Chapter 54: The Lens

Reinhard explained calmly that the second relic could determine an object’s true value and where it might sell for the best price.

Lucien froze mid-motion. "It can do what?"

"Determine the true value of an object."

"Only that?"

"It can also tell me exactly where to sell it for the highest price." Reinhard paused. "I say ’only’ like that’s a small thing. It is not a small thing."

Silence spread through the room. Archon had reappeared at some point in the last hour with a fresh cup of tea she hadn’t offered to share with anyone, and she tilted her head slightly. "That item is a financial godsend."

Lucien slowly began to smile. "You have no idea how many things in this building aren’t being sold anywhere near their real value."

"I have some idea," Reinhard said, thinking privately of a certain mislabeled record on a certain shelf that he had bitten his tongue about entirely for the sake of politeness.

Lucien brought out an artifact for a demonstration, an object Eclipse’s own specialists had struggled to properly evaluate for years, and set it on the table. A few nearby researchers stayed openly skeptical.

"He’s newly awakened," one muttered.

"And he’s already made millions," another added.

"That’s exactly why I’m suspicious," a third finished.

Reinhard didn’t argue. He simply put on the Lens and let the numbers appear. The true value, best market, and recommended buyer, and read them out loud while the researchers checked them against Eclipse’s own records. Everything lined up precisely.

One researcher stared at his screen. "We’ve had this for three years."

Another dug further into the database. "We valued it at less than half of that."

Lucien’s eyes lit up. "What do you want in exchange for this?"

"Help me find Emily’s remaining materials," Reinhard said simply.

"That’s all?"

"That’s what I need."

"You’re very straightforward," Lucien said, smiling.

"You already knew that."

A blue window appeared in the corner of his vision.

[Investment Opportunity Available.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Value: B+]

[Objective: Assist Eclipse in identifying and stating the true value of objects: 0/10.]

[Difficulty Grade: C]

[Success Probability: 30%.]

Ten objects. Every successful evaluation would strengthen his standing here, and the stronger his standing, the faster Eclipse could help him find what was left.

"I have a couple of items I want you to check," Lucien said, already heading toward the next table.

"Bring them," Reinhard said with a smile.

"Confident?" Lucien raised an eyebrow.

Reinhard nodded at the growing crowd of researchers behind him, all of them watching very intently now. "You invited me because you wanted to know what I could do." He held out his hand. "So let’s find out."

The first relic went on the table, and several researchers gathered around it at once. One folded his arms. "We’ve already appraised this."

"Three separate teams," another added.

The senior appraiser stepped forward. "Current estimated value: two point three million credits."

"That’s the relic he mentioned?" someone whispered.

"Apparently," Lucien said.

Reinhard activated the Lens, and the surface of his vision shimmered before the number appeared.

[True Value: 8.4 Million Credits.]

For a moment, nobody said anything.

"That’s impossible," one researcher said.

"You asked me to evaluate it."

The man hesitated, and Lucien smiled. "Then let’s find out."

The researchers pulled up material composition, ownership history, known buyers, and market demand, and one of them stopped scrolling mid-search. "Wait." Every head turned toward him. "The core material." He opened another database. "It’s extremely rare."

Another leaned in. "And the enchantment isn’t damaged."

The senior appraiser’s face slowly changed as understanding dawned. "We’ve been valuing this object based on what it does." He looked at Reinhard. "But its real value is in what it’s made from."

Reinhard simply nodded. "You can thank me for saving you six million credits’ worth of embarrassment." He examined his own nails. "This building has a lot of very smart people in it, and none of them thought to ask what the thing was made out of. I’m going to need everyone to sit with that for a moment."

The senior appraiser did not look like he wanted to sit with anything, but the number didn’t lie, and he said nothing.

The System flickered quietly at the edge of Reinhard’s sight.

[Investment Update.]

[Objective: Assist Eclipse in identifying and stating the true value of objects: 1/10.]

"Something?" Lucien asked, noticing him pause.

"Nothing. Just enjoying being right."

