Crafting samples while under the sticky stares of the men wasn’t easy, but I held it together and managed to finish the rest.

Unlike the earlier ones, these samples weren’t just thinly coated on the surface. I took my time with them, making sure the silver plating was thick enough.

About thirty minutes of current was run through each, building up a proper silver layer—just in case anyone decided to scratch or test them.

—Chwareureuk.

“Here. These are the finished products.”

I had bent a copper rod to make several at once.

Once the last sample was done and placed neatly on a wooden tray, the adults once again looked at them with that same sticky-eyed admiration.

That reaction was no surprise—the quality of the silver plating was far superior to the first batch.

“This is leagues better than the first one. Dissolving silver into the Seokdamjeong with saltpeter and then channeling lightning qi through it—turning copper into silver with just that...”

“Indeed. The finish is excellent as well. I can think of plenty of uses for this.”

As the elders fussed over the samples, the master poisoner asked from the side.

“So-ryong-nim, shall we clear this now?”

Turning my head, I saw the artisan from the Poison Pavilion gesturing toward the silver-plating solution.

He was asking if it was time to put away the materials now that the sample work was done.

I quickly pulled out the pouch the ironworks artisan had given me earlier.

“Just a moment. There’s still one more.”

—Dalgurak.

I turned the pouch upside-down into my palm. Two shiny gold rings tumbled out.

They were plain, patternless rings with only the characters for Sacheon Tang Clan engraved.

“What’s that now, son-in-law?”

“Ah, just one last thing. Give me a moment.”

I said this as I checked if the silver from the dissolved silver nitrate had been depleted. Then I added more silver nitrate and potassium cyanide to the solution.

After hanging the rings on a copper rod and submerging them, I shouted toward Seom and Byeok.

“Guys, one last favor!”

—Wehhhhh!

This time, Seom took over the baton from Byeok and began channeling the current.

Since these didn’t need as thick a coating, I waited around ten minutes before calling out again.

“All done! Thanks, Seom!”

—Wehhhhh!

—Weh!

Having finished their job, Seom and Byeok slowly swam back toward the center of the pond.

To inspect the final result, I retrieved the rod and washed the rings in clean water. The red solution rinsed away, revealing silver rings glinting brightly in the light.

Polished like mirrors.

On the outside: the words Sacheon Tang Clan. On the inside: Hwa-eun’s name and mine.

Holding the rings, I approached Hwa-eun, who was still pretending to be mad and glancing my way, her body coiled by Hyang.

“Hwa-eun, here.”

“W-what is that...? A—A ring!?”

When I extended my hand to show her the ring, her voice was cool and stiff at first.

But the moment she realized it was a ring, her eyes grew as wide as full moons.

And then, as she took a closer look, her ears flushed ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) red—like water freshly bathed in by Ranghyang.

With a soft smile, I spoke.

“Yes, a ring.”

“R-really?”

She looked like she couldn’t believe it. I nodded gently.

“I asked the artisan at the Ironworks to make them. They’re gold rings, but since people from martial clans usually find it burdensome to wear gold openly, I plated them with silver. Kept the design simple, too.

Inside each ring, I had our names engraved. I’ll wear the one with your name on it—and you can wear the one with mine.”

“O-our names, even...?”

She froze, as if time had stopped the moment I mentioned our names were inscribed.

From the side, I heard my mother-in-law’s delighted voice.

“Oh my! Even engraved with each other’s names? Hwa-eun, how lucky you are! I thought our son-in-law wouldn’t think to prepare a proper token since he has no birth family and all, but look at this—what a heartfelt gesture.”

She thought the ring was a love token—a heartfelt gesture from someone with no family of his own.

But wait, birth family?

Was there a deeper meaning here?

I’d never given gifts before, and I only prepared this to soothe Hwa-eun’s hurt feelings... But now it felt like it had taken on a much bigger significance.

