The Invincible Rich Man (Gerald Crawford)

Chapter 1120-1126

Chapter 1120
As the copper coins in the nine dragons’ mouths dropped to the floor, they seemed to form a particular shape. Once all of them had fallen, Master Ghost walked over to have a look.
                           
After studying their formation for quite a while, he nodded slightly to himself.
 
Seeing that, Gerald then asked, “How is it?”
 
If he was going to be entirely honest, Gerald still couldn’t bring himself to fully believe in the old man’s capabilities. However, if Master Ghost truly was able to locate both Mila and his uncle, then, and only then, would all his doubts would be cleared.
 
“…Well, the reading shows that you have a predestined relationship… As long as you’re able to find this relationship, then you’ll definitely be able to finally locate the people you’ve been looking for! With that in mind, that means that the people you’re hoping to find are still alive!” replied the old man with a smile.
 
Frowning slightly, Gerald then asked, “Then do you know where they currently are?”
 
Shaking his head, Master Ghost simply replied, “Their location is… blurry, to say the least. Be it near, far, east, or west, I truly am unable to locate them! However, I have a feeling that this is only the case since you still have a predestined relationship that has yet to end. In a way, it could be said that you’re being ‘insincere’, and due to that, you aren’t allowed to get any more information than you need yet.”
 
‘A predestined relationship…?’ Gerald thought to himself, finding the statement to be extremely odd.
 
Gerald knew for a fact that he hadn’t had feelings for other women from the moment he had fallen for Mila during his university days.
 
What on earth did the predestined relationship come from?
 
While he did feel guilty toward Giya and he admitted that the feelings he felt for her were complicated, he was undoubtedly sure that he didn’t love her romantically. Though he would still take the initiative to care for her, he had also decided to explain everything to her once he could.
 
As for Lyra, he simply treated her like his sister. While she was technically his fiancée, would that actually make it a predestined relationship? Gerald certainly didn’t think so.
 
As for Alice… Well, he didn’t even need to consider her at all.
 
“I don’t really have a predestined relationship… I’ll say it right now that I’m only in love with Mila, the woman I’m currently looking for,” said Gerald.
 
“Haha! Apologies, perhaps I worded it wrongly… The predestined relationship I was talking about relates to your fate and destiny! While you don’t have love in your reading now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t have it in the future. After all, your love is simply going according to the natural law… You’ll only get it after cultivating it for a few generations!” replied Master Ghost with a smile.
 
“I refuse to believe that. I’m the one who has the final say whether I love someone or not! What natural law? You know, I’ll be frank and say I hate people like you the most! People who keep on talking about the natural law… Everyone’s fates are in their own hands!” declared Gerald, a hint of anger in his voice.
 
He truly hated the feeling of being controlled by others.
 
“I’m afraid that you’ll have to believe in it even if you don’t like the idea! After all, the reading stated that you still have a predestined relationship that you’ve yet to encounter. Should you fail to meet with the relationship, then I’m sorry to say that you’ll never be able to find the woman you love no matter how far and wide you seek out for her,” replied Master Ghost while shaking his head.
 
Hearing that, Gerald then took in a deep breath before asking, “…Then tell me what I should do to encounter the predestined relationship…”
 
“Your heart already knows, Mr. Crawford. To be more precise, you should ask yourself why you came to Halimark City in the first place.”
 
‘…It’s because I needed to head to the king of the ocean’s palace to look for the woman in white’s corpse… She was in love with the deity who looked identical to me… Yet in the end, they were placed so far apart from each other…’ Gerald thought to himself.
 
There were a lot of clues, and all of them seemed to lead to the woman in white.
 
From what Gerald could tell, he needed to help the deity look for the woman and return her to his side to be buried together with him. By doing so, Gerald also hoped to reveal the secrets of his identity and background.
 
Regardless, did Master Ghost’s reading mean that Gerald had a predestined relationship with the woman in white? How was that even possible?
 
As Gerald smiled bitterly, he heard Master Ghost mutter, “…Still, how absolutely queer… After studying the reading a bit more closely, it’s clearly stated here that the predestined relationship is definitely yours… But at the same time, it isn’t! From what I’m able to tell, she has a direct relationship with you, yet you don’t seem to have a relationship with her! How baffling!”

