15 The Three Spirit Beasts

Bree smiled as she looked at the three children excitedly swing their little heads around, their wide eyes gazing upon the strange animals with curiosity.

"Fufu… Seeing as how my little niece is so surprised, don't tell me you thought I would give you something lame after taking you all the way here?"

Evelyn blushed slightly under her gaze, feeling a little guilty. She never thought that Bree would give her something lame, but she did believe she wouldn't be too surprised.

After all, what else could it be but a good piece of equipment? She was definitely looking forward to it excitedly, but didn't feel any sense of suspense.

She thought she had it all figured out from the clues. Because when Bree had first taken her out to buy her a gift saying she 'couldn't get it without her', Evelyn became sure that it was something needed to be made to fit her.

Which meant that it was either some sort of clothing or jewelry. In either scenario, the case was already solved by detective Evelyn.

Or so she thought.

Getting two pieces of jewelry in a row could also have influenced her guess.

Since she was feeling bad, she decided to just confess and apologize.

"Sorry aunty, I didn't think it would be lame at all! But I thought I could guess it. I'm so surprised now, aunty is amazing!"

Bree felt the urge to roll her eyes, thinking that this little girl was already so sly at this age, no wonder she was her big sister's daughter! Of course, she couldn't bear to upset her little niece on her birthday, so she could only forgive her and move on.

"Well, since you're so cute, aunty won't mind this time. But next time, you will have to give me a kiss to make up for it!"

Evelyn did not delay a good deed for next time at all, and planted a kiss on her cheek right away, making Bree laugh.

"You really are sister Bella's child! Don't go breaking too many hearts in the future, alright?"

Evelyn pretended to be shy, turning her head away with a blush. "Aunty's teasing me again."

Then she tilted her head curiously. "Did mom have a lot of admirers?"

The blonde looked a little awkward, as if wondering how much could be told to her at her age. Although Isabella had never actually dated anyone before Desmond, the number of pursuers she had could probably stuff the Knox mansion full.

"Ahh… let's just say a lot of people found her really likeable?"

"Did aunty have many, too?"

'This kid! What's with all these questions?!'

"I-I did not! Ahem, let's just, let's just not talk about this. Hey you, what are you doing just standing there?!"

The attendant looked wronged, as if he wanted to say 'you guys were the ones ignoring me!', but in the end he just gloomily started introducing the contents of the cages one by one.

The ones closest to the door were mostly unborn beasts, followed by smaller and then finally larger beasts deeper down the line.

"Distinguished guests, this right here is the egg of an Aquavahn Giant Snapper turtle, expected to hatch within the next eight years. We classify it as a grade three beast, and it costs twenty seven spirit crystals."

Evelyn gasped, looking at Bree worriedly. Isn't the price too much? From what she knew, a single spirit crystal was worth a hundred spirit stones! And each spirit stone was worth a hundred gold coins!

Looking at Bree's nonchalant face as if the price did not bother her one bit, Evelyn quickly settled down. Perhaps she thought too much. Maybe gold in this world wasn't as valuable, and the cost wasn't really that high?

"This one, is an unknown creature's egg, and has been evaluated by experts to be either of the third or the fourth grade. Estimated to hatch within the next eighteen years, it costs forty one spirit crystals."

Bree kept looking at Evelyn to see her reaction, but although the little girl seemed to be excited and curious, it didn't look like any of the presented beasts captured her heart.

The blonde felt a little depressed. It's not wrong to say that most ancient beasts raised as pets became lifelong companions and partners with their master. And if there was nothing here that captured the little girl's heart, it was better not to rush it and just pick something else.

Bree kept praying in her heart that Evelyn would find something that attracted her. Because if she really had to just give her some jewelry after the talk they had previously, Bree would probably die of embarrassment.

The attendant's constant explanations stopped abruptly as his face became clammy with nervousness.

"M-Milord."

The three children looked startled as they saw the old man standing behind them with a smile. Vivian even let out a cute 'Kyaa!', but Bree did not even turn around to take a look.

"As you were."

