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CHAPTER START---
CHAPTER START---
"Have you ever considered retiring and becoming a Treasure Hunter?" Wakaba asks as he and Oberon watch the woman place the last few gems back into the large sack.
"If all I wanted was money, sure, but I need to grow as a Wizard," Oberon says as the woman silently returns to her seat and writes the final appraisal. "Besides, I walked around the bottom of the ocean for days to collect all of this, how often do you think that'll happen?"
"Good point, Treasure Hunter Guilds are a lot of things, but being consistent isn't one of them."
"Done," the woman says as she rips a page out of the notepad, folds it, and hands it over to Oberon. "The number at the top is if you decide to cash out, if you decide to store your treasure as credit with us, the second number is what you shall have. The appraisal fee only applies if you take the cash option."
Oberon opens the paper, and his jaw nearly hits the floor. He instinctively moves to show it to Wakaba, but the man looks away.
"You're a Wizard now kid, can't go showing this kind of stuff to anyone, and best to keep it to yourself. Even the people you trust can have their minds read or controlled by Magic," Wakaba says.
"Good point," Oberon says as he stares down at the numbers, more than enough money to double his current savings…and pay for a lot of books.
"Speaking of spending in-house," Wakaba says. "The listed items, we'd like to see a list of those."
"Oh, well there are hundreds of items in our possession," she says. "If you have an idea of what you're looking for then that can certainly help."
After saying this she takes out a Data Lacrima, which is a finely carved flat rectangular Lacrima from behind her desk, and places it on the table.
"Grimoires," Oberon says excitedly. "I'm interested in any and all of them–but Light Magic, Gravity Magic, and Celestial Spirit Magic are most important. And Gate Keys, for Celestial Spirits."
"Oh," she raises a brow at him. "So you're a Celestial Wizard, that is incredibly rare, only a few have access to that mysterious Magic. I won't share that information with the public, but our in-house records will be happy to know that."
"Does that mean if you find any more I'll get a call to come buy them?" Oberon asks, hopeful.
"No," she says. "This isn't normally how we operate here, all these items are meant to go to auction and there could be serious repercussions for selling them in this way. However, I happen to be friends with Wakaba, and since he did an important Job for us, my boss will be willing to overlook it, just this once."
"Oh, I see, thank you for this," Oberon says.
"Anything for Wakaba," she says, giving the man a seductive smile. "Now, I've found quite an extensive number of Grimoires, along with two Gate Keys."
"Two?!" Oberon nearly leaps out of his seat. "Can you tell which ones?"
The woman carefully reads the descriptions, "An unidentified Silver Key, priced at 320,000 Jewels," she says. "These prices are what we estimate they will sell at during the auction, which is why they will be so high compared to if you found them in the Magic Shops, after all, you are paying for the opportunity to buy first."
"Yeah, that makes sense, and what about the other key?"
"Hmm, Aries: The Ram, a Gold Key," The woman says.
Now Oberon fails to contain his excitement and begins hovering slightly, surprising her.
Wakaba grabs him and brings him back onto his seat, "Sorry about that, happens when he's in a good mood."
"Well, at alteast let me tell you the price," she says. "The Gold Key will cost you 17 Million Jewels."
Wakaba feels his heart sink to his stomach at those words, but Oberon's excitement doesn't fade in the slightest.
Instead, he closes his eyes and gently rubs his chin, considering his finances.
"Can I see the prices for the Grimoires?" Oberon asks.
"Of course," she writes them on a page and slides it over to him since she isn't allowed to give him access to the Data Lacrima.
Oberon scans it before retreating into his mind, thinking very carefully about his next move.
'17 Million, that's more than I made by turning in this treasure. Plus 320 Thousand, plus the Grimoires I want…that puts me at nearly 20 Million. And I've got some more books coming in within a week, I won't be able to afford them unless I take another job immediately.
And if the Guild doesn't have a monster-slaying Job or something that pays around that much, I'll be screwed, not that Gran will hold it against me, but I really don't want to make a habit of owing people money…damn it.'
Oberon sighs, making his decision, "Alright, I'll take both the keys and these Grimoires," he begins showing her the items he'd be purchasing.
Wakaba is beyond horrified at such an immense purchase, but puts on a stone-cold facade for the sake of female company.
After a few minutes of discussing the finer details, and Oberon withdrawing money from his Storage Cards and giving her a bank note, she waits for everything to be verified with her assistant before smiling at them.
"Your items are being brought up as we speak."
Wakaba and the woman spark up a quiet conversation, catching up since his last visit a mere two weeks ago, and Oberon takes out a small notebook and updates his finances.
Or more accurately, his lack of finances.
His borderline poverty.
After a few minutes two assistants, accompanied by four heavily armored guards push a trolley into the room, stacked high with thick books, and one of the men carefully holds a small wooden box close to his chest.
They all stand to the side while Oberon counts the Grimoires and checks their titles, ensuring these are the items he requested, and finally one of the assistants places the small box onto the desk.
The woman opens it and carefully holds the gold and silver keys.
The Gold Key has clear ram horn symmetrical designs on both ends and a ram symbol in white and red on the head.
The Silver Key, however, didn't appear much like a key at all, as instead, it had a sharp point at one end which became wider down the body of the key, ending with a fin at the other end.
"That key isn't in the book I got to identify them," Oberon says as he gives it a curious look. "Well, that's part of the adventure…"
It takes Oberon a few minutes to store the Grimoires away, and he carefully places the key onto a keyring inside the small pouch at the back of his belt.
"Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you," the woman says while shaking his hand. "And please, if you have any more business with us, be sure to ask for me directly."
"I will, and are you sure you can't give me a call if you get any more Gate Keys?"
"Sorry, but that just isn't possible unless my boss takes a liking to you, or you do a Job for us, like Wakaba," she says. "But if we need anything of that nature I'll add your name to the list of considerations."
"Thank you very much."
"Are you heading out to go shopping, or heading back to Magnolia before the trains stop?" Wakaba asks.
"Uh, I…kind of just spent all my money," Oberon rubs the back of his head nervously. "I'll probably just go window shopping in the Magic Shops here before I head back tonight, I really need to take a Job…"
Wakaba chuckles and ruffles Oberon's hair, much to the boy's annoyance, "Alright, well, I've still got some business to handle here so I'll see you back at the guild."
"Ok, good luck," Oberon says as he leaves the office, and now only Wakaba and his friend remain.
Wakaba carefully closes the door behind Oberon, and then locks it.
And by the time he looks back at the woman, her top is already on the floor, exposing her massive and firm breasts, pink nipples drawing his attention as she hastily tries to escape her skirt.
Which he is more than happy to help her with…
END CHAPTER---
Discord: discord .gg /eHuxNeZfyS [Come chat with me]
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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