Leaving a message to sell the star crystals needed by "Justice" was not entirely out of fishing* intent.
Besides wanting to see if this "Justice" was indeed the one from the Tarot Club, Angel also prepared to sell off the remaining star crystals she had on hand.
The 50 grams of star crystals she received earlier when making that batch of "Storm Convergence" bullets for the Church, due to a success rate higher than expected, still had quite a lot left over. Plus, she had previously swept up low-priced goods at Tingen City's Evil Dragon Bar trading market in order to stock up. Now, although the star crystals she possessed weren't quite enough to make a full dose of "Seer" potion, they weren't far off.
If this buyer, who was said to be a generous spender, could offer a reasonable price, she didn't mind painfully parting with them.
After writing the trade information on the message board, Angel left the stuffy air of the trading market, once again passing through the first-floor bar where shouts and curses were constant, returning to the main street of the port district.
There was still quite a bit of time left before she had to head back; she planned to go meet the "Craftsman" of Enmat Port, introduced by the "Hanged Man."
———
Oak Tree District, Golden Avenue.
The Oak Tree District, adjacent to the port district, was the industrial zone of Enmat Port. Even though it was right next to the coast, during the day, the thick smoke emitted from the chimneys of various factories made this area shrouded in a gray fog that seemed to never dissipate.
Riding a hired carriage to Golden Avenue, Angel immediately saw the towering clock tower of the "God of Steam and Machinery" Church.
Hmm, maybe it's because the clouds here are especially low…
Perhaps because the workers in the Oak Tree District rarely traveled by hired carriage, the driver she was riding with was not too familiar with this area. As a result, he only dropped her off at the street entrance, rather than directly at the "Kavi Clock Shop."
Angel could only search her way along the street.
"'Gears and Wrench' General Store… 'Comrades' Home' Inn… 'Lubricating Oil' Bar…"
Passing by one shop name after another full of local flavor, just when she was about to randomly pick a shop to go in and ask, she finally spotted the "Kavi Clock Shop" sign hanging in a corner.
It was a small shop sandwiched between two exquisitely decorated storefronts. Judging by the width of the storefront, it was only about one-third the size of other street-facing shops. The narrow glass door, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, seemed like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, already stained with quite a bit of grease.
After looking up carefully to confirm the shop name was indeed correct, Angel cautiously knocked on the door.
Knock knock —
"The door's not locked."
A somewhat hoarse female voice came from inside.
She pushed the door open and went in. What came into view was a roughly thirty-square-meter shop, narrow at the front and wide at the back in a trapezoidal shape. Near the street-facing display window were two glass display cases, with a dozen or so watches and pocket watches scattered inside. A thin layer of dust had already accumulated on the surface of the cases.
On the walls extending inward and gradually widening hung wall clocks of various shapes. A roughly thirty-year-old woman wearing a dirt-resistant khaki coat was tiptoeing to take down an avant-garde-shaped wall clock, carefully squatting down to place it into a wooden box next to her.
At the end of the room was an iron door, currently tightly locked. Next to the door was a solid wood long table, with a gas lamp mounted beside it. The light was guided and focused onto the tabletop by a set of optical lenses. Sitting at the table was an elderly man with graying hair, wearing a monocle magnifier, carefully studying a pocket watch in his hand.
Looks like this must be the "Craftsman" Kavi.
Angel circled around the busy woman and walked forward. Only when the old man heard the footsteps and raised his head did she smile and ask:
"Hello, are you Mr. Kavi?"
The old man gave her a puzzled look, shook his head, reached out to adjust the monocle, and continued fiddling with the pocket watch.
What's going on… Could it be the "Hanged Man" left out some step, and I need to give a code word here?
"I'm Kavi. What do you need?"
The female voice from earlier inviting her in sounded again. Angel turned to look, and the woman who had been tidying the wall clocks had now closed up the wooden box with the packed items, clapped the dust off her hands, stood up, and spoke.
"…I'm looking for the 'Craftsman' Kavi."
The woman's face showed a smile with an unclear meaning. She stepped two paces out of the shadows, letting the gas lamp's scattered light shine on herself, and repeated: "That's right, I'm the 'Craftsman' Kavi. What do you need?"
Looks like I made a big mistake, even mistook the person I was looking for…
Angel inwardly regretted deeply, but on her face, she remained calm and continued speaking: "Sorry, I thought it was…"
"Hmph, not surprising. Many people make that mistake the first time they come."
Kavi seemed used to being overlooked by visitors and shook her head indifferently, her brown long hair swaying in waves.
"Tell me what you came for. You probably aren't here to buy a pocket watch, right?"
Seeing Kavi ignore the fact she'd mistaken the person and go straight to the point, Angel let out a breath of relief. She pulled out the box containing that strange revolver from under her cloak, unlocked the clasp in front of Kavi, and lifted the lid slightly.
The scent of blood instantly filled the entire room.
"This revolver originally had a broken hammer, already scrapped, but it seems to have produced some strange reaction when placed together with a piece of Beyonder characteristic, turning into what it is now."
Angel briefly explained, then handed the box over.
Kavi put away her self-mocking expression, her face turning serious as she took the iron box and fully opened the lid.
The large-caliber revolver Cole Granger had worn out had now turned completely jet black, even faintly shining under the light, as if the material composing it had transformed from metal into some unknown creature's carapace. The intense bloody smell was precisely being emitted from this unknown material.
