EFB Chapter 46 Winning Over
Chapter 46 Winning Over
The mysterious woman wanted to persuade Evan again, but considering that this was not a private gathering and that many people were watching, she was afraid that if she appeared too eager, she might be manipulated. So she ultimately did not speak again.
Evan chuckled inwardly. The best way to establish a connection with someone is not to take the initiative to befriend them or cater to their preferences, but to make them need you.
People are generally wary of those who approach them unsolicited, assuming the other person wants something from them, and this is often the case.
But if you can make the other person need you, make them take the initiative to approach you, and then gently pull them along a bit, it's easy to build trust.
This mysterious woman has a "craftsman" behind her, and she must know the status of craftsmen in the extraordinary world. They are a valuable resource that all the major secret organizations want to control, so she will definitely be very careful and wary. It will be very difficult to befriend her.
However, her relentless pursuit of the "Barbarian" recipe is a very useful point, and this happens to be a resource that Evan can control.
Evan once again felt grateful in his heart for the detailed descriptions of the "Barbarian" and "Briber" potion recipes in Lord of Mysteries.
However, this also meant that Klein earned far fewer gold pounds, and it's uncertain whether this will affect his development.
But Evan immediately dismissed his unnecessary worries. Klein was the main character; he would always find a way to solve the problem. At worst, he could recruit him as a subordinate and let him earn an extra salary.
Once the deal was finalized, the members of the gathering started chatting in small groups and shared some news about Backlund.
After a long while, the elderly gentleman with the "Eye of Wisdom," who had been sitting on the single sofa, glanced at the time, clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, and said:
"It's getting late today. As usual, leave one by one, taking at least three minutes."
Evan knew this was to prevent malicious individuals from stalking others at the party.
Meanwhile, Evan sat leisurely on the sofa with his legs crossed, watching the others leave, knowing that he would definitely be the last one left behind.
The mysterious lady who wanted to buy the "Barbarian" recipe was unfortunately arranged to leave first by the old man "Eye of Wisdom," which made her glancing at him with a pout, but she ultimately left without breaking the rules.
Half an hour later, when all the other party members had left, only Mr. Wisdom Eye and Evan remained in the living room.
The Eye of Wisdom looked Evan up and down, and asked in a slightly aged voice:
"I heard from others that you've just arrived in Backlund?"
Evan knew he wanted to assess whether he should attend the gathering, so he didn't mince words:
"That's right, I've just arrived in Backlund, so my old network of connections is useless now. I need to rebuild my connections with the extraordinary world and the underground market of Backlund."
As he spoke, Evan conjured a fireball in his right hand again, demonstrating his status as an extraordinary being, and not just a enthusiast of mysticism.
The old man with the Eye of Wisdom breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, as long as he was sure that Evan was not a member of the "Storm Church", he could accept Evan attending the gathering. Even if he was a follower of an evil god, it didn't matter. He was confident that he could handle it.
At the same time, he secretly hoped that the young man was from Remberg, because he saw some familiar features in him. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed by the young man's accent.
After giving a brief self-introduction, Evan asked the Eye of Wisdom:
"I wonder if the wise old gentleman would be willing to accept me, a stranger from out of town?"
The Eye of Wisdom smiled upon hearing this:
"As long as the rules are followed, I will not deliberately exclude anyone."
Young man, if you pay attention to the *Backlund Morning Post* every morning, when page five features an advertisement for Ernst Trading Company buying goods, it means there's a gathering here at 8 PM the following evening. The force and interval of your knocks depend on the price quoted: the first number is the number of hard knocks, the second the number of soft knocks, the third the longer interval, the fourth the shorter interval, and after that, the numbers don't matter much.
Having learned how to attend the gathering, Evan thanked the old man with the Eye of Wisdom. Just as the Eye of Wisdom indicated that he could leave, Evan spoke again:
"I'm new here and not very familiar with the people and things in Backlund. I wonder if you would accept the commission. It's clear you have extensive connections in Backlund."
The Eye of Wisdom became interested, because despite holding so many gatherings, very few people had asked him for favors, so he gestured for Evan to continue.
"Zeryl Victor Lee, a detective living in the Backlund Bridge district, I want to know all about him and his interactions with others."
Upon hearing Evan's request, the wise-eyed Isengard Stanton couldn't help but frown. Zeryl Victor Lee was one of the detectives he knew well, a regular at the detective exchange meetings he often organized, and a friend of his. Evan's request almost made him think that his identity had been exposed.
