Law of Space and Time

Chapter 87-2: Mind Readers (2)

Onean didn't deny this.

Erwin could tell from her expression that she wasn't in a very good mood, and he asked, "So? How did it go? Was everything pretty much just as you expected?" 

"How else could it have gone? Their plan is very simple and straightforward, there were no surprises at all," Onean replied as she turned to him with a faint smile. "If I agreed to stay with them, I would have to listen to everything they say and become a political puppet for them."

Erwin nodded in response, then pulled out the roast beef from inside the wooden container. "Have some, it's pretty delicious."

"Is this beef from the Zam Highlands?" Onean asked as she took a glance at him.

Erwin nodded in response.

"No wonder it smells so good." Onean picked up the fork inside the wooden container, then stabbed into a piece of roast beef before placing it into her mouth.

"By the way, have you ever heard of Fall Crystals before?" Erwin suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Onean hadn't even had a chance to swallow the beef in her mouth yet, and she raised an eyebrow as she turned to Erwin with a quizzical expression.

"Looks like you haven't heard of it, either."

After swallowing the mouthful of beef, Onean asked, "Where did you hear about this thing? I highly doubt you heard about it from whatever restaurant you went to."

"Oh? So you do know about it?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"I do," she replied in a nod, then turned to Erwin with a serious expression. "Father told me on multiple occasions to stay away from Fall Crystals at all costs."

"Did he tell you why?"

"All he said was that it was the root of trouble, and that I should stay away from shady things of this nature unless I want to attract trouble to myself," Onean replied.

Erwin was rather amused to hear this, considering King Cameron himself believed in divination, which was most definitely a shady practice. It seemed that he would've done well to heed his own advice.

"Is that all he said about it? Did he ever mention why he prohibited the mining of Fall Crystals?" Erwin asked.

"All I know is that Archbishop Sirius once suggested for Father to mine for Fall Crystals, and he was met by a furious tirade from Father. After that, no one dared to approach the topic of Fall Crystals anymore," Onean replied as a reminiscent look appeared on her face. "You still haven't told me where you heard about Fall Crystals from yet."

Instead of directly answering her question, Erwin asked, "Have you heard of the Lodais Organization?"

"I've heard my teacher mention it before. It's an underground organization, right?" Onean had lost interest in the food before her due to Erwin's line of questioning, so she set down the fork in her hand as she asked, "What happened? Did they approach you, or did you seek them out?"

"Christine took me to see them," Erwin replied.

Onean's golden eyes flashed slightly upon hearing this. "It looks like that little girl is more complex a character than I imagined."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you feel like her circumstances are rather strange?"

"Now that you mention it, I do find her quite interesting. Looking at the amount of wealth she has at her disposal, it's clear that she comes from an extremely affluent family," Erwin analyzed. "However, if that's the case, then why is someone of her age from such a wealthy family living the life of a traveling merchant?"

"Why did she take you to see the Lodais Organization?"

"Initially, we wanted to purchase some precious ore from the Lodais Organization so we can sell them in the north."

"Looks like those metal chests on the airship contain all of the money that you have left," Onean said with an amused smile.

"That's right. Thankfully, my father had the foresight to arrange all of his estates for me prior to setting off for the war," Erwin replied.

"That little girl seems to be very attached to you, judging from how she calls you 'Brother Erwin'. I'm sure she would've been looking out for your best interests." Onean was imitating Christine's voice as she uttered the words "Brother Erwin", and it was rather comical to behold.

Erwin couldn't help but chuckle at her imitation, and he replied, "Initially, our plan was to enquire about the price of gold jade ore and other types of precious ore, but the elder of the Lodais Organization that we met with began to tell us about Fall Crystals instead."

"So you're saying that the Lodais Organization was encouraging you to buy Fall Crystals? Where are they getting their supply from?"

"The elder said that Lazaar has always been turning a blind eye to the True Light Church's exploits in mining Fall Crystals," Erwin replied as he took a glance at Onean. "Also, Lazaar's army is about to reach Fooz soon, so sooner or later, all of the Fall Crystals in Fooz will also fall into his hands."

"Does that mean that the Lodais Organization has very close connections with the True Light Church as well?" Onean asked.

"He didn't confirm that explicitly, but I'm assuming that this must be the case."

Onean's brows furrowed slightly in contemplation upon hearing this. "Throughout these past years, no one knew exactly what Lazaar and the True Light Church had been up to in the Terarody Mountain Ranges. It looks like they were not just taming the wyverns, but also mining Fall Crystals in secret as well."

"Do you Sirius wants to live for a few more years, or is it Lazaar who wants to extend his own life?" Erwin asked.

"Arresting the flow of time is only one of the uses of Fall Crystals."

"Oh? You know about that as well?" Erwin was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Father didn't mention much about Fall Crystals to me, but I was able to get some information out of my teacher."

"Did Master Piro tell you what other uses there are for Fall Crystals?"

"I think that question would be best answered by a time and space magician," Onean said as she turned to Erwin with a faint smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Erwin asked with a puzzled expression.

"Do you really not know?" Onean asked with a skeptical look in her eyes.

