Chapter 89: The Heads of the Hermits of Fate

There was some trading between members of the Jacob and Zoroast families, but to his surprise, it was those who did not belong to either family who did most of the trading with one of the other two.

'Well, it makes sense. Since they are not part of the families, they don't know the monster at the top of the road they are on, for them these are more a meeting to gather materials or ingredients rather than to survive...' Adryan looked at the completed deals with an analytical eye.

Until now, he could get an idea of the artifact that was making the deals simple, quick, and effective. However, this generated many more doubts and confusion.

The same pattern as before had been repeated in all the deals, so he made a list.

First, someone placed an order, and once someone responded to this order, the artifact was activated.

The person who placed the order would obtain the objects they were looking for, starting with the one with the lowest value and working their way up, as long as they obtained payment by hand.

The way in which they obtained it was something that the dark-haired man found extremely strange; nobody seemed to have brought the materials with them. 

It seemed that the artifact could 'pick up' the object of the deal, bring it here, and deliver it to the buyer.

Also, he hadn't noticed something when he made his deal with his wife's family members...

Although the atmosphere was somewhat uncomfortable before he placed his order with them, once the interaction began, everything suddenly became calm.

He hadn't paid much attention to this because he wasn't nervous or anxious, so the change was so minimal that he hardly noticed it. But now that he saw the dealings unfold, that change stood out much more.

Members who had previously been quiet and stunned by Flora Jacob's return suddenly relaxed upon entering the 'business,' leaving no trace of the previous episode. 

All this made Adrian's theory that the artifact responsible for monitoring the progress of this meeting belonged to the Justiciar Pathway seem much less likely.

The Justiciar Pathway focused on imposing and defending 'Order'. 

If the artifact was part of that pathway, it shouldn't care about making the deal participants feel comfortable and calm. It should just want them to follow the order and laws it established.

'But the confidence that these transactions will be carried out as they have been without the intervention of those two means that there must at least be laws to respect... Perhaps it is an artifact mixed up with the Spectator's pathway?' Trying to make sense of the artifact's strange abilities, Adryan couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in his body the more he thought about it.

Gong! Gong! Gong!

For an instant his vision became blurred and filled with a strange fog. 

Through that fog, a strange scale appeared. It was similar to the one used to represent justice. It was greenish-gold and looked quite old. The pans were in perfect balance, neither higher nor lower than the other.

A large bell was on top of it, and it rang loudly.

Gong! Gong! Gong!

With the last sounds, Adryan blinked and the vision faded. 

Putting a hand to his forehead and pressing two fingers against it, the dark-haired man frowned slightly.

"It's normal to react like this after going through the Balance Under the Bridge treatment." 

"What?" Opening one eye, he looked at his partner, who was looking at him with a small smile.

"For 30 minutes, the Balance Under the Bridge prevents all participants in the room from deceiving anyone and allows them to speak the truth. It supervises every deal. Once the thirty minutes have passed or more than 120 deals have been successfully completed in this area, it loses its special status, " the woman commented, looking around calmly.

"That's why it's important to be on time here. Once the time is up, no one is in charge of ensuring that the deals will be fulfilled or the words true."

"So now it's free time, huh?" Adryan muttered, looking around at how people were starting to talk to each other.

"Please, princess. Don't state the obvious." Flora said with a sigh as she shook her head.

"Who in their right mind would trust an unbacked deal with a cheater?" She added knowingly, her eyes shining a little.

Laughing a little, the dark-haired man glanced at the duo on the podium and saw them get up.

"We'll take a short 10-minute break. We'll be back after." Fiorella raised her voice a little, carrying it across the room.

She turned to Flora and smiled mockingly, "Come on, I want to see what excuse you come up with this time."

With that, she and Andre stepped to the side, heading for a door at the end of the room...

At this, Flora sighed heavily and elegantly got up, looking over her shoulder at him, she said, "Are you coming?"

Winking, Adryan also got up, "Please Miss Worm. Don't state the obvious~"

Walking towards where the demigods had disappeared, the dark-haired man stayed close to his companion. 

From how Fiorella and Andre stood around doing nothing, it was clear that neither liked the woman.

If the worst came to the worst, he had to have an escape route ready...

'Once in the mirror world, the only way out is with the skills of witches or Travelers... Of course, that's the safe one. 

'The other is to find a mirror and smash it. This will cause a reaction that will open a way out of this world, the problem is that there is no way of knowing where you will end up... But that's better than here...' 

Sighing inwardly, he looked at his partner and her confident and serene gait.

