Entering Taliya’s private forge, Fabio looked around in curiosity but realized that it looked oddly familiar. From where the massive furnace was placed to the anvil's location, and even small details like the order of the tools in how they were hung on a wall.
“Your forge is set up exactly like his…”
She nodded. “When I first came here and built my forge, it looked drastically different. But when I began to work in it, I had this constant feeling of discomfort, and whatever I worked on never felt quite right. It was only when I rebuilt it to resemble his that the feeling went away.”
“Hmm, I know what you mean,” Fabio said as he thought of his own workshop, which was also modeled similarly.
Before he went into the main reason for coming to her, Fabio asked, “By the way, who is she?”
Fabio pointed with his chin at a young woman with short brown hair that shimmered under the light of the forge. She looked rather young, not even past her twenties, and was completely focused on hammering what appeared to be a chestplate. She was so focused she didn’t even notice Taliya leaving and coming back with Fabio.
“Her? Let me introduce you. Lisa! Get over here!” Taliya yelled but failed to catch the attention of the girl who was reaching the most crucial part of her creation. She was hammering in an opelian metal wire through the grooves she had previously carved out in the chestplate. If done successfully the armor would gain magic dispersing properties mitigating a lot of potential damage, if done wrong it might focus the magical attack onto one focus point resulting in the death of the wearer.
Taliya noticed she was at a delicate part of the process and hesitated to call her again as she didn’t want her to fail. At the same time, she didn’t want to keep Fabio waiting.
Fabio could tell she was conflicted as she had the same mannerisms and expressions as before. He tapped her arm to stop her from calling out further.
“Don’t worry about it, you can introduce me later.”
Taliya felt a slight sense of relief and nodded. “Okay, let's talk over there then.”
The two moved away to avoid disturbing the young woman and sat down on metal chairs. Though the chairs were hot, it was better than using wood as it would catch on fire in such an environment.
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“So… what brings you here?” Taliya nervously asked.
Fabio went straight to the point. “I need your help. Black market thieves keep trying to break into my store, and it's causing the guards to become curious about what I’m working on.”
“At Gearworks?” Taliya asked in surprise, quickly changing to anger. “They dared after I marked your shop as protected?”
Taliya had long known of his shop since it first opened. Although she couldn’t bring herself to visit, she used some of her leverage in the black market to protect the store from thieves and gangs. This was the main reason none had tried to rob him when he first settled into the city, even shortly after the knight selection tournament where all his products were becoming hot commodities.
Fabio's eyes widened as he didn’t know she did that. He hid his surprise before she could notice and asked, “Do you not want to know why?”
She shook her head. It didn’t matter the reason; if he didn’t want to tell her what he was working on, she wasn’t going to pry any further. She instead focused on narrowing down the possible culprits.
“To send so many peak B-Rankers, it has to be one of the Big Three.”
The Big Three referred to the three strongest forces in the black market, all led by an A-Rank powerhouse: the Fire Whisperers led by Ryogan, the Rat Pack led by the Rat King, and the Charm Sisters led by Witch Madelyn.
“I think it is likely being done by the Fire Whisperers as it doesn’t sound like something the other two would do. But just to be sure, I’ll send them all a warning. If they don't knock it off, I won’t make or repair another piece of equipment for them,” Taliya resolutely stated.
While it may appear as barely a threat, all three forces would take her threat very seriously. They would immediately stop if they were the ones doing so, and if they weren’t behind it, they would search for who was. Her services were vital to all three forces as she was the only A-Rank smith in the entire black market. If she halted the repairing and creation of peak unique rank weapons, it would cripple their fighting power.
If she stopped her services for too long, the A-Rank leaders' weapons would deteriorate, and no one could fully repair and improve them like her. If the kingdom then caught wind of their damaged weapons and armor, they would likely use it to their advantage to further impose more restrictions or even take the opportunity to cleanse the black market.
Fabio was also surprised by how adamantly she stated that as he knew her dealings with the Big Three also greatly benefited her.
He blushed and scratched his head awkwardly, “I didn’t think you would go that far for me. I was even planning on offering something in exchange for your help.”
While jeopardizing her relationship with the Big Three was a substantial risk for her, she still stood by it. “Nonsense, I clearly told them not to mess with you. When I find out who is sending them, I will make them bleed. You don't need to offer anything for me to intervene.”
The edges of Fabio’s lips raised when he heard her words. He then put on an exaggerated dismayed expression and woefully spoke, “Oh really? Guess I’ll have to find someone else to help me with the void root.”
Taliya sprang out of her seat and exclaimed, “Did you say void root?!”