Chapter 18

After parting with Theo and being left alone in Ratteon, Blaine fanned his face nonstop, trying to cool the heat that refused to fade. But the sensation of Theo’s hand ruffling his hair kept replaying in his head, fanning the embers all over again.

In the end, Blaine squatted down right in the middle of the street, burying his face in his hands.

‘Why did he do that? Why did he pat my head?’

But with his heart pounding out of control, he couldn’t think straight.

He had no idea how long he stayed like that, but eventually people passing by started whispering about him. Only then did Blaine rise with an awkward look and slip away.

Since Ratteon was a small fishing village, there weren’t many houses available. He checked every property up for sale, but they were smaller than expected. Blaine had thought a small house would be fine after seeing Theo’s place, but now he realized Theo’s house wasn’t that small compared to the others.

As he searched, Blaine compared everything to Theo’s home. If it were up to him, he would’ve bought the house right next door, but that one was so tiny and shabby that “quiet” didn’t even begin to cover it. Put in a single bed and it was already full.

After much effort, he narrowed it down to two decent options near Theo’s house. One was a two-story home with a lower basement level, the other a small place with a living room and single bedroom similar to Theo’s. Both had exposed stone walls that gave them a rugged look.

After some thought, Blaine chose the two-story house. It wasn’t a loft that went upward, but rather a basement level that went down. Yet since the land was on high ground, even the basement had an open view. From above it looked like a basement, but from below it was basically the first floor.

Blaine opened his full map, sold off his home in Polia, and purchased the new place. He had the furniture from Polia transported to Ratteon. The house was empty for now, but just thinking that Theo might visit someday filled him with excitement.

Now that business was done, he could head to Lucilvania. With a spring in his step, Blaine left the house.

“Guild, Theo hyung, I’m on my way now.”

『Hello, sir.』

Father, seated in the guild hall on some business, lifted her gaze when a ding and a whisper alert sounded. The voice in her ear was unfamiliar. What is this now? She tilted her head, but the speaker kept going.

『Do you by any chance know someone named Blaine?』

Blaine? Father narrowed her eyes slightly. Something smelled fishy. She quickly opened the information window to check the sender.

Kim Na.

As expected, someone she didn’t know. Ignore it? Answer? After a brief hesitation, Father chose to speak first.

“Kim Na, what do you need?”

『Ah, thank you for replying.』

“Just get to the point.”

『At first, I was going to ignore it, but I can’t just overlook something that might harm your guild. I’m a victim myself, you see.』

“What exactly are you saying?”

『You have someone named Blaine in your guild, right?』

“Yes, we do.”

『Did you know that guy is… no, that person is 4th Generation?』

“……”

『As I thought, you didn’t know… He keeps hiding it and sneaking into different guilds and clans. People let him in without realizing it, and then—』

“Kim Na, isn’t this outing?”¹

『…What?』

The other side stuttered, clearly caught off guard. Father checked the information window again and saw the guild name: Kilimanjaro. Judging from the fact that the person was whispering as the representative, they were probably the guild master. What a name, like some self-important chieftain.

The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it was. A dry laugh slipped out. Then, speaking like she was muttering to herself, but loud enough for the other side to hear, she said,

“Kim Na, I was wondering which pathetic guild would kick someone out just for being 4th Generation. Now I know.”

『What did you just say?』

“Kim Na, Blaine’s in my guild, and yes, I know he’s 4th Generation. Don’t waste my time with this nonsense. Beat it. If you’ve got a problem, come say it to my face.”

『What? You—!』

The voice on the other side rose in anger, but Father ended the whisper cleanly and blocked him.

When she first heard that Blaine had been expelled not just from guilds but from clans as well, she had already guessed this would happen. But she hadn’t expected it to start this quickly. He’d only been in the guild for a single day, and already this nonsense.

Those jobless bastards. If she met them out in the field, she’d make sure to start a war.

Two days passed after Marco began crafting Theo’s bow. Finally, word came that it was complete. Theo rushed straight to Marco’s workshop, where Marco greeted him with the finished weapon in hand.