Despite how they treated her, she seemed sure that neither would do anything to her. Was that trust in the family or was there something else at play?

As he considered it, and before leaving the room to follow Andre and Fiorella, he glanced at the entire group of tables where the Jacob family was sitting.

Among the more than 40 members sitting at the tables, none had the white hair that his dear worm had.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he returned to the front and, together with Flora, to the duo a few meters ahead. 

Their footsteps echoed silently in the empty corridors. During the short journey, no one said anything; everyone looked ahead in uncomfortable silence.

After a short while, they reached another door with a shield, but instead of being gold, it was silver and only had the coats of arms of the Jacob family.

Fiorella walked to the front of the door, took out a coin identical to the one Flora had used a while ago and, repeating the same process as before, she threw it at the door.

The invisible wave covered them, and the family seal shone on the door before fading into a soft glow.

When the big door opened, Fiorella and Andre went in first. They were followed by Flora and finally Adryan, who looked at everything analytically.

This was a somewhat classy study, divided into two parts. To the right was a large desk with a bookcase behind it, while to the left was a small seating area with a fireplace and a rug made of animal skin in front of it.

From the rug his eyes rose to a painting above the fireplace.

An elegant man was painted on it. Shadows seemed to cover a little of the right side of his body and a disinterested expression was on his face, making his black eyes stand out more. 

He was wearing an elegant suit with the symbol of a hand sewn on his chest. What stood out most about this man was his shiny white curly hair that looked like a cloud.

Above the painting, the frame had a name on it. "Duke Jacob"

His eyes moved from the man in the painting to Flora. She looked deeply at the painting, with complicated emotions dancing in her eyes.

Adryan felt his blood run cold and his heart skip a beat.

They were both extremely similar, sharing the same nose and eyelashes. Only his white hair was shorter and his features were more square, but the similarities were impossible to ignore!

The most significant difference between them was that the eyes of his favorite worm were a beautiful gray, otherwise they were almost identical.

They looked like father and daughter!

"I am the last direct descendant." As if reading his mind, Flora said calmly.

Adryan turned around in a daze and looked at her. At some point, she had taken her eyes off the painting and looked at him with a small, sad smile.

"A descendant who only seems to know how to fail at being one." Walking between the two of them, Fiorella stood in front of Flora and with serene eyes, bowed her head slightly.

"Now, little dancing worm, why did you come back? Or was it just an excuse not to show the new members the humiliating truth?" 

The expression of the white-haired woman did not change, she looked serenely at Fiorella who blinked somewhat surprised before snorting ungracefully.

"Oh? It seems that the worm has grown a little. At this point we were already at each other's throats, remember? No, cousin?" With the corners of her lips slightly raised, Fiorella laughed softly.

"Ah, what lovely memories. That was before you stole Galbert's potion and took it for yourself." 

Finally, looking at him, she put a finger on her chin and let out a little, 'Oh?'

"And who is this? If you gave him the promise ring, he must be someone important to you, but if he doesn't even bother to show his true face, it seems that the affection is one-sided." 

Blinking calmly, Adryan tilted his head a little, "Oh? And why don't you believe that this is my true appearance?"

"You're joking, right?" Fiorella snorted, "I know my cousin's tastes better than anyone. You may fit in with some of them like the chest, but that's not enough if you have a beard."

Bending over a little, she laughed mockingly, "She hates them~"

Nodding slightly, the dark-haired man looked over the woman's shoulder at his companion.

He really wanted to ruin this woman completely but he had made a promise and he would not go back on his word. If his partner didn't want to or say anything, he would keep his head down and not say anything.

But oh, how he wished that...

Flora closed her eyes for a second and opened them again. In a message that only they understood.

"Do it," she said.

The man's eyes lit up.

With the go-ahead, his lips lifted sharply into a sideways smile, "I didn't think the current head of the Jacob family was a woman with such a small ego."

The smile on Fiorella's face tightened for a moment, "What did you say?"

"And deaf, too. What a shame." Shaking his head in disappointment, Adryan snickered, "Not to mention stupid, of course. Do I have to explain everything?"

"Since we arrived you've done nothing but emphasize the state of my dear Flora. Not only that, you're always trying to show off, as if you had something to prove."

Looking up and down at the woman who seemed to have frozen, he said, "Sure, it's not like you have anything else to brag about besides that. Not only do you dress as if you still lived in the last Epoch - which you do badly, by the way, What is that dress? Ugh.

"But to top it all off, you act like a pathetic playground bully who never grew up and the only difference from before is that you eat with the adults.

