Chapter 413

Valerie extended her hand toward Lora. "Give me your bag. I'll look through it myself." As long as Valerie didn't touch the compass, Lora was more than willing to cooperate. She took the compass out first, then tossed the half-open bag over. Valerie opened it without ceremony and, with unsettling precision, pulled out a lacquered bracket the size of her palm. Holding it up for everyone to see, she said, "I'll take this." The move was blatantly intentional. The bag contained several other valuable items, but Valerie ignored them all. She took only the lacquered bracket and returned the bag. Lora accepted it blankly, realization dawning on her at once. Her expression changed. "So from the very beginning, you weren't actually after the compass. You were after the lacquered bracket?" Valerie beamed. "You guessed it. What I really wanted from the start was this." She looked down at the prize in her hand with unmistakable fondness. "This thousand-year-old lacquered bracket is far mo