away the dirt of life and pushing faint memories to the surface.
‘Oh, this is a house, a pigsty.’
….throbbing.
‘mind! ‘People should live regularly!’
‘That’s the only thing you know how to do? It would be nice not to have to worry about my career path. Basically, if you are good at just one thing, you can make a living.’
‘No name? What kind of idiot is that…. Oh, I’m sorry. There are things like that in the world. That’s good. ‘If it’s like this, why don’t we just build something cool?’
‘…Cheonryuje! Wow Shiba is so cool! When someone asks, “What is your name?” and other people say Deoksu Jimmy Calem, you say [Cheonryujeyo]! hey! Give me the money! ‘I can get paid for this!’
Throbbing. Throbbing!
‘…Do it. before it’s too late.’
‘I don’t have you… Don’t live like an idiot again like before. It’s Ryuje. ‘I’m sorry for asking you this…’
.
.
.
.
.
Suddenly.
Like a sword that becomes stronger the more you strike it and becomes sharper the more you cut it.
Appearing amidst pain and murder. Looking at the inner blade that made people scream just by looking at it, Chen Liujie put a smile on his face that he couldn’t hide.
twenty one. I learned that even such porous and impure miscellaneous metal can pierce a person if it is forged and pounded.
‘Human life is like a sword.’
Puhwaak!
Amidst the blood from the blow that skimmed his skin. In the rushing light, Cheonryuje was returning to the past when he was one of the many drug addicts on the streets of Kracolanzia.
****
“Theca! hoc piger!!! (Can! You pig!)”
Tekka. canister.
It is a title that has been his name for some time.
Having a name is a good thing. On this street, drug-addled people litter the streets like trash. Because it was rare for parents to have the spirit to give names or something to their children who were born and survived as by-products of those who ate them like animals.
Having a name means that you are useful enough that someone needs to call you. Even if it was a name like tin can or pig waste, it had enough meaning.
“You damn guy! I told you I had to make it by today! Do you know how much drug money you owe?!”
Pow!
“Ugh….”
So, can. pig. Even if it is called trash, this is a good thing. It was also said that the standards for good work are so low here.
Bussssuk –
Here, the usefulness of giving him the luxury of a name was that he knew how to work with metal.
“….”
Tekka, who had not yet woken up from the medicine, felt with his dazed mind where he thought the blade could be. Fewer knives were made. The regular sound of metal hitting made me shake my head and go into a daze, so I missed the medicine again and ended up getting drunk instead of working.
The reason he was looking for the blade was because of Mateo, the man who kicked him, hissing like a wild boar. Once that guy starts beating up people, I get angrier and won’t stop using his hands and feet until the other person dies. I saw several people die like that.
“Is that… an object? The color is pretty… but it looks like it wasn’t made well? Hey, you know El Centio’s personality, right? I’ve already cared for you enough, but if you give me half a penny as a gift-”
“….just finish it….”
“Finishing, finishing, finishing, it’s already been 3 days since I’ve finished the damn thing! Ugh! A drug addict like a dog and a pig….. 4 hours! Just give me 4 more hours! If you don’t complete it before the sun goes down, that half-penny will bring his sword and your head to El Centio! If I’m going to get away with it, I’ll have to give this half-penny knife the title of Kracolanzia’s last work!”
“….flaw. Hehe. Hehe….”
“Fuck. This is why I don’t want to do business with druggies. “Tsk!”
Teka knew that his laughter would upset Mateo’s temper, but he still couldn’t hold back his laughter. On this street, the only thing you can hear is a threat like, ‘I’ll kill you.’ That’s about it. My head stiffened. I’ve been in charge of this alley for a year already and I still can’t learn.
The reason Teka put the half-finished knife into the brazier was not because he was afraid of dying, but because he wanted to calm his noisy head a little. This was the best way to soothe my holey brain that was begging for medicine like it was crawling with small bugs.
Ground – Taang –
Under the skin of the ground where the sunlight touches. The sewer system has become a dark, damp, and roofless den. Among them, the sound of metal striking in the space of Teka, which occupied a passageway about 5 meters long, rang through the sewer.
Taaang- Taaang-
this sound. Only when I held the hammer did my hand stop shaking. The hammer he swings with all his might hits the iron, the iron rings the anvil, and the shock that bounces back through the anvil resonates in his body and head. When the head is shaken, the insects clamoring for medicine become a little quieter. At this moment, the thirst brought on by the drug and the appetite were astounding. The fear of time passing by without anything disappears.
If you beat it like this. Even my head that one day had a hole in it. Even a drug-addled body. Will it be possible to take off the hangnails and be reborn as a human again like this elegantly shining metal piece?
Taaang – Taaang –
The dream of a miraculous escape, something that only a drug addict could dream of, died away in the vibrations pounding in my head.
