Chapter 165 (2/2)

Sungjin placed the items he received this round into the auction and then asked about the items still not sold from the previous days.

“So any items with bids?”

“None, Mr. Hunter.”

“Not one?”

“There is not one, sir.”

The number of items that won’t be bought or bought at their minimum listed price was increasing. This is also due to the decrease in total population. There were now very few buyers remaining.

“Then please take this, this, and this off of the auction.”

“I will send it directly to your Cube.”

Sungjin recollected the items that remained unsold for few rounds and placed them into his cube. Next, he visited the pawn shop.

“Welcome, Mr. Hunter.”

Sungjin sold the non-auctionable items for few coins. It was a far lower price than he could have potentially demanded from an auction, but it was better to have something rather than continue to hold the item in a deserted Auction house. Sungjin headed to Kargos’s smithy once he was done with his business. Kargos was sitting on top of the anvil smoking a cigarette when he noticed Sungjin approaching and waved his hands.

“Yo~ owner of four swords, how are things?”

Sungjin nodded in response. Kargos held the cigarette between his teeth as he rubbed his hands and asked,

“So, what do you have for me this time?”

Sungjin took out the Hidden Piece of this round, the blue Gem that wouldn’t look amiss floating amongst the clouds.

“Do you recognize this?”

But Kargos’s jaws dropped, and the cigarette fell to the ground. He stared at the gem agape.

“Just…where did you find it?”

Sungjin thought about it for a moment. He had seen a similar reaction to when he produced the Dragon’s heart. But like always Sungjin’s answer was the same.

“Of course the raid.”

Kargos accepted the gem with trembling hands. Sungjin said to him,

“I think the name of this gem was…what was it, Elendil’s Final Preparations?”

“It has many names. Blue Sky, Final Preparations, Worth of Universe, Beginning of the End…” said Kargos who for the first time was acting like he was holding a truly precious gem in his hands. Sungjin then replied,

“Anyway…are you able to make this into something? Something that I can use.”

Sungjin was expecting the usual ‘of course’ as a reply because Kargos had been able to complete every request successfully. But Kargos gave an unexpected response instead,

“…Maybe…”

And he had such a small unconfident voice as he said it. Sungjin then said with a disappointed voice.

“Maybeee?”

Kargos replied as if he was making an excuse.

“It’s because of the nature of this thing. Whether you burn or freeze it, you can’t predict how it will turn out.”

Sungjin was now sure that Kargos had never touched this item before. So he asked,

“So…does that mean you can’t use it?”

Kargos looked away from the gem for the first time and turned towards Sungjin.

“No, I mean…I do want to give it a go at least…”

His gaze seemed to indicate ‘I may fail, but please give me a go at this.’ Sungjin gazed at him with his arms crossed for a moment. Truth be told, the answer was predetermined from the start.

There was no one else at the Black Market he could ask for help with. If he were to go to Meridian’s store he could sell it, but it couldn’t possibly be as worthwhile as crafting it into an item to take with him.

“Then…Good luck.”

At his words, Kargos looked astonished.

“Really?”

“Yes. You’ve always done well until now. I’ll just have to trust your skill.”

“Ok then, I will put my heart and soul into this…I will give it my best. In return, I won’t charge you anything for it.”

“Ok…well, it’s not like money is an issue…”

Kargos muttered to himself while holding the gem as if he couldn’t hear Sungjin anymore.

“I will have to call my cousins.”

“Cousins?”

“Yes, my cousins. They’re all blacksmiths like me. I feel that…I will need their help to make an attempt.”

“…so how long do you think it will take?”

“Probably… three days.”

“Three days?!”

“That’s the minimum. Three days.”

He had said it would take one day to make something out of Dragon’s heart, but this would take much longer.

‘Since this is a 10 man raid…one day is for resting…I will probably be able to see the result after the end of the next raid.’

One way or another, he had no other choice.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Got it.”

Sungjin bid his farewell and left the smithy. On the way back, he turned to see, and Kargos was still staring at the Gem while holding it as if it was a divine artifact.

‘Well…He’s a craftsman through and through so he will do the best that he can.’

Sungjin returned to bed at Ninety Nine Nights and collapsed onto the bed. It was a long raid, and he felt exhausted. Sungjin wanted to take a nap until dinner time. But once he closed his eyes, he recalled the face of Edward he had failed to kill earlier today. Even his voice from the distant past.

‘Sungjin.’

He couldn’t fall asleep now that he remembered. So Sungjin lay there on the bed until Dinner time. Without falling asleep.