In the northwestern reaches of the Grand Duchy of Asayne lay a famous craftsman district known as Monji Smithson Street. It was an old quarter with a history nearly as long as the Empire’s own, where aging buildings crowded together like a maze along narrow, winding streets.
The artisans of Monji Smithson, reputed to be the finest on the continent, had been responsible for the jewel boxes of kings and nobles since ancient times. Their renown had not faded in the slightest even after all those long years, and commissions for jewelry still poured in from every corner of the continent.
Perhaps that was why many of the workshops here kept their lights burning until late at night.
The same was true of an old jewelry workshop bearing the sign “Karon Workshop.” Even now, beneath the bright glow of the lamps, the workshop’s master craftsman and his chief apprentice were hard at work through the night.
“Whew…….”
After struggling with the workshop’s special adhesive for quite some time, the apprentice suddenly let out a sigh.
“I don’t understand why anyone would specifically ask us to repair a broken jewel. If it were me, I’d rather use the money for this commission to buy ten more similar necklaces.”
He was in the middle of struggling to spread the difficult-to-handle adhesive evenly across the broken face of the jewel.
From another workbench, old Karon, the owner of the workshop who had been absorbed in…