Many Players had gathered in a relatively large room of the inn Aurelius was currently staying at.
Most of them were seated, chatting among each other in low voices, while the others stood patiently.
At the center of the room was a desk. Behind it sat a red-haired woman with a stern expression and a notebook in her hands.
Every few minutes, a Player would rise and walk over to her to speak with her.
Most Players looked nervous, while the woman maintained a cold appearance that was enough to make the most cowardly among them flinch.
She would scribble something down in her notebook every time a conversation ended, before either asking these people to sit back and wait, or simply requesting that they leave.
Watching a person walk away in despair, lamenting at the cruelty of the world, one of the people seated near the back couldn’t help but lean closer to his companion.
"I told you before! This woman is not a good person! We should have never brought her with us! I knew she would trick us sooner or later!"
"Look at her! I don’t know what trick she used to get close to the Boss or how she managed to win his attention. Now, she is the one calling the shots!" he complained.
"Shh!" His companion nearly jumped upon hearing this.
"Idiot! Keep your voice low! Do you want her to hear us?"
He smacked his companion at the back of his head, nearly sending him flying.
"However, you’re right. I never expected that we would be betrayed by our own kind. By our goddess, nonetheless!"
Their conversation continued.
Their whispers became increasingly difficult to hear, but the resentment on their faces and the brief looks directed toward TheoryMaster69 showed that the topic of their conversation had remained the same.
TheoryMaster69 didn’t seem to notice them talking about her.
But as she glanced at them from the corner of her eye, her lips twitched.
It was unknown whether this stemmed from seething anger... or pure happiness!
Either way, when the two men stepped up, the prices offered for their items were significantly lower than those around them—though they had no way of knowing this.
Time slowly passed.
Before long, all the Players had stepped up and presented their items.
"Please wait while I speak to Mr. Aurelius. I’ll keep you updated." TheoryMaster69 maintained an indifferent attitude, showing none of the gentleness Players should have to their kind.
She shut her notebook and gently tapped it on the desk a couple of times before exiting the room and moving toward the upper floor.
Shortly afterward, she was standing before a handsome young man.
In a matter of minutes, the previous indifferent expression had vanished.
It had been replaced by a faint smile.
"Mr. Aurelius, I didn’t let you down. I’ve already screened the sellers, keeping track of what each of them has obtained."
As she spoke, TheoryMaster69 handed the notebook to Aurelius.
When he instinctively opened the book and flipped through the pages, Aurelius was somewhat surprised.
The information... was too detailed.
TheoryMaster69 had not only catalogued who had brought what like she claimed, but also included a column for how each item had been obtained, as well as an approximate price.
A description accompanied those, as well as the ingredients’ supposed usage.
It was clear that TheoryMaster69 had not taken her job lightly.
Aurelius quickly skimmed through these columns.
His attention soon fell on the materials these Players had brought.
His surprise instantly deepened.
Dozens of materials!
Some precious, some not.
Yet no matter their value, they were all things Aurelius had failed to find in Blood Sun City and in the northern border.
Now, they had appeared in front of him on their own, without him having to do anything.
’Is this the potential of Players?’
For a moment, Aurelius considered whether to go on a rampage and start robbing these Players of all their belongings.
These people had gathered so many of the items he had requested in only a few hours.
How much more had they obtained that he hadn’t asked?
But he soon shook his head.
’There’s no reason to ruin the personality I’ve built and my relationship with Players over such a simple thing. Although these Players might be lucky enough to obtain certain materials, I can always obtain them lawfully, needing only to expend some effort and Experience.’
’Moreover... I’m simply too kind to do a thing as lowly as robbery. I don’t want to dirty my hands. We should always resolve things amicably.’
Aurelius sighed, once again impressed by his own sense of righteousness. People like him were truly rare in this world.
... He conveniently forgot that he had only made his final decision upon remembering that Players also had a System Inventory and could thus retain most of their items even after death.
Organizing his thoughts, he glanced at the notebook one more time before raising his head to look at TheoryMaster69.
He nodded with an approving smile.
"You’ve done a good job. It seems that you weren’t boasting before. You’re truly qualified enough to become an Appraiser."
Aurelius wasn’t necessarily lying.
The identification itself had obviously been done through the system.
But appraisal was far from that simple. It required the appraiser to be knowledgeable about the material and capable of estimating its value.
Although there were some discrepancies in the proposed prices, they were all reasonable and on the cheaper side for him.
Combined with the additional information she had provided, it was obvious that TheoryMaster69 had not wasted Mia’s training.
’It’s only been a few days, and this woman has managed to become so familiar with Nova Roma. Could it be that she was born to become a Player?’ Aurelius thought and shook his head inwardly.
"I agree with the prices you’ve set," he said, handing the notebook back to her.
"Tell these gentlemen that I agree to the trades."
"As for the rest... I’ll have to depend on you again. I’ll be busy for the near future," Aurelius said, his mind wandering toward the many rewards waiting for him.
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