Chapter 46: A Locksmith as a Blacksmith

Silvester smiled awkwardly, "I know where she is."

The Duke frowned and stood up. He walked near the window to see a wagon full of Elite Knights and adventurers.

"Then what?"

Silvester walked toward the bookshelf and pulled an old book.

The Blacksmith’s Guide

It had a black leather binding, thick and heavy. The brown-colored pages inside spoke of how old the book was.

The Duke’s expression changed. It was one of the most valuable books in the entire library, well, all books were. The Duke was sensitive with his things, especially since the books in there were mostly from auctions and other kingdoms and were limited editions.

"Don’t give me that look, my lord. You need me and I need this." Silvester chuckled.

The Duke pinched his temple to suppress his anger. All he could do was stare at the child who was starting to read the book.

’Damn, hiring this child must be a mistake,’ the Duke said internally.

"What’s with the knights and mages inside?" Silvester asked while his eyes were locked on the pages of the book.

"Additional security, kid," the Duke whispered and stared outside where Victor met arriving guests and gave some instructions.

"Do you have a furnace?" Silvester asked, still reading the old text.

The Duke covered his face. "You really are using this situation to enjoy the benefits, huh."

Silvester began turning pages and stopped.

"Well, sort of," he said and continued turning pages.

Silvester’s eyes moved across the pages, learning the tools and their usage in relation to blacksmithing until he closed the book.

"I need to build a key."

The Duke looked at him. There was nothing he could do to save his daughter, but Silvester could.

Silvester walked towards the Duke and looked into his eyes.

"We will open an entrance, a door that doesn’t exist," he said, full of confidence.

He smiled and grabbed the box on the table where the space crystals rested.

The idea in his mind was finally becoming clearer. Space Crystals could act as the bridge. The Duke could provide enough mana, and the stable mana connection established could act as a pathway to Arielle’s location.

However, the key needed to be precise and well built. If Silvester made a mistake, the entrance could lead them anywhere.

"What else do you need?"

"I need a high-quality star-iron, artificial mana core, and a mana wire."

The Duke nodded and walked straight to the door.

"Consider it done. Meet me in the basement," he said and finally left the library.

Silvester sighed and walked down to the basement. The materials that he requested cost a fortune, and the Duke was ready to give them just to save his daughter.

He smiled bitterly, hoping that he would experience a father’s love. It never happened in his previous life, and unfortunately, not in his current life either.

For the next hour, the basement became a workshop. The sleeping furnace awakened, ready to taste the melting metal.

The tools and materials needed that Victor organized were placed on an old table.

Duke Voulstridge remained watching nearby. His eyes locked on Silvester’s every move to make sure that the child was not wasting the precious supplies.

The child locksmith tried to ignore him, but it was difficult. He stopped and turned to the Duke.

"Could you stop staring? You’re making me nervous." He sighed and began to hammer the hot metal.

Clink.

Clink.

Clink.

"It’s fun seeing a child suffer while using my wealth."

Silvester sighed and returned to his work. If they were living like that in his previous life, the Duke would probably be facing multiple labor cases.

He used his knowledge from the book he just read. Heating star-iron using his small hands was quite challenging, but he still managed to do so.

The metal slowly softened, and he began shaping it. He was using both hands to lift a huge hammer to forge a thin circular frame.

Well, it was not a normal key, so the physical shape didn’t matter. The shape just needed to match the mana structure that was written in the research book.

Silvester wiped the sweat on his forehead and worked carefully. The Duke was quite amazed how a child managed to forge something with confidence.

After several minutes, the Duke spoke.

"So... you’re a locksmith. Where did you learn this?"

Silvester didn’t stop forging.

"Books," he replied shortly while a hissing sound came from the hot metal that he just dropped into the bucket of water.

The Duke sat on a nearby chair. "You can’t just do something smoothly after reading it once, Silvester."

Silvester paused and smiled. "It’s confidential."

The Duke’s disappointment was written across his face, unable to get the answer he wanted.

Silvester continued working despite being pressured.

Actually, he didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t tell the truth. If he did, everyone would think that he was insane.

How could he explain his modern knowledge? And how could he prove that he remembered things from a life nobody knew about?

He decided to stay silent and just do his job.

Another hour passed and Silvester was sweating from the heat. The room was warm from the furnace.

The first part of the key was completed. It was the circular key frame made of star-iron.

He placed the smallest Space Crystal into the center and it immediately reacted. A faint blue light glowed, flickering several times trying to stabilize.

"Don’t fucking explode, baby," he whispered and held his breath.

The Duke heard it and looked at him. "Don’t even try to make it happen, kid."

The crystal stopped shaking and Silvester smiled. "Good girl."

He slowly breathed out and wiped his face, full of sweat.

The Duke stepped closer as he reached for the second crystal. The same crystal they used earlier to establish a connection with Arielle’s mana.

Silvester started to connect it to the outer frame. His fingers moved carefully.

His eyebrow went up when there was no reaction. There must be some movement since Arielle’s mana was locked inside. Silvester tried to touch it once again to reposition it when he felt something.

A familiar mana surge traveled from the crystal directly to his mana core. The warm basement disappeared from his senses, and Silvester was standing on top of a mountain made of ice.