The Strongest Curse Master

"Wait, don't tell me you plan on charging me the full price for used equipment?" Ace asked Janice, a bit appalled.

"Full price? Now, I plan on charging you twice that. You do know that Aurelian Eyes' novice crafting equipment is basically considered artifacts in both worlds' markets. Each one of them would easily fetch a fortune if auctioned. You should thank me for selling them to you for twice the price," Janice said, offended that Ace would act like a miser now of all times.

"Fuck it, charge whatever price you want, let's just get this over with," Ace hurried Janice, agreeing with her.

Aurelian Eyes' reputation in the curse crafting field did make her a legend in both the worlds, and as she claimed, the crafting equipment she used when she was getting started would indeed be considered an artifact and fetch a record price in an auction. Despite the annoyance and irritation he showed, he was in fact a little satisfied that he was able to procure such amazing equipment at a short notice. However, he could let Janice know that.

"No, I am not giving it to you anymore. If you don't appreciate them then you don't deserve them," Janice said, going back on her word, seeing that Ace didn't appreciate her crafting equipment. The reason she liked to hoard her old equipment was not because they would fetch a fortune at an auction, but because she loved them and wanted them to end up with another talented curse crafter.

"Seriously?" Ace asked, a little surprised that Janice who was known for being realistic would talk about appreciation and deservingness when it came to a bunch of crafting equipment.

"Yes. They are my babies, and I don't plan to sell them. Not to you, not to anyone," Janice said defensively, as if Ace was forcing her to sell her children to him.

"Fine, can you lend them to me until I find replacements? I need them urgently," Ace said, not bothering to argue with Janice, and instead proposed an alternative, hoping she would get on board.

"Yes, I can do that. You don't have to pay but promise me you will use them responsibly. They aren't just equipment; they are milestones of my journey in the field of crafting," Janice agreed with Ace's request to borrow her crafting equipment.

During this small conversation, Janice learned something new about herself. She learned why she would hoard the crafting materials and equipment she no longer had use for—there was more to it than she thought. It only surfaced in her heart and mind when she had to part with them. This helped her understand herself better. Turns out these crafting equipment that she believed to be moot with her current skill set were actually priceless in her mind.

"Yes. I promise you that I will use them responsibly and return them to you in the same condition as you gave them," Ace promised, knowing that his toy summons were very thorough in everything they did. They would use, handle, and maintain the crafting equipment to the best of their abilities.

"Good," Janice nodded in relief, seeing Ace playing along for once, and he sounded genuine enough. Then, she asked, "So, where do you want me to drop them? It's a huge list, and some of the equipments mentioned in here are pretty huge. Do you have some sort of lab prepared for this? I can drop the materials and equipment there."

"No, I don't have a lab for now. Let's just transfer the goods in the living room," Ace said, planning to store all the materials and equipment in Emi's storage talisman.

"It seems your storage space curse tool has a higher storage capacity than I thought. That's interesting to know, I guess," Janice exclaimed, nodding at Ace before leading him into the house to begin the transfer.

Elinor wanted to follow them inside, but turning to eye Lilith, who was enjoying herself with her undead minions, she decided otherwise. Not that she was being overprotective of Lilith, she just wanted to keep a close eye on her until she got to know her better, especially since she planned to enroll her in primary school.

Most of the cult's cannon fodder and lower rank members were illiterate, as that made them easier to control. Elinor wanted a better life than that for Lilith, so she planned to get her into school as soon as possible, only if she felt Lilith was stable enough to be around regular kids. This was also the reason why she had not made plans to bring Lilith to her old friends and school yet—she did not want to put other kids in danger while trying to help one.

If it turned out Lilith was not yet ready to mingle with society, there was always homeschooling. Elinor wanted to avoid that option if possible because for the better part of half of her life, she was homeschooled. As someone who had physically attended school and also been homeschooled, Elinor thought they both had their merits, but she preferred attending school physically over homeschooling because it would give the child a community of their own, outside of the adult and brutal version of the community, allowing the children to learn and experience things that no parent or homeschooling could ever teach.

"Hey, thanks for lending me the crafting equipment," Ace said as he walked out of the house with Janice, having procured the crafting materials and equipment he needed.

Listening to him, Elinor awakened from her contemplation and heard Ace then ask Janice, "Do you know when Delores will be back from her rounds? I need her to help me with a small errand."

"Under the current circumstances, I don't think Delores should be leaving town, not even for a minute," Janice informed Ace, implying that Delores was too important for his security detail to waste time running an errand for him.

But noticing that Ace was eager, as if the errand was very important to him, she suggested, "Tell me what errand you have? I will arrange for one of my subordinates to do it."

"Are they half as fast as Delores?" Ace asked, thinking Janice was right. Delores's presence was needed here more than ever. So, he compromised to settle for the next best thing.

"No, not even some Sky-tier curse users are half as fast as her," Janice said, a bit taken aback, thinking Ace had no idea about the prowess of an average curse user, having been surrounded by the extraordinary. It was as if he had lost touch with reality.

"Well, I guess I will have to take a loss on this one," Ace said, deciding to forgo his plan of returning to the Weasley Winery to check out the Cursed Walking Cane's wood room and loot the stolen wealth its late curse master had hidden within it.

Ace had planned to use the wood room as his lab. But the wood room was stationary; it could only be opened in one location at a time. If it were to be opened in a new location, then while transferring from the old location, it would spit out the things inside of it at the old location before moving to the new designated location.

Ace had been looking forward to checking out the loot in the wood room, but under the current circumstances, he thought it was not a good idea to leave town. He planned to recruit Delores's help, believing with her help he would be able to pull it off, but the latter was an integral part of the security system protecting the town and the Lander Estate. Her leaving the town even for a couple of minutes could prove disastrous in the current circumstances, so Ace decided to totally give up on that idea and move on preparing to make a small initial loss on this one.

"Is it important? I can lend you my teleportation curse tool," Janice offered, feeling safe within the cursed array formations covering the Lander estate. Also, because she had managed to make another sibling displacement consumable curse tool, she would just switch places with her brother if push came to shove.

"No, it's not that important," Ace said, rejecting Janice's offer, but he was moved by her generosity. After all, the teleportation curse tool was Janice's lifeline. He was touched that she was willing to let him use it.

"Guys, do you think I should admit Lilith to our family school? Kids studying there are like her, not as strong, but they are aware of the world of curses. I think it would be a better fit for her than a regular school because I don't have the heart to ask Lilith not to be herself in the presence of her classmates and friends or anyone for that matter," Elinor suddenly asked, hijacking the conversation with her fears and decisions.

"Did someone from school approach you already? It hasn't even been a day since you became her legal guardian," Janice asked, knowing this was not entirely Elinor speaking, but something else. She did not think her family would make a move so quickly.