Chapter 883

Creak—

Opening the door from inside the room, Ohara stepped aside. Anna and Elia stood side by side outside.

Elia swept her mismatched eyes across the room, and her mouth slowly fell open.

"Good heavens...."

The spell circuits covering the ceiling and walls were not the only reason. Nearly all the furniture and flowerpots had been pushed to the edges of the room. In their place, piles of unusual-looking objects were stacked everywhere.

"As you can see, there's more work than expected," Ian, standing in front of the opposite wall, said while looking down at a battered old lute he had just pulled from a cabinet.

His expression was less than pleased, having once again been showered with musty dust.

"Come inside and take a proper look," Ohara added while holding the doorknob, giving Anna a slight nod.

As Anna turned away with her usual expressionless face and walked off, Elia finally stepped into the room and murmured, "You really own this many magical tools?"

Closing the door behind them, Ohara answered, "I needed plenty of teaching materials to improve my enchantment craftsmanship. Of course, commercial interests played a part as well."

A peculiar smile lingered on her lips, as if pleased by Elia's reaction.

Ian, still staring at the lute, added, "Sort through the pile in the middle. Those are the ones I've already appraised."

"Ah...." Only then did Elia look down at the heap of items in the center of the room.

A moment later, her gaze shifted to the wall on the right as Ian casually tossed the lute onto another pile leaning against it. "Then what are those?"

"The discard pile," Ian answered while turning back toward the cabinet resting against the wall.

More precisely, they were items that were broken, useless, or of unknown purpose. They also made up the largest portion of Ohara's collection.

While he knelt on one knee and rummaged through a lower drawer, Ohara walked toward the bed along the left wall.

"The Tower Master truly possesses remarkable insight."

More items were piled in front of it.

"Even the most experienced mages wouldn't be able to appraise objects as quickly as the Tower Master. Myself included, of course."

Pulling out a thick silver ring engraved with faint patterns, Ian replied indifferently, "The tradeoff is that the accuracy drops considerably."

After all, his method was nothing more than a shortcut enabled by the information window. Just like this ring, any item the system couldn't identify remained completely inscrutable to him.

"For now, it's probably still a matter of intuition. Since you're naturally gifted, you'll achieve remarkable results with just a little effort. Honestly, I'm jealous."

Ohara eventually stopped in front of the bed.

Ian glanced at her, one corner of his mouth curling upward. "You aren't about to say you want to crack open my head and see what's inside, are you?"

He tossed the ring toward her.

Ohara burst into laughter and caught it. "Of course not. I only meant that if I had a talent like yours, I might have perfected my spell circuits much sooner."

She gestured with both hands toward the tattooed markings running along the back of her neck. "Instead of ending up with something patchwork like this."

"Those spell circuits don't seem worthy of that kind of criticism," Ian replied as he turned back around.

"The items in front of you are the ones whose judgment has been postponed, then?" Elia asked after stopping before another pile of magical artifacts.

Ian shrugged. "Well, they're all things Ohara already knows about. I'm just reappraising them to see what condition they're in."

"Normally, I should be the one examining them first, but we've found that reversing the order is actually more efficient," Ohara said as she tossed the ring toward Elia.

Clicking her tongue lightly, Elia muttered, "If I'd known there was this much work, I would've skipped preparing the meal and come here from the start."

Still kneeling on one knee, Ian answered, "No. That would've been far too cruel to the others."

After all, Max's cooking was every bit as strange as its scent suggested.

The others had only just survived a grueling battle and voyage. There was no reason to subject them to that kind of suffering again so soon.

"Nothing's gone wrong outside, has it?" Ian asked as he opened the bottom drawer tucked away in the corner.

Elia, who had been carefully examining the items piled before her, nodded. "Yes. Everyone's resting well. They'll probably spend the entire day eating and sleeping. The Great Chieftain is also making rounds with the lieutenants, keeping a very close watch."

Ian merely nodded and pulled out a small wooden box covered in a thick layer of dust.

Meanwhile, apparently having made up her mind, Elia picked up an old dagger and reached for the mace beside it as she added, "The priest asked us to wait a little longer. He said he'd finish his meal and take a bath before coming."

Brushing the dust off the box, Ian let out a chuckle. "Sounds like a true Northerner."

After setting the dagger and mace down side by side behind her, Elia continued, "He said there'll be a funeral for the sailors before sunset. And that he couldn't stand there looking filthy."

"Ah, a very priest-like reason."

Shrugging, Ian opened the wooden box.

He froze the next moment.

Inside lay an old banner with an ominous appearance. Embroidered upon it was a symbol he had never seen before: an eye surrounded by tentacles undulating like flower petals.

As his eyes narrowed slightly, Elia continued, "Count Drapier has been spending a great deal of time with the smuggling ship captains. It seems the talks are going well. I think he wants to take the villagers with him as well."

She had already returned to rummaging through the pile of magical artifacts.

Closing the box, Ian replied casually, "The archipelago is vast. If they're going to search it and rebuild it, the more people they have, the better."

"A wise decision. Most of them are women and elderly people, but they're all resilient. And most of them are originally from the archipelago anyway," Ohara added offhandedly while examining a silver bracelet.

A strangely satisfied smile played on her lips. Her worries about the villagers had likely been put to rest.

Nodding in agreement, Ian tossed the wooden box into a corner of the room.

Clank—

The box landed among several items that had already been placed there.

Even while continuing her sorting, Elia glanced toward the corner and asked, "What are those over there?"

