The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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All eyes in the room turned toward me.

 

I had wanted to keep it secret if possible, but with the situation laid out like this, there was no choice.

 

I let out a small sigh and nodded my head.

 

“Yes, that’s right. This isn’t a conch pearl but an imitation pearl.”

 

“What?! That can’t be!”

 

“I said earlier that you could tell with the naked eye, didn’t I?”

 

I knocked away Malcolm’s hand that was reaching for the pearl and stood in front of the table.

 

“That’s right, conch pearls have distinctive flame patterns unlike other pearls and are asymmetrical. They also lack nacre layers. Those are parts you can see just by looking. However.”

 

I signaled to Emma and gently rubbed the pink pearl.

 

The amplified sound echoed through the hall.

 

“You overlooked the fact that the texture is also different. Conch pearls have a somewhat rough, non-smooth surface that makes a gritty sound when rubbed, but this pearl is excessively smooth with a soft texture. Listen.”

 

From my fingertips rubbing the pearl came not a gritty sound but a squeaky one.

 

I glared at Malcolm, who was still wearing gloves.

 

“So to properly identify a conch pearl, you need to touch it directly with bare hands. You can’t tell just by looking with your eyes.”

 

“What…!”

 

“You mocked me asking if I’d ever seen such a pearl, but isn’t it you who doesn’t know much? Or perhaps.”

 

I stared at Malcolm, whose face had turned red and blue, and spoke coldly.

 

“You’ve been carelessly stamping authentication seals on fake conch pearls, so you’ve never actually seen a real conch pearl?”

 

“Ugh…!”

 

“What? So that goateed man made a mistake?”

 

“He doesn’t know much himself yet has no shame… That human shop is at the street entrance, right? I’ll never have reason to go there in my lifetime.”

 

As people murmured, Malcolm’s face turned pale.

 

Turning away from him as he staggered, I handed the pearl back to the woman.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you involved in something like this.”

 

I truly hadn’t wanted to drag the woman and her grandmother’s heirloom pearl into this affair.

 

Since she was a customer I’d met for the first time today, I hadn’t expected the pearl she brought to be an imitation.

 

However, surprisingly, the woman looked comfortable.

 

“No, it’s fine. Actually, I had suspected deep down that grandmother’s pearl might be an imitation.”

 

“Yes, it seemed like you did.”

 

“If this were a conch pearl, it would be extremely valuable, but grandmother was a modest person. I heard she bought it as a souvenir on her first trip, so I thought it was probably an imitation pearl. Still…”

 

“Since it was a pearl your grandmother cherished, you wanted to take good care of it.”

 

“…Yes, that’s right. Thank you and I’m sorry, appraiser. To think you would bear misunderstanding to protect my honor.”

 

I smiled slightly at her.

 

“An appraiser might just be someone who appraises, but I’m also a pawnshop owner. I’m someone who looks at not just objects, but the memories tied to those objects.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“If it’s not a forgery with falsified certificates or a counterfeit deliberately made to deceive others, then even if it’s an imitation, the memories contained within are real. Please continue to treasure it. As for care methods…”

 

As I was explaining how to care for imitation pearls, I suddenly realized that our conversation was echoing loudly.

 

When I turned around, Emma was grinning and giving me a thumbs up.

 

It seemed she had left the voice amplification on that she’d used to let people hear the pearl’s sound.

 

Thanks to that, everyone gathered in the hall could hear my words.

 

“Oh my, how sweet…”

 

“That’s right, that appraiser is correct. It’s not like she deceived someone to sell a fake, and there’s nothing wrong with that young lady treasuring her memories.”

 

“I want to ask that Elisha person for an appraisal too. Where should I go?”

 

“This is ridiculous!”

 

Among the voices of moved people rang out Malcolm’s shout.

 

He pointed accusingly.

 

“You, you! You two conspired together, didn’t you?! Right?!”

 

“What are you saying? I’m visiting this street for the first time today because of the festival! I’ve never met Appraiser Elisha before!”

 

The woman was angry, but Malcolm seemed unable to hear her words.

 

“Yes, you definitely conspired! Otherwise, how could you immediately appraise that conch pearl as an imitation?! Even I couldn’t do that!”

 

“Then your skills must be lacking.”

 

“What does this little girl know to talk back so sharply…!”

 

Malcolm, who had been grumbling at my pointed remark, finally came to his senses at the cold atmosphere in the hall.

 

Breathing heavily, he forced a fake smile.

 

“Fine, if you didn’t conspire as you claim! Prove it.”

 

“Prove what?”

 

“That man! Appraise the gem that man brought!”

 

That man?

 

It was Malcolm’s employee who had remained last.

