With my [Appraisal] Skill, I Became the Top of the Streaming World - Chapter 36

The Contents of the Sealed Vault

Last night, after wrapping up the scheduling details with Takasaka, we decided that I would come visit this morning.

I had already received a general overview of the request through the previous night's messages. Apparently, Iron Gray Fang had recovered multiple old-model sealed vaults, but it was impossible to tell them apart from the outside alone. The mechanisms were built to damage the interior if opened incorrectly, making it a call the clan couldn't safely make on their own.

The next morning, I transferred the protected juvenile into the small waist pouch and clipped it to my belt. The light from its shell peering through the gap in the cover was dim, and it remained nestled at the bottom without a single flinch. Even while I was getting ready to leave, its behavior was no different than usual.

◇

The material storage space for Iron Gray Fang was located deep within the first basement floor of a warehouse the clan had privately leased; it wasn't a supplemental part of any public dungeon facility.

Takasaka had already unlocked the old-style sealing door ahead of time and was waiting for me. Kanzaki stood right behind him.

"Thanks for making the trip. Sorry for asking you to come out so early."

"No problem at all, I just happened to have some free time."

I gave a brief nod to Kanzaki as well, who returned it with a polite nod of his own. It was our first encounter since the last request, but our professional distance hadn't changed.

"It gets a bit chilly inside," Takasaka noted, holding the door open.

"I'll be fine."

Stepping into the storage bay, the air felt crisp and cool. It felt as though the humidity was being deliberately suppressed, likely to preserve the sealed items.

"Those over there are the ones for today."

Lined up deep within the bay were five boxes. They were made of metal, each about thirty centimeters tall, and the surfaces of every single one bore traces of sealing treatments. Some even had the remnants of ancient spell-matrix talismans peeling off their sides; externally, they all appeared to be of a similarly advanced age.

"How long has it been since you recovered them?"

"Two weeks ago. Kanzaki stopped me when I tried to mess with them. He said there was a chance we'd ruin the contents by opening them poorly, so we've just left them sitting here."

I looked over the five boxes one by one. Before relying on my skills, I analyzed them purely with my own eyes first. The sizes were nearly identical, the materials seemed to be of the same lineage, and the remnants of past sealing procedures coated them all. It was entirely possible that all five were high-value targets; looking at the exteriors alone revealed absolutely nothing.

◇

From the waist pouch at my belt, a brief sound clicked out—the faint clacking of something hard touching. The protected juvenile, which hadn't budged a single millimeter until now, was moving. It must have shifted its posture inside the pouch, as I felt the center of gravity against my hip subtly alter. Casting my eyes down toward the gap in the cover, a faint light was fluctuating deep within the blue-gray shell. The light had been nearly extinguished before I left the house, but it was now exhibiting the exact same reaction I had verified during yesterday's indoor experiments.

"Mind if I take out the companion I brought along? It might actually be useful for today's request."

Takasaka's eyes widened for a split second before he gave a slow nod.

"Don't tell me... is that a dungeon-derived organism? I'd recently heard rumors floating around our circles about a rather eccentric tamer, but I had no idea it was you, Makabe."

"Yeah. It's a protected specimen I've been fostering recently with official permission from the Management Bureau. The species is a juvenile Tide-Crystal Shelled Beast. It seems to have a natural habit of reacting to sealed objects, so I brought it along today hoping to count on that."

"...I see. Go ahead."

Takasaka took a half-step back to clear some space. Kanzaki also shifted his position in silence.

When I opened the pouch, the protected juvenile came into view. Takasaka leaned forward slightly to peer inside.

"Wow... it's my first time actually seeing one in person."

Kanzaki merely watched from a distance, remaining quiet.

The moment I scooped the protected juvenile into both of my hands, the light within its shell flared a level brighter. Its head pivoted toward the box on the far right edge of the lineup and froze in place.

"It's definitely reacting to something," Takasaka muttered softly, his eyes fixing on the far-right box.

"It seems to be sensitive to things related to seals."

I stood directly in front of the far-right box, cradling the protected juvenile in one arm while focusing my [Appraisal] on it.

