Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 140 A good start

In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun shines into a small single-room office of a private detective.

Claire, whose hair and eye colors had changed, covered her face with a black veil and sat upright on a reception chair, listening to the intelligence reports given by Detective Stuart, whom she hired.

"The security measures around Viscount Press are very good. There are absolutely no loopholes in his home and company."

"Even if we tracked him while he was out, our people couldn't track or monitor him for long periods of time, nor could they get close enough to monitor him. Therefore, it would be difficult to obtain information about Viscount Press's recent itinerary."

"But judging from our current observations, Viscount Press is a gentleman who loves his family. Even when he's out socializing, he never stays out overnight."

"Also..." The bearded Detective Stuart looked at Claire with a slightly amused expression, but he couldn't see the expression of the elegant woman in front of him through the veil.

Stuart chuckled and said, "We unexpectedly discovered that besides my people, there are others who are also tracking and monitoring Viscount Press. Madam, are you aware of this?"

Claire's eyes were blank. This wasn't a pretense; she truly didn't know. "I don't know."

But this incident surprised Claire. She wasn't afraid of any flaws with Viscount Press, but rather that she wouldn't be able to find any flaws. With this clue, she could even invest some time to personally capture those who were also monitoring Viscount Press and use extraordinary means to torture them for more information.

"Unfortunately, what I lack now is time." Claire sighed inwardly. She still planned to let the private detectives continue to follow up on Viscount Press's case.

At the same time, Stuart, who was sitting behind his desk, sighed and said, "Madam, I have reason to suspect that this isn't because of an emotional dispute..."

Without waiting for the other party to continue making excuses, Claire said directly, "The original reward will be doubled, but I need you to find out the identities of the other observers."

Stuart still looked hesitant: "But such a commission is very dangerous."

This time, Claire didn't continue the discussion. She stood up and made a gesture to leave.

Stuart thought Claire was bluffing; he had seen these tactics used by some employers, especially female ones.

But when he saw Claire approach the door and showed no sign of regretting, Stuart panicked. The doubled reward was a whopping 30 pounds, which was quite generous to him. He couldn't help but quickly say, "Ma'am, we are willing to continue the commission."

Claire gripped the doorknob and turned around, her cold brown eyes looking at Stuart. She pulled out a five-pound note from her handbag and placed it on the windowsill near the door. "This is the additional deposit. I hope to hear good news from you soon."

Stuart looked at the female figure disappearing outside the door, scratched his head, walked to the window and held the banknotes in his hand. He looked out through the window again, and there was no one in the corridor outside the house.

……

After walking out of the detective's office, Claire sprinkled some powder on herself in the empty corridor. As the symbolic symbols emerged in her mind, Claire's figure disappeared from the corridor.

At the corner, Claire, wearing a classical hooded robe, reappeared in the dim afterglow of the setting sun. She walked onto the street and boarded a public carriage bound for the East District.

Near the location provided by Xio, Claire put on a white raccoon mask under her hood and knocked on the door of an ordinary townhouse with a secret signal.

The crack in the door widened, revealing a petite figure behind it.

Claire showed the Red Gloves team's identity badge to the other party and said in a hoarse and gentle voice, "I am Flora."

Hugh confirmed the identification badge, opened the door, let Claire in, and introduced himself: "Hugh Dilcha. Here, you call me 'Arbitrator'. I suggest you also choose a code name."

"Arbitrator" is Xio's underground nickname in the East District. The gathering tonight was convened based on her fame, so naturally she would not change her nickname at this time.

"'Viper,'" Claire said casually.

"Viper?" Xio, who also wore a mask with black patterns, looked at the woman shrouded in a classical robe in surprise. He felt that the new member of the team beside him had a strange personality.

Xio led Claire to the inner room and confirmed, "The captain said you have the ability to identify extraordinary items. I'll leave all the identification at the party to you. Is that okay?"

In order to successfully hold this extraordinary gathering, Xio used his own name to spread the news to the extraordinary people he had known in the past or those who had come into contact with the mysterious that an "appraiser" would appear at the gathering.

If this new team member makes a mistake, all the reputation she has accumulated will collapse tonight, so Xio seems a little nervous.

"However, as long as we can successfully hold a party tonight, what we will gain will be a hen that lays golden eggs!" Xi wanted a bright prospect to relieve the pressure in his heart, but the more he thought about it, the more nervous he became.

As if sensing her unstable state of mind, Flora, the Viper beside Xio, said in a low voice, "Trust me, my dear teammate."

Flora's voice has a soothing magnetism.

