"What do you think this is?"
Lex held up a dark gray sculpture about thirty centimeters long for them to see. He gently handed the classically styled, humanoid-shaped sculpture engraved with Kryptonian writing to Joseph and asked, "Professor, I'm sure you can answer my question."
As he spoke, Lex kept watching their expressions. Just as he expected, the faces of all three Kawatche people, including Joseph, changed when they saw the sculpture. Compared with Kyla and Jeremiel, whose expressions were less controlled, Joseph's face changed only slightly before returning to normal. Unfortunately for him, Lex's sharp eyes caught it.
"Unbelievable! This is 'Parak'! I never thought it truly existed!"
Jeremiel was the first to cry out in shock. Upon seeing the sculpture, he looked as stunned as though he had found a vault containing billions of gold coins. In his excitement, he instinctively blurted out a name.
The moment the words left his mouth, all three Kawatche people, Jeremiel included, inwardly cursed. It was already too late to take it back, because Lex had clearly committed the name to memory.
"'Parak'?"
Lex's casual question made the faces of the young Kawatche pair, Jeremiel and Kyla, change. Jeremiel in particular stared at Lex with wariness and fear in his eyes. Seemingly afraid that he might let something else slip, he hurriedly lowered his head to avoid Lex's gaze and said nothing more.
Even so, Jeremiel's eyes remained fixed on the sculpture in Joseph's hands. If Dilos had been there, he definitely would have mocked the guy for practically having his eyeballs fall out.
Seeing this, Kyla beside Jeremiel also instinctively avoided Lex's gaze and turned her head away. Still, compared with Jeremiel, that idiot with abysmal acting skills, she was at least clever enough to put on an expression of complete