Chapter 62 - 60: Illegal Child Labor

Chapter 62: Chapter 60: Illegal Child Labor

"Grandpa Fenris, I’ll be counting on you, then."

After leaving the Black Market, Lu Wei hurried straight to the "Iron Hammer" weapon shop.

Most weapon shops in Heitai Town produced and sold their own wares. Although they would occasionally buy back some used Equipment, the Weapons they sold were almost always forged in-house.

However, this didn’t mean every weapon shop could inlay gemstones.

After all, the process wasn’t as simple as screwing a lightbulb into a socket. It required constructing an effective and complete Magic Circuit between the gemstone and the Equipment.

It was roughly equivalent to the electrical wire connecting a socket to a lightbulb.

Without this wire, no matter how the user "supplied power," the lightbulb wouldn’t light up.

And if there was a problem with the wiring, it could lead to an unstable current, a short circuit, or even a burnt-out filament, among other issues.

Therefore, a basic knowledge of "electrical work"—that is, the theory of how Magic operates—was essential.

Fortunately, one didn’t need to know too much, just enough to distinguish between the "live wire and the neutral wire" of a Magic Circuit.

Thus, there were still a few people in town who could do it.

Old Fenris was one of them.

"It’s not much trouble, but how did a kid like you get your hands on a Mola Crystal Steel One-handed Sword?"

Old Fenris looked surprised as he repeatedly examined the One-handed Sword in his hands.

"This Sword must be worth at least 3 Gold Coins, right? Can you even afford it?"

’Duh, if I couldn’t afford it, what are you holding in your hand?’

"A couple of days ago, I killed a few Kobolds in the forest."

Lu Wei explained casually, "I got pretty lucky and found a coin purse on one of them."

"...You little rascal!"

Old Fenris froze for a moment, then his eyes widened.

"Then why were you putting on that pitiful act yesterday! You swindled so many freebies out of me!"

"Grandpa Fenris, I didn’t lie to you."

Lu Wei, well-practiced in this, immediately put on a sad expression. "My father... he really did pass away..."

"Enough, enough, don’t say another word!"

Old Fenris cursed inwardly, his heart aching at the thought of yesterday’s losses.

But getting Lu Wei to return the freebies or pay the difference was impossible now, so he could only mumble and insist:

"Inlaying a gemstone is 3 Silver Coins. Not one copper less!"

"No problem! Here you go!"

The Gray Gemstone had sold for 2 gold and 7 silver, so Lu Wei now had exactly 3 Silver Coins left, plus some Copper Coins.

To forge this "peerless divine weapon," he had pretty much bankrupted himself.

"Go on, take out the gemstone."

Taking the three Silver Coins, Old Fenris impatiently held out his hand. "Let me be clear: if I fail, I won’t offer any compensation."

"Huh?"

Lu Wei’s hand paused on its way to the gemstone. He never imagined that failure was even a possibility.

’And from the sound of it, if he fails, the gemstone will be destroyed??’

’Seriously? What kind of money-grubbing MMO mechanic is this?’

"Uh, Grandpa Fenris, what’s the probability of failure?"

Silently pulling his hand back from his coin purse, Lu Wei asked cautiously, "Is there anything like a Protective Scroll?"

Old Fenris looked a little confused. "What’s a Protective Scroll?"

"It’s an item that ensures a successful inlay, or at least protects the gemstone from breaking."

"How could something like that exist?"

Old Fenris shot him a sidelong glance. "You don’t have to be so nervous. Normally, it doesn’t fail. I’ve only failed three times in my entire life, but I’ve inlaid at least a hundred gemstones."

’So the failure rate is 3%?’

’Hmm, that’s not too high... assuming there’s no hidden nerf, and the old man isn’t exaggerating.’

"What if the gemstone is a higher Level?"

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Wei probed again, "Would it be more difficult?"

"How high?"

"What about, say, a Rare Level gemstone?"

