The last class of the afternoon was geography. Richard turned in his quiz early.
He slung his bookbag over his shoulder and walked out of the school gate, not bothering to queue at the bus stop.
Evelyn didn’t come out to ask him anything today. She probably went shopping with her classmates.
A Stone Griffin was perched on the gatepost. A clump of withered grass grew in a crack in its left wing, trembling slightly in the winter wind.
He turned onto the street heading south, his pace a bit faster than usual.
After unlocking the Walking Skill, a few miles was no longer much of a burden.
The air was colder than it had been a month ago, but his breathing was easy and his steps felt more powerful.
Soon, he arrived at the small alley on Grafton Street.
He pushed the door open. DING. A Copper Bell chimed.
It was warm inside the shop. The coal in the fireplace was burning brightly.
Clement was sitting behind the counter, a newspaper and a steaming cup of black tea spread out before him.
The old man lifted his eyes from over the top of the newspaper and glanced at him.
"You’re here? Right on time."
"Yeah."
Clement fumbled in a drawer under the counter, pulled out a small cloth pouch, and slid it across the countertop.
The pouch wasn’t large; it was only about the size of an egg when clenched in his fist.
Richard untied the mouth of the pouch and emptied its contents into his palm.
A seal the size of a thumbnail rolled out.
The tin-copper alloy had a dark finish, its surface covered with an uneven layer of oxidation.
The top of the seal was a flat, round grip with non-slip grooves on the side.
The face of the seal was down. He turned it over to look at it in the firelight.
Waves, three dots, a sun.
In all the various documents he had looked through, this combination of three concentric rings had never appeared.
But the Sun symbol was very familiar. He had seen it more than once.
Of course, concluding that this seal was related to the Sun Tradition based on a single Sun symbol wasn’t rigorous enough.
Sun worship was ubiquitous throughout human history, so it was perfectly normal for artifacts unearthed in the colonial regions to bear sun-like decorations.
But an Appraiser from Stuart had drawn a circle on this inconspicuous little seal.
That circle represented a "Category Two Mark," which meant an inexplicable anomaly had occurred during the standard appraisal process.
The Appraiser hadn’t written any notes, probably because the anomaly was too faint.
So faint that he wasn’t even sure himself and couldn’t be bothered to waste the ink.
But the circle itself was information.
Richard held the seal in his palm, casually turning it over a couple of times.
The panel flickered.
[Available Points: 0.63]
The number rose from 0.62 to 0.63, an increase of 0.01.
The increase was minuscule, but it was moving. The panel was reacting to the seal.
He showed no change in expression, turning the seal over and inspecting the bottom again.
Clement watched him from behind the counter.
"Well?"
"The craftsmanship is pretty crude," Richard said honestly.
Compared to the welding process used for the Oil Lamp, this seal must have been hand-cast under primitive conditions.
The alloy ratio was uneven, there were several visible air bubble pits on the surface, and the grooves on the grip were of varying depths.
"That’s true." Clement nodded in agreement.
"Most early colonial artifacts are like this. Casting conditions were limited, the raw materials were impure... it’s impressive you can even tell it was deliberately made."
He added another half cup of hot water to his tea.
"Its condition wouldn’t even get it a spot in a proper antique exhibition."
"But it has a Sun symbol," Richard said.
"It does have a Sun symbol."
The old man tapped his fingers on the counter. "To be honest, that Sun symbol is the only reason I didn’t toss it straight into the scrap pile."
"You think the Appraiser misjudged it?"
"Possibly." The old man picked up his teacup and blew on it. "Or maybe he didn’t."
He set the cup down. "Anyway, it’s only three shillings. You can buy it, take it home, study it... think of it as a bit of fun."
Richard took three shillings and five copper coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter.
Clement took the money and tore a receipt from his ledger, handing it over.
"Mr. Clement." Richard folded the receipt and put it in his pocket.
"From now on, when a new list arrives, could you give me a call regardless of the size of the items?"
"Are you sure?" The old man raised his eyebrows. "Some of the stuff is really worthless."
"That’s fine. I just want to take a look."
"Alright." Clement picked up his pen and wrote a memo in a blank space in his ledger.
"But let me give you a fair warning." He closed the ledger.
"Stuart’s clearance cycle is irregular. Sometimes a batch comes in every week or two, other times it takes a month or two.
Besides, there are always very few marked items in each batch. You’d be lucky to find even one in ten pieces of clearance stock."
