Chapter 28: The Scrap Dealer and Fixer

"Lord Silvester?" a low voice whispered through the door. "It’s Patricia. Open up before Master Victoria sees me hanging around the locksmith workshop."

I relaxed slightly after I recognized the voice.

It was Patricia. Aside from being Master Victoria’s personal assistant, I learned that she was also a local scrap dealer and fixer who operated out of the sewage tunnels beneath the Commercial District. She bought defective locksmith tools, broken mana cores, and unregistered metal supplies from different guilds and sold them to private buyers in the underground community.

From the outside, she was a nice lady who was approachable and easy to communicate with, but she was greedy and shady on the inside. Master Victoria recruited her because she was trustworthy and had access to goods that official guild networks couldn’t even touch.

I quickly swept the gold coins back into the leather pouch and hid it inside my workbench’s locked drawer, then slid back the door’s lock.

I pulled the door open just enough for me to see her. "Patricia, what do you want? It’s my resting time."

Patricia was a short woman in her late thirties with curly black hair and brown skin. Her eyes regularly darted around the hallway. She wore a white and black maid dress which fit her curved body perfectly.

When the door opened, Patricia pushed herself inside before I could say a word, quickly pulling the door shut.

"Keep your voice down, Young Lord," Patricia hissed, leaning against the workbench. "Word travels faster in the Commercial District. Most of the guild is talking about how you walked into Duke Voulstridge’s manor and walked out with your neck still uncut."

"I just did the requested service. I got paid and came back," I said in a neutral tone as I crossed my arms. "So what is the point of your visit?"

"The point is that people are curious," Patricia mentioned, a smirk spreading across her face. "The Duke’s personal lock isn’t something a street kid fixes with a common iron pick. The rumor all over the guilds is that you handled a high-grade chest artifact today. Which means you might be looking for a special tool now."

"Are you offering something or just fishing for gossip?" I narrowed my eyes.

Patricia reached for her dress pocket and pulled out a small wooden box. She flipped the latch open with her thumb and revealed a pair of high-grade thin calipers forged from an iridescent gray metal that shone under the lamplight.

"Star-Iron calipers," she whispered. "Smuggled out of a dwarven dungeon excavation site that collapsed. Perfect for measuring mana lines inside high-level locks. The guild market would charge you fifty silver for these, even though you have a locksmith license."

I glanced at the calipers. They were high-quality tools that I already had when I was inside the dungeon. Completely useless for what I needed. Star-Iron was for measuring mana circuits, not spatial seals.

"I don’t need calipers, Patricia."

Patricia’s smile faded slightly. "No? What do you need then? Just name it. If it is available in the underground city, I can get it for you."

I looked at Patricia for a long moment and calculated the risk in my head.

She’s a rat, but a fine one who understands the value of a wealthy customer. As long as I paid well and kept her ignorant of why I needed the materials, she wouldn’t ask me more questions.

"I need three pieces of an item," I spoke softly enough for her to hear. "Three pieces of space crystals."

Patricia stared at me. Her mouth was slightly open. Her confidence completely vanished from her face, replaced by genuine shock.

"S-space crystals?" Patricia stammered, her voice declining to an urgent whisper. "A spatial material? Are you insane, kid? Those are military-grade restricted materials! If the Novarian enforcers catch anyone trading space crystals in the lower districts, they don’t fine you, they will hang you from the city gates!"

"But rumor said that you could get anything in the underground community," I replied with disappointment. "Was that just talk?"

"I can get killed, kid! Not those military-grade space crystals! Ah, uh!" Patricia rubbed her temples. "Why the hell does an eight-year-old locksmith need space crystals anyway? What in the world are you trying to build?"

"That is none of your business, Patricia." I reached into my pocket and pulled out three gold coins.

I put down the three gold coins on the workbench, right beneath the candlelight.

The bright gleam of the real gold coins illuminated the dark wood. In the lower districts, a single gold coin was enough to fill one’s stomach with delicious meat for a month. The gold coins were a small fortune for a fixer. A gold coin was equal to a thousand silver coins.

Patricia remained silent. Her eyes locked on the gold coins.

"Three gold coins, only for the deposit," I said as I watched her reaction. "Deliver the materials to me at this time by Monday night, and I will gladly pay you another seven gold coins upon delivery. A total of ten gold coins."

Patricia swallowed hard, her throat making a dry gulping sound. She looked at the gold and then looked at me. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of temptation and sudden terror.

"Ten gold coins..." Patricia whispered. Her hand was trembling slightly as it lingered above the table. "You... Where did you get this kind of money?"

"I can’t say it." My voice took on a dangerous tone. "Confidentiality is part of the job. Just bring me the Space Crystals by Monday night. No questions. You will tell no one about me having gold coins. If you try to cross me or if a rumor of my request spreads to the guilds, I will personally tell Duke Voulstridge that you’ve been selling illegal items in the underground community."

It was just for intimidation, but the mention of Duke Voulstridge’s name made Patricia flinch as if she’d been struck by lightning.

"Alright! Alright, I get it!" Patricia quickly snatched the three gold coins off the table and slipped them into her inside pocket. "I know a black market smuggler on the old sewer docks of the district. He handles rare magic artifacts. I’ll get your space crystals. But you better have the other seven gold coins ready by Monday night!"

"It’s a deal then, Patricia," I said. "Now get out."

Patricia didn’t hesitate. She pulled the workshop door open, quickly checked the empty hallway, and slipped away into the dark.

I stepped out into the doorway and locked the door behind me.

I let out a long sigh.

The initial preparations were set.

On Monday night, I would receive the Space Crystals, and on the next day, I would return to the Voulstridge estate to begin my official duties as Lady Arielle’s personal magic advisor.

And while I trained the young noble girl to control her unstable mana, I would use the estate’s vast library to master spatial magic theory, construct the customized key in secret, and eventually return to the supply room to open the late Duchess Silvia’s secondary lock.

I walked back to my workbench and sat in the wooden chair and picked up the charcoal pencil.

A sharp smile touched my lips as I looked down at the detailed sketch of the complex seal in my notebook.

"Whatever your secret is inside that box, Duchess Silvia, I’m going to unlock it," I whispered to the empty room.