The Result of the Divination

After leaving the jewellery store, Shui suggested grabbing a bite to eat and since she had missed breakfast, Emily agreed with him. Meanwhile, Alicia was still sitting on her bed with the divination board and map in front of her, however, there was now a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Although performing divination did require some stamina, that wasn't the main reason behind the perspiration.

'This is, worrying.'

It wasn't like she had foreseen the end of the city or anything dramatic like that, but it still wasn't something to be taken lightly. Thanks to her bloodline, she had inherited a sacred treasure that sometimes appeared in her family known as 'fate seeker'. Because of it, she was able to predict and evade the dangers that were normally associated with attempting to read the heavens. However, unlike diviners who put their lives on the line, the amount she could read each time was smaller so she had to piece together a story from what she saw. She wasn't certain, but if her story was close to the truth, then she would have to be even more cautious in the days coming.

'I need to warn him.'

Elsewhere, Shui had finished eating with Emily. Emily began feeling that she should focus on the upcoming Minor Ranking evaluation instead of playing around, so she tried to say bye to Shui, but he brought up a topic that she couldn't ignore.

"Are you sure you want to go back there? You still don't know if your own room is safe."

It was something she had almost forgotten, but he was right. If she went back to the inn like this, she probably wouldn't be able to relax in the slightest.

"Do you think I should move to another inn? But where?"

She would feel better in a new inn, but if it was on the same level as the one she was moving out of then it would still be hard to sleep peacefully at night. It was then that Shui reminded her of an option that she had forgotten.

"Why don't you come to Myriad Flower Pavilion?"

'Oh you sly wolf!' exclaimed a certain spirit with a misunderstanding that Shui couldn't bother to refute.

When Emily heard, 'Myriad Flower Pavilion', she finally remembered that she had solved the puzzle and had the right to stay at that prestigious inn. It would likely be more expensive than her current inn, but with what happened last night it shouldn't be hard to get a refund on her remaining days and then use that money to help pay for a room at Myriad Flower Pavilion. Furthermore, her safety was definitely worth the extra funds.

"That's a good idea. I'll go back and talk to my senior brother about it."

Shui was glad that she agreed with him, but he didn't want there to be any unexpected problems so he tried to encourage her to go through the procedures as soon as possible.

"Uh, actually, why don't you just go with me now? After all, it doesn't look like Adrian can solve the puzzle so you'll be the one to arrange his room, and if he can solve it then he can handle it himself later."

Emily couldn't tell that Shui was feeling a little anxious, so she just thought that he wanted to help her. The points he brought up made sense and it wasn't like she couldn't make this decision for herself so she eventually nodded in agreement, but they still went back to her inn for her refund and to look for Adrian in case he was there.

After a quick check of both their rooms, Adrian seemed to be out so Emily went to get her refund. The innkeeper was reluctant at first, but once Shui threatened him by saying that they would spread news that the inn couldn't protect its customers, he gave in.

The two then went to Myriad Flower Pavilion. Since she didn't enter last time, Emily had to solve the puzzle again, but even though it was different, that wasn't a problem for her. She and Shui entered and went to receptionist where Emily asked for the price range of the general rooms that she could stay in.

'W-w-what?!'

Similar to Shui, she was shocked by the prices that were much higher than she expected, but her poker face wasn't half-bad either. Shui knew that she might have trouble paying for a room, so he offered to help pay for it through telepathy, but Emily was firm on not taking any more gifts from him, at least for today.

While Emily clenched her teeth and reached for her wallet, Shui sensed a certain presence approaching so he turned around to face her.

"Only coming back now, huh?"

"Well, I had some emergency business," Shui replied.

After she noticed Alicia, Emily also greeted her before returning to converse with the receptionist. Shui wasn't surprised when Alicia approached him, but once the greetings were out of the way, she showed a grave expression for the first time.

"We need to talk."

Those four words were already infamous when uttered by women, so Shui started feeling anxious. This didn't seem like something he could ignore, so he could only hope that it wasn't as bad as he was thinking.

After saying 'goodbye' to Emily for the time being, Shui followed Alicia back to his room. This time, he didn't even comment on how naturally she sat on his couch and simply took the seat opposite to her.

Before she told him what she wanted to talk about, Alicia asked if there was anyone else in the room. He knew this included her secret guards so Shui shook his head after confirming. Alicia then explained the reason why she wanted to talk with him privately.

"Shui, in a few days after the preliminaries for the Array Master Minor Ranking evaluation, there will be no less than five Masters and one hundred late Sky Realm experts gathered in the city. And these are besides the ones currently residing in Paraj. I'm not sure if anything will happen, but you'll have to be careful not to get involved with these visitors."

It was a sudden warning that came out of nowhere, but looking at her face Shui found it hard to dismiss it.

"Can you tell me how you found out about this?"

Faced by this question, Alicia paused and tightly clenched her fists on her lap before slowly shaking her head. She knew this would make it hard for her to convince him, but she couldn't expose that secret to him yet.

Indeed, without knowing her source, it was hard for Shui to place his faith in her words, but after talking with this girl for the past two days, he felt that he could believe her.

"Okay, thanks for the warning."

"You, believe me?" asked Alicia in a dumbfounded manner.

"Yes, you're serious about this, aren't you?"

"Of course!"

"Then I'll believe you. There's nothing wrong with being cautious after all."

As Shui calmly accepted her strange warning, Alicia felt so overcome by relief that her body lost strength and she entrusted her self to the couch.

"That's, good."

"However, I can't promise that nothing will happen. If someone wants to harm one of my loved ones..."

"That's okay. That's the best I can ask for."

Shui could probably hold his own against a Master, but if there were more than one in addition to several late Sky Realm experts, then even he would have to consider fleeing. However, he would never run without a fight.