After thinking about it for quite a bit—with a frown on his face the entire time—Master Ghost then added, “…Whatever the case is, you still have to find this woman before you’re able to locate your lover, Mr. Crawford. I have to say, however, that your reading truly is chaotic! Haha! I’m only able to read so much!”

Watching as Master Ghost shook his head while looking slightly ashamed, Gerald thought to himself, ‘…I guess I’ll go look for the woman in white’s tomb first then!’
 
Gerald chose not to reveal to Master Ghost that he had seen another person that looked exactly like him in the ancient tomb. It seemed that the predestined relationship the woman in white had was actually with the other person. In any case, Gerald knew he had to find her.
 
Regardless, he was grateful to be able to confirm that Mila was still alive.
 
“…Speaking of which, what do you know about the Sun League?” asked Gerald out of the blue.
 
“The Sun League? I’ve only heard legends about them from my master. Their organization originated from an ancient era, you know? The league is extremely mysterious and nobody has truly been able to pry into their secrets. However, they seem to have left some traces here in Halimark City!”
 
Following that, Master Ghost lowered his voice before adding, “From what I’ve read, I can tell that you’re quite an extraordinary person, Mr. Crawford. I can assure you that you’ll naturally do even more extraordinary things in the future. Regardless, till this very day, I’m still unable to fully grasp the meaning of those traces the Sun League left behind… Perhaps you’ll be able to crack the code.”
 
“Traces you say?”
 
“Indeed! About fifty years ago, a stone tablet was excavated… Following that discovery, my master was told by someone to study it carefully, you see….”
Chapter 1121
“A stone tablet?” 
 
“Indeed. An ancient event of some sort had been painted onto it. Even after studying the stone tablet for quite some time, however, Xyion was only able to tell that it had something to do with a burial scene. He wasn’t able to understand the wording on the table at all, and after many years passed, he eventually lost interest in it. As a result, the tablet is now kept as an ancient art piece within my private room!” explained Master Ghost.
 
Another mural…?
 
Whenever Gerald heard about murals now, it always prompted his mind to recall what he had seen inside the ancient tomb.
 
As one would expect, ancient murals were usually filled with historic tales that reflected the people of the time’s social, political, economic, literary, artistic, and technological capabilities. Such murals could end up being vastly different according to the artists’ beliefs, customs, and also their aesthetic concepts.
 
These murals—that were usually drawn as long as rivers—were viewed extremely highly due to all the vivid and informative ancient scenes that the people of old drew with their descendants in mind. The fact that their heartfelt stories were told in such a different way only served to make the murals even more valuable.
 
Gerald had already seen how detailed these murals could get back when he was in the ancient tomb of the general god. He could still clearly remember all the drawings on the tomb that described things from the day the people had found the general god up till the day he was buried.
 
“Speaking of which, I later asked one of my old friends to come over and have a look at the tablet. From what he could tell, the burial method depicted on it was some sort of ocean burial!” added Ghost.
 
“Ocean burial?”
 
Upon hearing that, Gerald had a feeling that it could be related to the king of the ocean’s tomb. Due to that, he added, “Could I have a look at it?”
 
“If it’s piqued your interest, then by all means!” replied Master Ghost as he gestured for Gerald to follow him.
 
Following that, Master Ghost led Gerald to a small hill that was located behind the church’s backyard. On it, lay what seemed to be a private room where Master Ghost usually meditated in.
 
The private room itself was about five meters tall and three meters wide. Its walls were made of marble and the room was mostly dark and empty save for a table in the middle with a dimly-lit oil lamp on it, the sole source of light within the private room.
 
However, upon closer inspection, six mossy and ancient-looking stone tablets could be seen arranged neatly within the room as well. Those were definitely the murals Master Ghost had been talking about.
 
Lifting the lamp—that the master had offered to him—once Gerald stood right before the murals, he instantly began investigating them.
 
It wasn’t long before he noticed that the wording used on these tablets were similar to the ones he had seen back in the ancient tomb. Putting two and two together, he deduced that these murals were as old as the tomb itself.
 
