Since the quest requested for me to go and visit Almira, I really have to do it to complete it. The connection of this loan shark guys seems to be something I have already known but I am still speculating.

The quest that I triggered from Lina did not occur before in the past timeline which might be due to some of the perquisites needed to trigger the quest that I have not done before or it was recently added by Tojiro. Either of them is possible but I don't think it is not necessary to do so.

Since Lina can't move away from her work on the counter, I have to face the quest alone. It would be nice if Almira is with me so that she could level up too and catch up to my level but I guess it's not going to happen for now.

I left the inn and moved straight to Almira's smithy. There are some players who seemed to recognize me but I don't think I need to reveal myself much in here. Going into stealth, I hid myself in broad daylight and started to move.

...

Almira's smithy.

As usual, it doesn't look like a smithy, in fact it looks like it was abandoned by the owner due to how bad the front of the store is. It is not a wonder if players didn't really notice the blacksmith's smithy at all in the past unless a quest redirected them to this place.

Since I have the permission of Almira to get inside without any problem, I didn't bother to knock and just entered the shop. As soon as I entered the shop, the sound of the hammer slamming down on a metal and the smell of metal and smoke welcomed my nose and ears.

Nothing changed inside her store ever since we visited her last time. The only changes are the new rows of armor and some maces and axes displayed on the racks and armor stands. I was about to inspect the armors when I heard her voice.

"Looks like you are back again. What do you want? If you are just visiting then just go bother other stores, I have no time to mingle and chat with others right now since I was too busy at the moment," Almira shouted from the forging room.

If normal players who are easily offended by words alone, they would storm outside already. But not for me who already knows the way Almira talks and how her behaviour works.

I entered her forging room and saw her inspecting a battle hammer. Judging from the exterior look of the battle hammer, it would be a rare type grade weapon at best but knowing Almira, she will just call it as trash.

"I can call the guards and just file trespassing of property against you, you know that?" Almira said while still looking at the battle hammer's quality properly.

"Well, if you really did, you shouldn't have built a smithy shop if that is what you will do every time a customer enters your store," I said to her.

"Good point but are you really a customer? Because I don't entertain window shopping people at all and it also has no point since that doesn't yield money and it was just a waste of energy if you ask me."

"No worries, I came to buy things too. And don't worry about the money, I have plenty to use."

"I see, then go ahead and pick up your choice. It didn't matter much to me."

"Well then, I want to buy 20 stacks(99 pieces) of Bronze Ingot, 20 stacks of Iron Ingot, and 20 stacks of Silver Ingot. Add 10 bottles of refinement powder too."

Almira raise her head and look at me with stern eyes.

"Why are you buying ingots here? This isn't your normal market where adventurers like you sell ingots blindly. If you want to buy them, go fetch them in other smithies instead."

"No can do. I know that you don't buy low quality ores here and ingots processed from those ores don't really work well as materials for smithing since they have a higher chance to break. The ingots that were produced here were much more higher quality than in regular markets and much more ideal for making armor and weapons with higher chance to pull a higher rarity weapon after forging."

Almira smirked when she heard this and put down the battle hammer to the anvil and looked at me with her piercing gaze.

"I see that you have done some of your homework. Indeed, I sell higher quality ingots here in my shop and they have stockpiled for how many years here already that I am tired of wasting them for trial and error since I rarely have error works here right now. But I don't sell cheap things. Higher quality ingots costs more than what a normal Ingot do. Are you really sure you can afford it?"

Without saying a word, I tossed on the table the exact amount of gold necessary for buying all those ingots I mentioned since I already calculated and already know how much I will be able needed to pay.

"...Well, I guess you are not just flaunting, I will take that, then go and take the ingots you have already ordered," Almira said as she glance at the bag of gold without inspecting it and snap her fingers and the ingots that I ordered appeared before me.

Grinning from ear to ear, I take all the ingots and store them into my inventory. Despite being useless to me for now, they will be useful once the Ex Job of Blacksmithing is activated.

"Since I bought something, I have a question for you. Do you know the Loan sharks that are currently on the prowl and charging money to people in higher rates right now?"

"Oh, you mean those bunch of ugly bastards who are all talk and nothing to show? Yeah, I do, in fact, I just managed to get rid of them not too long ago. They even offered me some "good offers" for me to deal with if I am interested seeing that I have a trashy looking smithy here."

"I see. So you can confirm that they are somewhat shady or suspicious to talk with?" I asked.

"They are all just a bunch of scammers that are just there for money and not caring for the well being of the others. If you are looking for them, go head to the Silverdrider Pub, they are currently heading there."

When she said that, the quest interface immediately updates the information about the Loan shark incident.

[Talk to the leader of the loan sharks and decide their fate.]