Chapter 30: The Sample Crystal

She glared at me before looking back at the lock again. Victoria was thinking carefully.

"Brass doesn’t rust easily, unlike iron! Someone wanted this lock to last." Her eyes widened slightly after coming to that conclusion.

"You got it, Victoria." I nodded.

Victoria’s expression changed. She wasn’t simply looking at the lock as an object anymore; she was thinking about the person who created it.

"Who made it?" Victoria asked.

"I don’t know," I responded quickly. "How do you know that this lock is made of brass?"

She looked at me, but no answer came from her mouth.

"Okay. Then how do you know why they used brass?" I asked again.

"I think I made an assumption, Silvester..." Victoria’s face twisted.

"Victoria, assumptions can be wrong." I tapped my small finger on the workbench.

I smiled. "The second lesson is that a locksmith must learn the difference between what he knows and what he assumes."

Victoria grew quiet.

I picked up the charcoal pencil from the workbench and started to draw a simple lock on a sheet of paper.

"Novice locksmiths see the outer body. After years of training, they see a mechanism. But after years of experience, they start to see what is beyond that lock."

Victoria watched quietly and nodded.

"Who made the lock? What was the reason for making it? What materials were used? What happens if it fails, and who is supposed to open it?" I continued.

She slowly looked at the drawing and placed the pencil down.

"Locks aren’t just objects, they keep secrets." I looked at Victoria, who was still quiet.

After a long silence, I stood up and gathered my things.

"Alright, that’s all for today. Take that brass lock and try to unlock it by controlling your pressure. Also, here." I handed her a piece of paper full of questions. "I made that earlier. Answer the questions and unlock that brass lock in three days. You’re now dismissed."

Victoria looked at me as if I had handed her a ticking bomb.

"What the hell?! How am I supposed to answer these five hundred questions filled with unknown words in three days?"

"Uh-huh. That is your problem. Remember the rule, no complaining, and just follow my lead."

"Fine. I might not get enough sleep because of this. This is cruelty!"

"No, it’s training. By the way, I’ll head out to eat something. I’m not asking you to come. I just wanted to inform you." I set my tools in my coat and rested the magic bag on my waist.

"I can’t believe this little lamb is possessed by a demon," Victoria muttered.

I left her in my workshop and went to the main hall. There were few locksmiths today, and most of them were only the novices eating happily at the table.

Today, Patricia was at the administration desk counter since it was her duty for the day.

She smiled awkwardly at me, as if she wanted to say something.

The woman was usually confident and always had a warm smile. But now it was different; she looked very nervous, as if she knew something everyone else didn’t.

I decided to approach her naturally so no one in the main hall would suspect anything unusual.

"Hi, Patricia," I said, taking a seat in front of her post.

She quickly closed the door behind her. "Keep your voice down."

I stared at her. "Why should I? Is my voice ugly?"

"This isn’t funny, my Lord," she said in a low voice.

She reached into her pocket for something and placed it on the counter. It was a small piece of black cloth.

I frowned. "What the hell is this?"

"Just look inside. Be careful," Patricia whispered while smiling at the locksmiths passing in front of us.

I carefully opened it. Inside the piece of cloth was a small shard—a crystal smaller than my thumb.

My eyes narrowed to inspect the object. The surface looked almost transparent, but something strange was moving inside it. Space itself was distorted around the crystal.

"A fucking space crystal..." I whispered quietly enough for only the two of us to hear, my heart skipping a beat.

She nodded. "I just managed to get a sample."

"Why? I thought you could handle it well." I looked at her, my eyebrows lifting.

"Listen to me, young Lord. The real deal... it’s complicated."

"Complicated? How?"

Patricia’s face went pale. A bit of sweat was slightly visible on her forehead. "The smuggler I contacted last night refused the money."

I blinked. "Refused? The money isn’t enough?"

"Yes. Ten gold coins wasn’t his standard price," she replied quickly while trying to clean the counter with a piece of white cloth.

My offer was more than enough. Maybe the black market price went up? "How much does he want?"

"It’s not about the gold coins anymore." Patricia shook her head.

My expression turned serious. "What does he want?"

"He wants to meet you," she said, looking directly into my eyes.

The workshop became silent to my senses. Only Patricia’s words remained clear.

I slowly closed my small hand around the piece of black cloth containing the sample of space crystal.

A cold feeling started to move through my chest. Someone in the underground community wanted to meet me.

Maybe because I’m an eight-year-old locksmith? Or perhaps someone had become interested in what I was trying to build?

I was not quite sure.

My thoughts stopped when Patricia spoke again.

"And there’s something else..." She swallowed hard.

"What?"

Patricia hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"The smuggler knows something about Duke Voulstridge. He knows you were inside the manor."

My eyes narrowed at her. "Of course he does. Everybody knows that."

"No. He said he knows what you did inside the supply room."

The small space crystal suddenly felt much heavier in my hand. My heart skipped another beat.

"Monday night," she whispered as she stepped back. "He will wait for you at the old sewer docks."

I looked down at the black cloth resting in my hand. Then, a slow smile appeared on my face.

"Looks like my preparations just became more interesting. Hmmm."

Silvester’s thoughts began to dominate him. He already understood something.

The underground community had noticed his intent.

’Once the wrong people become interested in me... opening a lock is no longer the critical part. It’s finding out who is waiting on the other side.’