After looking at the first mural for a while, Gerald suddenly froze. Shockingly, one of the scenes on the tablet seemed to detail what seemed to be the lady in white’s burial!
 
Not wanting to miss out on any key details, Gerald kept his eyes peeled as he continued trying to decipher the tablet.
 
From what he could understand, the story—that the mural was trying to tell—began by showing that Halimark City used to only be a tiny fishing village that was inhabited by rather isolated fishermen.
 
Reading on, it was shown that a group of people—led by an old man dressed in long robes—one day appeared at the village while carrying a huge coffin.
 
Gerald was all too familiar now with the robed old man. That old man was undoubtedly the same old beggar he had first seen on the ancient tomb’s murals!
 
To think that Gerald would see him even here!
 
Shaking the thought off, Gerald then continued reading on. Based on what he could see, Gerald guessed that the old beggar had carried the lady in white’s coffin all the way here after letting her and the general god bid each other farewell.
 
By this point, Gerald was completely certain that the one in the coffin was the lady in white. So his hunch was correct. She truly had been brought here…
 
Returning to the story of the fishermen, when they came back after fishing on that day, they were surprised to see the old man and his men carrying a coffin.
 
When the village’s patriarch stepped forward to ask who was in the coffin, the old beggar had apparently told them that it contained the body of a goddess who had fallen from the sky!
 
Hearing that, the villagers immediately bowed to the coffin. Following that, the patriarch seemed to ask why she had been moved here. 
 
Seeing the beggar hand the patriarch quite a bit of gold, Gerald felt that it was safe to assume that the beggar simply replied that she was to be buried here. The next image suggested that the patriarch was also told to get his men to build an underwater tomb in the nearby ocean.
 
Due to the fact that the coffin contained a goddess and they were given a lot of gold, the patriarch simply obeyed. Everyone in the village was involved in the construction of the tomb, and all of them seemed to be equally determined to get the job done.
 
Within a short amount of time, the patriarch managed to gather around eight thousand people—both young and old—to sail out to sea and begin building a tomb for the goddess.
 
Surprisingly, the structure wasn’t called the king of the ocean’s palace. Rather, it was named the palace of the goddess.
 
Under the old beggar’s command, the palace was completed within half a year. On the mural, everyone involved appeared to be impressed by their grand underwater project. Soon enough, the lady in white’s burial would take place.
Chapter1122
Turning to look at the second mural, Gerald saw that it was about the lady in white’s burial. On the day of her burial itself, a thunderstorm seemed to be present.
 
Inclusive of the old man, Gerald counted—relatively easily—thirty-seven people in the next image, with nine people standing in each of the four rows that were drawn. With the thunderstorm still raging on, the people in this team seemed to be the only ones who had been chosen to set off to the palace of the goddess.
 
Halfway through their journey there, they appeared to halt at an island to take a short rest.
 
However, something happened soon after as was seen on the third mural. The ones on the island were greeted by the sight of a giant ship!
This wasn’t the first time Gerald had seen this ship either. It was exactly similar to the one he had seen in the tomb before this.
 
Seeing the oddly-shaped massive ship hovering atop the island, the thirty-six people the beggar had brought along immediately fell to their knees in terror and began worshiping it. From what Gerald could assume, they were all under the impression that some god was descending.
 
Following that, Gerald’s eyes widened as he saw a man dressed in a black robe—who was also wearing an odd mask—descend the giant ship before pointing at the goddess’s coffin.
 
The sight of the man alone was enough to make Gerald feel extremely anxious. After all, he was dressed exactly like the men Lyra had seen in the picture of the sun!
 
Was this hinting that he would be killed by those from the Sun League in the near future…? Frowning to himself, Gerald then continued reading.
 
Now nearing the end of the third mural, Gerald saw the old beggar jumping into the giant ship before walking into it. As for the others, they appeared to be trying to carry the coffin away…
 
Moving on to the fourth mural, it began by showing the old beggar continuing his journey with his group of men. Apparently, what happened in the giant ship was completely skipped.
 
Odder still was the fact that instead of thirty-six people like there were before, only twenty-seven remained… Where had the nine people disappeared to?
 
