The next day.
Elias woke up early.
Not for any particular reason, other than the fear that staying too long would invite trouble.
After a night's rest, he felt his injuries had mostly healed.
Of course, the enhancement of 【Moonlight Blessing】 within the Ascetic Grounds had played the primary role.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have even been able to get out of bed today.
He rolled out of bed and rushed into the bathroom; the first thing he did was shave.
The face in the mirror had certainly tanned quite a bit after a month of erosion by the sea breeze.
With that overgrown, weed-like beard, he truly looked like a weathered middle-aged man.
But that was no reason for that blind investigator to call him "uncle"!
That was right—he was still annoyed that the fellow from the Seventh Agency had addressed him as "uncle" yesterday.
Of course, another reason was that shaving his beard would diminish people's impression of him, making it easier for him to leave smoothly.
After finishing his personal grooming, Elias bundled up the soft felt hat he had stripped from Firth and the black trench coat, stuffing them into the deepest corner of the wardrobe.
He changed back into the shirt and suit he had brought when he first arrived on the island, finally donning a newsboy cap and pulling the brim down slightly.
Standing before the mirror, the shabby college student who had just joined the Wayland Shipping Company was back.
The final step, and the most crucial one.
Elias closed his eyes, activating the Rational Circuit within his body.
He tightly restrained his spirituality within himself, ensuring not a single shred of it leaked out.
Fortunately, spirituality was not as abundant during the day.
Having done all this, he picked up his suitcase and pushed open the door to Room 406.
The corridor was deathly quiet.
As he passed the third floor, his gaze swept seemingly at random toward Room 302.
The door was tightly shut.
The thick hemp rope with the "Authorized Personnel Only" sign from last night was gone.
It seemed the efficiency of the Seventh Agency was indeed shockingly high.
Evacuating overnight, clearing the traces—even that crazy woman had likely been packed up and taken away.
"The crisis is temporarily averted."
"You're in luck."
Old Ed's voice in his mind sounded somewhat pleased as well.
"Mm-hmm."
Elias gave a noncommittal response, his feet moving swiftly.
He didn't even bother to stop for the hotel's free breakfast.
In the grand scheme of things, running away was the top priority.
Leaving the hotel, Elias headed straight for the Unicorn Souvenir Shop.
"Hey! Pal! You're here?"
"Eh? Where's your beard?"
As soon as Elias reached the basement, the red-bearded man walked toward him with an enthusiastic face.
That smile was a bit too friendly, a bit too oily.
Seeing that he had shaved, the man even made a point to ask about it.
Elias's heart skipped a beat; he didn't answer but instinctively took half a step back.
Something was wrong.
Something was nineteen-out-of-ten wrong.
When he had mentioned Crowley's name here yesterday afternoon, this red-beard's expression hadn't been nearly this pleasant.
How had they become best buddies after just one night?
When things are out of the ordinary, there must be a catch.
That was a maxim summarized by his ancestors in his previous life.
Was there a problem with the materials?
Or did this guy want to rob him?
In an instant, countless conspiracy theories flashed through Elias's mind.
He narrowed his eyes, and instead of the enthusiasm the other expected, his face carried a trace of vigilance.
"Where are my items?"
He didn't want to waste words; he just wanted to take his things and leave quickly.
"They're all here! All here!"
Red-beard didn't feel awkward at all because of Elias's coldness; instead, he laughed even more happily.
He gave a grand wave of his hand, a quite heroic gesture.
A young apprentice nearby immediately stepped forward carrying a tray covered in velvet cloth, carefully placing it on a side table.
As the velvet cloth was pulled back, three objects shimmering with an unusual luster were revealed before Elias's eyes.
Elias was stunned.
First to catch his eye was an exquisitely styled brooch.
The main body was polished from a grayish-white carapace husk.
One had to admit, this red-beard's craftsmanship was indeed impeccable.
That originally deathly, hard material had actually been polished to a warm, ivory-like texture.
The pendant was carved into the hollow geometric shape symbolizing the Three-Phase Moon: a ring enclosing a triangle.
And in the very center of that triangle, a small moonlight stone was cleverly embedded.
The stone's surface was polished smooth as a mirror, looking both mysterious and sacred.
Beside the brooch lay two weapons filled with a sense of violent aesthetics.
A hand axe.
The axe wasn't large, about the length of a forearm, entirely white with a marble handle.
Under the refraction of the light, the axe blade shimmered with a dark green, eerie glow.
That was the unique luster of the carapace husk material, appearing even more dangerous after processing.
The last item was a pair of gauntlets.
Made of high-quality leather, the carapace husk had been polished, drilled, and buttoned onto the exterior.
