Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 756: Saffier [3]

‘This is very troublesome. I don’t have much time left until the announcement. 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 me that something 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 seemed to have turned his attention towards the materials once more.

“Can you tell me exactly what is wrong with this ring? You mentioned something 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 mean that I can’t sense it. I have rather sharp eyes. I can immediately tell when something is wrong with an item. That ring on your finger isn’t something that a human should possess. Let me repeat it again. Throw it away before it’s too late.”

“…..”

I didn’t know how to reply from that moment.

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 extremely important to me. 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 mentioned something 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 moment.

I turned and looked at him, and although I couldn’t see his expression, I could tell that it was rather grim at the moment. 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 me to help you even if you help me. 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 came because they requested it. They promised a handsome payment to repair some artifacts. I had just left the Verdant Empire and came straight here, unaware of what awaited me. But the moment 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 me, but they haven’t exactly allowed me 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 me, 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 me 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.

“Come back later. I’ll analyze the sword and come up with a mold that will be best suited for someone 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 same 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 me.

“…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 moment we came 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 message 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 some good news soon.”

Leon put the communication device away and finally took notice of me.

“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 blame me for taking the opportunity, right?”

Although he said that, his eyes said something 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 me. 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 Enhancement was, and how much harder it made my life, I realized that good equipment was also important.

The stronger Leon was, the better for me.

“I’m still curious about something, though.”

I turned my attention elsewhere. Towards the area where Caius had previously left.

“What is Caius doing here? Something felt off about him, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Leon’s face turned serious as he looked in the same 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 met with a brief moment 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 glimmered faintly with every slight movement he made.

The necklace was extremely 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 time 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 movement came to an abrupt halt the moment Caius felt something as his eyes snapped into a brief moment of clarity.

The veins faded immediately. 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 some 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 some strange reason.

His eyes closed almost immediately 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 some stupid noble event. This makes the situation rather troublesome. 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 moment he looked at them. However, in the next moment, 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.”

“….!?”