Three days later, Jin spent some time training Mo-Ryo. Now, he and Shuang were set to leave and return to Earth; the temporary break at Origin Academy had ended, and classes were resuming.
Yu-Ah: "You villain! Why are you taking Lily? Leave her with me."
Jin frowned slightly. "You brat, do you really expect me to leave my daughter behind?"
Yu-Ah squinted her eyes suspiciously. "Hmm... Lily calls you Papa, and she calls my sister Mama. And you spend so much time alone with my sister. What is..."
Shuang quickly placed her hand over the girl's mouth. "Shhh! Yu-Ah, don't say such things in front of the people in the palace."
Yu-Ah: "Hmph!"
Lily: "Lily will go with Papa and come back soon."
After a bit of childish bickering, they headed outside. Mo-Ryo stood there waiting.
Mo-Ryo: "Jin, do you know how to become 'One with the Sword'?"
Jin scratched his chin. "Hmm, no. I haven't done that."
Mo-Ryo frowned. "How did you become a seven-star swordsman and create new martial arts without achieving that?"
Jin fell silent for a moment. "Look, I don't know why, but my intuition tells me one thing."
Mo-Ryo: "What is it?"
Jin: "Books are useless. Techniques are useless. Becoming 'One with the Sword' boils down to a single sentence: Just be one with the sword. At least, that's what my gut tells me."
They bid their farewells. The Lady of the Palace provided some essentials for the young man and his wife, and they boarded the carriage and departed.
Shuang: "Are we going straight to Newland?"
Jin was busy playing Rock-Paper-Scissors with Lily. He paused, then smiled. "We're going somewhere else first."
A day later, they reached the Tower in the Northern Sea. They were stopped by the Oversight Office as usual. Jin presented his Supervisor card, and as always, the chief officer was summoned.
When the Chief arrived, he gasped. "What is this, Elder?"
The young man smiled. "This is my wife and my daughter."
The officer was stunned, whispering in Jin's ear, "Did you really marry the Princess of the Palace? Weren't you supposed to be hunting monsters? How did they even agree to this?"
Jin: "That is a top-secret matter. Anyway... life moves in ways we don't expect."
The Chief smiled briefly, but his expression turned serious. He whispered, "Elder, you know we must report the movement of key individuals to the heads of states, even using secret codes. Therefore, we have already informed Chunma. He has likely sent someone to watch you."
Jin went silent for a moment, then sighed with a smile. "Yes, I expected as much. It's fine; it's not a problem."
Later, in the First Floor City, they wandered through the streets.
Shuang: "Dear, what metal is your sword made of? It's truly incredible!"
Jin: "This? Well, there was a sword before it made of Orichalcum. You probably only saw it during our fight against the Demon Baron. Do you remember?"
Shuang: "Yes, I remember."
Jin: "Well, the current sword was forged from what remained of that one, with a few modifications."
The girl was amazed. "What? How? It's so magnificent that anyone would mistake it for Mithril!"
Jin laughed. "Speaking of Mithril, do you have your sword with you?"
Shuang: "Yes, why?"
Jin looked ahead. They had reached Borin's Forge. "Bring it for a moment. We're going inside to say hello to a sleepy old man."
Seconds later, Lily dashed inside first. Borin, standing by the furnace as usual, looked up.
Borin: "What's this? Since when do children come in here? Get out, you brat!"
Jin stepped in from behind. "Why are you kicking the child out, you old man? Do sweet children offend you that much?"
Borin burst into laughter the moment he saw him. "You 'Diaper-Boy'! Are you still crying about getting married? Hahahaha!"
Shuang stood beside Jin. They looked at each other, and then Borin looked at them. "You brat... isn't that the sword I made for you in her hand? Wait..."
Jin: "Yes. This is my wife, and that child is my daughter."
Borin stood frozen in silence for a long time. "Huh?"
After Jin explained the entire situation, Borin congratulated them warmly, then laughed again.
Borin: "You hilarious Rascal! You were just crying to me about Jamie not long ago, and you actually ended up married! Hahaha!"
Shuang turned to Jin, puzzled. "Jin... is this really the best blacksmith you know?"
Jin (embarrassed): "Ah... yes."
Later, Jin spoke up. "Old man, look at the child's Status Window."
Borin: "What?"
Jin: "Lily, call up your Status Window and show it to this Grandpa here."
Borin looked at it. "Wow, this window is really cute. Look at those bright, childish colors!"
Jin: "Forget that, old man. What does this mean?"
Borin went quiet and spoke seriously. "Let's leave this for later. It's a very long story."
Jin: "Fine. If that's the case, we've stayed long enough. Lily, say goodbye to Grandpa. We're leaving."
Lily: "Goodbye, smelly Grandpa!"
Jin burst out laughing. "That's what you get for drinking so much, old man!"
After some shouting from Borin, they prepared to leave. Jin stopped for a moment as an idea struck him. He remembered the day he fought the copy of his father; he remembered Borin mentioning he had accompanied the "Thrones of the Sword" for decades. A doubt began to gnaw at him. It felt illogical, but he decided to ask in a new way.
He looked at Borin, who was dazed and wanting to sleep, then looked at his family. "Wait for me outside for a bit."
They stepped out. Jin took a drawing board and some pencils. He recalled the exact shape of the sword his father carried and began to draw it with extreme precision. The sketch perfectly matched the sword he had seen that day. The design wasn't entirely foreign; Jin's previous sword had been very similar to it.
Jin sat beside the old man and handed him the drawing. "Old man, do you recognize this sword? Perhaps you were the one who forged it in the past. Try to remember."
Jin said this, trying to trap Borin into speaking while he was in his drunken, dazed state.
Borin looked at the drawing and smiled as he spoke. "Yes, yes, I remember it well. I forged this sword in the past for that miserable young man!"
Suddenly, Borin realized what he had said. His eyes widened in shock. The glass bottle slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor. He scrambled up from Jin's side, staring at the youth in sheer terror.
Jin remained seated, looking at Borin with a painful gaze—one filled with heartbreak and a loss of trust. He hadn't truly expected his suspicion to be true. He hadn't wanted to believe his father was one of the "Thrones," but he knew his father's talent surpassed human logic. It wasn't strange that he had dealt with Borin in the past.
Jin spoke with a terrifying calmness that mirrored his pained eyes. "It's okay. I expected something like this."
The youth stood up to leave. "Let's leave this for our next meeting."
Borin: "This... I..."
Jin: "It's fine. No need for words right now."
Jin walked out of the forge. Shuang and Lily were waiting as they were.
Shuang: "Dear, why did you stay inside so long?"
The young man didn't answer. She noticed the look on his face.
Shuang: "Jin, what happened—"
He cut her off. "Don't worry about it. Nothing important happened."
Despite the shock of the situation and the terrifying truth he had just uncovered, he chose to delay the confrontation. He didn't have the strength to speak normally to Borin or even Hans after this. Yet, he didn't want to lose these people, and he was now certain that the key to reaching his homeland lay with them.
And so, the young man chose silence in the face of the most important clue he had found on his journey.