Chapter 67 - Volume 4 (2/2)
“It’s pretty and s.h.i.+ny.”
“Is that all? What am I to tell Mr. Cordnell?”
“Why is he involved when I’m deciding what to do with my own money?”
“I don’t think Mr. Cordnell would willingly give away the funds when I tell him I’m buying them because they are pretty and s.h.i.+ny.”
“Just proceed anyway. It’s going to be cheaper than what is on the market since there’s no tax, right? And haven’t you got some connections as the son of a Guild Master?”
Krent sighed at Isaac’s reckless order and nodded.
“Well, I know everyone I need to.”
“Then invite a master of heraldry.”
PR Note: Heraldry refers to the system by which coats of arms and other armorial bearings are devised, described, and regulated.
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“I need to have a crest of my own, as deserving of a Lord’s Representative.”
“…”
Krent stared intently at Isaac to see if he was really speaking with a sane mind. Whether Isaac knew about this or not, he simply tapped one hand with a fist and continued.
“Ah! I don’t have any decent clothes to wear befitting my prestige, so invite a skilled tailor too.”
“Why are you asking me for all this…”
When Krent complained immediately at Isaac’s list of ch.o.r.es, Isaac tilted his head in curiosity.
“Huh? Weren’t you finished with your s.h.i.+ft?”
“I still have some more to go.”
“Really? Then I’ll take over for you, so bring them here immediately.”
“Really?”
Krent seemed dubious as to why Isaac was suddenly searching for mana crystals and tailors.
“Rivelia hasn’t come yet, right?”
“Huh? Rivelia-sunbaenim is…”
Krent tried to answer, but when he saw Isaac bury himself deep into the chair and place both his legs on the table, Krent’s expression changed to a more dubious one.
“Hm? What?”
“It’s nothing. Then I’ll head off to look for a tailor.”
“Yeah. Do it quickly.”
Krent left the administrative office with an entertained look. In a short moment, Isaac quickly became bored of just waiting and walked around the office, looking through all of the details in the office. When he was having a warm cup of tea alone, however, some of the young men who were in charge of ch.o.r.es and small work for the office entered.
The men quickly greeted Isaac with a surprised look, and Isaac received it like an old man who had surpa.s.sed enlightenment, nodding ever so slightly as he sipped his tea. The men were careful not to agitate Isaac as they cleaned the office.
There was no way the administrative body were going to clean their office or do any maintenance of their own. In fact, they never had the time to do anything but work. So the city hall needed some manpower for those who could do small work and ch.o.r.es for them, and the people of the city quite liked the idea of working in the city hall, which was in the centre of the city. And the number of male volunteers rose sharply ever since Rivelia had come to the city.
“… Um, Sir Isaac.”
“Hm?”
The men finished their cleaning duties, and one of them approached Isaac reluctantly.
“Has the mayor not come to the city hall yet?”
“I don’t think so. Why? What happened?”
“Oh, no. It’s not like that… hehe, I guess Lady Reisha hasn’t come yet either?”
Isaac’s eyes narrowed and stared at the man when he asked those questions. The man simply laughed awkwardly in response. Isaac tsked and started a speech.
“I don’t know what romance you guys are dreaming about, but let me give you this advice. Wake up. Romance only exists in fiction. Do you think you’re the protagonist here? You may be in your own life, but you are nothing when placed in the stage called the world. You will die alone and as a virgin if you never realise the difference and keep on dreaming. And of all things! The face isn’t everything, got it? It’s not like you can feed on their beauty, and no matter how pretty they are, they are just hags when they grow old. Got it? Ah! It might be different for Reisha. But Rivelia, that woman, ain’t much. Yeah she’s hot now. But you just give her a few years. Especially if she doesn’t fix that temper of hers, otherwise it’ll be moments before her face is covered in…”
Isaac, who was giving a heated speech in front of the men, closed his mouth when they stood as stiff as a stick and sweat dripped down from their faces. He felt a chill on his back, and he took out a cigarette, took a deep breath, and asked.
“This isn’t the cliché where Riveli-, I mean, the mayor is standing behind me, right?”
Isaac’s question, which almost sounded pitiful, was met with a resounding no from the men as they shook their heads and wished their luck to Isaac.
Creak!
The noise the door to the Mayor’s office made almost sounded like a shriek of terror. Isaac took another deep puff of the cigarette and muttered in resentment.
“Krent, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d…”
For some unknown reason, it seemed Rivelia was staying overnight in the city hall and was resting in the bed that had been placed in her office. And Krent left Isaac without letting him know about this fact…
“… Sir Isaac, may I have a word with you?”
Isaac shut his eyes in an attempt to avoid reality as the murderous voice echoed in his ears.
“Uwak! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Why are you here aga… huh? What happened to your face? Did someone hit you?”
“Shut up, don’t ask.”
Isaac took out a chair and placed it in the middle of the shop, almost as if this was his own home. As punishment for the mistakes he had made with his words, he was called into the mayor’s office for a scolding. But staying overnight to figure out a solution for his problem came back to bite him and waves of drowsiness smashed at him. Soon enough, Isaac began to sleep in front of Rivelia while she was scolding him, and out of pure anger, Rivelia hit Isaac in the face.
Isaac responded with the words that a sword master throwing a punch at a civilian was an attempt at murder, and this seemed to have hit a nerve for Rivelia. Isaac had been making a run for it since then. And even in the midst of the intense chase, he shouted out loudly in the plaza full of people, ‘You think you can ever get married with a personality like that?’ He was almost cut down by Rivelia with her sword.
Although he was unable to complain that he was beaten up by a girl, he visited Marcus since going back to the city hall was like walking into h.e.l.l on his own two feet. He had some business with him anyway.
“Tsk tsk. I can guess who the culprit is, since there’s only one person in this city who’d dare to place their hands on you. As your senior in life, I’ll give you some advice. Go and beg for forgiveness, no questions asked.”
“Why should I!”
“I doubt she hit you because you did something good.”
“…”
There was no answer. No matter how he looked at it, it was Isaac’s fault from start to finish.
Isaac spoke with a face full of frustration as he bit down on another cigarette.
“Those pure mana crystals, you can process them right?”
“Mana crystals? I guess there are some idiots full of vanity who’d process the mana crystals as if they were gems to use for jewellery. You’re free to do so, but it is complete madness from our point of view.”
“Why?”
“Because the mana it contains will change along with its size. The purity will stay the same, but the total amount of mana it has will drop with each chip made. And its value will drop along with it. Processing a mana crystal to shape it is literally throwing money away. Sure, we do shape it a little, but it’s done in a way that maintains the size of the crystal as close to its original form as possible.”
“Do you know anyone who deals with mana crystal processing?”
“I know a few. Why? You want me to ask?”
A light shone in Marcus’ eyes. Mana crystal processing had a very limited demand, but it had a very decent profit margin. All of the chips that had been made on the crystals during processing were money when gathered together. Dust and fragments of mana crystals were used in the creation of magic circles, so they were sold at a high price in the market. So most of the time, the pay for these mana crystal processors were the fragments and dust left over after processing.
“Call over a few of them. But, the condition is that they must adopt a few children of the city as their apprentices.”
“That business is rather isolated…”
Marcus showed some signs of refusing, so Isaac quickly made an offer that couldn’t be refused.
“You think I’m calling them over to process just a few mana crystals?”
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