The blacksmith shop was filled with rolling waves of heat, the furnace fire casting the entire place in a bright red glow.
His Blackstone stood inside with his hands behind his back, his gaze slowly sweeping over the rows of neatly arranged weapon racks before him.
The weapons laid out ranged from large to small, with over a dozen different types.
“Not bad, not bad.”
His Blackstone reached out and picked up a longsword from the rack, weighing it in his hands.
“Young Master, the quality of this batch is already perfect. Considering the hardness of the Gray Crystal, we could easily sell these even in the royal capital!”
Molis stood beside His Blackstone, beaming.
“Mm.”
His Blackstone nodded.
“Do we have enough hands here now? We’ll probably need to scale up production soon.”
“Enough, enough. Almost all the blacksmiths in town have been hired by us, and quite a few from other towns have come to join of their own accord.”
Molis rubbed his hands together.
“After all, the wages we’re paying are nearly double what they get elsewhere—who wouldn’t want to come?”
“Good.”
His Blackstone turned and walked out, with Molis quickly following.
As the two stepped out of the blacksmith shop, the early autumn wind blew in their faces, carrying a hint of coolness that perfectly dispelled the lingering heat from the shop.
Now, the town’s commercial street was livelier than it had been a few months ago.
Ever since His Blackstone began investing heavily in industries here, the town’s transient population had nearly doubled.
There was a constant stream of people delivering goods and conducting business.
“Molis.”
His Blackstone turned his head and spoke to Molis behind him.
“We might have a very important order coming up soon. You’ll be keeping an eye on things here during this time. Make sure the quality of the weapons is guaranteed, understand?”
“Yes, yes.”
Molis patted his chest confidently.
His Blackstone said nothing more and jumped onto the carriage, ready to return to the mansion.
Inside the carriage, he leaned back against the soft cushion, closing his eyes in thought.
Recently, the System had sent him another reminder: the price of future intelligence was expected to keep rising.
Although the income from his current industries was considerable, relying solely on those profits wouldn’t be enough to support the increasingly expensive intelligence fees.
He had to expand his Gray Crystal business—make it so indispensable to the entire kingdom that he could amass enough capital to face the uncertain future ahead.
***
The carriage had just stopped at the entrance of the Duke’s Mansion.
His Blackstone stepped down and saw Rafina directing a few workers as they unloaded newly arrived fabric.
Seeing His Blackstone return, the young woman immediately approached.
“Young Master, you’re back?”
“Mm, went out to handle some business.”
His Blackstone answered casually, his gaze falling on Rafina.
Compared to a few months ago, when she had first come to the Duke’s Mansion to apply as a maid, the young woman no longer had that timid demeanor.
Every move she made now exuded a calm, steady presence.
However, the maid uniform she always wore was starting to look a bit worn.
“Take a break tomorrow and go to town to have a new maid uniform made.”
“This one is still wearable.”
Rafina lowered her head and looked at her clothes.
“Didn’t Florin tell you before? Your image represents the image of the Duke’s Mansion.”
“I… I understand, Young Master His.”
Rafina was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
“I’ll have a new one made tomorrow.”
“That’s more like it.”
His Blackstone nodded with satisfaction.
“Oh, by the way, Young Master, Housekeeper Florin has returned. She said she’ll be waiting for you in the study.”
“Oh?”
Hearing this news, His Blackstone’s eyes lit up.
Some time ago, His Blackstone had estimated that the forging process for Gray Crystal weapons had stabilized.
He had taken the shortsword that Lao Huoke had forged and made another trip to the royal capital with Florin to report the situation to his father, Duke Blackstone.
When the Duke heard that weapons made from Gray Crystal were effective against the Demon Race, he clearly became interested.
He kept the shortsword and said he would have someone in the royal capital test whether what His Blackstone said was true.
“If it’s really as miraculous as you say, I’ll naturally help you find a market.”
Recalling the Duke’s words, His Blackstone quickly headed to the study.
Since the blacksmith shop was about to enter mass production, His Blackstone had returned to his domain first, leaving Florin in the royal capital to wait for Duke Blackstone’s response.
Several days had passed, and she had finally returned.
He wondered if the news she brought was good or bad…
The moment he pushed open the study door, His Blackstone even felt a bit nervous.
“Young Master.”
Florin turned to face His Blackstone and adjusted her glasses.
“How did it go?”
His Blackstone unconsciously swallowed and got straight to the point.
“The feedback from the royal capital is very good.”
Seeing that her young master was once again showing a rare nervous expression, Florin smiled slightly.
“After the Royal Knights tested the shortsword, they gave it extremely high praise. They’ve also confirmed that weapons made from Gray Crystal indeed have a special attack effect against the Demon Race. Once a demon is wounded by a Gray Crystal weapon, the wound will never heal.”
