Sofia gasped and put a hand on her cheek. "So many things, Mr. Montgomery! Amazing! And from the New World? Tremendous!"

Carefully, she started to crane her head around in order to see all of the wares. She was initially not really interested in all of this, it was just feinted, but now that she could actually see it all, it had sparked her genuine curiosity.

Still. She wouldn't forget what she had come here for - the Devil Fruit.

"500,000,000,000 Beli?" she snickered, to then toss a hand at him. "Oh, you jester. What's the real price?"

The girl then took a sip of wine to wet her throat.

"And, about this scale." she then mentioned. "How much is it? Oh- I think I've seen it somewhere else too. And this staff... Oh my. Those I saw wouldn't happen to fake now, right? Oh dear."

Then, she started to tap her chin in concern, as she looked at them.

She didn't want to be scammed here. Even if what he had looks like a Devil Fruit, it could just be something else in disguise. Heck, if these scales work, it could just be one of them hidden inside some carefully-made apple, and he could claim that it's the Seaking Seaking Fruit, or something. But it wouldn't be a permanent, real Devil Fruit.

"Hrm... But I'm sure an expert like you could help me see the difference - yours look authentic! How can I tell fake wares from the real ones? What's the trick?" the girl added.

@Melly

"I see, I see." the noble mentioned, seeing the wares more up-close. Without touching them, and with a hand on her chin, she started to study them closely. Indeed the staff's welding seemed to be superb - there was no excess metal, and the weld marks were smooth and even. Very good craftsmanship. It would've been a waste of time to have this sort of quality on a bootleg. That gave her more confidence in that this man was a real salesman and not a scammer, although she was still not entirely in the clear. Not until she had the fruit.

"Oh, a Devil Fruit..." she replied, with a ever so-slight wince. "I've heard about those. A bit scary, aren't they?"

But then she closed her eyes and rose a finger and smiled with confidence. "But truly an elite product."

She nodded to herself and looked back to the man. "So, back on topic, how do we test that the Devil Fruit is real? Would you allow me to inspect it?... Do you know what kind it is?"

If he was a seller of "magic wares", then he probably knew about Devil Fruit and its nuances - like herself. Such as you only needed a single bite out of the fruit in order to gain its powers. Maybe he would suspect that she would try to take a bite right there?

She held out her hands and looked at the man. "Don't worry Mr. Montgomery. We've got the slave house's guards here, for both of our protection. But if I'm going to buy something as exquisite, I have to check it out carefully. With your permission, of course."

Then she leaned her head slightly. Her nose twitched. "And most importantly. For how much are you selling it for?"

@Melly

"Dear sir, with all due respect, your gambles are not my gambles." she then stated. "You either have a product, or you don't - I've come for a professional, not a casino."

She shook her head. But then she showed a upturned palm.

"But I have an idea, but only because I'm a fan of you. I wouldn't do this risk otherwise." she then mentioned. "I can have a sample of the stem - not the fruit - by just cutting it so slightly shorter. I've got a private contact who can do analysis on tree branch bark to see if its got a Devil Fruit on it. This should do for the same."

Sofia then shrugged. "And if they tell me it's fake, it's fake. But if my high-tech science says that what's hanging from it is the real deal - then I'm going to buy it."

"So I offer you this." she then said. "To purchase that sample of the Devil Fruit stem, and a reservation of one week for the fruit itself, for 16 million Beli total. 1 million for the fairly worthless stem, and 15 million for the reservation."

"How about it? 16 million Beli is a lot more than a mere Devil Fruit imitation is worth. So, if you actually have one, it's going to be very worth your time. And if its real - then you got a costumer who will buy it for its full price. Note that I'm only doing this gamble for you because you're Mr. Montgomery, I wouldn't be taking this risk if you weren't. But in the end, for you it's..."

Sofia then smiled gently.

"...Win-Win."

Then she flinched ever so slightly. Subtly painted on her face, would be the realization that this would basically mean that she would be analyzing his fruit for free. If she didn't buy it, then he would know that it's been fake all along. But if she eventually did try to, then he knows that it's real and could run away with it if he wanted to.