The second relic came next, a small, unremarkable black stone. "Current valuation, nine hundred thousand," a researcher said. "We’ve never found a buyer willing to pay more."

Reinhard scanned it.

[True Value: 4.7 Million Credits.]

Nobody said "impossible" this time. Instead, one of them just asked, "Why?"

The researcher turned the stone over in his hands while another checked the market. "There’s a collector in the eastern region," he said eventually.

"He paid six million for something similar last year," someone else added.

Reinhard leaned back against the table, extremely pleased with himself. "So this whole time, you’ve been sitting on a stone worth almost four million more than you thought, and nobody asked a collector across the region what he’d pay for it." He shook his head slowly, like a disappointed teacher. "It’s fine. I’m here now."

The skeptical researcher from earlier slowly unfolded his arms. "Do it again."

"That’s what I was planning," Lucien said cheerfully.

[Investment Update. 2/10.]

The third relic followed, one point eight million becoming five point six. "You people are just leaving money lying around this entire building," Reinhard said, delighted. "I could retire off your inventory mistakes alone."

The fourth went from four point two to six point one, and he didn’t even bother commenting, just made a small, satisfied sound and moved on.

The fifth jumped from three point seven to ten point two. "That one," he said, tapping the relic, "you were underselling by almost seven million. Seven. Million. I want everyone in this room to really feel that number."

After that, things moved fast. Reinhard scanned one relic after another while researchers checked every number against their own records and the market, and every single time, the numbers matched.

By the time the ninth relic arrived, nobody in the room questioned whether the Lens worked anymore. They had moved on to arguing about which relic should go next.

"Mine should go next."

"You’ve already had two go."

"Because mine are worth more."

"You don’t know that."

"That’s why he’s here."

Reinhard glanced between three researchers who had all somehow ended up holding the same relic at the same time, each with a firm grip and a set jaw. "You could just let go of it at the same rate. Simultaneously. Like a very slow, very sad tug of war."

Nobody let go.

Lucien laughed quietly beside him. "You’ve caused a problem."

"What problem?"

"Everyone suddenly wants your attention. I haven’t seen this much enthusiasm in this room since the last budget meeting, and that was because someone brought pastries."

Reinhard eyed the growing pile of relics stacking up on the table. "Then bring them one at a time, and nobody gets to bring pastries as a bribe."

A young researcher who had clearly been holding a tray of pastries behind his back for exactly this reason quietly set it down.

One of them, a nervous young man clutching a dusty pendant, finally worked up the nerve to speak. "H-Have you always been able to do this?"

"No. I found the relic recently."

"Where?"

Reinhard pointed straight up. "The sky. Sent down by the heavens, because apparently someone up there decided the world needed a man this handsome walking around with useful powers too. I don’t make the rules."

The young man stared at him, then looked at Lucien for help. Lucien offered nothing but a serene smile and a sip of his coffee, having already been through this exact conversation once.

Archon, seated nearby with her tea, simply nodded again, as though this were the third or fourth time she had heard the same explanation and found it perfectly reasonable. "The heavens have good taste."

"Thank you," Reinhard said, wounded that it had taken this long for someone to agree. "Finally, someone gets it."

"Don’t provoke the Calamity," Lucien murmured to him. "Also, I regret to inform you that ’sent down by the heavens for his own handsomeness’ is now the official record. Someone already wrote it in the incident log."

"Good."

The young man looked at Archon, nodded, looked back at Reinhard, and quietly decided that whatever was happening here was above his pay grade. He handed over his relic without another question.

"That’s her tell," Reinhard murmured to Lucien. "She believes anything the first time, and then defends it forever out of principle."

"I heard that," Archon said, without looking up from her tea.

The ninth relic came up, an object that had sat in storage for years with nobody quite sure what to make of it. Reinhard scanned it. The current valuation was low, and the true value was dramatically higher, but the real surprise was the recommended market.

"That market is currently offering a premium," a researcher said, checking twice.

Another pulled up the same listing. "He’s right."

"One more," Lucien said, and the tenth relic went on the table.

