Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 1)

Chapter 128 - Eye of Truth

Whether or not he should go up and expose this swindler was a dilemma worth contemplating over. Nie Yan couldn't resolve it simply by relying on emotion and impulse, but rather, he needed to analyze it with logic and reason. Just what were the intentions of this quest's designer?

While pondering, he happened to glance over his own character information and noticed a new status effect-Administrator Kallan's Referral.

Administrator Kallan's Referral: Increases Influence in Hilderlocke by 30 points. Duration: 30 minutes.

He immediately came to a decision upon seeing this.

During the thirty minutes Administrator Kallan's Referral was active, his Influence in Hilderlocke would reach a staggering thirty-seven points, more than enough to deal with these common nobles.

If I successfully trigger and complete this hidden quest, I might be able to obtain a decent reward. On the other hand... if I fail, then I should still be able to get out without any problems as long as I leave the city walls within thirty minutes.

After determining his plan, he began walking over to Krusch.

He would be a rash fool if he simply announced to all the nobles in the room that Krusch was swindling them. Instead of believing him, these arrogant nobles would probably mob him to death. He was a genuine human being, not some NPC with preprogrammed behavioural patterns. It would be disgraceful for him to fail at such an important juncture.

"Greetings Master Blacksmith Krusch, I was referred here by Administrator Kallan. He sends you his regards," Nie Yan said as he approached Krusch.

Whispers could be heard among the crowd after hearing Administrator Kallan's name. None of the nobles dared to be presumptuous in front of someone who had such a backing. Administrators were important dignitaries of the government in charge of a city's finance and taxes, government and army, law and order, and so forth. They held absolute authority in their respective city. At the very least, they would be a duke in the ranks of nobility. Yet of the nobles currently present, the highest were no more than earls.

Seeing Nie Yan stepping forward, all of the nobles silently took a step back.

Krusch's narrow eyes lit up, revealing a proud expression as they swept over the crowd.

"Please send my regards to Administrator Kallan and thank him for his care and kindness. Sir, would you also like to give your luck a try? There are twenty identical items here, but only one of them is the genuine Radiant Gem of Acass. If you pick out the real one, then this legendary item will be yours to own," Krusch said with a smile.

Nie Yan glanced at the gems on the table. They looked identical to each other as if they had come from the same mold. They were truly dazzling and beautiful to behold.

"A master's workmanship is really a cut above the rest," Nie Yan praised.

Krusch faintly smiled before revealing a haughty expression. He seemed quite pleased at the quality of his counterfeits.

"These fakes really do resemble the real thing, but I can still tell that they have some flaws. Just like when a piece of ice is placed next to a gemstone, although both are similarly dazzling to the eye, the ice cube will melt under the sunlight while the gemstone will remain as dazzling as before," Nie Yan said in a thoughtful manner. He was planning to slowly draw Krusch into his trap. NPCs were merely AI created by the game developers, hence they had set behaviours, manners of speech, and so on. As long as the player took things slowly, it would be fairly easy to discover their flaws.

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke out these words of provocation, Krusch's expression gradually turned cold.

"Nirvana Flame, sir, your claims are quite bold. If that's the case, then please guide us in pointing out which one is real," Krusch said in an indignant tone. He knew for certain that Nie Yan would be unable to find the real one.