The morning had barely begun when Liam and Lydia met again at the guild headquarters.
After a good night’s rest, they both felt much better than they had the day before. Although they still had some lingering fatigue, the excitement of having gathered a good amount of materials during their first expeditions kept them in good spirits.
"Are you sure this is worth it?"
Lydia asked as they walked alongside Liam.
"That’s what they told us."
Liam was carrying a small bag containing several gems.
They had first stopped by the guild’s shopping center to sell some of the materials they had obtained from the F-rank dungeons. The squirrels’ horns, some strange fruits, and other minerals had turned out to be worth quite a bit.
But when the clerk saw the blue gems they had found in the snowy dungeon, his expression changed.
He explained that those stones weren’t ordinary minerals.
They were materials used to create special items.
He had even told them about an Awakened from the guild who could shape and refine them into special weapons.
So instead of selling them immediately, Liam had decided to consult Instructor James.
Now, the three of them were sitting in a small break room at the headquarters.
James was examining one of the gems Liam had placed on the table.
He rolled it between his fingers.
The blue stone reflected the light from the ceiling.
"Yes... these are definitely the ones."
Liam leaned forward.
"You’re familiar with them?"
"Of course."
James placed the gem back on the table.
"They’re the same ones Don Rouch works with."
Lydia’s eyes widened.
"Don Rouch?"
"That’s right."
James picked up another of the gems.
"They’re quite unusual. They have a very stable magical structure and can retain energy for a long time. An Awakened with the right ability can shape them and turn them into extremely powerful weapons or accessories."
Liam smiled.
"Then they must be expensive."
"Quite."
Liam leaned back in his chair.
That was good news.
Not just for them.
It was also good news for their teammates.
Eve, for example, had been worried about getting enough money to replace the phone Logan had destroyed.
If those gems were worth a lot, her share of the loot could help her considerably.
"I’m glad," Liam said.
"The others are going to benefit from this too."
James nodded.
"From what you told me, you divided everything fairly."
"Yeah."
"Then you did the right thing."
Lydia looked at the gem, then at Liam, and a message appeared before his eyes.
[Lydia: It’s weird.]
Liam raised an eyebrow.
’What’s weird?’
[Lydia: That I consumed one of these super cool and powerful gems and the system didn’t even react.]
Liam had to hold back a laugh.
’Pix probably missed it.’
[Lydia: Again?]
’She’s probably sleeping.’
Lydia made an annoyed expression.
[Lydia: That little girl should work harder.]
Liam chuckled quietly.
"Everything all right?"
James asked.
"Yeah, yeah. We were just talking."
James didn’t seem to think much of it.
"Luckily for you, Rouch is working today."
Liam looked up.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Evan came early to bring him some gems he got from another dungeon. He wants him to make some special arrowheads."
James stood up.
"So you’re in luck. Follow me."
Liam and Lydia stood.
"You’re taking us to him?"
"Exactly."
They walked through several hallways in the headquarters until they reached one of the elevators.
James pressed a button, the doors opened, and the three of them stepped inside.
Lydia looked at the panel.
"What floor are we going to?"
"The Vice-Captains’ floor."
The elevator began to rise.
Lydia blinked.
"The Vice-Captains?"
"Yes."
"And Don Rouch works there?"
James smiled.
"You’ll see."
◇◆◇
When the doors opened, they stepped into a wide, elegant hallway.
There were several doors on either side.
But what caught Lydia’s attention was the sign directly in front of the elevator.
VICE-CAPTAINS’ FLOOR 1
Lydia pointed at it.
"Wait."
James kept walking.
"What?"
"Why does the Guild Jeweler work on one of the Vice-Captains’ floors?"
James burst out laughing.
"What else would he be doing on this floor?"
Lydia looked at him in confusion.
"I don’t know... working?"
"He’s one of the guild’s Vice-Captains."
Liam and Lydia stopped.
"What?"
James turned around.
"You’ve never heard of him?"
Liam slowly shook his head.
"We’d heard about the Jeweler, but we didn’t know he was a Vice-Captain."
"Well, he is."
James continued walking.
"Don Rouch is one of the Vice-Captains of the Ace of Spades. And he’s probably the best Awakened gem craftsman in this country."
Liam looked at Lydia.
She seemed just as surprised as he was.
"We keep meeting increasingly strange people," Liam murmured.
Lydia nodded.
"And we still have to meet the other Vice-Captains."
Eventually, they reached a door.
It had no special decorations, not even a particularly eye-catching sign.
James knocked softly.
A friendly voice answered from inside.
"James, what do you want? You know you don’t need to knock to come into my office. Come in!"
James opened the door, and Liam entered behind him.
The first thing he saw was a huge room.
There were display cases everywhere.
Watches.
Necklaces.
Rings.
Pendants.
Bracelets.
Brooches.
Even small decorative weapons.
Everything had been crafted from different types of gems.
"Wow..."
Lydia was completely mesmerized.
"It’s beautiful."
"I told you he was the Jeweler," James replied.
But Liam was barely paying attention to the display cases.
At the back of the room stood a huge desk.
And behind it...
A man.
Several tattoos covered his face.
He wore a wide smile that revealed a flashy, gleaming grill covering his teeth.
He was dressed elegantly, although he wore several pieces of jewelry.
Standing in front of him was Evan.
The archer was holding some new arrowheads between his fingers.
"Look at this!"
Evan said excitedly.
"They’re perfect."
The man behind the desk smiled.
"I told you they’d work."
Evan turned one of the arrowheads beneath the light.
"I can’t wait to try them."
Then he noticed that there were more people in the room.
"Oh."
Evan raised a hand.
"Liam, Lydia. What are you doing here?"
Liam smiled.
"We came to meet the famous Jeweler."
The tattooed man burst out laughing.
"Famous?"
He rose from his seat.
"I like the sound of that."
James stepped forward.
"Rouch, I brought you two hunters who found some gems you probably want to see."
Don Rouch immediately looked toward Liam.
His smile grew even wider.
"Gems from a dungeon?"
Liam pulled out the bag.
"Yeah."
He placed it on the desk.
The sound of the stones clinking against one another made Evan step closer.
Don Rouch opened the bag and picked up one of the blue gems.
He examined it from several different angles.
Then he looked up.
"Where did you find this?"
"In an F-rank dungeon."
Don Rouch’s smile disappeared.
Evan also stopped looking at his arrowheads.
James crossed his arms.
"That’s exactly what I told him."
Don Rouch looked at the gem again.
"Then we’ve got a lot to talk about."