Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!-Chapter 573: Sabotage

With the mocking and clearly demeaning smirk still plastered across his face, Alex answered the old smith:

"There was supposed to be a forge in here, hmm? No such thing was mentioned to me; what do you think, Darya?"

He glanced over in Darya's direction, not a single change in his expression, with his meaning clear.

'Time for you to own up to your mistakes, girl.'

Alex mused inwardly as he waited for the old smith to reply.

Just as he had expected, the old smith turned in Darya's direction after seeing Alex so blatantly looking at her with that almost mischievous look on his face.

"A-ahh, that… errrm… I-I seem to have forgotten to provide you with one, Mr… Mr…" Darya became more and more flustered the more she talked.

In fact, nearing the end of her excuses, she realised that she hadn't even learned Alex's name!

"Alex. My name is Alex."

Alex filled in the blanks for her, but things couldn't get any worse for Darya at this point.

The old president's face gradually started to fade from curiosity and inquisitiveness as he realised what had happened now. Even a fool would be able to spot the tricks Darya had pulled simply because of her own arrogance, or simply because she disliked the young man who stood in front of him, clearly holding at least some semblance of a talent for smithing.

The old president's sharp eyes slowly drifted back toward Darya, who was shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. Her face was now as pale as a sheet of paper, having the vigor drained out of her by this sudden situation that had been brought upon her.

"So," the president spoke, in a deceptively mild tone. "You 'forgot' to provide this young, talented man, with the most essential piece of equipment required for the test? Is that right?"

Darya stiffened under the old A tier's gaze.

"I- I might have overlooked it…"

"Overlooked it?" The president's brow lifted ever so slightly at the girl's audacity to keep up this facade under his questioning despite the clearly deep shit she had gotten herself in. "A most convenient oversight, wouldn't you say, Alex?"

The old man addressed Alex this time, as he had just introduced himself, and was at the centre of this whole thing.

Alex, still wearing a mocking smirk, shrugged with feigned ignorance.

"Oh, I wouldn't know, President. I'm just a humble beginner who was told to follow instructions — except some rather important details seem to have been left out, which I couldn't have known as a beginner, of course."

Darya clenched her fists, tightening her jaw as if she was struggling to keep her temper in check. But even she wasn't foolish enough to argue any further, not when she had been caught red handed in front of the most influential blacksmith in the city.

She could see that the two of them had made a judgement already, so she knew that anything she said wouldn't change anything.

The president let out a deep sigh, shaking his head, as if to pity the young girl.

"Darya, your arrogance has cost you today. Had this boy stormed out in frustration, you might have gotten away with it. But instead, he improvised – rather brilliantly, I might add."

His gaze flicked back to Alex now.

"No forge, yet you managed to heat the iron to forging temperature. You wield flames, don't you?"

Alex stayed silent for a moment, as if contemplating whether to answer. Then, he simply smirked.

"Something like that."

The president chuckled.

"No need to play coy. I've seen all kinds of awakened abilities over the years, but few have ever used them so intuitively in forging. You may lack experience, but you clearly have both talent and adaptability."

Darya's eyes widened slightly, disbelief flickering across her face, completely taking over the frustration and embarrassment that encompassed her just moments prior.

The president was… praising him?

Sure, she watched the old guy inspecting, and even praising his work earlier, subpar as it was, but that was completely different from this situation that was taking place at the moment.

She had witnessed the old man praise many people's works over her short tenure in the blacksmith association, but she had only heard of the times he had praised the smith behind the creation themselves.

If she remembered correctly, there were only a hand full of smiths in the entire city who had received the president's praise and approval directly.

However, this just made her realise even more how much of a mistake she had made trying to mess with Alex's test.

"Normally, I would have thrown you out of the association myself if this were any other situation where you had pulled such a stunt, Darya. But this isn't any other situation… Quite ironically, if it weren't for your little mischievous actions, I wouldn't have discovered such a promising talent. So… I'll leave the decision for what to do with you down to the young man himself."

The old president shifted his gaze back to Alex, giving him time and permission to think it over.

Darya flinched, panicking. "I-I didn't mean—"

"Oh, but you did." the president interrupted smoothly, before turning his full attention to Alex.

"Young man, I am President Kovac of this city's Blacksmith Association. I'd like to express my apologies for my subordinate's rather unfortunate attempt at sabotage."

Darya looked dead inside after the president expressed himself so.

Now she knew that her fate was all but sealed now that the president had personally apologised to Alex himself.

She had royally fucked up this time.

But there was still one last hope for redemption for her.

She turned her gaze to Alex, with tears already spilling from her eyes.

"Please…"

And she begged.

Alex's face was no longer plagued with a smile, instead frowning as he looked at the pitiful girl in front of him.

A few seconds of silence passed before he made up his mind.

"I doubt this is the first time she's pulled such a thing, and I doubt it'll be the last. It's about time someone put a stop to her antics. Who knows how many potential talents she's prevented from being discovered at this point?"

His meaning was clear.

The blacksmith association was better off without a scourge like her in their ranks.