“So their stance is…?”
“The Captain of the Knights said they are willing to include Gray Crystal weapons in their regular procurement list. However…”
“However what?”
“He said the Knights’ procurement budget is quite tight lately, and the price we offered is still too high. With their current budget, they can’t equip every knight with a Gray Crystal weapon. So they hope we can lower the price a bit.”
“This…”
His Blackstone rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
In theory, he had an absolute monopoly in the field of Gray Crystal weapons, and the Knights indeed had a need for them.
He should have the right to set the price.
But considering that the Knights were directly under the Kingdom, and they had been willing to test his Gray Crystal weapons, he imagined that his father had put in quite a bit of effort on his behalf as well…
“Write a reply for now. Say I need to think it over.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
After Florin left, His Blackstone leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
The Royal Knights…
For some reason, a cold-faced image involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Silver-white long hair, icy blue eyes…
Come to think of it, wasn’t this “Sword Maiden of the Kingdom” the Vice Captain of the Royal Knights?
If he were to do business with the Royal Knights, would he have to deal with her as well?
His Blackstone rubbed his temples, pushing back the rising anxiety.
Oh well.
From Florin’s report, the Captain of the Royal Knights was handling this procurement directly.
He might not necessarily come into contact with Ai Lin.
Besides, he had already staked everything on the Gray Crystal project.
No matter what, he had to get this deal done first.
As for Ai Lin, he really didn’t want to have too much interaction with her, but for now, he would just have to deal with things as they came.
Bang bang bang!
A series of urgent knocks interrupted His Blackstone’s thoughts.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me!”
Ni Wei’s voice came from outside the door, carrying a hint of impatience.
“Didn’t you say you’d teach me how to control the Dark Element when you got back? I’ve been waiting for you forever!”
His Blackstone’s mouth twitched.
Couldn’t this girl have a bit of patience?
Still, he got up from his seat and walked to the study door, ready to open it for Ni Wei.
“I’m coming in!”
But just then, Ni Wei seemed to be about to push the door open.
She missed when His Blackstone pulled it open, and she stumbled forward, crashing heavily onto the floor.
“Ouch! You—What did you do that for?!”
Ni Wei covered her ankle with one hand, crying out in pain.
“I was trying to open the door for you. How was I supposed to know you’d come charging in?”
“When have you ever opened the door yourself? Why are you suddenly so eager today?!”
Ni Wei berated His Blackstone, the sharp pain in her ankle bringing tears to the corners of her eyes.
“Alright, let me take a look…”
His Blackstone crouched down, moved her hand aside, and gently lifted the hem of her maid skirt.
He placed the young woman’s foot in his hand and examined it closely.
Although the Dark Element in her body had mostly stabilized, Ni Wei’s foot was still pale to the point of being almost translucent.
Her toenails were a faint pinkish white, her five small toes curled up.
But now, a noticeable swelling had formed at her ankle.
“Hey… don’t stare like that…”
For some reason, Ni Wei felt uncomfortable having His Blackstone stare directly at her foot like that.
“How can I tell how bad your injury is if I don’t look?”
His Blackstone sighed.
“It looks like a pretty bad sprain. Let me take you back to your room first, then I’ll call someone to treat you.”
“Huh? I… gasp~”
Before Ni Wei could say anything, His Blackstone scooped her up in a princess carry.
“Hey… don’t just carry me like that!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you see the looks everyone gave us last time when you carried me back?!”
“Weren’t you asleep last time?”
“!”
Realizing she had let it slip, Ni Wei blinked awkwardly.
“I… I heard about it from others later, okay?”
“Whatever you say.”
His Blackstone looked down at the little maid in his arms.
“So what do you want to do?”
“Put me down first.”
“Can you stand on that foot?”
“I’ll… I’ll try.”
Helpless, His Blackstone had to set the young woman down first.
“Hiss!”
The moment her injured foot touched the ground, Ni Wei let out a pained cry.
“Maybe I should just—”
“No, no, please don’t.”
Ni Wei took a breath.
“I can… go back by myself.”
With that, Ni Wei lifted her injured foot, turned around, and leaned against the wall, trying to hop back to her room one step at a time.
“See… I can do it… Whoa!”
His Blackstone didn’t bother arguing with the girl anymore.
He lifted her from behind and held her in his arms.
“You, you, you!”
“Enough talk. By the time you’re done, I’ll already have you back in your room.”
“Mmph…”
Sensing the gazes of people around them constantly turning their way, a blush crept across Ni Wei’s little face.
But… this feeling wasn’t so bad, was it?