Chapter 88: Gem Problems

“Okay?” Victoria blinked, unsure what to say. “You’re not angry at me?”

“Do I have a reason to be?” Koya laid on the bed beside her, stretching with a groan.

“Well, Big Sister used to tell me that when she said no, her husband got really angry so…” Victoria trailed off.

“To me, there’s something called consent. Tori, I won’t force you to do what you don’t want. Making love should be about the emotion.” He definitely couldn’t say this to Hakai, but each girl had their preferences.

This was Tori, so they had to take it slowly.

“You’re right, hubby.” She laid next to him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry…”

“You don’t need to be. We’re eternally bound until one of us dies, right? You’ll be ready one of these days.”

Until then, he could wait and besides, he hadn’t gotten the full scope of Hakai’s abilities yet. He wouldn’t feel right if he took the innocence of a woman that mistook cum, by force.

She hugged him tightly… He was so understanding, which made her feel guilty and afraid even after all the confidence she’d been building up, she’d fallen flat when it came to the real thing.

“Tori, you’re still wet.” Immediately that confidence hit rock bottom as she play-hit his face several times.

“You meanie, ogre, wolf…” Her face reddened. “You made me pee on the bed and you’re taunting me about it. Bad hubby.”

“Just place a cloth over it. I don’t think we can change the covers right now.” The exhaustion from tonight was catching up with him. “And climb into bed. Let’s get to sleep, Tori.”

Victoria rushed to the cupboard and pulled out another bedsheet, folding it over the spot before climbing into bed excitedly, sparing one glance at the bulge that was reducing.

As she arrived at his side, his eyes were slightly closed and she nudged him.

“Hubby.”

“Y-yeah, I’m awake.” His eyes threatened to close completely… He felt at peace right now. “Need something?”

“I’m hungry… can I suck your blood?” Her fangs lengthened and he placed a hand on her head, patting it while pushing his head to the side to show off his full neck.

“Sure, go ahead.” She brought her fangs against his neck, licking the spot. He was completely out of it and she could hear him snoring slightly.

She stopped licking and pierced her fangs into his neck, making him groan in his sleep as she sucked his blood with tears in her eyes.

’I’m sorry… I’m sorry for being a bad wife.’

…

The next morning, Disguise Master walked through the mansion hallway in her Head Maid disguise.

She had a slight pink blush on her face… Victoria’s sweaty panties were a lot huskier than her Boss’s, dare she say they were better.

Just the thought of imagining someone being better than Hakai made her body tremble as if she was betraying her Master.

She crossed by the house clock showing 9 AM.

Even after the attack, Keropolis Middle division was still open and heavily guarded, which meant Reona had gone to school, Nami had gone to KCAC Building 5, while Akemi and Yuna were in the training room sparring with robots.

She walked to Victoria’s room door, knowing Victoria and Boss had gone off somewhere and that Victoria was embarrassed about something while Hakai constantly taunted her for it.

She opened the door and clicked her tongue as she saw Koya laid over the bed with one hand hanging over the edge while he snored lightly.

He was in his boxers with a bulge pressing against the fabric as Disguise Master entered the room.

She disliked men because of what they did to women, how they used their strength and positions to take what they wanted.

She’d seen it during her early days as an assassin with powerful people who thought their wealth meant they could force themselves on anyone, nobles who viewed women as objects to be collected and discarded.

She’d killed dozens of men like that over the years and one particular memory stood out of a fat merchant who’d tried to force himself on her when she was younger… She’d killed him slowly.

And she disliked this specific man in front of her most of all because he had just appeared and slept with her Boss, tasting the forbidden fruit which she could never taste.

She walked over to the bed, watching him as she lifted her hand. Several needles emerged from her fingerless gloves, all coated with powerful poisons, but they went back into her gloves because he was too valuable to her Boss to die.

But she would enjoy killing him when her Boss grew tired of him. For now, something else was catching her eye, that bulge where the white fluid came from, that sweet substance she’d tasted from Hakai’s undergarments and Victoria’s panties.

She slowly reached her hand out.

Her other hand shot out instinctively to stop herself but despite that internal conflict but her curiosity won and she touched it. I

t felt warm, much warmer than expected and firm but with some give like dense muscle covered by soft skin.

It thrummed slightly even in sleep.

She touched it again, more deliberately this time as her fingers traced along the length through his boxers.

It was bigger than she’d imagined… She pressed her palm against it experimentally, feeling the heat radiate through the fabric, then wrapped her fingers around it slightly through the material, her scientific curiosity completely overriding her disgust.