The Eye of Wisdom, Isengard Stanton, hesitated before asking Evan:
"May I know why you're investigating him? I've heard of him; he's a senior detective in Backlund, not particularly outstanding, but generally kind and doesn't make enemies."
Evan, with a smile, looked at the Eye of Wisdom and said:
"He certainly wouldn't make enemies, because making enemies would create deep interpersonal connections, which would be detrimental to his undercover work."
"Undercover work?"
"Yes, he is a spy from the Fusak Empire. He has been undercover for many years, and his rank seems to be quite high."
Evan casually uttered shocking words, leaving Isengard Stanton shivering.
He wasn't shocked by Zeryl's identity as a detective; rather, he was bewildered as to why Evan would tell him this. Was this something he should know?
He seemed to see a bottomless vortex behind this matter, from which he could easily be drawn in.
With his hunter's keen observation skills, Evan naturally noticed that Isengard Stanton's aura was a bit off, and explained with a smile:
"I didn't mean to drag you into this. I've already told you that I've just arrived in Backlund and all relationships need to be rebuilt."
But the matter I'm dealing with right now is extremely urgent. Although I've already had someone keep an eye on Zeril, she might lack the experience, and I'm worried she won't be able to outmaneuver the cunning Zeril. That's why I'm temporarily seeking your help."
Isengard Stanton looked at Evan. Although he couldn't see Evan's expression through the mask, having dealt with all sorts of people, he could tell that Evan wasn't lying.
"Who exactly are you? Even if you discovered that Zeril is a spy for the Fursac Empire, what does that have to do with you? Even if you're patriotic, you could simply report it anonymously. Why conduct an investigation?"
After thinking for a moment, Isengard Stanton couldn't help but ask, because he had begun to doubt Evan's identity.
Evan, however, felt a pang of regret. Neither Isengard Stanton nor Caspas Kanlinin truly felt a sense of belonging to the Kingdom of Rune.
Or perhaps they simply believe that the Rune belong only to the ruling class and have nothing to do with them; the Rune upper and lower classes cannot empathize with each other, and their attitudes toward things are abnormally divided.
Upon learning of the espionage, their first thought wasn't to report it, but rather to assess the potential gains and losses for themselves, which left Evan, from Earth, deeply moved.
"I don't want to hide it, but I intend to use this matter to gain benefits for myself and use it as a means to climb the social ladder, so it's best to have an outsider help me."
Evan's answer was unusually blunt, but it immediately convinced Isengard Stanton. At the same time, what Fors could deduce, Isengard Stanton could naturally deduce as well.
This immediately piqued his interest, because having more friends means having more options. If he could have a friend from MI9, it would be a good thing for him, as he would then basically no longer have to worry about threats from the authorities.
"I can help you with this, but what can you give me in return?"
After much deliberation, Eisinger Stanton decided to help Evan with this favor, but he couldn't do it for nothing.
Evan was naturally delighted when the Eye of Wisdom agreed to help him. If he could establish a partnership with Isengard Stanton and get his help, it would be of great help to Evan in his future endeavors to make a name for himself in MI9.
After a moment's hesitation, Evan decided to take a big gamble to win over Isengard Stanton. He considered his options carefully before speaking:
"There are actually techniques to mastering potions. The advantage of humans is that they can continuously accumulate experience from failures and find ways to solve problems. Through generations of summarization, the methods of mastering potions have become very sophisticated."
However, the orthodox church and the royal family control the relevant methods to prevent them from leaking out, so apart from joining the evil god church, very few people can master the methods, and I am one of them.
I can tell you're getting on in years and your health is declining. You've passed the prime age for taking potions, but are you really willing to stop here on the path to the extraordinary?
If you help me this time, I will teach you the relevant methods.
The method of role-playing is indeed valuable, but it is really just knowledge. If he could get Isengard Stanton's help to quickly gain merit and improve his status, Evan felt it would be worth it.
If it weren't for the fact that the widespread dissemination of the role-playing technique would attract the attention of all official forces, Evan would have even considered using the role-playing technique as a bargaining chip to exchange for whatever he wanted.
Eisinger Stanton's reaction was not unexpected for Irwin; he practically jumped off the sofa and excitedly asked:
"Are you telling the truth?"
In fact, Isengard Stanton had consulted his teacher about how to master potions while in Lenburg, but to no avail.
He had always vaguely known that there was a way to quickly master potion-making skills, so when Evan offered his terms, he was immediately tempted.
If he had no desire for promotion and had no children, would he need to go through all this trouble to hold these mystical gatherings?