The girl then regained her composure, and stood a bit taller than she should - trying to show confidence again.

@Melly

She noticed the impact a bit later than she had hoped, but she held out her legs quickly to catch the fruit in her dress, using it as a sort of net. Then, she leaned forwards to grab it and hold it in her hands.

"Wine can be washed off, but it would've been a pity if this Fruit would've become puree on the ground, now wouldn't it?" the girl mentioned with a chuckle. "Are you alright Mr. Montgomery?"

Then, she extended her arm out to the man, the one with the Fruit. She could've totally taken it and ran off with it. But...

...Agreement was paramount to her. It was key to her philosophy, for both the good and bad. It was why she was opting to persuade pirates to reform - not force them by putting them into jails. This sort of thinking leads her to being a cheeky quibbler at times, though, as she fishes for that "agreement".

But she couldn't take this man's fruit like this, not without his consent. If she just took it away, it wouldn't be something that the true owner did through his own responsibility. Who would be held accountable would be herself, not him. And that would be wrong for something that isn't hers.

"Also, hey you!" she then called out to the man who bumped into them, pointing towards him, with her voice oozing with commanding bile and her eyes shooting flames. "Be more careful with where you're going."

If she didn't manage to catch the fruit, things would've been disastrous for the two of them.

[Used: Stunning Display against the scrawny dude.]

@Melly

"100,000,000 Beli and help?" Sofia wondered, to then stroke her chin. Suddenly, her eyes opened slightly. She had an idea.

"How about this." she then mentioned. "Not helping. Getting them back. Right here back with you. If I get them back, I get the fruit. How about it?"

Of course, this could all be a scam as well, however, she had just saved this man's precious fruit in public, which should've boosted her reputation a bit, and if he wanted to get back at him for betraying her with this, she could use it as leverage. Just in case. She actually did believe this guy, but it never hurt to be safe just in case.

Also, she preferred to not spend that much money, because she didn't have much of a way to earn it again just yet - if she ended up bankrupt, that was the end of her journey. Because it took money to earn money. Besides, the assurance of getting the family back should do better than just aiding him in doing it, she thought. Hopefully that would do the trick to make it a deal without any Belis involved.

"However! I'd need to know more details about what I'm supposed to do." she then said. "Where is the family, why are they gone, and so on. It sounds like quite the mission and I have to know every detail if you'd like me to be invested in it."

@Melly

Sofia nodded, after seeing the information on the letters and hearing him. She wanted to hold the man, but it would be inappropriate to do in such a formal setting. Instead, she nodded solemnly and knocked the table with the knuckle of her index finger.

"Deal, Mr. Montgomery." she stated. "Please wait here."

Then, she dabbed her lips with a napkin and went over to a waiter to pay the tab quickly, to then dart over to the place that the man had told her.

She hadn't asked where he lived exactly, though. But she had such heroic inertia with all of this that it would break the mood a bit if she went back to look. Plus, people generally had their names on their houses, right?

And as she marched, trying to conceal that she had no idea where she was supposed to go exactly, except a "few blocks away" in a general direction, she looked at the doors now and then, looking at the name plaque.

She walked down an entire street and found nothing, but she was at least out of view. Then, she crossed over to the next street and started to ogle at the name plaques that were here, until she found one that said "Montgomery" on it. This would do.

Sofia adjusted her dress's shoulders, and patted out some wrinkles on her skirt. Then, she inhaled and exhaled. This was the last obstacle then, huh? She had to do it right. Devil Fruits were hard enough to find as it was.

She knocked the door.

"Miss Montgomery?" she then asked. "Gizelle Montgomery?"

@Melly

Moderate: Moderate NPCing entails prompt based NPCing as well. However, the NPCer will more often take control of certain NPCs and potentially carry out more specific and personalized actions that are directed towards the topic's participants. Expect a post ever 2-3 rounds of posting. NPC can be skipped after 48 hours.

It's been one round of posting and multiple days. The rules show that you can post without needing the NPC to follow each time after.

