Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 13 Divination and Loans

After Sirion stated his requirements, the hall fell silent for a brief moment. For a fleeting instant, he wondered if the materials he needed were too low-end, something these high-ranking big shots usually wouldn't bother with.

Fortunately, this silence lasted only a short while before the Psycho-Alchemist member who had proposed and promoted the assassination of Duke Negan responded:

"It is indeed a rare material. I should have some in my warehouse. If you're not in a hurry, I can keep an eye out and collect it for you. It will probably take one to two weeks."

"There just happened to be a gathering of the Psychological Alchemy Society's review committee members recently, which will involve the exchange of extraordinary materials. If you're lucky enough, you can collect all the materials in the next couple of days."

He meant to help me collect materials. Is this an attempt to win me over or a gesture of goodwill?

Even if they are all members of the Twilight Hermits, isn't he being a bit too polite? Is it because of Hermes, or because of Adam?

The "audience" was indeed very good at socializing; just one meeting completely overturned my stereotype of the president of the Psychological Alchemy Association.

Composing himself, he looked at the middle-aged gentleman two seats to his left, nodded gratefully, and then asked:

"Thank you for your help. You are a very generous and respectable gentleman."

"My need isn't urgent, whether it's a week or a month. Besides, what price would I have to pay for these materials?"

The middle-aged gentleman smiled back at him: "I would be happy to offer some assistance to such an outstanding junior as you. In particular, your politeness reminds me of the days I spent in Luen. Even now, those are still precious and wonderful memories. No, I should say they are even more precious."

He paused, then withdrew his nostalgic expression and said with a smile, "Newcomers always get a special perk. These four extraordinary materials, totaling 1000 pounds, will be given to you once I've collected them all."

"There are two ways to trade. The first is to go to several specific places and recite my name. The second is to recite the name of the chairman. We will be pulled into a special spiritual world where we can exchange goods."

"Once I have collected the materials you need, I will send you a message through the internal channels of the Twilight Hermits."

Cyril nodded seriously: "I understand."

Two sets of Sequence 9 and two sets of Sequence 8 of exceptional material can indeed be bought for £1000 without any premium.

But how could the rare "fortune teller" and "apprentice" pathways not have a premium? Plus, there's the other party's labor cost. All things considered, I did get a newbie discount in this transaction, and a really great deal at that.

The only problem is, how am I going to scrape together £1000 in a week or two? Even if I take out a bank loan, I can't borrow that much given my status...

I hope I'm not too lucky. If the other party gathers all the materials within two days, I'll not only have to take out a loan, but I'll probably also become the first "apprentice" of a part-time "thief".

.....

The next morning, Sir Ryan arrived early at 32 Wildy Street in the South Bridge area to discuss making money and borrowing money with Irving.

On the single sofa in the living room, Sirian finished the entire cup of coffee in one gulp, then let out a long sigh:

"That's roughly what happened. I accidentally joined a secret organization that I can't name, and I was lucky enough to meet someone at last night's party who took on my needs."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to gather all the main materials for 'The Diviner' and 'The Magician' in about one or two weeks. If we're unlucky, it might take a month, but if we're very lucky, it could happen today or tomorrow."

Owen sat on the sofa, pursing his lips and swallowing hard. Last night he was wondering if he had been too impulsive, handing over the potion ingredients he had worked so hard to collect without any precautions. But now he suddenly felt that he had been too malicious in his assumptions about others.

We're best friends, and I already got a good deal when we exchanged potion recipes before, so it's only right that I compensate you with a set of "Apprentice" potion ingredients, since I don't need them anyway after I decide to go down the "Diviner" path.

I just didn't expect Cyril to find the ingredients for the "Diviner's" potion so quickly. I was still thinking about which extraordinary gatherings I could attend recently.

Composing himself, he hesitated before speaking, "I should still be able to afford the materials for a Sequence 9 potion, but Sequence 8..."

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Sirion understood that the other party couldn't come up with any more money. Even though he had inherited his parents' estate, he had spent a lot of money in the past two years hanging out in various occult circles, and 600 pounds was a huge sum of money in itself.

Xi Ruien wasn't too surprised, but sighed with a hint of helplessness: "Hopefully, the person collecting materials won't be too fast, giving me some breathing room, otherwise I'll have no choice but to take out a bank loan."

Irving seemed a little worried: "600 pounds is no small amount. Even with banks, it would be very difficult for ordinary students like us to get such a large loan without a guarantor or collateral."

"Not much of the property my father left behind can be converted into cash in a short time; at most, I can help you raise around £100."

Cyril smiled and shook his head: "It's alright, we can still rob the rich to help the poor."

"Huh? Robin Hood... to help the poor?"

Irving paused for a moment, then repeated the strange word with some difficulty before suddenly realizing what it meant.

"You want to rob a bank?"

"..." Sirien shook his head in silence: "We can't take this."

"I mean, do you remember those people from the highlands?"

"Gangs have always been a major scourge in the city. By robbing them, we can make money, eliminate evil and promote good, and avoid moral and psychological pressure."

Irving swallowed hard. He was shamefully tempted. As a teenager experiencing an economic crisis, although he was disgusted by robbery, fighting gangs was a different story. This was the most common fantasy of teenagers.

Although he was tempted, he still hesitated: "That's a gang. They have a lot of people and they're armed, they might even have firearms."

"We are just the lowest level of extraordinary beings. Although we have some extraordinary abilities, we are not much different from ordinary people in essence. We will feel pain if we are punched and die if we are shot."

Cyril smiled mysteriously: "A group of people has its own way of doing things, and two people have their own methods."

"Have you forgotten my 'Apprentice' abilities, and the divination and counter-divination capabilities of your magical artifact?"

Irving paused for two seconds, then nodded happily.

With their agility and divination skills, the "apprentices" can freely and secretly enter and exit most places in the world, as long as they don't encounter armed men or get instantly killed by powerful extraordinary beings.

Thinking of this, Owen took out the crystal ball of fate again: "I'll now divine the location of those highlanders and the dangers of our operation."

As he spoke, he held the crystal ball, which emitted a deep blue halo, in both hands, closed his eyes, and muttered divination phrases that were not very clear.

After repeating it several times, his voice suddenly stopped, and the upper eyelashes of his tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, as if he had seen some images that made him uneasy.

A few minutes later, Irving, unable to contain his excitement, put down the crystal ball and said:

"I've found the stronghold of those highlanders, but only a general area. However, I don't think that'll be a problem for an 'apprentice'."

"In addition, we will encounter some dangers during the operation, but they are not fatal. This may be a side effect of the Fate Crystal Ball. I think we should prepare in advance."

Xi Ruien nodded calmly: "It's normal to be in danger. This is a dangerous thing in itself. More than the danger, I'm worried about whether those people on the plateau are so poor that we will get nothing."

"By the way, do you have a weapon?"

Owen nodded quickly: "I have a pistol that I bought at the Extraordinary Gathering, with 50 rounds of regular ammunition and 10 rounds of special ammunition."

"..." Cyril fell silent again.

...I'm actually a newbie?