Chapter 686: 114. Purpose and Sudden Incident (Two in One)
Chapter 686: 114. Purpose and Sudden Incident (Two in One)
Fisher, along with Emhardt on his shoulder, descended the stairs and saw Philis, a Lion-man, yawning and folded in her arms at the bottom. The mechanic Celti generally avoided the public eye, staying in her room to work on her mechanical creations; the only one who could maintain such a work state was the scholar from Schwali, Mr. Balzac.
“Good morning, awoo,”
Philis yawned and greeted Fisher, who responded with a “Good morning.” He then turned his attention to the bustling lobby, spotting a group of demi-humans with fox-like heads following Valentina and Heidlin into the hotel, not far from the many members of the Turand Family staff who surrounded the area.
Members of the Snow Fox Species had very few Human characteristics; their bodies were entirely furry, yet they lacked the soft touch of the Cloud Cat Species or Sheep-man. They very much resembled standing foxes, capturing people’s attention. Fisher had just glanced over when a white Snow Fox holding a wooden basket behind a leading brown Snow Fox turned its head as if sensing his gaze.
In Juna’s eyes, the gentleman at the staircase radiated a brilliant mix of pink and light green scents, filling the room and slightly reddening her cheeks as her eyes sparkled. She gently tugged at Dal’s sleeve in front of her and whispered,
“Father…”
“Outside, you must call me Clan Leader.”
“Right… Clan Leader, look over there.”
Dal glanced toward Fisher, then squinted as he took a pair of petite silver-framed glasses from his sleeve. The moment he put on the glasses, not only did his vision become extremely clear, but the pink and light green scents assaulting his senses slightly skewed his glasses. His face wore an odd expression because pink denoted “interest and affection” while green represented “friendliness.”
Dal gestured with his eyes toward Fisher in the distance and asked Valentina,
“Who is this…”
Valentina glanced at Fisher, who stood with folded arms in the distance. A trace of barely noticeable annoyance crossed her face—blaming him for being cooped up in his room for five days straight without emerging. Valentina hesitated to confront him directly, strongly suspecting he engaged in unseemly activities in his room,
“Ah, he is a scholar I’ve hired, particularly interested in the history of the Northern Realm and the demi-humans. I believe you both will have topics in common.”
A scholar researching demi-humans…
Dal then looked towards Valentina, wheelchair-bound, noticing constant hints of “annoyance” in light red and “interest and affection” in pale pink in her gaze toward Fisher. Behind her, Heidlin silently rolled her eyes upon hearing Valentina’s description of Fisher’s interests, letting out a few scents of her own.
One was deep purple for “unwelcome and disdain,” and another deep red for “annoyance,” mingled with faint traces of pink…
Observing the miraculously similar scents, Dal suddenly felt, “Are these waters deeper than I thought?”
Regardless, as the Snow Fox Clan Chief, Dal was experienced and knowledgeable, even if he detected complex scents and situations, his facial expressions remained unchanged. However, Juna kept looking in Fisher’s direction.
“Please come this way, Clan Leader Dal. We have prepared a quiet place for conversation. By the way, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? I’ll immediately have the servants prepare…”
“No need, we ate before entering the city. Let’s get straight to the point, Miss Valentina. After our negotiation, regardless of the outcome, we need to return to our tribe quickly.”
Valentina glanced at Clan Leader Dal, her guess about the Snow Fox Species suddenly agreeing to negotiate seemed correct; something urgent must have happened within their tribe, prompting the usually insular Snow Foxes to agree to the Seal exchange. She rubbed her ring and nodded,
“That’s good, then please follow us.”
At the staircase, Fisher tucked Emhardt back into his hold, leaving only one eye peeking through a slight gap in his suit pocket to survey the surroundings. Fisher and Philis didn’t follow the others to the elevator; instead, they headed directly to the negotiation floor via the stairs.
As they walked upstairs, Fisher suddenly realized the absence of the Schwali scholar, Mr. Balzac. He turned to Philis and asked,
“Where is Mr. Balzac? Didn’t he come down early?”
“I wouldn’t know, he wasn’t here when I came down. You know that Old Ba and I can’t stand each other; why would I care if he’s in the restroom or slacking off… But I think he’s still sick; he didn’t look good when I saw him yesterday.”
“Still sick?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow. Balzac had told him about his cold the day Heidlin confronted him five days ago; Heidlin should have fetched him some medicine, yet he hadn’t improved…
“Yeah, that guy is just a lousy Human, his body is weak. He got seasick during our trip to the Southern Ocean, it’s quite normal. He’s probably still in the restroom, sneezing away. Better he doesn’t come; if he keeps sneezing during the negotiation, it would be bad.”