Chapter 755: Saffier [2]

"....."

I stood in silence for a moment, feeling the gazes of many people turn in our general direction.

"What? There’s someone...?"

"What’s going on?"

The confusion was clear. But it wasn’t as clear as mine as I stared at the old man, who turned his attention away from me and entered the small house before him.

’How did he manage to see through my illusion? This doesn’t make sense at all.’

It wasn’t like I thought that my illusion was omnipotent. There had been times when others had detected it, but staring at his parting back, I could tell that he was much weaker than I was.

’...An artifact, maybe?’

This felt like the most plausible conclusion.

At the end of the day, he was one of the most ’famous’ blacksmiths that existed. This would only make sense.

It also made my heart race.

’It looks like I may not have gone on this trip in vain.’

Keeping the illusion on, I followed the old man into the house. Linus and Leon both followed as well.

I still didn’t want to show ourselves. Not out of disrespect, but simply because our sudden appearance would cause a stir.

...And we were also in enemy territory. Even though Caius was present, something about him felt off. I didn’t want to show myself until I fully understood the situation.

Clank! Clank—!

The loud beat of metal clashing against metal reached my ears the moment I entered the house. The sound was followed by an uncomfortable heat. One that stopped me dead in my tracks as I found myself in what appeared to be a small reception.

My gaze drifted to the side, where a narrow staircase rose upward. From there, the noise hammered down in relentless bursts, and with it came the heavy waves of heat that seemed to seep into the very walls.

Standing before the reception was the old man, who paused and looked back.

His bushy brows furrowed in clear annoyance.

"I don’t usually like to rep—"

"I know."

I removed the illusion and showed myself. Leon and Linus appeared shortly after that as I raised both hands.

"I just didn’t want to cause a commotion outside. That’s all."

"....."

The man just simply stared at me, looking me up and down before scoffing.

"You’re still not very sincere, are you?"

"Eh...?"

What did this old—

"From using an illusion to hiding your appearance. Do you think I can’t see through such cheap tricks?"

My heart skipped a beat once more.

He figured out that part too...?

What sort of monster was this?

Coughing slightly, I lowered my hands.

"There are certain circumstances that won’t allow me to show you my real appearance. Maybe when there’s no other person around."

"...."

The blacksmith gave me a similar look to the one from before. In the end, placing his large pinky in his ear, he muttered, "Do whatever you want", before turning his attention back towards the reception, where soon a young man with a sharp look appeared.

"Do you have the items?"

"...I do. They’ve already been placed in your workstation."

"Should’ve said so sooner."

Tapping the counter, the old man turned away from the reception and headed towards the stairs that led to the noise. I looked at the old man, unsure of what to do, but in the end, I followed him from behind.

"Excuse me."

The receptionist immediately tried to stop me, but the blacksmith raised his large hand and stopped him.

"It’s fine. Let him follow me."

"But—"

"I said it’s fine."

The receptionist backed up from there. I alternated my gaze between the two of them, unable to hide my surprise. He really allowed me to follow?

This felt rather surprising, but I didn’t waste the opportunity.

Clank! Clank—!

The heat grew heavier with each step as we climbed the stairs, and the pounding above only pressed harder against my ears. By the time I reached the final step, the air itself seemed to thrum with it.

The instant I lifted my head, sparks burst across my vision, scattering in every direction, and a wave of scorching heat rolled over my face, forcing me to squint against its intensity.

"Hmmm."

Shielding my face from the searing heat, I managed only a fleeting glimpse of the old man as he strolled with ease into the room.

Inside, a crowd of broad-shouldered men worked in unison, their massive hammers rising and falling in steady rhythm as they struck at glowing slabs of metal, each impact sending sparks bursting into the air.

This was the first time I had been to such a place, and I was naturally uncomfortable.

It took me several seconds to properly adjust to the heat and humidity of the room before I finally moved away from the stairs and hurried my steps to follow the old man as he stopped before a certain furnace and grabbed a searing slab with his bare hands.

"...Not bad."

He tossed it back in before walking to the side, where a large table sat. On it was a large bag.

A satisfied look marred the old man’s face the moment he looked into the bag.

’That must be the thing he was talking about with the receptionist.’

I stopped right behind the old man, waiting for him to finish before speaking.

He set the bag on his workdesk and pulled it open, emptying its contents in a scattered heap.

