Chapter 26: The Fulfilled Service

The huge silver door of the Voulstridge manor clicked shut behind me, sealing away the suffocating presence of the Duke.

I’m standing on the wide stone steps of the estate and taking a deep breath of the evening air. The sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of amber and violet. Mana lanterns along the pathways flickered to life, casting light over the fences and statues.

I reached into my magic pouch at my waist. Twenty gold coins and a folded parchment bearing Duke Sebastian’s official seal were already added. In addition, I also acquired library privileges and a position as Lady Arielle’s personal magic advisor.

Not bad for a first day as an official locksmith.

I glanced once again at the Duke’s estate. At the supply room, hidden beneath the cushion of the ice sword, the secondary seal remained untouched.

I hadn’t tried to pick it for a good reason. As I assessed the seal earlier, it was beyond a Level 5 magic seal, and the nodes were still unknown to me. I had never seen anything like that before. It seemed customized, and the layers of runes in the seal showed danger. If I forced it open without proper knowledge, whatever was inside the seal would be destroyed and could not be retrieved again.

"Okay. Patience is with me," I muttered to myself, turned my back to the manor, and walked down the street. "First is to know the nature of the seal. Then find clues in their library. Finally, I open that seal."

I walked through the guarded gates at the entrance of the estate and showed my license card again. The guards barely glanced at me, assuming that I was just an ordinary locksmith finishing his job.

Once I passed through the grand archway separating the Commercial District from the Noble District, the ambiance changed greatly. The quiet marble streets gave way to bustling avenues of brick townhouses, taverns, and merchant shops. The smell of roasted meat, freshly baked bread, and woodsmoke from the chimneys drifted in the air.

I decided to make a stop in the Commercial District. I kept my hand firmly resting on my belt pouch and continued towards Guild Street.

Guild Street was where the adventurers and guild masters of different services gathered. Along the street, some blacksmith guilds’ chimneys ejected gray smoke into the sky, and the metallic clang of hammers echoed down the alleys.

After twenty minutes of walking, I arrived at a familiar building with a massive sign hanging over its entrance.

Andromeda Guild.

A locksmith guild where I had only registered as a licensed locksmith this morning.

I pushed through the wooden doors and stepped into the main hall.

The air inside smelled familiar and comforting. It was a mixture of lubricating oil, iron filings, and beer. A long counter desk lined the ground floor, where a clerk evaluated locks and keys and assigned commissions to the licensed locksmiths. To the side, several novice locksmiths sat at workbenches, groaning as they tried to pick standard training locks under the supervision of a senior locksmith who was sipping a cup of beer.

The locksmith who disgraced me last time was gone.

The moment I stepped inside, the lively chatter quieted down.

A few locksmiths paused their work to stare at me. Some of them turned their heads, their eyes wide in disbelief.

Master Victoria was standing behind the administrative desk, holding a small box with a three-wheel combination lock that I had created. It was our agreement that if she opened it within three days without using a tool, she would become my apprentice. Her breathtaking beauty and charisma seemed to have vanished, replaced by a haggard woman who had been awake for days. She looked like a tramp who had gone insane.

I looked back at the box. It was opened. I’m quite impressed.

When Victoria saw me walking through the door, her jaw dropped a bit.

"Silvester? My little lamb?" Victoria barked, leaning over the counter. "You... you’re alive?"

"The last time I checked, Victoria," I said, walking up to the desk with my hands in my coat pockets. "I’m still breathing. Is there a reason I wouldn’t be?"

Master Victoria quickly pulled her magnifying glass down to her eye to inspect me as if checking to see if I was an apparition or a ghost.

"Reason, Silvester? I was just informed that you went to the Voulstridge estate! The Duke personally requested a locksmith to open the chest, but no senior locksmith ever tried again because of the Duke’s threat! I thought you ended up dead for failing!"

One of the senior locksmiths nearby, named Tobias, snorted and leaned against the counter. He was a thin man with locksmith tools inserted all over his belt.

"He probably couldn’t even get past the front gate. The Duke probably took a look at an eight-year-old holding a toy pickset and sent him back with barely a single silver coin."

Tobias was the one who tried to pass the Voulstridge request to the junior apprentices of the guild. He was terrified of the Duke’s temper after he once tried to open the chest of the Voulstridge family.

Instead of arguing, I unbuttoned my coat, reached into my magic pouch, and pulled out two items.

The first item was the request poster stamped with the Duke’s private crest and marked COMPLETED in red ink.

The next item was a small leather coin pouch containing twenty gold coins.

I dropped both items on the wooden counter with a sharp clink.

Guild Master Victoria stared at the stamped poster. She picked it up with trembling fingers and adjusted her magnifying glass to confirm the authenticity of the paper and the seal.

"Little lamb... the seal is authentic," she whispered, her eyes bulging behind the glass lens. "I’m amazed! You actually unlocked the Voulstridge frost box!"

Senior Locksmith Tobias rushed over and leaned on Victoria’s shoulder to stare at the paper. "That cannot be! That box was crafted with a customized magic seal! A commoner kid with no basic training couldn’t possibly align the rune locks!"

"Nah. I didn’t align the rune locks," I said calmly and looked Senior Tobias dead in the eye. "I just assisted the young Lady Voulstridge in synchronizing her mana. It’s just a small thing, but the Duke was truly satisfied with my work."

"Satisfied?" Victoria swallowed hard, looking at me with a new expression of awe and caution. "Silvester, dear... did the Duke pay you?"

"The payment is already settled according to the requested service, Victoria," I replied smoothly, intentionally keeping the bonus reward of fifty gold coins and the advisor position to myself. It’s dangerous to spread news of massive wealth in the lower districts like the Commercial and Normal Districts. I might become the target of thieves and greedy guild members. "The reward is in that pouch, Victoria. You can deduct the guild’s cut. Check it out."