The Master of the Strange Realm

Although he looked at the pile of things with a glimmer of hope in his spare time, he still didn't see any brilliance.

Section 22 Chapter 21 The First Business

Dad just asked Jenkins to do a simple scrubbing, so it only took him an hour to complete the job. Seeing that his father hadn't come back yet, he walked to the counter, took out the photos and blank paper hidden in the book and started copying.

It was not easy at first, because those tadpole texts had to squint to identify the specific structure, and the person who took the photos was obviously not a professional photographer. The interplay of light and darkness made the stele's visibility even worse.

Not only that, but during the copying process, Jenkins' hearing seemed to be amplified. The creaking sounds in the steam pipes and the chatter and laughter of people walking outside bothered him like flies, which made it more difficult to copy the text.

It was just two lines of text, and it took five minutes to copy it the first time. Dad said it doesn’t have to be exactly the same, a general similarity is enough, but Jenkins’ results are more like the handwriting of a hospital doctor.

"Nothing seems to have changed."

He felt it for a while and found that there was no feeling of cold air flowing through his body, so he thought it was the result of not copying enough.

Ding bell~

The bell at the door rang, and Jenkins calmly put away the things at hand, and then saw a young man wearing a khaki loose coat walking in. His short brown hair was messy, and he looked a little panicked and uneasy. He lowered his head and accidentally almost hit the old copper bell in front of him.

Although dad said it was fake, he made the old ones himself.

"Hello, I'm here to sell something."

The young man came to the counter timidly, his right hand that had been placed on the inside of his shirt seemed to be about to take out something.

"It's not a pistol, is it?"

Jenkins maliciously speculated, but fortunately his luck was not that bad. It was just a rusty copper ring. The ring looked very big, enough for Jenkins' two fingers to go through.

"Please wait a moment."

Jenkins nodded politely to him and walked to the door with the book containing photos and white paper.

"Dad, the guests are here!"

He shouted, the young man was startled and almost fell down, but luckily he held on to the counter.

Seeing Jenkins looking over, an awkward smile appeared on his unhealthy pale face.

"Sub-healthy, never exposed to the sun all year round, probably still a student, not good at communicating with others. So, this is a poor student who is forced to sell valuable items at a low price to make a living?"

Jenkins guessed.

Dad came out of the warehouse soon. He nodded to Jenkins, took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on. Then go around to the counter.

Taking advantage of this moment, Jenkins immediately opened the Eye of True Seeing, and then discovered that there was a faint red light on the ring.

Fortunately, he was standing behind Dad, and the pale customer's attention was entirely on the ring, so his expression was not noticed.

"Please wait......"

The father carefully picked up the ring and said to the somewhat embarrassed young man. Then he took off his glasses, held the ring in front of him and observed it carefully.

It was just like that at first, but then Jenkins saw a white spot in front of him suddenly glow.

"I see. Is this why Father Oliver is in charge of this place? I just don't know if this is a basic ability provided by the church, or if it's an ability that Father got from nowhere."

As he thought about it, he continued to look in silence. After the ability was activated, his father hesitated for a moment, and it seemed that he had discovered something.

"It can be regarded as an antique." He said simply, "But the year may be slightly younger. Judging from the casting method of the ring itself, it is something from the early days of the establishment of the Kingdom of Fidictry. This ring looks a bit larger. It is impossible for ordinary people to have such thick fingers, so it was specially made for a specific person. Unfortunately, there is no identification mark on the ring, so I can only judge that its first owner was a century old. To be honest, if you can prove that this is a relic of a noble, I can offer you a price of more than 10 pounds."

"Yes, sir."

The young man smiled miserably.

"This is something left by our ancestor. It is said that he was indeed a blacksmith. It is not very valuable, but the art college will have to pay tuition fees soon, so..."

This person seemed to be very poor at talking, and he revealed his true identity in just one sentence. Of course, that's assuming he's telling the truth.

"One pound."

Dad thought for a moment and put the ring back on the wooden table.

"Sir, can you add a little more..."

"I am a believer in [Heritage Sage], and I only give you this price because of your status as a student."

