Chapter 756: Saffier [3]
‘This is very troubleso. I don’t have much ti left until the announcent. Possibly, I’d like to get this done quickly, but…’
Staring at the old man and seeing how adamant he was at not wanting to do anything with the ring, I suddenly started to sympathise with the weird version of Caius.
“Maybe I should also…”
No, this wasn’t what was important.
I shook the thoughts from my head and glanced down at the ring on my finger. The old man had warned that sothing was wrong with it, yet no matter how closely I studied it, the ring appeared perfectly ordinary.
I had used it so often, and not once did I feel anything amiss with it.
I looked at the old man again. He seed to have turned his attention towards the materials once more.
“Can you tell exactly what is wrong with this ring? You ntioned sothing about them being tainted by a substance. What sort of substance is it?”
A certain thought crossed my mind.
It couldn’t possibly be—
“I don’t know.”
The old man replied while putting one of the ores down and picking up another.
I frowned.
“But you—”
“Just because I don’t know doesn’t an that I can’t sense it. I have rather sharp eyes. I can imdiately tell when sothing is wrong with an item. That ring on your finger isn’t sothing that a human should possess. Let repeat it again. Throw it away before it’s too late.”
“…..”
I didn’t know how to reply from that mont.
Slowly turning my attention towards the ring, I pursed my lips. Throw it away?
As if I could actually do that…
This ring wasn’t just useful, but it was also extrely important to . If I were to throw this away, then I’d have no choice but to find a good grave for myself.
“I can’t do that.”
“…A pity.”
The old man didn’t seem at all surprised by my decision. He looked more indifferent to it than I expected.
“If you need anything else that needs fixing, you can bring the items to the reception. I’m sure they’ll follow your orders. If that’s all, I’d like for all of you to leave.”
“…..”
I stared at the old man’s back for a while longer before nodding. It was clear that whatever I said would just go from one ear to the next. He wasn’t at all interested in hearing.
‘A pity. I guess I’ll need to think of another solution.’
I didn’t really plan on forcing his hand.
Turning around, I was just about to leave when Leon spoke.
“You ntioned sothing about people from this Empire asking you to repair two of the evil artifacts. Are you by chance troubled by them?”
“…..”
The old man paused in that mont.
I turned and looked at him, and although I couldn’t see his expression, I could tell that it was rather grim at the mont. I nearly slapped my thigh in realization as I looked at Leon and gave him a secret thumbs-up.
‘Right, right… Maybe…’
“I am indeed troubled by it, but don’t expect to help you even if you help . The most I’ll do is forge a new relic for you. Like I said, I don’t want anything to do with that artifact, and…”
And?
The old man never finished his sentence. He just closed his mouth and turned to look in Leon’s direction.
“I only ca because they requested it. They promised a handso paynt to repair so artifacts. I had just left the Verdant Empire and ca straight here, unaware of what awaited . But the mont I saw which artifacts they wanted restored, I tried to leave at once… only to realize I couldn’t.”
A mocking smile marred the old man’s features.
“…They haven’t exactly detained , but they haven’t exactly allowed to leave. I’m now stuck here, doing whatever I want, but constantly harassed by those bastards.”
With his gaze lingering over to Leon, his eyes lowered and paused on his sword.
“If you help , I’ll forget a good sword for you. How about it? I can guarantee that it’ll definitely be better than the one you currently have.”
“Deal.”
Leon didn’t even hesitate to agree.
My mouth opened in an ‘O’ shape right after that. Who the hell was he to—
“That’s good. Toss your sword. I’ll take a look at it.”
Leon didn’t hesitate to toss the sword to the old man as who caught it with his large hands and pulled it open. After a while, he nodded and turned back to his workstation.
“Co back later. I’ll analyze the sword and co up with a mold that will be best suited for soone like you.”
“…Thank you.”
Satisfied, Leon turned back under my gaze as he walked out of the place. Linus obediently followed him from behind as I stood on the sa spot, unsure of how to react.
That…
“You have a good master.”
My eyes widened upon hearing the old man’s voice. He wasn’t even looking at .
“…A pity that you’re not a very good knight. Shouldn’t you be following him already?”
This motherfu—
*
The air felt a lot fresher the mont we ca out of the place.
It no longer felt as unbearable.
“You know what he said?”
