The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 37

Hendrick’s eyebrows went up quickly when he heard that. The words hurt his pride as a craftsman.

“Dmitri steel is the best in Cairo, for sure! You don’t know anything about making steel. You’ve never even worked hard in the heat of a smithy. How can you judge Dmitri steel?”

His voice rose.

The things Roman looked at were trash. Even in Dmitri, they were seen as very bad.

But… Hendrick didn’t like that *Roman* was saying this.

Hendrick remembered Roman as someone who could never be good. His face turned red with anger against Roman.

“I only gave you these things because of your father, Baron Romero. Roman Dmitri, you are the oldest son of the Dmitri family. Our family has always been blacksmiths.

Your younger brother, Rodwell, has been working hard for years, learning from me, to take over the family business. But you? You’ve been running after pretty women, doing nothing important all day. Do you understand?

You, Roman Dmitri, are worse than this trash on the floor! These bad items can still be used by someone. But you, as the oldest son of Dmitri, are trash who can’t do anything, no, who *cannot* do anything useful.”

This was a very harsh insult.

The smithy is the heart of Dmitri. The oldest son who ignores this will never be respected by the workers. They built this family with their hard work and sweat.

Roman thought, ‘Is this happening again?’ He looked at Hendrick, a man he didn’t know. Baek Joong-hyuk didn’t know his face, but he understood Hendrick’s anger.

It wasn’t just unfair dislike; it was based on what Hendrick knew about the *old* Roman Dmitri. This felt familiar to Roman.

Roman hadn’t been Roman Dmitri for long. But everywhere he went, no one was friendly to him at first. Except for Hans.

Hans was very loyal to Roman. That’s why Hans took him in and helped him, for no special reason.

“I get why Hendrick is angry. If the oldest son of Dmitri, who doesn’t care about the smithy, suddenly shows up and starts judging things, especially if he wants something, it’s annoying.”

Roman understood Hendrick’s thoughts and feelings. Hendrick’s anger made sense. But as Roman faced that anger, something else bothered him.

“Master Blacksmith. He’s the real power in Dmitri, the craftsman in charge of the smithy. He should be respected. But in this situation, it’s different.

He’s not saying the items aren’t trash. He’s angry because *I*, Roman Dmitri, am the one saying it.”

*Thunk.* Roman picked up a sword from the floor. He went outside, holding the sword up so the sunlight shone on it.

“Master Hendrick, I understand you are angry. But look at this sword in the sunlight. You can see dark and light spots on the blade. This shows the metal is not even.

It means the blacksmith didn’t hammer it well. This is not good Dmitri steel. You know this is true, Master Hendrick. That’s why you are attacking me instead of admitting these are trash, right?”

“What nonsense!”

“Master Hendrick.” Roman spoke quickly, not letting Hendrick finish. He swung the sword in the air a few times, the metal whistling. Then he looked at Hendrick, his face serious.

“Just now, one of my soldiers died because this trash sword was too weak to cut through the enemy. The blade was rough and uneven, so it got stuck in the enemy.

My soldier couldn’t pull it out fast enough. In his fear, he was beheaded by the enemy’s sword. It’s terrible! He fought hard to live, but he died because his lord – a *bad* lord – gave him trash weapons.”

*Thunk!* He threw the sword down hard.

This time, he picked up a piece of armor and showed it to Hendrick.

“Master Hendrick, why do soldiers wear armor? Even if it only stops one enemy attack, it’s worth wearing the heavy weight. But… the soldier wearing this armor I got from you was let down by it. He trusted it to protect him, but he died.

He thought the metal rings would keep him safe, but this armor – made by some unknown blacksmith – was too weak. The enemy’s weapon went right through it. It made a hole, tore his flesh, and his insides came out through the armor.”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

“Do you still not understand what I’m saying?”

Roman understood people’s unfair opinions. He knew he had to deal with people disliking him because the old Roman was bad. But… Hendrick had gone too far.

He was so focused on his personal anger that he didn’t realize what he was doing wrong.

“I asked you, Master Hendrick, for weapons and armor for my soldiers. If I hadn’t seen that these things were trash, my soldiers might have trusted their lives to useless junk without knowing it.

This isn’t just about you and me being angry at each other. This is about thirty lives! And you, Master Hendrick, ignored the truth, even though you knew it.

