Fragments of fate

Time ticked by, but the reporters waiting outside the conference hall showed no impatience or dissatisfaction; they had experienced similar situations many times before.

Finally, the heavy doors of the Rose Conference Hall opened, and Moran Avignon, the Minister of Ministry of Industry, dressed in a sharp suit, with regular features, deep gray Eyes, and graying black hair, walked out side by side with the head of the delegation from the Kingdom of Loen.

Click, click, loud Flash went off one after another, and Moran Avignon waved to the reporters with an air of elegance.

Lumian didn't force his way to the front; instead, Concealment in the crowd, gazing at Moran Avignon from several meters away.

Under the cover of the camera, his azure Eyes quickly turned silver-black.

"The Eye of Calamity!"

Within Lumian's vision, a Mercury-Colored river composed of illusory water droplets appeared on Moran Avignon's body, each droplet forming a complex symbol connected end to end.

Taking advantage of Moran Avignon's brief speech announcing a series of cooperation agreements reached between the Republic of Intis and the Kingdom of Loen in the industrial field, Lumian carefully discerned the Past, present, and Future of this Minister of Ministry of Industry, and the Fragment of Destiny hidden in every drop of the River Water.

There's a lot of ambiguity here; the further Past, the harder it is to discern. Lumian focused on browsing the clips from the previous two weeks.

He saw Moran Avignon living in a government-provided Villa and that the Minister of Ministry of Industry would attend weekly gatherings at a regular Café to discuss various matters, "setting an example" of the Café politics trend in Trier.

Lumian also saw Moran Avignon attending salons, Ball, and dinners; Opera and concerts; watching plays and art exhibitions; playing polo and poker; Hunting in the suburbs; flirting with Courtesan; having extramarital affairs with several Women; and using his position to facilitate the Intis Industrial Credit Bank, thereby enabling one of his Lover ' husbands to become the deputy general manager of the bank's Southern Continent branch—a position many people dream of pursuing, Dignity, high-paying, and with considerable power. The only downside was that it required leaving Trier and staying in the Southern Continent for two or three years, initially without being able to bring his spouse and children.

This perfectly matches Lumian's stereotypes about the upper class in Trier.

During the quick review, Lumian skipped over the more obscure parts and noticed two noteworthy Fragment of Destiny:

One instance is when Moran Avignon was reading documents alone in his Study, he suddenly wrote a note, then reached his hand into the Mirror beside him. His hand seemed to pass completely through the glass, as if it had no substance, and placed the note inside.

Another is that Moran Avignon, while Hunting in the Xilongye Forest, seems to have had a brief encounter with a lost person. What attracts Lumian's attention is that this Fragment of Destiny is shrouded in a white, thin mist, making it appear indistinct.

This differs somewhat from the ambiguity of most other Fragment of Destiny.

The first Fragment of Destiny confirms Moran Avignon's identity as the "Person in the Mirror" from another perspective. It should be noted that among the twenty-two "Divine Pathway," the "Witch" who are most skilled in Mirror Magic cannot transmit information and items through Mirror before becoming Sequence 4 Half-God. And if Moran Avignon is Half-God- level "Witch," he cannot exist as Men.

In this situation, Lumian could only think of two possibilities:

First, the only one more skilled at using Mirror than the "Witch," and even more unique in the realm of Mirror Magic, is the "Person in the Mirror"!

Second, Moran Avignon was originally Half-God- level "Witch," but later consumed High-Sequence "Hunter" Potion, successfully transforming into Men. This means that the Minister of Ministry of Industry is at least Sequence 3 Saint, and possibly even Angel.

Based on the intelligence gathered by Franca and others, the information provided by "007," and the fact that Moran Avignon never exhibited any "Hunter"-related characteristics in the few relatively clear Fragment of Destiny, Lumian believed that the other party was indeed a "Person in the Mirror," and not one of those ordinary "Person in the Mirror without Extraordinary Ability.

The second Fragment of Destiny is worth Lumian's attention because it is relatively special and may contain some important information, but Lumian cannot decipher it yet.

He then turned his attention to the Future Destiny of Moran Avignon, that is, the many Fate Branch.

As expected, Lumian noticed one of the stripes was stained a light black.

This Fate Branch, with its underlying color of Mercury, like many of its kind, still clearly "previews" Moran Avignon's journey back to the Ministry of Industry building in his private carriage after the interview. The difference is that after entering the minister's office and sitting for a while, Moran Avignon deliberately walks into the Full-Length Mirror near the Coat Rack and disappears from sight.

Lumian could not see beyond the Future.

Based on what he has observed so far, he can only deduce that if Moran Avignon had entered the Mirror World before noon today, he would have encountered a life-threatening Calamity.

But the probability of Moran Avignon doing so is slim; out of so many Fate Branch, only this one represents such a possibility.

