"Tell more, boy. I want to know who my competition is."
The young inventor stiffened at once.
Caelum watched the reaction from behind Orven von Halbrecht's face. The boy wanted to answer. That much was obvious. His problem was not reluctance, but the far more inconvenient disease of limited information. He had heard things. Gathered pieces. Stored rumors the way eager young craftsn stored praise, hoping one day they would beco useful.
Now Master von Halbrecht was asking him to turn gossip into a report.
A cruel situation, really.
"I don't know how to answer that properly, Master von Halbrecht," the boy said, clutching the edge of his worktable with ink-stained fingers. "Only a few people know the full details, and I'm not influential enough to hear anything official. Although, now that I think about it, soone like you could probably ask and receive an answer."
Caelum turned the ring once with his thumb, letting Halbrecht's impatience settle over the room.
"I will ask when I have ti," he said. "For now, tell what you know. Rumors do not appear from nothing, and if this person is interesting enough to make the lower rooms whisper, I would like to know why."
The boy nodded quickly, grateful to have permission to speak without needing to be exact. "Yes, of course. I would like to et him as well, honestly. Everyone says he must be incredibly knowledgeable. The people who ntion him don't speak as if he is simply talented. They speak as if he knows things most people here wouldn't even understand how to ask about."
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