"Cursed items," Ian answered as he dusted off his hands.

Elia immediately froze. Her eyes lit up as she looked back toward the collection of objects in the corner.

"I'm either going to use them or destroy them. I know you're interested in that sort of thing, but stay away from that area."

The sight was enough to make Ian let out an amused snort.

Though there weren't many of them, several carried particularly nasty curses or lingering grudges. It was honestly impressive that Ohara had simply stored them away in a corner and continued living beside them.

The spell circuits covering the room and the other artifacts scattered throughout it had probably neutralized most of the curses and resentment.

"Can you at least let me examine them later? While you're supervising, of course." Elia asked as she looked at him with obvious reluctance.

Ian snorted and jerked his chin. "We'll see. For now, focus on the work in front of you."

"Alright. To be honest... I'm just as curious about this as I am about the cursed items."

Finally picking up the magical artifacts again, Elia continued, "How did you even collect this many relics and magical artifacts?"

Receiving her gaze, Ohara answered with a bright smile, "Through gambling."

At the same time, she casually tossed the bracelet she had been examining toward Elia.

Blinking in surprise, Elia resumed sorting and asked, "You won all of these through gambling?"

Chuckling softly, Ohara leaned forward. "Not all of them, of course. It seems you have no idea what kind of place this inn really is."

Her expression suggested she found Elia's reaction rather adorable

"This is a gambling den, Elie," said Ian, who had been walking toward another cabinet nearby.

When Elia looked at him, he added matter-of-factly, "Max and Anna aren't just the cook and a waitress. They're also the managers of the gambling hall."

Only then did Elia let out a sound of realization and nod. "Ah... so that's why they treated the guests like that...."

Several lingering questions seemed to have been answered all at once.

Picking up a wooden charm small enough to fit in her palm, Ohara added, "It looks like this now, but until a few years ago, this village was quite lively. It's the only port connected to the frontier."

The smile on her lips had become slightly nostalgic. "And as you know, I'm fairly skilled with my hands."

"Shouldn't the owner of a gambling hall refrain from cheating?" Ian remarked with a dry laugh.

At the same time, he casually tossed a ritual bronze dagger engraved with strange patterns onto the reject pile.

Turning toward him, Ohara replied in a knowing tone, "If you're simply skilled at using fairly prepared tools, doesn't that make it a technique rather than cheating?"

"You make a fair point." Ian shrugged without resistance.

As Ohara smiled as though she had expected that answer, Elia gazed around at the collection of objects with newfound understanding.

"So you collected all of these from gamblers in place of their wagers," murmured Elia.

"When people run out of money, they inevitably start bringing out valuables. Then I either exchange them for cash or lend money against them as collateral. It was all perfectly fair business," said Ohara.

Ian snorted. "Though the money never really left the gambling hall in the first place."

A tavern, an inn, a gambling hall, and even a pawnshop—her business sense was certainly no joke.

Picking up a necklace decorated with numerous carved bone fragments engraved with symbols, Ohara shrugged.

"But most of the money I lend out never comes back. People either never return or end up as fish food. Most of the items here became my property that way. Of course, there are also many that I bought outright after using my collection as an excuse to ask for them."

"To find a way to continue researching spell circuits all the way out here, that's truly impressive," Elia said with genuine admiration as she resumed sorting the artifacts.

Continuing his appraisals, Ian added, "And you actually achieved results."

"Oh, you're making me embarrassed again. You know it was incomplete."

Ian tilted his chin and asked, "But it worked, didn't it? You only took Theodore in because you're confident you can finish the research."

After all, Theodore would be leaving with her.

Smacking her lips, Ohara tossed the necklace into the reject pile and nodded. "I've made a few more improvements since then. Of course, I'll need to examine the restrictions first and continue the work based on those."

"Be careful, Ohara," Elia added quietly.

She even glanced around as though worried someone might overhear. "If word gets out that a circuit capable of nullifying the restrictions is nearing completion, every magic tower will make you their target."

"Don't worry. I already have no regrets, even if I die."

At Ohara's casual reply, Ian snorted. "Well, I do. So at least until you enter the tower, be especially careful."

After all, she was supposed to manage the Gray Mage Tower in his absence. Besides, there were other things he intended to ask of her as well.

Ohara turned toward him and laughed softly. "Yes. I will, Tower Master."

The atmosphere had noticeably softened, and the sorting continued.

Ian and Ohara each evaluated magical artifacts and relics, while Elia organized them according to their functions.

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the door echoed through the room just as they were nearing the end of their work.

Ohara rose from her seat and walked past Elia.

Ian paused, turning toward the door—the guest he had been expecting had finally arrived.

When Ohara opened the door, Anna’s blank gaze met her.

"Good grief... what the hell is all this?"

Beside her stood the rough-looking priest, his eyes widening as he surveyed the room.

"Get inside first. We need to close the door," said Ian.

Ian's attention lingered on the priest for only a moment. He was looking at the blue-eyed girl who had come with Miguel.

Like Anna, her face was completely expressionless. In truth, she was the one he had really been waiting for.

"Uh... alright. Let's go in, Lily." Miguel nodded and entered the room with Lily.

As Anna turned away, eyes still locked on Lily, Ohara closed the door with the air of someone who had been waiting for exactly this moment. She, too, seemed to have realized something.

Looking down at Lily with trembling eyes, she stammered the moment the door closed, "Tower Master... this child... don't tell me...."

Ian nodded without hesitation. "That's right. She was one of the magic tower's test subjects. One that was almost completed."