The letter was relatively short.
However, the message was clear.
'We strongly urge you to surrender the ring without delay. While we are prepared to offer appropriate compensation for its return, refusal to comply will inevitably lead to consequences, ones we would prefer to avoid, but are fully prepared to enact if necessary.'
This was how I'd summarize the entire letter. It was also here that I came to realize why everything had been so easy. The blacksmith...
He had been pardoned from the start.
'He most likely made a deal with them where they'd let him go in exchange for giving me this letter.'
But were things really this simple...?
Why would the Empire just hand me a letter?
Was there more to it?
'There's definitely more to it.'
I could tell that they deemed the ring on my finger far more important than fixing the relics themselves. In that regard, I also knew why.
