Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"That Young Master Ludwig gives me an odd feeling," Grace said, frowning as she held her slender metal chopsticks. "He's completely different from his brother."

Eve immediately responded, "Then we can just keep our distance from Ludwig for now."

Exotic beast meat from other planets was sliced translucent as cicada wings, sizzling on the grill until glistening with oil. Dusted with the house's signature seasoning, it took on an enticing reddish-brown hue, a feast for all senses. Eve took a bite and her eyes crinkled with delight. "Stop thinking about that guy and come enjoy the barbecue! This is delicious!"

Grace remained immune to the delicious food's appeal, holding her chopsticks like a Zen monk in deep meditation as she frowned in thought, pondering why the Young Master Oliver they had just met made her so uneasy.

By the time she snapped out of it, more than half the barbecue on the plate had been polished off by Eve and Dick. Grace cried out indignantly, "Why didn't you save any for me?" and pounced on the plate with her chopsticks like a ravenous tiger.

The barbecue restaurant was located on the top floor of the central mall, offering a bird's-eye view of the city as the lights began to twinkle like scattered stars in the early evening.

The three of them were seated in a private dining booth. An automated machine flipped and grilled the meat slices while suctioning away the smoke, allowing the guests to enjoy their meal while admiring the nightscape of the capital through the one-way privacy glass walls.

After they'd eaten their fill, Eve, Grace, and Dick began pointing out landmarks across the capital under the lights, guessing which of the grand, illuminated buildings might be the imperial palace, which the First Empire Academy, which the Alchemist Association, or other notable sites.

Just as they finished pinpointing the First Empire Academy, Eve's terminal lit up with an incoming call from Sandro Medici.

She mouthed the name to the other two and answered the call.

The characteristic tone of the Second Steward came through the terminal's speaker: "My dear buds, while you were frittering the day away outside today, did you happen to have any conflict with the young master of the Oliver Family?"

Since it was Sandro calling, Eve put the call on speaker. At his words, Grace and Dick exchanged bewildered looks, their faces equally confused.

Eve calmly replied, "We just ran into him on the street and exchanged a few words." She then gave a quick rundown of their exchange.

"I see. He just sent a gift box to the Medici family, claiming it was from a shop under the Alchemist Association, saying it was an apology for the three of you," Sandro said. "How utterly bizarre. I’ve already signed for the gift box on your behalf—no reason to turn down free stuff.

"But don’t even think about sending a return gift. I’m certain that little viper from the Oliver Family is exactly counting on that. He’s not someone you can handle. Be more careful when you’re out in the future. The capital has plenty of weirdos; you need to learn to protect yourselves."

Eve thought to herself that the three of them couldn’t afford to return such an expensive gift anyway, but she said okay.

After his lecture, Sandro asked, "How’s your outing going? When are you planning to head back?"

"We just finished dinner, we’ll be back soon."

Sandro said, "I’ll come pick you up. You left with me, and if you take a taxi back, public hovercars can’t enter the Medici family’s barrier. Walking home from the barrier would take forever. As a steward, I adhere to the principle of gentlemanly responsibility—since I brought you out, I ought to bring you back safely."

Eve happily thanked him and sent their location. As soon as the call ended, Dick leaned in, looking shocked. "How did Ludwig know who we are?"

"If a prominent young master like him can’t even find out about someone in the capital, he might as well not be one," Grace remarked, unusually calm.

Anyone would feel unsettled upon realizing they’ve been investigated. The three of them felt uneasy, no longer in the mood to have fun. They quickly gathered their things and went downstairs to wait for Sandro.

Sandro didn’t scold them. Instead, he comforted them: "Alright, little buds, why the long faces? You’ve received a gift worth millions for free—you should be happy."

Eve rubbed her temples, somewhat troubled. "You’re right."

The gift had already been delivered to their residence, still unopened. The three gathered around the table as Grace pulled open the metallic box. Inside, resting on velvet lining, lay a beautiful, perfectly round crystal ball—the very one they had been examining in the shop.

Honestly, it had only been out of curiosity, and because the crystal ball was the most attractive among all the alchemical items in the display, that they had gathered to look at it. But even by the end, none of them actually knew what its purpose was.

