The Frozen Player Returns

Just this and that.
Huh? Look, theyre selling cotton candy over there.

Cotton candy?! The Frost Queen licked her lips and swallowed.
Seo Jun-Ho got the sense that she wanted some, but she didnt want to act on it outright because of her pride as a queen.

It has been a while since weve come to the market, so you should get some snacks.
Here, take some pocket money.

Really?! Thank you so much, Contractor! She took the money and ran excitedly over to the man at the cotton candy stall.
Seo Jun-Ho took the chance to quickly buy Spirit Crystals.
He had to pay a premium because he was paying the asking price instead of bidding for it.
Still, it was more important to get it as quickly as possible.

Seo Jun-Ho grinned when he looked at the pouch full of Spirit Crystals.

Nice.
With this much…
It would easily last him for at least two months.
As soon as he put the pouch into his Inventory, the Frost Queen scampered toward him, waving her arms.
She had a stick of blue cotton candy in one hand, and red on the other.

Cotton candyyy! she exclaimed.

Is it good?

Yes.
Its very sweet.

For some reason, he felt proud as he watched her giggle.

After that, Jun-Ho headed to a brewery.
30 barrels of this, please.

…Do you mean 30 bottles?

No, barrels.

It had been a while since there had been such a customer, so the manager gave him two complimentary bottles of their finest liquor.
Seo Jun-Ho put them all away in his Inventory and headed to the dwarves city, Del Ice.

’

It has been a while, my friend! The chief of the White Anvil Tribe, Graham greeted him with a gruff smile.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled as well.
Have you been well?

Yes, well…Just take a look around.

After migrating, the new Del Ice changed a lot.
The city had once been cold and dead, but now, it was warm and full of life.

Thats good to hear, Jun-Ho said.

Hehe, it is all thanks to you chasing the ice witch away.

Well, its not like it was for free.
Seo Jun-Ho took out the beer from his Inventory and presented it to him.
I bought these on the way here.
I heard that you like Earth-style beer.

Hm, Kim Woo-Joong must have told you, Graham said, drooling over the 30 barrels of beer.
He called over the other dwarves.
Drink as much as you want!

Thank you, Seo Jun-Ho!

Our human friend!

The dwarves cheered.
They brought snacks from each of their houses for the festivities.

Graham looked pleased as he watched them.
He gestured at Seo Jun-Ho to sit.
So, do you like the equipment I gave you?

Yes, very much so.
He especially liked using the spear made of Cold Iron, though he had yet to use the sawtooth sword.
I came back here to ask for another selfish favor.

Hm, a favor? What is it?

The armor you saw last time got destroyed.

Tsk, tsk…
You should have been more careful.
Graham clicked his tongue, recalling how fine White Armor had been.

So, I came here to see if I could get a new set of armor.

Hm? What about the blacksmith who made that armor?

Well…
He said that with his level of skill, he cant make something thatll protect me anymore.
Seo Jun-Ho took out the Sword of Ambition and showed it to Graham.
The last thing he gave me was this sword he worked on for decades.
Now, he has retired.

Give it.
Graham took the Sword of Ambition and inspected it from top to bottom.
Hm…
You said hes human?

Yes? Yes.
He is human.

And he does not have any dwarven blood?

…If he did, Palmo wouldnt have come out looking like that, Seo Jun-Ho muttered, thinking of the blacksmiths mountainous build.

’

Hm? Well, in any case, you are saying that he does not have any dwarven blood.

Cling.

Graham looked amused as he flicked the blade.
Humans live such short lives…
Yet, he managed to put his soul into his work…
Just how old is he?

Uh…
I think hes turning 100 this year.
Any other person would have retired decades ago and spent time with their grandchildren at that age.
Personally, Im relieved that he retired.
Hes old, yet hes always working so hard…

Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Graham clicked his tongue again.
He gave Seo Jun-Ho a sidelong look, seeming a little reproachful.
Your poor friend.
Even if you are not the most social person I know, I did not know you were this tactless.

…Pardon?

Theres a saying among blacksmiths.
We hammer iron before we become of age.
The same should be true of this human.

Thats true.
Kwon Noya was the 17th Patriarch of the historical Kwon clan, a famous family of blacksmiths.
While other children played with toys, Kwon Noya had to have been playing with a hammer and metal.

We want to die before the forge fire, just as we lived.
That is what all blacksmiths wish for.

…

Did you somehow think that he was happy to retire? Graham asked.

Yes…

He thought so.
Kwon Noya was old so Seo Jun-Ho thought that it was a good choice to retire now that he had an excuse to do so.
However, he had never considered how Noya felt when he decided to retire.

Tsk, tsk.
If you do not believe it, go ask him yourself.
Actually, let us go together.

Pardon? Seo Jun-Hos eyes grew wide as Graham stood up.

What are you staring at? I said, we should go meet him together, he said.

Well, thats…
Seo Jun-Ho knew that it was possible for those from Frontier to go down to Earth.
After all, Kwon Noya had told him he had met an elf from there.
But as far as he knew, the process was pretty fickle.

…Well, does it matter?

If that ended up being a problem, he had his secret weapon, Shim Deok-Gu.

Are you actually going down?

Yes.
You said you needed a new set of armor, did you not? It has been decades since I have met such a skilled human blacksmith, so I wish to take this chance to speak with him.
He is also a blacksmith from another planet, so it will be an interesting meeting.

The impatient dwarf told him to wait for a moment as he began to pack his equipment.

Next to them, the Frost Queen quietly ate her cotton candy.

Its yummy, she muttered.

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