Translator: Kim | Editor: Darling
“Where… where the hell did you get this robe?”
“I won it in a gamble.”
“No way! Who would gamble with an imperial gift granted by the emperor?”
“Actually, there are a few of them. Hehehe.”
In fact, I was one of them. In my past life, I lost this robe in a gamble.
After he looked at the knight who came together with us, Boton shook his head. It seemed that he was trying to rip me off since I looked like a country bumpkin. However, he couldn’t do it because I came with one of the knights who’re in charge of the security in the castle.
What a bummer for him. If he sold this robe to a wealthy Blood, he would be able to make a huge sum of money which could turn his life around. Blood species were always going nuts whenever they saw these kinds of fancy outfits.
“I can’t buy this robe. Maybe you could sell it at some stores around the king’s palace.
“The thing is, I don’t have time to go to the king’s palace… Maybe I could sell it once I get to Kara?”
In Kara, I could sell this robe for sure. Kara was a large desert city on the Great Desert Trade Route. And thanks to relay trade and its abundant mineral resources, it had amassed enormous wealth which couldn’t be found in any cities that existed in human history.
Besides, there’s an old saying that even beggars wore silk in Kara.
“Yes. You would have a better chance in Kara than our king’s palace.
“I knew it. I should’ve gone to Kara. Phew, why did I even come here?”
As I clicked my tongue, the knight suddenly walked towards Boton and grabbed him by the collar.
“Tell him you’re going to buy it!”
“Sir, I don’t have enough money to buy this robe.”
“Still you have to buy it! The castle’s treasury will pay for it.”
“If that’s the case… Sure. I will buy it.”
Immediately, Boton nodded his head. He got a promise that the castle’s treasury would give him a loan. Then even this small apparel store with a small capital could buy expensive clothes.
Boton started examining the robe thoroughly. It’s such an expensive robe so he needed to look into it in depth.
“Based on the quality of this robe, how it was made, and cost for the materials being used… Also, it’s secondhand. Hmm… It would value about 350 riffs of gold.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But the most important question is whether it’s really the ceremonial robe made by Sir Rolfrane and was granted by the emperor of the Yosrahim Empire. If so, then this robe comes with a great premium because it’s a masterpiece made by one of the best garment makers. Also, you could hardly see this kind of stuff in Caligo Kingdom. You could never get these kinds of imperial gifts granted by an emperor of the enemy land unless you steal them during a war.”
“Oh, really?”
Boton didn’t care about my nonchalant answer. Instead, he paid attention to the extraordinarily large essence.
“Is some kind of magic enchanted in this robe?”
“Hmm… I’ve heard that some magics to keep it warm and sturdy have been enchanted.”
“Then it seems that magics only necessary for clothes are enchanted. So, I am curious. Those magics only require the lowest level essence but this robe has a high-level essence. I just can’t understand why.”
“Oh, that thing? The owner told me that it’s because of the look. You know, to make it fancier.”
I told him exactly what I heard from Sir Rolfrane.
Sir Rolfrane told me that the robe would look its best with a high-level essence. That’s why he took a significant amount of financial loss and put this unnecessarily high-level essence on this robe. An average apparel shopkeeper like Boton could not understand Sir Rolfrane’s intention but I could. The robe looked much better with a high-level essence. So it’s definitely worth the price. And it’s a gift from my uncle, the emperor. I didn’t pay a dime for it anyway.
But actually, it seemed such a stupid decision now. Usually, people tried to reduce the size of an essence because of the cost. They would never try to make it bigger on purpose.
“Are you really sure?”
“Yes.”
After looking over other gems and the pattern, Boton nodded his head back and forth. In fact, he’s an expert as well. With my short description, it seemed that he could understand Sir Rolfrane’s artistic passion by merely looking at the shape of the robe.
“Only gems of the right size have been used in the right place. It certainly doesn’t look like fake ones made by petty garment makers. It must be a high-grade robe for sure.”
“So how much is it?”
“As of now, it would value 710 riffs of gold.”
I made an astonished face. In my past life, I sold this robe for five riffs of gold to make gambling money. And now, Boton said it would value 710 riffs of gold. At that moment, I realized how much I muddled away my money in the past.
The knight quickly came closer to Boton and poked him in the side.
“Hey, you. Don’t you think it’s way too expensive?”
“But sir, the evaluation is not even done yet.”
“What?”
“It could cost even more. We need to evaluate its historical significance as well.”
Then he looked at me with a serious tone.
“If it’s an imperial gift granted by the emperor, it means that its original owner is not a typical person. So, the value of this robe could vary depending on its owner.”
“Like who?”
“A typical example could be the Grand Duke Cloud. If this robe belonged to the Grand Duke Cloud, the value would jump several times because it’s a historical artifact.”
