TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
===BREAK===
Hearing that familiar voice, Aventurine suddenly trembled.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester!"
Delight surged through him as he looked around frantically, searching for Sylvester's figure while speaking rapidly.
"Did you also travel through time? Ah—right, I forgot. You can sell Curios like [Zafkiel's Sixth Bullet – Vav], so having stock on hand isn't strange at all. Hey, where exactly are you?"
Although this place was more familiar to him than anything else, changing history was still something he was doing for the first time. If he had an experienced guide, things would definitely go much more smoothly.
Yet no matter how he looked, he could not find Sylvester anywhere.
Aventurine scratched his hair.
That's strange. The voice sounds so close.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester, just show yourself already. I'll pay you a consultant fee—come help me out. I can give you half my fortune. With that money, buying ten star systems would still leave plenty to spare."
"Spare me, spare me. I'm contacting you through the pistol of [Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet]. My real body is still twenty years in the future. And I'm about to go to sleep—losing sleep over this little bit of money isn't worth it."
Sylvester's lazy voice rang out from nowhere, followed by a yawn.
"I'm only here to tell you two pieces of news. These two things don't just determine whether you can successfully change history—if you accidentally touch certain taboos, some well-behaved existences might directly erase you in a very humane way."
"Of course, if you think these two messages are worth half your fortune, I won't refuse either."
"Uh…"
In order to hear more clearly, Aventurine pressed the antique pistol to his ear, as if he were taking a call.
Yet the clearer the voice became, the more confused he felt.
"Well-behaved existences?Humanely erased?"
Not knowing anything about what had transpired between Sylvester and HooH, he naturally could not grasp the deeper meaning. How could those two phrases even be used together?
Still, he keenly understood the importance of these two messages.
The opportunity to save his loved ones was hard-won. He absolutely could not afford the slightest mistake.
Especially when it involved the rules of time—violating them even a little might result in him and his family being shattered completely, erased from existence.
Aventurine's gaze turned solemn.
"I like the feeling of bitterness before sweetness," he said seriously. "Tell me the bad news first."
On the other end of time, Sylvester nodded.
"The bad news is this: the Aeon of Equilibrium wants to avoid large-scale changes to history, so you are not allowed to reveal your identity as a time traveler. And HooH will be monitoring your every move. In fact, THEY might be watching you from somewhere right now."
Hearing this, Aventurine's pupils widened dramatically. A chill ran through his entire body as he instinctively scanned his surroundings.
Compared to this, being unable to gain Jade's trust by claiming to be someone from the future was a trivial inconvenience.
He had unknowingly drawn the attention of an Aeon.
That was far beyond his expectations. If THEY chose to intervene, failure would be the least of his worries—surviving at all would already count as good fortune.
"Tch… that really is catastrophic bad news."
He did enjoy the sweetness that came after hardship, but this was far too bitter. He could not see any sweetness at all.
What was he supposed to do now…?
Wait. How did Shopkeeper Sylvester even know about this? Aeons did not need to inform anyone when THEY acted.
Could it be that Shopkeeper Sylvester had some sort of relationship with HooH?
Was he an Emanator of Equilibrium?
Clutching at what felt like a lifeline, Aventurine hurriedly spoke.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester! You have a way to contact HooH, don't you? Please, help me negotiate with THEM. I'm only reviving two weak, ordinary people. It absolutely won't cause any historical impact!"
Only after finishing did he realize that, in his panic, he had forgotten to offer anything in return.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester!" Aventurine hurriedly added, afraid that a lack of sincerity might cause this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to slip through his fingers.
"I won't say anything empty. Everything I own—money, luxury homes, cars, all my assets—I'll give them all to you! As long as you can help me make this happen!"
Money could always be earned again. But if this chance was lost, there would be no room for regret.
Wait until he drew another [Zafkiel's Twelfth Bullet - Yud Bet]? That's a terrible joke.
Golden Curios were once-in-a-lifetime miracles. There was no such thing as choice or repetition.
After his words fell silent, Aventurine waited anxiously for Sylvester's reply.
"Your entire fortune, huh…"
Sylvester truly had not expected that a few casual words would push Aventurine to offer such a staggering price.
Wealth might not move his heart anymore—money no longer brought him much joy—but there was one undeniable truth.
There was simply too much of it.
Aventurine's time was limited, and he had gone all in. If Sylvester were even a little unscrupulous, a few smooth words would be enough to take everything.
That was the entire fortune of a director from the Strategic Investment Department.
Sylvester smacked his lips, conflicted.
After a long moment, he let out a heavy sigh.
"No. Forget it."
If Aventurine had ever wronged him, he would have taken the money without hesitation. But Aventurine truly had done nothing against him.
Sylvester told himself to be kind.
What he had not expected was that, upon hearing those words, Aventurine felt as though all the blood in his body had gone cold.
"No? Shopkeeper Sylvester, please reconsider. I—I…"
Believing that Sylvester had refused, Aventurine panicked. In his desperation, he began raising the stakes again.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester, Diamond has already promised me a promotion. If one day I become a department head, my value will only grow. I'm still young—I can give you all the earnings from the rest of my life! Just leave me and my family enough to survive, and—"
On the other end, Sylvester froze.
What is going on? How did this suddenly turn into signing a lifelong contract?
Did what I said really sound like I was asking for a higher price?
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Sylvester interrupted quickly. "Mr. Aventurine, calm down first."
He cut off Aventurine's frantic self-selling.
"Why don't you listen to the good news first?"
===BREAK===
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