"What brings you gentlemen here today? Some rare find, perhaps?" the clerk mocked brazenly."Pah, a 'find'? You mock us, swindlers - selling counterfeits to defraud me!" James Brown flushed crimson with rage at the taunting tone."Sir, such baseless accusations are unbecoming," the clerk raised his voice derisively. "A willing buyer, a willing seller - we forced nothing upon you. If you purchased a forgery, it merely exposes your own lack of expertise. A sore loser's bleating holds no weight here!"Scenarios like this were hardly novel, yet those seeking recompense inevitably slunk away, cowed by this establishment's formidable clout. At the moment of purchase, they fancied themselves cunning - but it was a devious stratagem ensnaring the gullible and foolish. How could such windfalls simply fall into your lap? Your ilk was the very prey being hunted."You...!" James Brown's face purpled, yet he could muster no retort, a raging fire smoldering within.Observing this, Jason interjected

Those simple words seemed to release the tension crackling in the air, as the wizened figure - the legendary old Mr. Reed whose very name shook Central Area - exhaled deeply, yet his demeanor remained one of profound deference."I am Tony Reed, come to beg Mr. Gray's august pardon and indulgence, to spare my Reed family further severity."THUNDERSTRUCK!Those words detonated like a bolt of lightning obliterating Joshua's capacity for rational thought, leaving him gaping in stunned disbelief.What in damnation was transpiring here? Had his eyes not deceived him, the former Reed patriarch - a scion of one of Central Area's preeminent clans, the upper echelon's ruling elite surpassed only by the likes of the Turner dynasty - was beseeching Jason for clemency? Begging mercy for their entire illustrious family?This beggared belief, defying all reason - had he not recognized that wizened countenance, he would have deemed the man an imposter! Yet Jason remained unmoved, regarding the sup

How grievously mistaken she was. Over these three years, the household duties had fallen entirely upon Jason's shoulders while Mary Martinez reclined in idleness, venturing forth only to gamble before returning promptly for meals. Yet Mary Martinez was not without her virtues. For all her avarice and vanity, she harbored a mother's tender concern for her daughter's wellbeing.Her humble rural origins and mere marriage into lesser nobility perhaps accounted for her lofty overcompensating airs. "Enough prattling," she waved a peremptory hand. "With that rustic wench absent, fetch me some Miracle Cure ointment instead."Her reddened, inflamed countenance would require more than a day or two to subside unaided. Having been housebound, her card partners eagerly awaited her return. Jason's brow arched quizzically. The fabled Miracle Cure could remedy even this? Though skeptical, his mother-in-law had decreed it; best to investigate. Stepping outside, he dialed Roger Cox, seeking elucid

Best to ascertain potential risks. Though he trusted his master had solely imparted it to their intimate circle of disciples.Jason's reply was calmly nonchalant. "Is there not more impact in vanquishing you upon your proudest field of mastery?""Arrogance, arrogance!" The charlatan's face purpled with appalled fury, his frame quivering. "You truly court death, whelp! What madness convinces you that victory lies within your grasp? Some delusion implanted by the Gray Divine Physician himself?"The observing masses gaped in astonishment. This scene-wrecker had a daring streak bordering on insanity! It was akin to a novice challenging a master chef at his own cuisine, or a ploughman vying against an Olympic sprinter. Sheer folly - a path to inevitable humiliation! Paying no heed to the crowd, Jason strode purposefully toward the arrayed medicinals as if fully intending to compound the ointment himself. Joel Morgan regarded him with sardonic smirks, permitting the upstart first selectio

With a weary sigh of surrender, he unburdened himself of long-concealed deceits and evasions. He and the Gray Divine Physician were not intimates - had never even met. Those ostensible miracle cures promising instantaneous panacea had been naught but overblown charlatanry to lure the gullible. As for the grandiose "First Divine Physician of Eldoria" honorific...it had been a bald-faced usurpation of his own master's illustrious title and renown, the better to insinuate authority where none legitimately existed. A thunderous silence greeted these abject revelations. Then, as full realization took hold, a susurrus of infuriated muttering swelled into a torrent of virulent outcries and recriminations. "Profiteering whoreson! That you should merely defraud us was sin enough - but to so blaspheme the sanctity of the Gray Divine Physician himself?" "Aye, that exalted healer is beloved throughout Emerald City for his innumerable kindnesses and selfless works. That you would so spit upo