"Here you go, Young Master," Helen said as she served the tea in front of William.

"Thank you, Aunt Helen," William replied. "I promised Theo that I'd give him two slices of apple pie. Please, hand it to him when he comes later to return our sheep."

"Understood." Helen nodded her head and left the living room.

William picked up the teacup and took a quick sip before glancing at their guests.

"Well then, let's get down to business." William smiled. "So, what kind of compensation did you prepare in order to bribe our family to break this engagement? Like I said earlier, we don't need gold. We're not poor."

Agatha glanced at Eleanor before taking the initiative to start the discussion.

"Then what do you want?" Agatha asked.

"Treasures, artifacts," William replied. "As long as it has value then I'll take it."

Eleanor took a small box from her storage ring and showed it to William. In this world, rich and influential people were able to afford these magical artifacts who were able to store items in a separate dimension.

According to William's knowledge, the maximum capacity of the best storage ring in the continent was only two square meters. Although it made things easier to carry things around, the space was quite limited.

Eleanor opened the box and showed its contents to William.

"This is called the Pill of Growth," Eleanor explained. "This is a very expensive pill that is worth two thousand gold coins. If you agree to break this marriage agreement, I will give this to you."

"You want me to break the marriage agreement for a pill that is only worth two thousand gold coins?" William asked in a mocking tone. He then glanced at Rebecca and grinned. "In your Master's eyes, you are only worth two thousand gold coins."

Rebecca frowned, but didn't say anything. Seeing her reaction, Eleanor's face sank. Although the young genius had accepted her to be her Master, the two of them hadn't started their apprenticeship.

She was planning to take Rebecca to the Misty Sect to start her training, but postponed it when she discovered that she was engaged to a country bumpkin. As an elder of the prestigious sect, she wouldn't allow her disciple to have any kind attachment to a nobody.

Agatha and her husband shared her opinion. This was also why they took advantage of the old Duke's absence. Both of them wanted to break the engagement that was made when Rebecca was only two years old.

"Of course this is not the only thing that I am willing to give you," Eleanor said through gritted teeth. "This is only one of the things that you will obtain if you agree to break the marriage agreement between the two families."

"Can I see that pill?" William asked.

"Okay." Elearnor passed the box over so that William could take a closer look.

The elder of the Misty Sect was confident that the boy was ignorant of such a treasure. What she didn't know was that William had the almighty appraisal skill at his beck and call.

----

Pill of Growth

-- When consumed, this pill will permanently increase all stats by one.

-----

William snorted and unceremoniously made a gesture for his Mama Ella to come closer.

"Mama, this is good stuff." William grinned.

"Meeeeh?"

"Try it, Mama."

William placed the pill inside Ella's mouth which shocked Agatha, Eleanor, and the four guards behind them.

The Angorian Goat chewed the pill and its eyes widened in surprise.

"Is it good?" William asked.

"Meeeeh."

"Just so~so?"

Ella nodded her head in confirmation. Although the pill had raised all of her stats by one, the taste was not satisfactory for her.

"Y-you! What have you done?!" Eleanor couldn't believe her eyes. 'The boy actually fed the Pill of Growth to a goat?! What a waste of resources!'

The four guards glared at William. They felt their heart ache because a Pill of Growth was worth five thousand Sect Credits. They had to work for two years in order to get enough points to exchange for it at the Misty Sect.

"What's wrong?" William asked back. "It's just a cheap Pill of Growth. Don't worry, since I already used it, you can deduct it from the list of compensation items that you are planning to give me."

Eleanor's chest heaved up and down in fury. The Pill of Growth was supposed to be her gift to Rebecca. In order to make the bastard boy agree to annul the marriage agreement, she decided to compromise and give it to him instead.

However, seeing him treat her treasure like it was just a piece of candy angered her.

Seeing Eleanor's expression, Agatha decided to intervene and picked a treasure from her own storage ring.

"Here, this is a magic staff," Agatha explained. "Although you don't have an ounce of magical power, you can pass it to other people who are more talented than you."

William ignored the ridicule in Agatha's words and took the magic staff from her hand.

----

Bronze Staff of Learning

-- A staff suitable for apprentice magicians.

-- Increases intelligence by 3

-----

William frowned and returned the staff to Agatha, "Sorry, I'm not interested in a cheap magic staff. Do you have something better?"

"C-cheap? This staff is worth one thousand gold coins!" Agatha almost whacked the boys head using the staff in her hands. She couldn't believe that a mere shepherd dares to call it cheap!

"I'm not interested in low quality items." William shrugged. "Oh, they said that you are a genius. Are you a magician?"

"Yes," Rebecca replied.

"Do you have a magic staff?"

"I do."

"Show it to me."

Rebecca pondered for a bit before reluctantly summoning her magic staff. Unlike the Bronze Staff of Learning, the staff in Rebecca's hand had a dark-blue color. You could even call it a spear, but instead of a sharp blade, a big purple crystal--in the shape of a rose--adorned its tip.

William's eyes sparkled because he could tell that the staff was way better compared to the bronze staff that he had appraised earlier.

"Can I touch it? Don't worry, I won't break it." William patted his chest. "I just want to take a closer look at it."

"Very well, but you can only hold it for half a minute," Rebecca stated. "This staff is worth twenty thousand gold coins."

"Twenty thousand gold coins? It's that expensive?" William held the staff in his hands to have it appraised.

However, before he could even use the appraisal skill, a series of text appeared in front of him.

-----

-----