The father's eyes were sharp, and the young man took a step back with an embarrassed look on his face. He hesitated for a moment and nodded, and his father quickly pulled out a large black wallet from his arms and counted out a banknote skillfully.

"Thanks."

"Welcome to Dad's Antique Shop again."

After the young man accepted the money, he immediately turned around and left without looking back. Jenkins didn't even have a chance to learn his name.

After the bell rang again, the young man left completely. Dad shook his head and smiled, took out a red lacquered wooden box from the counter, and carefully placed the ring in the velvet lining.

"We got really lucky."

He closed the box carefully and took out a white note to write something on.

"Sir, is this...?"

Jenkins once again demonstrated his self-taught acting skills, accurately controlling the surprise on his face.

"Yes."

Dad wrote the note and then stood it on the box with the kind of expensive glue that cost 8 pence a bottle. This kind of glue Jenkins could only remember seeing used by Newman Willamt when he was in college.

"Usually I might not be able to collect one in a week, but I didn't expect to encounter it as soon as I opened the door this time."

Seeing that Jenkins was still a little confused, he continued: "I can only identify whether this is a mortal thing. Next, it will be sent to the church. Our job is just to buy it."

"Will the church reimburse the 1 pound just now?"

"Of course." Dad smiled meaningfully, "Not only that, after the church appraises it, it will give it to us as a reward in cash according to one-tenth of the estimated value of the item. I rely on This is the art of eating.”

"us?"

He vaguely guessed something.

"Yes, little apprentice, Father Oliver is not a stingy person. Although you are just watching this business, I will still give you a quarter of the money after three or four weeks. You can move out and be independent. The life plan should be realized within half a year.”

Section 23 Chapter 22 Flower Girl

Jenkins was naturally overjoyed. He didn't expect that there was such a good thing here. He only had to do one thing to get three salaries from church, apprenticeship, and acquisition commission, and he could also study for free. I'm afraid, even the "craft" job that Old William took advantage of to find for Jenkins, it can't compare to one-tenth of the job here.

"Is the 1 gold pound that the young man got just now its antique value?"

Jenkins hasn't gotten over it yet.

"Do you think dad was too harsh and didn't show more consideration to the young man just now?"

he asked rhetorically.

Jenkins waved immediately.

"Of course not. I know that the better a storyteller is, the more fake the things he sells will be. I just want to know more about antiques."

"You still know this?"

Dad showed a slightly strange expression.

"Yes, my family used to run a small store, and my father would also buy some second-hand goods. I heard what he said."

In fact, I saw it from a previous life novel.

"That's right. The young man may really be a student, but this thing is definitely not a family heirloom. When he left, he didn't even take another look at the ring, which is enough to show that he was just eager to get rid of such a thing. So From what I've seen, this is probably rubbish he found somewhere to try his luck, or it's simply stolen goods."

Jenkins opened his mouth but did not refute. This era was definitely not as glorious as he had seen. I don’t know how much crime and darkness is hidden in the slums and sewers. Gangsters and killers are the keywords of this era. And he was just lucky enough to have a good identity.

"As for the value of the antique, if I were to appraise it, it would only be worth 2 pounds. What I just appraised is all true." Dad laughed.

"So, you still made a pound."

Jenkins complained in his mind, but didn't think there was anything wrong with this kind of thing. Dad's Antique Shop is a legitimate antique shop on the surface. If it didn't do business according to the rules, its true role would have been discovered long ago.

The rest of the morning was just as his father said, and there were not many guests. Jenkins carefully copied the Tadpole essay a hundred times, but he felt dizzy and even retched a few times.

Dad said that this was a normal situation. He laughed at the [End of Death] church's method of accumulating souls at a low level. They followed some weird method to get close to the corpse and understand death. That was the way to truly suffer.

Jenkins didn't feel the effect of this because he was not sensitive to spirits. After using the ability many times for a few months, I got used to the spirit flowing through my body, and I could feel the subtle flow of air even when I was just copying a word.

After lunch, there was a half-hour break. Father Oliver first tested Jenkins' historical knowledge. After discovering that it was a complete mess, he could only let him read a book first and understand common sense and nouns before practicing.