As I stood there a little stunned, my father-in-law’s voice reached me through sound transmission.

[He doesn’t know what the ring means, does he?]

[No, Father-in-law. Is there some deeper meaning?]

[As I suspected. Just agree with whatever I say from now on, no matter what.]

[Ah... understood.]

He must have seen the awkward look on my face and was stepping in to help.

I quickly responded with a sound transmission as well, and my father-in-law gave a knowing smile as he began to speak aloud.

“A proper love token for formal betrothal, is it?”

“Yes, that... that’s right, Father-in-law.”

‘Formal Betrothal?’

A term I had never heard before.

I looked to him, confused, hoping for an explanation.

He kindly continued, speaking as if to inform me.

“If you hadn’t been set to marry in as a live-in son-in-law, a recognized engagement by both families before the wedding. Thank you for thinking of Hwa-eun.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Haha...”

‘So, it’s something like an engagement?’

That seemed to be it—everyone now thought the ring was an engagement gift.

That would explain Hwa-eun’s shocked expression.

Since I was marrying in directly, the ceremony had been skipped. But now that I’d presented a formal token, everyone saw it as a deeply considerate act.

While I scratched my head with an awkward smile, I heard my grandfather and father-in-law chime in.

“Though it’s gold, the silver plating makes it suitable for everyday wear. Just like So-ryong to be so thoughtful.”

“Hwa-eun, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to take it? So-ryong’s arm will fall off at this rate!”

They were urging her to accept it quickly.

When Hwa-eun finally reached out toward the ring, I smiled and said,

“Allow me to put it on for you.”

I took the ring engraved with my name and guided it toward her outstretched left hand.

Just then, my father-in-law added playfully,

“You do know unmarried women can’t just wear rings, right, son-in-law? Once it’s on, there’s no taking it back.”

Back in my previous life, I didn’t think much of it. But now that I recalled, all the women I’d seen wearing rings here were already married.

So rings must carry a far deeper meaning in the ancient Central Plains.

But it’s not like I wasn’t planning to marry her anyway. I grasped her hand to slide the ring on.

Then, like cursing silently, Hwa-eun extended her middle finger.

Right on cue, my father-in-law’s voice echoed again through sound transmission.

[You did measure properly, didn’t you? The Formal Betrothal ring goes on the middle finger.]

I froze and glanced at Hyang, still coiled around Hwa-eun.

I had Hyang measure her finger size just yesterday by having him gently nibble her fourth finger, then relayed that size to the Ironworks artisan.

‘I’m screwed.’

My father-in-law meant well, trying to help... but if the ring didn’t fit the middle finger, I’d be exposed.

Resigned, I slowly moved to slide the ring on.

Strangely enough, the ring slid perfectly onto Hwa-eun’s middle finger.

Startled, I widened my eyes and glanced at Hyang.

And then Hyang, as if asking to be praised, spoke into my mind:

‘—Sssrurr. “Dad, the fourth one fits, right?”’

“The fourth one?”

‘—Ssrrk. “Yup. The fourth one.”’

Hyang answered with such confidence, calling the third finger the fourth, and that’s when it hit me—I had never taught her math.

Well, I had once tried to teach her clockwise directions, but she was terrible at that too.

“My poor daughter’s a math dropout already!”

But since her mistake ended up saving me, she was a good math dropout in my eyes.

“Yes, great job, Hyang. You nailed the ‘fourth’ finger!”

As I praised her silently in my heart, Hwa-eun’s voice quivered as she spoke, her eyes shimmering with tears.

“I’ll never forget this moment. For the rest of my life, So-ryong.”

Still holding out her middle finger to me.

***

“Been well?”

“I thought you’d come tomorrow?”

“You think I could wait that long?”

That afternoon, Elder Geolhwang arrived again, bringing another beggar with him.

I’d sent word the samples were ready, so I expected him the next day—but here he was, barely hours later.

“And this gentleman?”

