Chapter: 402
Lucy, who was waiting to teleport, frowned as she recalled the perverted apostles and the trash that had clung to her when leaving the church.
The starting point of that chaos was the perverted apostle. Until we were inside the church, he was overly grateful, bowing his head and endlessly saying, “Call me anytime if you need help,” but suddenly, in front of the church’s perverts, he made a request.
“Lady Allen, could you possibly allow me to express the inspiration gained through you as art?”
The perverted apostle spun his words but the intent was clear. He wanted to create an artwork featuring me as the protagonist, just like he had painted my portrait once.
Upon hearing that, I naturally frowned and expressed my refusal.
Do you think I’d let these crazy fools run rampant and see what kind of results come out of it?
When I heard that he was making songs about me and parading them around, I felt a good amount of shame; I didn’t want to experience anything worse than that!
The perverted apostle revealed his disappointment but bowed out willingly, unlike the perverts of the Arts Church.
Upon hearing my refusal, they looked as if their world had collapsed, and before I knew it, a couple of them were kneeling beside me.
“O incarnation of the goddess! Please! Please grant us permission!”
“Please! You can take my life, just let me have your inspiration!”
“Please reconsider! I will not trouble you in any way!”
It was so burdensome to see grown men banging their heads and crying like children in front of me.
I wondered if that was what it felt like to be a king in the Joseon Dynasty, hearing his subjects scream for understanding, but even so, my decision did not waver.
In fact, watching that scene only strengthened my resolve. It was obvious what would happen the moment I granted them permission.
When I heard that they would give me half the profits from art made through a collaboration and donate nearly all other profits to the world, I was tempted for a moment, but I still turned a blind eye to their proposal.
It was a painting shown by the perverted apostle that ultimately broke down my resolve.
“Lady, please at least take a look at this masterpiece and then decide.”
What he carefully pulled out was a drawing of me looking at myself in the mirror, blowing up flames.
It was an image of me examining my beauty through an aesthetic sense, drawn on paper.
I remember fainting and waking up not long ago; how could he create such a photorealistic picture?
It was clear he must have drawn it in a hurry, yet why was it so beautifully flawless with not even a part to critique?
Lost in a complicated emotional state while looking at the picture, the perverted apostle opened his mouth boldly.
“We cannot keep such beauty merely in our memories, can we!”
The perverted apostle shouted this without a hint of malice, but from my perspective, his words were nothing less than a threat.
Not only did he want to show off me acting coy in front of the mirror, but he also wanted to enshrine it in a painting. That was practically an assassination of my social life!
He proudly mentioned that there were a few more drawings, and in front of the perverted apostle boasting like that, I eventually raised the white flag. I couldn’t bear to watch my dark history spread to others.
Instead, I discussed a few restrictions with Grandpa. Whether that would be effective or not… well, we’ll have to see.
“Lady Allen, you may enter now.”
Having exited the church, rather than returning directly to Lady Allen’s territory, I chose to visit the arena of the Terusha Empire.
Since it wasn’t long until I had to return to the Academy, I needed to find a replacement for my broken armor, right?
In the meantime, I could check if my aesthetic sense could also help in choosing weaponry.
Of course, the people on the arena street remembered me. My appearance was conspicuous, but it wasn’t just that; it was because of the things I’d shown at that time.
Perhaps because of that, as soon as news spread that I was looking for armor, all kinds of hawkers rushed over, urging me to stop by their forge.
“Our forge is…”
“We’ve been supplying weapons to the territory for ages…”
“If you come to our forge!…”
I prepared to browse the forges from the start, following along as they led me to check out their weaponry.
To cut to the chase, among the flashy forges, there were hardly any proper ones.
They were at a decent level, but just that.
Most were places I would have passed even without an aesthetic sense. There were a few forges that were okay among the bunch, but even their weaponry seemed mediocre aesthetically.
I thought it better to somehow fix my damaged armor than put something like that on, so I just passed on them.
As I wandered around the forges, the atmosphere among the blacksmiths began to grow tense.
“What’s the problem?! This armor is something the lord praised highly!”
It was obvious what the blacksmith was thinking.
If I said nothing and just shook my head, they probably thought a clueless kid was just messing around.
But honestly, I was just quiet because I worried that talking might spark a fight.