"At least you can read."

Father Oliver stood in front of the counter and muttered softly, making Jenkins beside him feel embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

"It's all the original owner's fault!"

The day passed so peacefully. My father did not involve Jenkins in dealing with the ring, but when he left, he gave him a few history books to read home.

"You also know about that big octopus, so go home quickly."

When Jenkins was about to step out of the store, his father reminded him behind him, and then he remembered that there was such a thing.

In Nolan City at the end of July, it gets dark later. Jenkins' home is in the west, and to the east is the chaotic dock area. Both his family and his father have told him not to go near there unless there is nothing wrong, because only the dock area is worse than the slums in terms of public security in Nolan City.

Because he was worried that he would bump into the octopus again if he returned home late, he still decided to take the carriage home. In order not to be looked down upon by the coachman this time, he adjusted his more mature clothes and tried to pretend to be a middle-class gentleman who had just gotten off work. Then he walked with a book under his arm to the intersection of Fifth Queen Avenue, where several carriages were stopped. , the coachman was about to hang out the kerosene lamp.

"Sir, would you like to buy a bouquet of flowers?"

A timid voice came from beside him. Jenkins turned his head and saw a shabby little girl standing at the entrance of the alley next to him. She looked no more than ten years old, with an undelicate face. Her dark blonde hair was simply tied into a big braid and hung down behind her. The shoes on her feet showed her toes.

"Anyway, I have money now. I'll buy a bunch and take it home to celebrate."

Jenkins thought as he walked over with a smile, but of course, he didn't go into the alley. In this era, as long as you walk on the main road, ordinary gangsters and hooligans will never dare to cause trouble, but the alleys that are densely packed with filth are places that the police cannot reach.

"Okay, what flowers do you have here, how much is a bunch?"

Jenkins asked cheerfully, and the girl immediately smiled, then lowered her head and took out a white flower with a 3-inch long green branch from the small basket. It seemed to be a subspecies of windmill chrysanthemum, but it was still beautiful.

"Sir, two pence for three flowers"

"I want a red one, but that's fine too."

Thinking so, Jenkins didn't want to disappoint the girl, so he put his hand in his pocket to get the money. In Norland, a casual worker earns about 8 pence a day, and the girl's basket can probably hold no more than 20 flowers at a time. Considering the issue of freshness, this price is not expensive.

He had prepared change in advance, and carefully counted out two copper coins and took them out. Just as he was about to put them in the girl's open little hand, a cold air suddenly surged and rushed straight into his eyes.

Immediately, the girl, flowers and basket in front of him all emitted a dark light.

"Black is a weird thing."

Jenkins thought for no reason, and felt that the expression on his face froze.

"What's wrong, I just want to buy a flower."

He froze there and dared not move. There was some evening breeze in the city on a summer evening, but Jenkins only felt that his whole face was swollen with heat.

"Sir, are you not buying it?"

The little girl saw Jenkins stopped moving, and her face showed a little confusion, and then turned into grievance. The gentleman passing by with a civilized stick and a black hat looked at the two of them, curled his lips and continued to stride forward.

"Buy, buy."

The biggest feature of a strange creature is its weirdness. If you can run away when you encounter it, run away and never look back. ——Oliver

This is the secret of longevity that Daddy told Jenkins today. At this moment, Jenkins has not fully understood what he has encountered. He dare not easily anger the little girl, but buying flowers means contact with strange creatures. Weighing it, the danger to the little girl should be greater than the flowers, after all, the former is a living person.

Chapter 24 Chapter 23 The first encounter with strange creatures

"Here."

Jenkins did not hand over the coins, but reached into his pocket again and took out a ten-shilling blue banknote.

"Gift."

He tried to force a smile on his face.

The little girl looked at Jenkins, then at the coin, like a frightened cub, holding the small basket and taking a few steps back into the shadow of the alley, with a vigilant look on her face.

Jenkins kept smiling and shrugged, bent down and put the banknote on the ground, then turned stiffly and ran quickly in the direction of Daddy's antique shop.

He really didn't dare to look back.