Chapter 707: Past Matters (Beginning of Month: Requesting Base Monthly Votes)

When the male waiter took the written menu away from their corner table, Lumian raised his red-white-blue liqueur, clinked it with Francia, and took a sip.

Then he glanced left and right, lowered his voice, and recounted in detail the fragments of Morane Avini's fate he had observed.

As Francia listened, her expression gradually changed.

She furrowed her elegant brows and said:

"The kind of white, thin mist you described reminds me of something."

"Didn't it also seem to be constantly shifting?"

Lumian thought carefully and replied:

"Yes."

Francia exhaled softly and said:

"Then it's confirmed. Didn't I tell you that when I and Jianna attended a mysticism gathering, we were followed by the client of the Deep Valley Monastery Gatekeeper's disappearance case, and a fight broke out?"

"When I touched his spirit to ask which organization he belonged to, his body and spirit suddenly exploded, my mirror shattered—and before it broke, it was filled with white, thin, constantly shifting mist."

Francia paused, then said:

"According to my information, '007' traced it to Deep Valley Town and also saw similar mist there, along with the name of Albert Gongguer, leader of the 'Charcoal Party.'"

"You know the 'Charcoal Party' played the role of inciting rebellion in the 'Inn Project'—the person in charge was their other leader, General Philip, now active under a new identity."

Lumian quickly understood what Francia meant:

"You think the 'Charcoal Party' is collaborating with multiple heretical cults, that the white, thin, constantly shifting mist belongs to one of those organizations, and that Morane Avini is somehow connected to it—that our encounter in the Silone Forest wasn't coincidence?"

"Yes." Francia took a sip of liqueur. "What exactly is the 'Mirror Person' trying to do? They surely aren't just aiming to replace the original."

Gardner Martin in the mirror hadn't succeeded yet—using the 'Inn Project' to target the real Gardner Martin was understandable. But Morane Avini, the 'Mirror Person,' had replaced his original for decades, even fathered an illegitimate daughter, and lived perfectly well—why collaborate with heretical cults now?

Lumian smiled and said:

"The collective and individual desires of the 'Mirror Person' must differ. The collective's exact goal remains to be investigated. During the Fourth Era in Trill, Gardner Martin in the mirror said they served and obeyed the one who held all answers—knowing who that is would reveal the 'Mirror Person's' ultimate purpose."

Francia hummed in agreement:

"We could investigate the strange mist. First, pursuing Morane Avini is already a way to gather more information on the 'Mirror Person'—this is a lead. Second, the chance to capture Morane Avini or touch his spirit might lie within it."

Here, Francia smiled:

"We'll have to trouble '007' again."

After discussing Morane Avini, Lumian picked up a crispy appetizer bread, chewed it, and casually mentioned the courtesan Perle and the coffee grounds divination he'd just witnessed.

"She's definitely not a 'Witch,'" Francia judged, sounding slightly disappointed.

From Lumian's description of Perle's appearance and his reaction, she could confirm the courtesan wasn't a 'Witch.'

—Unless deliberately disguising herself as ugly, a 'Witch's' allure could never be hidden; even men who preferred men couldn't help but glance again.

"Definitely not…" Lumian suddenly paused, as if recalling something.

He shifted to casual chatter:

"Does coffee grounds divination really hold mystic significance? Can it truly offer insight?"

Francia swallowed her appetizer bread, sipped the red-white-blue liqueur, and replied with a smile:

"Of course it holds mystic significance."

Seeing Lumian, who knew nothing of divination but only fate-reading, waiting for further explanation, Francia smiled with quiet pride:

"Actually, you shouldn't think of divination as too sacred or too difficult."

Every person's astral body constantly interacts with the Spirit World, receiving all kinds of information and subtle revelations, which manifest in reality in different forms.

This applies to both extraordinary and ordinary people—but those unskilled in divination cannot actively extract revelations or interpret them effectively.

For example, if you choke on a fishbone or are startled by fish flesh while eating—if this happens to an extraordinary person, they immediately recognize it as a spiritual warning carrying revelations that require interpretation. But if an ordinary person has the same experience, they merely think it's bad luck or carelessness, paying no serious attention and unable to interpret its meaning.

Of course, not every case of choking on a fishbone stems from a spiritual warning—most times it's simply carelessness. Skilled diviners can keenly distinguish which are revelations and which are not; unskilled ones easily mistake false signs for real ones, scare themselves unnecessarily, and miss the truly meaningful ones.

Francia used choking on fishbones and being startled by fish flesh as examples, since she planned to eat fish soon.