So he did. I continued to pound the metal until the batteries in the electric furnace I had worked so hard to obtain were dead.
****
Taaang- Taaang…. Tuong-
“….Ugh.”
The unpleasant ringing through his fingertips woke him up from his intoxication. Doesn’t sound good. As a person who has no sense of craftsmanship but is somewhat comforted by the sight of all kinds of miscellaneous metals collected in a slum that is no different from a drug den being reborn into a beautiful sword, this sound is an announcement that something very unpleasant has happened.
As he blinked his half-blind eyes from the strong light of the furnace, his work appeared, sparkling in the dark sewer. Rough but refined iron. The beauty of polished metal. An ugly hammer mark on the neat and elegant ridge of the knife.
When I looked at the furnace out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the output of the heater had decreased significantly. I received the largest battery in return for the last delivery, and it looks like Mateo got a cheap used one from somewhere.
Tekka’s brow furrowed as he looked at the sword’s ugly, distorted back. The fire was fading and the sword was broken.
“….Kiyo….”
It’s unpleasant, itchy, and I’m crazy hungry and thirsty. Since I don’t have the money to solve all of this, I’ll have to somehow revive the fire and the hunchback-like sword. If only there were at least some medicine left….
“Hey…. Is there anyone there….”
….Kaang!
Tekka threw away the hammer due to the unusually severe turmoil in his head today. It won’t work. I have to go out and search the pockets of the fallen guy, or go find Mateo and ask him for help, or eat something or take medicine, but I can’t do anything like this-
“I think I heard a sound from here… Ah, it’s light! hey! there! Hey!”
…is it a hallucination?
Teka wondered if it was too late to use the medicine when he heard the voice of a gaunt bastard running from the end of the passage that was recognized as his.
There are Asians in Kracolanzia. He’s wearing pretty neat clothes and a hat, and he’s holding expensive things like a camera. Even then, there is still a guy who doesn’t scream that someone is holding him down and slaughtering a pig.
“Anyone, please help me! I am a reporter from Korea to report on the reality of mixed electronic drugs! What kind of crazy people came after me…”
“….Crazy people.”
Teka greeted him with the title best suited to a fool who had entered the abyss on his own feet.
****
“yes? Can’t I go out? why not?”
Seoho Han. The reason he didn’t kick out the guy whose name seemed stupid and didn’t sell him out to Mateo.
Munch, munch!
“water.”
“No, I know you’re very hungry. “It’s a matter of people’s lives?”
“water.”
“Ugh. “Sleep, sleep!”
Gulp!
First of all, the guy’s big backpack was full of water and food.
“Are you going to help us with the reporting after eating everything? “If the article comes out well, I will transfer the money separately.”
“….Advanced payment. half.”
“For now, all I gave you is what I gave you earlier… Ah! Why are you in such a hurry! It doesn’t exist right now. All you have to do is print a big article here and send it to headquarters! If it’s real, you’ll get a bonus right away! Because it is local reporting, there will be reporting costs as well! When that comes out, I’ll fill in the rest! huh? “Let’s help each other!”
….dump.
“….sandwich. one more.”
Because it seemed like a way for me to buy a new battery.
“Ugh. I brought it with the intention of covering it for a few days. “Are you eating all of that?”
From what he says, he is a guy who has never dealt with a drug addict. Addicts have a strangely voracious appetite when the drug stops working. He has never been near a drug dealer, as he doesn’t know things that can be known even if he’s only around him for a day. What kind of guts did you have to follow me here?
Teka decided to help him, even if only for a new battery.
He roughly pushed away the scattered paper bags and pushed a chair that looked like a pile of trash, and an Asian man named Han Seo-ho sat on it as if he had been waiting and turned on the small recorder.
“then. Let me ask you a few questions. I heard that the Cracolanzia street here in São Paulo is a drug street that even the government has given up on. “How did the people here come into contact with drugs and why did they give up their lucrative jobs and families to choose a life on the streets?”
“What you need to know here is… that’s not it.”
Teka interrupted the Asian idiot who knew nothing and took out an empty envelope from his pocket.
A small piece of plastic with a faint yellow powder remaining.
“Siloam. The god of these streets… the devil… and everything else. The people here are not from this land. “I live by standing on this small piece of plastic.”
It may be difficult for outsiders to understand. Now that he’s here, it might be okay to let him know.
Teka left behind the Asian man who was listening intently to him and pulled up the tent that covered his sewer.
It is a place that is too rough to describe. The idea was to let you see and feel it for yourself.
****
“….Mateo.”
“hmm? what. Did I take medicine today? Do you see everything in vain? I can’t believe the tin can came out of my lair. And that too… with the outside guy next to you.”
“Take the item… take it.”
“Besides, you came to deliver the finished product? Hey Teka. It’s not like I’m going to die tomorrow, is it? There are currently four reservations ahead of me. They are all people who say that it is money from a prominent cartel or something like Caponi El. “It will be difficult if you die.”
