Genius Blacksmith's Game

Bolaon Territory.

A place belonging to the nation of Hyun.

Bolaon Territory was located toward the mountains even within the nation of Hyun, and it was quite far from the other territories.

A nineteen-year-old young man named Valen lived there.

He had learned swordsmanship from his father, who had once been a knight of Goyad.

His talent was incredible.

In every territory, there was bound to be at least one person skilled with a sword.

But Goyad had been called the nation of swords.

The person who handled a sword best in a single territory could be considered even more special and exceptional.

Perhaps his talent.

Perhaps it was not only the best in one territory, but the best across dozens of territories.

But it was only talent.

Nineteen years old.

At a time when he had not even taken the soldier’s examination yet.

Valen could already produce roughly the strength of an ordinary knight.

His growth speed was faster than anyone else’s.

But that was a story for when he had matured. For now, he did not even know his own talent well, and he was merely a young man in the village who was somewhat good at hunting.

Wrapped in thick clothing made of many animal hides, he was chattering his teeth in the cold.

The place where Valen lived was far removed even from Bolaon Territory, near the mountains.

Also, winter came faster to Bolaon Territory.

Valen, who possessed overflowing talent but lived only as a hunter, entered the old cabin filled with cold air.

CREEEAK—

When he stepped inside the cabin, his father was there, covered in layer after layer of animal hides, coughing.

“Cough, cough!”

The room was so full of cold air that white breath burst out each time he coughed.

His bedridden father was not well.

“The snow’s falling too heavily. There’s no game.”

Valen felt guilty that he could not even properly feed his sick father.

His father, who had once crossed battlefields, had retired after growing old.

More precisely, he had suffered a massive wound in the Battle of Goyad, and in the end, he had failed to recover. Over the course of one year, then two, he had weakened like this.

His father parted his cracked lips.

“......Did you load my sword onto the wagon procession?”

A little while ago.

They had heard that the lord had loaded his own property onto the wagon procession in order to save the finances of the endangered nation of Hyun.

Following the lord who had set the example, countless citizens had loaded their own valuables onto those wagons as well.

Valen’s father had been the same.

Thirty years.

All that remained from a life spent as a knight was a single Unique artifact.

A fine sword he had kept his whole life, his pride, and his only property. Valen had loaded it onto the wagon.

“......Yes.”

“Well done.”

His father smiled faintly.

“If His Majesty had not appeared when Fenrir ran wild that day, I would have been eaten.”

It was a story he repeated again and again.

But what followed was different from usual.

“......Valen. When I die, volunteer as a soldier of the nation of Hyun.”

“.......”

His father seemed to feel that death was drawing near.

It was not an especially severe illness.

But any illness became a severe one if it was left untreated.

And at his father’s last request, after he had even offered the sword that had been like his life to the nation of Hyun, Valen simply nodded.

‘I refuse.’

Unfortunately, he believed the root cause of all this was that the king was incompetent.

If he had not been incompetent, his father would not have had to offer up his life either.

‘I...... will go to the Parion Empire.’

Valen wept inwardly as an unfilial son.

It was because he did not want to live like his father.

There, he would do as the Parion Empire ordered and grow strong.

But Valen wished for something.

‘If I leave for the Parion Empire, it means Father has passed away.’

He desperately hoped such a thing would not happen, but.

“Cough, cough!”

His father’s coughing only seemed to worsen.

Then.

CRUNCH—

The sound of snow being stepped on reached them.

Valen stepped outside with a puzzled expression, and there stood a man sent by the lord.

“Receive the royal command!”

“.......”

Valen prostrated himself instinctively.

And from the words “royal command,” he understood.

‘Damn king. Rotten bastard of a king!’

The king had issued a royal command.

He thought it meant that, not satisfied with taking his father’s sword, the king was now directly ordering them to offer up whatever valuables remained in their household.

Because when a kingdom was struggling, a king always sucked the blood of his citizens first!

However.

“We will fill your storehouse with food...... If there is anyone sick...... All who wish to learn may attend the newly established Academy......”

‘What is he saying?’

Valen could not understand.

The king was not taking from them.

He was giving.

Behind the man, a wagon led by porters appeared.

One wagon was loaded full with enough food and firewood to last through winter and more.

Then, when the man saw the sick person through the slightly open door, he said,

“Hurry and bring your father.”

“......What?”

Suddenly, Valen recalled one part of the royal command.

It said that the sick would be treated.

But his father’s illness was not one that could be cured so easily.

“Where are you telling me to bring him?”

“To the Ares Church.”

“......!!!”

At that, Valen’s eyes widened.

The number of people who could receive treatment from the Ares Church was limited.

Nobles, the wealthy, heroes of the nation, and the like.

The Ares Church was limited in size, and in the end, it was also an organization that pursued profit, so that was only natural.

But his father, who was merely dying?

“His Majesty made a deal by transferring twenty percent ownership of the artifacts he has crafted so far to the Ares Church.”

“.......”

Even so, Valen could not help being shocked.

Even here, news reached them.

They said the Parion Empire had offered several billion gold to the Ares Church.

In exchange, they had asked the Ares Church to treat only those of the Parion Empire.

The story of the Ares Church refusing that offer was famous.

‘And to that Ares Church, with only twenty percent of his artifacts?’

It was the moment his thoughts about the king he had believed incompetent changed.

Carrying his father on his back, Valen hurried to the Ares Church.

And in only two days.

After receiving focused treatment from the priests, his father became vigorous again.

The internal injuries he had suffered in the war were healed as well, and he became healthy.

As Valen rejoiced as if he might leap into the air, his father spoke to him.

“......Now go where you must go. Whether that place is the Parion Empire or the nation of Hyun.”