Xio even felt the tension in his heart gradually subside under this sense of security.

The two walked into the inner room, where a number of visitors who had hidden their bodies in various ways had gathered.

These people saw the petite Hugh.

Someone with an impatient disposition spoke up, "'Arbitrator', can't we start yet?"

Xio stood beside Claire, suppressing his nervousness. He pulled out a pocket watch and sternly scanned the restless guests. He said loudly, "There are still five minutes until the time I agreed to meet you. If you don't want to wait, you can leave now!"

The participants who gathered at the party included not only people who knew Xiu, but also people who had heard about Xiu from various channels.

Even those people he knew before were now mostly disguised in various ways, making it difficult for Xio to identify them.

But no matter who they were, they were all patiently waiting for the gathering to begin. You know, for these wild Beyonders, attending an Beyonder gathering with an "Appraiser" was extremely difficult.

During these five minutes, two more guests came in out of hiding. When the time came to seven o'clock on time, Xio officially announced the start of the transaction.

Xiu learned the method of using the small blackboard from Mr. A and set up two blackboards in the inner classroom, one for purchases and the other for consignments.

The formal transactions took place in the small rooms nearby.

Facing the gazes of these unknown people, Xio calmly introduced himself:

"Friends who want to buy, please give me a note and I will help you hang the item on the purchase blackboard. Friends who need to consign items, do the same, just give me a note..."

"During the transaction, my partner, Miss Viper, will help you appraise the items. For any items we appraise, we'll charge you 5% of the transaction price as an appraisal fee. For any items that fail to be successfully traded, we'll charge you a fee based on the item's value."

"But at this gathering tonight, we are waiving all appraisal fees!"

As soon as Xio finished speaking, it caused a little commotion.

At this moment, a man covered in a black robe stood up and said directly, "I have a magical item here. Could Miss Viper help me identify it? I also want to use this gathering to sell this artifact."

The man in black robe did not choose to trade through the blackboard. He directly took out a matchbox from under his robe and threw it to Xio.

Claire waved, and the matchbox spun around and landed in her hands. This move startled the mysterious guests present. Claire turned her attention to the matchbox in her hand.

It is no different from any ordinary matchbox on the market, but there is only one match in the box.

Claire's spirituality covered her, and she saw the spirituality contained in the matchbox. This was a truly magical item, a magical item that integrated the extraordinary characteristics of the "Singer".

Claire replied in a hoarse voice:
"When a match is lit, immense courage will rise within the hearts of those caught in the flame. As the light shines longer, their power will increase. The longer it shines, the greater the increase in power. However, during this process, there is a chance that they will fall into a frenzy that will affect their rationality, and this probability increases with the duration of the light."

The black-robed man stared at Claire in silence, then smiled and said, "Miss Viper truly possesses the ability to identify. She was able to accurately describe the effects of my magical item without even trying it... I want this magical item in exchange for a Devil's Throat Honey heart."

The heart of the Devil's Throat Honey... This is the main ingredient for the "Assassin" Path Sequence 8 "Instigator" potion! Could this black-robed man be an "Assassin"?

Claire laughed inwardly and threw the matchbox back to the man in black robe.

But to the black-robed man's disappointment, no one present was inclined to trade.

With the demonstration of the man in black robe, although some people present suspected that the man in black robe was a stooge of "Arbitrator" and "Viper", some people began to pass notes to Xio, showing their tendency to identify and trade.

Since Xiu's external publicity this time was mainly based on "identification", many of the people who came this time brought strange objects that they were not sure about normally.

There were very few magical items among them, but in the process of identifying these items, Claire felt the "Appraiser" potion in her body being digested!

This is also the important purpose of her wanting to hold a gathering of extraordinary people!

With Claire's identification, some of the items brought by the party participants were traded.

As transactions were completed one after another in various rooms, Xio's heart finally settled down. She knew that this extraordinary gathering had won the approval of these people!

This successful gathering will be spread to more extraordinary people as these people hear about it, and is expected to gradually turn into a larger gathering of extraordinary people.

As for whether it will attract official personnel?
Hugh, holding the Church of Evernight's identity badge, now feared nothing more than the official Beyonders. If they were caught, he'd reveal his identity. At most, Captain Galadilla would have to come and retrieve him...

Compared to the official Beyonders, the malicious intent of some desperadoes required more attention from Xu.

This will test Xio's party organizing ability - how to plan a secret, safe and high-quality gathering of extraordinary people.

Of course, what gave Xio some confidence was that Captain Galadilla had said beforehand that the new team member "Flora" was strong enough to deal with Beyonders within Sequence 6.

