Birth Of The Crafts-God

"So noisy." Lucas walked out of the workstation and glanced around.

He had intended to take a short break and make some adjustments to the blueprint material, but the presence of a small crowd interrupted his plans.

Seeing Lucy, he was a bit surprised but didn't say a word. Instead, Lucas' attention turned towards the four men that accompanied her —especially the two that seemed to be on the edge.

Even though he wasn't present earlier, Lucas had access to the entire store's facilities and could review everything that took place thanks to the system. Even without the system, he could easily understand what was going on, although not entirely. But Lucas didn't care about the full picture.

"You guys can leave. I'm not interested in dealing with you today."

Frowning, Hansul was about to question Lucas of his identity, but Lucy was a step ahead of him.

"Pardon the intrusion, but please allow me a few minutes to talk with you." Lucy bowed.

Even if he was an idiot, the situation could not be anymore obvious. Hansul understood what was happening and quickly fixed up his attitude.

"Good day, sir. We're from Novanio Tech and are interested in having a pleasant discussion with you, if you may."

However, Lucas didn't even spare Hansul a glance.

"I don't like repeating myself, leave." Lucas voiced out.

"But you can stay." He added as he stated at Lucy.

Hansul was irritated by this and just as he was about to speak up, Lucy was ahead of him once again.

"You guys should leave."

"This..."

"I said, leave. Or do you want me to raise this with HR when we get back?" Lucy frowned at him.

"No problem, Miss Lucy." The other men along with Pinnoci, reacted right away.

At this point, whether he wanted to or not, Hansul had to do the same.

After the four had gone, Lucas walked towards the lobby area in the store.

"Come."

Having received permission, Lucy tagged along albeit feeling nervous while doing so.

Vergil was quick to his feet as he rushed over with a glass of fruit juice which he handed over to Lucas.

"Speak."

Lucas sipped from a glass as he stared at Lucy.

Lucy let out a heavy sigh before she stood up and bowed.

"First off, I apologize for the actions of my colleagues. I should have kept them reined in better."

"That's fine. I understand your situation." Lucas replied.

During the time he worked with Lucy, Lucas had gotten to know a bit about how Novanio Tech operated. He was aware of the conflicts within the company, but he didn't think too much about it then. After all, the only one he needed to deal with from the company was Lucy, and she was quite smart.

"This bow is also to apologize for the company's transgressions." Lucy said with her head bent down.

Lucas didn't reply, instead relishing in the taste of the drink Vergil had prepared.

Lucy could feel the air get heavy making it difficult for her to breathe, but she still maintained her posture.

"Sit down." Lucas calmly said.

Lucy sighed, knowing that Lucas hadn't forgiven them yet, but she couldn't continue to insist otherwise it would make matters worse.

"Apart from that, this is the board's solatium for the actions in the past." Lucy raised her head and lifted up the briefcase she came with. She opened it up and took out the items inside.

A few papers and certificates were brought out and laid out on the table, surprising Lucas. The papers were grouped into three, with the first group looking more formal and consisting more of certificates.

Due to the versatility and all-purpose functionality of communicators, papers and the likes were rarely used for documentation unless it was for significantly important and confidential documents.

As if to confirm that, Lucy pointed at the first pile of papers and said,

"These are the necessary documents and certificates for the ownership of three million class A shares of Novanio Tech. That's the equivalent of 6% shares in the company."

Lucas was surprised by this. Six percent stake in a company like Novanio Tech was anything but small. It would probably be enough to put Lucas within the top ten shareholders of the company. Also, the monetary of these three million class A shares was not to be underestimated. They were worth at least nine million federal coins. Accepting this compensation was equivalent to Lucas instantly becoming a millionaire.

Yet that was not all.

"Apart from this, there's also the ownership documents for a designated safe in the Eretrean Global Bank. Inside the safe are at least 1.5 tons of precious metals and valuable resources suitable for vestige-smithing like Nile Steel, Blue Dragon Copper, Blood Forest gem and more." Lucy moved her finger over to the middle pile.