Without the iron box that could isolate Beyonder properties blocking it, as if sensing the two's gazes, the aura around the revolver became almost tangible, nearly liquid-like dark red gas rapidly filled the entire box, dripping down the edges, only to disappear without a trace after moving some distance away from the revolver.
Frowning as she observed for a while, Kavi handed the box back to Angel, signaling for her to hold it steady. She herself pulled out a wooden-handled magnifying glass, and despite the overflowing bloody aura, leaned in close to the black revolver to examine it carefully.
Angel held the iron box with both hands, not daring to move.
But the gas spreading out from the box, now visible to the naked eye, gradually expanded, slowly filling her nostrils with the heavy scent of blood, as if an invisible hand was covering her mouth and nose, making even breathing difficult.
From behind came the sound of chair and table legs scraping. She turned her head slightly and saw that the old man she had mistaken for the "Craftsman" earlier had already stood up from his chair, taken off his monocle magnifier, his vigilant eyes fixed on the two of them. His right hand fumbled under the table and pulled out a double-barreled shotgun with a sawn-off barrel.
Angel instinctively wanted to draw her gun, but seeing that the old man hadn't raised the shotgun, only gripped it cautiously with the muzzle lowered, she refrained from making any rash moves.
"Alright, all clear."
The voice, like a heavenly sound, broke the tense, on-the-verge-of-eruption atmosphere in the room.
Kavi carefully put away the magnifying glass, firmly pressed down the iron box lid. The bloody scent filling the room, as well as the dark red gas gathering around the box, instantly disappeared without a trace, as if everything just now had only been the three of them's hallucination.
The armed old man's shoulders visibly relaxed. He shoved the double-barreled shotgun roughly back under the table, his lips moving, muttering something inaudible, then sat back down in his chair.
"I'll ask first just in case — are you planning to sell this magical item, or just have me identify its use and negative effects?"
Magical item!
Angel caught this key term.
According to Old Neal's mysticism class and the meager knowledge Cole had left behind, Angel knew this term referred to items that, after merging with Beyonder characteristics, possessed part or all of a characteristic's abilities — as opposed to Beyonder weapons that only imitated a small portion of abilities using spiritual materials.
Of course, their negative effects were usually far stronger than those of ordinary Beyonder weapons.
Without hesitation, she blurted out: "Just identify its use."
As if having already expected her answer, Kavi nodded.
"Alright, 100 pounds."
"What?"
Angel almost thought she had misheard, or that the other party had misheard and thought she was going to sell the item?
"I said identify!"
"That's right, that's the appraisal fee."
No longer showing the serious attitude she had when examining the magical item just now, Kavi's expression turned crafty. Seeing Angel staring wide-eyed, she laughed so hard her long hair shook nonstop.
Angel almost wanted to just pack up the box and walk away, but considering that this might be the only appraiser she could find within her social circle, she suppressed that urge.
Good thing she'd brought all her cash when leaving Tingen, or this trip really would have been for nothing…
Silently, she reached a hand into her cloak and pulled out a stack of banknotes. This was the bit over 300 pounds she had divided into different cloak pockets ahead of time, with large-denomination bills separated into ten-pound notes, grouped by ten bills each. This way, even if stolen or lost, she wouldn't lose everything.
Holding a hundred pounds in hand, she said darkly:
"You tell me first, then I pay."
"Alright, the church is right across the street. Hope you don't do anything foolish."
She's afraid I'll bolt after hearing the appraisal result? But reminding me the church is across the street — what's the point of that… Could it be she's connected to the "Church of the God of Steam and Machinery," or maybe even a believer herself…
Angel nodded to show she understood. In any case, she hadn't planned on skipping the payment, so naturally she didn't need to worry about the "church."
"This revolver should have absorbed part of a Beyonder characteristic's power, corresponding to a certain pathway's Sequence 7, that is, mid-sequence Beyonder characteristic. But this power isn't complete, and the characteristic has been somewhat polluted, so it only has two abilities."
Kavi resumed her work mode, slowly and clearly explaining the magical item's traits. Angel also held her breath, memorizing each word.
"First, it can passively enhance the attack effect of all bullets, adding flame that can harm spirits, and it works on living creatures too, with about a fifty percent boost. Each attack consumes a small amount of the user's spirituality. When the user's spirituality is insufficient, this trait automatically becomes invalid."
"Second, it can consume a large amount of the user's spirituality in one go, making the attack have powerful lethality. I estimate it boosts several times over the flame bullet effect. If you want the exact figure, do you need me to test it?"
Seeing Angel shake her head in refusal, Kavi gave an awkward laugh and continued:
"But after such an attack, it will immediately enter a negative effect state — hmm, just like just now, emitting a strong bloody smell detectable hundreds of meters away. And at that time, don't even think about using it; just holding it will make you fall into a dizzy, weak-limbed anemic state, and it won't return to normal until you provide it with enough fresh blood."
"In addition, whether or not it's in a negative effect state, when holding the weapon, you'll be more easily affected by enemy curses, with stronger effects, easier to get hit."
"Keeping it in a container that isolates spirituality, like now, can block the negative effects. But next time you use it, you'll still need to restore it to normal first. In short, you only get one chance to owe a debt."
Ending her explanation with a double meaning, Kavi reached out to take the banknotes Angel was holding, quickly counted them, stuffed them into her coat pocket, and patted them theatrically.
"Thanks for your patronage."