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Old-Model Sealed Vault (Master Box)

Rarity: B+

Status: Seal Maintained (Active)

Contents: Sealed & Preserved High-Purity Catalyst Fragments ×4, Spell-Matrix Core (Small) ×1

Estimated Value: 220,000 – 310,000 Yen (Depending on condition upon opening)

Opening Conditions: Process the linked sealing tags inside the far-left auxiliary box -> remove the spell-matrix tag on the upper face of the master box -> release the front lock, in that exact order. Reversing the sequence will cause thermal damage to the internally preserved materials.

Notes: The primary seals on four of the auxiliary boxes have already dissipated. However, the far-left auxiliary box still contains an internal sealing tag linked directly to the master box, which must be processed first. The second box from the right has an unstable sealing residue. It is recommended to relocate it to the far edge of the storage bay before opening the master box.

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"The seal is only active on the master box on the far right," I explained. "Out of the four auxiliary boxes, the second one from the right has unstable residue, so please move that one out of the way to the edge of the bay first. The remaining two show no reaction, so leaving them as they are won't be an issue."

Kanzaki picked up the second box from the right and carried it over to the corner of the room. He left the two closer to the center untouched, leaving them exactly where they were.

Next, I inspected the auxiliary box on the far left. When I ran my appraisal over it, I could see that the internal sealing tags were linked to the master box. I had to handle this part first.

"I'll start opening from over here."

I hooked my fingertips under the side of the far-left auxiliary box and pried the cover loose. Inside, I could see two sealing tags affixed to the back of the lid. Peeling them away one by one in the correct order, a dry snapping sound echoed out as the internal spell-matrix collapsed.

Next, I checked the top surface of the master box. A single spell-matrix tag was pasted slightly to the left of the center. Pinning down the edge, I peeled it back slowly.

Finally, I pressed the lock on the front face; on the third click, the lid popped loose.

The contents came into view.

There were four high-purity catalyst fragments, each housed in separate preservation containers. The spell-matrix core was a transparent stone roughly the size of the tip of my thumb, showing zero signs of degradation. When I appraised them individually, the total value landed in the 220,000 to 310,000 yen range. Depending on the condition of the opening process, the value could fluctuate drastically, but since we followed the exact procedures this time, we could expect a payout near the upper limit.

"The contents are safe and sound. It's worth between 220,000 and 310,000 yen. Since we opened it perfectly by the book, it should lean toward the higher end."

◇

Kanzaki inspected the contents of the box.

"Man, we were right on the verge of breaking it open and destroying the whole thing. Honestly, this kind of work isn't even a job for a scavenger anymore; it's straight-up an assignment for Appraiser Makabe."

"When we first had you come out to work for us, it was just to evaluate a single talisman, wasn't it?" Takasaka remarked with a smile.

"Am I finally starting to look a bit more like an appraiser?"

"At the very least, you're definitely not just a scavenger."

With a faint smile, Kanzaki pulled out the validation paperwork and had me confirm the signature and date.

Once the handover was complete and just before we exited the storage bay, Takasaka lowered his voice slightly.

"To tell you the truth, we have a spell-matrix preservation slab that we've kept on hold for a while now. We showed it to a different appraiser before, but they told us it was too dangerous to touch, so progress has completely stalled. Would you be willing to take a look at it, Makabe?"

"Understood. Could you send over the data files first? I'd like to check its current status before we discuss dates."

"That would be a massive help. I'll compile everything and send it over before the day is out."

I nodded, waiting for Kanzaki to tuck the validation form back into his folder. The detail about how a different appraiser had halted the process lingered in the back of my mind. What exactly had they seen to deem it too dangerous? It was impossible to tell from text files alone.

After wrapping up the remaining administrative procedures, I gave them a polite bow and stepped out of the storage bay.

◇

On the way back, I checked the waist pouch to find the protected juvenile completely quiet once again.

That made multiple times now where it had displayed the exact same type of reaction toward sealed objects. This time, that behavioral cue had directly guided a professional decision. I wouldn't go as far as to say I would have completely missed the hidden mechanism without the juvenile. However, making that call definitely would have taken me a lot more time.

If my next job turns out to involve seals again, I think I'll bring it along with me once more.

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