"...Rare Level?"

His eyes widening slightly, Old Fenris froze. "You want to inlay a Rare Gemstone?"

"I think so."

Since they knew each other, explaining would be a hassle, so Lu Wei deliberately kept his answer vague.

"Anyway, if it really is a Rare Gemstone, will the success rate drop?"

"Well... normally, it wouldn’t."

Old Fenris’s reply was a little slow, and his tone had lost some of its confidence.

Although in theory, the Value of a gemstone didn’t affect the inlay success rate, it was like the difference between walking on flat ground and walking on a cliff’s edge—the immense pressure made the difficulty completely different.

So he quickly added:

"If you’re worried, you can go find Kas. He has Experience inlaying Rare Gemstones."

Kas. Lu Wei knew the name.

He was another Heitai Town native who had opened his own weapon shop in Kalin Port in his youth and seemed to have made a small name for himself.

But later, seemingly heartbroken, he had returned to Heitai Town a few years ago in disgrace.

He then fell into a slump, drinking all day, only taking on commissions to forge Equipment when he ran out of money.

The townspeople had mixed opinions about a man like him.

Some found him pitiful, some thought he was depraved, and some considered him tragic.

But when it came to the Weapons he forged, especially Swords, everyone’s evaluation was surprisingly unanimous—

Perfect!

Such high praise might have been partly due to their lack of worldliness, but at the very least, it proved that Kas was without a doubt the best Swordsmith in Heitai Town.

"Alright then... But Uncle Kas’s fee is probably pretty expensive, right?"

Seeing that Old Fenris himself had turned into a timid War Lizard, Lu Wei certainly didn’t feel comfortable entrusting the gemstone to him and decided to try his luck with Kas.

"It’ll definitely be more expensive."

Old Fenris thought for a moment. "You’ll need to prepare at least one Gold Coin."

"Okay, I understand."

Lu Wei nodded nonchalantly, his expression perfectly calm.

Though he only had 3 Silver Coins, he had the swagger of a man carrying 30 Gold Coins.

And that was the confidence that came from having a rich second-generation friend!

’Well...’

’Looks like it’s time to go get another interest-free loan.’

...

...

「Meanwhile, at the abandoned mill on the edge of town.」

"Zovir, are you guys in there?"

"...Mr. Furen, is that you?"

"Yes! It’s me!"

"Ah, it’s Mr. Furen! Everyone, come on out..."

Beside a haystack, six or seven small, filthy figures crawled out from various corners and stood nervously before Furen.

Furen’s brow was tightly furrowed, his expression one of deep sorrow.

Although Clara had said this group of young slaves should be able to find work, he was still worried, so he had decided to come and check on them.

He hadn’t expected them to actually still be here...

"Why are you all still here?"

After a moment, Furen forced a smile. "Weren’t you able to find work?"

"No, sir..."

Zovir, standing at the very front, bowed his head in shame. "We’re too young, and we’re runaway slaves. No one is willing to hire us..."

’Damn it! I knew it!’

Furen clenched his fists, angry but feeling even more helpless.

Hiring runaway slaves could easily lead to trouble, and Heitai Town wasn’t Kalin Port—it had no "Black Factories." So these children truly had nowhere to go.

’No, I have to help them.’

At this thought, Furen immediately untied his coin purse and took out a Gold Coin.

"Take this. Go buy something to eat first."

"No, no, Mr. Furen, we can’t take your money!" Zovir hurriedly waved his hands.

"Listen to me and take it. I can’t just stand by and watch you starve to death!"

"We..."

Hearing the words "starve to death," Zovir’s voice trailed off, a flash of conflict in his eyes.

He turned to look at his companions, who were watching with expectant gazes, then took a deep breath and gave Furen a deep bow.

"Mr. Furen, we don’t want to starve, but we can’t take any more of your money."

"If you truly pity us, please, do us the kindness of helping us find a job."