Of course, if Lumian weren't afraid of being exposed now, he could indeed mobilize nearly half of his spirituality and use the ability to "Push Destiny" to forcibly push Moran Avignon's Future into that Fate Branch, but that would be meaningless:

Moran Avignon's death in the Mirror World would only prevent them from accessing his Corpse and thus completing the Spiritism!

"The ' Black Witch ' should also be able to enter the Mirror World, but if she's the Spiritism, we won't be able to obtain the corresponding information. Even though Franca has completely gained her trust, there are some things that shouldn't be known, and we still won't be told until a certain Sequence is reached..." Seeing Moran Avignon gesturing to end the interview, and his bodyguards starting to push their way through the reporters, Lumian stopped using "Eye of Calamity" and, with great Acting, snapped a black and white photograph.

Then, he gradually withdrew from the group of reporters, went to the public Washroom, stuffed his camera into the "Traveler’s Bag," put on the "Lie" and transformed back into Charles Dubois. He then entered the annex Restaurant of the Champs Grand Hotel as a guest.

Franca was waiting for him here.

As Lumian followed the Waiter to their reserved table, he saw a man and a woman drinking coffee.

The Women had black hair and brown eyes, and a pretty face with a slightly flamboyant air, which could be seen from her clothing. That One Men, on the other hand, had an ordinary appearance and wore a double-breasted flannel coat, trousers with a chicken claw pattern, snap-button leather boots, and a soft-fuzzed top hat, which was the most popular outfit among Trier's Banker and financiers in recent years.

Lumian noticed the man and woman not because he was attracted by their wealth, but because he recognized That One beautiful Lady had some foreign features.

Of course, the other person didn't know him; he had only seen her picture in the magazine "Grimace."

She is Perle, Courtesan Stage Actor and Trier from Loen.

Divar, the inventor of Divar Soup and Boss of a famous Restaurant, spent a lot of money on her, and even attempted suicide because of her, but failed.

At this point, Perle and That One middle-aged man who appeared to be Banker had not yet started their meal; they were simply drinking coffee.

The middle-aged man took the empty coffee cup from Perle, pointed to the coffee grounds left behind, and seemed to be explaining something, while That One Courtesan listened intently.

Lumian, relying on his excellent senses, listened briefly as he passed by and quickly realized that the middle-aged man, who appeared to Banker, was playing Coffee-Ground Divination.

This is a more game-like method of Divination that is quite popular in high society.

"If the coffee grounds you leave behind are round, it means you're about to encounter signs of Love..."

Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, Lumian couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"Are you trying to say that I am the Love you are about to find...?"

Even if other Women knew what the man was really trying to say, they would still be secretly alarmed that their Divination results pointed to traces of Love, feeling that this might indeed be Guidance of Destiny —the various states that naturally form from leftover coffee grounds all have corresponding revelations of Destiny, and this is something that everyone agrees on, with no possibility of tampering with the narrative.

However, considering that Perle is a seasoned Courtesan and has a bold style, Lumian has reason to believe that she deliberately made the remaining coffee grounds round by some method of drinking coffee!

After walking a while longer, Lumian saw Franca.

This "Pleasure Witch" was dressed very elegantly today, perfectly suited to the occasion, so much so that Lumian almost didn't recognize her.

Of course, Franca still didn't wear a real Long Dress, but instead wore a culotte.

Looking at Franca, whose hair was no longer in a ponytail but elegantly styled in an updo, Lumian chuckled softly and said, "Jenna did your hair?"

"Yes!" Franca was not angry or embarrassed at all; on the contrary, she was smug.

Before the two could exchange their observations, a nearby Waiter approached and handed them two identical menus.

"The lunch set meal is 7 Felkine. If we order à la carte, plus a decent Red Wine, it'll cost at least 50 Felkine for the two of us," Franca said to Lumian in a Old Feysac in Old Fussac. "In the Market District, that's enough to feed your Godson."

She found the Restaurant at the Champs Grand Hotel too expensive, yet she was also very interested in trying it.

"Any recommendations?" Franca asked the Waiter in Intis language.

The Men Waiter, who had been glancing at Franca, eagerly replied upon hearing the question, "Would you like to try Fielt Fish?"

"In Trier, aside from certain private banquets, only here can you get Fielt Fish."

"Is there anything special about it?" Lumian asked with a hint of curiosity.

The Waiter looked at Franca and said, "The body of the Fielt Fish appears to be half-charred. It can only be found in a certain section of the Trier Underground River. It is said that a long time ago, it was normal. One day, it was caught by a man named Felt, who set up a pot of oil by the Underground River to fry it. Halfway through frying, the fish found an opportunity, jumped out of the oil pot, and jumped back into the river. It lived on and reproduced many times, and all of its offspring were half-charred."

"The skin of this fish has a charred and oily texture, while the flesh inside is very tender..."

Trier Underground River... half-burnt... alive... Lumian extracted the keywords and suddenly wondered if this was caused by the leakage of the "Hunter's " power from Fourth Epoch Trier.

He smiled and said to Franca, "Shall we each have one?"

"Okay." Franca had been wanting to give it a try anyway.