Chapter 21
‘But do I really need to be hostile?’
Just nod slightly. It’s not that hard.
Just as Baeksan was about to tilt her head,
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize such an important person…”
“What’s going on here?”
Elize, coming down from the fourth floor, cut off Baeksan’s words. She frowned and flashed her golden eyes.
“You’re not trying to bully our new appraiser, are you?”
Morinus seemed quite flustered by Elize’s sudden appearance.
“Deputy Guild Master, absolutely not…”
“No, that’s not what was happening.”
Baeksan also denied it.
Morinus gave her a puzzled look, but she just found it bothersome.
However, Elize’s attitude was strange. She raised her voice with razor-sharp eyes.
“What do you mean it’s not! How dare you try to harass Mine like this!”
“N-no, that’s not it!”
“…Huh?”
“It seems everyone thinks Mine is someone who just got lucky to join Sophs.”
When Elize narrowed her eyes and looked around, several people avoided her gaze.
‘So that rumor really existed?’
Elize exhaled sharply through her nose.
“This won’t do. We need to change that perception today.”
At those words, Baeksan quietly raised her hand.
“How?”
“By having Mine and Morinus compete in appraisal.”
“What?”
Only then did she realize.
“Wait, why do we need to…”
“To see who can appraise more quickly and accurately. If Morinus wins, Mine will resign. But if Mine wins, everyone must stop viewing her with prejudice.”
“No, why would you…”
“That sounds good.”
Just as Baeksan was about to refuse, Morinus stepped forward.
“Not that I doubt you, Elize, but I’ve been questioning this young person’s qualifications anyway. This will be a good lesson.”
“Very well. We’ll begin testing Mine’s qualifications for one hour after lunch break.”
“What about business operations?”
“We’ll suspend them.”
People murmured in surprise.
“There must absolutely be no workplace bullying at Sophs. This is an important matter, so everyone should attend.”
Elize said this and turned to go back to the fourth floor.
Morinus sneered at Baeksan before heading downstairs.
Something had been quickly decided while she was standing there dumbfounded.
‘Oh no. I should…’
Baeksan belatedly ran up the stairs to catch up with Elize.
“Elize.”
“…”
Though Elize pretended not to hear and tried to climb the stairs, Baeksan grabbed her clothes.
“Elize. What is this about?”
“Hm? I’m not sure what you mean.”
Really trying to play innocent?
“Don’t tell me you just don’t want to pay me the special allowance?”
“How could that be?”
“Wow. I didn’t think you were like this…”
“That’s absolutely not my intention!”
“Huh?”
Baeksan snorted and stared intently at Elize.
Intently.
Very intently…
“Ugh… We’ve had a lot of items for appraisal lately…”
Elize couldn’t hold out and started avoiding eye contact.
‘Just as I thought.’
Sophs had contracted to pay Baeksan special allowances for each special item appraisal.
The number of cases had increased recently, which seemed to be a burden.
‘Using qualification testing as an excuse to get me to do appraisals, huh?’
It was a bit annoying, but this level was cute. At least she didn’t completely deny it.
‘Well, it’s not like I’m short on money, and she is helping keep my identity secret…’
Just as she was about to say she’d let it slide this time, Elize spoke with uncharacteristically complex emotions.
“W-well, you’re right, but that’s definitely not all.”
Hm?
“Excuse my presumption, but… since joining Sophs, you haven’t interacted with anyone except Lira and Agnes.”
“Ah…”
That’s true.
Come to think of it, besides Lira and Agnes, she only exchanged nods with the first-floor officials.
Though the mages were clinging to her, she only dealt with them occasionally.
‘Honestly, getting close to people is harder in this situation.’
Everyone already had name tags and descriptions, making them feel like game NPCs, so it wasn’t easy to see them as real people.
Elize spoke worriedly.
“Didn’t you want to live normally?”
“…Well, that’s true, but…”
“Plus, while Morinus is skilled at appraisal, he’s known for treating others poorly.”
“Ah. So you needed someone to knock him down a peg?”
“I thought if we showed your abilities, he’d quiet down, and you might also get a chance to mingle with the other appraisers…”
After finishing, Elize watched Baeksan’s reaction.
“…Would that be uncomfortable?”
Her blue eyes trembled slightly, suggesting this was really half out of concern for Baeksan.
But before she could feel touched, the system window in front of her darkened.
[Elize Barrett]
Assumes you were greatly shocked by the fall of the Rethor Baronial family and is worried about you.
65% desire for you to sign a lifetime contract with Sophs as a sage.
…Any feeling of being touched vanished.
Baeksan smiled brightly and turned around.
“Please make sure to deposit properly, Deputy Guild Master.”
“Minervina!”
“I trust you. Now I need to go eat lunch.”
“Minervinaaaa!”
* * *
The mullet roe pasta for lunch was quite tasty. In a good mood, Baeksan hummed while climbing to the second floor.
Seeing this, some appraisers whispered.
“So arrogant…”
“She needs to learn her lesson from Morinus.”
“I was already annoyed that she got in through Elize’s connection, this is perfect.”
Morinus was already there. So was Elize.
Others had arrived early too, not wanting to miss the show, filling the space densely.
“Mine…!”
“Will you be okay?”
Baeksan waved to the worried-looking Lira and Agnes before moving to the center.
A large marble table sat in the center. Today’s appraisal stage.
Once enough people gathered, Elize spoke.
“Mine is an appraiser I personally recruited. Though she didn’t go through the regular hiring process, I can say her skills are the best in Sophs.”
A soft murmur arose among the people. Only Baeksan remained unimpressed.
‘Trying to negotiate down my rate, I see.’
Elize touched a stack of boxes as tall as herself and said,
“These are items to be auctioned at the Gahasu auction. They’ve already been appraised, so we’ll know immediately which of Morinus or Mine succeeds in their appraisal.”
“Hmph. Obviously it will be me.”
“…”
“Then, here’s the first item.”
Elize snapped her fingers.
Several Sophs workers placed the topmost box on the table.
Thud…
Elize put on gloves, removed the blue seal from the box, and opened the lid.
Despite the box’s size, what came out was a small glass bottle.
Elize placed it very carefully on a cushion.
Baeksan immediately brought up the system window.
[Holy Water]
Holy water made by the divine beast Lionel Milliard using olive oil and his body.
Divine presence can be felt. Must be destroyed for smooth progress of the main quest.
The latter part was probably the system’s advice for bringing about world destruction.
Obviously, she had no intention of destroying it. That would be company property damage.
‘Wonder how normal appraisers do their appraisals though.’
Let’s watch.
Baeksan stepped back briefly to observe Morinus.
Morinus first took out a loupe. Then he examined the glass bottle from a nose-length distance, tilting his head. Then he pointed with some strange pendulum, and even sprinkled some powder.
Baeksan stepped back slightly and asked Agnes who was nearby,
“Is this normal?”
“…Usually there’s an even stricter process. He’s doing this because he can’t examine the contents right now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This is only possible because it’s Appraiser Morinus. He can sense a bit of magical power.”
Hmm.
