Chapter 77: Rejection

Chapter 77: Rejection "Wait, don’t leave yet!!"

A tense voice called from inside the building and the cluttering sounds stopped only for a head to suddenly pop up from underneath the counter, giving Kieran a little surprise.

"Sorry for the delay, what can I help you with!"

The receptionist who had just popped up asked Kieran who was still inspecting him, a timid looking youngster with brown hair that was only clear under the light and rather pause skin, almost matching that of Kieran. The freckles spread across his face also heightened the image of a cute little kid.

"I need your help with this!"

Kieran said dropping the scythe on the counter, which left a small bang due to its weight.

"Oh! You want to get a new one? We have a variety of options, but I’ll have to ask for your rank if you wish to get a custom made one."

The receptionist said after taking a single glance at his weapon, his hands rummaging for something under the counter, but Kieran’s next words made him pause in his actions.

"I want to fix it!"

Kieran answered the receptionist’s first question.

"What? You want to fix this piece of shit?"

The receptionist’s previously amiable tone disappeared as he processed Kieran’s words, making it seem like he was a different person. The disgust in his eyes were evident as he didn’t even make any attempt to conceal them.

"Yes!"

Kieran answered, unfazed by the receptionist’s reaction. It didn’t matter as long as he could get it fixed.

"I’m sorry we can’t do that!"

The brown-haired kid said with a cold look on his face.

"It can’t be fixed or you just don’t want to do it?"

Kieran asked for further clarification. He didn’t really get why the receptionist had such a drastic reaction when he heard him say that he wanted to fix his weapon instead of making a new one.

"You seem to me to think like an idiot. Don’t you understand? We of the blacksmith organization are artisans. Not your road side vendor. We don’t take in jobs like this, we have a reputation to keep. I advise you take your leave now!"

The receptionist said, each word of his dripping with disgust towards Kieran.

"Alright!"

Kiernan said, picking up his weapon from the counter and turning to take his leave, but not before taking a glance at the badge on the chest of the receptionist.

’Level 3 apprentice. Not even a level 5 or a master!’ Kieran thought.

He had just been talked down to by a level 3 apprentice of the trade.

He had heard that master artisans tended to be very eccentric, but he didn’t think that even the low leveled apprentices who weren’t even sure of becoming a master themselves were of the same attitude.

Still, Kieran moved with purpose to another part of the camp. He wasn’t out of options just yet.

There was still the military’s official department in charge of matters like this, and although it was the lesser option when compared to blacksmith guild, he didn’t have the choice.

Besides, no matter how much the difference between the blacksmith guild and others of the same occupation was, there was no way the camp wouldn’t be able to fix something as basic as the level 2 scythe in his hands.

In a few minutes, Kieran had arrived at the tall gates which was the entrance to the underground cavern, the mini city under the camp where the library was located.

With a few more twists and turns in a different direction from that which the library was located, Kieran found himself in front of a shop at the edge of the place, and the appearance of the place made him doubt his thought of them being able to fix something as basic as his scythe.

Unlike the blacksmith guild building, this one wasn’t built into the walls of the mountain. It was just a small square shop which looked like it hadn’t operated in a long while. There wasn’t even a sign board to signify the purpose of the building.

He had to glance at the map on his watch several times just to accept that he was at the right place.

Unlike, the most other buildings in the city, this one was neither made out of that shiny and mysterious black rock, nor was built like the other buildings like the library. It was made from wood and while it looked like it could fall apart at any moment if a fierce wind blew at it, Kieran felt surprised when he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open, taking a step inside.

’Solid’

That was what he felt when he pushed it open, there were no creaks like he would have expected.

The amount of space on the inside didn’t surprise him though, considering that he had been to the library and had understood that the camp had a way of compressing space, so it wasn’t really much of a surprise the inside was bigger than how it appeared outside.

Just like in the blacksmith Gould shop where he didn’t meet anyone until later, there was nobody here either.

But his eyes were quickly attracted to a note on a table at the side.

Picking it up, it read,

"Ring the bell and wait two minutes before leaving if you don’t get a reply!"

Looking back at the table, Kieran noticed a small bell beside where he had picked the note and tapped on it, hearing a small chime sound.

’What’s that going to do?’ Kieran wondered, tapping on it a dew more times before faking a seat in one of the dusty chairs.

Few minutes later, shorter than he expected, a burly looking man rushed into the shop, gaining Kieran’s attention.

The man bent over with his hands placed on his knees as he panted heavily. Getting into an upright position and wiping the sweat off his face, he approached Kieran who had been watching in silence.

"Are you the one who rang the bell?" The man asked, now in front of Kieran.

"Yes!"

Kieran scrunched his face a little feeling the heat that came off in waves from the man in front of him. It felt like he was speaking to a burning furnace.

"Hmm! So, what can we do for yo—"

The man paused taking a glance at the weapon in Kieran’s hands and asked.

"You need a new weapon? Why didn’t you go to those bastards above here?"

The man asked, referring to the blacksmith guild as bastards, and Kieran wondered if all artisans shared the trait of not having patience.

"I’m not looking to make another one. I want to fix this and I went to the blacksmithing guild first but they wouldn’t do it, so I came here."

Kieran explained to the man who had a sour expression on his face after hearing Kieran’s words.

"So, we were the second choice huh?"

The man muttered in a sour tone.

"Yes!" Kieran responded, as if his explanation hadn’t visibly pissed the man enough.

"You can leave. I’m not fixing that. You don’t even know to take care of your weapon, look at the blood stains that are still on it."

He said, rejecting to fix Kieran’s weapon.

"Alright!"

Kieran replied, unfazed by his second rejection of the day. He was just going to have to use his scythe more carefully until it completely fell apart. Then he could think of getting a new one from the blacksmith guild.

For now, he just wasn’t in the position where he could get a new one. He was still recovering from losing almost all his CP when he bought the technique from the technique hall.

"Hmm. Wait! Let me take a look at it"

’What am I doing. The only customer we’ve had in a few months. I can’t just let him go like that.

The man thought and said to Kieran who had a foot outside the building already.

"You will fix it?"

Kieran asked, not turning back. He wasn’t a fan of games.

"I have to take a look at it first and conduct some inspections before I can tell you that."

"Alright!" Kieran said, satisfied with his words.

He turned back into the building and gave the scythe to the man who still had waves of heat coming off him.

"Hmm. I meant what I said. You don’t take care your weapon. It’s meant to be like a child to you, a comrade you trust your life to on the battlefield."

’Did I make a mistake? He clearly doesn’t value his weapon. One of those fools who see it as nothing more than a tool.’

The man started to reconsider strongly, his teeth clenched hard as he struggled to come to a decision.

"You are right, and I am sorry. I really haven’t been taking appropriate care of my scythe!"

Kieran apologized to the man in a sincere tone which was hard to match with his stone cold face.

’Hmm?’

The man could feel himself waver as he felt the sincerity coming from Kieran’s tone.

"Fine!" He sighed, taking the scythe to one of the tables.