Theo’s eyes lit up with expectation as he stared at the bow Marco was holding. It was a flatbow—long, with limbs that were wide and even in thickness. Marco had designed it that way to prevent damage from dispersing when swung.

Theo reached out his hand, asking for it without words, but Marco didn’t give it to him right away. Instead, he smirked slyly, like he was hiding something.

“What are you doing?”

Theo tilted his head, puzzled, and shook his hand as if urging him on. Finally, Marco handed over the bow, his voice bursting with excitement.

“Hyung, do you realize how crazy this turned out?”

“Huh?”

“Maybe because someone with insane luck brought me the materials? This thing is god-tier lucky!”

“…Huh?”

“Look, hurry! Check it now!”

Marco’s eager insistence was almost frantic. Theo, still bewildered, opened the information window of the flatbow.

Theo read through the details carefully. Then he froze at the attack power. Seventy-eight. Not just the high number, but the fact that it was a fixed value. Normally, attack stats came as a range like “00–00,” but this was a straight, certain value. It looked like Marco had sacrificed range and accuracy to maximize attack power.

Thanks to the Bamia Spider Silk, the bow had regained some of the range and accuracy he’d given up, and the special materials added extremely useful sub-functions. And then… there was the additional option.

“?”

Theo thought he must have read it wrong. With disbelief all over his face, he kept scanning the additional option line again and again.

His eyes flew wide. Snapping his head up, he looked at Marco.

“H-hey, this…?”

Marco had been waiting for it.

“Crazy, right?!”

Theo could only open and close his mouth soundlessly, nodding fast.

“Hyung, this is so good you could switch to melee and still deal guaranteed damage! This—there’s no way to ever recreate it with the same materials! I’ve never seen a weapon with fixed attack power before, and I’ve never seen a bonus option that high. How would those numbers ever appear again?!”

Marco’s voice rose louder and louder, his face red from the rush of blood. He looked like his head might explode if he got any more worked up.

Theo, still stunned, reread the bow’s details over and over, until Marco suddenly grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

“Hyung, hyung, can I print this stat window out and hang it as my workshop signboard?”

He was technically asking for permission, but the gleam in his eyes made it feel more like a demand. It wasn’t as if it would harm Theo in any way. In fact, if word spread that Marco had crafted something like this, it would be huge for his business. Theo gave his permission without hesitation and finally managed to escape the workshop.

He headed for the village blacksmith NPC to enchant the flatbow. But while crossing the plaza, someone slammed into his shoulder hard enough to spin him halfway around. He steadied himself and turned to look.

A small group of players stood there. They whispered and snickered as they stared at him, then turned away without so much as an apology. When Theo called after them, they didn’t stop or look back—just raised their middle fingers high for him to see.

He was too dumbfounded to reply. He considered chasing after them for a fight, but wasting time on that now was pointless. Grinding his teeth, he turned back and headed for the blacksmith.

The enchantment process dragged on. He stood there for quite a while, failing repeatedly as bad luck clung to him. Irritated, he shoved his bangs back and tried again.

At that exact moment, someone tapped his shoulder. At the same time, a notification popped up: enchantment successful.

“Hyung.”

The familiar voice rang in his ear. Theo turned quickly—and there was Blaine, smiling brightly at him.

“You really have something about you, huh…”

“…What?”

“I kept failing my enchants, and the moment you showed up, it succeeded.”

“Wait, really?”

Blaine asked with genuine delight, stepping closer. Theo, just to check, tried again—and it succeeded once more.

“Another success?”

Blaine tilted his head and asked softly. Theo grabbed his arm on the spot.

“Yeah. Stay here until I finish enchanting.”

Blaine didn’t answer, only smiled sheepishly and nodded.

What had been endless failures suddenly became constant successes with Blaine standing by. Theo was once again struck by the strange power he carried, and safely completed the enchantments. But then curiosity got the better of him.

“So, what brings you here?”

Blaine hesitated, then scratched his cheek with an embarrassed look.

“I heard your weapon was finished earlier. I thought you’d be here enchanting it, so I dropped by.”