Lumian nodded slightly, gaining a deeper understanding of "divination."

He mused:

"If you don't deliberately control how you drink or the divination method, the shape of leftover coffee grounds might indeed reveal something—but the ordinary person's interpretation might be wrong?"

Exactly," Francia said enthusiastically. "In the most rational environment, coffee grounds divination—popular for over twenty years—can approach truth extremely closely, because each reading can refine the standard answers until every shape corresponds to a fixed revelation, allowing even ordinary people to interpret them with relative accuracy."

But sadly, reality isn't perfectly rational. Those who believe in coffee grounds divination, after receiving a wrong interpretation, subconsciously reinforce it, making it gradually become reality. Those who don't believe find the revelations always inaccurate. These conflicting contradictions prevent standard answers from being refined, leaving it ultimately as just a game.

As they chatted, the waiter followed protocol, bringing out different dishes and clearing the previous plates.

Pan-fried Filt fish, the main course, arrived later.

Lumian cut a piece, put it in his mouth, and found the flesh tender, the crust crispy and oily, the pepper and salt perfectly balanced.

"Delicious," Francia beside him exclaimed. "Not just tasty—it's warming me up."

Lumian also felt a warm flow rise within him after the Filt fish entered his stomach.

"This is indeed a special ingredient," he offered a fair assessment, then teased Francia: "Don't eat too fast—watch out for fishbones."

"These few bones think they can choke me?" Francia laughed.

She glanced left and right, saw the waiter had retreated as instructed, and asked curiously:

"I've thought and thought these past two days, but I still don't understand the difference between influencing a target's fate through ritual or curse versus directly pushing fate to change."

"I understand ritual—it uses the target's blood, direct relatives, specific objects, and mystic-compliant contact to alter their future fate—but isn't that just a curse?"

Lumian organized his thoughts:

"In the mystic knowledge of the 'Fate Hunter,' a curse is a fate-based curse. Compared to ritual, it's simpler and requires fewer conditions, but its effects are severely limited—it can't achieve anything too extravagant."

"Many Fate Blessing recipients call this 'Amplifying Fate.'"

"It can only target the fate branches within the next ten seconds of the target's life, and only if they align with the current environment and ongoing events—these are prerequisites, necessary conditions. The fate branch to be amplified must also have a certain, not too low, probability of becoming reality; otherwise, success rate plummets."

"In short: first, use or alter the environment to make something possible, then amplify that possibility—provided it's not an extremely unlikely one."

Here, Lumian looked at Francia, raised his right hand, gestured playfully, and gave an example:

"For instance, you're eating fish now—I can use a curse to amplify the chance you'll choke on a fishbone, but I can't amplify the chance your chair suddenly collapses and splinters pierce your body."

The moment he finished speaking, Francia froze.

She gasped twice; her throat visibly twitched.

Within seconds, she spat out a fishbone streaked with blood.

"You really did that?" Francia complained. "Good thing my current Sequence gives me strong throat control—I handled it myself. Uh…"

Francia suddenly fell silent, then after several seconds said:

"Otherwise I'd have to call a doctor—how embarrassing!"

Lumian laughed:

"I could've helped you extract it and amplified the fate branch where you successfully removed it."

Francia had no reply.

After eating another piece of Filt fish, she nodded gently:

"Now I understand the difference among the three."

"A curse—amplification—is used in combat, mainly to disrupt and influence enemies, incapable of achieving anything too extreme."

"Ritual is performed in advance; under the right conditions, it can greatly steer a target's fate toward what you desire."

"But that direction is vague—you can't specify it precisely," Lumian added. "For example, I can make someone cursed with bad luck, but I can't dictate exactly how they'll be unlucky."

Francia nodded:

"So pushing fate is a simplified, combat-ready version of ritual—with no loss in effect?"

"Even stronger, and more precise," Lumian thought. "Also, since many abilities changed during the fusion of 'Fate Hunter' and 'Harvester,' and some mystic knowledge emerged, I can't fully distinguish which were original and which are mine alone—but I'm certain 'Eye of Calamity' and 'Pushing Fate' are unique to the 'Harvester.'"

The rest of the meal passed pleasantly.

When finished, Lumian pointed to the half-finished Filt fish he'd deliberately left and told the waiter:

"Pack this for me."

The waiter didn't ask why, respectfully complied. Francia smiled and teased:

"You're so frugal."

Lumian chuckled softly:

"It's the Father's self-discipline."

"Besides, I want to know what's special about this fish."

ps: Beginning of the month—requesting base monthly votes~

(End of Chapter)