As soon as Gin altered his appearance, he dialed Jay's number.
— "Well, look who it is! Our genius mage himself. Did you make it back ho safely?"
Gin pulled the phone from his ear for a mont, glancing at the screen. Sure enough, it was Jay. He placed the phone back to his ear.
— "Why aren't you answering? Is sothing wrong?"
"It's nothing like that. I got back fine. Took care of everything I needed to."
— "Oh, so does that an you won't be running off ho again anyti soon?"
"That, I don't know. Anyway, what's going on with these ssages? You said there was chaos."
— "Chaos? Oh yeah, absolute madness! We're raking in a fortune over here!"
Gin waited silently, knowing Uhm would elaborate soon enough.
As expected, his voice rose with excitent.
— "The shield orders are through the roof! We're swimming in money!"
"Good for you," Gin replied nonchalantly.
His indifference seed to irritate Uhm.
— "Is that all you have to say? Do you even know how much one shield is selling for? 1.5 billion gel! And we still can't keep up with the demand!"
1.5 billion gel. That was steep, even for a magical artifact. The fact that such an expensive item was selling so well spoke volus about Runewright Workshop's marketing prowess.
"Yeah, I get it. That's good news. Anything else?"
Uhm's enthusiasm deflated at Gin's lukewarm response.
— "Nah, not really. It's just been making and selling shields, counting the profits... that's about it."
Gin frowned. Was that really all Uhm had been doing for two whole weeks? No new contracts or client leads? For a broker, that was unacceptable.
"So, you're telling I have nothing to do now?" Gin's voice carried an edge of irritation.
Sensing the shift in tone, Uhm quickly adjusted.
— "No, no! I've got a list of potential jobs. A few got outdated, so I'll clean it up and send it your way."
Gin's expression softened slightly. That was more like it.
"Alright, send the list over. Where are you right now? The workshop?"
— "Yeah, at the workshop. Oh, by the way, Owen contacted .
He wanted to pass along a ssage since he couldn't reach you."
"Really?"
Jay continued in an almost conspiratorial tone.
— "Yeah. I told him you might be out of touch for a while.
He asked to have you call him when you got a chance. From what I've found out, that guy's not soone to take lightly."
"Got it. I'll reach out to him soon."
Gin didn't know exactly what Jay ant by that, but he was aware of Owen's importance. It wouldn't hurt to maintain a positive relationship with him.
— "Great. Oh, and don't forget—you've got a 64% stake in this. You're about to be swimming in cash, my friend."
"Noted. I'm hanging up now." Gin ended the call without further discussion.
He had taken this job out of curiosity, and that curiosity had been satisfied.
Whether he would continue working with Runewright Workshop would depend on how the shield sales progressed and how promptly the paynt arrived.
Without wasting ti, Gin contacted Owen.
— "Mage Gin!"
"Long ti no see," Gin greeted.
Owen answered imdiately, his voice warm and welcoming.
— "I was worried when I couldn't reach you."
"I sotis block communication when I imrse myself in magical research."
— "Ah, I understand. I often want to cut off all contact when I'm deep in my own studies."
There was a tinge of envy in Owen's tone.
"You said you wanted to see ."
— "Yes. Do you rember when I ntioned wanting to invite you to my estate?"
"Of course."
— "How about four days from now? Would that work for you?"
"That's fine," Gin replied. He had no pressing commitnts.
— "Great! I'll send you an invitation right away. I look forward to seeing you then."
After a brief exchange of farewells, Gin ended the call. Monts later, a ssage notification appeared—a formal invitation from Owen . It wasn't just any ssage; it was imbued with a magical signature that could only be read by a mage's specialized smartphone.
"Interesting," Gin muttered, examining the intricate mana patterns woven into the text. It served as both the invitation and a verification code.
This piqued his interest. Learning more about the functions of the mage-exclusive devices seed like a worthwhile endeavor.
As he stepped out of the alleyway, the towering structure of the Runewright Workshop ca into view. The scene was vastly different from his last visit.
The place was bustling with activity—people coming and going in a steady stream.
"Looks like business is booming," Gin mused, making his way toward the workshop.
"Welco, sir," said Jang Myung-gi, the head of Runewright Workshop, bowing respectfully.
The entire workshop was operating at full capacity, with every employee focused on producing shields. Even Walter had been fully involved, but he couldn't neglect Gin's arrival.
"Where's Jay?" Gin asked.
"He went to confirm so contract details. He said he needed to revisit clients to properly update the job list."
Gin nodded. That made sense. Better to confirm contracts thoroughly than to waste ti on unreliable leads.
"Are there any issues with the shields?" Gin inquired, his tone serious.
This was the main reason he had co. No matter how well-crafted the artifact, unexpected problems could arise once it was put to use in the real world.
"None so far. However, there have been suspicious individuals loitering around the area recently," Walter reported.
Gin chuckled softly. "Thieves trying to steal the technology, I assu?"
"Exactly. We've implented several security asures, but it's still concerning."
Gin's expression grew firm. "You're handling the final assembly yourself, as I instructed, right?"
"Yes, but to be honest, I don't fully understand its purpose. It doesn't seem to affect the shield's performance," Walteri admitted.
"That's the real safety chanism."
"Safety chanism?" Jay's eyes widened in surprise.
He had assud the final step was just an unnecessary formality.
"If you skip it, vulnerabilities appear in the enchantnt. A skilled attack could trigger an explosion in the mana stone."
"An explosion?" Walter's face paled with shock.
If sothing like that happened, it could spell the end of the workshop.
"Exactly. Never neglect the final step," Gin emphasized.
"Understood. I'll make sure it's done without fail," Walter replied with newfound resolve.
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