The shell also shimmered with that dark green tint through the white, and the four knuckles of the gauntlets were polished into slight protrusions.
He estimated that punching someone with these would hurt quite a bit.
"Why are there three?!"
Elias frowned, blurting out in surprise.
There wasn't a problem with his memory, was there?
Yesterday, he had clearly only requested two items.
One for his sister, Charlotte, and one for his eldest brother, Arthur.
As for himself?
He didn't need one for now; after all, though he was currently somewhat well-off, he was still afraid of lacking financial resources.
Wouldn't an extra item mean an extra expense?
What was this red-beard trying to do?
Was he forcing a sale again?
"And..."
Elias pointed his finger at the three items, his tone carrying a hint of doubt.
"Adding these three things together, it doesn't seem like much material was used, right?"
"I gave you two massive shells!"
What about the leftover scraps?
This red-beard hadn't embezzled the remaining materials, had he?
"Oh! It's like this!"
Facing Elias's questioning, the smile on Red-beard's face didn't fade at all; he even looked a bit proud, as if claiming credit.
"Brother, there's something you don't know!"
"The texture of the shells you gave me is incredibly hard!"
"Normally, carapace husk shells are low-level transcendent materials; how could they be this hard?"
"To cut it open, I broke three diamond saw blades!"
As Red-beard spoke, he took off the brass goggles on his forehead and pointed to the two heavy dark circles under his eyes.
"To finish your job, I didn't sleep a wink last night!"
"Moreover, the loss of this kind of material during processing is very high!"
"A lot of material was consumed during the polishing process."
Red-beard put on a look of extreme distress, as if it weren't the shell that had crumbled, but his own heart.
"But me!"
He suddenly thumped his chest.
"With my decades of craftsmanship and reputation in Hastings Port, I managed to utilize every bit of usable material to the absolute limit!"
"Look!"
He pointed at the three items on the tray.
"The two you requested, I've completed! And I've exceeded the requirements!"
"In fact, I even used the remaining good materials to make another one for you!"
"This is for your own good!"
"As a transcendent, having one more thing for self-defense means having one more life!"
"You can keep one for yourself; the effects of these three items are all quite good!"
Red-beard introduced them patiently, his tone so sincere it almost sounded like he was giving them away for free.
Elias narrowed his eyes, quietly watching the other's performance.
His mind was clear as a mirror.
Red-beard clearly just wanted to earn an extra processing fee from him!
This was a forced sale!
Elias waved his hand.
"Tell me about the effects first."
"I'm a practical person; I don't listen to stories."
"No problem!"
Seeing Elias relenting, Red-beard immediately perked up, as if he could see gold crowns waving at him.
He reached out his rough fingers and carefully pinched the silver brooch.
"This brooch is my masterpiece!"
"Look at this polish, look at this color..."
"Get to the point!"
"The point is!"
Red-beard immediately cut to the chase.
"I embedded the moonlight stone within it."
"It allows it to automatically charge at night and, when the wearer encounters a fatal attack, burst forth with your ascetic Scale Two spell 【Moonlight Barrier】!"
"Furthermore, thanks to the properties of the shell, it has extra resistance against dark erosion type energy!"
Elias's eyes lit up slightly.
A passively triggered shield was practically a life-saving artifact for an ordinary person.
It was perfect to give to Charlotte.
"What about the remaining two?"
Elias pointed at the hand axe and the gauntlets.
"These two are simpler."
Red-beard picked up the hand axe and swung it twice.
"After all, the budget you gave me wasn't high."
"In terms of functionality, I could only keep it simple."
"Physically, it's sharper than a razor and harder and more resilient than average alloys."
"The effect of the material itself will carry dark erosion damage; wounds are hard to heal and will continue to rot, and it also has lethality against spiritual bodies."
"The gauntlets have very high comprehensive performance."
"Not only can they be very effective in parrying."
"The protrusions at the knuckles can also be used to pummel people."
"They also deal dark erosion damage!"
Red-beard picked up the gauntlets with an entranced look.
"Look, how well I've done this polishing, look at this color..."
"Just tell me the price!"
Elias was practically speechless.
Of course he knew the color was good; he wasn't blind.
This guy had laid so much groundwork—showing off his dark circles, boasting about his craft—it was obvious he was up to no good.
Red-beard gave a chuckled and held up four thick fingers, waving them in front of Elias.
"Very cheap!"
"Since you and I are practically acquaintances, and you provided the materials yourself..."
"For this entire set..."
"Only 40 gold crowns!"
"40 gold crowns?!"
Elias's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He instinctively clutched the bills in his wallet that hadn't even gotten warm yet.
"Cheap, my ass!"
Rate on N.U.