“Gizelle Montgomery?” Sofia asked again.

All she had to do is to get this woman back with her husband - luckily, people was her thing. This shouldn’t be too hard. Hopefully. She still had to scout out what sort of leads she could find in this woman in order to persuade her to do what she needed to do - some sort of desire or weakness. Something to leverage upon.

Those were her thoughts before the door was finally gently swung open, revealing a woman behind.

“Yes?” she replied. She was clad in a fancy dress, much like herself - as expected, really. They were both of the same social class. So far, nothing surprising.

“Hello! I’m Phillipa Sofia.” she mentioned, while giving a short curtsy.

“Gizelle.” the woman replied, narrowing her eyes a miniscule amount at her as she turned her head slightly away. “What are you here for?”

Narrowing her eyes and head slightly away, Sofia mentally noted. Suspicion. This woman was a bit on edge, she had to ease her down.

“Nothing too big.” she started off with a warm smile, coming in with a relaxed aura. “I’ve only come with good news.”

“Yes?” the wife then asked.

“Just here to finalize arrangements to get the devil fruit from your husba-”

“Really now? Is he still with that? Please.” Gizelle scoffed, and started to turn away.

Bingo.

Something was going on there - and it wasn’t that he hadn’t sold the fruit yet, Sofia noticed. This woman didn’t emphasize that he was tardy, but that he was still with ‘that’. The noble made an hypothesis to bet on: there was something more here than just the fruit. The ‘that’ meant something more, hidden - that’s why she put the stress there.

Something was going on there - and it wasn’t that he hadn’t sold the fruit yet, Sofia noticed. This woman didn’t emphasize that he was tardy, but that he was still with ‘that’. The noble made an hypothesis to bet on: there was something more here than just the fruit. The ‘that’ meant something more, hidden - that’s why she put the stress there.

“One moment!” Sofia then countered and put her foot at the door. “It’s quite important. Please, let me have a moment. We can help each other here.”

“Help? How. And why does this all concern me? As far as I know, this is all his thing alone.

Pissing her off a bit more seemed to have worked. Him “alone”? What could that mean? That he was alone in the business? Maybe that was the issue - that he was too invested in the business to spend time with them.

“His alone?” she wondered, trying to get a reaction.

The woman looked away, trying to hide how it hurt her - but Sofia could see through it.

The issue now was how she could solve this, somehow, yet at the same time, get that damned fruit. Something the benefitted the both of them - and that they would agree to.

Now, she had to think quick. She could bet on this assumption, and let the woman close the door and anger and go back to Montgomery to explain the issue and deal with him from there. She could also try to get a real answer from this woman, by either being suave and gentle, or by going straight to the issue; mentalist style, and keep her attention from the surprise it would cause, and chain on more talking from that margin of surprise time.

“I can bring your husband back.” she then stated, plainly, as the door was closing shut for the second time.

Without much time left to consider those choices, she had went for the last one.

The door then stopped closing, but not because she put her foot, but because the woman had stopped it. Now, Sofia was on the margin of time of “surprise” - and she had to make the most of it. The woman was most likely a bit spooked over what’s going on, and would soon try to hide that vulnerability.

“I want to help.” she then said. “I can help. Because I’m someone who is involved with your husband’s business. And it would help me out too.”

She had to be honest, she had to add that last bit. This woman was on guard, so she was vulnerable to being caught lying too hard - and if she was caught while this woman was spooked, she would just be all the more suspicious and hard to talk with.

The woman then opened the door a bit more.

“So, what can you do?” she uttered.

“I’ll manage his business for him. Because that is what is taking up all of his time - someone has to do it so that he can return to you.” she mentioned. “And I have a lot of experience already with business - I’m a noble, I’ve dealt with things worse than this. And I’ll do it in exchange for his devil fruit - and he keeps the profits, of course.”

But she hasn't actually managed a novelty store before. She was relying on sheer panache to persuade her with this point.

“Really?” she wondered, looking at her with wide, hopeful, but slightly skeptical eyes.