“Ah, so that’s what you meant. Sure thing, kid. That said, I don’t really think I’m good enough to be taking on apprentices or anything.”

Alright, he’d given me his word. Now I’d be able to have one of my more dexterous slaves become an apprentice of the old guy and learn his trade. Skill in a trade would mean money. Of course, I didn’t plan to bite the hand that feeds me or anything like that.

“Stop being so modest. I’m confident in your skills.”

“Ha! I’ll do my best not to let you down.”

“Anyway, I’ve got a lot in the works, so spread the word among your associates for me. The location is . . .”

I told the old guy where my territory was and explained how the village would be my base of operations. I figured there would be plenty of people wanting to get in on a new project. If I only chose the ones I could trust from that group, I could expand my operations and that would lead to more profits. My territory was relatively close to the castle town, too.

“Got it. Well, we were all worried about you, kid, and it’s a good opportunity, so there very well may be some takers.”

“I have a debt to pay, so I plan to treat them well. And that’s especially true in your case, so think it over.”

“Got it.”

After a bit of lighthearted conversation, the old guy gave me a long look.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“You can tell?”

“You always show up with a million things at once, kid.”

“I guess so.”

I didn’t really want to show him, but I took off my cloak. With one look, the old guy understood.

“What in the world is that?”

The old guy was staring at my Barbaroi Armor with his head cocked to the side. I took the armor off and put it on the counter.

“I chased the culprit that caused the Spirit Tortoise to go on a rampage to another world. When I got there my Barbarian Armor had ceased to function, so I had a local blacksmith modify and reforge the armor. The result was this Barbaroi Armor, but now that I’m back it has stopped functioning, too.”

The old guy stared at the Barbaroi Armor long and hard. He started poking at different parts of the armor as if to see how it responded.

“There’s no problem with the core, but I can’t say one way or the other about the rest without doing some testing.”

“Can you fix it?”

“It’s possible. Give me some time.”

“Sure. I’m counting on you.”

“This shop is here just for you, right kid? By the way, they’re practically handing out materials from that beast now. If things work out, we might be able to make something out of them.”

There were more Spirit Tortoise materials than anyone could use, after all. I guess if I just thought of it as a thank you from Ost . . . No, I still felt a little bad.