Chapter 53: The Workshop is finally ready
As soon as they walked through the workshop’s front door, two familiar faces greeted Lucius and Clara.
"Young Master, Miss Clara, you’re late today," said Old Kevin.
"It’s the workshop’s opening day... You two really do treat everything like a game," complained Old Garen.
Lucius shrugged. "It’s not like we have many guests anyway," he said, turning to introduce the only two guests who had arrived so far.
"This is Joao Martinus, the young man who’s been handling our finances for the past few months. And this is Professor Jake Lakeside—he’s been an investor," Lucius introduced them. This was their first time being introduced at the workshop.
Old Kevin and Old Garen greeted them. They were surprised that Joao Martinus was so young. He must have been exceptionally well-trained in business and capital management, for he had done an impressive job, even though he had never been there before.
On the other hand, a Lakeside...
Jake was surprised to see a familiar face as soon as he walked in.
"You old loan shark and thief—it’s you!" Jake exclaimed, pointing directly at Old Garen.
Old Garen snorted. "Tsk, that’s no way to treat your uncle, you bastard," he roared.
"What uncle, you old thief?" Jake roared back and lunged at him, but Garen simply picked up a magical tool that had been lying on the floor the whole time and smashed it into Jake’s face.
Jake was momentarily stunned, and after a few seconds it dawned on him. "So now you’re making a living by ripping off Lucius with those tools, you thieving bastard!"
Old Garen wanted to headbutt him, but he calmed down and looked at Lucius. "Why didn’t you tell me this bastard was your teacher? I would’ve gone and smacked him on the head so he’d learn to behave!"
Lucius stared at him, wide-eyed and in shock. "I had no idea you two knew each other. Are you related or something?"
"He could never be family—this old scammer!" Jake roared immediately.
’They really are family.’ Lucius was even more perplexed.
"No, we’re not really family." Old Garen shook his head. "But I lived with the Lakeside family for a while, and all of old John’s kids treat me like an uncle."
"All except me—I know your true colors, you damn scammer!"
"Shut up, you bastard! I carried you in my arms when you were a kid!"
"Stop lying and scamming people!"
"I’ve never been a liar!"
"But you’re not denying that you’re a scammer!"
"Ugh..."
The heated exchange between the two left everyone present speechless.
Kevin was forced to nod. "That’s right, old Garen, you can’t deny the scammer part," he said clearly.
Jake looked at him. "You know it too, don’t you?"
"Yeah." Kevin nodded as if he were a saint. "He’s conned me before. He’s a bastard."
"I knew it!"
Lucius didn’t fully understand the background of the situation yet, but somehow he was glad that these two got along so well. Contrary to appearances, Jake didn’t intend to kill Garen.
Maybe he was just happy to see him again.
So, despite the heated situation, it was actually clear that they got along well.
That made things go more smoothly for everyone.
"I never thought old Garen had such a deep backstory," Clara said at that moment, watching the exchange.
Lucius shook his head. "The Lakeside family isn’t his background," he replied with absolute certainty.
"No? Well, he said they’re not his family, but they treat him like one..."
"Well, then who is his family?"
"Um... maybe it’s not a prestigious family. Since he’s never said anything about it."
That was a possibility.
The problem was that old Garen had mana reserves that were excessively large for his rank.
’He must have been crippled before, which is why his rank is F. But his mana reserves remain in his body. Maybe that’s why he’s so obsessed with magical tools—since he only needs mana to use them,’ he surmised, though it wasn’t yet a certainty.
It could be that he’s simply an F-Rank anomaly, and it’s his excess mana that’s preventing him from advancing in rank.
’As long as he doesn’t interfere with my plans, I don’t care about his background.’
Lucius stepped forward and, without a second thought, cut short the argument between Jake and Garen.
"All right, enough of this nonsense. The grand opening of our Workshop is today, and every one of us here is part of the core administration. But since we don’t intend to cause a scene—because we don’t have enough strength to prove to the world that we can defend ourselves—I’m simply going to introduce you to each section of the workshop."
"No fighting, and follow me closely. Each section is carefully designed to have a small group of operators but superior efficiency."
With that, Lucius began leading the entire group and introducing them to the different sections, each serving a specific purpose.
The workshop was larger than it appeared from the outside, because the basement had also been remodeled for use.
It had many sections dedicated to the creation, restoration, and assembly of magical tools.
But most of the workshop was devoted to research, which was the main section.
Generally, a workshop is just a center for scientific research on magical tools, so this, rather than a workshop, is a small factory.
In other words, it’s self-sustaining.
The best part of the workshop was that it had been built, almost entirely, from recycled materials salvaged from the waste of large local factories.
And Lucius’s greatest feats of engineering were evident in the way he transformed basic tools into top-tier research tools. Even though they were all "rebuilt," they were as good as new.
After finishing the tour and the presentation, they gathered on the terrace that evening for a barbecue. It was a small celebration they could treat themselves to before the tournament.
Old Garen and Clara prepared the food, since Lucius had to talk to those who still had questions.
Like Joao Martinus.
He wasn’t just amazed—he was also afraid.
He was afraid of Lucius and his abilities. Afraid of whether he would be able to handle something so big.
"I think you’ll do just fine," said Lucius, approaching the terrace railing where Joao was leaning.
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