The materials Lucy had called out were all valuable resources worth their own weight in gold. This was only just a description as every one of them was actually more valuable than gold.

Take the Nile Steel for instance. It was a rare metal that could only be found at certain unique volcanic sites. Throughout all four continents of Eretre, there were only seven known mines for Nile Steel. It was definitely much more rarer and valuable than the Purple Iridium ore Lucas was rewarded with by the system long ago.

The same was so for all the other items called out, with only the Blue Dragon Copper being just slightly less valuable than the Purple Iridium ore.

With a slightly interested look on his face, Lucas glanced at the middle pile of paper heaped on the table and picked out the one on top. After having a closer look at it, he realised that it was a list.

'I was wondering whether they have ran mad.' Lucas chuckled inwardly after perusing the list.

The materials Lucy had called out were too costly even for a company. If all the items in the list were of the same value as the ones called out, let alone 1.5 tons worth, even only one ton's worth alone could hamper the finances of a major corporation.

Nonetheless, the other items on the list that consisted of the 1.5 ton of materials were still quite eye-catching even for Lucas. The price and value might not be on par with the named three, but they were still impressive.

"Finally, the rest are the ownership documents and certificates for a luxurious hover car, a penthouse on a 33 storey building located in an affluent area in Eastern Crown district, and a brand new location for your store in the central area of West Wing district's trade street. This is our sincere apology towards you." Lucy bowed once again.

Lucas appeared calm but he was surprised deeply within. The new hover car wasn't anything attractive as Lucas already had a fancy one back at Belfargos territory, and could even make one better if he wanted. However, the other two 'gifts' were definitely eye-catching.

Baylands City consisted of five districts: the Central Prefecture district, West Wing district, Eastern Crown district, South Mountains district, and North Wave district.

The Central Prefecture district was the most opulent district but it also had strict residential requirements. The West Wing district was seen as the economic hub of the city, with many companies —mostly vestige-related ones— located here. On the other hand, the remaining three districts were most residential and common areas.

Even then, there were still differences.

Due to its distance from the Wastelands being the most of all five districts, the Eastern Crown district became a major residential area of the city. As a result, it also housed a ton of upscale neighbourhoods, home to many wealthy individuals and millionaires. This made it rank just behind the Central Prefecture district in terms of extravagance.

A penthouse in one of the Eastern Crown district's affluent areas would definitely be a deluxe grade apartment and worth a lot. Nothing more needed to be said about a store in the central business area of West Wing district.

Together with the other two piles, Novanio Tech literally broke bank just to have him forget about that past. Obviously, it was clear that they also had an extra goal in mind.

'Do they take me for some greedy fool?' Lucas shook his head.

"Do you know why I decided to still meet with you even after what I had gone through in the past?" Lucas placed back the list he had in his hands and looked at Lucy.

"Not exactly." Lucy felt anxious after Lucas brought up the past.

"It's because I owed you favour." Lucas replied.

Back when he was under fire by the press and public opinion, Lucy had leaked to him the plot of Novanio Tech's higher-ups. A day later, the official news was sent to Lucas via e-mail informing him of the termination of their contract.

Although Lucy's message that arrived the day before didn't seem to be worth anything, Lucas found the gesture appreciative. After all, thanks to that message, he was prepared receive the bad news that came the following day.

Of course, even if Lucy didn't let him know, Lucas wouldn't have broken down or anything after the official news. However, the fact she considered his feelings and decided to let him know ahead of time, and she did so with a comforting message was still a nice gesture.

For that, Lucas had decided to hear her out today.

Lucy didn't know what he meant, but for some reason, she felt like she had lost out on something. Lucas' words were 'owe' and not 'owed', which meant that it was in the past. As of now, they were both even.

Lucy didn't know whether this was worth it or not. But as it concerned her job, she decided to push back her thoughts.

"Go back to you higher-ups and ask them this. Do think they can make me forgive and forget, then sign a new deal with them just with this?"

"Then, what else do you want? They've agreed to accept any extra requests as long as it is within their power." Lucy said.

"What if what I want is their heads?"

Lucas stared into the eyes of Lucy, almost as if he was looking into her soul.