When Jim heard her, he gave a deep, shattering sigh.

“Mother and I had been living in the corner of the servant’s quarters. It’s a damp and terrible place without much food and always too cold. Mother never liked it there, and her health just kept getting worse. And...”

“And?” Helena asked with concern and anger in her eyes

“And… even the servants look down on us. They will always call us names when they see us, and sometimes also forget to give bring food to us.

Mother always ask me not to say anything in the mansion, but I’m different now. This time, I will protect her no matter the cost.”

When Kairos heard that, he nodded with pride. When Jim is together with the rest of their friends, he is always seen as the youngest brother in the group.

But today, he has become a dependable young man that is willing to be responsible for another human being.

“Jim, my brother, have you set your mind on this?”

“Yes,” a swift reply.

“Then I will begin our counterattack on your father’s house,” Kairos said with a powerful sense of confidence on his voice. He is determined to back Jim up no matter how things turn out later.

Helena also looked at Jim with approval in her eyes, then the physician continued, “Your mother’s body is rather yin, even for a woman, so living for years in a damp and cold environment did not sit well with her.

With her condition this weakened, it wouldn’t be possible to feed her any medicines at all. Even the mildest strengthening herbs would be too much for her to take in right now.”

It is general knowledge that women tend to be closer to the yin attribute. While men are born closer to the yang attribute. When the two attributes strike a balance, there is harmony. But if one side gets too abundant, problems can arise.

Just like what happened to Lyla. With her body being even more yin than most women are, she could not withstand dark, damp or cold living conditions.

The over-abundance of yin in her living area had caused extensive damage that could not be easily remedied. The irony of all this is that because of how destructive it can be to a person, many martial artists practice pure yin or pure yang cultivation techniques as an offensive art.

“Then what should we do?” Jim almost wailed. The meaning of having excessive levels of yin in an average person couldn’t be clearer to any practitioner.

“Calm down Jim, at least now we know why the life force infusion didn’t work.”

After struggling with himself for quite a while, the boy finally calmed down a little.

“Don’t worry. Your mother will be alright now. We will need to remove the mist of yin that had settled within her body. I will prepare a medicated bath for her, and she will need to soak in it for the next twenty-eight days. Four cycles of seven. After which, she will be robust enough to take strengthening herbs and speed up her recovery.”

Hearing that, Jim finally relaxed.

While they are talking, one of the staff of the shop knocked on the door.

“Young master Kairos, young master Jim. The Grand Elder Feng has arrived to see the young master. What are your instructions?”

“Hmm? The Grand Elder is here?”

Jim: “Captain, I’m fine here. You don’t have to worry.”

Kairos looked concernedly at his friend one last time, then stood up, “Alright. I’ll be right back. Where is the Grand Elder at right now?”

Messenger: “I have brought him to our guest hall, shall I lead you to him?”

“Yes, please do.”

The two walked up to the top floor of Snowdrifts’ shop, to a restricted area where usually only the owner of the business and Xuan Xian who is in charge of the accounts could enter.

However, there is also a room at this level that is made to host guests with status, and at this place, the Grand Elder Feng from the trade federate sat waiting while sipping on tea.

“Grand Elder, I have not yet thanked you for the tradesman token,” Kairos said politely as he enters the room.

The Grand Elder immediately put down his tea and stood up. He walked to the boy and clasped him on his shoulder with a broad smile on his face.

“Young master Kairos. I have heard that you returned to the Capital, so I thought to drop by.

Come to think of it, we did not have the time to talk after you joined the trade federate. Tell me, how has it turned out for you?” He addressed Kairos with great deference as a craftsman with such skill demands.

Kairos, in return, also truly respects the Grand Elder, even though they had only spoken very briefly before. It is for the very reason that when everyone else was looking to profit from his newly invented weapons or to take advantage of him, the Grand Elder was the only one who had truly appreciated his work and invited him with sincerity.

“Thank you for your concerns, Grand Elder. I had greatly benefited.”

“Wonderful! I can see that your shop has been doing great so far. Haha! Even the upper nobles are praising your business sense.

If you have any needs, just let me know, I see a lot of potential in you, and I am expecting great things from you.”

Without being shy to the offer Kairos immediately asked, “Grand Elder Feng, do you have any inkling on what Canot Hope is doing?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hmm, the Hope family you say?”

“Yes. A brother of mine goes by the family name of Hope, but in fact, he is treated no differently from a servant in his house.”

“Well, that’s expected of the master of the Hope house. I have heard of a close friend of yours called Jim Hope, you are referring to him, yes?”

“As expected of a Grand Elder of the trade federate. It seems that this matter cannot escape your eyes.”

“Of course, after handling those old crooks at the trade federate for a few years, even a rock will gain cunningness. Well, what do you need me for? Go ahead and tell this old man, I will support you in whichever way I can,” the elder grinned, taking Kairos’ comment as a compliment.

“But why?” the boy asked curiously.

“Why?... Oh, you meant why I am this supportive of you when we have not even become familiar with each other yet?”

To which Kairos nodded his head.

The elder did not bother to hide his thoughts and told him without hesitation.

“Well, firstly, talented craftsman are hard to come by. And you, young master, have created a powerful weapon that no one else could. If I don’t snatch you up, others surely would. By then, it would be too late for me to cry.

Secondly, right now you are only twelve, and there’s a long future ahead of you. I have heard of your combat ability as well, so who knows what you will achieve a few years down the road. With that many possible roads ahead for you, I need to get you into our Trade Federate before you turn into another one of those muscle brains that only know how to fight.

And finally, I’ll be frank with you, I have checked the runic inscriptions you created and they are beautiful to a fault. I have no idea how you crafted it, but it is by far superior to anything I have seen so far.

