Chapter 157 - Gems?

They probably made a huge deal about sending craftsmen even after making a huge profit off of their trade with Maddison. And even then, they sent the craftsmen much later. It was good that Ella dealt a blow to Clara, but she didn’t feel great that she was tricked into Toiken’s trap in place of Clara.

‘I didn’t want a loss this way.’

Ella didn’t hide her annoyance and spoke. Vylun then asked her. “If we slice it in half to show the inside, don’t you think our craftsmen can work on it?”

The outside layer of the ore was very hard, but the quartz itself wasn’t so strong. Maybe it was easier to work with once the ore was cut. Ella thought it was possible but realized that it wasn’t the right way and let out a sigh.

“Who can do that for us?” said Ella.

“I can,” answered Vylun.

“What?” asked Ella.

“Should I start by cutting the ones in this sack first? I’ll cut all of them in half,” Vylun said as if it wasn’t difficult. He pushed the already-cut ore toward Ella, then got up. and walked up to the sack.

Luide became startled as Vylun seemed to cut everything in half at once and called him out, “Sir, Sir! Please wait!”

“What is it?” asked Vylun.

“You shouldn’t just cut it! You might damage an ore with larger quartz!” Luide explained in a hurry.

“Then what do you suggest I do?”

“We must cut by the flow of the stone that the craftsmen taught us.”

Vylun seemed irritated by Luide’s stern voice and clicked his tongue as he looked down on him. It was as if he was asking Luide why he had to do it that way, but he didn’t say it out loud because of Ella. Instead, he came up with a different answer..

“I have to protect the lady, so I’ll send a few men out to do this. Would it work if they cut these ores according to the craftsmen’s orders?”

“Can we use the knights for such work? They won’t like it,” said Ella.

“They will if they know it’s about helping you, milady.” Vylun sounded confident.

“Even when they know what they’re being called for?”

Ella seemed certain that no one would volunteer once they learned what they had to do, but Vylun nodded. He, too, knew that was a possibility. Knights could die for their lady, but they still couldn’t bring themselves to do petty work like cutting stones.

However, there was a solution to that problem. Vylun smiled as he said, “No way. This kind of work requires confidentiality, so they’ll never know what they’re volunteering for until they stand before the craftsmen.”

***

The paper inside Cladis’s hand crumpled and popped up a fire that burned it into ashes. However, his expression was crumpled just like the paper and did not flatten itself back.

Worrying, Ethan called him, “Is it bad news?”

“I don’t know. Is it? Or is it not? I’m not sure.”

“What is the news? Sire,” asked Ethan.

Cladis turned to Ethan with a complicated expression on his face and thought,?‘It’s my first time breaking the Academy’s rule and getting outside information, and this is what I hear.. Is this a punishment?’

That’s what came to mind, and that was how much Cladis disliked this news. He rubbed his face with his hands to calm himself down and revealed the news, “Ella acquired a guardian knight.”

“Isn’t that good news?”

Cladis worried that Ella might do dangerous things. Ethan couldn’t understand why he was making such a face when it seemed like welcoming news.

“It’s Vylun.”

“Oh.” With a short gasp, Ethan couldn’t speak any further. Out of all people, why him? His short gasp scattered away into the air.

“You seem to share my thoughts, then.”

“I, too, had seen his dilemma.”

“Yes,” said Cladis. The two of them became silent for a while. It was because of bitterness they couldn’t speak out.

“I’ll be a living corpse! What’s the point of training myself with the sword! Or educating me?! For what reason do I have to go to such a place?!”