"You seem to know everything, my lady."
"Not everything."
"Perhaps... are you the person I've been looking for?"
Flint and Darryl looked at Armand in shock. But after pondering, it made sense for such a powerful mage to carry the will of the World Tree. However, arcane magic and divine magic should be opposing forces - could the mysterious and powerful mage Mizan really be the elusive Apostle?
"Ah, no, that's not it. I'm definitely not that person."
Being so flatly rejected took Armand aback. After recovering from the initial surprise, he chuckled.
"You said it with such confidence, my lady. How do you know you aren't one?"
Seraphine stared at the man, who seemed to hide his fox-like nature behind a polite and noble facade. Instead of answering, she summoned a familiar artefact - a shard of a broken mirror. Holding it carefully, she studied what was reflected on it.
Armand waited patiently for her to answer.
After a while, Seraphine stored the mirror back in her sub-space.
"I'm not that person, Lord Fontaine, but I know where and when you can find them."
Albeit shaken with excitement, Armand tried to hold a neutral expression. "That is great news, my lady. And what kind of payment do you require for that information?"
He was a careful man. Although Flint's ring was not worth a great deal in material value, Armand knew how much Flint treasured it. Although he did not know how this shopkeeper calculated the prices, he intended to approach this as carefully as any court and temple dealings.
However, Seraphine looked at him with unreadable eyes.
"That payment... had been paid by someone else."
Stunned, Armand stared at her unexpected answer. After a long silence, he burst out laughing, catching his companions off guard.
"Is that so? I assume there's no point in asking who paid for it?"
"You may ask, but you have to pay a different price."
"...you're very unexpected, my lady, but I won't turn down a free gift. Then, will it be okay if I receive the information now?" He decided to set aside the information regarding this mysterious benefactor for now.
Seraphine reached out towards the thin air and started to draw out strings of light with her finger. They hovered and floated around, slowly forming a detailed map in the air. Gigantic, steep mountain peaks rose around deep craters, their formations creating an almost perfect circle. It looked strangely man-mad, yet far beyond anything humans could have built.
Armand's face turned serious. The image looked oddly familiar, but he did not recognise it, although he had travelled across the continents for many years. Flint narrowed his eyes, but did not seem as if he knew it, either. On the other hand, Darryl's mouth gaped open.
"...Is..is that Nadirn, the home of the dragons??"
Hearing Darryl, Armand's smile immediately froze. "Nadirn, the mythical birthplace of dragons drawn on every children's fairy-tale book? Are you telling us that the mythical Apostle can only be found in a mythical place, Lady Mizan?"
"You are mistaken. Nadirn is real, although the dragons are no longer."
Flint held his head in his hand. But deciding that he had been hearing an absurd thing or two for the last hour, he decided to go with the flow.
Contrarily, Armand felt his anger rising, although years of being tested by those priests and nobles made him unbelievably calm on the surface. "And how would you suppose I find this place, where no one has set foot in hundreds, no, thousands of years? Or is that another thing I have to pay the price for?" In comparison to finding Nairn, finding the Apostle seemed like a more realistic task. Many treasure hunters had toiled and wasted their whole lives attempting to find the place.
Seraphine gazed at him. For a second, Armand's heart shook as he stared into her captivating eyes.
Finally, she blinked slowly. "That won't be necessary, as I'll be coming with you guys."
".."
Silence fell as the two men and the young boy looked at each other.
Flint pointed at himself. "Did she say, 'you guys'? Am I coming along as well?"