Chapter 611

Chapter 437: Clocks

While Brandon spoke, his gaze was fixed on a particular spot in the cabinet. After observing for a while, he pointed at a densely patterned and finely crafted watch.

“How much is this?”

“Um… Sir, please wait a moment, let me check… You can have this one for 80 Betas…”

Listening to Brandon’s words, the shop assistant took out the watch, examined its fine craftsmanship, and gave his quote. The Beta was the circulating currency of Castia; when exchanged for Pounds, about 140 Betas equaled 1 Pound.

“Alright, I’ll buy it…”

Dorothy then had Brandon directly hand over the Betas that she had exchanged at the bank yesterday to the shop assistant. After receiving them, the assistant handed the watch to Brandon. Brandon glanced at some small gift boxes on a shelf behind the assistant before carefully putting away the unwound watch. He then turned to the assistant with a more serious expression.

“By the way, I also want to buy another watch. Do you have any watches made by Shi Xin here?”

As soon as Brandon finished speaking, the expressions of the two assistants slightly changed, then immediately became serious. One of the assistants said directly:

“Oh, we do have such items, but due to their precious nature, they are not displayed outside. Please come with us.”

Saying this, the assistant left the counter, opened a small door beside the room, and walked in. Seeing this, Brandon did not hesitate and followed him.

Following the assistant, Brandon walked down a narrow corridor and arrived at a dim, small stone chamber at the end. The chamber was lit by several gas lamps, with thick, heavy stone walls almost completely enclosing it. There was a small window in the front wall, mostly sealed by thick steel bars crossed together, leaving only a small opening below for passing items. This resembled the bank teller windows in Dorothy’s past life, but with even more extreme protective measures. Even with extraordinary abilities, it would be extremely difficult to move these thick steel bars and stone walls.

“The items you need are here. Please complete the transaction quickly and leave.”

The leading assistant said, then turned around and left the scene. After scanning the surroundings, Brandon addressed the solid trading aperture.

“Do you have any ‘Stone’ themed secret transmissions here? How many?”

After Brandon finished speaking, he stood there silently waiting. Soon, a heavy sound came from the trading aperture.

“‘Stone’ themed secret transmissions… We have three copies here.”

“What are the prices of these three copies?”

“Three secret transmissions, priced at 70,000 Betas, 84,000 Betas, and 77,000 Betas respectively. Do you need to know the titles?” The voice continued after the aperture.

Dorothy calculated in her mind and found that this was roughly equivalent to about 1,650 Pounds. She had exchanged about 2,000 Pounds worth of Betas initially, so it was within her means.

“No need to mention the titles, I’ll take them…”

Dorothy had Brandon say this, then directly handed an anonymous check and some cash through the aperture. After a brief wait, three wrapped oil paper packages were passed back through.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

After taking the oil paper packages, Brandon left the stone chamber and returned to the clock shop. Then, under the gaze of the two assistants, he exited the shop and returned to Cobblestone Lane.

Holding the newly purchased secret transmissions, Brandon walked from the alley onto the street. Unlike Brandon, who was walking briskly on the street, Dorothy, who was still in the restaurant, fell into deep thought. Her thoughts went back to the moment just before entering Jose’s Clock Shop.

‘The clock in the window has fine dust, suggesting it hasn’t been cleaned for some time.’

Then she focused on the interior of the shop, particularly the floor and the hanging clocks on the walls.

‘The floor is a bit dirty, indicating it’s not cleaned often. The hanging clocks on the walls run slightly late, which suggests that the mechanical clocks of this era require frequent adjustments to stay accurate. This indicates that the clocks haven’t been adjusted for a long time. For a clock shop, this is rather casual…’

Continuing to recall, she concentrated on the memory of buying a pocket watch.

‘I bought a watch at the shop, and the assistant simply handed it to me without helping adjust it or placing it in a gift box. This price isn’t for cheap watches…

‘This clock shop has so many issues. If the strict manager named Felipe knew about this, he would surely scold them severely. Just how long did it take for these assistants to become so lax?’

While thinking this, Dorothy controlled Brandon to continue walking. After a long walk, he saw another clock shop by the roadside and walked in without hesitation, addressing the owner inside.

“Sir, could you help me appraise this pocket watch?”

“Of course, sir…”

The owner of the clock shop put on his glasses and began to examine Brandon’s new watch closely. After a while, he gave his quote.

“Sir, this watch is well-made in every aspect. It’s a genuine piece of exquisite craftsmanship, certainly made by a skilled watchmaker. Compared to ordinary clocks, it should fetch a higher price. If you wish to sell it, I’m willing to offer 200 Betas.”

“Oh… Is that so? Thank you, but currently, I don’t intend to sell it. Here’s the appraisal fee. Thank you for your assistance…”

Brandon then retrieved the pocket watch he had just bought. Under Dorothy’s control, he began wandering around Trua’s downtown area, visiting several clock shops and pawnshops to get the new watch appraised. The results indicated that the value of the watch ranged from 150 to 300 Betas, although the range was large, it was all higher than the 80 Betas Dorothy had spent.

Seeing this phenomenon, Dorothy confirmed something: the shop assistant who had given her the watch didn’t understand its value and couldn’t price it properly.

“Huh… I didn’t expect the facade of the White Stone Craftsmen Guild to be managed so carelessly. They’re even doing such loss-making business. This doesn’t match their style at all… The Golden Contract Bank in Tivyán handles its mundane banking business quite well.”

In the restaurant, Dorothy thought about this. At this point, she had developed some other ideas about the clock shop.

Next, Dorothy controlled Brandon to a quiet riverside spot where they could safely open the oil paper packaging. After opening it, she saw two old booklets and a scattered manuscript. Dorothy temporarily ignored the content of the documents and quickly flipped through the texts using her spiritual vision. Then, she discovered a trace of spirituality on the back cover of one of the old booklets.

This was a trace of the “Lamp” spirit. After a brief examination, Dorothy confirmed that it was a landmark sigil that had been pasted on.