The Rich Spend Freely

Hall watched Fran's retreating back, feeling for the first time how the wealthy lived.

If they had a passing interest, they would pave the way with money; if the interest faded, they would simply quit, completely disregarding the money already invested.

It forced him—someone who had struggled with all his might to survive in the City of Apprentices and had finally secured a stable job—to sigh:

"It must be nice to be rich!"

If he ever became wealthy, he would definitely learn to be an alchemist, a profession he had longed for in his youth, and toss around dozens of silver coins just to make others dance to his tune.

Meanwhile, Fran's money-tossing journey had not yet ended; she inquired around until she found a large guild of magic craftsmen.

During her recent practice, she had discovered that engraving inscriptions onto weapons was the correct way to train.

[You successfully engraved a rune onto the weapon, Runecraft proficiency +3]

[Your attempt to engrave a rune onto the weapon failed, Runecraft proficiency +1]

And now, she had a very bold idea in mind—one that might directly bring her Runecraft to Mastery... no, perhaps even higher than that, letting her know exactly what the level above that was called.

"Hello, is there something you would like to commission?"

The receptionist stood up and asked in a friendly manner.

Magic craftsmen were those who used magical means to create objects of various structures; for instance, if Fran asked them to rifle a barrel, they might actually be able to pull it off.

However, this trade was extremely dependent on the individual craftsman's proficiency, as every single item required a massive amount of fine-tuning.

Many mages would seek out these craftsmen to commission items with special structures whenever they had a whimsical idea; for example, those two modified orcs from last time definitely had gadgets made by magic craftsmen.

Fran took out a blueprint she had bought from the 'Second Weapon Smith' guild earlier; it was a design for a dagger.

"I want this made, using White Mountain Copper."

White Mountain Copper was a composite metal made of copper mixed with a small amount of mithril. The entire alloy possessed half the mana conductivity of pure mithril, making it an excellent material for crafting runic equipment and magical artifacts.

Because copper was very common and the required mithril was minimal, the cost was low, and its excellent properties made it very popular among apprentices.

The receptionist was quite familiar with this material—three out of every ten customers requested it—so he wasn't surprised. But when he saw the contents of the blueprint, he froze.

It was a dagger with a simple design, only slightly widened to leave a space that seemed intended for some kind of engraving.

He stared at the blueprint, truly unable to understand it. He had seen structures that were incredibly complex with pages of parameters, and he had seen blueprints with nothing marked but a simple shape.

But he had never seen a blueprint in this format; the structure was absurdly simple, and the parameters were marked, but was this really the kind of work they were supposed to do?

The receptionist hesitated for a moment before saying:

"Customer, did you go to the wrong place? We aren't actually blacksmiths; the result might not have the effect you're looking for."

This was clearly a weapon. It wasn't that they couldn't make it—in fact, they could make it much faster than a blacksmith could.

But that was the difference between them and blacksmiths. When blacksmiths made weapons, they employed a host of techniques to make the weapon sturdier and sharper, even customizing the handle to the user's habits and balancing the weight.

The blueprint here was clearly for a dagger, and although the shape was a bit strange and it used the relatively soft White Mountain Copper, it was still a weapon.

If they made it and someone actually tried to fight with it, it would probably deform after a couple of hits, whereas a blacksmith had a dozen ways to make even White Mountain Copper sturdy.

"I specifically want to commission this from you. The blacksmiths are too slow; by the time they finished, who knows what year it would be."

"Also, I want two hundred of them."

"How... many?"

Upon hearing this quantity, the receptionist's brain short-circuited, and he didn't know what to say.

"I'll go find the guild leader," he finally managed to spit out after a long silence.

When the guild leader arrived, he took a rough look at the blueprint, confirmed that the receptionist hadn't misread it, and then said:

"This... excuse me, are you sure you want to have this done here?"

The guild leader wanted to confirm it once more; such a large order was something he definitely wanted.

"Yes. Finish it within a month, and I can pay two gold coins."

When he first heard "finish within a month," the guild leader had frowned, feeling the time was a bit tight and already considering how to decline.

But the moment he heard the sky-high price of two gold coins, he instantly cast all those thoughts aside. That amounted to one silver coin per dagger.

In truth, if you went to a blacksmith to make a dagger, it would cost about the same, but blacksmiths had to add other materials to maintain stability and strength. They, however, had no special requirements other than creating the shape.

So, including the cost of materials, each dagger only cost them about 40 copper coins to make, and it could be even cheaper with bulk purchasing.

This allowed him to distribute the labor fees to his guild members while still retaining a massive profit.

"Here is a deposit of 60 silver coins. I will come to collect the goods in a month. Make sure you have storage containers ready."

"It will be done perfectly. We look forward to your next visit."

The guild leader enthusiastically saw Fran off, causing the receptionist beside him to roll his eyes and grumble:

"Guild leader, why does she need so many daggers? What for?"

"I don't know. Even if you were arming an army, you'd make spears. I don't get why she wants daggers, but as long as there's money to be made, who cares?"

After Fran left, she found another magic craftsman guild, pushed the door open, and said:

"Two hundred of this blueprint, using White Mountain Copper."

Inside the Pharmacist Association of Cuilan Academy.

A man wearing robes adorned with ornate decorations walked in through the entrance and approached the front desk.

The man placed a hand wearing four rings onto the counter; each ring featured a different gemstone, which sparkled brilliantly under the bright lights of the association.

He spoke with considerable arrogance:

"I am a commissioner of the association. Give me the sales and purchase records for the potion ingredients."

The receptionist said with some confusion:

"But weren't you supposed to arrive last week? Why are you only here now... According to the regulations, I cannot show them to you."

The man grew annoyed and pulled a badge from his pocket.

"There were matters that delayed me, that damn Richie... This is my association committee member badge. According to the regulations, even without the status of a commissioner, you are still required to show them to me..."

The receptionist had no choice but to hand over the ledger, but the man glanced at it, pushed it back, and said:

"Why hasn't this week's record been organized? There are only individual sales and purchase entries, where is the summary? I am here to see the summary; organize this before you give it to me..."

"But that was for last week... Very well, I will organize it now."

The receptionist knew better than to argue with the person before him, so he had no choice but to begin the task of organizing at the counter.