"I don't."

"I heard from my teacher that when it comes to processing Fall Crystals, the artisans are too inept due to their lack of understanding of Fall Crystals, and they're also too eager to please those in power. Hence, much of the material is wasted in their hands, and the finished products have brought about many wars. Only those who have truly mastered the secrets of time and space know how to best process Fall Crystal ore."

"So you're saying that in the hands of a time and space magician, Fall Crystals will become something different entirely?" Erwin asked with an intrigued expression.

"I don't know the specific details there," Onean replied. "So what happened after that? How did your negotiations go?"

"I was just about to get to that," Erwin said as an exasperated look appeared on his face. "That Lodais Organization practically tried to rob us! They're asking for 250,000 Loonies for a single finished accessory crafted from Fall Crystals, and not only do we have to issue a 50% deposit, we'll only be able to receive the product in half a year."

"That really is a very steep price," Onean agreed. "So they're asking you to pay them 125,000 Loonies before you even get to see the end product? That sounds like terrible business practice."

"Have you ever come into contact with the Lodais Organization?"

"No, I've never had the opportunity before," Onean replied with a shake of her head. "I'd advise you to interact with these underground organizations as little as possible. Otherwise, you could end up dead before you even know it."

"That's true. They have a bunch of assassins who specialize in resolving problems for their clients."

"I'm guessing their process is to manufacture a problem for you, then approach you with the offer of resolving that problem for you, but in exchange, you have to do something for them, right?" Onean was able to immediately identify the crux of the matter.

"Ha, that's the exact same conclusion that I arrived at," Erwin chuckled.

"It's not exactly the most groundbreaking trick in the book," Onean said. "What are you planning to do from here?"

"What do you think?"

"The fact that you're asking me about Fall Crystals means that you must be very interested in them," Onean said. "Despite the prohibitions set in place by my father, I'm guessing that Jenkins must have a decently large supply of Fall Crystals in his manor. Are you planning to approach Gwen to work out a deal?"

"My goodness, what have I done to deserve this? I feel like I'm surrounded by mind readers who read me like an open book," Erwin sighed.

"Did Christine manage to guess what you were going to do as well?" Onean asked.

"She did," Erwin replied. "It looks like we'll have to do some thorough research into her background once we arrive in the north."

The next morning, Erwin got up at the crack of dawn. Onean was still sound asleep, so he made sure to be very quiet as he left the room. Seeing as they had returned to the governor's manor, Gwen naturally wasn't going to sleep in the airship any longer, so Erwin was able to sleep in the same room as Onean again, enjoying a night of sleep where he didn't have to hear the thunderous snoring of Kaiba and the others.

As soon as he emerged from the room, he caught sight of Christine, who was waiting for him in front of the room across from his and Onean's.

The two of them had gotten up so early because they wanted to request an audience with Gwen.

In the wake of Governor Jenkins's passing, Gwen was now the stand-in governor of Fooz, so she wasn't someone that they could just meet whenever they wanted.

Erwin and Christine were led by a servant into a lavish waiting room, and by the time they arrived, it was quite lively and bustling, with many people already waiting to see Gwen. Erwin swept his gaze around the spacious room to find that there were around 10 other people waiting for an audience with Gwen, and all of them were either officials, nobles, or wealthy merchants. It was clear that Gwen had a lot on her plate.

However, she was very accommodating toward Erwin, and Erwin and Christine were the first ones to be granted an audience with her after she finished her breakfast.

Another servant led the two of them into Gwen's study, and as soon as he entered the room, Erwin couldn't help but marvel at Governor Jenkins's opulence once again. The study was so extravagant and luxurious that even King Cameron would've been in awe of it.

There was a sheep wool rug with intricate designs embroidered upon it with golden thread extending all the way from the entrance to the desk. One had to realize that this room was over three times the size of Erwin's bedroom back in Count Friar's manor. In contrast with this lavish rug, the rug that Erwin had seen in the secret chamber of the Lodais Organization the day before was made to look completely mundane.

As soon as the two of them took a seat, Gwen immediately cut straight to the chase. "Why have you come to see me so early in the morning?"

Erwin knew that she had to be extremely busy and didn't have any time for small talk, so he also adopted a more direct and straightforward approach. "We are planning to travel to the north, but before we set off, we want to purchase some precious ore to be sold there..."

"Hold on, you're going to the north?" Gwen interjected as she looked at Erwin with a befuddled expression.

"Didn't you know about my plans?" Erwin was rather surprised by her reaction.

Gwen shook her head in response, then confirmed, "By going to the north, do you mean you're heading to the other side of the Terarody Mountain Ranges?"

"That's right," Erwin replied with a nod.

"You're not going to stay here and oppose Lazaar with me?" Gwen asked with a puzzled expression. "How are you going to avenge your father?"

"Who knows?" Erwin didn't seem to be interested in avenging his own father at all.

"I honestly don't understand what's going on in those heads of yours. Don't you want to exact revenge on Lazaar? Are you too scared to resist just because Lazaar has some flying dragons on his side?" Gwen asked with a displeased expression.