Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 73 New, Brand New
Caesar observed the wide-mouthed, two-handled jar he had just seen from the outside.

The jar is narrow at both sides and wide in the middle, and is dark brown in color. The mouth of the jar is sealed with white wax, and the surface is engraved with spiral runes. There are ring handles on both sides.

Caesar lowered his gaze.
There's no mistake, this is an "echo jar".

In ancient times, some sorcerers would preserve certain spells in unique ways as their legacy, which could be considered a means of converting their wealth into cash.

One of the containers used to store these spells was called an echo jar. Many echo jars later ended up on the market, sparking a trading frenzy.

Because with containers preserved in this way, it's usually impossible to tell from the outside what kind of spell is inside; it might just be a fireball spell, or it might be a planetary explosion spell.

In modern terms, it's like a magic blind box; what you get depends entirely on luck.

But Caesar came with a cheat code.

Through his overall strategic vision, although he couldn't pinpoint the exact type of magic within, he could sense the rank of the spells and then specifically choose to buy the higher-ranking ones.

Using this method, he made a fortune and mastered many high-level spells, leaving Sothos and his gang dumbfounded.

Now, looking at the Echo Jar in front of him, he scanned it again with Domination and discovered that it contained a fifth-order spell.

There are only seven levels of spell ranks, from highest to lowest, with ranks four and above being high-level spells.

He never expected to find such a good thing in a place like this.

This is largely thanks to Fein's free market law.

Generally, items possessing magical properties are required to be handed over to the state and their private sale is prohibited.

However, determining whether an item possesses magical properties is a problem. Among the vast number of relics from the magical era, it's impossible to test every single one. This has led to many magical relics ending up in private hands. Since these people certainly lack professional methods for testing magical properties, these magical relics are often sold as ordinary objects.
This has led to numerous incidents of magical items going out of control. The Rhine Bureau, which interrogated him on the beach six years ago, is a department that specializes in handling such incidents.

But overall, it's a good thing, and Caesar has to get his hands on it.

He glanced at the price tag at the bottom of the jar.

120,000 gold pieces.

It's expensive for him, but in terms of the jar's true value, it's practically a gift.

He currently only has 80,000 gold coins.
"We don't have enough money."

He turned to look at the counter, where only a bearded owner was talking to a bald, middle-aged man.

He pondered for a moment, then stepped forward.

The two men behind the counter were talking over a golden dagger. The bald, middle-aged man was very talkative, explaining things while holding the dagger.

"This is the sacrificial dagger of Graham the Golden Lion, one of the Seven Heroes. It was one of the thirteen gold artifacts he commissioned craftsmen to forge before the Battle of Long Flat Valley. Look at the blade, the engravings, and the patina on the handle."

The bearded boss, wearing gloves, examined the dagger in his hand with a serious expression, nodding occasionally.

"But you said you're not from a prominent family, so how did it end up in your hands?" the boss asked.

“I already told you, three years ago, an earl filed for bankruptcy, and his mansion and collection were auctioned off. This is what I bought at the auction. Look, look, the certificate is right here.” The bald man pointed to the certificate on the table and said.

“I also took it to the kingdom’s cultural relics experts, masters in the field of antique collection, Mr. Falzi, and he said it was an absolutely genuine and excellent item!”

"That's true." The boss nodded. "How much do you want?"

"Five hundred thousand gold coins," the bald man quoted. "Actually, that's low. If I didn't need the money urgently, I would really like to keep it as a collectible."

"Three hundred and fifty thousand," the shopkeeper said. "There are some flaws in its preservation, so this is the only amount I can offer you."

"What a joke! The Golden Lion King, one of the Seven Heroes! Last time, the White Diamond Auction House auctioned off a wrist sword of equal value for 800,000 gold taels!" the bald man said angrily.

"I don't offer any insurance here. Alright, if you need the money urgently, 400,000 gold coins is the final price. I can't afford any more than that," the shopkeeper said.

"Four hundred and fifty thousand!"

"Forty-two hundred thousand."

Finally, the price was agreed upon at 430,000 gold coins. Just as the boss was writing the check, a voice suddenly came from beside him:
“This doesn’t look like an artifact from the Iron and Fire Age.”

Both of them looked over and saw a child who looked to be about ten years old, with a faint smile, pointing at the counter.

The bald man paused for a moment, then asked the shop owner, "Yours?"

"do not know."

The bald man waved his hand dismissively, "What do kids know? Go play somewhere else."

