Chapter 177: Building Momentum (Part 2)

There were three doors to the Treasury, and the first two doors were guarded by Guards, especially the second door, where Dean saw a strange Grand Knight and two Knights.

However, with Marquis Vauban present, that Grand Knight and the two Knights all cast friendly glances at Dean.

“That is Sik, who is in charge of the defense of my Treasury!”

Marquis Vauban explained to Dean as he opened the third door.

Dean wisely did not ask why the other party was not guarding the Treasury last time—that matter was definitely a sore spot for Marquis Vauban, and Dean definitely did not want to tear open the other party’s scars.

Creak!

Even though it was fully oiled, the heavy door still made sounds as it turned.

“These are my collected items. Although they are not as clearly categorized as in the original Treasury, they can still be roughly distinguished… Dean, choose one!”

After entering the third door, Marquis Vauban pointed at the surrounding collections and spoke with a slightly proud tone.

Just as Marquis Vauban had said, in this room which was not large but definitely not small, many rare treasures sufficient to amaze people were placed.

Moreover, they were roughly categorized—directly facing Dean were weapons and Armor, on the left were oil paintings, tapestries, and statues, and on the right were some small accessories and books.

The number of each type was no less than a hundred, and this was undoubtedly a huge wealth. I fear that just the weapons and Armor directly opposite would be enough to exchange for a Knight Order with no fewer than two thousand people, and that includes everything needed such as weapons, Armor, and Warhorses.

However, what surprised Dean was the last sentence.

“Compensation, have you forgotten the compensation Lily fought for you?”

Marquis Vauban looked at Dean’s surprised eyes and could not help but laugh.

“Of course I remember, but I am still surprised!”

Dean did not mean to hide anything and spoke truthfully.

Naturally, Dean still remembered the compensation the Miss Baron had fought for him, but in Dean’s understanding, the compensation he would receive would be some Gold Pulton; and when he demonstrated the value of a Gold-rank reserve, at most it would just make that compensation a bit more.

Just like just now, Marquis Vauban brought him into the Treasury.

Dean thought that the compensation he received was a collection item selected by Marquis Vauban.

But he did not expect that Marquis Vauban would actually let him choose by himself.

Although both involved selecting a collection, one was chosen by the other party and one was chosen by himself, the difference between the two was obviously huge—the former would be fixed within a value limit, while the latter was a choice from the highest to the lowest, and its value completely depended on one’s own judgment.

Sure enough, the next moment, Marquis Vauban said: “This is my entire collection. The item with the highest value, even the late Old King, was thinking about on his deathbed, and the lowest value… is about one thousand Gold Pulton, a gift a friend gave me when I was young—as for which one you can pick, that requires your luck!”

“This is truly hard to choose!”

Dean swept his gaze over the collections before him and spoke like this.

“Yes, I had originally selected a compensation gift for you, but given your previous performance, if I really gave you that gift, it would only be considered as me casually dismissing you… if word got out, my reputation would definitely suffer greatly, and I would be mocked endlessly by those other fellows! Even if I picked any gift, it would result in this—after all, Dean, you performed too excellently! So, I can only give you the right to choose by yourself, only this way is the best solution for us!”

Marquis Vauban nodded, expressing his strong agreement.

“But, when you were in a difficult position, you shifted it onto me!”

Facing Marquis Vauban’s honesty, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of Dean’s mouth.

“Young people need to take responsibility, and moreover… I believe that as a future Gold-rank powerhouse, Dean, your judgment will not be poor!”

Marquis Vauban blinked slightly cunningly, then turned and walked to the side, and reached out to make a gesture of invitation.

One’s own Strength and the judgment to appraise items were obviously two different matters.

A Gold-rank powerhouse might be knowledgeable, but definitely could not serve as an appraiser.

And similarly, an excellent appraiser’s Strength could not possibly be that of a Gold-rank powerhouse.

Therefore, Marquis Vauban’s words were entirely flattery.

As for why?

Naturally, it was to shut Dean’s mouth—even if he picked a not-so-good collection, it was chosen by your own judgment, wasn’t it?

Dean was naturally very clear about these things.

However, he did not really care.

In fact, during his previous life as an Assassin, he had impersonated a knowledgeable appraiser more than once.

Of course, there was naturally a considerable gap between him and the person he was impersonating, but he did possess some relevant knowledge, and it exceeded that of ordinary people by far.

With such knowledge, it was naturally not a difficult thing for Dean to find a valuable item among these collections—and just now, in his seemingly casual glance, several collections worth over ten thousand Gold Pulton had already appeared in Dean’s sight; however, these were not Dean’s target.