 

Malcolm’s words didn’t end there.

 

“This time I’ll participate in the appraisal too. Whoever appraises faster wins, understand? I’ll properly show who the ‘real’ appraiser is!”

 

“What if I refuse?”

 

“Ha! I knew it, you’re trying to back out because you’re not confident!”

 

It was clearly unreasonable to anyone listening.

 

People were whispering ‘Why is that guy acting like that?’

 

The atmosphere had already tilted heavily in my favor.

 

But.

 

“Fine.”

 

I checked my watch and decided to accept his pathetic excuse for a provocation.

 

“However, let’s add one condition. The person who appraises quickly ‘and accurately’ wins.”

 

“What kind of condition is that nonsense. Isn’t that obvious?”

 

Seeing him act like this, Malcolm had definitely brought an item from his own pawnshop and given it to his employee.

 

He probably planned to recite what he’d memorized as soon as he saw the gem.

 

Looking at his confident expression, I smiled leisurely.

 

Malcolm flinched, but thinking this was a game he couldn’t lose, he soon forced a fake smile while raising his goatee.

 

“You’re working hard, Guild Member Elisha.”

 

Helena, who had agreed to time us, glared at Malcolm as she spoke.

 

I winked at her.

 

“It’s fine. I needed to buy some time anyway.”

 

“Time? What time?”

 

“I need to time someone’s arrival.”

 

I grinned and gestured to Malcolm’s employee who was standing there blankly.

 

He came forward with a box and stood between Malcolm and me.

 

Helena, thinking I must have some plan, didn’t ask further and placed her hand over the stopwatch.

 

“I’ll start timing as soon as the gem is placed on the table. Interference such as physical contact is prohibited, and whoever appraises the gem quickly and accurately wins. Now then.”

 

Regardless of Malcolm’s provocation being unreasonable, people were watching with excitement.

 

Helena looked down at the sparkling-eyed crowd and opened her mouth.

 

“Three, two, one.”

 

As Helena pressed the stopwatch, the man simultaneously placed the gem from the box on the table.

 

I quickly picked up my loupe and examined the gem.

 

‘It’s a sapphire. About 3 carats in size, and judging by the reflected light, it’s genuine. But the color is unusually deep, this is…’

 

I glanced at Malcolm, who unlike me, was standing with arms crossed staring at the screen as if he didn’t need to examine the gem closely.

 

When our eyes met, Malcolm’s lips curled up wickedly.

 

“I won!”

 

Malcolm’s booming shout echoed through the hall.

 

Helena looked at me with disbelief.

 

“Guild Member Elisha…”

 

“It can’t be helped. Let him speak first, Lady Helena.”

 

Helena sighed deeply and looked at Malcolm.

 

Malcolm, his eyes gleaming with victory, laughed loudly.

 

“Haha! That’s right, no matter how much a greenhorn like you struggles, you can’t beat 20 years of experience! This is a Tehita sapphire!”

 

Even though it was something he brought himself, his swagger in pretending to identify it at first glance was quite something.

 

Hearing his words, I chuckled at the phrase ‘Tehita sapphire.’

 

Helena glanced at me and gestured with her chin for Malcolm to continue.

 

“…It’s exactly 3 carats, and looking at the facets—the cut surfaces—and the reflected light, it’s genuine. The appraisal value is 7 million gold! Hey, young man who brought this gemstone. Am I right?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct! Absolutely accurate, how did you know just by looking?”

 

The man let out exaggerated admiration and poured various certificates from the box.

 

“There’s a certificate proving it was mined from Tehita Mountain, the authenticity certificate is here, and the appraisal value is exact!”

 

“Hey, guild leader, was it? How about quickly declaring my victory?”

 

“Puhaha…”

 

Helena, who had been looking at the documents alternately, burst into laughter.

 

Malcolm’s face crumpled.

 

“What? Are you trying to protect this woman just because she’s a guild member? But it’s useless, hundreds of people here witnessed that I appraised it much faster!”

 

“Ah, yes, I acknowledge you appraised it ‘quickly.’ But wasn’t there one more condition to this match?”

 

Helena smiled brightly and turned to look at me.

 

“Right, Guild Member Elisha?”

 

“What? Aha, are you planning to nitpick that I didn’t appraise it ‘accurately’? But the certificates proved it, didn’t they—there wasn’t a single thing wrong with my appraisal!”

 

“Yes, nothing was wrong.”

 

I also answered with a smile.

 

Malcolm straightened his back.

 

“See! So the one who appraised it both quickly and accurately was none other than me…!”

 

“But you omitted a fact. Intentionally.”

 

I dropped my smile and glared at Malcolm.

 

“This gemstone is stolen goods, isn’t it?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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