After Cyril stated his demands, the hall fell briefly quiet. For a brief moment, he harbored some doubt as to whether the materials he required were too low-end, leaving these high-sequence big figures ordinarily too lazy to pay attention.
Fortunately, this quiet lasted for only a very short while. The Psychology Alchemists member who had proposed and pushed the assassination proposal against Duke Negan gave a response:
"They are indeed uncommon materials, and my warehouse should have a portion of them. If you are not in a rush, I can help you keep an eye out and collect them, which will take about one to two weeks."
"Coincidentally, a gathering among the Psychology Alchemists' evaluation committee members is taking place recently, and the exchange of Beyonder materials will also be involved. If your luck is good enough, you can gather all the materials in these two days."
Did he mean to help me collect the materials? Is this considered pulling me in or showing favor?
Even though everyone is similarly a member of the Twilight Hermit Order, isn't he being a bit too courteous? Is it for Hermes's sake, or Adam's?
"Spectators" were indeed all adept at socializing. Just a single encounter completely reversed Cyril's stereotype of this Psychology Alchemist leader.
Collecting his thoughts, he looked at the middle-aged gentleman seated two seats to his left, gave him a grateful nod, and then asked:
Recollecting his thoughts, he looked at the middle-aged gentleman sitting two seats away on his left, nodded gratefully at the other person, and then asked:
"Thank you for your help. You truly are a generous and decent gentleman."
"My demand is not urgent, whether it's a week or a month. Besides, what kind of price do I need to pay for these materials?"
The middle-aged gentleman returned a smile: "I am very glad to provide some help to an outstanding junior like you, especially since your politeness reminds me of those days spent in Loen. Even now, that remains a precious and wonderful memory. No, I should say it has become even more precious."
Pausing, he withdrew the nostalgic expression from his face and said with a smile: "Newcomers always get a small special discount. Four Beyonder materials will total 1,000 pounds, and I will hand them over to you after collecting them all."
"There are two trading methods. The first is to go to a few specific places and chant my name; the second is to chant the leader's name. We will be pulled into a special Mind World, and the exchange of supplies can be completed there."
"Once I finish collecting the materials you need, I will send you a message through the Twilight Hermit Order's internal methods."
Cyril nodded seriously: "I understand."
Two Sequence 9 and two Sequence 8 Beyonder materials could indeed be bought for 1,000 pounds without any markup.
However, how could the uncommon Seer and Apprentice pathways have no markup? Furthermore, there was the other person's labor cost. Calculated this way, this transaction of his had indeed received a newcomer discount, and a massive, super-advantageous one at that.
The only problem was how he was going to scrape together 1,000 pounds within a week or two. Even if he went to the bank for a loan, with his status, he couldn't borrow that much money...
I hope my luck isn't too good. Just in case the other person gathers all the materials within two days, not only will I have to take out a loan, but I'll probably also become the first Apprentice to moonlight as a Marauder.
The next morning, Cyril arrived early in the morning at No. 32 Weldi Street in the South Bridge District to discuss making money and borrowing money with Owen.
On the single-seat sofa in the living room, Cyril finished the entire cup of coffee in front of him in one gulp, and only then let out a long breath:
"That's pretty much how things are. I unexpectedly joined some secret organization whose name cannot be spoken, and at last night's gathering, my luck was good enough to encounter someone who took on my request."
"If nothing unexpected happens, all the main materials for Seer and Trickmaster will probably be gathered within the next one to two weeks. If my luck is a bit worse, it might take a month. In the event that my luck is too good, it might be today or tomorrow."
Owen sat on the nearby sofa, biting his lips and swallowing his saliva. Last night he was still wondering if he had been too impulsive at the time, handing over the potion materials he had painstakingly collected without any insurance measures, but now he suddenly felt that he was being too malicious in second-guessing others.
We are best friends after all, and I already took advantage of the situation back when we exchanged potion formulas. Compensating with a set of Apprentice potion materials is only right; anyway, I won't be needing them after planning to take the Seer pathway.