Because of the interruption of the auction, the items to be auctioned the next day were not auctioned as scheduled.

The attack on Vauban Castle, coupled with the heavy casualties, neither Marquis Vauban nor the Nobles who had traveled from afar had the mood anymore.

Therefore, the items for the second day’s auction were all left behind.

This was the news Dean had obtained from the Miss Baron earlier. At that time, the Miss had shaken her head with quite some regret, after all, regarding the necklace that was to serve as the opening auction for the second day, the Miss seemed to have a particular fondness for it.

However, Dean was not looking for that necklace right now.

Although he was very grateful to the Miss Baron, that did not mean he wanted to give up this opportunity—the opportunity to openly take away the notes of the Grand Wizard Oniedon, who was also Oniedon, a major leader of the ‘Brotherhood’.

Undoubtedly, the items left from the auction would definitely not be piled up haphazardly. Given their value, placing them in Marquis Vauban’s Treasury was naturally very appropriate.

As for the value of Oniedon’s notes?

The fact that it could attract the attention of the ‘Brotherhood’ was enough, even if it was not the main target.

But there must also be something noteworthy within it.

And for Dean, this was enough.

After all, whether it was his surface identity or his hidden identity, the Grand Wizard Oniedon was skilled in refining various Potions, including many Potions that increased the body’s various attributes.

Undoubtedly, this was what Dean needed.

Dean walked straight to the right side where small accessories and books were placed—although there wasn’t really any organization, bookshelves and catalog pages still existed, so Dean didn’t have to pick them up and look through them one by one.

He just needed to follow the catalog page to search.

His gaze moved following the entries on the catalog page. Even though he had already decided on the item he wanted to find in his heart, when he saw some entries, Dean still expressed surprise.

“Elegy of the Giant Dragon”, a poem describing the failure of the Conqueror King.

“The Abyss of the Sea”, detailed annotations of the human geography of the near sea areas, as well as the existence of several island chains, and the author was none other than Hochar, the Advisor of the Emerald Founding.

Without a doubt, these books were definitely not forgeries; given Marquis Vauban’s status, he would absolutely not accept fakes appearing in his Treasury.

Therefore, these were all real!

“If the Goth knew ‘Elegy of the Giant Dragon’ was here, they would probably spare no cost, right? And this ‘The Abyss of the Sea’ should be the item the Emerald Old King was thinking about before his death!”

Dean thought silently in his heart.

“What a powder keg!”

Finally, Dean commented like this.

Obviously, if the Goth really knew “Elegy of the Giant Dragon” was here, then among the previous attackers, there would definitely be the Goth.

After all, given the pride of the Goth, they would absolutely not allow the legacy of the Conqueror King to appear in any place not belonging to the Goth, especially in the hands of the weak Emerald People, which for the proud Goth was simply an insult to their Ancestor.

However, this obviously had nothing to do with Dean.

His gaze continued downward, and finally, at the end of the catalog page, he found Oniedon’s notes he was looking for.

Then, following the guidance of the catalog page, Dean pulled out that notebook. It was as thick as a brick and as tall as a four or five-year-old child—everything fit the customs of the Emerald Founding a hundred years ago.

“That fast?”

Marquis Vauban looked at Dean who walked out and expressed surprise, but when he saw Oniedon’s notes, he frowned and kindly reminded Dean: “This is not a very good collection… although it has been proven to be authentic, there are no precious Potion formulas recorded on it—previously, the ‘Brotherhood’ attack was partly because of it, but the vast majority of it was due to fake news I released!”

“For me, basic and common formulas are enough, let alone they come from Master Oniedon!”

Dean spoke the excuse he had prepared long ago.

“Dean, are you planning to study some Potionology? With your talent, you should focus more on your Strength, diligent training and necessary actual combat are what you need!”

Marquis Vauban could not help but remind him again.

“Just a hobby… my Family used to be very skilled in Potions, but the Inheritance was broken. I just hope to make up for it a bit… otherwise, I would definitely choose that ‘The Abyss of the Sea’!”

Dean spoke with a smile.

“Indeed, Dean, you have good judgment… but with the potential you have shown, your Family will sooner or later regain its glory!”

After hearing Dean mention “The Abyss of the Sea”, Marquis Vauban was stunned, then immediately smiled bitterly; and after the bitter smile stopped, he spoke very seriously.

Being able to identify his most precious collection, Marquis Vauban naturally would not say anything else, because that would only seem more redundant.

A sentence or two of kind reminder was enough.

“However, some mementos are still necessary, after all, this is part of the past glory!”

Dean waved Oniedon’s notes in his hand.