Chapter 135
“Who is it?”
“Ah, looks like you wouldn’t know . ” Berthold took a small book out of his pockets, an artifact that each of the artisans shared . It was the Book of Portals, something that Ian was familiar with as well .
“We are always able to return to this island . ”
“But Cleven…”
“…seems to have lost it . ”
Cleven hadn’t had the artifact with him . It was clear that he had lost it in the years of wandering .
Just then, a figure appeared from the portal .
“I just thought I’d come by,” he said and nodded in their direction . It seemed that he was seeing what he had been expecting .
“It’s really you . ”
Ian had guessed right . He was ‘Siram’, the master of the ‘Siram Workshop’, now one of the eight artisans known as a technician and inventor .
* * *
“No wonder I’ve been hearing a rumor about a dragon recently,” Siram mumbled without even greeting the artisans . He had come simply to ‘check in’ because he had heard the rumors of the white dragon the artisans had just met . Even at that point, he hadn’t been concerned about returning, as he no longer wished for his life to be in danger .
“Now it’s the dragon soldiers running rampant . They’ve been quiet for centuries – what’s with the chaos now?”
The problem was that his haven, Greenriverdium was affected by the dragon and the artisans were somewhat aware of this .
“Master of the Ivory Tower, I guessed you would be the descendant of the great Fran . I just wasn’t sure . With the surname ‘Page’, although it is quite common, magical abilities that surpass any human being, and the hair – you resemble him perfectly . If you were a little less attractive…”
It was the reason Siram had not entered through the portal immediately . It was a simple yet interesting reason of his .
“Not that I would have cared . I wouldn’t have returned to the island either . I’ve found something fun to do . It would be a waste for me to simply die . One thousand years is a little early for me . “
“Did you find something interesting in your life?” Berthold asked, looking curious .
“It’s a little funny to put it this way, but… hm… the fun of developing human civilization with my own hands? Little by little, just so I wouldn’t blow my cover . Do you get what I mean?”
The ‘fun’ Siram had found with his life was developing the human civilization . Little by little, not all of a sudden .
“I just release things out into the world like it’s some new invention . If I go too ahead of myself, that just messes things up . I keep my head low when I release these new inventions, like the time I pretended to tremble in front of the Ivory Tower master here . ”
“My apologies about that . ”
Ian remembered his encounter with Siram, how he had been shocked to find that Siram was actually a high class mage . Little did he know that had all been an act . It was already seven years ago . Time had gone by quickly .
“That was all possible because it’s you . The rest of us are sewing, hammering, and sawing nonstop . ” Berthold, the seamstress, muttered .
“You’re wrong . Aren’t you the greatest artisans of all time? Nothing would be impossible for you . Do not limit yourselves . ” Siram comforted Berthold with sweet words .
“He’s right,” Hilia agreed . “How about I join an army . I could change all of their weapons and armory . I could fulfill the wishes of every king – uniting nations into continents . Wouldn’t that be a breeze?”
“Maybe I could do something with my business… . ” Zerbio murmured .
“Are you still going on about your business? I’m not even surprised . ”
“Stop lecturing me – I already got scolded by Berthold about that . ”
It seemed the carpenter Zerbio was the verbal punching bag among the artisans . He had already heard some stinging words from Berthold, and now Siram was on him . His large physical features didn’t do him any good . What a waste .
‘They have a lot to say to each other . ’ Ian noted . He waited patiently, figuring they all wanted to catch up after all this time . After a while, they finally got to the bottom of the issue .
“So… is this really the dragon’s heart?”
“We think so . ”
After the others had filled him in, Siram got closer to the dragon’s heart – the ball of black material . The way he examined the heart was different from the others .
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“Let’s see here . ” Siram muttered, taking out a strange object . It was a cylinder object with a ball on the end . Once mana was injected into the ball, it exploded with light, exploding in a straight direction .
“Oho…”
Siram shone the light on the heart . They all exclaimed quietly .
“This is . . something…” Everyone’s attention was on Siram .
“It’s like… the fruit of mage engineering . ”
That was unexpected . Everyone looked at one another suspiciously and each stated:
“The fruit of mage engineering?”
“What are you on about?”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t get it . Explain it to us clearly . ”
Ian was the only one who kept his silence . He had almost lost his cool and exploded with questions .
“There are veins of mana flowing from the surface to the core of the heart . It’s more of a technically structured object rather than an organ .
The dragon’s heart was a mage object?
Could it mean it was man-made?
“Are you sure?” Berthold the seamstress asked .
“Positive . ” Siram answered confidently without the slightest hesitance .
“Although… . ” He continued, “I can’t say for sure whether it’s made by humans . ”
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“What does that mean?”
“I mean what I said . Even I can’t create things like this . Doesn’t this have infinite power? I’m sure you all have your weaknesses as artisans . Infinite power is our ideal form of power we technicians long for . ”
Infinite power was different from having an infinite amount of mana with the robe Berthold had made . Having an infinite amount of mana simply met it had the power to protect and change the heart of mana within Ian . It was the same with the other artifacts . But the dragon’s heart was different .
“It’s a product of recreation . ”
It was an organ that was deep within the heart . The core of wonder that only a few are born with . Someone had copied the original ‘mana heart’ . It was a completely different object to the core .
“No wonder… . ” The other artisans looked serious . They no longer talked of the density or aphotic state of the heart . They knew how recreation was a different matter from preserving and changing an object .
“Who is the owner of the heart? Is it you all? Or does it belong to the Master of the Ivory Tower, the descendant of Fran?”
Everyone looked at Ian .
The message was clear : the heart belonged to Ian/
“Master of the Ivory Tower, I have a favor to ask of you . ”
“Sure . ”
“Leave the heart to me . ”
It was a request that Ian had been expecting, and he had an answer prepared .
“Under three conditions . ”
“I shall do as you ask . ”
“First, I need the approval of the other artisans . ”
Siram looked at the others . No one objected . Dennis the jeweler and Halia the blacksmith seemed to look disappointed, but didn’t say anything .
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Translations by AsianHobbyist Website .
“The second conditions would be results . I won’t put any limitations on this . Whether it’s direct or indirect, I request that this needs to end in my benefit . Do you understand?”
“Of course . ”
Ian didn’t have the skills to control the heart . He had already been planning on leaving the heart in the hands of the artisans . He did, however, need to cross a line in this deal, and this was his second condition .
“And for the last request…” Ian turned his head to look inside the temple . All the masterpieces of the artisans were still being preserved . Ian looked at the three remaining statues .
“I want your masterpiece that’s in the temple, Siram . ”
The seamstress Berthold’s robe .
The carpenter Zerbio’s cane
The jewler Dennis’ earrings .
The blacksmith Halia’s sword .
The tools of Cleven .
And Siram’s next masterpiece .
That was the final request .
“Not a difficult request at all . After all, I was going to present it to Fran – I might as well hand it to his descendant . ”
Siram approached the dragon statue and injected mana into it .
THe masterwork grew into its complete form .
“Here you go . ”