Chapter 404: Chapter 362: I Don’t Dislike It

A remote district on the southern edge of the 12th District.

Philinos descended from the sky, presented his pass to clear the city checkpoint, and then followed the address he had found on his terminal. He passed through relatively bustling streets and alleys before turning into a quiet, secluded lane.

After winding through the lane for two or three minutes, Philinos pushed open a heavy wooden door.

CREAK—

Philinos’s gaze swept across the Crystal Stone Workshop. Seeing fragments of Crystal Stone in various shapes and sizes scattered on the floor, he knew he had come to the right place.

The 12th District was part of the Central District, and there weren’t many workshops that specialized in making Crystal Stone Weapons. This one was the closest to Little Frost Town, where Gu Ning was.

He didn’t feel comfortable leaving her for too long, so he wasn’t being picky about the location.

"Not taking any jobs today."

Hearing the noise, a burly Beastman sitting at a long table cutting a Crystal Stone spoke without looking up.

Philinos walked over and placed a small, prepared bag of Crystal Stones in front of the Beastman craftsman.

Hearing the heavy thud and the clinking of the stones, the Beastman craftsman stopped his work. He sat up straight, picked up the bag, and opened it. Inside, every Crystal Stone was sparkling and translucent. Their brilliance didn’t diminish in the slightest under the bright light, and a hint of unusual color flowed within their deep blue glow.

His eyes slowly widened. He pushed his goggles up onto his head, took out one of the stones to examine it closely, and sat up even straighter.

Colorful Crystal Stones—the absolute finest quality, even better than the ones in his collection.

Of the Colorful Crystal Stones in his own collection, he only had three, at most, cut to this size. This bag had to contain around twenty.

The Beastman craftsman sized up the Bird Clan Orc beside him, who carried an extraordinary air.

Bird Clan Orcs were generally wealthy, so it wasn’t surprising that he could produce so many high-quality Crystal Stones.

"This is just a small shop. I can’t take on a job this big."

The quality of these Crystal Stones was far beyond the scope of work he could accept.

Forget the whole bag; a single one of these was worth half a year’s work for him.

Philinos took three Colorful Crystal Stones from the bag and placed them in front of him. "This is the payment."

"..."

The Beastman craftsman stared at the three Colorful Crystal Stones for a moment, then snatched them up. "Alright, what’s the job?"

’The value of three stones is still within a range I can handle, as long as this guy’s request isn’t too outrageous.’

Philinos drew the broken knife from his waist and handed it over. "Melt the remaining stones into the blade."

The Beastman craftsman understood. He’d been thinking this guy’s clothes and bearing didn’t seem local to the 12th District; he was either a Hunter of Mutant Species or from the Military Department.

There were many types of Crystal Stones with varying hardness. Those specifically for fighting Mutant Species were rare. Even the military couldn’t afford to use Crystal Stone Bullets due to the massive consumption rate, which made blades the most practical choice.

The Beastman craftsman took the broken knife and examined it carefully. He then asked Philinos for the scabbard to compare. It had been a longsword of about 1.2 meters, but now less than a quarter of the blade remained, and even that part was riddled with cracks.

Crystal Stones weren’t very hard; when made into blades, they were sharp but brittle. Judging by the quality of this knife and the extent of the damage, the Mutant Species this Birdman had fought must have been high-level.

"You want to restore it to its original length?" the Beastman craftsman asked, holding it against the scabbard. "You don’t have enough material for that."

"I have some slightly inferior materials here that would be more than enough to make you a new blade."

’Using Colorful Crystal Stones to forge a blade is too extravagant. This stuff is rare, and finding it is pure luck. Most Beastmen wouldn’t bear to use it.’

’Besides, the original material of his knife, while good, wasn’t Colorful Crystal Stone. The cost to repair this much damage would be enough to forge a brand new one.’

"No need," Philinos said. "Use these materials. Make a forty-centimeter, double-edged dagger, half the original width. Inlay the rest into the scabbard. Make the scabbard beautiful, with the best materials."

"A dagger?" After listening, the Beastman craftsman hefted the bag of Colorful Crystal Stones, calculating the amount needed. The Birdman’s request would indeed leave some to spare.

"Alright, I’ll take the job." ’Just making a dagger. This job isn’t hard. In fact, it’s an easy, high-paying gig that just fell into my lap.’

A thought occurred to him, and he looked the Birdman over with a grin. "A gift for someone? Spring is almost here. For courting?"

The materials and design valued aesthetics over practicality. It was most likely a gift.

Philinos didn’t answer, instead asking, "How long will it take?"

The Beastman craftsman thought for a moment. "Five days."

Philinos said, "I’ll be back in three days to pick it up."

"...Fine."

*

「Zone 19, Military Department Office.」

"So, from now on, I’ll be reporting to you?"

Andrew waited for the young female on the other end of the call to finish her slow-spoken question before replying, "You’ve been officially promoted. Cyril is no longer your superior; you’re colleagues now. You don’t have to formally report your work to him anymore."

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