It twitched under her touch and her eyes went wide, her hand jerking back immediately and she stared at it for a long moment, then against every ounce of common sense, reached out and poked it directly.

It twitched again.

“Are you enjoying touching me in my sleep?” Disguise Master’s brain sizzled as she bolted several steps back, her face going completely scarlet.

Koya’s eyes were open now, looking at her with confusion and mild annoyance.

She brought out one of her needles instantly, lifting it to her own neck.

“Wait, what are you trying to do?!” Koya blurred with Speed Blitz, appearing in front of her and grabbing her wrist.

His eyes showed genuine surprise because there was poison on that needle.

“Keep your man hands off me! I need to end my life for this disgrace! I touched…” She shrieked, and he let go of her wrist.

The crazy woman actually went through with it, stabbing herself in the neck with the poisoned needle.

Koya twitched uncomfortably as she stared at him with wide eyes then her expression seemed to calm down slowly and she plucked out the needle, letting the wound bleed freely.

“I forgot, I can’t die to poison since I have Immunity.”

Koya just sighed and wanted to ask if she needed to cover the wound, but the blood flow stopped on its own.

“What were you doing here?”

“Boss sent me to take you directly to the contact who deals in gold and gemstones. She said I would ensure you get a good deal because he’s a really tricky person.” Her professional mask slid back into place.

Koya nodded.

“Alright, you can leave the room now.” Koya said however she remained stationary and looking at the ground.

“I’ve been assigned to not leave your side. Though I won’t follow you into the bath, I’ll be outside the door as Boss commanded.”

Koya shrugged because he really didn’t mind as long as she didn’t try to poison him again.

“So what am I going to be wearing?” He asked and a package appeared in her hand from a storage ring.

“Boss spent considerable time selecting this outfit for you. She said you should be on your best behavior and not disgrace her.”

In reality, Hakai had never said anything like that… She was just adding it.

Koya nodded and took Victoria’s towel from a hook, then walked into her bathroom.

Disguise Master was forced to stand there for the next several minutes, listening as Koya showered and even whistled a tune while using Victoria’s stuff.

’Stupid… Stupid man…’

…

They were in a luxurious room now, a large dining hall with drapes over the windows. It looked as though he was in a castle, and even the table seemed to be made out of gold.

「Incorrect. It’s made out of wood painted like gold」

’I should have figured.’ The Head Maid stood behind him while behind the fat man at the other end were two burly-looking bodyguards, awakened but just one-liners.

The contact was known as Goro the Snake.

If Koya knew something, all the old fat men in manga during these scenes were the same, with one-track minds focused on making more money and disrespecting protagonists, regardless of their connections.

The man was in his forties with white hair here and there and shorter than Koya by far, he was also wearing a gray suit but as Koya expected, Goro looked at him condescendingly.

“So you’re Hakai’s new husband. You’re younger than I expected. She typically has better taste.” Koya set a large reinforced storage case on the table without responding.

This was the major haul from three locations… The other weapons from White Hall, he planned to use them to practice crafting crafting.

“I have gold blocks of varying purity grades, gemstones across multiple categories, 2 mithril fragments, and several jade carvings. All clean merchandise.” Koya opened the case. “My wife said you were the best appraiser in Keropolis… So appraise them.”

Goro’s eyebrow raised at Koya’s direct tone, but he leaned forward to examine the merchandise.

The gold blocks gleamed and the gemstones caught and refracted light beautifully and even Goro’s professional mask cracked slightly, this was easily the largest haul he’d seen in months.

He picked up one of the 99.7% purity blocks, turned it over in his scarred hands, then set it down with deliberate slowness.

“Hmm.” Goro pulled out a jeweler’s loupe. “The purity stamps look authentic, but stamps can be forged. Without proper verification…”

He picked up one of the uncut rubies and held it to the light. “These stones are uncut, which significantly reduces value, it’s like gambling and I don’t like it… cutting reveals internal flaws like fractures, inclusions, color inconsistencies. I’m taking substantial risk purchasing unverified rough stones.”

Goro pulled out a leather-bound ledger and began writing calculations by hand, deliberately old-school, making Koya wait.

After several minutes of theatrical consideration, he looked up.

“For the gold blocks, all 46 of them, considering the unverified purity and current market saturation, I can offer 120,000 crowns per block. That’s 5,520,000 crowns. The gemstones, uncut stones are essentially gambling. Given current demand and the risk I’m assuming, I’m thinking 7 million for the entire lot, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, jade, pearls, everything. The mithril fragments I’ll take at 200,000 each.”