However, Gerald didn’t have the time to dwell on that due to how unreal the next set of images was.
 
Once they got close enough to the palace of the goddess, all of them were immediately greeted to the sight of an injured dragon that was flailing around in the ocean! That itself wouldn’t have been a problem if the dragon wasn’t doing so on top of the structure!
 
The next image displayed the old man relieving the dragon of its agony by crushing its skull, thus ending its life. However, the moment he did so, it seemed that the thunderstorm only worsened.
 
As a result, the boat seemed ready to capsize and Gerald could see all the remaining men falling to their knees in terror. 
 
In the fifth mural, the goddess’s coffin could be seen being sent down together with the now dead dragon’s body. Both of them were then buried together.
 
From the insane amount of detail put into drawing the submerged structure, Gerald felt that it truly looked like an undersea palace fit for dragons.
 
Regardless, all of them were apparently able to remain submerged for so long due to something the old beggar handed to them before they went under the waves. The old beggar’s knowledge truly played a huge role in all this…
 
Finally moving on to the sixth mural, Gerald found himself raising an eyebrow. The very first image showed the people returning to the deck of the ship. However, they had brought up another coffin that was completely made out of glass!
 
Since the coffin wasn’t that big, Gerald simply assumed that the person inside was a child.
 
Regardless, while everyone seemed to be particularly careful as they carried the coffin, one of the men apparently ended up slipping…
 
…Huh?
 
The last image simply showed the coffin being overturned… However, that was it. The final mural ended there.
 
Guessing that the murals were drawn by one of the thirty-six people who had been chosen to board the boat, Gerald couldn’t help but feel slightly upset and irked by the fact that he wasn’t able to finish reading the entire story…
Where did the small glass coffin end up…?
Chapter1123
Now that he was done reading the murals, he explained everything that he had just learned to Master Ghost.
 
“…I see. I do wonder, Mr. Crawford, if you find the supernatural giant ship in the murals to be suspicious as well… After all, scientifically speaking, there was no way such a massive, floating vehicle like that could exist back then. Even my master said that the ship was something out of this world back when he first saw it forty years ago,” said Master Ghost.
 
“I do. While this isn’t my first time seeing it, back when I first did, I had been extremely skeptical the moment I saw it. Now, however, I have reason to believe that the murals could actually be evidence that our planet had—at one point—been dominated by some advanced civilization alongside that dragon that had been heavily injured under the sea!” replied Gerald.
 
“It appears that you believe in these murals, Mr. Crawford. You know, both my master and I had been confused by the dragon and the giant descending ship from the sky for the longest time. After all, it’s simply impossible for them to exist! While both of us had simply summed it up as the imagination of the ancients, Xyion, on the other hand, truly believed that the events that had been drawn on the tablets had really taken place!” said Master Ghost as he turned to look at the murals.
 
Pointing at the mural where the old beggar had given something to his men before they descended into the water, Master Ghost then added, “After all, if you look here, the old man is clearly handing his men water repellent stones before they submerge below the waves! Since there’s a logical explanation to how they remained underwater for so long, I refuse to believe that the other incidents can’t be explained with logic as well!”
 
“Water repellent stones?” asked Gerald.
 
“Indeed. From what my master had told me, water repellent stones are celestial in nature and they’ve been around for thousands of years. As their name suggests, they repel water and once a person puts one into their mouth, they’ll be able to withstand the ocean’s immense pressure! Mind you, being that deep in the ocean is not something ordinary people can do!” explained Master Ghost.
 
Hearing that, Gerald thought about it for a moment.
 
After studying the map that he had previously obtained from the Minshall family, he realized how truly deep underwater the king of the ocean’s palace was.
 
While he was sure that his body was now solid enough to be able to withstand the ocean’s pressure without getting hurt or having his agility affected, the same couldn’t be said about regular people.
 
Since the king of the ocean’s palace was massive, he knew that it would be impossible for him to act alone.
 
Due to that, he had told his family to send a few men over after they prepared special equipment for them that would help repel the immense undersea pressure. Once they had geared up, they would definitely be able to assist him during his investigation. It was also due to the time needed to prepare said equipment that the men weren’t here yet.
 
