Chapter 707 - Its A Good Thing, Then.

Leonel looked up, seemingly having no intention of standing from his location.

"Ah, Elder Beinala. What brings you here?" Leonel smiled lightly.

Arte stood in the middle, at a bit of a loss in what to do. He could feel that there was something off about the current atmosphere, but he had no way of understanding why that was. And, for some reason, he also found it much too awkward to try and leave at the moment. In fact... He didn't quite know how to leave, there wasn't exactly a door. He assumed that Leonel would have to send him out, but he was clearly occupied at the moment.

The room was split into several workstations and had a very open atmosphere. Usually, one would be able to choose whoever they wanted to work on their treasure, but, obviously, Jac didn't have such a thing.

Jac snapped out of his stupor, finding Leonel smiling back at him. Though he as an elder smiled back, he still felt somewhat stifled.

After being allowed in, Jac thought that he would be able to directly enter the shop's first floor and view the items. Yet, instead of that, he was sent here. Any thought he had of saying a few casual words to sow some doubt was thrown out of the window immediately.

"Ah, Leonel is it, right?"

Leonel smiled. "I'm honored that you would remember my name. Yes, I am Leonel."

"Good, good." Jac chuckled. "I was very much looking forward to seeing your shop, but have you brought me here to see repairs instead?"

"Ah, yes. You actually came at a good time. I just finished a repair for Arte, here. He was just about to test it out."

Leonel turned his gaze toward Arte. But, by now, the latter was drenched in cold sweat.

After years on a battlefield, he felt that he was somehow in the heat of another one despite the fact no one had drawn a blade.

Jac shook his head as though lamenting something terrible.

"What is it Elder, is something wrong?" Leonel asked with concern.

Jac looked up toward Leonel and sighed again.

"You might not know this because you are just a freshmen, but there are certain rules that come with owning shops. One of these rules is that outside resources cannot be used regardless of the circumstance. Whether it be the shops construction, maintenance, management, or its merchandise, it all must be the product of the student's own hand and created from the resources of Valiant Heart Mountain.

"The shops were created to promote competition amongst students, not the families that back them."

Jac sighed again. He pulled off his concerned elder face very well. However, Leonel didn't miss his emphasis on the word merchandise. It seemed that among other things, Jac seemed to believe that the Tier 7 weapons below were brought in by Leonel from outside sources.

"Oh? Really?" Leonel said somewhat stunned.

"Yes." Jac shook his head. "I can help you by not reporting this, but it will be necessary for you to take all these things down. If you donate these Ores and weapons to the elders of Foundation Peak to be repurposed into Valiant Heart's strength, this can easily be swept under the rug."

"That's good then." Leonel continued. "Considering I did all of this on my own, there shouldn't be a problem. Elder doesn't have to worry."

Jac's smile froze before he forced out a laugh.

"Don't joke around, Leonel. I am trying to help you. Even I couldn't accomplish so many things in just a single day."

"It's a good thing, then, that I'm better than you are.." Leonel replied plainly, his smile fading.