Goro snapped his ledger shut. “Which means the total offer is 12,920,000 crowns. It will come in a wire transfer that will be finalized today.”

Disguise Master stepped forward with a twitch in her eye. “That’s barely 68% of legitimate market value. These items are worth at minimum—”

“I don’t negotiate with assistants,” Goro cut her off without even looking at her.

His voice was dismissive. “I don’t want the opinions of a woman interfering in a man’s business transaction. This is between myself and the boy.”

She felt the need to strike him in the head but had to maintain her cool.

They could always come back and if Hakai gave the order, she would storm this place and take his head… He turned his full attention to Koya, leaning back in his expensive leather chair.

“Let me be very clear, kid.” Goro’s voice dropped lower. “Just because you married into Star Enterprises doesn’t mean you can waltz into my establishment and demand top prices immediately. You’re a child playing in an adult’s world. I’ve been in this business for twenty-three years. I’ve appraised fortunes worth more than you’ll see in your entire lifetime. Your wife sends me business because I’m discreet and efficient, not because I’m a charity and even with clean merchandise, I’m the one taking the risk moving high volumes through legitimate channels. If market prices shift, I’m the one holding depreciating assets, not you.”

He crossed his arms, leaning forward with a predatory smile. “So here’s how this works, boy. You take my offer of 12.9 million crowns, you thank me for my generosity, and you walk out of here with a valuable lesson in how real business operates. Or you walk away empty-handed and spend the next three months trying to find another dealer willing to touch this volume of merchandise without lowballing you even worse than I am… Your choice.” Goro stubbed out his cigarette. “What’s it going to be?”

Koya looked at him for a long moment.

He’d really expected some lowballing, but he didn’t expect it to be so blatant, regardless he reached into his storage ring and pulled out a sleek black case, setting it on the table with a thunk.

“You’re right about one thing. I am young and inexperienced. I probably don’t know all the tricks veteran dealers use.” He pulled out a ProSpec-3000 Purity Analyzer, top-of-the-line equipment worth 2.8 million crowns.

Goro’s eyes widened before he controlled his expression.

“But what I do know is that calling bullshit requires evidence. You claim these blocks have ’unverified purity.’ Fortunately, I’m not gambling on your honesty.” He plugged in the analyzer and it powered on with a soft hum, display glowing blue.

Koya placed a 99.7% purity block into the scanner.

[BEEP! PURITY: 99.71% | VALUE: 180,000 CROWNS/BLOCK] displayed on screen.

Koya turned the display toward Goro. “Strange. Says 99.71%, even higher than advertised. Yet you offered 120,000 for metal worth 180,000.”

He scanned a 99.9% block.

[BEEP. PURITY: 99.93% | VALUE: 195,000 CROWNS]

“You offered 120,000 and the market value is 195,000. That’s a 75,000-crown loss per block.”

He scanned the 98.5% grade.

[BEEP! PURITY: 98.54% | VALUE: 165,000 CROWNS]

“I’m seeing a pattern. Either this 2.8-million-crown machine is wildly inaccurate, or you were planning to pocket 6 million crowns by deliberately undervaluing merchandise.”

Goro’s jaw tightened. “Those automated scanners aren’t always—”

“They’re KC-certified and calibrated monthly.” Koya pulled out documentation and threw it over to the man who caught it shortly after. “That’s the certification if you’re interested.”

He picked up an uncut ruby. “You said uncut stones are ’gambling.’ That’s true for amateurs.”

Koya pulled out a portable gemological microscope. “But professionals use equipment like this to examine internal structure before cutting.”

He placed the ruby under the microscope and the magnified image showed flawless internal structure.

“There are no fractures and minimal inclusions which means that this is a Type II clarity if I’m correct and the color saturation is excellent as well. This cuts into a 5-carat finished gem minimum and the Market value for a 5-carat Grade A ruby, 225,000 crowns. Cutting costs maybe 15,000. So this rough stone is worth 210,000 crowns.” He gestured at the pile. “I have 52 rubies total. You offered 7 million for all gemstones. That’s roughly 67,000 per ruby. Yet this single stone is worth over 200,000.”

At this point, he was just going on what he was seeing from the System. He didn’t know what the Type II clarity meant at all.

Koya examined a sapphire. “This produces a 6-carat stone easily. Market value, 312,000 crowns. Your offer valued it at maybe 40,000.”