"Y-Yes, milord. T-This one here, is—"

"I wonder… for you to be so pompous today, just how much are you willing to spend?"

The attendant almost cried when the old man started talking. 'If you don't want me to speak, why did you tell me to continue?!'

Bree pursed her lips before holding Evelyn a little tighter. Although there was no limit on how much she was willing to spend on her little niece, that didn't mean she would splurge without sense.

"That depends on how much your products are worth."

The old man's wrinkles seemed to get deeper as he smiled, making his face look like old tree bark. "Hoh… alright. Come, follow me."

He walked to the end of the hall before stopping in front of an empty wall. The two little redheads were grasping Bree's skirt tightly, while the attendant hadn't moved from his original position at all.

Suddenly, a tremendous amount of spirit power seemed to gather in the old man's walking cane, and before Evelyn could feel alarmed, it all dissipated into the floor with a gentle tap of wood on stone.

A grating noise echoed through the hall as the tiles in front of the old man separated to reveal a staircase going down.

As they followed him in, there were no guards in sight, but the hallway was brightly lit with torches on either side. This time there were no multiple doors or winding paths, and they arrived in a small room shortly after.

There was nothing in the room but two long sofas and a mahogany table. The old man took a seat on one side, and Bree calmly sat on the other with Evelyn on her lap and the two Gilmore sisters by the side.

The old man pulled out three sheets of paper from the shelf under the table and slid them forward casually.

"Currently, we happen to have three spirit beasts you can buy directly. Take a look. Although, if you're buying for that little girl as I think, there are only two you can actually choose from. I'm sure you understand?"

"Hmm…"

Bree didn't know if Evelyn could read properly, but there were also pictures on the paper, so it should be possible for even her to get some idea.

Evelyn stared at the three sheets on the table in front of her and bounced off of Bree's lap to take a closer look.

The old man chuckled. "What an adorable girl you have… reminds me of my great granddaughter."

Bree's face remained neutral, pretending not to pay him any mind. She already knew about this story, so she didn't dare to respond at all. Lest she give this old bastard the chance to recount clearly how his great granddaughter was eaten by the spirit beast she herself had chosen to raise while ignoring his warnings.

If there is a barrier of fear between the master and the beast, then no real bonding can happen no matter how much time they spend together. So, she did not dare let Evelyn hear his tale right before she chose her own companion.

The old man looked amused at the curious faces of the two Gilmore sisters, not minding that Bree was ignoring him at all. Of course, Evelyn was still absorbed in looking at the spirit beasts.

"She was—"

"If you speak further, we're leaving."

The old man sighed but didn't continue his story. Business was more important than entertainment, after all. In an ideal case, he would have fun while making money. But from time to time a stick in the mud like Bree came along to make his day worse.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was feeling a bit frustrated after looking through the information on the sheets.

To put it simply, there was only a picture of the young beasts, and the information was mostly about where they were found and how they were captured. No detail of what they could do or even what they even were was mentioned anywhere.

The first picture was of a little snake like beast with a mix of green and white scales. The second picture was of a bird beast that looked like a fat finch, but with a strange crown like plume on the head. And the last picture was of a pink fox with a small purple gem on its forehead.

She tugged on Bree's sleeve helplessly. "Aunty… can't I see them first?"

If she could see their status, it would be much easier to make up her mind. She had even resisted using her probe skill all day, just so she can make full use of it while making a decision without the fear of running out of spirit power.

Currently, she had her full 62 points of spirit power ready for use. And each time the probe skill was used, it would consume only one point.

Bree didn't answer her directly but just patted her little hand, nodding towards the old man.

The old man seemed to understand what she wanted without the need for words, and clapped twice. A female attendant entered the room shortly after, followed by three men. Each of the men was covered completely from head to toe in a red garb, and pushed forward a wheeled glass container.

There was now a constant smile on the old man's face, because he already made a decent sum just by convincing them to view spirit beasts in person. After all, it was not for free. Most people wouldn't see one in their entire lifetime.

Evelyn's breath hitched as soon as her eyes fell on the small beast in the center.