Vale and two others naturally agreed as they weren't from this city. Although Charvale City isn't even as big as Melthorn City where Vale grew up, it is still rather large with a complete railway system.

Many factories of various fields can also be seen as the city was actually surrounded by coal mines.

This is also what Vale learned when he asked Lisa about the city. Apparently, she had visited this city once and according to her, this is not a place where you go for a vacation.

Factories emit smoke, steam trains go here and there, and the city gets covered by fog until 10 in the morning.

It is also surrounded by mountains so the city can't really expand even if they wanted to

"So it's really like this" Vale muttered as they alighted from the horse carriage.

It's only two in the afternoon but the sun could barely be seen because of the smoke pollution.

It looks terrible and Vale was certainly concerned about the health of the people living here. Nevertheless, he can't do anything about it as he looked at the antique shop

"It's here You already know what to do so I'll leave now." Professor Stella said as she left with the horse carriage after dropping off the three students in front of the Alchemy Branch's shop.

The three weren't sure about Stella's mission in the city but it seems really important by the way she looks.

"Alright, it's all up to us now" Priscilla spoke with excitement.

Although this transaction seems a bit too much for first-year students like them, they were still looking forward to getting involved in these matters.

After all, they weren't sure when will they get another chance of leaving the Academy's land once again.

Vale agreed to her words as he looked at the shop.

It is a three-storey building with a wooden sign on top of its door, Retro Relics Antiques.

Vale has seen a few antique shops in Melthorn City but those shops weren't as grand as this one.

Although this is only a business handled by an Alchemy Faction Branch, Vale can see that it was doing really well in this small city.

As soon as they entered, Priscilla showed an emblem showing her status as a student of the Vermont Academy. It was given to them by Nadine to confirm their identity.

The guard outside swiftly took care of it and allowed them to enter the shop after returning the emblem.

Inside the building, Vale and the other two realized that two more groups of people seem to have business with the Alchemy Branch as well.

'Did we arrive at an inconvenient time?' Vale mused but he then recalled how they were late in their arrival.

He then looked at the first group of people and they seem to act like some thugs of the street as they were bargaining with the clerk about the price of the item they were selling.

"How can you offer such a terrible price for these gems and jewelry?! We found them all in a 500-year-old catacomb! Do you think we're fools?! You should triple the price!" The leader of the group of four people shouted as the veins on his neck bulged out.

"Grave robbers?" Priscilla muttered after hearing them. No wonder these people came to the Antique shop

The female clerk, on the other hand, didn't show any signs of being intimidated by the customer's loud voice.

She remained calm and showed a business smile to the loud customer before she spoke with her gentle voice.

"Five hundred years? Then I guess someone already came to that catacomb and replaced them with new pieces of jewelry You see, the necklaces, armbands, circlets, and rings you've found have marks left behind by the Touch of Brilliance jewelry shop in the neighboring city. That's right, the Touch of Brilliance is a jewelry store owned by the same person owning this Antique Shop."

As the female clerk said this, she took out a device from her pocket.

It seems to be a small flashlight but there is a white stone on its end instead.

As she triggered the device, the stone lit up and she turned the light to one of the pieces of jewelry brought by the suspected grave robbers.

Then as expected, hidden marks were showing on the jewelry. It was the logo of the Touch of Brilliance shop making the group of four pale

"W-we've been cheated" The leader finally realized what has happened. The man who had given this to them cheated them!

"This W-We gave up our carriages, horses, and belongings for these things and you're telling me we sold them for a mere 430 zen!"

Just a single horse would cost about 500 zen. They gave a total of four horses for these gems and jewelry!

They couldn't believe they were cheated Furthermore, now that they think about it, they felt baffled how they easily agreed to sell their belongings when they're not in extreme need of money.

Although the four of them weren't rich, they weren't living in poverty. They also weren't searching for quick money when they decided to visit enter this city.

"It seems you've been cheated. I suggest that you report this to the police and tell them how you were cheated into selling your belongings for cheap jewelry Ahem, cheap but high-quality jewelry." The clerk corrected herself as the pieces of jewelry are still items made by a store connected to them.

Calling them cheap may seem like she was trying to tarnish their reputation.

Anyway, she decided to give back the gems and jewelry since they were not accepting her offer price.

"No Just give us the money, we'll chase those bastards now!"

The clerk's eyes lit up after hearing this. It seems she did the right decision. In just a few seconds, she completed the transaction as she carefully placed the pieces of jewelry in a small box before placing them aside to meet with the other customers.

However, before she could entertain them, she heard an argument inside the shop.

"You brats, are you laughing at us?!"