He methodically tested emeralds, black pearls, diamonds, and jade carvings and every single examination contradicted Goro’s assessment.

“Now let’s talk about your real concerns.” Koya pulled out his phone. “You mentioned market risk while current gold futures are stable with a 0.3% upward trend. Gemstone markets are strong, luxury demand up 12% year-over-year. Mithril prices rising due to enchanted weapon demand.” He showed Goro the data. “Your ’market risk’ is backwards. You’ll likely profit from holding these assets.”

Koya pulled out a blood-stained ID card and tossed it on the table. It landed with a wet slap, half the name was obscured by dried brown blood, but the photo was clear.

“I raided and killed a criminal band in the Outer Zone and took their treasure as spoils. That’s the leader’s ID, pulled it off his corpse after I put a sword through his chest.” Goro stared at the card, his face going completely pale. “The rest comes from similar acquisitions. None of it traces to you. I’m not stupid enough to bring wanted merchandise to my wife’s dealer… Your ’risk’ is actually zero.”

Koya stood slowly. “You dismissed my associate because she’s a woman but she’s worked for Star Enterprises for years and knows more about appraisal than half the dealers in this city. You called me a ’boy’ and ’child.’ Fine, I am young. But I walked in with several million crowns of verified merchandise, professional equipment, and enough preparation to catch you lying to my face.”

He began packing gold blocks. “My wife sent me here because she trusted you. She said ’Goro’s been reliable for years.’ Apparently, she was wrong.”

“I’m walking out. Finding another dealer, maybe the Vermillion Syndicate. I hear they pay premium rates for verified goods.”

Goro’s face went pale.

“Wait—”

“And when my wife asks why I didn’t use her ’trusted contact,’ I’ll tell her the truth. Goro Tanaka tried scamming her husband out of 6 million crowns, dismissed her employee because of gender, and provided false appraisals despite claiming twenty-three years of experience.”

The temperature dropped… Everyone knew Hakai’s reputation. Cross her once and maybe survive but disrespecting people close to her meant career suicide.

Goro stood quickly with his hands raised. “There’s been a misunderstanding—”

“No misunderstanding. You tried scamming me and I caught you… Simple.”

“I was being conservative…”

“You were lying. Poorly. Did you think I’d bring 20 million worth of merchandise without verification equipment?” Goro wiped sweat from his forehead.

“Alright… Alright… Let me recalculate, properly this time.” His hands shook as he pulled out the ledger. “Gold blocks at verified purity, market value. 180,000 per 99.7% block, 195,000 per 99.9%, 165,000 per 98.5% and the coins are at 35,000 each.” He calculated rapidly. “Gold total, 9.5 million. Gemstones given your verified examinations, 52 rubies averaging 200,000 is 10.4 million. 38 diamonds at 58,000 is 2.2 million. 31 sapphires at 52,000 is 1.6 million. 19 emeralds at 67,000 is 1.27 million. 12 pearls at 85,000 is 1.02 million. 17 jade carvings at 95,000 is 1.61 million. Gemstones total, 18.1 million.”

The calculations made Koya’s head spin… all this money was crazy.

“That’s low,” the Head Maid interjected. “The rubies alone are worth 10.9 million based on demonstrated quality. You’re conservative by 800,000.”

Goro looked at her with genuine respect. “You’re right. My apologies. 18.9 million for gemstones. Mithril fragments at current market, 320,000 each. 640,000 crowns. Total, 29,040,000 crowns.”

Koya’s eyes narrowed as he tried to not let a smile show on his face. “That’s above my estimate. What’s the catch?”

“No catch. Your examinations revealed higher quality than I initially assessed. This is the honest appraisal and what I should have offered from the start.”

Koya let silence stretch. “95% is industry standard for bulk sales. That’s 27,588,000 crowns.”

“But I’m offering full—”

“You’re offering full value now because I caught you. The 5% discount is fair for bulk convenience.” He extended his hand. “27,588,000 crowns. A certified transfer, today and in exchange, I won’t mention this to my wife. Deal?”

Goro sighed and shook. “Deal. And my sincere apologies. To both of you. I underestimated you badly.”

“Apology accepted. But next time, lead with honest appraisal.”

“Understood. You have my word.”

’I’m definitely snitching when I get home.’ He thought.

He had to teach people that double-crossing him was a waste of time. ’Besides, I also need to get prepared to help Ichinose with the stream.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep