Chương 8: Appraisal
An unfamiliar ceiling greeted the slowly waking up Brian. Making sure that it was his own body he is controlling, he tried to move both of his arms to support him when trying to straighten his upper body.
'Ouch!' An electrifying sensation traveled across all his muscles. It was painful for sure, but not as painful as what he experienced back when he was fighting for his life. Rather, it just felt like millions of ants was crawling under his skin.
After a hard struggle, Brian sat weakly on the hard bed he slept in. It took a moment before he was able to collect himself.
"You're finally awake…"
A stranger holding a bowl of porridge was sitting beside the bed next to Brian's bed. However, it was not that person that took the attention of Brian.
Lying next to him, with sunlight lighting up the room a little bit, he was able to see someone sleeping gracefully without a care in her surroundings. Tears fell as Brian tried to stand up reaching for anything to grabbed into to help him support himself and move even just a bit closer towards that person.
Thankfully, she was neat and tidy or else his imagination will go wild imagining what happened to her during the time he was unconscious. Although it was weird to see the child dressed as a commoner after seeing her crawl in frilly noble clothes many times before. Many of them were even handpicked by him.
'Those materialistic things will not matter anymore as long as I have her.'
Seeing her peaceful expression, he cannot help but smile deep in his heart. In Brian's eyes, the child with golden hair same as his is his most precious thing in the world. His adorable little angel, Paia.
"She was really worried for you when you did not wake up." The stranger who placed the bowl on an empty table spoke up first.
"How long have I been dead?"
"Three days." He gestured with his fingers that were lacking by one.
Looking around the dilapidated place, there were only three people in the room including him and his daughter. The servant he wanted to give gratitude to was nowhere to be seen so he asked, "Where is Asti?"
"That old man left as quick as he came here for the sake of bringing you back to life. He cannot stay here for long to avoid being suspicious. It is also impossible for him to visit again, so don't wait for him."
Brian nodded as he listened for the reason why. Now that he knows his daughter is safe, he observed the man who assumingly should be the one who took care of them while they were vulnerable.
He was almost a head shorter than Brian, but the most noticeable characteristic of his was the white mask covering half of this face.
Their benefactor seems to have seen where Brian was looking at so he explained humbly, "My face was burnt by a curse that peeled of skin until only bones can be seen. So, I hope you don't mind because I don't want to scare your daughter when she wakes up."
He left bringing the half-empty bowl of porridge and empty glass out of the room. The sound of calm breathing amplified as the only ones remaining are the family of two.
'I should not wake her up. She seems very tired… She must have exhausted all her energy waking me up.' Brian caressed the growing hair of his daughter.
Paia was half the age of Bryan's daughter back on earth, but her cuteness was twice as he remembered. It might be because of the great genes for appearance he and her mother has.
Looking back, his memories with his daughter back on Earth were very few. Comparing both fathers, it was clear Brian loved his daughter more. It was only unfortunate that this time, Paia's mother does not care about her.
'Maybe this is the Gods way of telling me to repent by letting me love my daughter will all of my ability. This is nothing but a blessing… As Brian Laurefort of Auzeweth, I swear to my own soul that she'll grow up as a wonderful woman like how Brian and Bryan wanted their daughters to be.'
There was no greater joy to see their children have the best life they can offer. The circumstances may already be far from being favorable, but it does not stop Brian from doing what he promised he would do.
First and foremost, the first objective he should do to achieve his goal is to create a new life with her daughter far from the conflict of the empire. However, he does not know where to begin.
His body was weaker than a normal adult male was, he has no money or status he can use whatsoever, and they cannot live in the place of what he once called home.
Brian hesitated a little bit when thinking about leaving Auzeweth. It was not an exaggeration to tell that he lived his whole life in the empire. No man who does not love his own motherland can protect it with his life.
This train of thought was suddenly disturbed when there was a movement on the bed. It was his daughter who switched to another side for a more comfortable position.
'No, I cannot consider this place as home anymore… Grandfather is dead. My parents, siblings, and wife want me dead… The number of people I can consider my ally can now be counted in both hands. And against the total power and authority of Laurefort, I do not want to imagine what would happen.'
Still caressing the hair of his dear daughter, he already knows the answer to this question. There was no reason for him to stay here any longer.
'It may be selfish for me to ask more help, but that masked man may give us a way out of Auzeweth.'
Brian left his daughter to not disturb her any further and looked for the man that helped them. It was a small humble house, so it was not difficult for him to find his target. It might have been a problem if he was outside but thankfully, he was reading a book on his rocking chair.
For those nobles who have been spoiled being a part of the upper-class in the society, it would be difficult for them to give gratitude to those who look inferior to them. But Brian is not the same. He was a knight first before a noble. He bowed ninety degrees without any hesitation for their benefactor.
"Thank you for having us!" Brian said with strength.
Sensing Brian's presence, he flips the pages before saying, "I'm just fulfilling an unpaid favor of that old man."
"Nevertheless, all my gratitude for your help."
"Before I forget… I took this off your fingers because it will be difficult to do my recovery magic while you were wearing it."
Brian caught the object thrown at him. Opening his palms, a bunch of emotions surged when he identified the object. A golden ring with few tiny gemstones adding luxury, and an engraving of two swords crossed between a rose. This engraving was the insignia of the family Laurefort. Even so, it was not the reason why a lot of things are going into his mind. That very ring of his is the ring that he and her wife bestowed in each other when they vowed to the Gods' blessings for their future.
He intently stared at it until something strange happen.
<Ring of Vows>
<Description: It has been a tradition for the nobles of Auzeweth to exchange rings when getting married to have the blessing of the God of Marriage… (User lacks the knowledge to know more details)>
<Potential: A->
A box of words hovered on top of the ring which made him jump in surprise.
"What's wrong?" The masked man asked.
"Nothing."
'Others do not seem to notice it. This must be the Appraisal skill the System's quest gave me. But what does potential mean?' Brian muttered in his breath.
<System: Ding~ Ding~~ The Potential of an item is graded based on how much profit you can gain when selling it. There are a lot of factors in how each one is graded. It may be from the materials it was created or the demand for the item… It is up to the User to discover more factors>
The voice in his head conveniently answered his question.
Knowing the value of the ring, he changed his mind throwing it away or giving it back to the masked man. They were in dire need of money if they want to live a comfortable life and the ring might just have it.
It would be difficult to sell a ring of vow especially with an engraving of their family insignia, but there would always be people who will be interested in it.
Understanding the brief description of the Appraisal skill and imagining the possibilities, now he knows why the System's name is the Merchant System.
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