First, the Royal Guards had moved out now and then Kubrick had also left the castle? It couldn't be that the Royal Faction was trying to play the oldest trick in the book, right?

To have the defenders conspicuously exit the place of protection and create a perfect assassination scenario to lure the snakes out? Just who would be fooled by this?

Sure, Darius' mission might seem like a good excuse with its high rewards, but no one in their right mind would be confused about something like this. It was too open-handed and obvious.

The royals - and especially Kubrick - should know this. Yet they still had gone ahead with it, leading to the same question as before.

What was the Royal Faction trying to accomplish?

Seeing that he had circled back to his first question, Darius cut off his train of thought. Over-analyzing was something faux intelligent people tended to do and he had gotten rid of this nasty habit during his youth on Earth.

Whatever they had in mind, he would make sure to guard against anything that could affect his plan. That was all that really mattered to Darius. If they wanted to play their little games in the background, then they were free to do so for all he cared.

Still, Kubrick's appearance actually coincided with Darius' desire to network.

Darius smiled at the mage, replying to the older man's observation. "You could indeed say that the two of us are… unique. Nevertheless, it's both our pleasures to meet you, Sir Kubrick."

Kubrick understood the meaning of Darius' words and nodded. "Fine then. You said you could appraise items to a high degree of accuracy? Lad, if you speak the truth, you will have a boundless future."

The others also gathered around Darius to watch his appraisal. With the manager of the Treasure House here, they would be able to check if Darius lived up to his words or not.

To them, it didn't really matter. All of them used this as a welcome opportunity to network and get to know people of power, especially Kubrick.

Should Darius fail, they would give him some face and pretend as if they hadn't seen anything, yet keep his failure in mind.

Only Kubrick genuinely wanted to see whether this young man could do what he claimed. He hoped that it would provide him with an opportunity to better understand how this lad and his friend worked. They were just too bizarre to his senses, which was why he made a gaffe by asking personal questions.

Oliver Frenq saw that the group of Adepts were looking at him and smiled. He waved to one of the guards who dragged a table over. Oliver then pulled up a Bag of Holding from his waist that was similar to Foldo's, but of lower quality.

From it, he withdrew ten items. The first was a sharp sword that had a single-edged blade and an ornate guard. The second was a flute that looked to be made of pure obsidian.

The third item was a brooch made of emerald. The fourth item was a leather cowl that looked similar to what assassins would use to cover their faces. The fifth was a small bottle of blue-black liquid that bubbled dangerously.

The sixth item was a damaged scroll that looked like it had been chewed by rats. The seventh item was a fruit that looked similar to a pineapple, but with a smooth surface that was a little sticky.

The eighth item was a small key that looked unremarkable. The ninth item was a small bust of a masked woman, who looked like a pious nun that was gazing to the heavens.

The final item was a circlet that had many rubies and sapphires affixed to its band. It was honestly quite beautiful if not for the fact that it radiated a strangely menacing aura.

Darius Analyzed the ten items at a go and was not surprised to see that their relative quality was far below the 10 items Foldo had pulled out, as his Unofficial Apprentice had gained those after years of managing a huge black market.

In an orthodox shop, rare items of that caliber had a lower chance of passing through.

Darius pointed to the first item, the sharp sword. "That one is called the Blade of Alacrity. It boasts increased attack speed for its user by at least 20% with no extra cost to stamina."

Oliver nodded for Darius to continue, which meant that he was right. This made the eyes of those standing shine slightly, hoping that Darius could actually be what he had claimed to be.

Darius pointed to the second item, the flute. "That one is called the Obsidian Flute. Anyone who uses it can curse all listeners with a random affliction for 24 hours. Unfortunately, it cannot distinguish between friend and foe."

The crowd turned to Oliver again, who nodded lightly with an intrigued expression. It looked like he too was growing interested in Darius' capabilities.

Darius then faced the third item, the brooch. "This is the Emerald Brooch of Temperance. It possesses the ability to allow the user to maintain their composure in most situations. However, if used for too long, the user may forget how to feel emotions."

This time, Oliver frowned, making the crowd worried. Could it be that Darius had only gotten lucky the first few times?

Kubrick called out to Oliver. "Any problem with his assessment?"

The manager, who seemed to have been lost in his thoughts, snapped out of it and shook his head with a bitter smile. "No, he got everything right about the Brooch's function. It was his mention of the item's flaw that left me thoughtful, because we didn't notice that."

Oliver gazed at the brooch darkly. "Normally, I'd doubt Master Darius based on that alone, but I was actually the one who purchased this item. However, although the previous owner failed to mention this flaw, I'm a merchant and observation is a necessity of my trade."

"I did notice that the previous owner of the item had been stiff and very formal. Even their voice sounded lifeless and rigid, but I thought it just a quirk. Yet if we are to pair it with what Master Darius warned…"

"Then the previous person has likely been suffering the backlash from over-usage. Discovering this fault, he must have wanted to quickly sell it away to see if they could return to normal. In order to get a buyer, they… 'strategically'… chose not to mention this flaw." Jonathan concluded the assessment with a sigh.