Bastian was so absorbed in work that he completely forgot about Jack. As the daylight slowly faded, Jack decided to return home prematurely since the incomplete recovery of his body was making him exhausted.

Jack saw Abraham at the mansion’s gate. He was loading cargos onto the cart with some of the servants.

“Jack,” Abraham called out when he saw Jack, “come here.”

Jack listened and went to Abraham.

“Where are you going?”

“There’s a big contract in the city of Mocester,” Abraham said, “and I have to get my hand on it quickly.”

“Mocester? Isn’t it very close to the capital?”

‘Indeed, I will be on the road for a while. Teleportation is too expensive. At least two weeks, at most, a month. So, you take this.”

Abraham gave Jack a brocade pouch. Jack held it, listening to the clanking sound inside.

“My gift,” Abraham blinked, “as for Sophie’s part, you have to ask her yourself.”

Jack knew right away it was the crystals that his father had promised. The fact that he had been bedridden for a whole week must have cost his parents a lot, which must have included using some mana crystals. But Jack was really in need of some, so he still received them. He would carve the debts of his foster parents inside his heart.

“So,” Abraham said, “watch over the house, will you? If there’s a problem, you can ask for Meinhard’s assistance. But then, we’ll be owning him many favors, so try to avoid that. That’s all. You go inside and get a shower now. I can barely see you without light.”

Jack nodded, waving goodbye to Abraham and entered the house.

The next day, he returned to Bastian’s forge. This time, there was an actual guess in the waiting room, a slender woman. She wore a tidy vest and leather trousers with a pair of high boots, making her look extremely agile. Her hair was tied up high into a bun, dark brown with some gray mixed into it, as a few strands were left waving above her dark black eye, staring surprisingly at Jack. Her rosy cheeks moved as her lips opened up to Jack.

“Hi there, little boy.”

Jack didn’t feel very comfortable being called little, but he ignored it.

“Good morning.”

Jack wanted to avoid this conversation and just waited for Bastian since he didn’t want the old man to find more reasons to grumble. However, the woman continues.

“You’re here for a sword?”

“No!”

“Small one?”

“No!”

“Custom made?”

“No!”

“Then….”

“I’m not here to sell or buy any material.”

“Then what are you here for?”

Jack clenched his hands. What do you know? I can get into this kind of situation a second time.

As Jack was about to answer, Bastian opened the door and walked in, his face as grumpy as ever.

“Now, this ain’t your shop to question my customer like that, Jasmin.”

“Like you have any other customer besides me!”

Bastian twitched his lips without responding, his hands clenched.

“I’m not here to argue with you,” Jasmin flicked her head at the forge room, “how is my order?”

“It will be done by this afternoon. You’ll find them in front of your house tomorrow morning.”

“Very well, then….”

“Then get out, please,” Bastian yelled. “Jack, get in here!”

Jack quickly ran after Bastian through the door, as the lady didn’t make him feel very comfortable.

Jasmin stood alone in the scorching room as her lips whispered.

“Jack?”

A servant with a stooped figure walked in.

“Miss Jasmin,” his voice hurried, ‘the Harper’s carts have left!”

Jasmin glanced at the forge room’s door, the edge of her lips stretching. If Jack could see the way she was smiling right now, with his experience, he would choose to altogether avoid her.

“Let us get back to the Hensley mansion,” she said.

Bastian begrudgingly stomped his feet on the floor with every step walking to the oven. He grabbed the finished blade lying on the anvil and threw it across the room. It rolled in the air several times before piercing the crafting table, startling Jack as he walked in.

Jack looked under the table where there were a bunch of swords already with hilts lying around; some even had leather sheaths. It seemed Bastian had been working all night long.

Bastian turned around and looked at Jack as his eyes brightened up. He moved toward Jack and pointed at the sword mess.

“Your duty today is to carry these into the crate in the outside room for me.”

“Duty?”

“Yes!”

“So, I don’t have to pay you anymore?”

“Of course you do,” Bastian snorted.

Jack smiled and nodded. He needed to figure out some other way to deal with Bastian.

Jack stepped forward and picked up a covered sword. It was long and heavy, about one meter in length, massive in his kid’s eyes. Jack reckoned he could currently swing it some ten times before his body reached its limit. Without any hesitation, he pulled the blade out and looked. It wasn’t a shining silvery color that he expected, but rather a light blue that was emitting frosty energy.

“Kid,” Bastian called out, “the hell are you doing?”

“Looking into the material?”Jack answered, shrugging.

“You fool, you don’t even know about blue stone mixed with mana-infused steel?”

“Blue stone has frost property?”

“Oh, is the air blowing to your face freaking fire?”

Jack nodded, taking a closer look at the blade’s surface and memorizing the material’s name so he could research them at home or the library. He sheathed the sword and brought it into a long crate lying open in the front room.

When he returned, Jack unsheathed another one. This time, the blade was black. The sword fuller sparkled with a dark red. Jack reckoned it was some material from the Blackpon volcano but remained silent because he knew he would get the exact answer. The sneaky, provocative look he gave Bastian hit the right spot.

“Don’t tell me,” Bastian eagerly walked toward him, “you have no clue about our very special Blackpon steel here in Oxdale?”

“So, how is its quality? Is it worth more than other materials?”

Bastian snorted.

“So childish, so stupid. Should I call you Jack the Dumbass? If Blackpon steel worthed that much, do you really think Oxdale would still be a small town? People would have come here and flipped them all up.”

Jack took note of the explanation from his grumpy smith master. He was getting used to learning from this method of cursing and teaching.

He repeated the action of taking the sword out and picked another one up. For every new sword, the name Jack the Dumbass was called out again and again, but Jack appeared to be unbothered, making the old man scold him ever harsher. The louder he yelled, the more enthusiastic he became. As the afternoon slowly passed, not only did Jack manage to get the names of the new materials but also their noteworthy qualities. For example, Blackpon steel carried fire essence, so the process of melting it must be conducted with the utmost caution, lest it be damaged. With blue stone, since it had iced property, regulation during the mana-infused process into the metal was a very sophisticated and time-consuming one.

Just like that, Jack managed to acquire a fair amount of knowledge today. As for Bastian, he talked his breath out, completely forgetting about his outrage with Jasmin earlier in the day.

As Jack grabbed the last of the swords and brought them outside, Bastian wondered.

“Me talking this much, one gold coin ain’t enough!”

When Jack returned, Bastian jumped right at him.

“Two gold coins today!”

“Why?” Jack asked innocently.

“You dumbass, haven’t you asked a lot today?”

“You didn’t say anything about more money for more questions, right?”

“Yes, but, but….”

His face twisted, trying to find a reason. Jack, delighted at the scene, relented.

“Alright, one more silver coin for you to get some beer.”

“Two, one can barely make my nose red.”

Jack took out the money and paid Bastian. He gladly put them in his apron pocket.

“So, can I leave now?”

“Wait,” he grabbed Jack’s arm, “will you be here tomorrow? More questions, more money?”

Jack tilted his head, looking at the ceiling, pretending to ponder, then answered.

“Well, I guess I’ll find a new forge master then.”

Bastian bit his lips. Unlike Jack, he was really pondering.

“Okay, just come back tomorrow. One gold coin is fine.”

With that settled, Jack bowed to Bastian. But, as he was about to leave, Bastian grabbed his arm once again.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Remember Jasmin just now?”

Jack nodded.

“Be careful of her.”

“Why, is she a Hensley?” Jack said sarcastically.

“Oh, so you’re actually smarter than a dumbass. Now, get lost, you Corvus brat only brings bad luck here.”