(Manami POV)
"Here is where we store the best of our wares."
We walked past the guild staff to enter a gallery filled to the brim with what seems to be various antiques and jewellery.
I sniffed the air, sensing something a little out of place though I'm not sure what yet.
"You are looking for rings, yes?" The staff member asked.
I looked at him with distaste. This little piece of trash had been looking down on us ever since we had met him.
He might hide it behind that fake smile of his, but I've met enough people to know when one is hiding a knife behind their smile, sometimes in the literal sense.
If it wasn't for the fact that we did not want to create problems for Master, I would have at least burned half his face off just for looking at us with those disgusting eyes.
"Yes, we would like a few rings," Lian Li affirmed, giving him the same smile that he was giving us.
Keeping the fake smile plastered on his face, he led us to another corner of the room that was stacked with many different pieces of antiques balanced on top of wooden crates.
"A rather precarious way to store these valuables, don't you think?" Kiyomi pointed out.
The staff simply nodded his head, "Ah, these are just temporary. We are moving some things around so please be careful not to break anything, each of these are worth a lot of gold."
Diao Chan giggled, "We will be careful no to break anything especially expensive~"
"Very good, I shall leave you with our dear Hector over there. You want to know anything related to rings, he is your man."
Hidden behind a mountain of crates was a thin man with frizzy hair, his face seemingly locked in a permanent scowl. At the mention of his name, he tilted his head up to look at us, his scowl deepening even more before returning to do whatever he had been doing.
We made our way towards him, weaving in between the crates and antiques to avoid knocking any of them over.
"Looking for rings?" Hector asked, not even bothering to give a fake smile. "I've got storage rings, engagement rings, marriage rings and even nipple rings if you're looking for that."
Diao Chan lit up noticeably at the last part, but a quick pinch of her behind from me kept her in check.
Lian Li stepped forward, "We'll take a look at your engagement rings then."
Hector shrugged and lifted the top off one of the crates before gesturing to it, "The newest engagement rings made by the top jewelsmith of Jin city, Tiffani."
All of us went to peer inside the box, Cai Hong peeking just over the edge of the crate by standing on her toes.
The box was filled with about two dozen conical-shaped ring holders, each of them holding a pair of rings each.
I pinched one of the rings that had an amber coloured gem on it, lifting up to my eye level to inspect it.
"The gem is genuine Phoenix Opal, it takes three days to make one of these. The band itself also has small pieces of said opal fixed along the edges that glows." Hector recited in a rather disinterested tone.
"Phoenix Opal you say?" I repeated. "Aren't they supposed to be exceptionally rare?"
"Indeed. That's why it is worth six hundred gold each. Make sure not to scratch it."
I placed it back on the holder.
Lian Li picked up a ring with a red gemstone on it, "And what would this be?"
"A polished scale from a red dragon. Eight hundred gold." Hector replied instantly.
Eris snickered behind me but she managed to turn it into a cough.
Lian Li placed it back into its original location.
My ears perked up slightly when I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind.
Both Kiyomi and I turned to see the staff that guided us there carrying a vase twice his height and waddling towards us.
All of us moved aside to give him space to move through the cramped area.
But when he neared me, I felt a force push on my back, causing me to stumble forward.
"Oh noooo~" I screamed monotonously, my body crashing into the vase.
The impact caused him to drop the vase, shattering it into a million pieces on the ground.
The staff stared at the ground where the broken pieces lay before slowly turning his head to me, "That was… A vase worth a thousand gold."
I shrugged, "And?"
He pointed an accusatory finger at me, "And? Of course you have to pay up! This was supposed to be a gift to the Royal Family for the princess's coming of age as well! Do you know how much you owe the Guild now?!"
"Ufufufu~ So you were planning to send a fake vase to the Royal Family as a gift?"
"What?I… I don't know what you're talking about…"
Diao Chan sighed, "You guys are so bad at this. Is this your first time?"
Hector scowled at her, "You don't know what you're saying, girl."
"We are not idiots," Eris remarked. "Do ya think we'll believe you guys leaving several thousands of gold worth of these goods just lyin' around like that? With even less security than the room before? Got to come up with somethin' better if ya wanna fool us!"
"And also…" Lian Li pointed towards the box of rings we had been looking over.
The two turned just in time to see Cai Hong climbing back down the crate with the rings that both Lian Li and I were holding in her hands.
She looked at both of them for a moment before tossing the rings inside her mouth.
The two of them just stared at the girl crunching on the rings.
Their reactions to that were rather lacklustre since they just stared at the loli dragon chewing on two supposedly priceless rings.
Cai Hong chewed for a while before spitting out the mangled pieces of metal on the ground, "Bleh! Not yummy! Bad metal!"
"To treat these priceless things like that… I will definitely have all of you whipped and disciplined before selling you all off!"
I chuckled, "Ara? How interesting. I was about to tell you the same thing~"
My hand shot forward and grasped his head, "It seems you have underestimated a fox youkai's sense of smell. These 'antiques' do not smell old at all. In fact, they smell relatively new to me. Let's see what you're hiding, shall we?"
I activated my memory Technique, broadcasting his memory of a few hours ago into the air.
Within it, we saw the man who we met at the front gate telling him about his plan on bringing us to this place, instructing him to arrange an accident to make us indentured servants.
That was within our expectations at least. Their sudden shift in attitude back in the first sales gallery already clued us in that they were planning something sinister.
But what enraged all of us was the fact that they even decided to involve Master and blatantly called him a 'vagrant'!
Ufufufu~ We will definitely break some legs for that…
What?
They had even planned to attack him and cripple him while we were gone?!
This.
Is.
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