"How old are you? You're a Parasite, so you must be, what, 200, 300 years old? Act your age, for fuck's sake.

"You look like a little girl who never received her father's love and is taking out all those daddy issues on someone she thinks is superior..."

Pausing for a moment, Adryan closed his eyes slightly, "But we both know that's not the case, don't we?

"After all, you said it yourself. Flora is a direct descendant of Duke Jacob, something I imagine is a source of enormous pride... But you? Descendant of whom are you?"

Looking her up and down again, the dark-haired man shook his head disappointedly. "Surely you were part of the Duke's extended family when he ascended, maybe a distant cousin? I don't see the similarity. Are you even sure you're a Jacob and not a bastard?"

"Hey! But at least cheer up. You're the second demigod who not only makes me feel sorry for them, but also feel embarrassed.

The woman's face broke completely, multiple veins jumped out on her neck and forehead.

Before the demigoddess could explode at the provocation, a voice laden with age let out a soft sigh that resonated in the studio as it said:

"Calm down. This is a studio, not a boxing ring. There's no need to fight anymore."

"Oh, right..." Fiorella's clear anger visibly calmed down, her expression returning to the calmness with which she had behaved before entering the room.

The same thing happened with Adryan, who found the words to be very meaningful and reasonable, the annoyance in his heart was cleared and he even found himself wanting to smile a little.

He felt that he had forgotten something and could not remember why he had been upset...

But, having been prepared for this, Adryan reached deep within himself and shook his head to try to bring out the words that were still lashing his mind and spirit.

Grabbing his head, he looked at the man sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a click of his tongue.

'Sequence 3, huh? Shit.'

Adryan was sure that if he provoked a powerful reaction, the man would ensure it didn't escalate further.

Therefore, he did not hold back at all when it came to provoking the woman and used everything he could find out and notice about her to make her explode.

Depending on what happened when the man intervened, he would discover his level, how dangerous he was, and how he had to deal with him.

Unfortunately, one of the worst scenarios happened.

He recognized the ability Andre had used to calm the situation.

Sequence 3 of the Marauder Pathway, Mentor of Deceit!

The man finally showed an emotion other than disinterest with the slight raising of his eyebrow.

"It seems you met a very interesting Hunter, Madam Flora," Andre said, looking at his companion.

Flora blinked somewhat lost, still not fully recovered from the voice, "Ah, yes, yes..."

Ignoring that, Andre did not take his eyes off the dark-haired man and gave a slight nod, "Welcome to the Hermits of Fate, sir.

"I am Andre Zoroast, the current head of the Zoroast family."

It took her a little longer than him, but Fiorella also came out of her trance-like state and gave him a sideways glance. Her posture had relaxed, but the intensity of her gaze said much more.

"More and more problems are appearing..." Growling while holding her nose, Fiorella clicked her tongue.

The woman, remembering what she was doing before, looked over her shoulder at the white-haired woman behind her and her expression threatened to break again.

Flora was giving her a big condemning smile, her chin slightly raised and looking down at her.

"Is something wrong, Fiorella? You look a little pale."

Clicking her tongue, the woman turned her head forward.

Standing next to Andre, she raised her head slightly and looked at Adryan with disdain, "Fiorella Jacob, current head of the Jacob Family. Not that you didn't already know."

Without hiding her displeasure at having to introduce herself to him and barely finding the opportunity to stop talking to him, Fiorella focused her attention on a sweetly smiling Flora.

"Well? Are you going to tell us what you discovered or what?"

The corners of her lips dropped slightly, what she had to say immediately souring her high spirits. 

Releasing a soft sigh, Flora nodded. "First I need to use the Aquarium of a Thousand Destinies. The information is delicate and can bring some unwanted... attention."

Understanding what she was referring to, both demigods looked at her deeply.

"You always end up bringing us trouble, I swear…" Fiorella swallowed uncomfortably while Andre got up from the sofa.

"I'll be back." The next moment, the man disappeared as if he had never been there.

Now alone, the black-haired woman looked deeply at them. Her emotions were difficult to read, but the previous annoyance was clear.

Adryan returned the gaze with boredom, the corners of his lips slightly raised. Flora, for her part, remained by his side, also smiling at the woman with a certain sparkle in her eyes.

At the next blink of an eye, Andre Zoroast reappeared in the studio. In his hands he was carrying a large fishbowl.

It was quite large and the glass that the company used seemed to be covered in glitter. Inside the tank there was a large and magnificent ancient castle, with five tall towers rising up into the sky. It was a dark gray color, not quite black.