If the opponent is more dangerous, Flora also has the means to attract the strong ones in the Church of Evernight.

This also made Xio guess that the new team member Flora might have originally been a Beyonder affiliated with the Church of Evernight!
Xio even speculated that "Viper" Flora was Captain Galadilla herself!

But as long as the party can be successfully established and he can get the share of profits agreed upon by the captain, Xio doesn't care whether the new team member Flora and the captain Galadilla are the same person.

As the transaction proceeded to its end in an orderly manner, Xio opened the note that the black-robed man had passed to her at the beginning, and it turned out to be a request for appraisal.

This made Xio stare at the black-robed man involuntarily - it seemed that the black-robed man's initial reckless behavior was actually to confirm the authenticity of Flora's identification ability.

This man in black robe actually has a magical item that is more valuable than the matchbox just now!

His purpose is to identify this artifact?

Xio led the black-robed man to a more secluded inner room, which was a place specially designated for identification after the party began.

Inside the room, Claire, dressed in a classical robe, sat cross-legged behind a low table.

Xio returned to the living room to maintain order at the party, thinking at the same time that she should add some assistants, just like the waiters at Mr. A's party. Otherwise, she would be too busy to handle it alone, and it would be a bit of a loss of her identity as the organizer of the party.

The man in black robe stayed and came to the low table.

He first knelt down, and then quickly changed his kneeling position to a cross-legged position similar to Claire.

Kneeling is a pious gesture. Is this black-robed man a devout believer in some deity? Claire concluded in her mind.

But devout believers are basically clergy of the Orthodox Church or official members of a secret organization. Such people would not go to a gathering of wild Beyonders to identify items...

Claire felt doubtful.

Across the low table, a man in a black robe placed an antique bracelet on the table and requested, "I hope Miss Viper can help me identify this item."

Claire had applied her spirituality to the bracelet, yet she was unable to accurately identify it. This meant that the extraordinary properties fused into this magical item were beyond Claire's knowledge and understanding!
But this bracelet gave her a feeling similar to the extraordinary characteristics of the "audience" path!

With Claire's current knowledge, she could identify the three sequences: Sequence 9 "Audience", Sequence 8 "Mind Reader", and Sequence 7 "Psychologist".

Is the Beyonder characteristic contained in this miraculous item in front of me of a higher order?
Claire, who had a certain amount of experience, did not see the existence of "divinity" in it, which meant that this item was most likely a fusion of Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristics.

Claire didn't know the specific names of the two sequences yet, but that didn't stop her from wanting this item. This was because the effect of this item was also very special.

"It's a kind of 'invisibility' ability that I can't quite describe. It seems to take advantage of a psychological blind spot. It's clearly there in front of others, yet they can't detect it. But once they interact with it, it's exposed."

"Also, it seems to have other abilities, but I can't identify them clearly."

"The negative effects are more obvious. They are a kind of emotional confusion. When you wear it, it will subtly and mistakenly transfer your feelings for someone or something to another person or thing."

Claire explained the findings to the black-robed man in front of her without reservation.

The black-robed man was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Thank you for your sincerity. I've always considered it a very useful invisibility tool... So this is its negative effect... I see..."

As he spoke, the black-robed man took out the matchbox and said, "I hope to exchange these two items for extraordinary materials such as the 'Heart of the Devil's Throat Honey', the 'Black Abyss Demon Fish', and the 'Agate Peacock Egg', or for 2500 gold pounds. Can you exchange or purchase them here?"

These were all Beyonder materials used when the Assassin was promoted from a low-sequence level... Claire guessed that the black-robed man in front of her couldn't be too low-sequence, meaning he wouldn't need these Beyonder materials anymore. So, if this person wanted to exchange these materials... was he going to give them to someone else?
Claire didn't delve into the story behind it. After a moment's deliberation, she said, "I'm willing to buy this bracelet for 2000 gold pounds."

"2200 pounds." The man in black robe wanted to increase the transaction price.

Claire's hoarse voice left no room for negotiation: "2000 gold pounds."

If this magical item were valued according to the Beyonder characteristics of a Sequence 6, the price would be at least 4000 gold pounds.

It wasn't that Claire was stingy and unwilling to raise the price, but her current total worth was only 2000 gold pounds... and that was all the money she earned from Audrey, plus the funds she applied for from the church for the team's activities...

Fortunately, the man in black robe did not insist too much and agreed to the transaction at a price of 2000 pounds.

(End of this chapter)