Chapter 60: Gentleman’s Golden Pocket
The next day...
——
Before even eight in the morning, Dante was already up and seated at the edge of his bed. He was feeling slightly elated because he could see that the crystal on his Script was already glowing green.
Picking up the cylindrical device, Dante opened it, took out the parchment letter inside, and unrolled it.
"Brat.
Do you know that I had a run-in with some people and ended up almost beaten within an inch of my life? Ask me how I am faring first!
Tsk. Anyway, I know you are curious about what happened, so I’ll tell you."
’Woah, I really am curious,’ Dante thought genuinely as he continued reading to the next line.
"You know that lady I brought with me from Mostera? Genevieve? You have a terrible memory, so let me remind you. I’m referring to the one who claimed to be the daughter of a prominent textile merchant. The tall one with black hair and striking blue eyes. Yes, that one.
Apparently, the entire thing was a bloody scam. She was never the daughter of a textile merchant. She was just an actress who hired a couple of cheap actors to play her retinue, rented a carriage on credit, and forged a stack of bank drafts! She tried to convince me to invest a fortune into her father’s ’silk shipping line.’ Heh. Unfortunately for her, I’m not that easily swindled. I had my men dig into her background, and that was how I found out that Genevieve isn’t even her name.
When I confronted her about it, some of the mercenaries she hired as bodyguards, who had been trailing her out of sight, jumped me. I almost lost my left arm!
I’d be so pissed if I did. That shit is expensive!
Can you imagine? They made me, ME, a Fioravanti, run for my life! I will never forget that humiliation! May the Goddess curse them all! I will hunt them to the ends of this world!"
Dante exhaled and shook his head. He could literally feel Arno’s rage oozing out of the parchment. Skimming through the remaining complaints, he finally found the relevant information at the bottom.
"Anyway, regarding those black market exchanges you asked about. I know a few locations across the Empire. In fact, you are in luck. There’s a high-end underground exchange held right there in the capital on the first Saturday of every three months."
’First Saturday? Today?’ A small smile crossed Dante’s lips. He continued reading the remaining lines of the letter.
"It’s below a tailor shop in the central district and it runs from ten in the morning to six. Once you get there, all you need to say to the head tailor is that you want to buy more than Signor Romani’s suits. The name of the shop is The Golden Needle, and the address is 9 Saint-Germain Boulevard, High Promenade, Central District.
If you don’t find anything to your liking there, then you’ll have to wait until the last day of next month. There’s an exclusive traveling masquerade ball that moves across the provinces, and I heard they’ll be anchoring their river barge in the capital for this year’s seasonal run. Try not to miss them, because they only dock here once a year.
That’s all the current information I have. I’ve also included a bank cheque for a thousand crowns in case your allowance has run dry. You spend far too much, by the way. Try to cut back on that.
Later, brat!
Arno"
Dante smiled when he read the mention of the bank cheque. Setting the letter aside, he reached into his Script and pulled out the second enclosure, which was a cheque for a thousand crowns.
’With this, altogether, I have a bit over 2,500 crowns,’ he thought.
Dante’s monthly allowance was 300 crowns, which was staggering considering that an average clerk or white-collar employee in the Capital earned only somewhere between 80 to 120 crowns a year.
’I’ll give it to Elio to deposit at the bank later,’ he thought as he stood up and walked over to the bell rope, yanking it down twice to send a chime echoing somewhere outside the room.
Not long after, Elio stepped in with a wide smile, impeccably groomed as always.
’Urgh. How can someone be so cheerful this early?’ Dante grumbled inwardly as he eyed his valet.
"Good morning, Signore," Elio purred, giving a dramatic low bow with one hand tucked behind his back and the other sweeping outward.
When he straightened up, his eyes gleamed with mild amusement. "You are up early today. Do you have earlier plans?"
Dante turned to the gilded clock resting on the mantelpiece, noting the hands were over fifteen minutes past eight. Turning back to Elio, he nodded halfheartedly. "Yes."
There was a fresh morning newspaper in the valet’s hand, which he extended to Dante as the young noble strolled back to his desk.
"Anything worth my attention?" Dante asked, sitting down and flipping through the pages, spending only a few brief seconds scanning each headline.
"Well, nothing to shake the foundation of the Empire, Signore," Elio replied smoothly. "Though it might interest you to know that the Viscount Belinsky and his wife, the Viscountess, have both fallen critically ill and have been forced to cancel all public appearances. The fact that they have both succumbed and gone away from the public means it is hardly a simple ailment that can be resolved by a doctor."
He paused in thought before continuing, "Or, that might not be the case and they might be something deeper here."
Meanwhile, Dante lowered his paper and fell into thought. ’The Belinskys? Isn’t that Claudia’s noble house?’
Claudia was Dante’s friend at the academy, though they had only become close because she was best friends with Francesca. Dante had seen her around so often that they naturally began talking.
’Although wealthy nobles can fall sick like regular folks, they don’t remain sick for long because they can afford to pay a high priest to heal them immediately. The cost of mana-gems is certainly no obstacle for them. If they are truly ill to the point of withdrawing from public life, it must be a curse rather than a simple ailment. Depending on its type, nature, and tier, even a high priest would find it difficult to lift.’
Dante began piecing together assumptions in his mind.
Seeing his young master’s pensive expression, Elio smiled knowingly. He stepped over to the side of the mahogany desk and quietly set down a small black ring. Reaching into his vest pocket, he produced a delicate silver-rimmed appraisal lens.
"By the way, Signore. The artisan has finished the artifact," Elio offered smoothly.
That caused Dante to snap out of his thoughts. He tossed the newspaper aside and reached out to take the lens with a genuine smile across his face. Leaning forward, he brought the lens down to examine the black ring, which was crafted to his taste.
[Name: The Gentleman’s Golden Pocket]
[Tier & Grade: Tier 2 (Purple)]
[Description: Stores up to thirty items for the user in its spatial pocket. Items can be retrieved or stored on mental command. It can also preserve perishables for slightly longer.]
[ - The Pocket can hide its contents from magical detection of Tiers below it, as well as one Tier above. It can also change its appearance and size according to the desire of the gentleman.]
[Cost / Drawback: The more items in the pocket, the heavier the ring becomes.]
[ - It cannot take a form other than a ring for more than 24 hours, and requires 24 hours in its original shape before it can transform again.]
’It’s name was changed to the Gentleman’s Golden Pocket, and it’s grade was raised from Blue to Purple.’
Dante smiled in satisfaction upon reading the description.
Seeing his satisfied expression, Elio smiled knowingly and added, "The artisan charged about 100 crowns for the modifications. The bill has been sent to your mother’s ledger."
Dante didn’t hear that part and instead slipped the ring onto his finger, testing it briefly before taking it off again. Then, he willed the ring to change into a bag.
In the next instant, the ring dissolved into a thread of dark, liquid metal, expanding rapidly. Within seconds, it solidified into the same bag Dante had before.
Satisfied, Dante willed it to return to the form of a ring, after which he dropped it onto the table.
Elio chuckled quietly and took out a ticket holder from his vest, setting it down on the table. "Oh, here is your ticket for the Imperial Express leaving for Ravena later today. You’ll need to take a standard regional train from there to Sylveria."
Dante sighed.
’I hope I’ll find another defense artifact at the black exchange. I lost my last one during my fight with Miss Vi. Goddess rest her soul.’