Infinite Realm

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"You said you did a few trials to get it as your reward? Please elaborate the situation more properly." Kolin glanced at Sato with an inquisitive look.

*Knock*

Just as Sato was thinking of what to explain, a knock was heard from the door which interrupted the atmosphere in the room. The three Master blacksmiths paid no heed to it as they thought that the individual on the other side would leave. However, they were surprised when the knock was heard once more at the door.

"I thought you said no one would disturb us here." Kolin glanced at the white-haired old man.

"I thought the same too." The old man narrowed his eyes as he grimaced his face.

"Who is it that dares to disturb us?" The old man spoke out with a low growl.

"I'm really sorry for that, Master, but two men are here saying that they won't leave without meeting you." A young voice belonging to a female sounded from the other side.

The white-haired old man was confused as he never recalled expecting any visitors. Nonetheless, he still asked,

"Who are they?"

"The Marquis' son alongside Lord Yugo." 

As they heard the two names, the three Master blacksmiths in the room all scrunched up their faces immediately. The two characters outside were people they couldn't mess with as long as they were not offended by them first. Even if the two outside somehow offends them, as long as it wasn't too serious, the 3 Master blacksmiths were expected to not pursue the matter for too long. This was due to the identity and the backing behind those two characters.

The Marquis need no explanation as this was a character only below the King, Duke and Prince of the Kingdom. In accordance with hierarchy, the son of a Marquis was on par with a Viscount in authority but the connection of blood made them have more influence than a regular Viscount. 

As for Lord Yugo, that was an elusive but highly influential character. He was an Earl, which was also referred to as a Count in the Fallen Heart Kingdom, and he was in control of nearby province which was a bit closer to the Capital than Black Rock Province.

In the Fallen Heart Kingdom, the ranking and authorities of nobles were a bit different. A Duke's dukedom/Duchy consisted of 5 provinces in which the Duke commands full control of one them but simply supervises the rest. 

A Marquis was in charge of the province located by the border and was usually tasked with the job of defending the borders of the kingdom from opponents.

Earls/Counts were in charge of ruling over a city or a province, depending on the number of merits they have acquired. Basically, they were the right-arms of dukes and aided them in ruling over the 4 other provinces a Duke supervised. However, some Counts and Earls didn't have any control over a fief as large as a province or a city. Some simply resided at the hinterlands of the kingdom and lived somewhat peaceful lives.

As for the other titles such as Viscount, Baron and Knight, they were simply handed a small patch of land with only the Viscount having the authority to rule over a land at the level of a town.

Apart from Dukes and Marquis, the other nobles didn't command full control over their lands but we're simply being "leased" the property by the Royal family. This means that they still had to pay a portion of the tax collected from the citizens to the kingdom. Only certain special characters were given full control over their lands even though they weren't a Duke or a Marquis. Lord Yugo was one such character.

The province Lord Yugo ruled over consisted of 2 cities, unlike Black Rock Province. One of the cities was granted to him as his personal fief by the Royal family, giving him full authority and control over the area just recently. As a result, rumours had it that Lord Yugo would be promoted to a Marquis very soon and it would just be a matter of time before he would be granted a piece of land by the border region to lord over.

With such a future ahead of him, even though a Master blacksmith still had to be fawned over by Earls and Counts and barely paid them any heed, these Master blacksmiths didn't dare to do the same with Lord Yugo. Not only was the authority of a Marquis impressive, but if Lord Yugo were to be promoted, he would need a few staff to move over with him. At that point, he could delegate one of them to follow him and take charge of the Blacksmith guild there. In other words, following Lord Yugo's rise in power, any one of the Master blacksmiths could suddenly become a branch guild leader and this wasn't a bad prospect for them. Therefore, none of the Master blacksmiths dared to offend Lord Yugo.

"Let them in." Kolin sighed as he said.

He didn't know why they were here but Kolin had heard from the guild leader that the Marquis' son was looking for talented blacksmiths. It was very obvious that Sato had caught their eyes so they probably came for him. With that happening, it would be impossible for Kolin to continue the interrogation.

'The main focus now should be in bringing him to our side.' Kolin began plotting up ideas.

The door was pushed open from the other side as two figures walked in. They were Galvin as well as the middle-aged man with him during the tournament.

'So Galvin is the Marquis' son?' Sato stared at him with surprise.

"Good day to you gentlemen. It's been a while, Sky Blade." Galvin waved at Sato right after greeting the 3 Master blacksmiths.

Sato nodded in response as a form of greeting.

After Sato had stepped into the office, at the 'request' of the 3 Master blacksmiths, he was forced to take off the black cloak he had on. Without it, it wasn't difficult for Galvin to recognise him. 

"You never told me you were such a prestigious figure. My apologies, sire." Sato paid his respects in the local manner of the Fallen Heart citizens.

"Haha, I didn't feel it was necessary. Alright, stop with the formalities. We're partners not employer and employee." Galvin smiled as he walked over.

"You two know each other?" Kolin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Surprised? We met each other during the auction about a week ago." Galvin smiled. 

While it looked like a simple smile, Kolin felt that it was more of a gloating expression, a smile of victory.

"It's been awhile, Masters Kolin, Halford and Fuol." Lord Yugo greeted.

"Lord Yugo." Halford and Fuol, the two Master blacksmiths smiled and greeted back whereas Kolin simply nodded.

Whike most Master blacksmithd tried to be in Lord Yugo's good side so as to get promoted, Kolin wasn't bothered. The rank of vice-guild leader wasn't low and once the current guild leader retires, he would be the one to take over. Therefore, Kolin wasn't really interested in fawning over Lord Yugo for an opportunity.

"Can you explain why you had to interfere with our meeting?" Kolin asked the two newcomers.

"I sincerely apologize about that, Master Kolin. I simply came over to receive my partner and hope that all is well." Galvin said.

"Hmph. All is obviously we'll, why won't it be?"

Galvin didn't reply him but glanced at Sato in response. Upon receiving Sato's confirmation, he didn't push the matter any further.

"If possible, I hope you can let my comrade go as we have important things to discuss; important things relating to my dear father's plans." Galvin said.

"Are you threatening me?" Kolin narrowed his eyes. 

If Galvin had stated that he simply wanted to speak with Sato, Kolin could easily reject him and reply that he could do that later. However, by mentioning the Marquis, things would become a whole lot difficult for Kolin.

"You misunderstood me. Why will humble me dare to threaten your graceful self? I'm just doing as I'm told." Galvin smiled.

The entire room became quiet as the two stood in confrontation with each other before Lord Yugo finally cleared the air.

"Just do us a favour this once, Master Kolin. If I'm correct, you must have called him over to reward him. That shouldn't take much time and you can simply do so now. After that, we can leave straight away with him."

If Kolin were to reject, it would mean that he had another reason for keeping Sato here and that was something he didn't want to be revealed especially to these two.

"Here." Kolin passed Sato a ring.

Sato caught the ring once in was within reach and glanced at it curiously.

"The rewards for first place are in there. Apart from that, I or rather, these two want to make you a proposition." 

"Ahem." Harold, the white-haired Master blacksmiths coughed.

"It's like this, between me and my old friend, Fuol over here, who would you like to take as your master."

"Eh?" Sato glanced at the two in surprise.