I gestured politely, asking who the man was. Elder Geolhwang looked at him with a fond smile.

“Ah, this guy used to inspect high-grade silver and Dragon Silver for the court. I brought him to assess the quality of yours. Go on, introduce yourself—this is So-ryong, son-in-law of the Tang Clan.”

“An honor to meet you, young hero. Name’s So Geol-gwi.”

“A pleasure, Master Geol-gwi.”

So he was brought to check whether my silver was the real thing.

As I greeted him with a respectful martial salute, Elder Geolhwang’s voice slipped into my mind via sound transmission:

[Don’t tell him it’s fake silver.]

He must’ve wanted a more thorough assessment without bias, so he told me to keep that detail quiet. I nodded discreetly and offered to lead them to the workshop.

That’s where the fake silver was being stored.

“Shall we head to the master’s workshop? That’s where the silver is.”

“Very well.”

We arrived at the Tang master’s study.

“Father-in-law, Elder Geolhwang is here.”

“Oh?”

The door opened and my father-in-law came out, clearly in a rush.

He personally came to greet Elder Geolhwang, who smiled apologetically.

“I’m starting to feel bad for showing up so often.”

He seemed a little embarrassed by all the formality.

“Even if you came a hundred times, I’d greet you a hundred times. You’re a respected elder of Murim, after all.”

“Hah, well if you put it that way, I’ll graciously accept. Thank you.”

“Please, come in.”

With a pleased nod, Elder Geolhwang entered the study.

We sat, and my father-in-law brought over the tray with the Dragon Silver and set it on the table.

It glimmered under the afternoon light filtering through the open window.

“Here it is.”

“Oh? This is it?”

“Yes, please take a look.”

My father-in-law was probably going to point out how impressive it was—even for a fake—but perhaps Geolhwang sent a signal, because his words trailed off vaguely.

“Go on, take a look.”

“Understood.”

At Elder Geolhwang’s prompt, So Geol-gwi pulled something wrapped in cloth from his chest.

When he unwrapped it, it revealed a small scale and a needle.

He began by weighing the silver, then pricked it, inspecting it for some time.

Eventually, he nodded.

“This is extremely high-grade Dragon Silver—excellent purity.”

He seemed to have bought it completely.

With a satisfied smile, Elder Geolhwang suddenly flicked one of the silver bars into the air.

—Sshhk.

A blur. With a movement faster than the eye could see, Elder Geolhwang struck.

The silver bar split cleanly in half and landed with a clink on the table.

—Dalgurak.

Inside the cut piece, clear layers were revealed: a thin layer of silver, copper beneath, and even a core of clay.

So Geol-gwi stared, stunned.

“Impossible... How did you layer them like this? When you try to plate silver on copper, it usually slides off or melts the copper entirely...”

His face showed utter disbelief.

Because, frankly, this level of craftsmanship shouldn't exist in this era.

“Will this do?”

I asked Elder Geolhwang with a smile.

He nodded deeply, clearly impressed.

“So Geol-gwi may look like a beggar now, but once upon a time, he was one of the top three silver appraisers in all of the Central Plains. If he says it’s good, then it’s good. This will absolutely do.”

Now we just had to mass-produce and distribute it to our targets.

‘You bastards from the Five Venoms Sect... Time to eat this little explosive gift from So-ryong!’

I grinned inwardly, picturing the chaos to come.

Then, Elder Geolhwang spoke again, cautiously.

“By the way, So-ryong... do you happen to know much about Swarming locust?”

I thought we were done—but it seemed he had another question.

This time, about locusts.

Specifically, whether I knew much about them.

Swarming locust isn’t just any locust—it refers to swarms of them, the type that devastate entire regions.

I nodded casually.

“Of course. I know a lot about them... I can even make them.”

“You can make locusts!?”

“He can make locusts!?”

Both Elder Geolhwang and my father-in-law turned to me, eyes wide, voices full of disbelief.