CHAPTER 7: A CHANCE IN LYCRANOR CITY

Inside a spacious room that looked like an office, four people sat leisurely on a sofa, drinks resting on the low table between them.

"What’s this important matter you wanted to discuss, Young Master James?" Earl Edmund raised his eyebrows, clearly curious about the things that James wanted to talk about.

James didn’t answer right away. Instead, he took out two white jade tokens from his inventory and threw them at Earl Edmund.

"Tell me." He said with a faint smile, "Do you think you’re capable of making these?"

Earl Edmund smirked. "Young Master James, aren’t you underestimating me too much? If you’re asking me to craft them, then they can’t be higher than Platinum Rank. You should know I can handle anything below Epic."

"I know," James said lightly. "That’s exactly why I’m asking. These two are merely Gold-Tier weapons."

Earl Edmund frowned, thinking that James was pulling a joke on him. "Gold-Tier? With all due respect—"

James cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Don’t jump to conclusions. Check the contents first."

Deepening his frown, Earl Edmund decided to see the contents first, as James had said, thinking that maybe the things inside were something that could surprise him based on James’s words.

Just the moment he poured a little bit of his mana inside one of the jade tokens, he received the information of the [Gold-Tier Blueprint: Aureum Bombard].

"What in the world... There’s such a thing?!" Earl Edmund’s eyes widened instantly, clearly shocked about the information he had just received.

He then looked at James with an expression that was filled with curiosity and opened his mouth as he wanted to ask but got cut off by James once again.

"Check the other one too. Then tell me if you can make them."

Earl Edmund directly checked the other jade token’s information, as curiosity and excitement had already taken him over.

A heartbeat later, his expression froze. His eyes and mouth opened wide in disbelief as he absorbed the details of the [Gold-Tier Blueprint: Arcbrace].

Roland looked at the robust man beside him with curiosity because he had never seen Earl Edmund so shocked, not even once in the decade he’d served as his bodyguard.

"What could possibly surprise you that much?" Roland asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Without a word, Edmund tossed one of the jade tokens his way.

The moment Roland read its contents, his composure shattered. His pupils shrank, and excitement flickered in his eyes.

"Is this why the family head sent you here?"

James shook his head with a grin. "No. This has nothing to do with the family."

Looking at the confusion on Roland’s face, James explained. "These blueprints are my personal possessions, not the family’s."

"Not even anyone in the family knows about them yet. Of course, I won’t hide these from them because at the end of the day, when I start mass-producing and selling them, I would still need to use the family’s name and give them their fair share." James smiled, then looked at Earl Edmund as he continued.

"However, everything depends on you because if you can’t make these, it would be hard to find someone else to do this."

The reason why it would be hard to find someone else was naturally because blacksmiths with such skills would have already affiliated themselves with a faction, and James wasn’t foolish enough to trust outsiders with something this valuable.

Sigh!

Earl Edmund exhaled deeply, rubbing his temples. "It’s not that I can’t make them, but I’ll need a skilled artificer to work with me. These designs aren’t ordinary weapons as they fuse blacksmithing and arcane engineering."

"Do you have any recommendations for an artificer that can work with you?" James raised an eyebrow while hoping that Earl Edmund did know someone so that he wouldn’t need to think about another new problem of finding an artificer.

"Unfortunately, no." Edmund shook his head, then paused when he noticed the disappointment on James’s face. "But I do know where you can find one."

"Oh? Where is it?" James asked curiously.

"In Lycranor City." Earl Edmund smiled bitterly.

James frowned instantly, looking at Earl Edmund with an expression that asked for an explanation.

Because Lycranor City was the place where the Wolfsblade Family resided. The Wolfsblade Family was a family that had been enemies of the Steelheart line for generations.

Furthermore, James believed that they were the true mastermind of his assassination that happened earlier, as he identified Turner as a member of the Wolfsblade Family.

Seeing his reaction, Edmund quickly raised his hands. "Don’t get me wrong, Young Master James. I know about your families’ feud. But the artificer I’m talking about isn’t affiliated with any faction. In fact, he rejected the Wolfsblade Family’s invitation outright."

He paused for a second and continued with an expression of admiring someone because of their expertise. "The reason why he could be so bold is that he’s exceptional as he’s a skilled artificer and a strong magician himself who has reached the 7th Circle Mage."

James nodded, thinking for a moment, and looked at Earl Edmund again. "Do you have anyone else in mind? Even if he fits the criteria, convincing him might not be easy if even the Wolfsblades couldn’t do it."

Edmund shook his head. "I doubt there’s anyone else like him in the entire kingdom. Artificers of that level are rare to begin with. But as for convincing him..." Pausing for a second, he continued with a smirk. "You might have a decent chance if you show him one of those blueprints."

James raised an eyebrow, clearly interested when he heard that he had a decent chance of roping him in. "A decent chance? How decent are we talking about?"

"If the rumors are true... somewhere between forty to fifty percent."

"That’s good enough for me." James smiled satisfiedly.

He then remembered something and immediately shifted his gaze to Roland. "By the way, Uncle Roland... Please inform my father that we were ambushed on the way here. That’s why we arrived later than expected."

Roland’s calm demeanor vanished in an instant. His aura flared violently, filling the room with oppressive power.

"Who dares to ambush the young master of the Steelheart Family?!"