“Well, I just happen to know a little bit,” Caesar said, stepping forward.
"The craftsmanship of this dagger is indeed exquisite, and the materials used are all genuine, but as a modern craft, 500,000 gold coins is still too much."

The bald man paused for a moment, then chuckled and said, "You're saying this is a modern replica?"

“Yes,” Caesar nodded, “it’s new.”

"Stop talking nonsense!" the bald man said angrily. "This is a genuine, high-quality item! An antique! The Golden Lion King's sacrificial golden dagger! What proof do you have that it's new?" "It's simple, look," Caesar pointed to the gold engraving on the dagger's hilt.

"The craftsman in charge of making sacrificial offerings for the Golden Lion King was named Smoti. His specialty, and the only one, was bas-relief carving, a technique that leaves no seaweed-like marks on the surface of the artwork. And this..."

The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then picked up the dagger, examined it closely with a magnifying glass, and nodded.
"There are indeed very obvious traces."

“Secondly, although there are Dean language markings on the blade, they are not sacrificial terms, but rather the inscriptions given when a new king ascends the throne. I suspect that the forger didn’t think things through at all when making it and just randomly picked a piece of Dean language to carve on it,” Caesar said.

"You understand Hermos?" the boss asked in surprise.

This is a profound ancient language, and it only circulated in parts of the southern continent.

“Well, when I was little, there was an old man next door who taught me some things in his spare time, but I only know these representative ones,” Caesar said.

"Therefore, this dagger cannot be a relic of the Golden Lion King; it is a modern replica."

"Nonsense!"

The bald man suddenly flew into a rage.
"You little brat, you haven't even finished elementary school! Who gave you permission to spout nonsense here! This is a treasure that even Master Falzi of the Kingdom said was excellent at first glance! You say it's new! What kind of eyesight do you have! This is utter nonsense!"

"So, sir, you've been set up. This is something completely new," Caesar said helplessly. "If it hasn't been too long, you should call the police as soon as possible."

“I think you’re the new one! What did your family teach you! You’re spouting lies all over the place!” The bald man’s face turned red as he pointed at Caesar’s nose and cursed.

"Don't rush, let me explain this to you in detail."

"You're so young and you're already learning bad habits, lying to people here! I don't think you'll amount to anything when you grow up!" the bald man interrupted him angrily.

Caesar's expression turned cold, and he smiled faintly.
"new."

"You have the audacity to call something as good as mine, such a precious cultural relic, new!"

"It's brand new, completely new,"

"Take a good look at this patina, this handle, these engravings, open your eyes wide and look carefully!"

"It's still new, as new as it gets."

"you you you."

"New, brand new, undeniably new."

The bald man clutched his chest, looking like he was about to explode with anger. He looked at the boss, took a deep breath, and pointed at Caesar, saying, "You, you wouldn't listen to this brat causing trouble here, would you?"

"Hehe." The shopkeeper chuckled, put the dagger back into the box, and pushed it in front of the bald man. "Why don't you try looking at other shops?"

His bald face had turned a deep liver color.

He packed his things and left, grumbling and cursing.

"Thank you, young man," the shopkeeper said sincerely.

"If it weren't for you, I might have lost 400,000."

"It's nothing, just a small favor," Caesar said with a faint smile.

"Uh, how do you know so much at such a young age?" the boss asked curiously.

“I already told you, there’s an old man next door who often teaches me,” Caesar said again.

The boss nodded, not asking any further questions, thinking that the child had probably encountered a reclusive master.

“Oh, by the way, boss, I came in to ask how much that jar is worth. I think that old man would like it, and I’m planning to give it to him,” Caesar said.

The boss laughed heartily: "That's not cheap. Hmm, how about this, I have an idea. You work for me here one day every weekend as a consultant or something. Do this for two months, and I'll give you that jar. How about that?"

Caesar's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected his boss to say that.

Doesn't this save a lot of money?
Moreover, you might come across even more magical items here later.

He then agreed.

"Caesar!"

Just then, Yumilia ran in. When she returned, she found that Caesar was nowhere to be seen. She asked the staff at the counter and learned that he had come here.

"Well then, I'll head back too." Caesar said goodbye to his boss, promising to start work next weekend.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw Yumilia staring blankly at a small music box on the counter.

"What's wrong?" Caesar asked.

"Um, no, it's nothing. Let's go, Caesar," Yumilia said, coming back to her senses.

(End of this chapter)