Fortunately, when Eve picked up the crystal ball, she found that the shop had included a handwritten guide and a silver stand.

"Prophetic Crystal Ball," she read from the manual. "Three uses. The crystal ball can only answer yes or no. To use, silently focus on the question you wish to ask, then touch the crystal ball with both hands. The answer will appear within ten seconds.

"Special note: Only displays the most probable outcome; not guaranteed to be 100% accurate."

Dick asked, "What does 'not guaranteed to be 100% accurate' mean?"

Eve replied, "It means it’s just for fun; don't put much stock in it. There are exactly three uses—one for each of us. Who wants to go first?"

"I’ll pass on divination for now," Grace said with a sly smile. "After three uses, this crystal ball will be useless. It’s worth millions—I can’t bear to use it up all at once. I’d rather save my turn for when I really need it."

"I won’t use it either. I don’t really believe in this kind of thing," Eve said. She had long since known that this world was essentially a novel and wasn’t particularly interested in so-called prophecies.

Besides, she felt instinctively suspicious about anything sent by Ludwig.

Dick looked from Grace to Eve. "If neither of you are playing, won’t I look awkward?" he said, pointing at himself incredulously.

"Awkward or not, do you still want to play? Otherwise, I’ll put this away," Eve said, making a move to store the crystal ball, but Dick quickly stopped her.

"I want to play! Let me try. Honestly, I’m quite a believer in prophecies. I used to get monthly astrology readings. This is my first time using an alchemical tool for divination—I’m kind of excited just thinking about it."

Grace suddenly said, "Dick, you don’t need to find an astrologer for fortune-telling anymore. You can come to me—I’ll even give you a friends' discount."

"You know how to divine?" Dick asked, surprised.

"I don’t know how to divine, but I know how to take your money," Grace said with a grin. "I can also make up nice things to say. What would you like to hear? That you’ll become the First Steward or the young lady’s live-in husband? I can say all that."

"..."

Ignoring Dick’s instantly flushed face, Eve pressed her fingers to her forehead. "Stop teasing him, Grace. You’re just picking on him."

"Ha ha ha ha…"

Grace laughed until she was out of breath, rolling on the sofa at Dick’s reaction. Between giggles, she managed to say, "In the Interstellar Era... you actually believe in astrology... If that were real... wouldn’t using an ion weapon to forcibly alter the stars’ trajectories count as changing your destiny? You’re really something, Dick... Ha ha ha..."

Dick shot her an annoyed glare, picked up the crystal ball, and grumbled, "You’re so annoying. Stop laughing—I’m going to make my prophecy now. Let me concentrate."

Grace ignored him, still laughing and rolling around. Eve had to physically restrain the hysterically laughing Grace, holding her by the shoulder with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. She nodded solemnly at Dick. "Forcibly silenced by external means."

"...Thanks."

No one knew what question Dick asked, but he held the crystal ball, closed his eyes in deep thought, and then the stardust inside slowly flowed together to form a large "No."

When he opened his eyes full of expectation and saw the "No," Dick’s face immediately fell.

Grace: "Pfft... I don’t know what you asked, but I inexplicably feel like laughing again."

"What’s so funny? Laugh, laugh, laugh—that’s all you ever do," Dick said, both embarrassed and angry. He placed the crystal ball back on its stand and declared, "I’m going to bed. I have my Spiritual State awakening tomorrow morning. I don’t want to play with you anymore."

With a loud "bang," Dick slammed his bedroom door shut.

Eve rubbed her temples helplessly. "Now Dick is mad at me too."

"It’s fine. He gets angry quickly but gets over it just as fast. I annoyed him on purpose. You should take a closer look at this crystal ball—it gives me a bad feeling," Grace said, her expression turning serious as she stopped laughing.

"I wasn’t lying earlier. If you want your fortune told, you can come to me. I’ve always had strong intuition since I was little. For example, from this crystal ball, I sense a very bad premonition."

Hearing this, Eve was reminded of Ludwig’s original work style and took another careful look at the crystal ball.

At first glance, it seemed normal, but Eve suddenly remembered: the Oliver Family, while skilled in Alchemy, was also the major behind-the-scenes patron of the Alchemist Association.

