Two days had passed in a flash.
Today was already Friday, and it was Colin's turn for the night shift again.
But before his night duty, he had to do one thing—
That was to take the Bright Crystals he had made over the past two days and sell them on Wizard Alley in the city center.
In these two days, he had also studied a range of Magic Crystal Making, hoping to find more profitable types of magic crystals.
For magic crystals like those of the Light Brightness Skill, if one only considered the material cost and not the labor, the pure profit was mostly similar to that of the Bright Crystals.
But because they were not as commonly used as Bright Crystals, they were also harder to sell.
Aside from these trivial crystals, the selling price of higher-level magic crystals could be somewhat higher, as the raw materials remained the same, and if the making difficulty was comparable, the profits should also be higher.
However, in order to make other magic crystals, he needed to purchase the corresponding craftsmanship books first.
These books were not cheap either, with each costing at least ten Magic Stones. And he also needed to practice up to Limit Breaking to ensure a good success rate and then pursue efficiency afterward.
All this required Magic Stones and time.
After breakfast, Colin instructed Arthur to prepare the horse carriage just as before.
But as soon as he walked to the door, an unexpected reward suddenly arrived.
"Lord Colin," the Silver-armored Guard greeted solemnly.
"This is the School's reward for you."
The Guard respectfully handed over a wooden box engraved with the School's triangular symbol with both hands.
Colin realized instantly; this must be the reward for his help in uncovering that Cultist.
'I wonder what's inside... Knowledge? Magic?'
He took the wooden box with some anticipation,
and once he accepted it, the Guard bid him farewell and left.
Colin then boarded the carriage and opened the wooden box while heading towards the city center.
It wasn't any knowledge, nor was it the evasion-type auxiliary magic he had hoped for.
Upon opening it, he saw only fifty neatly stacked Magic Stones.
'The School is really quite plain and simple.'
A slight smile appeared on Colin's face.
Although these Magic Stones were ordinary and not any highly valuable secret techniques, they still constituted a gratifying reward.
After all, who would complain about having too much money?
Plus, with these 50 Magic Stones, he could just go and purchase the magic he had been eyeing last time! Combined with the Magic Stones earned from selling Bright Crystals this time, it should be enough to buy another Magic Crystal Making book.
'This way, quite a bit of time can be saved.' Colin put the Magic Stones into his purse,
and then it suddenly occurred to him:
'A month has passed, I wonder if Lap the Wizard has found any clues from the corpses of last time, or if the Cult behind it has been eradicated.'
But then he thought again,
'Logically speaking, if some clue about the Cult was found on that corpse, and if there were plans to eradicate the Cult, the Patrol Department should be the main force... But as a member of the Patrol Department, I've never heard any news.
This could either be because the Cult is too cunning for even Lap Wizard to find any clues, or perhaps it's because Lap Wizard and others are still secretly investigating and waiting to gather complete information about the Cult before striking decisively.'
But no matter which it was, it wasn't something he could worry about.
He shook his head and stopped pondering over it.
After a while, he arrived at a shop that specialized in Magic Crystals. The red banner at the door indicated that it was associated with the Chiwen Gang.
Colin stepped inside.
"My Lord, welcome to our store. What may I assist you with?" The shopkeeper was a plump, round man with a friendly face.
"I'm here to sell Magic Crystals, here are 60 Bright Crystals."
Colin took out the Bright Crystals he had prepared earlier and placed them on the counter.
He had deliberately sold only half of the Bright Crystals to avoid exposing his extraordinary crafting efficiency.
For an ordinary Intermediate Apprentice, the number of Bright Crystals they could make in a day typically ranged from 10 to 30, depending mainly on the success rate.
If they were in good condition and skilled enough, an ordinary Intermediate Apprentice could also achieve a 100 percent success rate in making Bright Crystals.
However, around 30 Magic Crystals made per day was already the limit for an ordinary Intermediate Apprentice.
But Colin had doubled that amount. If anyone investigated the number of crystals he purchased, they could easily deduce that he was not only able to make 60 Bright Crystals a day, but also with a 100 percent success rate!
If it had been just one or two more, it might not have mattered, but a difference of double was something any discerning person would find unusual.
As for switching between shops to sell the Bright Crystals,
the Wizard Alley on the island was only so big, and the Gangs were well-informed. No matter how much he switched, it would be easy for them to notice his anomaly.
Although he was a member of the Lap School, ordinary people did not dare target him.
High efficiency in making Bright Crystals wasn't a big deal.
However, these were all risks that could potentially expose Golden Paper!
...and they could be avoided with just a bit of caution.
Why wouldn't he be happy to do so?
Moreover, he suffered no losses.
Before long, the caravan would arrive. By then, he could sell all the accumulated Bright Crystals to the caravan without any impact at all.
After the shop owner finished appraising the Bright Crystals, he smoothly took out six Magic Stones and handed them to Colin.
Colin accepted them and turned toward the door to leave.
Yet as he reached the entrance, his steps faltered slightly, and he turned back to ask the owner a question.
"If I sell Bright Crystals every day, could you purchase them on a long-term basis?"
"How many would you be selling daily, sir?"
"A fixed amount of 30 each day."
The shopkeeper showed a troubled expression upon hearing this.
They had their own supply channels for Bright Crystals, and an occasional purchase of individually sold Bright Crystals was fine, but a long-term commitment was beyond his authority.
He instinctively wanted to refuse, but after seeing the silver triangular badge on Colin's chest, he hesitated before changing his reply:
"Sir, I am not in charge of this matter. Please wait a moment."
With that, he went to the back of the shop.
He must be using the Communication Witch Array to contact someone who had the authority.
Colin's expression darkened slightly, as he inexplicably recalled the experience of being refused by a shopkeeper in Wizard Territory when trying to sell Bright Crystals.
After a short while, the shopkeeper returned.
Now with a pleasant smile on his face, Colin also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the man's expression.
'It seems that it worked out.'
The next words from the shopkeeper confirmed his guess, and he no longer had to worry about the distribution of his Bright Crystals.
With everything taken care of, Colin walked out of the shop with a relaxed face.
His decision to fight to stay in the School had truly been worthwhile!
Even now, he was still enjoying the privileges and status that the School had granted him.
Feeling the wallets, which had filled back up from the sale of Magic Crystals and the School's rewards, he became eager and turned toward the shop set up by the School that sold witchcraft items!
Just moments later, he walked out holding a Magic Book,
and upon closer observation, one could vaguely make out the words "Swift Skill" written in large letters on the yellow cover.
After that, he went to buy a new book on Magic Crystal Making, and he had already decided on the type—Shadow Crystal!