Can you really be proud to call yourself a Master Blacksmith, the best craftsman of Dmitri? Because of your anger towards *me*, innocent people could have died!”

“……!” Hendrick was shocked. Roman’s words… they were true. Hendrick hadn’t considered the danger. He just didn’t want to give Roman good things. He didn’t think about soldiers dying because of it.

“I, I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

“Your intentions don’t matter. Weapons and armor are for protecting people. Anyone can see what will happen if you give out trash like this. That’s why I asked you in my father’s name, Baron Romero, not just as Roman Dmitri.

I asked for the *best* weapons and armor you could make. And this trash is what you gave me.”

*Thunk. Clang.* Roman kicked the metal items on the floor. They crashed and scattered. Watching this, Hendrick finally understood his mistake.

“Can I take this action as defiance against my father?”

Defiance. In that moment, Hendrick felt his mind go blank.

Roman had a clear line in his mind. Hendrick being rude to him wasn’t the problem. The Master Blacksmith was powerful enough to treat the oldest son of Dmitri badly.

But Roman thought Hendrick went too far when he gave him trash weapons and armor, especially since Roman asked for them in Baron Romero’s name.

Roman respected Hendrick. He worked hard. And Roman knew that to do well in the family, he needed to be friends with Hendrick. However…

“Master Hendrick, I know what you think of me. I don’t think you *meant* to disobey my father. You just didn’t want to give *me* good things. But that’s the problem! That *is* disobeying him.

Master Hendrick, I came here with my father’s permission. This isn’t just me asking for something. It’s an order from the lord of this land: give me good weapons and armor.”

Celestial Demon. Baek Joong-hyuk had always been a ruler. He had ruled many people. He always followed one rule, no matter what: ‘Hierarchy. If the difference between a lord and his people gets unclear, then everything falls apart.’

Even if someone was loyal, even if they were friendly, if they forgot their place and disobeyed, Baek Joong-hyuk would punish them harshly, without showing emotion. It was the same now.

Even though Roman knew Hendrick was important, the moment Hendrick went too far, Roman showed him the truth. That was it. Roman put pressure on Hendrick.

“I’ll ask you one more time. Can I take your actions as defiance against my father?”

“……Defiance! That’s absolutely not it!” Hendrick shouted desperately.

Master Blacksmith. He had worked for many years to get that title. Baron Romero was his friend before he became the lord of Dmitri. They had worked together at the furnace in the past, both passionate about blacksmithing.

Hendrick respected Baron Romero as a craftsman. Baron Romero couldn’t come to the smithy often now because he was busy being a nobleman. But Hendrick thought Baron Romero was the best craftsman in Cairo. That’s why Hendrick was loyal to him.

Just then, blacksmiths nearby rushed over because of Roman’s loud voice. At first, they didn’t know what was happening. But when they heard what Roman said next, their faces became angry.

“If it’s not disobeying my father, then explain! Why did you give me this trash?”

“This brat!”

“How dare he talk to Master Hendrick like that!” The blacksmiths got even angrier. They saw Roman as a young dog bothering Hendrick. They were furious.

The blacksmiths looked like they were about to attack. A dozen strong men surrounded Roman. The air felt dangerous, like a fight was about to start.

It was well-known: even dangerous groups like the Blood Fangs didn’t cause trouble with the blacksmiths of Dmitri. Blacksmiths were strong and knew how to use weapons like swords.

There were stories of groups being destroyed for being stupid enough to fight them. It was a very tense moment.

Roman stayed calm. He wasn’t nervous about the blacksmiths’ threats. He didn’t get upset. He just kept looking at Hendrick. The blacksmiths got even angrier because of his steady look.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but I can’t watch this Dmitri fool disrespecting the Master anymore!”

“Attack him!”

“Yes!” Hendrick was like a god to them. Just as the blacksmiths rushed forward, Hendrick, who had been quiet, finally spoke.

“Stop!”

“……Master!”

“I said, stop!” Hendrick’s face became stern.

Hendrick couldn’t understand what was happening. The Roman he knew was different. He didn’t know good steel from bad. He wasn’t brave enough to tell Hendrick what to do.

And he was too scared to stand up to the blacksmiths when they were angry. But… this Roman was brave.

“I know one thing for sure,” Hendrick said. “I’m sorry. It was all my fault.” Because of the accusation of disobeying Baron Romero… Hendrick gave in.