Chapter 31: Lunch Time

Monday arrived faster than I expected, or perhaps I was just impatient.

After speaking with Patricia a few days ago, I decided to visit Ignatius and spend a day with him. I was happy that I could see him being true to himself—not as a servant, but as a common citizen of the kingdom.

However, for the past few days, my mind had been occupied by too many things at once.

The Voulstridge estate.

The late Duchess Silvia’s hidden lock.

And lastly, the old sewer docks.

I sat quietly at my workbench inside the locksmith guild, staring at a small piece of Space Crystal resting on a piece of black cloth. I had just come back yesterday to sort through the things hovering in my thoughts.

The crystal was just the size of my thumbnail, and the air around it looked strange.

Whenever I tried to move my eyes away and look back, the crystal seemed to be at a different angle. It wasn’t actually moving, but the space around it was.

I slowly reached for it. My fingertip stopped a few centimeters away.

I tried to release a thread of my mana from my finger, and the moment it came close to the crystal, the air trembled.

"Hmm."

The mana thread I had just released bent slightly toward the crystal.

I tried to pull it back, and the thread straightened again.

"Fascinating. I was expecting the Space Crystal to react to my mana, but I wasn’t expecting how naturally it affects the surrounding area," I muttered to myself.

I picked up the charcoal pencil and opened my notebook.

The pages were already filled with sketches I had drawn recently: the lock mechanism, mana circuits, and the secondary lock inside the Voulstridge estate.

On the next pages were several designs for a customized key, most of which were crossed out.

I spent most of my nights trying to create a plausible theory using only the knowledge I remembered from the dungeon and the small amount of information I gathered from the guild’s archive, which only held ordinary books.

The problem was that my knowledge was so limited.

I already understood how spatial magic worked, but understanding the concept and creating a stable mana tool were two different things.

It was like a person understanding how a sword was made without being able to forge it himself.

I drew another line and suddenly stopped.

"No. The design is too unstable," I whispered and crossed it out.

My thoughts deepened again.

If I connected the Space Crystal directly to the mana core, the pressure could damage the entire process.

If I reduced the mana flow, it wouldn’t have enough power to open the secondary lock.

So, definitely not a good idea.

"How about I create a temporary opening of space..." I muttered.

The pencil’s movement suddenly stopped.

"An opening." I looked at the Space Crystal and the sketch, smiling as I realized something. "That might actually work."

Knock.

Knock.

The sound from outside brought me back to my senses. I immediately covered the crystal with the black cloth.

"Come in!" I shouted as soon as I was certain that the crystal was completely hidden.

The workshop door opened. Victoria stepped in and looked at me with tired eyes. She was holding a paper bag.

"You’re working again? Try to get some rest, little lamb. Try to enjoy your youth and be a kid."

I chuckled. "I am completely enjoying my youth, Victoria, and I am aware that I am a kid."

"You’ve been sitting inside your workshop all day. It’s already lunch! Just wanted to remind you." She sat on the wooden chair and looked at the tools I had recently arranged.

"Really? Maybe thinking too much isn’t good," I replied as I looked at the window. The sun was already at its peak.

Victoria walked toward the workbench and placed the paper bag in front of me. She didn’t say a word, but her face told me that I should check what was inside.

I chose to check it out rather than argue with her.

A freshly baked piece of bread.

Roasted meat inside a transparent food container.

And a small bottle of water.

I looked at Victoria.

"Did you buy this?" I asked, looking at her.

"Yes, little lamb. A child must eat well. Look at you. You look thin." She looked at me like a mother taking care of her child.

"Thanks. But please don’t make that face."

Victoria immediately pointed at me. "What face?"

"Thank you, Victoria." I genuinely smiled at her. Aside from Ignatius, she really treated me well.

For a moment, Victoria’s expression softened. She immediately looked away.

"Don’t misunderstand, little lamb. I don’t want my teacher fainting from hunger inside my guild."

I didn’t respond and decided to eat. I could feel my stomach growling. I took the bread and the roasted meat to eat.

Victoria pulled the wooden chair closer and sat down. She watched me eat.

"This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a person eating, Victoria. What do you want to say?" I looked at her while munching on the roasted meat.

"You really are strange, little lamb. But I already know your gestures. What are you hiding?" Victoria asked with confidence.

Damn. She had good eyes.

I swallowed my food and took a sip of water. I tried to relax to conceal my reaction.

Her eyes moved toward the black cloth, which I immediately noticed.

"Nothing," I said flatly.

"You’re hiding something. You’ve been spending too much time here in your workshop." She stared at me with a blank face.

"That’s normal. I’m a locksmith."

She leaned forward as I casually placed my arm over the black cloth.

"You are seriously obvious, little lamb."

Victoria suddenly reached toward the black cloth. I instinctively grabbed her wrist.

For a few seconds, we stared at each other. Neither of us moved. She slowly looked down at my hand, then up at my face.

"Sorry." I immediately released her wrist. The porcelain skin of her wrist had turned reddish.

"It’s okay, little lamb. You could have just said no, though." Victoria’s expression softened.

She didn’t ask me anything; instead, she leaned back. "Whatever you are hiding, dear, be careful. Okay?"

I glanced at her and slowly nodded.

"The Voulstridge job starts tomorrow." She looked toward the window where the adventurers were walking down the street.

"Yeah. I’m pretty excited," I said in a flat tone. I didn’t really want to get involved with any nobles, but the situation was forcing my hand.

She finally looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "You’ll be staying there? For how long?"

"If Lord Voulstridge wants me to."

She looked out the window again, and I continued to eat. The room filled with a comforting silence.

I had already received official instructions, and tomorrow morning I would return to the Voulstridge estate, the house of the great ice mages.

I wouldn’t be there just to open the secondary lock. I would officially begin my duties as Lady Arielle’s personal magic advisor.

It felt a little strange. I was a locksmith, and tomorrow I would be teaching a noble girl how to control her mana.

My life was so complicated.