This castle was submerged up to a little less than half in an illusory transparent silver liquid, it seemed to be calm but if one looked deep into this liquid one could see the impossible changes barely contained within each drop that made it up.

Andre placed the fish tank on top of the desk. 

With one hand, the man touched the glass. As if it were plastic, his hand reached through the glass and enveloped it. He took some of the 'liquid' and placed it around a specific part of the castle.

Disregarding the laws of gravity, the liquid did not fall down but remained floating around like a strange cloud.

"It is now safe to talk, the flow of the river of destiny will not be affected by what is said in this room... Of course, once outside the protection of the Aquarium of a Thousand Destinies, it will disappear." Andre said calmly, taking his hand out of the fishbowl.

A long exhalation of air came from Flora, who shook her head wearily.

"Finally. Now I can finally breathe a little..."

Adryan looked around the room curiously but failed to find any visible change.

'Maybe if I were part of a path related to fate I might notice what's under the folder... Heh, in that sense, hunters are not only weak in fate and mystical abilities, but we totally lack them...' Laughing a little at his uselessness, the dark-haired man watched the group talking in silence.

This was not his place to speak, so he would only be giving silent support to his dear worm.

"Well?" Fiorella growled a little, her patience exhausted long ago, her eyes now filled with anxiety.

"I was just about to say that..." Flora looked at her cousin flatly before letting out a soundless sigh.

Pausing for about 3 seconds, she closed her eyes and said:

"I managed to confirm the existence of our ancestor's treasure. It is located in the Loen Kingdom, in Backlund."

Although they were prepared for the revelation, Fiorella was barely able to contain the slight tremor in her hands and Andre could only close his eyes in deep thought.

Not trusting her legs, Fiorella took a seat on the free sofa. She took off her witch's hat with a fluid and calm movement, and placed it in her lap.

Her fingers traced the coat of arms woven into it, a faraway look in her eyes, "... So it was real... The secret treasure really exists..."

"That's not why you asked me to bring the Aquarium, is it?" Still not opening his eyes, Andre consulted with a calm voice.

"That's right..." Flora nodded, an expression of great pain on her face, "... While the treasure does exist and I have a general idea of where it is, going to recover it would be certain death."

"Even so close to recovering the family pride you get scared again!" Fiorella shouted suddenly, her hat flying off her lap with her sudden rise.

Quickly, she approached a serene Flora but before she got a few steps her cousin's companion got in the way.

"Come on, at least let her finish talking," Adryan said with a grin.

"You..." Almost spitting out the words, Fiorella didn't dare take another step or do anything else when she felt a look at her back.

Controlling herself as best she could, she looked at her cousin with deep resentment.

"If you found it, why didn't you come back and tell us? If you were worried about some kind of trap, then we could have dealt with them using the artifacts we have!

"The three of us could have dealt with whatever is out there!"

Fiorella then snorted with disgust, "I bet you just wanted to be alone with the treasure. You were always capricious and selfish while we were growing up, it wouldn't be surprising if-"

"Enough," Andre said gravely, and the woman's mouth slammed shut.

"Someday you're going to have to let go of that grudge, cousin. No matter how many times I say I would give my life for the family, you would never believe me, so I won't waste any more of my words..." Sighing a little, Flora stood quietly next to her companion.

"In the middle of my treasure hunt in Backlund I fell into one of the many traps that the ancestor had set. I almost died and found myself unable to contact anyone.

"With no other option I had to parasite my partner here." Flora calmly pointed her head at Adryan, "I'm still not fully recovered.

"The traps left by the ancestor are brutal and merciless to us. A mistake would undoubtedly cost us our lives... But that's not why I'm here today..."

"It's not to warn you of the traps that are hiding the treasure but that the treasure itself is a trap."

Andre frowned deeply while Fiorella froze.

"Madam Flora, what do you mean by that?" The head of the Zoroast asked.

Sigh...

Flora did not answer immediately, she just looked up at her ancestor's painting for a moment.

"As all Jacob knows, the Ancestor fell to our mortal enemy as far back as the Fourth Epoch... But the truth is much worse..."

Finally, the expression on the white-haired woman's face broke a little, her eyes showing enormous pain and helplessness.

"Our Ancestor not only fell before 'Him', but 'His' identity and destiny were stolen. For who knows how long, our mortal enemy acted as 'Him' and made fun of us for that...

"This treasure is that last great mockery of us." She paused for a moment and, staring at them, she finished.

"Because although the treasure does exist, guarding it for these thousand years, 'He' is also there, waiting in silence for someone to find it."