historical

"Oh? Look at that young man, it looks like he's already done appraising but still wanted to stay there."

"Yeah.. He's probably just making sure. He has plenty of time to think with that duration we provided."

"He appears confident though.. Anyway, I don't recognize him. I know all the young Appraisers here in our region but this guy is a mystery. Do any of you have an idea?

"Hmm? Not really. But are you expecting something from him? Didn't he just guess most of the items? He barely lasts 10 seconds for most of the items."

Olivier, Dylan, Maurice, and Therese, the four examiners, commented after realizing that Vincent just finished appraising the items.

They are monitoring them from within the conference room using a mysterious orb that could show what was happening outside.

Each of them has an Orb they could control at will and they seem to be enjoying watching them.

Of course, they aren't just the ones watching, the guards outside also have their own ways to observe them.

"I only know five of the applicants here including the third son of the Schuman Family's Patriarch. I'm sure those five can easily get 13 points." Therese commented as she picked up her cup of tea.

Noticing that it has gone cold, she rang the bell on her table as a couple of servants came in from another room.

They immediately changed everyone's tea and even brought some snacks.

"I know one of the old men here. The one checking the 14th item, the Moondust Flute.. He was previously working at a bank.. I thought that he was already satisfied with that job. I'm sure that he can appraise at least 14 items here." Dylan commented as he observes one of the applicants.

In truth, that old man there is actually one of his close friends and he provided a little help to get him sixteen points. He wanted this friend of his to at least get one of the three positions for a Junior Appraiser!

"Is that so? I guess the world of appraisers is really small." Maurice said with a smile.

Apparently, it wasn't just Dylan who had assisted someone. Even Maurice provided help to one of his friends in exchange for money. It is also to ensure that he'll get 16 items correctly in this assessment.

As for getting a perfect score? That is just impossible, the two ancient items here were something that even Olivier, the Senior Appraiser, wasn't sure about.

There were also two more items that are very tricky to understand. So getting 16 points in total shouldn't be that bad and ensure them a spot.

"Oh~ Finally, someone's coming in." Olivier smiled after seeing that the youngest applicant was about to enter the conference room.

Everyone then stopped watching their orbs and removed the magic connected to them to turn it off. This time, it would be the guards who will be monitoring the applicants that are still in the hall.

***

Click!

As soon as Vincent entered the conference room, he saw the four examiners on their desks and an empty chair in front of them. The setting was like a job interview in his previous life. It's just that there is no resume in front of the interviewers this time.

"You're quite fast.. Are you confident?" Olivier asked as he touched his receding hairline unconsciously.

He seemed to be quite excited that a young appraiser is applying for the job but quite doubtful as well that he would pass the test.

"Yes.. I'm confident." Vincent answered as he faced the four examiners.

Since he's not in hurry to visit the Zemin Clan, he wanted to take this opportunity to increase the level of his Appraisal Skill. If he gets accepted today, he's confident that his stuck Intermediate Appraisal Skill will be upgraded to an Advanced state.

Perhaps, once he has a higher level of Appraisal Skill, he would further understand why his enhancement was failing so many times and how he could avoid it.

"Very well. First, state your name and tell us a little bit about how you became an appraiser.." Olivier asked as the three other examiners looked at him with a confused expression.

Without waiting for the three to speak, Olivier immediately added.

"What? The others are still appraising their 12th or 13th item. We have plenty of time so we can still have a little chat with him, right?" Olivier said since asking about the person's background would normally happen once they passed the first test.

It appears that he is truly interested in this young Appraiser.

Anyway, the three can only accept this since he's a Senior Appraiser that was sent from the main branch.

"Ehem.. Then I will introduce myself. I'm Vincent from Arum Village. I learned how to appraise items because of my Grandfather."

He obviously can't tell them about his system so his Grandpa Raizen has to take all the credit. Luckily, he was composed while lying so there shouldn't be any issues about it.

"Arum Village? I haven't heard of it.." Olivier muttered.

"Well, this is a large kingdom. There is no way you would recognize all the towns and villages, Senior Olivier." Maurice said as he took a sip of his tea.

"That's true.. Then, how about the woman that was with you a while ago? Is she from the same village?" Olivier asked which surprised Vincent a little bit.

He didn't expect that Tara would somehow be involved here.

"No, Sir Olivier. I only met her while I was on my way here and befriended her." Vincent promptly answered.

"Oh? Who are you talking about, Senior? Why are you interested in his companion?" Maurice asked in confusion.

"Nothing.. I just found her quite familiar. Let's forget it then. Before we start, I just want to ask, did you really identify the 19th and 20th items?" Olivier's easy-going tone suddenly changed as he asked Vincent what the other three also wanted to know.

"Yes. I'm confident about it."

Vincent answered.

When the four examiners heard it, they all went quiet as they took his answer seriously.

"Very well, introduce the nineteenth item to us.. If you really have a full understanding of those two, I'm pretty sure no one here will complain if we give you a perfect score." Therese said and as expected, the three others didn't react as they probably have the same thoughts.

Vincent couldn't help but smile after hearing it as he started introducing the Skill Book.