It's just that I didn't expect Cyril to find the Seer potion materials so quickly. I was still pondering which Beyonder gatherings I could attend recently.
Gathering his thoughts, he hesitated as he spoke: "I should still be able to afford the money for one set of Sequence 9 potion materials, but Sequence 8..."
Although Owen didn't state it explicitly, Cyril also understood that the other person couldn't pull out any more money either. Even though he had inherited his parents' estate, the amount spent over the past two years mingling in various occult circles was quite significant, and 600 pounds in itself was a huge sum of money.
Cyril wasn't too surprised either, merely letting out a slightly helpless sigh: "I hope that person's material collection progress isn't too fast, allowing me to have some buffer time, otherwise I'll have no choice but to go to the bank for a loan."
Owen looked somewhat worried: "600 pounds is not a small amount. Even for a bank, without a guarantor or collateral, it's very difficult for us ordinary students to secure such a large loan."
"Among the property left by my father, not much can be converted into cash in a short time. At most, I can help you raise around 100 pounds."
Cyril smiled and shook his head: "It's fine, we can also go rob the rich and give to the poor."
"Ah? Rob... the rich and give to the poor?"
Owen was stunned for a moment, repeating this strange vocabulary a bit awkwardly, before experiencing a sudden flash of understanding.
"You want to go rob a bank?"
"..." Cyril silently shook his head: "That can't be robbed."
"My meaning is, do you still remember those Highlanders?"
"Gangs have always been a major tumor in the city. If we rob them, we can make money, eliminate evil and promote goodness, and won't have any moral or psychological pressure."
Owen swallowed his saliva. He was shamefully tempted. As a 2-un-cool adolescent feeling an economic crisis, while his heart rejected the act of robbery, cracking down on gangs was different—this was a 2-un-cool adolescent's most common fantasy.
Although tempted, on the surface he still hesitated somewhat: "Those are gangs, after all. They outnumber us, have weapons, and might even have firearms."
"And we are merely the lowest-level Beyonders. Although we have some Beyonder abilities, essentially the difference between us and ordinary people isn't large. Taking a punch hurts, and taking a bullet kills."
Cyril feigned a mysterious smile: "A group has a group's methods, and two people have two people's ways."
"Have you forgotten my Apprentice abilities, and the divination and anti-divination of that magical item of yours?"
Owen was silent for two seconds, then readily nodded.
With an Apprentice's flexibility and his own divination means, as long as they didn't encounter fellows holding firearms or get instantly killed by a powerful Beyonder, they could freely and secretly enter and exit the vast majority of places in this world.
Thinking of this, Owen once again produced that Fate Crystal Ball: "I'll divine the stronghold of that group of Highlanders right now, as well as the danger of the operation."
As he spoke, he cupped the crystal ball radiating a deep blue halo in both hands, closed his eyes tightly, and low-voicedly mumbled indistinct divination sentences in his mouth.
After repeating it several times, his voice suddenly stopped, and the eyelashes over his tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, as if seeing some scenes that made it difficult for him to remain calm.
A few minutes later, Owen put down the crystal ball and spoke with hard-to-conceal excitement:
"I've found the stronghold of that group of Highlanders, though there's only a general range. Still, I think this won't be a problem for an Apprentice."
"In addition, we will encounter a certain amount of danger during the operation, but it's not fatal. This might be a side effect from the Fate Crystal Ball, and I feel we should prepare in advance."
Cyril calmly nodded: "It's normal to have danger; this in itself is a dangerous matter. Compared to danger, what I'm more worried about is whether that group of Highlanders will be poor enough to leave us with zero gains."
"Right, do you have weapons?"
Owen hurriedly nodded: "I have a pistol purchased at a Beyonder gathering, 50 ordinary bullets, and 10 special bullets."
"..." Cyril fell silent once again.
...Wait, the newbie is actually me?
Before you continue