Chapter 165: Chasing
"No, Irwin isn't able to talk to you," Balarn said calmly. Monique stood before him, hands on her hips and her eyes spitting fire.
"So it's true? He left?" she snapped, glaring at him.
Balarn was taken aback by her reaction. He had hoped to keep Irwin's absence a secret longer, but Monique had somehow figured it out. He didn't know how, but he could tell she wasn't just guessing.
"Yes. He has a mission that was too important to wait and won't be back for a long time," Balarn said, wondering if it had been Gawarn or Ichela who spoke out of line.
They were technically the only ones who knew. Well, they and Lamia, but Lamia barely spoke to anyone except for his brother. She'd been surprisingly calm when he had told her Irwin had left, but ever since that day, all she had been doing was practicing her smithing. Irwin had left her a stack of cards that made even him jealous, making her the only Smith who could still practice daily.
"Where did they go?" Monique asked.
"I can't tell you that," Balarn said as he crossed his arms and frowned at her. He had an inkling of what was going on, but even then, he was surprised by her reaction. "Is something wrong?" he asked, deciding to act dumb.
Monique stomped her feet, glaring at him again. "You know full well what position my family is in," she snapped. "There aren't enough cards or reforging missions for me to earn the money we need, and the cards I've brought back from Scour won't last us for a year! Without the income I generate, my family cannot remain here, and we'd have to use the money to return to the main family and beg for a place to stay!"
"You aren't the only ones," Balarn said, feeling for her, but no more than he did for the many other smiths who had been getting into trouble due to the Smith Guild's handling of the current situation.
"Ever since the high-ranked smiths have left, the influx of new cards has nearly dried up. Many smithing families are under pressure because of this. It's why Nimdal and his family went back to their own main family," he said, trying to be as convincing as possible.
Monique gritted her teeth, visibly reigning herself in. Balarn was glad that nobody else was there and that they were in the soundproof area because she looked ready to explode.
"I know everyone is having problems, but I can't help everyone," Monique said, gnashing her teeth for a moment before continuing." Irwin can make it so that my family doesn't have to go through the same. He is an official emerald rank smith, so his joining will lower the taxes we have to pay! The others don't have that option, but we do!"