Chapter 111: Appraisal Centre

Rohan and Elane made their way in the large hall and through the door the arrogant, now shaking, woman had pointed them to.

’I can’t believe that actually worked...’ Rohan thought to himself. He half expected them to be thrown right out of the city hall for impersonating a VIP, or best case being a slap on the wrist for using her father’s status without permission.

But Elane turned out to be right in thinking that the people in this place would be too timid to actually check if they were the real owners of the VIP card.

’It’s best to keep its use to a minimum, if at all. If a powerful Awakened learns of us having it and decides they want it for themselves, then we’re screwed.’

It was basically the exact same situation they had with the Lava Hellebore, except they could hide the VIP card much easier. Not only did it not give off any intimidating aura, but it was small, so it could be hidden anywhere on Elane’s person and nobody would suspect a thing.

As they made their way through the unassuming looking door, the atmosphere inside completely changed. Contrary to the grand, open hall that you first step into when entering the City Hall, this place looked much more down to earth, and more like a local run store rather than a government owned appraisal centre.

"This looks a bit odd, doesn’t it?" Rohan was the first to speak up.

He was the most suspicious of the duo, as he already had bad experiences with receptionists before. Memories of going to the Awakened Association for the first time started to filter in and out of his mind...

’I still need to get revenge everyone involved in putting me in a life threatening situation like that.’ Paired with the experience he and Elane just had with the city hall receptionist, his sour mood worsened.

"Hopefully the time for bad exchanges is over now that we’re here." He uttered.

The woman at the front counter was probably just a run of the mill Awakened, too scared to go out hunting for herself inside the Origin Realm but attracted by the lucrative salary the government pays to work in its offices there.

Surely the city hall’s appraiser will have a much more professional attitude in comparison to her.

"I don’t see anybody here though..." Elane asked, looking around to see any sign of human activity, but noticing nothing.

The aesthetics did make it look more like a local run shop, but it was still several times that size, and with many doors leading to other rooms in there, setting it apart from those other private appraisers.

Rohan turned over to Elane and reminded her.

"Well, it is a Sunday."

Elane scoffed. Using the same kind of reasoning the woman behind the front counter had just used against them left her a bit peeved.

"That’s all the more reason this place should be busier. Weekends are the perfect time for the Federation’s workers to come here."

Rohan raised a brow. ’Maybe all the appraisers are all busy with clients already, then.’

"Well, since we can’t find anybody, let’s just go door to door until we come across an actual human being. Talk about shitty customer service..."

Rohan knew that the people working here couldn’t give a damn about providing good customer service, like those private appraisers would, since this was government owned and run.

Elane nodded, and the two soon split up so they could at least waste less of their time searching for someone.

Rohan separated from Elane and walked down to the end of the hallway. He was going to go down from one end, while Elane goes from the other, so that they would meet back again in the middle if they somehow didn’t find a single person by that point.

The first room Rohan knocked on gave no answer, and when he tugged at the door handle, it opened to reveal a completely empty room aside from a table and two chairs on either side of it.

He moved on to the next, and surprise surprise—!

...It was the exact same thing. Even the same layout and all.

But Rohan opened the third door and was finally pleasantly surprised.

’Finally, a person!’ He cheered dryly.

It was safe to say that he wasn’t in the best of moods right now. They’d already wasted enough time in this place, and word of the true value of the Lave Hellebore could already be spreading for all they knew.

"Hey," Rohan called out toward the... sleeping man?

’The hell? This guy’s really sleeping on the job??’

Receiving no answer from the guy, Rohan raised his voice a notch and shouted once more.

"HEY!"

"U— Woah!" The man suddenly jolted upright in his chair and snorted a few times before shifting his gaze to the open doorway.

"Am I right in assuming this is the place to go for appraisals?" Rohan asked, unamused by this guy’s lack of care.

The man looked well into his middle ages. His hairline was clinging on for dear life, pushed so far back up his head that Rohan barely even noticed he had hair up there at all. His face didn’t do him any favours either, his nose was scrunched up like a pig’s, and his cheeks were so bloated that he may as well be one.

’Pig-man’, as Rohan decided to call him now, squinted at the sight of a him standing in the doorway.

"...You would be correct in that assumption, but what brings an ordinary citizen like you here? This place is for Federal employees only."

Rohan’s face scrunched. ’Not this shit again.’

"What makes you think I’m not one of them?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Pig faced man didn’t respond, simply pointing at Rohan’s attire instead.

"All government employees are required to wear their uniform when coming here, unless exempt. The fact you didn’t know that tells me you aren’t one of them."

Rohan didn’t answer back. ’Well, he got me there.’

But he knew his circumstances didn’t exactly fall under the norm either.

"I just so happen to be one of those exemptions." He responded.

The man wanted to laugh, but Rohan suddenly turned away and shouted off down the hallway.

"Elane! I found a guy over here."