[Investment Update. 10/10.]

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[C-Rank Investment Successful.]

[Reward Calculation Complete.]

[Legendary Returns Granted.]

Reinhard’s eyes narrowed slightly.

[Legendary Reward Granted: Enhance Mana Cooking.]

[Effect: Can infuse even food that is already done cooking with one mana. The benefits can range from strengthening the body, flushing out the impurities, to even expanding one Gnosis Container. It all depends on how much mana is infused in the food and the type of food it is.]

[Additional Effect: Can create more advanced mana fusion meals that deal with better ingredients and dangerous ones.]

That’s definitely worth the legendary rating!

The next notification came.

[Additional Reward Granted: Serene Enhanced.]

[Effect: The restoration of physical injuries is significantly faster. And can now passively stabilize a person’s body for three minutes from severe injuries before it starts to get worse.]

Definitely going to need that with how things are getting.

Another notification came.

[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Five Senses.]

His senses sharpened further, on top of everything he already carried. He had been able to hear the researchers three rooms over since Aurileus, and now he could hear the pages turning inside their file folders.

Another notification came.

[Additional Reward Granted: Family Culinary Collection.]

Three recipes settled into his mind at once.

[Recipe One: Body Tempering Dish. Gradually strengthens the body and improves physical resilience.]

[Recipe Two: Mana Nourishment Dish. Improves the body’s ability to absorb and circulate mana.]

[Recipe Three: Awakener Foundation Dish. Strengthens the body’s foundation and improves recovery after training.]

His expression softened. These weren’t just meals. They were something his family could grow from. He was also going to have to tell Lily that dinner tonight came from a "family recipe" and hope nobody asked which side of the family.

[Additional Reward Granted: Body Filter Drinks ×4.]

[Effect: Removes accumulated impurities and harmful substances while improving overall physical health.]

He thought immediately of Maki and Lily. If they were going to share Emily’s burden going forward, they needed stronger bodies to carry it, and Yuna could use one too.

The next notification arrived.

[Additional Knowledge Granted: House Baal has not yet identified Reinhard Ashcroft as a significant obstacle.]

His eyes narrowed. Good. That meant they haven’t linked him to the death of the Blue Death or Collectors.

[Additional Knowledge Granted: The individuals monitoring the Ashcroft residence have been recalled.]

Reinhard went very still. The people watching his family were gone. For now. He let out a slow breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

[Additional Knowledge Granted: Repairing Emily’s legs will significantly increase the probability of success during the third-stage treatment of her Gnosis, and improve her chances of surviving the procedure.]

His expression turned serious. So her legs weren’t only about walking again. They could decide whether she survived the next stage of her recovery, which made finding the remaining materials matter even more than he had thought.

[Additional Knowledge Granted: Eclipse’s network can obscure the true purpose of your search for Emily’s recovery materials from those monitoring you.]

He let out a slow breath. That was useful, extremely useful. Eclipse wasn’t only going to help him find the materials. It could help hide why he wanted them.

Then the final reward appeared, and it looked different from the rest.

[Legendary Reward Granted: Merchant King’s Lens Enhanced.]

His eyes widened slightly.

[Merchant King’s Lens.]

[Effect: Perceives the true commercial value of objects and identifies the most advantageous market or buyer.]

[Additional Effect: Perceives the optimal use of an object.]

Optimal use. That was new. The original Lens told him what something was worth, where to sell it, and who would pay the most. Now it could tell him how the object was meant to be used.

He glanced at the pile of relics still sitting on the table and picked one up at random, mostly to test it. The value and market stayed the same, but a new line appeared beneath them.

[Optimal Use: —]

He frowned at the blank, and then his eyes drifted, purely out of scientific curiosity, to Archon’s teacup.

"Don’t," Archon said, without looking up.

"I wasn’t going to."

"You were absolutely going to scan my tea."

"I was going to scan it respectfully."

Lucien laughed so hard he had to set his own coffee down.

Reinhard looked back at the blank line on the relic in his hand, and a slow smile spread across his face.

This was going to be very, very useful.