Stella noticed that she was also being observed by two gentlemen in their fifties while she surveyed the surroundings.

"Good afternoon, Sir Cartel and Lord Castillo… I'm Stella Fenette. As the guard mentioned a while ago, I needed some help to repair my Magic Items…"

​​

As she knows that Lord Castillo, the 3rd-Class Arcanist, was a noble, she easily recognized him. The man has white curly hair and neatly coiffured to reveal his gentle face. He was also wearing an expensive-looking coat befitting a noble in her imagination.

On the other hand, the man beside him has gray hair and wearing a monocle in his left eye. He was also wearing expensive clothes but his aura wasn't as domineering as the man he suspected to be Lord Castillo.

"Mhmm… Show it to me. But it's not going to be cheap."

As expected, the white-haired man replied.

"Yes… I'm willing to pay the price. Please, have a look…"

She then placed the three items on the table while the two appraised them using their own method.

"Ho~ These are good items… Do you have plans on selling them? I'm willing to give you twice their market price… How about it?"

Before Lord Castillo can appraise the items, Sir Cartel joined the conversation after having a brief look at each item.

"Twice the market price?" Stella wasn't sure how much it would sell but quoting it as twice the price sounded enticing.

Then, her master said something to her so she quickly added another question.

"I don't have plans to sell them yet… However, if you can tell me their price, I might consider it if I really need some money…"

Reiji already had a reference about the pricing of the Magic Weapons. It was when Diether visited the Market Hall of the Royal Academy.

Although they were only C+ and C- in their grade, these pieces of equipment still have very impressive arcane magic included in them.

"This cane can be sold to the market for 750 gold coins."

Clack!

Cartel pulled out the hidden sword and inspected it for a moment…

"It's still in a good shape… It only needs a little repair from Lord Castillo…"

He then placed the separated sword and cane on the table and picked up one of the rings…

"Although this one is in a bad condition, this is made of Fake Mythri l Alloy, right? This can be sold for 480 gold coins… As for this cold ring… Mhmmm… This is about to crumble… Once this is fully repaired, it can be sold for 520 gold coins… How about it? Again, I can buy them for twice the amount of what I mentioned."

Sir Cartel said as he surely has plenty of money to spare.

'Is the price correct, Master?'

'Well, it wasn't too far from the class C that I've encountered before. Anyway, we don't have plans to sell them yet… You can still use these items in your hunt since we don't know what kind of trouble we might get into.'

'That's true… Especially the Life Detection skill that the Excellent Protection Ring has.… It will be useful once I entered the forest to hunt again…'

"Thank you Sir Cartel… I'll think about it for now…"

"Of course... Very well, I'll leave you guys now. I still have to fulfill the request of those righteous Knights."

He then stood up and bowed to Lord Castillo before he left with a grinning face.

It seems that the Knights requested something beneficial to this merchant as his eyes brightened up after remembering them.

"Very well… Stella. Do you know how we, the Arcanists, repair these Magic Items?" Lord Castillo asked after the merchant left.

"I… I have no idea… However, my uncle can create and repair Enhanced Items…"

"Oh? Then, he must be talented."

"Yes… My uncle is the best blacksmith in this village and throughout the surrounding settlements in this forest…"

Stella proudly said as prior to becoming a swordsman, she was first working as an apprentice blacksmith and she's fully aware of the situation of the blacksmiths around the area.

"If that's the case, you must've seen him repair them…"

"That's right, depending on the extent of damage that the Enhanced Items received, uncle may need the similar materials that were used to create them."

"Mhmm… That's right… It's similar to how we repair magic items… If the durability left was only less than 50% of its original, then we are recommending the use of similar materials during the repairing process…"

The gentleman calmly explained.

"I see… Should I also pay for the materials?—No, I mean… Should I look for those materials first before I make a request?"

Stella asked as she tried to understand the reason why he was explaining this.

"You're sharp… That's right… If you have these low durability items already, and you will be requesting another Arcanist besides me, then you should consider bringing materials to increase the success rate."

"Besides you?"

Lord Castillo grinned after being asked. He then brought out his Arcana, a quill pen…

"Yes… With my Arcana, I can fix them without using materials. However, it doesn't mean that my service will get cheaper… As a matter of fact, it would be more expensive if I will fix it like this."

"Whoa~ Your Arcana is amazing!"

Stella exclaimed before remembering the important detail.

"Ehem... But may I know how much I should pay?"

Stella already has an idea based on what she heard from the Hunters, so increasing it by twice or thrice shouldn't be a problem with her savings.

"If I repaired all of them completely with hundred percent durability, then I'll request a total of 350 gold coins for both rings and 100 gold for the sword cane.

Stella didn't speak for a moment as she wanted to make sure about the price he was asking…

She did her best not to look too surprised as she smiled towards the Arcanists.

"Very well… I'm willing to pay that amount."

"That's good to hear… Then I'll start repairing now."

As soon as the man said this, his expression suddenly changed as he held the pen like he was about to write a letter…

He first picked up the sword that has a bit better durability than the others… The chipped blade was one of its concerns as it affects the Quick Draw skill…

Woom~

Stella felt a barrier blocking the Arcanist from any external disturbances… It seems that once he started repairing, no one can interrupt him.

Then, she saw Lord Castillo touched the blade of the sword using his quill pen…

It doesn't have ink so there was obviously no sign of it being marked.

However, she was sure that something magical was happening.

She didn't even blink for a second to ensure that she'll see everything.

"Whoa!—"

'Oops…' She quickly blocked her mouth with her hands as she's afraid that her noise would interrupt him…

'Wait… He has that barrier… I forgot.' Stella then saw that Lord Castillo was still concentrating. This lasted for five minutes before he put down the sword on the table…

"Alright… This is fixed with full durability, you can give it a try… Do you have appraisal magic or any method to appraise this?"

"No… But I can see that the sword looks better now… You even fixed the cane holding it…"

"That's right… I can give a full appraisal on this item if you want…"

"Not for free?"

"Not for free…"

"Well… That's fine then… I'll just ask my friend to check on it."

"Haha… Alright…"

The Arcanists then picked up the Excellent Protection Ring that has 23 out of 50 in its Durability…

"Mhmm… This will take a lot of time… Especially this Frost Ring that you have… Are you sure that you'll wait here?"

"Well, I have nothing else to do so if you don't mind me watching you work… I'll stay here…"

"Fine, suit yourself…"

The old man said as he started working with the rings.

'Master… Should I ask for him to appraise it?'

'Mhmm… I'm thinking about it. I can also appraise it but I'm curious about how his appraisal differs from mine…'

'I see…'

'If it's expensive, just don't mind it… It's better to save money.'

'I understand, Master…'

This repairing work lasted for almost an hour before he finished. It seems that it wouldn't be this long if he has the materials missing.

On the other hand, while Lord Castillo was busy repairing it, Stella heard a commotion outside their camp. She was very curious about what was happening but she can't just leave this person with her expensive items.

In the end, her Master filled her with details.

'Master what's going on?'

'It seems that the Beast Tamers didn't like the Chaos Knights hunting them…'

'W-what?'

'They came for vengeance… I guess. They must've been humiliated by the Knights before.'

Reiji said after realizing that there were Inferno Wolves just outside the village… They weren't trying to force their way in but they seem to be threatening someone to stop interfering in their mission.