Heavy chunks of metal clattered against the surface, followed by crooked sticks and other odd materials whose purpose I couldn’t begin to guess. The collection looked less like supplies and more like a jumble of strange, mismatched relics.

"Yup. Yup. Good stuff."

And yet, the old man looked extremely satisfied with what I was seeing.

I turned to look at Leon, who nudged me with his head, ’Go on. Talk with him. Stop wasting time.’

I scratched the side of my face. He was right.

I opened my mouth, but before I even had the chance to get the words out, the old man cut me off.

"You’re not from the Aetheria Empire."

His words halted me in motion before I closed my lips and soon replied.

"I’m not."

"...From another Empire?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"....."

I paused here, unsure of whether to reply or not.

However, seeing the expression of the blacksmith starting to change, I eventually replied.

"Nurs Ancifa."

"Nurs Ancifa...?"

The blacksmith paused, seemingly thinking of something before finally turning his attention towards me.

"You came all the way from there? Shouldn’t your Empire be in a mess right now with the death of the Emperor?"

"Well, yes..."

It was supposed to be like that.

However, it wasn’t. In fact, the situation was calm. So calm that it almost felt unsettling. I had tried contacting Aoife about it, but she had been strangely quiet. The only replies that I received from her were small messages that said,

’No movements on any side. We’re all slowly building up our powers. You should take the chance to focus on your things ’

"Hmm."

The blacksmith’s eyes narrowed before he eventually turned around, almost as if he had lost all interest in me. My heart sank, and my lips parted.

"Wait, th—"

"You’re here to fix the ring, aren’t you?"

"....."

The words were stripped directly away from my mouth.

This guy...

How was it that he could see through almost everything? It felt unsettling to some extent.

"I could notice the cracks on it. That ring..." Picking up one of the items from the table, the blacksmith placed a golden monocle on his eye before tilting his head to look at the item carefully. As he did, he continued, "...It doesn’t look normal. It looks rather special."

There seemed to be a hidden meaning behind his words. One that once again made my heart sink.

It couldn’t be that...

"You may have covered it up well, but it can’t escape my eyes."

With a soft chuckle, the old man tossed the item in his hand to the side before picking up another one to observe.

"An artifact like the one that you have is extremely rare. I won’t ask you how you managed to get your hands on it, but I’m more curious as to how you managed to break such an artifact. I can see that it’s an extremely powerful artifact. No normal attack can destroy it."

"Ha, well..."

It was indeed no normal attack that had caused it to break like this.

Of course, I didn’t tell him, and he didn’t pry any further.

"But truly... What are the chances?"

Dropping the next item down, the blacksmith didn’t inspect another item before turning his attention towards me, his hands pressing back against the deck as he leaned back.

"This is the third artifact of the seven that has been brought to me over the past month. Surely, this can’t be a coincidence."

"Huh?"

I looked at the blacksmith in confusion. What did he just say?

"Oh? It looks like you’re not aware."

A sudden smirk marred the blacksmith’s face as he looked at me.

"Your ring isn’t the first of the seven that has been brought to me to get checked. It’s the third."

His words may have been ambiguous, but the meaning was clear. Linus and Leon both understood as we looked at each other.

Two other artifacts had been brought in the past month?

And not just any other artifact. But two that were part of the seven artifacts of evil?

That’s...

"In fact, you probably saw the mess that happened downstairs, right? That’s the result of me rejecting their offer. I said it to them, and now I’ll say it to you."

All of a sudden, the old man’s face turned extremely serious as he looked at me.

"I do not want to touch those items. Those items are not items that regular people should be using. They’re extremely powerful relics that have been tainted by a substance that doesn’t belong in this world. It is in your best interest for you to destroy the ring. You may be corrupted before you know. They aren’t called the seven artifacts of evil for nothing."

Wha...

What was this guy saying?

I swallowed quietly before turning my attention towards the ring on my finger. Faint cracks marred its surface as it pulsed faintly, quietly absorbing the mana inside of my body.

And yet—

’There’s a reason why they’re called the seven artifacts of evil? No, but I’m pretty sure they are called as such because of the people who used them. Not because—’

"Ha." The blacksmith suddenly laughed while looking at me.

"It doesn’t look like you were aware."

He pointed at the ring on my finger.

"I’ll say it again. Get rid of that. That’s not something that a person should be able to use. It’ll corrupt you before you know it."