"I understand," Richard nodded.
"Also, if any expensive items show up on the list in the future, I’ll tell you the price over the phone first.
You decide whether to buy it or not. Don’t feel embarrassed to say you can’t afford it."
The old man said this frankly, without any hint of charity.
Transparent pricing, independent decisions. No pressure on either side.
"Okay."
Richard tucked the small cloth pouch into his inner jacket pocket, next to the seal.
He was about to take his leave when Clement suddenly leaned forward in his chair.
"By the way, that lamp you bought last time... have you figured anything out about it?"
The question was natural. Given Clement’s position and curiosity, of course he’d want to know if a buyer had made any discoveries after taking home a marked item.
Richard already had an answer ready.
"I’ve looked at the Seal structure. It’s a textbook-level Priest’s Inscription from the Black Earth River Basin."
He selected some information that could be shared publicly. "The Inscription is very well-preserved. It was likely placed not long after the Oil Lamp was cast."
His description was limited to an external analysis, not mentioning any act of breaking the seal.
"You can read a Priest’s Inscription?"
"Just the basic framework. I can’t read the deeper content yet."
The old man didn’t say anything more.
"Alright, head on home. It’s getting dark."
Richard walked out the door. DING. The Copper Bell chimed behind him.
He quickened his pace through the alley and turned onto Grafton Street.
After walking about two hundred paces, he finally slid his right hand into his inner pocket, his fingers touching the seal.
The metal surface was cold, and the rough texture of the oxidized layer was transmitted through his fingertips.
The number on the panel was climbing slowly.
0.67... 0.72... The speed was much slower than with the Oil Lamp and the Gargoyle, but on the same order of magnitude as the copper coin he’d bought on Huayue Street.
He clutched the seal in his palm and continued walking home.
The Ether seeped out of the seal at a steady rate, with no sudden fluctuations.
This indicated that the Ether deposit structure inside was relatively simple, with no Seal controlling its release rate.
0.75... 0.79... The number was still rising, but the rate of increase was already slowing.
A tin-copper seal the size of a thumbnail would have a limited total accumulation of Ether to begin with.
0.8... 0.85...
As he walked, Richard rubbed his fingers over the concentric ring pattern on the face of the seal.
Waves, three dots, a sun.
’In the colonial regions, symbols of sea travel aren’t unusual.’
The meaning of the three small dots in the middle ring was uncertain. They could be counting marks or perhaps astrological symbols.
As for the innermost Sun symbol, regardless of whether it was related to the Sun Tradition, it at least indicated that the creator had a certain degree of reverence for Sun worship.
For now, this analysis was just speculation. Once he had the basic framework of the Ancient Greek Language down, he could check it against the new comparison chart Mr. Hutton had given him.
0.92... 0.93... The rate dropped to a very low level.
The number stopped at 0.94 for a long time.
He waited another half a minute, but the panel didn’t budge.
The Ether reserves in the seal were depleted.
Richard released his fingers and placed the seal back into his inner pocket.
The seal was almost completely drained; the remaining amount was negligible.
Available Points were frozen at 0.94.
0.06 short.
’Clement was right. How much could a tin-copper seal the size of a thumbnail really hold?’
The answer: about 0.32. It went from 0.62 to 0.94, less than half a point.
He made some quick mental calculations as he walked.
’A 0.06 deficit. But the panel isn’t a person; it won’t cut me any slack just because "it’s not much of a difference."’
He still had a few items that he hadn’t fully drained.
’First, rule out the Gargoyle.’
’That Gargoyle was a gift from my grandfather. It’s best not to drain it completely for now.’
’With the Gargoyle off the table, there are still several other items.’
’The Oil Lamp was bought from Clement with my own money. It’s my personal property, so no one will come asking questions.’
’But I’m inclined to save the Oil Lamp for last.’
’I haven’t fully deciphered the Inscription on that lamp yet. Preserving some of the original Ether deposit will be a valuable reference for future research.’
’Best not to touch it if I don’t have to.’
’So, the highest priority items are the two things I bought from Donal’s shop on Huayue Street.’
’The ancient copper coin and the Small Incense Burner. Only Donal and Vincent saw me buy them.’
’The next time I see my cousin Vincent won’t be until next year at the earliest, so it doesn’t matter if I drain them.’
’Whether I drain them dry or toss them in the sewer, it’s completely up to me.’
Richard quickened his pace, heading home.

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