Teka ignored Mateo’s grumpy joke and held out the iron piece, which was no less than a failure. It’s a failure for him, but it’s probably the same thing to the cartel guys who can’t tell the difference between a large piece of metal and a knife.
As he expected, Mateo was very satisfied to see the failure that had one side of the sword pressed down.
“oh. Your workmanship is still top-notch. by the way. I want to know why you came out like this. Oh, maybe that guy next to you? Are you here to sell? Looking at it, it looks like it’s brand new and no one has touched it yet. I don’t do business with people, but I know friends who do. Just give it to me. “Because Asians are rare, there are quite a few who pay a high price.”
“I’m going to use it, so don’t worry about it… Wait. “I was planning to stop by the market…”
“You? Um… whatever. The sun is slowly setting, so be careful not to step on the line. “You are a native of this place, so you should be able to handle it well.”
“okay.”
Mateo. A guy who was one of the mafiosi who controlled this street of drug dealers opened the door on the other side of his cramped office and said,
“If you’re going to use it, give it a good education. “It’s a manager like me who runs out for no reason and suffers when people from outside say something.”
Teka waved his hand to roughly tell Mateo to stop paying attention, and came out of Mateo’s office, dragging the dazed Asian idiot with him.
“A blacksmith selling knives on a drug street… I’m sure it will be an interesting article.”
“The sword… is just made. “I’ll just hand it over to someone else before it gets rusty.”
“You said you were a native of this place. So you were born on this street? “Where did you learn how to make knives?”
“Most of the people who have established themselves are born and raised here. I learned how to work with metal in prison. “The only place people here can learn is in prison.”
I didn’t learn anything that great. Even if it is a prison, it is not a regular prison, but a place like another society where you can do anything as long as you don’t get out.
This place, where captured prisoners had the authority to take their families to prison, was only a place where the Brazilian government gave the justification of isolating criminals from society, and there was no sense of reform or corporal punishment anywhere.
Inside the prison, there is a store that sells drugs, a place that sells burritos, and a brothel. In a situation where he had to become a slave class in the prison called ‘cushion’ if he could not prove his use for anything, Teka talked about the jobs he had picked up upon entering.
‘I know how to handle iron…’
‘Hmm? Is this kid real? There happened to be an empty seat.’
The only iron needed in prison society is a spoon or a flimsy finger-length blade. The spoon wasn’t a proper object that fit my hand, so all I had to do was add a few drops of water and some powder and boil it. The wooden spoons given in prison were useless for that.
A few times I roughly pounded the metal in and made something that looked like a rusty lump. Teka, who was still living with only marijuana and cigarettes in his mouth, worked hard to sharpen his skills to survive, and by the time he was released from prison, he had a reputation as a guy who could handle metal.
Of course, while serving his five-year sentence, he had long since become a complete addict.
While Seo-ho was listening to his story, which was like something out of a crime movie, he almost fell when a skinny wrist suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
“Oh, let’s say it in words! If you suddenly stop like that…”
“Here.” “It’s a line.”
“line?”
“A line drawn by the government. “People here die or are taken away if they step outside these lines.”
It has been more than 30 years since Kracolanzia Street became a street for drug dealers. Because it was annoying at first. After a while, the crowds became too much to handle and they were abandoned.
Whenever the government tried to get rid of them, which were a scourge on the city, addicts used them as weapons to protect the streets from these drugs, which were no better than filth. When the government cleared the streets and kicked out the addicts, they flocked to the best neighborhoods nearby and lay down in the middle of the main street. A rich village overlooking the beautiful South American scenery has turned into a place littered with drugged beggars and dead bodies from the night before, and when trying to clear a small street was met with protests from the entire city, the government decided to make this street just for them. The stability of the city was maintained by leaving it alone and isolating the streets from the outside world.
“This is the promise of the mafia and the government… If we manage the trash living here so that they do not take a single step outside the streets… This area will be completely excluded from the police patrol area… For crime. Extraterritoriality has been completed….”
“Then, saying you can’t leave doesn’t mean you’ll be drugged and come back here….”
“Really. I can’t physically get out. Whether a lost traveler or a kidnapped passerby. The moment you are thrown in here, you are isolated from the world…”
Teka let out a self-deprecating sigh as he saw his face, which had been heated by a good story, turn pale.
‘I was stupid because of the drug. I did something meaningless.’
Come to think of it, this is an area where both the government and the mafia have cut off connections with the outside world. Is there any way for a reporter to pass on a story to the outside world?
Teka looked at the devastated Asian man in front of the border drawn by the government with the only bright yellow paint in this place where everything was old and shabby, and thought about when he would lie down on the street drunk.
Seeing that my legs were relaxed to this degree, I thought I could see it in two days if I did well.
****