However, now that he had learned about the existence of water repellent stones, there was no reason for him not to use them instead! They did, after all, sound far more superior than any diving gear he could think of.
 
“Master Ghost, would you happen to know where I could get my hands on water repellent stones?” asked Gerald.
 
“Well, it’s celestial in nature so it may be hard to come by… However, you could try asking the Minshalls for more information about it. After all, their family’s ancestors had once used those stones to steal underwater treasures! If anyone knows where to find them, it should be them!”
 
Since Gerald now owned their entire family, that wouldn’t be a problem for him at all.
 
“I see… Thank you, master. I’ll visit you again once I’ve completed what I need to do at the king of the ocean’s palace!” replied Gerald as he bowed toward Master Ghost before leaving.
 
Watching as Gerald’s figure walked off, Master Ghost couldn’t help but feel slightly moved.
“You left that legacy forty years ago, master… Despite me continuing to conduct research in the forty years to come, I still haven’t been able to get anything out of it… Does that mean what you said will eventually come true, master…? That in the near future, big changes will happen and disaster will befall all of mankind…? However, I also remember you saying that a young man would show himself and try his very best to prevent said calamities from happening... I guess the one we’ve been waiting for all this time truly is Mr. Crawford!” muttered Master Ghost to himself, mixed feelings brewing within him.
 
Sometime later, Gerald grabbed onto the Minshall family’s old master’s neck in the Minshall family mansion. Though the Minshalls were sly, once the old man’s feet were lifted off the ground, he soon gave in and told Gerald the truth that he knew where a single water repellent stone was.
 
It could apparently be found within the Minshall family’s ancestral mine. In truth, it was even more precious compared to the map that led to the king of the ocean’s palace.
Chapter1124
Even if that was the case, however, everything they owned still belonged to Gerald now.
 
“You’d better sign the contract once I’ve retrieved the stone, you got that?” said Gerald as he tossed Zelda to the ground before all the other Minshalls.
 
Upon leaving, the old master immediately burst into tears as he shouted, “That… That b*stard…! How dare he take everything away from us…!”
 
He truly didn’t know how he was still alive after yesterday’s events. To think that they used to have such a happy and wonderful life… Now, however, it was all gone, and Gerald’s constant mockery only made it worse.
 
If only his naïve granddaughter hadn’t provoked that man, then everything would’ve been fine. Who would’ve thought that this man would be so unreasonable? He was a much bigger thief than all the Minshalls combined! He simply stole everything that he saw!
 
For many years now, the Minshalls had been a well-known and almost noble-like family within Halimark City. Never had they felt this lowly before throughout their time here!
 
“The water repellent stone is our family’s last treasure, grandpa! Even our ancestors have said though we can live without money and power, we’ll definitely crumble for good once we lose the stone!”
 
“Indeed! All will be lost if he gets his hands on the stone!”
 
All the younger generations of the Minshall family were currently shouting their thoughts as they gathered around Zelda.
 
Of course, what they had all said was undoubtedly true. As long as they still had the water repellent stone, then their family would definitely still have a chance of prospering again, even if Gerald had taken away everything else. Zelda probably wouldn’t have to die so soon either if that were the case. However, once again, Gerald was changing their fortune.
 
Thinking about it, Zelda’s expression suddenly turned fierce as he smiled before saying, “…What are all of you even worried about? Do you even think it’ll be that easy for him to obtain the water repellent stone? Quite honestly, I’d be overjoyed if he actually made it into the ancestral mines! Now that would truly be a blessing from our ancestors!”
 
“…What? Why would you say that, grandpa?” asked Zoey.
 
“You’ve been the smartest all this while, Zoey! How could you be such an idiot now? Have you already forgotten that we still have a trump card in our hands?”
 
“A trump card?” asked the other Minshalls as their faces lit up.
 
“I’m talking about the thousand years of poison, of course!” replied Zelda while gnashing his teeth fiercely.
 
Upon hearing that, all the Minshalls immediately began exchanging glances in their surprise.
 