Other blacksmiths around seemed to have similar thoughts, as they eyed me warily.
Do they really think this looks good?
The armor might not be bad for an ordinary person, but it was far too shabby for someone like me.
Hmm. It felt wasteful to keep watching the goods of those mediocre blacksmiths, and seeing them act as if they were cute and small made me a bit annoyed; should I assert some dominance here?
“Hey, doesn’t anything strange pop up in that ugly uncle’s eyes?”
“…Strange, you say?”
“Oh, you can’t see it? Then, um, shorty over there, what do you think? Does this look good to you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The others? No one? There’s no one at all?”
I looked around at the blacksmiths, but not a single one stepped forward. They were all too busy noticing the reactions of the other blacksmiths to speak up.
I expected a blacksmith to be a bit more eccentric and free-spirited, but is it really like this?
How boring.
Since no one was stepping up to challenge me, I pouted and crumpled the armor in front of me with my hands.
The armor, made of quite decent metal, crumbled effortlessly, and the room fell silent.
No one probably expected it to break so easily.
“How is it that with skills like this, you’re a blacksmith? So everyone here is nothing but shoddy?”
Throwing the crumpled armor in front of the blacksmith, I lightly tapped his chest and laughed derisively.
“Just live making junk like this for the rest of your life. But don’t come out into this street. If you see other great items outside, you’ll wish you’d bitten your tongue.”
Leaving the frustrated blacksmith behind, no one stopped me as I walked out.
They all knew they could end up standing in his position someday and didn’t dare speak up.
If I had known it would be like this, I should have just returned directly to Lady Allen’s territory. What a waste of time.
After all, I’d eventually be looking for a semi-finished suit of armor in a few months, so maybe I’d just fix what I had been wearing for now.
[Will that even work? The armor you wore has already hit its limit. Even if you fix it, it will be worse than not wearing anything.]
‘Then should I just not wear armor at all? Given my level right now, it feels like any ordinary armor would be worse than not wearing anything at all.’
[That's not a bad idea. Wearing armor weaker than your body will only hinder you.]
While discussing with Grandpa, I roamed the street looking for even a sliver of hope when I spotted something shining in a corner of the blacksmith street alley and tilted my head.
That… it feels similar to when I saw the sword’s handle.
Curious, I trusted my aesthetic sense and headed into the alley.
The forge inside the alley was beyond impossible to describe positively.
It was shabby and worn-down, a place that seemed like it would collapse in heavy rain.
However, the items displayed inside that forge were different.
The weapons in the old forge were not lavishly decorated, but they possessed an excellent substance that any martial artist would crave.
Even the shoddy dog and the bald-headed man couldn’t help but grab onto them tightly, looking all but ready to lose their minds.
“Customer, I apologize, but our business… oh, Lady Allen, why are you in such a humble place?”
“Are you stupid? Why would someone noble like me come to a filthy pit like this?”
When I presented the token I received as a reward for winning in the arena, the blacksmith’s eyes quivered.
“What?! Is this not enough? For such a pitiful appearance, your greed…”
“No! Not at all! How could the token granted by the lord be lacking! It’s just that my master has temporarily left, so our forge isn’t producing weaponry right now.”
I sighed heavily after hearing the explanation that they tweak previously made weapons for the buyers, but they weren’t crafting anything.
I had finally found a decent place, only to learn they weren’t even doing business here!
I was incredibly frustrated, but at the same time, the quality of the weaponry was too good to give up. If I saw something like this, I’d never be satisfied looking elsewhere after.
Hmm. Hmm…
“Well then, bring out the best armor you have from your stock. Even a halfwit could manage that much, right?”
After much consideration, I finally decided to compromise with reality.
Even if it was pre-made armor, it would still be much better than what the other shoddy ones produced.
“Armor… is it?”
Upon hearing my request, the blacksmith hesitated for a while, inspecting his surroundings before going inside and returning with a piece of armor.
The blacksmith babbled about what metal it was made of and what functions it had, but I didn’t listen.
I had already made my mind up even before he started talking about it.
Most importantly, as soon as I saw the artisan’s seal embedded on one side of the armor, my head went blank, and the words barely registered in my ears.
It was no surprise because that seal on the armor was for a blacksmith who makes hidden items in the Soul Academy universe!
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