Chapter 44 - Rachael, the Appraiser.
"You released mana in the building. The SMD laws dictate that unchecked use of mana outside of a Gate is illegal and I am within my right to detain you right now. I will let it go this time, but it will be a sanctionable offense the next time you are caught."
Keith spoke up a few seconds later and Jason didn't bother answering. He simply folded his hands and leaned back on the couch calmly, and Keith felt a tick mark appearing on his head!
Keith had spoken to Liam earlier about Jason, and Liam had told Keith how level-headed Jason was, even though he was very young. But Liam never told him how infuriating he was! Jason's refusal to acknowledge the law and his lack of proper regret for the things he did was making the justice-oriented Keith lose his fucking mind!
'Liam was right about this boy. He's going to be a difficult one to deal with. If he becomes even stronger in the future, then we might not be able to control his actions. We need to keep an eye on him.'
Keith decided that he would make it his personal mission to watch Jason from now on, and he turned as the agent finally ran into the room.
"I-I'm sorry for being late! I was in the toilet! Oh! No, I mean I was in the ladies' room! Ahh! I'm sorry!"
The person who entered the room was a young girl that looked barely over twenty. She had short brown hair, wide innocent eyes, and a round mousy face that would easily make anyone call her cute.
She stuttered her way into the room with a huge blush on her face, and Jason watched with calm resignation as she tried to apologize for being late while stumbling over herself. Jason turned to glance at Keith for a moment, and he wasn't surprised to see the same look of slight confusion on Keith's face. Even the Lover of Justice found it hard to understand what was going on.
"U-Uhm... I'm Rachel! And it's my first week working in the Department! It's a pleasure to meet you, sir!"
Rachel bowed her head in greeting and Jason just nodded to tell her that it was okay. Jason didn't even know if he could take her seriously, but she had an intense enthusiasm about her that just made you want to root for her. So, he decided not to judge her too quickly.
Rachel brought out some tools and laid them out on the table in the middle of the room. A small chisel, a microscope, and a strange-looking device that looked like a thermometer. She also put down a thick book, and Jason waited as she spoke up again.
"I'll be carrying out the appraisal, and we'll determine how much can be exchanged for the Magic Crystals. U-Uhm, don't worry if there are some defects. That usually happens when people retrieve crystals for the first time. I'll also need to get your account number so we can transfer the funds directly to your bank."
As she spoke, Rachel slowly began to get into her element. Even though she was nervous since this was only her first week, she was still someone who passed all the interviews for the SMD, so she at least knew how to compose herself professionally.
Jason looked down at the book that was slid over to him and saw that there was a space on the first page where he was supposed to write his account details. He filled it in quickly and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper bag before dropping it on the table and speaking up.
"These are the Magic Crystals."
Rachel blinked in surprise as Jason pushed the bag towards her. She opened the bag to see how many stones were inside, and she couldn't stop herself from exclaiming once she saw the multiple crystals in the bag!
"Oh my god, it's a lot!"
"Ah-Hem!"
Keith coughed from the side of the room and gave Rachel a withering glare. Rachel had the decency to blush at her outburst before she reached into the bag and brought out what looked like the largest stone.
Rachel was shocked that a single person was able to get these many stones from their very first Gate! Even the entire guild found it hard to retrieve all the stones in their first Gate since they were always very tired from defeating the Boss. Being able to get these many stones in such pristine condition was amazing!
She turned it over in her hand, looking for any sign of imperfection, and she was stunned when she didn't see anything! It didn't even look like it was torn out using a blade! It was like someone very experienced just reached in and grabbed the stone straight from the beast's body!
Rachel's face went serious as she poured out all the stones on the table. There were thirty-four stones in total. One very large stone, two medium-sized stones, and thirty-one smaller stones. They all pulsed with magical power in varying degrees, and Rachel didn't need to be a genius to know that the largest stone was from a Gate boss.
Rachel had also heard about Jason and how he cleared out an entire Red Gate on his own, and she was one of those who didn't believe it at first. It was just too outlandish to think about a newly Awakened Superhuman going into a Gate and clearing it!
Rachel thought that the government was just trying to fool them, or there was some secret guild that Jason was a part of, but she never believed that he was a newly Awakened Superhuman. And now the stones in front of her were only making it harder for her to accept that Jason was a new Superhuman.
Most newbies didn't know how to get stones out of the bodies of monsters because they didn't know where to find them. The stone was located somewhere in the heart of the beast, and since the beast's heart was in a different position each time, you would sometimes cause damage to the stones after hacking away to try and find it.
But the stones in front of her looked like someone knew exactly where the heart was and they just went and took the stone. It was too good to be true!
Rachel snuck a discreet glance at Jason while she thought he wasn't looking, and she felt a silent, vindictive laugh escape from her chest. Jason might have everyone else fooled, but she was the only one who knew the truth! Jason was only posing as a newbie and he was actually a veteran who had been hiding his abilities!
'I bet he just likes the attention. Well, I can't blame him. Everyone's talking about him now, so it worked. I won't say anything about it. It'll be our little secret.'
Another silent laugh escaped Rachel, and Jason just looked on in silence as he wondered why the strange woman was glancing at him like that. He had no idea he had somehow become an accomplice in the woman's mind.
Rachel spoke up a few seconds later.
"These are in great condition, Mr. Jason. I don't think I've seen any new Superhumans cut out stones this well before. Not that I'm doubting you're a new Superhuman or anything! I mean—Sorry."
Rachel quickly apologized in embarrassment when Jason raised a brow at her and she reached down for the thermometer-looking object. She put it against one of the rocks and it displayed the number 15 on it.
"Fifteen Magicules. That's a good rating for a small magic crystal."
Magicules were the unit that scientists came up with for measuring the density of mana within an object or around an area. For context, the boss of the Red Gate, a Disaster-class Magical Beast, would give out a magical crystal that contained about 150 Magicules, while the mobs in a Red Gate would give out somewhere between 12 to 20 Magicules.
The boss's direct subordinates usually had about a quarter of the Boss's magicule output, which is somewhere around 30 to 50 Magicules, and Rachel could already tell that the two medium-sized stones would be from the subordinates even without measuring the mana output.