Aries remained silent.
But the sound of his breathing from beneath the Red Copper Mask had clearly quickened.
"...Are you testing me?"
Richard didn’t look away.
"That’s not my intention. I’m just making the rules clear."
He glanced at the empty space where the man’s left shoulder should have been.
"Your arm was severed below the shoulder. The microcirculation on your entire left side is mostly paralyzed."
"Restoring a real hand would require Sun Traditional Grand Mastery."
"Getting a prosthetic requires a three-month wait and five hundred pounds, and even then, they might not take your case."
"Before those three months are up..."
Richard chose his words carefully, trying not to deliberately provoke him.
"If you leave those paralyzed circuits on your side unattended, they will continue to degenerate."
"This Technique of mine can’t heal your injury," he admitted, without hiding or exaggerating the truth.
"But it can keep those circuits in a constantly refreshed, active state for those three months."
"When your prosthetic is attached... the interface for the simulated circuits will be much larger than it is now."
Aries didn’t reply.
Beneath the Red Copper Mask, his rapid breathing gradually calmed.
Hecate remained silent.
But Prometheus began to question him.
"A Technique like yours has never been recorded on the market."
"In all the literature on Moon Nail branches I have read, there is no mention of a branch for ’reverse-piercing a living body.’"
When Richard heard the word "all," he mentally made another note about the man in the Red Gold Mask.
"...Did you reverse-engineer it yourself?" Prometheus asked.
"Yes."
Richard’s reply was terse.
Shadow Reversal was impossible to explain, so he simply didn’t.
"Hermes, I want this Technique."
Aries finally spoke.
"You name the price."
Richard nodded. ’This is the advantage of a seller’s market.’
He casually pointed to the pile of items spread across the center of the table.
"The ebony box, the Copper Mirror."
As he named each item, Aries, at the other end of the table, moved the corresponding object over.
"Three front canines from a Soul-Devouring Beast."
Aries picked up the three dark-red fangs and placed them neatly beside the box.
"And two Shadow Eater Scales will do."
Aries didn’t even bother to choose, simply picking the two largest scales from the outer pile and pushing them over.
He knew full well that his ability to get the prosthetic fitted and recover some of his strength was all riding on Richard’s Technique.
"Done."
As he said this, he pressed his right hand on the edge of the table.
"...But on one condition."
Richard waited for him to continue.
"While I’m practicing this Technique, if I run into any problems, you will give me three remote consultations."
"Relayed through Hecate’s Spirit Realm Messenger."
This was what Aries needed most. After buying the Technique, he needed the after-sales support to go with it.
Richard thought for a moment.
’Three remote consultations, each through a Messenger, would only cost me a little time at most.’
’I know the Technique’s own Casting rhythm, the essentials of Breath Introduction before using the Piercing Needle, and the common pitfalls of circuit rebound after consecutive use like the back of my hand.’
"Fine. Three times."
His answer was cautious.
"But it doesn’t cover anything outside the scope of ’explaining the Technique itself.’"
Aries only needed a moment to understand what he was guarding against.
Any future inquiries that used the Technique as a pretext to ask borderline questions—like his mentorship, origins, Guide, recent movements, or field locations—would be outside the scope of the three consultations.
"Fine."
Aries hadn’t planned on doing that anyway.
Richard took out a thick, neatly transcribed manual.
"That box and the Copper Mirror,"
Aries spoke up to warn him.
"I dug both of those from the ruins of an altar in the Ashen Zone. I placed a temporary Seal on them to contain them."
"But I can’t determine what’s actually inside, and there might be deeper Curses or traps."
His gaze from beneath the Red Copper Mask was fixed intently on Richard.
"Let me be clear: if anything happens to you because of these two items, I won’t be held responsible."
In truth, Aries was also a little worried Richard would back out of the deal.
But it was best to state certain things clearly beforehand. It was a matter of basic business ethics.
Richard took the ebony box and the Copper Mirror and brought them over to his side.
"It’s fine. I have my own methods of appraisal."
"I also have ways to neutralize them, so don’t worry."
At the head of the table, Hecate showed a hint of interest for the first time.
She took the initiative to ask:
"You have your own appraisal methods?"
"I do."
"Specifically?"
Richard smiled.
"Trade secret."
Beneath his Red Gold Mask, Prometheus let out a chuckle.
It was a quiet sound, muffled by the mask.
Nemesis still hadn’t spoken, but Richard could feel her staring intently at him.
’Everyone has items of unknown origin they don’t dare touch lightly.’
’The rarest talents on the entire Mysterious Side have never been Hunters or Secretive Ones.’
’It’s the Scholars—those who dare to appraise objects of unknown origin and can guarantee the Marvels themselves won’t be harmed.’
His aunt had once written at the end of a review:
"The quantity of items one possesses determines the upper limit of one’s wealth, but the ability to appraise them determines the rate at which that wealth can be realized."
By saying "trade secret," Richard had essentially hung a public sign at this very table.
The sign read: "Appraisals. Private Commissions."
Hecate didn’t press the matter further.
She merely glanced at Richard before looking away.
A few of the items from the Ashen Zone had been divided up, but most of the pile on the table remained untouched.
Aries’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.
Watching him, Richard felt that perhaps he had set his price a little too low this time.
’Still, it’s never good to push someone too hard. Best not to burn my bridges; I might need Aries’s help someday.’

Comments

Loading...