After the unboxing, Fan Meng borrowed Liang En's battered van to go home. Public transportation was scarce in this small town, and using it seemed like a waste of time.
Of course, as he left, he also carried a backpack containing the spoils Liang En had shared with him, including a silverware set with a coffee pot, creamer, sugar bowl, tweezers, and plates, along with a gold bracelet.
Once Fan Meng left, Liang En summoned Tongbake to start cleaning the room, while he and Joan of Arc sorted the items in the boxes for future use.
The sword of Hijikata Toshizō was naturally considered the biggest find of this haul, and so it was stored with a selected batch of fine goods in the treasure room.
Liang En had always dreamed of owning a museum, and over the years, he had been gathering various items to prepare for this goal.
Although there was already a museum in Prague, Liang En felt it was at best half a museum and not truly his own.
More importantly, due to the significant finds over the past two years, Liang En was no longer content with the idea of starting a small museum and planned to establish one of considerable size.
This meant Liang En needed more exhibits and financial investment. Fortunately, being under 30 and with the help of a golden finger, he had ample time and energy to dedicate to this endeavor.
For the remaining items, such as the complete dining sets and candlesticks, he planned to place them in his historic vineyard in France.
Despite the vineyard's ancient origins, the building and its contents had been renovated many times, so now it needed some old pieces to enhance its class.
Liang En also planned to have his parents come over to see these items. If they found anything useful or liked anything, those would definitely be kept for home use.
Those jewels and silverware not favored or chosen would be consigned with Pierce, not only for money but also to replenish the store with high-quality stock.
According to the inventory, Mr. Kimura's assets were worth more than just the $200,000 mentioned in his previous will, even without considering Hijikata Toshizō's sword, as the rest of the items were valued over $500,000.
This was strange, but after Liang En had checked all the documents at home and found a letter, it cleared up his doubts.
It turned out Mr. Kimura, realizing his days were numbered, had liquidated all his assets in Europe and converted them into these treasures stored in a vault.
According to the letter, these items were worth over $650,000 when bought, and their value would only increase over time.
The reason the will stated $200,000 was that Mr. Kimura, having no children, wanted to set a challenge to select a successor, to see if anyone could meet his criteria.
As a devout Catholic, Mr. Kimura set the price at $200,000 because he knew an art piece of that value would not attract many contenders.
Only those with enough money and curiosity, or those lucky enough to find a cheaper painting, would take on the task.
In Mr. Kimura's eyes, either of these types of people, upon acquiring the painting and fulfilling his will, could be deemed chosen by the divine, thus the best inheritors of his estate.
Of course, he also knew that divine intervention wasn't guaranteed, and his challenge might not be accepted. Therefore, he had a second will with his lawyer.
If no one cracked the code and fulfilled his request within three years, he would donate the treasures to the Catholic Church in Switzerland.
Understanding why Mr. Kimura had used such a method to hide his treasure, Liang En was relieved, as the whole affair seemed as surreal as a game or movie.
Now, the letter explained why things had turned out this way. For someone without children and with devout religious faith, handling his estate in various ways was reasonable.
Sorting out all the items took them over two hours. When they finished their tasks and returned to the room, the living room, study, and kitchen were clean, thanks to Tongbake, and they were ready to continue their work.
The first task was to review the five cards they found earlier. Surprisingly, while there were not many cards, their quality was not low.
Among the five cards were two enhancement cards, a higher ratio than usual for antiques of the same level.
Liang En believed that the reason so many cards were derived from the broken sword was that the story of the Shinsengumi was so widely known, thus providing enough narrative power to produce more effective cards.
The three common use cards were one 【Detection (N)】 and two 【Appraisal (N)】, fairly typical card types, while the enhancement cards were one 【Tennen Rishin-ryū (R)】 and one 【Sword Heart (SR)】.
【Tennen Rishin-ryū (R): Speaking of the Bakumatsu period, one cannot ignore the Shinsengumi; and speaking of Bakumatsu-era sword schools, Tennen Rishin-ryū must be mentioned.
If the Shinsengumi were called "Wolves of Mibu," then the Tennen Rishin-ryū sword technique was undoubtedly the sharp fangs. Core members of the Shinsengumi like Kondō Isami, Hijikata Toshizō, and Tōdō Heisuke were all disciples of this school.
Unlike most Japanese swordsmanship, Tennen Rishin-ryū is a pure combat school, so many of its sword moves, often dismissed as peasant sword techniques, are actually superior in combat.
The founder, Kondō Shūsuke Yasuhiro, was a practitioner of the ancient martial art Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, so when creating his own school, he incorporated elements of this comprehensive ancient martial art.
Thus, Tennen Rishin-ryū includes various practical martial arts techniques, highlighting its robust combat effectiveness.
Enhancement Card (single-use): Upon using this card, one can master the Tennen Rishin-ryū to the level of the licensing phase. This includes not only swordsmanship but also iaido, kusarigama, jujutsu, spear techniques, and unarmed combat. Note that this mastery involves skills and some muscle memory, not physical enhancement.】
"Very practical swordsmanship, although its use isn't as great now as it used to be," Liang En remarked, feeling a surge of excitement before calming down as he looked at the pistol on the table.
"After all, the times have changed, and a gun is quicker beyond seven steps and more accurate within."
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