“.......”

Valen realized his father had known what was in his heart.

And he was able to leave gladly.

When he stepped outside, the same man from before approached him.

“I checked and saw that you offered a sword to His Majesty.”

He returned the sword his father had offered.

The man was about to walk away, then remembered something.

“Ah, right. There was a royal command His Majesty told me to relay.”

“Yes?”

Valen looked puzzled.

Soon, the man cleared his throat and spoke.

“......Thank you. All of you.”

“.......”

The words Hyunsoo had spoken.

Those words were circling through distant places.

That single phrase, “all of you,” made Valen cry.

‘I thank you as well, Your Majesty.’

Valen made his choice between the Parion Empire and the nation of Hyun.

A second city not far from the capital.

Valen headed toward the newly established Academy.

An existing building had been quickly reconstructed into an Academy.

And Valen was not the only one standing there.

‘Thank you. All of you.’

From every part of the kingdom.

Relly, a woman who possessed genius talent for cooking but had never been able to shine.

A young man named Books, born and raised in the hands of mage parents with innate talent, but unable to attend an expensive Academy.

Along with them, hundreds of other outstanding and remarkable talents shared similar thoughts.

‘I will surely become an archmage and serve him.’

‘Wait for me. I will protect you with my life.’

Valen entered the Academy with the sword at his waist, the sword the king had returned together with the words “thank you.”

Far in the future.

Valen, the legendary shadow who would protect Hyunsoo, was born that way.

*****

[The king of the nation of Hyun invests 30,000,000 gold for the nation!]

The officers of the nation of Hyun.

Resil, Bark, Hyeji, Nell, and the others who were core members of Hyun’s Forge could hear such “important notifications.”

While focusing on Continental War: World Championship, they nearly fainted in shock.

Startled, they hurried to find Chancellor Nell and heard the whole story.

“Before I could stop him, he immediately flexed.”

“He flexed thirty billion?”

“......?”

Only then did the officers realize.

The reason Hyunsoo was always broke.

It was because he did not spend money anywhere else at all and poured it all at once into matters related to the kingdom.

“Even the money he’s invested so far must be over fifty billion.”

“No wonder he has no money when he does that every day.”

They realized the clear reason Hyunsoo had no money.

‘Doesn’t a normal person invest about half?’

At this rate, our Hyunsoo would go bankrupt. Thinking that, they said to Nell,

“He’s going to end up broke if this keeps up. Can’t you see me? I’ve got eighty thousand won in my bank account.”

“......?”

“......?”

Everyone was shocked by the devastating statement from Resil, the youngest son of a conglomerate family.

“We definitely have to stop him from becoming like Resil.”

“You must never live your life like Resil. Just because you have it doesn’t mean you can throw it around!”

Bark even strained the veins in his neck, and everyone agreed.

Nod, nod—

Resil, who had been nodding several times, felt an inexplicable emotion.

‘Huh? Why do I feel a little offended?’

In any case, they had come to Nell in the hope that Hyunsoo would not live like Resil(?).

“Let’s give him one serious scolding!!”

As they thought of collectively scolding Hyunsoo, Nell spoke.

“Wait a moment. There’s something I need to check first.”

Just then.

What Nell wanted to check rang out to the officers.

[The sick of the nation of Hyun have been healed through the Ares Church.]

[Those who recovered return to the battlefield or devote their lives to working for the nation.]

[Food has been distributed in abundance, and housing environments and territories have been developed.]

[Those who can now eat their fill and live in good places vow to live even more diligently out of gratitude and voluntarily offer themselves to the nation.]

[Due to the establishment of the new Academy, the number of people rapidly and excellently awakening talents they did not know they had or talents they already knew of increases by 612%.]

[They will later be reborn as outstanding talents of the nation of Hyun.]

Everyone there was astonished by the notifications ringing out endlessly.

Soon, the results of what Hyunsoo had done with thirty billion won were revealed.

[National power increases by 7.8%.]

“......?”

“......!?”

They knew that increasing national power was not easy.

However, by feel alone, they did not know exactly how much 7.8% meant.

“This is......”

And Nell knew far better than they did.

Because she was the chancellor.

In any history, it was hard to find a nation that grew this much through its domestic economy alone.

Of course.

‘Though no king uses all his personal assets for his nation either.......’

Then Nell spoke to those who had been excited to tear into Hyunsoo over his spending.

“The finances Lord Hyunsoo has invested into the nation so far amount to approximately 55.6 billion won. An increase in national power means the value of the nation has increased, but a 7.8% increase does not mean the nation’s value has simply risen by 7.8%.”

There would be no one in the world foolish enough to calculate it that way.

“With this year’s growth, Lord Hyunsoo has earned approximately 47 billion won in returns from his 55.6 billion won investment.”

In other words.

Hyunsoo’s rate of return was almost 100%.

The people who heard the rate of return blinked or stammered.

‘He earned 47 billion......?’

‘And the nation of Hyun hasn’t even been founded for a year?’

At that moment, they realized.

‘He’s good at investing too......’

‘No, wasn’t he just flexing?’

‘Was it all calculated!?’

But in truth.

Hyunsoo had just been flexing.

In any case, it was the moment they decided not to mouth off to Hyunsoo.

Meanwhile.

Hyunsoo, the king and the person in question, was hearing even more detailed notifications.

[The words “thank you” are conveyed to all citizens.]

[The number of lords who wish to protect you with their lives reaches 18.]

[The number of citizens who wish to protect you with their lives reaches 34,401.]

[You have acquired the title King and Citizens.]

‘King and Citizens?’

Hyunsoo quite liked the name.

‘Should I see what kind of title it is?’

With a pleased expression, Hyunsoo checked the newly acquired title.