The thousand years of poison was one of the Minshall family’s most ancient treasures. While many of the family’s grandchildren only thought that it was a myth, hearing that their grandfather mention it made them realize that the poison was real.
If the rumors were true, it was said that even a single sniff of the poison was enough to cause the person’s internal organs to fester, regardless of how strong the person was.
 
“While it’s true that none of us here are even close to being worthy opponents to him, I’d like to see how well he’ll be able to fare against the thousand years of poison! Hahaha!” declared Zelda in a ferocious manner.
 
Standing up, he then shouted, “Issac! Zoey!”
 
“Present!” shouted both of them simultaneously.
 
“Remember what Master Ghost had advised us back then? He had told us that a family with no morality such as ours would always end up badly. He had also told us back then that we’d face a massive problem this year that would cost us our entire family! Now that all of this has happened, I want both of you to head over to him and ask him to read our family’s fortune again! More specifically, ask Master Ghost whether our family will be able to successfully get over this problem, and if we will, ask when we’ll be able to regain our glory as well!” ordered Zelda.
 
Following that, the old master got all the other Minshall family leaders to gather in the meeting room that was located in their backyard. They were going to have an urgent meeting…
Chapter 1125
As all this was happening, Master Ghost himself was staring at the six stone tablets, continuing to ponder on Gerald’s interpretation of the murals.
 
Something just didn’t feel right…
 
Seconds later, a student of his came running in before saying, “M-master! There’s a girl outside who’s been trying to break into the church! She keeps saying that she wants you to give her a reading on her life! Though many of us tried to stop her, she simply keeps fighting her way in! We… We don’t stand a chance against her! Even worse is the fact that she said she would burn the building down if you still refuse to see her!”
 
Frowning, Master Ghost then waved a hand before replying, “I’ll deal with this. Tell her to wait for me in the front room!”
 
Watching his student run off, Ghost then shook his head before—rather unwillingly—heading over to the girl.
 
“M-master told you to wait here for him! He’ll be here in a moment!” wailed the voice of his earlier student as Master Ghost stepped into the front room.
 
Upon entering, he was immediately greeted to the sight of an extraordinarily beautiful girl stepping on his student—who was now lying on the floor, severely bruised—with a single foot.
 
“Release him this instant, young lady!” ordered Ghost instantly.
 
“Heh! So you’ve finally decided to show yourself, old master!” sneered the girl.
 
“There’s no need to harm my students, young lady! We can just talk things out!” replied Ghost as he shook his head in resignation.
 
“Quit your nonsense! I… I came here to… I… I need your help…!” shouted the girl as she covered her stomach with an arm, seemingly in immense pain.
 
“Please have a seat before you continue talking! You’re obviously hurt!” replied Master Ghost as he supported the charming yet impulsive girl.
 
“Master! She’s beaten up a few of the pilgrims outside as well!” shouted another student of his as he ran into the room.
 
Sighing, Ghost then replied in a frustrated tone, “Help them up and bring them to the hospital!”
 
Looking at the girl next, he then added, “As for you, young lady, why did you have to attack the pilgrims as well? You just came here for me, no?”
“It’s their fault for looking at places they weren’t supposed to! I haven’t even gouged their eyes out yet!” sneered the girl in response.
 
Since the pilgrims—she had attacked—had kept staring at and even harassing her on her way up, she felt that it was only right for her to teach them a lesson! They were lucky that she had only castrated them instead of taking their lives!
 
Sighing, Ghost then said, “…Then, what exactly do you wish to ask…?”
 
“I’m looking for a person… A dead person, to be exact! I need you to check whether I’ll be able to successfully find that person!”
 
Not wanting to deal with her any more than he needed to, Ghost simply nodded before starting the reading process.
 
“…Anyway, may I know what your name is?”
 
“It’s Yume Gunter!” replied the girl.
 
“Very well, Miss Gunter… Please place your hands on any two of the nine dragon heads!” ordered Master Ghost as the copper instrument with nine dragon heads rose from the floor.
 
Doing as she was told, the heads soon began spitting out coins.
 
As Ghost took his time carefully reading her prediction, Yume herself walked around the front hall.
 