The Grand Duke Cloud was a great elder of the Yosrahim Empire and his age was over one hundred and ninety right now. Technically, he’s the great-great-grandfather of my maternal great-grandfather.
And the influence of this old man over the entire continent was certainly not a joke. He was a great general who played a very significant role during the time that the small kingdom of the Yosrahim, which was located in the middle of the continent, had expanded into an empire. He’s the highest level Mind-Master and the strongest swordsman in the whole continent.
Whenever this old man showed up, the whole world trembled in fear. In fact, more than a few countries were destroyed by him.
The Kingdom of Carl, the former territory of the Grand Duke Carl’s family on the side of the Power of Darkness, had disappeared because of this old man. Moreover, the Kingdom of Rufet in the south had surrendered to him and was subjugated into the Yosrahim Empire. In the west, he completely destroyed the Kingdom of Orland as well as the Kingdom of Bitten and made their territories belong to the empire.
I smoothed down my face with regret. If I had known this, I would have asked the old man to wear this robe every time I met him at Imperial Family gatherings during the holidays. Dammit.
With sharp eyes, Boton looked through the fabrics of the robe. Then he found the phrase with the coat of arms of the Imperial Family. It read ‘As a graduation gift to my dear nephew’.
“This phrase in particular. If it’s really the robe belonged to Grand Prince Carl, one of the nephews of the emperor, I would pay at least twice as much as the Grand Duke Cloud’s robe.
Hearing such nonsense, I opened my eyes wide. I couldn’t understand my robe was more expensive than that of the Grand Duke Cloud.
“Why the hell would you pay more for the Grand Prince Carl’s robe?”
“Haven’t you heard the news? The recent death of Grand Prince Carl. He got murdered during the havoc which he wreaked in the Great Temple of Divinum.
Hearing the news? I’m the guy, you stupid retard.
“Yes, I’ve heard the news.”
“As you know, no one could ever commit such a terrible act in the holy Great Temple of Divinum. Also, he took the first-ever descended Great Saintess of Light as his hostage. Furthermore, he wreaked havoc in the Holy Land of Divium. Therefore, the Grand Prince Carl will last a long time in history as an icon of immorality. No villains worse than him will ever be born.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Anyway, if this robe really belonged to the Grand Prince Carl, it would be the most valuable robe in history. In fact, artifacts left by the great villain are more expensive than those left by the great hero. Just think about it. A cursed ceremonial robe left by such an immoral Grand Prince. What a great story itself.
I rolled my eyes. It would be worth several thousand riffs of gold if I leave a solid trace of myself on this robe. If I sell it now, I’m an idiot.
I quickly packed my bag again.
“Unpack your bag again.”
All of sudden, I could hear a shape woman’s voice from behind. While still packing my bag, I turned my head and looked around.
“Who are you…?”
She had a high hair bun vertically pinned with an ornamental hairpin and seemed to be in her late 20s. She’s also tall and had a very impressive look.
She was wearing a short black dress with a low neckline. I could clearly see her thin neck. Also, her body was totally revealed from below her large chest down to her belly button. And the top of the black stockings almost reached up to her waistline, was gorgeously decorated with a pattern of golden thread. The beautiful dress, which looked like wings of a peacock, was swept back around its lower part and reached down to her heels.
‘Wow. She’s a work of art.’
She was breathtakingly sexy. It’s another form of perfect beauty that was different from that of Shura. Her slightly raised black hair looked sharp and extremely shiny. Her skin color was as white as frost and the overall body shape was in perfect balance just like Shura.
Over her captivating black eyes, she wore purple eye makeup. Her slightly closed lips were so red that the contrast of colors between her red lips and white face skin was clearly visible. Her face was definitely a thing of beauty. But the part which got my attention was her erotic body shape. Not only was her every footstep so sexy but also her glamorous gestures and ever-changing body curves were so racy that I couldn’t even believe those were of a female human.
But it’s a little weird. On her shoulders was hung a huge black double-edged axe grabbed in one hand. I even got worried if her heels would get broken due to the weight of the axe.
She put her hand on my bag in an elegant gesture.
“Hey, what are the chances that this robe is really an artifact left by the Grand Prince Carl?”
Boton cupped his chin with his hand and then answered.
“Probably around 80-90%.”
“How come?”
“Considering the body type of this robe’s owner, he must be a well-trained person. And the Grand Prince Carl was also quite an excellent swordsman.”
“That’s it?”
“There’s something more. The knot of the golden thread is tied in the shape of a lightning bolt.”
“What about it?”
“This is the year of Manubis, the Goddess of Lightning. Right? And Grand Prince Carl also graduated from school this spring.”
She unpacked my bag and checked inside. Then she lifted a corner of her mouth slightly. The knot of the golden thread was tied in the shape of a lightning bolt which symbolized the Goddess Manubis.