Chapter 353 - 300: Where to Find a Magic Artisan

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Sofia weaved around the giant fish bones. She even playfully crouched down, trying to squeeze through a gap in the skeleton, but unfortunately, she was too short and couldn't make it.

"The chief had me bring them over. Chartering the boat cost me a fortune," Little John said, a bit guiltily.

He knew this Druid, Sofia, was too smart to be easily fooled, so he could only tell half the truth.

"So you're planning to sell me these Magical Beast materials?" Sofia turned to look at Little John. "I should tell you up front, the Earth and Life Church doesn't really deal in this stuff. We're not like those lunatics from the War God Church."

"No, not to sell," Little John said, immediately putting on a smile since she had brought it up herself. "Let's sit over here and talk."

After Mamadou had left, he and Uncle Musa had assembled the Teleportation Stone Ring together and successfully contacted Shire. As it turned out, the first task their chief gave them was to find a Magic Artisan who could craft Magic Items from the giant fish bones and the chameleon hide.

The task was simple in theory: just offer a high enough reward. But in practice, it was very difficult. Magic Beast Materials, especially a complete set like this, would typically attract the attention of the Kingdom Public Security Bureau. They would need to provide a legitimate source, like documentation from the Adventurer Association or a commission from a noble. People in the Black Market took orders for crafting with Magic Beast Materials, but they only handled small-time jobs. Materials this enormous would inevitably draw unwanted attention.

After visiting the only two High Level Magic Items crafting shops in Torch City, they were invariably rejected. The shopkeepers were very tactful and didn't refuse outright, but the underlying message was, 'I don't have a death wish.'

After the two of them discussed it, Little John suggested they try going through the Churches, since the Four Great Churches also had their own Magic Artisans.

So, after breakfast, Little John invited Sofia to the warehouse. Meanwhile, Uncle Musa had made himself scarce to avoid meeting her.

After breakfast, Sofia had been about to go back for a nap when Little John ruined her plans. She had been feeling very lucky that the Church hadn't given her any assignments lately, allowing her to get some extra, comfortable sleep. But this 'Number One Idiot' had to be so thoughtless as to pick this exact moment to find her.

She had already dozed off against the carriage wall on the way over. When they got out, Little John even had to discreetly gesture about the drool on her face. Luckily, Sofia was quick; with a single wipe of the back of her hand, she politely thanked the driver, who hadn't noticed a thing.

"If this is the 'amazing stuff you wanted to show me,' then are you prepared to face my wrath for waking me up?" Sofia said as she sat down, glaring at Little John.

"Of course. But you have to admit, this stuff *is* pretty amazing, right?" Little John smiled, pouring chrysanthemum tea into both their cups. "Island chrysanthemum tea. The big autumn chrysanthemums have the best flavor."

"If you don't plan on selling these materials, then why did you come to me?" Sofia picked up her cup, blew on the tea a few times, and then tried to take a sip. It was still too hot, and she couldn't help but stick her tongue out.

"Can you help me find an artisan who can craft Magic Tools?" Little John asked, his face plastered with an eager smile.

"I seem to recall there are two Magic Shops in Torch City…" Sofia looked up at Little John, and she immediately understood the meaning behind his smile. "Green Egg got his hands on all this, didn't he?"

"Green Egg?" Little John paused for a moment before it clicked. She was referring to the chief. The difference was, he knew the chief was Shire and usually called him "Boss," but the Druid across from him didn't know that. Sofia probably only knew the chief by his goblin name. "Yes. The boss told me to come and try my luck with you." ℴ

"Those Fish Bones are so big. I even tapped on them a bit just now. It looks like it must have been an Intermediate Magical Beast," Sofia said, glancing back at the skeleton. "Their goblin Race certainly runs into Magical Beasts in the forest more often than ordinary humans do."

"They may run into them more often, but these Magical Beasts are not easy to deal with," Little John chimed in at the right moment. Although he hadn't hunted these two Magical Beasts with the boss, he had heard stories of the clan's exploits.

"It would be very difficult with the strength of goblins alone, but if the Magical Beast were facing a god…" Sofia stopped mid-sentence. 'I probably shouldn't tell other people that Green Egg might be the Divine Chosen One of the Earth and Life Church,' she thought. 'It hasn't been confirmed, and ordinary people can't know about wars among gods.' She quickly changed her sentence. "But if it was Green Egg's clan they were up against, dealing with it should have been easy."

"Easy?" Little John was stunned. He thought back to what had happened with the clan before. 'Against the Heart Stealer, all the goblins were taken down in a single blow. If the Heart Stealer hadn't been weakened, if the boss hadn't happened to have an item that countered it, and if he hadn't used a devious scheme to outwit its mastermind, the goblin Race would probably be nothing but Goblin Transmuters by now. And against that Fallen Druid, everyone was thrown into a bitter struggle—Shan Xi Ao almost died. If *that* is what Sofia calls 'easy,' then I don't know what 'difficult' would even look like.'