Chapter 193 - 193. Recording Stone
Although Jack was glad that he had managed to achieve the purpose of his infiltration, which was to gain access to the meeting, he was also depressed. Because during the time he was chatting with Red Death, he had inspected her using his God-Eye monocle. She was already level 18, and was a Rogue, a melee-focused advanced class other than Archer that branched out from Ranger.
He had expected this to happen. Sooner or later, these experts would surpass his level. After all, he had two classes to take care of. The experience he needed to advance was twice compared to the other players. So unless he wanted to set his experience intake to all focus on only one of his classes, he would have to brace himself to see other players overtook his level. He would need to put in an effort double than the others in order to stay equal with them.
Jack took his previous team on another run again. They were grateful that Jack didn't take on the rock golem again. This time, it took them five hours to complete the run. After they were back in the capital, Jack split the coins drop with them and bid them goodbye.
He then went to the Hunters Association to submit the quests and trophy loots. He retook the same hunting quests again. He intended to complete the quests alone this time.
But before he went out to do the quest, he asked Peniel out of curiosity, 'Peniel, is there a tool in this world that can record pictures or sounds?'
"You mean recording stone?"
'I have no idea what that is. How about you describe its function?'
"It is used to record pictures and sounds…"
'Well, then that's what I'm looking for. So where can I find this recording stone?'
"Generally, you can buy it."
'Perfect! Point me to the shop.'
"I told you already, I don't know the individual shop in a city. I didn't see any of the shops that are likely to sell this stuff when we are passing by the Business district. So if you are looking for a recording stone, you will most likely have to search for it in the shops in Noble district."
'Noble district? They got shops also there?'
"Of course they have, where do you think the nobles buy their things? You think they go all this way to the business district to buy stuff together with other peasants?"
'Okay, let's go to the noble district then. Good thing I have that entry permit writ from the Duke.'
"What do you need a recording stone for anyway? It was the sort of thing nobles used for entertainment and pastime. I can't see it helping you in any way."
'I'm going to use it to record the meeting,' Jack told her.
"What for?" Peniel didn't understand.
'I'm not sure. I'm infiltrating the meeting to find information. But I might not be able to do anything about what those guilds are planning. I can only relay the information to the other opposing guilds that can deal with them, like White Scarfs for example.'
"I see, so you want to use a recording stone to record the information in the meeting."
'Yes, I'm afraid if the contents of the meeting are too complicated, there might be too many details for me to remember. Or if it's too unbelievable, I might need the recording to prove my information.'
"I see you have thought things through for this infiltration."
'Not really. I just make things up as I go. If I didn't get the Orb of Disguise before, then I wouldn't have had the idea to infiltrate the meeting. The idea of recording the meeting was also a passing thought. I didn't expect there to be really such a device like the recording stone. Since there really is, might as well go get one.'
He passed through the entrance of Noble District easily with the Duke's entry permit writ. Once in the district, he asked around for the shopping area. He had learned from the past, he did not ask any of the pompous nobles, he went and asked the patrolling guards instead.
The shopping area in the Noble District was much smaller compared to the Business District, and less crowded. But each of the shops was much larger and had a grand appearance.
'Which one is the shop that sells a recording stone?' He asked Peniel.
"It's not too many shops. Just go in and check one by one. You can usually find one in a store that sells general appliance products."
Since he had no reference, he did as Peniel had advised. He went from one store to another. The first store was a store that sells different types of magic lamps. There was a standing lamp, hanging lamp, gate lamp, it was basically a store specialized in lighting products. A shop attendance came to him as he browsed the products. After seeing his attire, a clear disdain could be seen in his expression. "Are you sure you are in the right store, sir? Or the right district for that matter."
Jack looked at him, the shop attendance was a young man in a sleek suit.
Jack narrowed his eyes and retorted, "what the hell are you so proud of? You are just a shop attendance!"
The young man's eyes were wide, he didn't expect the guy to talk back. How uncivilized! How barbaric. "I believe you should get out of here, sir."
"Fine, it's not like there is anything good in this shitty shop anyway," Jack uttered as he strutted out.
"I think that Unrivalled Arcaner persona is a bad influence to you," Peniel said to him. "You know you are not impersonating him at the moment, right?"
"I know, but being a badass felt kinda good also," Jack laughed. And he could see that there was nothing he needed in that lighting shop, so he didn't have any reservation on offending the store.
"Will all the shops in this Noble District as obnoxious as that one?" Jack said.
"Probably. After all, the nobles are used to looking down on the peasants. You will find very few nobles that were as understanding as Duke Alfredo and Duchess Isabelle."
"Well, then wouldn't that be a problem for me to be shopping here?"
"You can always try to dress like them."
"Huh, use disguise?"
"No need to use the orb, just change your clothes. The nobles usually judge people by their appearances. The shop keepers and attendances are mostly commoners, so as long as you change your cloth, they will just treat you as a noble."
"Where should I find a noble cloth?"
"There is a clothing shop over there."
"Won't I get discriminated too going inside there?"
"You can always pretend to be a noble that had just come back from an adventure. Show your coins around. Everyone loves coins, especially people inside the shops in noble districts. Or, you can always try to go to the duke mansion and borrow a few clothes, I think he won't mind."
"I will try my luck in the shop first," Jack said.
When he was in the shop, as he had expected, a shop attendance came over soon after. It was a middle-aged man in an elegant tailor suit this time. "Might you have entered the wrong store, sir?" He asked politely, but Jack could still sense the ridicule in his tone.
"No, this is the right place. However, I do think the quality of the apparel in this store to be slightly slacking. I just came back from an expedition from the wilderness, hence my undesirable attire. I wish to change to a more appropriate one before heading back to my mansion. Perhaps you could give me some recommendation?" Jack took out a handful of gold coins and played with them in his hand. Since he was pretending to be noble, he guessed he should be as haughty as possible.
The shop attendance's eyes were glued to the coins. He immediately said with a clear change in attitude, "of course, sir. I think I have just the right suit for you! Please come with me to this side."
Jack did not really understand any fashion style. But since he was a haughty noble, he simply rejected the first two sets of clothes that the shop attendance suggested, even though he thought the clothes were fine enough. He accepted the third one. But was soon speechless by the price. It cost 1 gold and 20 silver coins! A common armor that could boost defense only cost 2 silver. This suit did not provide any benefit at all. It was only a cosmetic item, but it cost so much. He reluctantly took out his hard-earned coins to pay for it.
He changed into that noble suit. He constrained himself until he came out of the shop to find a quiet corner, then he cursed his heart out.