“No, nor am I interested. I’m thinking of finding a way to help the old man. Maybe I should contact my parents? They might be able to help.”
“…..”
I watched as Leon retrieved a communication device from his pocket and started to ssage his parents.
This…
It sort of felt like cheating.
“It’s obvious the old man has no intention of staying, nor of helping them. If my parents inform the Emperor that they require his service, I’m certain he’ll be allowed to leave. No one would risk the breakdown of a relationship between two Empires over a single blacksmith, no matter how skilled he may be.”
The more I listened to Leon speak, the more I felt my brain swirl.
‘This really does feel like cheating.’
“Okay, sent. We should get so good news soon.”
Leon put the communication device away and finally took notice of .
“What?”
I didn’t even say anything.
I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s obvious that he isn’t going to help you. In that case, I took over. I’m getting a free sword, and the favor is rather easy. You’re not going to bla for taking the opportunity, right?”
Although he said that, his eyes said sothing different, ‘You’re not going to be heartless, right? You’re not going to be a tyrant, right? Of course you agree, right?’
I closed my eyes and sighed.
“I’m not.”
It was obvious to the two of us that the blacksmith wasn’t planning on helping . He had been very clear about it.
Since I also didn’t plan on forcing him, Leon may as well take advantage of the opportunity to get a better sword. After having seen just how powerful the Book of Enhancent was, and how much harder it made my life, I realized that good equipnt was also important.
The stronger Leon was, the better for .
“I’m still curious about sothing, though.”
I turned my attention elsewhere. Towards the area where Caius had previously left.
“What is Caius doing here? Sothing felt off about him, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Leon’s face turned serious as he looked in the sa direction that I did.
“Should we check it out just in case? I’m also curious to find out what the other artifacts in possession of the Empire are.”
“…I like the sound of that.”
“Eh? What?”
Linus alternated his gaze between the two of us.
“Wait, what did you guys just say? Are you—”
“Let’s go.”
“…It should be this way.”
We both ignored him and went ahead.
***
“Still nothing?”
A man covered by a dark cloak sat by a chair, drinking a cup of water slowly. His voice was low, lacking any warmth as a figure stood right behind him, his gaze flickering slightly.
Caius eventually shook his head.
“Nothing yet. The old man doesn’t wish to cooperate.”
His words were t with a brief mont of silence.
Placing the cup on the table, the cloaked man slowly pulled back his hood, revealing a pair of sharp, purple eyes. Around his neck hung a silver necklace, its centerpiece a large violet orb that glimred faintly with every slight movent he made.
The necklace was extrely beautiful to look at, but if one looked closely, they’d notice faint cracks within the purple orb.
“Did he say why…?”
“He didn’t. He just said that he doesn’t want to repair the items that he isn’t capable of doing so.”
Caius replied in a flat tone, his pupils shifting left to right in ti with the necklace’s subtle sway. Without his notice, black veins crept along his skin, spreading upward from the base of his neck and inching steadily toward his head.
“….?”
The movent ca to an abrupt halt the mont Caius felt sothing as his eyes snapped into a brief mont of clarity.
The veins faded imdiately. Almost as if they went into hiding.
“What… what was I saying? No, what is…”
“It’s nothing.”
The man standing opposite Caius placed his hand over his shoulder and spoke softly.
“You were talking about the blacksmith and how he rejected you. You look tired. I’ll go report the situation to the Emperor. You can have so rest. I’ll take it from here.”
“Oh, sure…”
Caius didn’t say anything else and just nodded, turning around and finding a chair to sit. He did feel rather weak for so strange reason.
His eyes closed almost imdiately after as the soft look on the hooded man’s face faded completely, replaced by a biting cold expression.
With a flicker of his eyes, he turned away from Caius and went towards the table where a small wooden box appeared. Going to the box, he opened it slowly to reveal a book.
Staring at the book, the man’s gaze shifted.
“…I didn’t expect the artifact to get damaged during so stupid noble event. This makes the situation rather troubleso. I also didn’t expect the blacksmith to reject us like this. This makes things harder for us. Why make things harder for us?”
Closing the book down, the man turned his attention towards the window.
It was there that he caught sight of a couple of figures.
His eyes narrowed the mont he looked at them. However, in the next mont, they were gone.
Almost as if they had never been there from the start.
His expression quickly shifted, but it was a little too late.
“So this is the place?”
“Seems like it.”
“….!?”
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