Ashe did not have her usual joyfulness when she saw Siderius, instead it was respect and formality in her gestures.
The apprentice stood up and bowed with her hands joined in the front.
He didn’t know what to think about this. It was good that Ashe was much more reserved now. But she had changed.
"Greetings, Lord Watcher!" Ashe said.
Siderius sat down at the table. "Don’t need to be that formal to me. You are my apprentice after all. We are different from those thugs."
"I understand, Master." Ashe smiled. "Is there anything I can help you with, Master?"
Siderius nodded. "There is actually. But before that, how did our new recruits manage the mission?"
"They did a good job, Master. Geobard died in an alleyway, being stripped of his clothes and coins. There were no witnesses. People thought he was robbed by some beggars.
I have checked the situation myself and the people of Mucktown didn’t suspect a thing."
Ashe grabbed a pouch from under her bed and put it on the table. "These are the coins he had with him. I have ordered the new recruits to burn the clothes and any evidence that can lead us to him."
"Magnificent work, my apprentice. You really have grown up."
Siderius checked the pouch. There were fifty bronze coins and two silver coins inside. Combining with his single silver coin left, Siderius had three silver coins and fifty bronze coins.
"Kraus swore that these are everything Geobard had on his body. They didn’t take anything." Ashe said. "However, I don’t know if we can take his words at face value."
Siderius nodded. "Kraus is a smart man. He won’t do anything that stupid. At least, not at this time. He will do everything in his ability to prove his worth for the Guild to see."
Siderius picked up one silver coin and slid it over to Ashe. He left the fifty bronze coins in the pouch.
"The silver coin is yours. Give the pouch to Kraus and compliment him for the work. The Guild of Xander is impressed with his performance and I will make sure to put a good word for him."
"Me and the recruits appreciate your reward, Master. Is there anything else?"
"Yes. I need to scout a house in Mucktown. Tell Kraus and his men to check the house of George the blacksmith. I need to know if there is anyone inside and the status of his forge.
I need this job to be done immediately."
Ashe bowed at Siderius. She picked up the silver coin and the pouch.
"I will have them do it right now."
Ashe left the house. She was probably going out to give the word to Billy and had him collect Kraus and the other thug.
"Heh. It is nice having people do your biddings." Siderius silently thought.
Back in his old world, Siderius had an entire group of Alchemists and Witch Hunters working for him. Everything was much easier then and Siderius didn’t have to do everything himself.
He did think about building a similar organization in this world. Maybe even build an Alchemist Guild or Hunter Association like the old world. But that was an ambition for the far future. Right now, what mattered was making himself stronger.
Siderius kneeled in front of the fireplace and closed his eyes. This time he didn’t meditate, he connected to the manifestation of his soul and developed it with the True Aether.
Similar to Psychosis, fusing True Aether with your soul needed time and effort. It was one of the three main ways to increase your Alchemist rank.
Siderius kneeled silently and walked the Truth-Seeking Path.
His soul manifestation in the dark mind space had a silver aura surrounding it. It had had this color since the day Siderius was elevated to Silver I. Along with the aura was the gold dust of True Aether floating around his soul.
When he advanced to further rank, this aura would change and develop accordingly.
Ashe didn’t take much time to return. It took her only an hour or so.
"Master, may I interrupt your meditation?" Ashe whispered softly.
"Yes?" Siderius opened his eyes.
"Kraus scouted the house. It is abandoned and the forge is in perfect condition." Ashe said.
Siderius nodded and stood up. He and Ashe went outside of the house.
Kraus, Billy and the other thug were there. They all kneeled down when Siderius appeared.
"Greetings, Lord Watcher." The thugs spoke in unison.
Siderius nodded. "Kraus, Billy... What’s your name, recruit?"
Siderius turned to the last thug to say.
"I... I am Geolark, Lord Watcher!" The man said. This was the second thug that followed right after Kraus when he carved his hand. He seemed to be loyal to Kraus and was his right hand man.
His relationship was similar to how Kraus was to Gert. However, compared to the unstable Big Snout Gert, the ambitious Kraus was a much better leader to follow in Siderius’ opinion.
"Kraus, Billy, Geolark. You three did a great job. Your contribution to the guild will not be forgotten.
Here’s your new mission. I need eyes and ears in Mucktown. Whatever happens in there, I want to know.
Death, rumors, even tiny matters like Beaumort’s newest lover. I want to know them all. Can I entrust you with this task?"
Kraus nodded. "You can count on us, Lord Watcher!"
Siderius then ventured into Mucktown. He climbed via the lowest part of the wall, avoiding any eyes that might see him.
With instructions from Kraus previously, Siderius easily found George’s abandoned house. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novęlfire.net
George had a better house than Ashe. It was well built and had a large yard in the back.
Siderius climbed over to the fence and went into the house. The main door had been pried open so Siderius could just enter.
He took a look inside George’s house first. Maybe he could find something useful. Most of the valuable stuff was gone. They were either taken by George or thieves.
Siderius found some blueprints on the table in the house.
Along with the blueprints were handwritten notes made by George. It mentioned a special kind of steel called Petrinium, originated in the Everia Kingdom. This steel was much stronger than Eldoria Steel and was considered a mythical steel amongst blacksmiths.
According to George’s note, Petrinium Steel was indestructible, immune to chippings and breaking. It was one of the main technologies that ensured Everia’s influence on the continent.
Indestructible was too much in Siderius’ opinion. It could be harder than Weak Steel and was so force resistant that people mistaken it for indestructible. Siderius thought that if he was able to make Dull Steel and Strong Steel of his old world, the people here would praise it all the same.
This tiny bit of information did intrigue him though. He wondered how this Petrinium would be compared to higher grade steels of his world, Dull Steel and Strong Steel.
"George seems to be a passionate blacksmith. Maybe he can be more useful to me." Siderius thought.
George tried to replicate Petrinium Steel on his own but he had never succeeded even once. The blueprints and notes were his experiment and research records.
These were all useless to Siderius. There was nothing else interesting in the house as well.
Siderius moved on to the yard, preparing to extract Sulfur.