The Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll's Origins

After Xie Yu made his request to Fry, Magister Yize happened to appear as well.

[The frail sacred golden sun robe of destiny (Affection 20) was shocked by the breadth of knowledge in your answers and the precision of your exam-answering syntax after reading your test paper.]

He was still wearing the same golden-red robe as last night, making one wonder whether the minister had been awake all night.

Having heard Fry and Xie Yu's conversation, he seemed to recall something:

"I only just received word myself. The old gentleman passed away peacefully at his forest ranger post at the Forest Magic Academy at six yesterday evening. Fry, help me remember-didn't I attend Wig Brown's classes back then?"

Unlike Fry, who disliked Wig, and Kaiming, who was friendly toward him, Mr. Yize seemed to have forgotten Wig altogether.

Six yesterday evening was precisely when Xie Yu had fallen asleep.

Xie Yu absorbed the information. It seemed Wig Brown had thoroughly faked his own death.

The old man had arranged his own funeral and taken care of his own affairs after death. He really did have time on his hands.

"You did. Things like nurturing the mind and soul." Fry mentioned it in passing, then turned the subject to Yize himself:

"Lord Yize, you skipped class every day back then. You were nowhere to be seen at the academy, and you'd always show up out of nowhere when the courses ended and effortlessly take first place."

"Most of the elementary courses were very simple," Yize said.

"You always made quite an impression." Fry smiled helplessly.

The conversation had somehow veered away from Wig Brown again, quietly moving away from Sealed Artifact 3-0771.

Xie Yu looked toward the cold little object in his pocket, glancing in its direction to observe the thing's reaction.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Affection 45) said fearfully:]

[You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me... Don't talk about me.]

But this time, its efforts weren't entirely effective.

When Yize turned his gaze to Xie Yu, he cautioned him:

"In principle, we won't interfere with your freedom to go out. However, this funeral may not be a warm and solemn affair. The old gentleman wasn't as kind to others as you imagine. Kaiming volunteered to take charge of the funeral, and if you ask me, that was a bad idea too. I have a premonition..."

As he spoke, golden light seemed to flow through his eyes, and he raised his head slightly to look at the sky outside the corridor window.

It would probably be rude to interrupt a diviner in the middle of a divination. Xie Yu resisted the urge to press him for answers and waited in silence with Fry.

This time, Yize's divination was frighteningly precise, nothing like the riddles he had given last night:

"In Black Pine City, Wig Brown's evil deeds in life will bring retribution. Roman Brown, the young man coming to attend the funeral as the family's representative, will clash fiercely over the old man's estate with the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce, which is aligned with the local deputy mayor."

Beside him, Fry was taken aback.

"There's something like that going on?"

He had worked for years in Mirror Lake City, the capital of North Plains Province. Though he knew something about his hometown of Black Pine City, he wasn't familiar with the details.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Affection 45) felt that everything was about to go wrong:]

[It's over, they're going to talk about me after all! Sure enough, I still can't do it. Hiding from a Magister is just too hard... Sigh.]

The old man's estate? Xie Yu was startled.

Sealed Artifact 3-0771 should have been part of the old man's estate.

When he had previously heard that the old man had no descendants and was all alone, he had somewhat overlooked that issue. Now that he thought about it, since the old man still had a family behind him, it was only natural that someone would come to "collect his body." It made sense for someone from the Brown Family to come.

But what did the local Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce have to do with it? Did the old man have an illegitimate child coming to fight for his inheritance?

Come to think of it, he still hadn't asked where 3-0771 had come from... If Wig Brown had obtained it from within the Brown Family and it was supposedly family property, that might mean additional trouble... Xie Yu thought.

He casually adjusted his lapels and shook out his coat, prompting the sealed artifact to explain itself.

[You have to help me, Mr. Xie Yu!]

[Wig snatched me from the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce's heir. When that child was studying at Black Pine City Forest Magic Academy, he secretly stole a valuable offering from home-that's me-and brought me to school to show off. Of course I was delighted. After lying in a quiet room for so long, I couldn't contain myself at the thought of young students...]

[Then I quietly ate a little, really not much. But that old thing found out. He was insatiably greedy too and wanted to get his hands on me.]

[Later, I struggled, and he got ruthless... You know how it is. Clashes in the realm of souls are far too deadly for ordinary people.]

[Eleven children died in that class.]

[It's all my fault. I'm too alluring. My appearance always stirs the desires in people's hearts.]

[Now you understand, right? You absolutely can't let this Magister-level diviner find me.]

So that was how Wig had obtained the sealed artifact.

But 3-0771 had clearly embellished and glossed over a great deal... The basic facts were probably correct, but the subjective parts were likely nothing like that.

The old man had called it "Lord Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll." It was nothing like the innocent, helpless creature it claimed to be.

Had it accidentally exposed itself?

Had it been forced to fall under the old man's control?

Perhaps it had taken a fancy to the old man's Brown surname, been eager to leave the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce, and wanted to enter the so-called nobility through him.

This thing had changed hands several times. It probably wasn't simply a matter of fate, but had a lot to do with its personality.

If he had to describe it in human terms, he could probably sum it up as admiring strength, greedy, and narcissistic.

Having learned about its past, Xie Yu felt he had more or less figured the sealed artifact out.

The central object of the "inheritance dispute" Mr. Yize had spoken of was actually lying in his own pocket.

Then what were the young man from the Brown Family and the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce still fighting over?

Drawing on his own knowledge of Black Pine City, Fry reminded Yize:

"Lord Yize, you may not have heard, but that old thing Wig caused a major classroom incident once. Afterward, a Magister from the Brown Family stepped in to suppress it. Among those who died was the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce president's only son. Afterward, Black Pine City Hall kept suppressing the chamber's actions. City Hall didn't want things to blow up. I never expected that old thing Wig could secure so much support when he'd clearly been sidelined by his family. I don't know whether it was the value of a noble family's reputation or some additional value the old thing had..."

Seeing that they were about to get to the bottom of it, 3-0771 panicked.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Affection 45) whimpered:]

[Please, help me. I'll do anything! Don't let him remember me.]

As a bystander, Xie Yu had been listening attentively. Curious, he asked:

"From the sound of it, could the old man have been assassinated by someone from the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce?"

"It's possible," Fry said, raising an eyebrow as he considered it.

"He should have died a natural death. However, there are ambiguities in the divination's results, so your guess isn't unreasonable," Yize said.

"Is there any way to make someone think they died a natural death?" Fry's thoughts shifted direction, and he looked at Yize as he asked.

"There are ways in the domain of fate, but the cost of any method that could fool me would be quite high..." Yize fell into thought.

They briefly forgot the question of what the inheritance actually was and began a new analysis based on the conflict between the noble and local factions.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Affection surged to 70) let out a long sigh of relief:]

[Genius, you're a genius!]

[You saved me! Fate has taken an epic turn. I can influence them again now.]

[You really are pretty impressive! I mean it, I'm not just being polite. (Affection increased to 75)]

Xie Yu, who was standing nearby, kept his expression in check. Knowing the whole truth at the heart of the matter, he found it rather interesting to listen to Fry and Yize discuss the incident from different perspectives.

As for the possibility of Sealed Artifact 3-0771 being discovered in his possession and seized by the Magister, Xie Yu wasn't worried. If it really came to that, he certainly couldn't win against Magister Yize, and Yize certainly wouldn't take his life. At worst, he could abandon this nasty-tempered thing and find another way to kill Wig.

He wasn't obsessed with keeping 3-0771 in his hands. He believed a broader future lay ahead of him.

And as he came to understand the sealed artifact better, although its Affection for him was rising, his Affection for it was falling instead.