Would Ludwig really send an ordinary, merely amusing crystal ball?

...And by the way, in the original work, was there a part about sending a crystal ball?

Eve’s expression shifted several times. Only then did she suddenly realize that they had been so excitedly discussing the prophecy’s function that they overlooked the fact that the crystal ball could directly peek into its user’s mind during use. She couldn’t help but curse under her breath, then returned to her room to fetch paper and pen to transcribe the golden Alchemical Cipher inscribed on the crystal ball.

She had been too trusting of Ludwig, assuming that as long as she didn’t actively provoke him, he wouldn’t cause her any trouble. Little did she know that Ludwig had already begun displaying his disturbing psychotic tendencies this early on.

Seeing Eve copying the Alchemical Cipher, Grace looked thoughtful. "Do you suspect there’s something wrong with the Cipher?"

"The Oliver Family are the de facto controllers of the Alchemist Association," Eve replied succinctly. "It’d be easy for him to rig it."

"He gives me a bad feeling, but if there really is something wrong, then why would he do it?" Grace seemed puzzled. "Have we met him? Or is there some conflict between the Medici family and the Oliver Family?"

In truth, there was no grudge between them. But after recalling various descriptions of Ludwig from the original work, Eve went quiet for a while before offering the most plausible reason she could infer: "I think he... probably just thinks it’s fun."

Grace: "..."

***

Meanwhile, in a hidden chamber of the Oliver Family, behind low-hanging curtains in a dimly lit stone room.

On a wooden table in front of the curtain sat a crystal ball the size of a human head, identical in appearance to the one sent to the Medici family. A brown-haired alchemist sat before the table, his hands pressed against the crystal ball, eyes tightly shut, muttering under his breath.

Ludwig sat on a high stool behind the curtain, propping his head up with one hand. His handsome, youthful face was full of interest. As the crystal ball flashed with light, he asked eagerly, "Who’s using it?"

"Young Master," the alchemist replied, studying the image in the crystal ball and carefully sensing their thoughts. After a moment, his expression turned somewhat peculiar. "It’s a silver-haired boy."

"Which one... oh, him," Ludwig took a long moment to place him before remembering who the only boy among the three was—Dick, probably. He had little interest in Dick and said boredly, "He’s not worth watching. Are there any others? Like the girl from the Medici family."

The alchemist’s eyelids twitched like crazy. He hadn’t expected his young master to so openly admit to spying on the Medici family. After pressing his hands against the crystal ball and closing his eyes to sense for a long time, he cautiously said, "It seems no one else is using it."

"..."

Ludwig seemed about to say something but changed his mind at the last moment. Instead, he asked, "What did that boy ask in his mind?"

"He asked if there was any possibility of him being together with the young lady, though he didn’t specify which young lady," the alchemist replied respectfully. "Young Master, should I continue to investigate further?"

"Investigate what, you fool? Aside that A-rank young lady of the Medici family, who else is worthy of being called 'young lady'?" A disinterested voice came from behind the curtain. Though the brown-haired man was a Three-Star Grand Alchemist, he didn’t dare make a sound, only standing by anxiously.

Unexpectedly, Ludwig had already lost interest. He stood up, the movement dragging his chair noisily across the floor with a jarring screech. Then, the young man’s clear but bored voice faded into the distance: "Those two girls probably won’t use the crystal ball anymore. Whether you continue monitoring is up to you. I’m going back to visit my elder brother."

Sweat beaded and dripped from the brown-haired man’s forehead. Young Master Oliver had asked the Alchemist Association to send a Grand Alchemist for this task, and he had volunteered, hoping to get on the young master’s good side.

He never expected that what he thought was a good opportunity would turn out to be anything but—instead, he had displeased Young Master Oliver. The brown-haired man didn’t dare imagine how severe the consequences of angering Young Master Oliver might be.

After pondering for a long time, he finally decided that even if he couldn’t achieve merit, he should at least show diligence. Gritting his teeth, he swept his robes aside and sat down again, placing his hands on the crystal ball and sinking back into deep meditative communication.

He was determined to squeeze out something more from that crystal ball on the other side!