The Deal Was Sealed

"These?"

The Collector glanced at the assortment of odds and ends in the display cases around them. "These have all been touched by supernatural influences at some point. Maybe they were involved in some event, or used by some important figure. But by now, those influences should have completely faded away, leaving them with nothing but their value as collectibles."

"So I put them in with the animal specimens. Nearly half of these fashionable little trinkets were brought to me by a girl in town named Sally. I have no idea where she found them."

Oh...

Lude understood. So the thing that had clung to the dinner knife was the [influence] Professor Beshe had once mentioned.

"Then the next room is the fourth one..."

As Lude spoke, he started toward the door, but the Collector stopped him with an outstretched hand.

"Ah, sorry. I was being presumptuous." Lude smiled and stepped back.

"Not presumptuous at all." The Collector grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "It's just that the collection in the fourth room is either psionic materials or alchemical tools."

"I'm worried that if you take a liking to something in there, I'll have to choose between parting with it reluctantly or fighting you for it."

"So wait here while I go upstairs and fetch some items worth about as much as your book. You can trust my reputation. The vast majority of the things I have here were bought, not stolen."

"...Of course." Lude smiled. "I trust your reputation. It's just a shame I won't get to see the most precious things on the fourth floor."

The Collector raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Can't be helped. I suppose that's life."

With that, the Collector pushed open the dusty door.

Through the gap between her and the doorframe, Lude could see that there were very few things in the fourth room.

There were only twelve display cases, spaced far apart from one another.

"That's all?" Lude asked curiously.

The Collector shrugged helplessly. "My family has been collecting things since eight generations ago, but I'm the first spellcaster we've had. And true supernatural materials and alchemical tools are extremely precious. Collecting this much is already quite an achievement."

"Oh..." Lude nodded, secretly a little disappointed.

As the Collector's massive frame squeezed into the fourth room, a little dust shook loose from the eaves. That left Lude alone in the third room, silently facing the dragon whose skull had been smashed by a single punch.

Looking at the Dragon Beast slain by a mortal, Lude felt his blood stir.

If Lord Hypnos had shown Lude that it was possible to walk the path to transcendence, then the Collector had shown him what humanity itself was capable of.

Secret Arts—by all rights, even they had their limits.

Apart from the [Rule-type Secret Arts] Lord Hypnos had mentioned, a mortal shouldn't be able to muster enough strength alone to shake the more powerful Dragon Beasts. The gap between species was an insurmountable chasm.

And yet the Collector had clearly crossed that chasm—and done it with her own body.

But the basic principle of the occult was [equivalent exchange]. Any spell could yield greater results if one paid a sufficient price. Lude wondered whether the Collector's Secret Art had something to do with that.

More importantly, if the Collector could achieve this with a Secret Art, would the one he had been nurturing for so long be even more powerful? Could it give him the strength to slay a Dragon Beast in an instant?

At the thought of power, Lude's insides burned with restless impatience.

Lord Hypnos was undeniably good at manipulating people. One small suggestion from him had left Lude in turmoil, unable to settle his mind.

He was torn over whether to use the first Wyvern Blood Essence right away to nourish the Secret Art taking shape within him.

Perhaps, once his Secret Art was fully formed, the power it contained would be even greater than what he could gain by using all three vials of Wyvern Blood Essence.

Just then, the Collector's massive figure slowly squeezed down the stairs. She was carrying a small clinking pouch, which she handed to Lude.

"I think this should suit you."

The Collector continued, "I don't think someone your age can make much headway in Alchemy, but I'm happy to invest a little in you. Who knows? Maybe Professor Beshe's legacy can work a miracle."

Lude smiled and opened the pouch. Inside was a crimson amulet engraved with alchemical runes that glimmered faintly gold. It was clearly an alchemical tool.

"This is a Cinnabar Amulet," the Collector explained.

"Wear it close to your body, and it will protect you from the heat. I don't know Alchemy, but I do know that it's the art of fire. This should be quite useful to you."

Lude nodded. He knew about the Cinnabar Amulet.

The [Cinnabar Amulet] let an alchemist raise the furnace temperature as high as they liked while smelting, without worrying about heatstroke or burns. It was incredibly useful for a novice alchemist.

"Like I said, I don't usually take advantage of people." The Collector chuckled. "In our line of work, reputation is everything."

"...I think that's fair," Lude replied.

He certainly wasn't about to reveal his trump card and tell the Collector that he was immune to fire.

At first, Lude had planned to trade a copy. His high-precision forgery skills were so good that he could make an almost identical book in a single night.

But after learning that the Collector was a member of the Black Tide Society, he changed his mind.

There was only one reason: Lude had already decided to kill her before leaving Blackwater Town.

Then he would get all her collectibles—not from her mouth, but from her home.

That meant the initial trade had become a probe for information. This was no time to pass off a fake and make her suspicious.

Besides, once Lude killed the Collector, the item would be back in his hands anyway!

After the trade, the Collector warmly invited Lude to stay for a meal. Unfortunately, she smelled so strongly that Lude really didn't want to linger. He made an excuse and left.

The excuse was simple: Lude said he was investigating where the escaped Vessel had gone.

Yes, I'm tracking down myself.

Only after returning to town did Lude finally relax.

He then found a blacksmith's shop and rented it for a week for 50 Sol.

During that time, Lude could freely use all the shop's equipment and materials.

But he would have to pay for any damage he caused to the shop.

Clearly, the blacksmith thought Lude looked like someone who had never touched a forge. He was worried Lude might do something ridiculous, like spill a crucible of molten iron into the furnace, so he had added that condition.

To be honest, if Lude hadn't paid so much—enough to cover several months of income—the blacksmith would never have rented out the place he made his living from to a complete novice...