I have pinned a lot of hopes that with our hospitality, you will one day feel like a part of the trade federate and then forge a new future for the craftsmen of Saint Empire.”

When Kairos heard this, there was an incredible look on his face.

He had expected some of the things that the Grand Elder will say, like how his weapon has attracted the Trade Federate’s attention. However, the magnitude of what is on the elder’s mind had greatly impressed the boy.

It is true that the current level of craftsmanship in the Empire is appalling and does not hold much allure to future generations. The emperor himself had declared that the advancement of crafts is better left to more peaceful times, and while there is still peace at the borders for now, it is an increasingly turbulent time. In fact, Saint Empire and her neighbour are currently in a ceasefire state and the smallest spark will relight the flames of war.

But, while it sounds logical, those talented in craftsmanship are left behind at the cost of pursuing power. The majority of the empire’s resource is used to groom new talents.

Kairos who had experienced living at the bottom rung do not want those without much martial talent to be cast away and in this area, he agrees with the Grand Elder.

However, the empire’s stand does not actually go against craftsman, but only perhaps because everyone had been far too focused on creating stronger future practitioners.

Hearing the Grand Elder’s words caused the knot in Kairos’ heart to loosen. He has not wholly trust the man just yet, for in his experience, the most dangerous swindlers are those that offer someone benefits with convincing reasons.

However, Kairos also knows that there will be no progress without risks.

He smiled looking carefully at the eyes of the older gentleman, and for the first time, he noticed there are wrinkles made from years of farrowing one’s brows from intense concentration.

This is a person truly passionate about his art.

“Then, I will take up your kind offers. My brother Jim’s situation right now is rather sticky, and your presence is god-sent.”

“Oh? Tell me the details.”

Kairos nodded then continued, “As I’ve mentioned, my brother and his mother have been treated as servants in their own home. However, things are not that simple.”

Kairos quickly explained the current situation Jim is in, and with just a few words the Grand Elder already glimpsed the general direction of things.

“Hmmm, young master let me guess. You require this old fellow’s help to find out if the Hope family have any loose ends you can use to officially detain that boy’s mother until she recovers?”

“Yes, that is my main concern, and it needs to be done without any complications left to them both.”

“Of course. In general, the Trade Federate does keep track of the movements of all major merchants. The only abnormity in these recent months were times where the Hope family had slowed down their shipment purchases.

This might be a long shot but, does it… help in any way?”

Kairos thought about it for a moment, then replied, “Jim has told me that there had been large shipments coming in from an unknown source and it is done in a secretive manner. It was with this information that I contacted the tax collector, Serge.

If they are getting their shipments from another source other than the Trade Federate, then I might have an inkling on what they are doing.”

“Hahaa, young master is indeed someone with a quick mind. Tell this old fellow what did you discover?” He asked excitedly. This boy before him, no… this young man has left him in speechless amazement oftentimes enough for him to look forward to the next one.

“Senior is overly generous with the compliments. From what I speculate, Canot Hope is researching how to replicate my weapons.”

This revelation almost gave the Grand Elder an instant heart attack. How did a discussion on tax and shipments garner enough information to derive such a conclusion?

Seeing the elder’s confused expression, Kairos did not hesitate and explained, “We can conclude a few things from the information that we have on hand.

The first thing is these shipments that the Hope Family requires is consistent and rather significant in amount. Secondly, they tried to keep this fact hidden. Thirdly, senior you may not know this, but I met with the Hope family head a month ago.

He was polite to a fault when we met, but after I purposely prodded him a little, his face darkened.

It may sound like a natural reaction but Canot Hope is an experienced merchant while I am the inventor of the Star Runes weapon series. I do not believe his self-control would be that poor to risk losing a business opportunity.

The only thing of value to a merchant that I can think of would be my inventions. Yet he showed little apprehension then, and just days ago, Mr Hope became openly hostile. If my estimations are right, their plans started more than a month ago and now it has reached a point where he is confident enough to bare his fangs. Therefore I invited some tax collectors over to his place. Of course, Jim also provided me with information on large shipments to solidify this plan.

What senior had just told me more or less confirmed my suspicions.”

Grand Elder Feng: “You mean to say that they are declining their usual shipments from the trade federate to mass-produce weapons similar to what you invented?”

Kairos nodded.

“Yes, if they are at the point where they are no longer focused on producing their original products, then they must be using their manpower elsewhere. My guess is, the hidden shipments they are receiving comes from the Devilheart family. And the contents of those shipments should be large amounts of seal stones and weapons.”

“You think the Devilheart have a hand in this? My goodness.

I do not doubt your judgement, but why don’t they continue their usual amount of shipments from the trade federate? Even if they have an underground production underway, they can still keep the unused materials in their storage. Wouldn’t this lower their risk of getting found out prematurely?”

“I don’t think he would even consider that as an option. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, I am utterly convinced that Mr Hope is the kind of merchant that would not wish to bear the losses of purchasing large shipments that he does not plan to use for long periods.

Secondly, and the larger reason between the two, is the discrepancies between Hope’s purchases and produces that would occur for a few months. It will end up attracting more attention and creating even higher risks for them.”

“W..Wow… Are you really just twelve? Comparing to you, you’re making this old fellow blush with shame. With this amount of talent and guts, it’s no wonder you could handle the Devilheart family with ease during the trade fair.

However…. there is still one more question on my mind.

Why do you think that the Devilheart family and the Hope family kept their relationship a secret?” Grand Elder Feng asked pausing a moment.

When the elder looked at Kairos’ face, he saw that the boy has a fierce smile on his face.

“It is because they fear me,” he said simply.