All of a sudden, a unique-looking, crystal-clear stone that glowed a fluorescent green caught Yume’s attention.
Chapter 1126
The stone itself stood at about half a meter high, and Yume couldn’t help but feel that the stone was rather extraordinary. It simply gave off an aura of intimacy when one looked at it.
 
Unable to help herself, Yume found herself gently and carefully caressing the stone. However, not long after she touched it, the stone suddenly lit up, enveloping Yume in a bright light that shone in all the colors of the rainbow!
 
Taking a few steps back, Yume immediately shielded her eyes with a hand as the bright light momentarily blinded her.
 
A little while later, the colorful lights finally began dimming down again, and eventually, the stone returned to its initial faint glow. However, a few complicated-looking lines seemed to have formed on the stone as well.
 
“Are you alright, Miss Gunter?” asked Master Ghost as he walked over with a wry smile on his face, his divination reading complete.
 
“…I-I’m fine… Speaking of which, what kind of broken stone even is this…? Why would it suddenly light up on its own?” asked Yume as she blushed, feeling that she had just embarrassed herself earlier.
 
“Hahaha! That, Miss Gunter, is a marriage stone! It’s used to determine a person’s fate when it comes to marriage! You touching it earlier activated it! The lines on the stone represent your marriage, you know?” explained Ghost.
 
“M-marriage?!” replied Yume as her face turned as red as a tomato.
 
A girl with Yume’s personality and character was naturally repulsed with the idea of love and romance. In fact, she had been disgusted with the idea of affection between men and women ever since she was a child.
 
It was the reason why she had been so irritated and annoyed when Gerald had touched her skin back then, even though it was to heal her injuries. She simply hated the idea of skin contact between opposite genders and would very much prefer to avoid it as much as she could.
“You know, why don’t I tell you the fate of our marriage first? Based on what the marriage stone is saying, it appears that your heart will belong to someone in the future!” said Ghost.
 
“…W-who would even want a reading on such a ridiculous thing… Though… can you truly see my fate?” asked Yume as she felt her heart beating frantically.
 
Even if Yume was a woman with a fiery temper, she was still a woman at heart, and any woman would grow shy once they heard things regarding the fate of their marriage.
 
“I can, and I already have. From what I was able to gather, you’ll be able to find what you want on your trip. The eight diagrams also imply that you’ll not only be able to locate the person you’re looking for, but you’ll also obtain something you weren’t quite expecting! I’ve foreseen that you’ll be able to find the person who’s been hidden deep down in your heart!” replied Ghost.
 
Upon hearing that, Yume’s beautiful face somehow managed to turn even redder than before!
 
When they saw this, many of the apprentices—who had remained in the room—found themselves unable to stop themselves from gulping and staring wide-eyed at her. Despite her temper, the woman really was astoundingly beautiful.
 
“Now then, if you wish to obtain an even greater understanding, I can help further analyze the clues displayed on the marriage stone for you!”
 
“…L-look, the only reason I came here was to ask you if I would be able to achieve my goal during this trip! I don’t need to find out about anything else!” replied Yume as she stole a glance at the marriage stone before turning around to leave.
 
However, the moment she got to the door, she found herself stopping dead in her tracks.
 
…In truth, she was extremely tempted to find out as well!
 
Even though she had constantly been trying to escape such feelings for so many years, the emotions that she had within her kept budding, growing stronger by the year. It felt as though there were simply some things that she could no longer avoid no matter how much she tried to escape from them!
 
After struggling with herself for some time, Yume finally walked back before saying, “…Fine! I’ll listen to what you have to say and see whether what you predicted turns out to be accurate or not…!”
 
Meanwhile, Gerald had just arrived at the ancestral mine of the Minshall family. He was here since he had been told that the water repellent stone could be found here.  
 
Though the location looked exactly like a mine on the surface, the Minshalls had carefully hidden the stone in the deepest part of the mine so that no random person would ever find it.
 
Upon walking inside, Gerald came across countless spider webs and the occasional discarded mining tool as he made his way deeper into the mine. 
 
After passing through a few tunnels and uncovering quite a number of hidden paths, Gerald finally caught sight of the white, palm-sized water repellent stone lying motionless on a tray…
—— To be Continued... ——