Expert Appraisal

Arrangements were made.

The meeting began.

The meeting ended.

The next day, in the afternoon.

In the basement, the Middle-Aged Male Wizard Yuesefu and the old Wizard Xiaman appeared there once again.

Yuesefu stood before the table, holding a seemingly valuable crystal box without moving, as though he were contemplating something.

Xiaman stood beside him, holding his breath as he waited, afraid of disturbing Yuesefu.

After quite a while, Xiaman had reached his limit and could no longer hold it in. He asked Yuesefu, "Mr. Yuesefu, how did your meeting with those two Wizards from Galan City go?"

"Hmm, that..." Yuesefu came back to himself, gently set the crystal box on the table, and turned to look at Xiaman. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The meeting went rather well—at least, better than I expected. I could tell that Richard and the person with the strange name Bobobo Wei were both concealing their strength. They were not Wizards of ordinary caliber.

"That has dispelled some of my doubts. Based on my previous speculation, I had found it hard to believe that the two of them had stumbled upon such precious materials by chance. Luck alone was not enough to explain it. Now, it seems likely that stumbling upon the materials was merely their story. They did not reveal any further details.

"That is understandable. They only want to find out what the materials they obtained are and sell them for a high price. Providing more clues would bring them no benefit.

"But things are different for us. We do not actually value the materials that highly. What we value more is the information hidden behind them. It would be ideal if we could learn every detail of how those materials were discovered."

Xiaman's eyes shifted as he asked,