’He only told me about the Supreme tier as well, is that the end of the road or are there still even higher tiers above that?’ Rohan couldn’t help but wonder to himself.

He’d learned a lot from this short stint inside the city hall with the pig faced man, which, at this point, considering how much help he’d received from him, felt too disrespectful to keep calling him by such a name.

"Urmm... I don’t think we’ve caught each other’s names, by the way." He suddenly brought up, unsure whether to feel awkward about the late introductions or not.

’We came in here already in a bad mood thanks to the woman at the front desk, so hopefully he noticed that and doesn’t take any of our previous rudeness to heart.’

The man suppressed a laugh. "You’re just bringing that up now? After we’re practically finished here? Haha!"

Even Elane was starting to shy away, looking off to the side with reddened cheeks. After all, she was also guilty of judging the man from first glances.

"Well, I guess it’s never too late to get to know someone, and I’d never say not to befriending future powerhouses such as yourselves." The man continued.

"But aside from that, I needed your names for my report anyway, so this lets us kill two birds with one stone. I’ll start off — my name’s William Townley, but everyone just calls me Will."

The pig faced man, now Will, then signalled to Rohan and Elane that it was their turn.

Rohan went first. "Rohan Roy. Do you need my Federal ID number for your records as well...?" He asked, slightly cautious about giving that type of information away, but then again, this was a Federal facility after all.

"I’m afraid so, but there’s no harm in providing it, since anybody who will see this report would be able to access your personal information in the Federal database anyway, so it won’t change much."

Rohan didn’t like the sound of that, but what could he do when the world was controlled by powerful people who could do whatever they pleased like that?

Even he wasn’t sure he would be able to shy away from such temptations once he reached such a level himself — he was a curious person by nature, so having all that information at his disposal would be too enticing.

’Eh, whatever. They can’t do anything with my Federal ID anyway — just pinpointing who exactly it was that obtained and then absorbed the Lava Hellebore instead of only having a name to go off of.’

Elane then took her turn to speak.

"Elane... Ryker." She didn’t say anything more than that, as Will’s expression had already turned into one of interest and intrigue.

’Is her surname that recognisable?’ Rohan mused inwardly.

But perhaps Will reacted that way for a different reason.

"Hmm. I was questioning whether to report your illegal use of a VIP card, but seeing as you share a surname with the real owner, things may be more complex than it seems. I knew neither of you were ’Harland Ryker’ the moment I first laid eyes on you, as I happen to know of the guy considering we share a lot of the same social circles."

Elane’s heart tightened. Being reported for such a serious offence wouldn’t give her as large of a punishment as someone else due to her status and relation to the real owner, but it would be a huge inconvenience and a waste of their precious time which they otherwise needed to strengthen themselves in preparation for the university entrance exams.

"But I’ll leave you two to it, since it’s none of my business anyway."

’Phew...’

Both Rohan and Elane released a sigh of relief.

But it was at that moment that Rohan suddenly felt as if he was forgetting about something... 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

’Oh, fuckkkkkk....’

"Err, about the payment for your service..."

You could practically hear a pin drop in the room after that.

"I know what you’re thinking." Will spoke, still having that same placid, intrigued smile on his face. "Considering the rarity and rank of the treasure you had me examine, the price is going to be extortionately high, am I right?

Outwardly, Rohan did nothing but nod along. But inwards, he was starting to panic. He had no way to pay for this service after all, not unless he had to part with some of his most precious possessions, which quite frankly he was unwilling to do!

Originally, they planned on using their VIP status to pressure the appraiser and haggle the price down to something more reasonable.

But it was clear as day that wouldn’t work with Will. Not only was his status much greater than they could have ever expected, but he’d seen through their VIP ruse at a single glance.

"Normally, for an E rank Commander tier treasure like this, the price of an appraisal would be an Origin Crystal of the same rank and tier—" Will paused, as if the suspense wasn’t already high enough for the two of them.

"But you two don’t have to worry about that." He suddenly revealed.

"..."

’Huh?’

’What??’

"For free!? Why on earth would you offer your service to us for free??" Rohan suddenly blurted, unable to contain his confusion.

Elane agreed. After all, they had every right to be refused. Who in their right mind would refuse an E rank Commander tier Origin Crystal? Certainly not them!

But Will was different.

"You can consider it a professional courtesy, but the truth is — it’s because I feel like it." Will answered.

That only made Rohan and Elane even more confused, which prompted him to explain properly.

"Well, there is more than one reason. So for a start, I like to build connections, and you two seem like good people to befriend. What better way to start a good relationship than an act of goodwill? But if you still aren’t satisfied, then let me tell you a little secret that the government usually doesn’t like us spreading."

He leaned in closer to them as if he were about to start whispering.

"—We get paid the bare minimum for these mandatory service jobs, whether it be a military role or a professional role like mine. But wanna know the worst of it? All the commission that we earn from the people we serve never enters our pockets, it always goes straight to the Federation, so I wouldn’t even get to enjoy whatever payment you give me. Scummy tactics, I know."

Rohan couldn’t believe his ears. Would the Federation really treat a prominent D rank Awakened, with C rank Commander tier appraisal capabilities, that poorly? But if the man himself was saying they did, then he had no other evidence to refute it.

"Like I said earlier, I’m only here because I’d be in jail or cannon fodder on the front lines otherwise. And how can I let the government not only rinse your pockets, but also start pressuring and pestering you about the treasure you own at that — once I turn my report in? I can’t just let that happen to my two new friends!" Will exclaimed exaggeratedly, but it did make his point clear.

"If you really want, you can consider the gross invasion of your privacy you’re bound to experience over the next few days as your payment for this service."