The city within Archduke Simon's domain was very large, though still smaller than the Imperial Capital. Even so, the city lacked nothing, its commerce was highly diverse, and it offered many forms of entertainment, such as the red light district, where all kinds of pleasures could be found. But on that day, Ark was visiting the commercial district. He had a few coins he had received from his parents. Even though they no longer liked him, they still gave him some gifts, it was the family's way of keeping up appearances.
He was with Lilian, the maid with enormous breasts. His eyes shifted between looking at the stalls and watching the sway of her full chest. Every step made her breasts bounce, it was pleasant to watch, and their softness was quite enjoyable as well. Ark still took advantage of it, since he had the privilege to do so, but little by little, he started to grow tired, and the maid began taking the initiative. He did not object, but gradually, he realized something, if he put in too much effort, even in something pleasurable, it would go against what he wanted most, which was lifelong vacation. So rest always came before pleasure.
But looking required no effort.
"Come see these wonderful dungeon artifacts. You there, boy, come take a look at what I have here," a man sitting on the street called out to Ark. He had a cloth spread in front of him, with several rings and a few other objects on top. "You can buy special rank artifacts here, all very cheap, because I am not like those greedy merchants from the merchant guild. Look at this, this ring can grant you unlimited power, but it is still dormant. Soon you will be able to enjoy all its benefits if you take good care of it. It is yours for twenty silver coins."
Who would be stupid enough to believe that, Lilian thought.
"Oh, you are in luck, you found a buyer for that," Ark said, excited.
Lilian was speechless, but she said nothing, calling the son of an archduke an idiot could get her sent to the gallows.
Ark looked at the other objects on the cloth. Another ring caught his attention. The seller noticed and gave a slight smile.
"You have good eyes, boy. This ring is also a great relic."
Ark's eyes shone, he was standing before an invaluable treasure.
"But you are very lucky, I will let both go for forty five silver coins, what do you say?"
"You are a good salesman, I will take both rings."
Ark made the purchase, and the maid was convinced he truly was an idiot, but she remained silent. Inside, however, she felt bad for him, since he had clearly been deceived, and someone had taken advantage of his foolishness and tendency to believe everything he heard.
The rings adjusted themselves to his fingers. Both appeared to be made of silver, at least that was what it looked like, Ark did not know metals very well. What distinguished them were the stones set into them, the first had a red gem, and the second had a green gem.
But Lilian could do nothing to stop the boy.
They continued walking, and she guided their path without him noticing. She wanted to prevent him from being tricked by another swindler. Then she remembered something, there was a way to find out what those artifacts could do, they just needed to visit an appraiser.
She told him, and he agreed.
The cost was four silver coins per evaluation, very expensive for a normal person, but acceptable for an adventurer who had found an item in a dungeon, or for someone wealthy who wanted to learn about an item before selling it. But that seller had certainly not paid for an appraiser's services.
The elderly man picked up the first ring and examined it carefully. After a few seconds, one of his eyes began to glow, it was the appraisal skill. He could analyze many objects and determine what they were made of or what an artifact was capable of.
Then he picked up the second ring. He remained silent for a long time, using the skill several times.
"Where did you get these items?"
He bought them from a scammer, Lilian thought.
"I bought them from an adventurer in the commercial district."
"I see. I recommend that you do not go around telling people what these items can do. The first ring is not very useful for most people, but some would certainly pay two gold coins for it, since it reduces the weight of objects. Even you could carry a sack of wheat without effort."
"Oh, I was right to trust that man then."
Lilian could not believe it.
"But this one you must keep hidden," the man leaned closer to the boy and whispered what the artifact did.
Lilian grew curious. The guards accompanying them were too, but they did not ask.
"Come to that room, I want to measure your stats and confirm something," the man said as he stood up.
Ark went into the room alone. The guards wanted to follow, but he asked them not to.
A large black stone rested on a table. The man asked Ark to place his right hand on it. He did, then the man asked him to repeat the process while wearing the red gem ring.
"Just as I suspected. I can also see your stats, but I wanted to show you your mana consumption. Did you notice?"
"Not really, what happened?"
"This ring takes fifteen minutes to charge, and every fifteen minutes, its charge accumulates up to a limit of one hundred fifty. It constantly consumes the user's mana. It drains one point of mana per second, but your mana, even though small, regenerates two points per second. So you can keep the ring on indefinitely, but another person would have their mana drained until they faint. That is why you should be careful and not sell it. But if you ever decide to, tell me, I will pay more than five hundred gold coins for it."
Ark was stunned. That was enough money to live comfortably forever, but even so, the ring would be useful. He was so weak that he would die if he tried to fight, so he decided to keep the ring and let it charge with mana to ensure his safety.
Ark paid the eight silver coins and said goodbye to the elderly man.
"What did he say?" Lilian asked.
"That is a secret, I cannot say what that kind gentleman told me. But I can say that this ring is worth a few gold coins. I was right to trust that admirable adventurer merchant."
Lilian was speechless.
"A few how many?"
"I can say that if I sold it, I could not live comfortably forever."
Lilian did not believe it, but accepted the answer.
Back at the mansion, Bruce noticed the rings on Ark's fingers but did not ask. Ananda, however, did.
"They are relics, or artifacts, I am not sure of the exact name. This one here cost me twenty five silver coins..."
"You paid twenty five silver coins for that trash? You need to learn the value of money," Bruce interrupted.
"Yes, that is exactly why I bought them. I spent forty five silver coins on both rings, and together they are worth more than ten gold coins, at least that is what the appraiser told me after I paid for the evaluation. So I made a profit."
He avoided mentioning their true value.
Bruce was left speechless. The lecture had been pointless.
"You trust the appraiser?"
"Yes, he is the best appraiser in the city, but he charged me eight coins to tell me what I already knew, that I made a good deal. But I feel bad for that adventurer, he sold them to me for far too little. I do not know if he was in need, but I feel like he has more valuable items he is selling for good prices."
Neither his mother nor father said anything else. They simply assumed he had been lucky, something they did not like, since they could not lecture him about controlling his spending.
Gradually, his parents began to fade away from his life, and Ark started eating with the servants. He was clearly being cast aside, but he did not care. Some servants disliked what his parents were doing to him, but they could do nothing. All that remained was to accept it.
Ark did not mind, since the stairs were a few steps closer to the servants' dining room than to the family's dining hall, which meant less effort.
But all of that indifference vanished when the family received a messenger from the Emperor. The man delivered a letter requesting that Ark and Lian take the exam to enter the Imperial Sacred School. All children at the age of eleven must take the test. But Ark did not study, he spent his days lying down, unlike his brother, who studied constantly and even had a private tutor. For that reason, he had not taken the exam, and the Emperor was displeased to learn that a member of the nobility had failed to do so.
There was no longer any way to hide Ark. But Bruce had a plan, he would let Ark take the exam, and on the way back, he would be attacked and killed, a great loss for the family, and thus he could request that the results not be made public. He certainly had the power to make that happen.
But he did not plan to kill his son, he planned to expel him. He explained what Ark should do, after leaving the exam site, he should go to another city and disappear. For that, he was given one hundred gold coins, enough to live for many years without worrying about money. Ark thought about it. He had no choice. Although walking was tiring, he could rent a place and lie down all day without concern. If he stayed in the mansion, he would surely face many tasks and problems, so he accepted without much thought.