The following day, people got to work before the sun did. Within moments, the workshop was a hub of activity, with everyone hard at work. Among them were the Masterbuilder and Miro, his trusted assistant.

After guiding everyone, the Masterbuilder headed towards the backroom where Shinon should be working. He had already decided to let go of the new guy, but Masterbuilder had given him an impossible task to justify throwing him out.

"I kind of feel bad for the new guy," Miro remarked, a bandana covering his blonde hair. "He had to travel this far to get admitted only for us to do him dirty."

"It isn’t like we had a choice," Masterbuilder sighed. "We can’t afford to have more workers here. It isn’t like we don’t need more workers. But with our budget... it’s impossible to feed one more soul."

The assistant nodded in agreement, his expression mirroring the Masterbuilder’s weariness.

The budget allocated for the workshop was already stretched thin, and the arrival of additional workers would only exacerbate the food and resource shortages.

They had already filed complaints and letters requesting more funds, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. As such, tough decisions had to be made to ensure the community’s survival.

"I didn’t expect the mayor, who used to be a blacksmith himself, wouldn’t help us," Miro remarked. "He used to work with you, right sir?"

"Yeah... we were good friends back then," Masterbuilder smiled as old memories reappeared in his mind. "But since he became the Mayor, he changed. Now, it’s been years since we even shared two words."

With a heavy sigh, the Masterbuilder pushed open the door to the sharpening area, expecting to find a disheartened Shinon and a pile of neglected, unsharpened blades. But what they found left them speechless.

Masterbuilder looked at the guy he had assigned to keep an eye on Shinon, only to watch him being surprised as well.

The sharpening table wasn’t in the state they had expected. Instead, it held neatly arranged stacks of blades based on their size and uses. Not only that, but the blades gleamed like never before.

Shinon was standing beside the table with a humble smile. How could he not smile when not only did he complete the task but went above and beyond his assigned role?

The Masterbuilder’s mouth hung open in stunned disbelief. This was different from the outcome he had anticipated. He approached the table and picked up a blade.

As he traced his finger on the blade’s edge, Masterbuilder realised not only had Shinon cleaned the blades, but he had improved their quality while he was at it.

"Please, carefully inspect my work, sir," Shinon said, wearing a mask of humility on his face. "I went all-out just to get this job."

"We’ll see about that!" Miro replied as he also rushed to pick up a blade to check.

At the same time, the Masterbuilder, still grappling with the shock of the unexpected success before him, began to examine the blades more closely.

But no matter how much he wanted to scrutinise Shinon’s work, he couldn’t. What Shinon accomplished wasn’t a mere improvement; it was a transformation. The weapons were now of a calibre that surpassed their previous state.

For a moment, Masterbuilder thought Shinon had replaced the blades themselves. It was the only explanation he could come up with to explain the increased quality of the blades. Fortunately, it was easy to confirm his theory.

The Masterbuilder’s gaze shifted to the back of the handle where the workshop’s emblem was engraved upon. Much to his surprise, the marks were there, confirming that these were indeed the same blades he had provided to Shinon for the test.

The Masterbuilder couldn’t believe it. The blades now held the potential to become a valuable asset to the workshop, just like Shinon. The work Shinon had done in one day, including the quality of it, alone was more than enough for him to replace a couple dozen workers, if not more.

"You’ve not only sharpened these blades, but you’ve elevated their quality," He turned to Shinon, a newfound respect in his eyes. "I must confess, I had my doubts, but you’ve proven me wrong."

"Thank you, sir. Your words of affirmation mean a lot to me," Shinon replied, ensuring his mask didn’t slip away.

From the moment Masterbuilder assigned him the task, he knew they didn’t want him there for some reason. He suspected them of conducting shady business, and they worried he would somehow spoil it.

But after talking to the man the Masterbuilder had left to keep an eye on him, Shinon realised it wasn’t anything like that. They were worried about the resources, so they didn’t want him to join their ranks.

For a moment, Shinon felt terrible that he would be the reason for innocents to suffer until he remembered that there were no innocents inside Haven’s Refuge. It was a kill-or-be-killed system, and he didn’t care whom he had to cross to achieve his goal.

Besides, if the workers weren’t confident in their abilities or were mediocre in that aspect, then they had no place inside a workshop in the first place.

That said, the Masterbuilder should’ve been glad that hiring Shinon would save many resources. After all, Shinon could do most of the work by himself, making them reduce the workforce by a few people and save even more resources.

"We could use someone with your skills," The assistant, who had been cocky before, finally spoke up. "Don’t worry, we’ll find a place for you here."

"Thank you so much!" Shinon enthusiastically replied.

Masterbuilder and Miro then left the room after informing Shinon that he was free for the rest of the day. However, once outside, the Masterbuilder’s expression turned serious.

Miro saw his expression and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Organise a competition," Masterbuilder mumbled. "Take the blades made by the new guy and ask everyone to make a blade of similar quality. They can work alone or in a group. It doesn’t matter."

He continued, "If they make something remotely noteworthy, they’ll stay. But they’ll have to look for employment elsewhere if they can’t. I’ll be judging them tomorrow morning... for now, I’ll try to meet with the Mayor and see if he could increase our budget for everyone’s sake."