This is the third journal entry I have written today
.
That feels excessive.
Even by my standards.
At the moment I am once again waiting.
Ryn is somewhere inside a warehouse.
Spathian is sitting beside me.
He has been staring at a wall for approximately twenty minutes.
I believe he is grieving.
To explain why, I should probably begin earlier.
After finishing my previous entry, Ryn eventually returned.
She was dragging Spathian by one ear.
I continue to find this visual deeply confusing.
Partly because Spathian is taller.
Mostly because he is her older brother.
Neither fact appeared relevant to Ryn.
Before we entered the building across the street, three people emerged from it.
One immediately drew my attention.
A knight.
Or at least someone wealthy enough to resemble one.
White armor.
Gold trim.
A red cloak.
A shield nearly as large as I am.
The armor looked expensive enough to purchase a respectable house.
Possibly two.
What happened next was stranger.
The knight stopped at the doorway.
Then bowed deeply toward the darkness inside.
"I'll return again, Master Shard."
A voice immediately exploded from within the building.
"DON'T COME BACK!"
A pause.
"THAT ARMOR DOESN'T SUIT YOU!"
The knight lowered his head.
Then quietly walked away.
I stared.
Ryn sighed.
Apparently the emblem on his cloak identified him as a member of Division Seven of Vaultreach Adventurer Guild.
The elite division.
The kind of people who usually appear in stories shortly before defeating monsters.
Which raised an obvious question.
Why was someone like that visiting a collapsing shack in the Outer Ring?
At the time, I assumed there was a reasonable explanation.
This assumption would not survive the next hour.
The building itself was called Shardvein Curios.
It looked less like a shop and more like a building that had survived purely through stubbornness.
The walls leaned slightly.
The sign was faded.
The windows appeared exhausted.
Inside was somehow worse.
Artifacts covered every visible surface.
Shelves.
Tables.
Chairs.
Ceiling beams.
Corners.
Several locations I strongly suspect were not intended to store artifacts.
The entire shop felt less like a business and more like an obsession that had escaped containment.
Then the door opened.
And a man sprinted toward us.
Specifically—
toward Ryn.
"My nieceeeeeee!"
His arms opened wide.
His expression radiated joy.
Ryn kicked him directly in the face.
The impact echoed throughout the shop.
The man collapsed.
Then immediately stood up again.
Still smiling.
As though this happened regularly.
Judging by Ryn's expression—
it probably did.
"Good morning, Uncle Eldrin."
So that was how I met Eldrin Shardvein.
Also known as Old Shard.
According to Ryn, he is the finest appraiser on the western continent.
According to my eyes—
he appeared to own a failing artifact store in a district famous for scams.
Spathian seemed to reach the same conclusion.
Old Shard turned out to be a former core member of Caravan Master's old expedition group.
One of Master Roderick's closest friends.
A veteran explorer who eventually settled in Vaultreach.
Which sounded impressive.
The shop did not help his case.
Eventually Ryn explained the problem.
"He doesn't understand business."
Old Shard looked offended.
"I understand business perfectly."
"No."
"I do."
"You buy artifacts."
"Correct."
"You keep artifacts."
"Correct."
"You refuse to sell artifacts."
"Incorrect."
Ryn folded her arms.
"When was the last time the right buyer arrived?"
Old Shard opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Then looked away.
The silence lingered.
Long enough to become an answer.
I decided this was an appropriate moment to present my Lucky Coin.
Because unlike everyone else present—
I possessed a genuine artifact.
Or so I believed.
I explained everything.
The warmth.
The strange feeling.
The occasional glow.
The sense that it was important.
Old Shard examined it carefully.
Turned it over several times.
Held it beneath a lamp.
Then handed it back.
"It's a coin."
I waited.
"A rare coin."
Hope appeared.
"An old coin."
Hope weakened.
"A collectible coin."
Hope began retreating.
"Not an artifact."
Hope left entirely.
I informed him this was impossible.
The coin becomes warm.
Repeatedly.
Consistently.
Old Shard looked at me.
Ryn looked at me.
Then Ryn asked:
"Where do you keep it?"
"In my pocket."
Silence.
Ryn closed her eyes.
Spathian immediately started laughing.
Not politely.
Not subtly.
The full kind.
"Thermal conductivity."
More laughter.
"The metal absorbs heat."
I remained calm.
Externally.
Internally I briefly considered throwing the coin into the Heartspike Catacombs.
For scientific reasons.
Spathian continued laughing.
Then made a mistake.
"Reine doesn't understand objects."
He reached into his bag.
"And unlike some people—"
Several spoons appeared.
The spoons.
The expensive spoons.
The spoons purchased at Mirage Market despite repeated warnings.
Old Shard examined them.
Very briefly.
Then looked directly at Spathian.
"These are garbage."
The room became quiet.
"The coin has more value than this."
Spathian froze.
Old Shard pointed at the spoons.
"Same idiot energy as Roderick."
Ryn immediately raised a hand.
"Sorry."
"I'm a Roderick."
Old Shard looked at her.
His expression softened instantly.
"My dear."
"You're different."
Spathian slowly turned.
There was genuine concern in his eyes.
"Wait."
A pause.
"So I'm the stupid Roderick?"
"Yes."
The answer arrived with remarkable confidence.
No hesitation.
No uncertainty.
No mercy.
Spathian has been emotionally absent ever since.
Eventually I returned the coin to my Infinity Bag.
That was when everything changed.
Old Shard froze.
Completely.
His eyes locked onto the bag.
His hands began shaking.
Not slightly.
Noticeably.
The sort of shaking that normally precedes either revelation or medical intervention.
"May I see that?"
I handed it over.
His fingers trembled.
He opened the bag.
Looked inside.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Looked inside longer.
Then slowly raised his head.
For the first time since meeting him—
he looked serious.
Not excited.
Not eccentric.
Not ridiculous.
Serious.
The atmosphere shifted.
Just slightly.
Enough that even Spathian stopped staring at the wall.
Old Shard looked at me.
Then at the bag.
Then at me again.
Something unreadable passed through his expression.
A memory perhaps.
Or envy.
Or both.
Then he spoke.
Very quietly.
"Reine."
"Yes?"
"Adopt me."
Silence.
I thought I misheard him.
Unfortunately I had not.
"Make me your child."
The room froze.
Old Shard never looked away from the Infinity Bag.
"I can be useful."
"I appraise artifacts."
"I can organize shelves."
"I can learn."
"I don't eat much."
Something about the absolute sincerity in his voice made the situation significantly worse.
Then Ryn kicked him in the face.
Again.
Thud.
At this point I have begun to suspect the world contains many mysteries.
Treasure Vaults.
Arcane energy.
Ancient civilizations.
The Heartspike Catacombs.
And whatever strange force keeps causing elderly men to request adoption after seeing my belongings.
I do not understand any of them.
Though admittedly—
some are more concerning than others.
Ryn has not yet returned from the warehouse.
Spathian is still staring at the wall.
The coin remains a coin.
And somehow I feel as though today became stranger the moment we entered the only building in Vaultreach that appeared least important.
I am beginning to notice this pattern.
It is rarely the impressive places that change anything.
Usually—
it is the ones everyone else already stopped looking at.
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