Faced with Ryan’s direct question, Edwin remained completely silent for a few seconds.
The noble evaluated the impassive expression of his guest. He searched for so crack in the foreigner’s calm deanor, but Ryan’s eyes were like two bottomless pits that betrayed absolutely no emotion.
"It is natural for to know, Krai." Edwin finally responded, uncrossing his legs with a slow, deliberate movent.
"What do you an by it being natural?" Ryan interjected imdiately, not allowing the noble to establish the rhythm of the conversation.
"No one would recognize a chira weapon with just a fleeting glance in a hallway."
Edwin maintained his refined posture.
"It is natural because I am the leader of one of the most influential rchant guilds in the entire city."
The man paused briefly to let the weight of his status settle over the private box, but Ryan did not even blink at the revelation.
"I have already seen chira weapons on other occasions." Edwin continued, slightly disconcerted by the young man’s total lack of reaction.
"And I know beforehand that it is nearly impossible to obtain one of those marvels simply by exploring dungeons or defeating floor bosses."
"Continue." Ryan said.
"In order to possess a functional chira weapon, soone must forge it." Edwin explained, leaning slightly forward.
"And not just any blacksmith is capable of doing so. Fusing cores without the materials collapsing requires a ridiculous level of mastery. Which leads to deduce that you must have an exceptional blacksmith traveling with you, or you are at least very well acquainted with one."
Ryan listened to the rchant’s deduction in silence.
Far from feeling cornered by having been analyzed in such a manner, a faint smile ford upon his face.
’It is a fairly logical analysis.’ Ryan thought, evaluating the rchant’s intelligence.
’Runa is definitely exceptional at forging equipnt. And now that I think about it, if we add Mika’s alchemy ability to purify the materials... between the two of them, they will be able to create even better things than what we already have.’
Ryan nodded with total naturalness, resting his arm on the armrest of the chair.
"You are entirely correct." Ryan affird. "I earned the favor of a highly talented dwarf and he was the one who forged this weapon for ."
The bodyguard standing to Edwin’s right imperceptibly clenched his jaw upon hearing that Ryan dealt with dwarven artisans of that caliber, but he remained completely silent.
"Then, as the leader of a rchant guild with so many resources, you surely must have so chira accessory or weapon in your possession, isn’t that right?" Ryan asked.
Edwin let out a small sigh, losing a bit of his initial haughtiness.
"Unfortunately, I do not have a single one in my personal collection."
"And yet you say you have seen them on other occasions?"
"I originally ca to know of them because I have seen Heroes from the nations who possess them." Edwin replied, fixing his gaze on the auction stage below, where the crowd continued to shout their bids.
"One of them is Rafael. He wields a pair of chira battle gauntlets."
"Only him?" Ryan inquired.
"Luciela." Edwin added. "A heroine who wields a chira magic staff. Aside from those two, I do not know any other heroes personally. But it is an open secret that many more heroes possess chiras."
"I see."
"Although not exactly weapons." The rchant leader clarified. "There are armor pieces and accessories that are forged as chiras. After all, they are extrely difficult materials to co by and have their own specific uses for boosting stats."
’Luciela and Rafael.’ Ryan repeated in his mind, analyzing the information with absolute coldness.
Rafael had already been ntioned during various conversations back in the elven village, but Luciela’s na did not sound absolutely familiar to him at all.
’As soon as we return and I have so ti, I will have to ask Alicia for an exhaustive list of all the heroes in the world who are S-rank or higher.’
He decided that he would not ask any more questions about those specific heroes. Asking too much would give away his lack of knowledge regarding public figures, and he preferred to maintain that facade of superiority and mystery.
He refocused his dark gaze upon Edwin.
"Tell one more thing." Ryan said, shifting his tone to one much more calculating and sharp. "As a rchant of this level, do you have chira weapon forging materials in your possession?"
Edwin nodded imdiately, his eyes shining with that spark of ambition typical of businessn.
"Yes. I have been gathering them for a long ti. But they are very scarce, and the black market demands absurd prices for them."
Ryan put all the pieces of the conversation together in a fraction of a second.
An imnsely wealthy rchant and, at the sa ti, a man deeply fascinated by chira weapons.
Ryan let out a low chuckle, dry and entirely devoid of any humor.
"Now I understand." Ryan pronounced, fixing his eyes directly on the rchant leader.
"What do you understand?" Edwin asked, blinking in sudden confusion at the shift in his guest’s attitude.
"You didn’t just spot my chira out in the hallway as a simple object of interest." Ryan said. His voice dropped a pitch, becoming threatening and heavy without the need to raise it.
"You want to have it, don’t you?"
Right as Ryan finished uttering those words. He placed his palm directly upon the hilt of the weapon hidden beneath his coat.
A subtle, cold smile, laden with crushing superiority, ford upon his lips.
Even though Ryan kept his imnse SS-Rank power suppressed, the sheer impression of confidence he projected with that simple gesture made the air inside the private box beco dense and suffocating.
The A-rank bodyguard reacted out of pure survival instinct. He moved his hand to the hilt of his own sword, preparing to unsheathe it against the imminent threat that the foreigner represented.
But Edwin raised his hands imdiately, stopping his assistant before he could commit a mistake that would end up costing both of their lives. The rchant had a light, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"I do not intend to force you or anything of the sort." Edwin said quickly, attempting to pacify the lethal atmosphere that Ryan had just generated.
"I only want to buy it." Edwin confessed, swallowing hard.
"Are you not interested in selling that weapon? I will pay absolutely whatever figure you ask of ."
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