The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 190: The Queen’s Eyes (2)

Chapter 190: The Queen’s Eyes (2)

"Do you wish me to rob a grave?"

Hex asked jokingly. He never heard about something called the Queen’s Eye. But he noticed the desire for it in Sterling’s expression. The young man concealed his emotions well but Hex sensed it.

"Yes. That’s exactly what I need you to do."

"You do?!"

Hex did a double take, hoping that Sterling was joking too but the silver-haired man’s serious face made him realize that they meant it.

"Why do you desire a dead woman’s eyes?"

Hex demanded to know. He didn’t refuse the request but inwardly he already decided to leave if he received an unsatisfactory explanation.

Quid sank back into his sofa, intent on leaving that part to Sterling.

"That dead woman was the last queen of the Kingdom, the King’s wife," Sterling started slowly.

"So?" Hex urged. Did Sterling wish to collect body parts of royals?

"Not many know this but she was one of the most accomplished Oracles to exist in our Kingdom," Sterling continued. He looked at Hex.

"What do you know about Oracles?" he asked suddenly.

"Not much," Hex replied honestly. "I heard they can see the future and are trusted aids of every ruler."

"That’s true but only partially," Sterling said. "Oracles are Blessed with the ability to see Heaven’s vision. They glean into something they refer to as strings of fate. It’s said that every creature born is attached to a string of fate. The Oracles follow the trajectory from Heaven’s point of view, seeing the end point of its movement over a short period."

Hex digested the block of information slowly. A few key phrases stood out to him.

’Let me get this right. The string is long, coming down from Heaven. If we consider the starting point of each movement to be above in Heaven then it makes sense it takes time to see its effect down here. Because of their shared vision, these Oracles can see the movement at the start, enabling them to know what will happen after some time.’

Although his mental image of a bunch of puppets on strings helped him understand the situation, the image itself was disturbing. Were the living nothing more than mere puppets whose strings were in the hands of Heaven?

Another thing he noticed was the key requirement to have such a string attached. Everyone who is born. ’What about me then? I wasn’t birthed the normal way?’

"Can Oracles see all the strings...and does everyone have such a string?" Hex carefully chose his words to help get some answers.

Sterling seemed pleased with the question. "Oracles only relay the details to their disciples but from what I managed to learn is that there is a difference between Oracles. Not all of them can see all the strings. It depends heavily on experience and their cultivation. And the stronger the target, the harder it is to trace their strings.

Also, it seems that there is a group of people whose strings can’t be seen by the best of them. They are collectively known as the fated ones. According to my source, the existence of these people makes it difficult to say whether everyone has a string or if the strings are just harder to see."

Hex nodded calmly but inwardly rejoiced at this piece of information. ’So, even if I don’t have a string, they will assume I belong to the fated ones.’

"Okay, now I have a deeper understanding of the Oracles but what is the link with the Queen’s Eye? She was an accomplished Oracle, okay. But she is dead. Or do the eyes retain the ability? And are you considering replacing your eyes with hers?"

Even though he was glad to have learned something important, Hex remained in the dark about Sterling’s true motive.

"Hahaha."

Both cousins burst into laughter.

"No, not at all," Sterling replied. "I rather keep my eyes. But we can use her eyes to create tools that will help us learn about the things she prophesized about before dying."

Sterling lowered his voice by the end of his sentence.

"You see, as a merchant I believe the flow of coins more than some prophecy. Currently, a lot of wealth is being invested in this operation. Even the royal treasury is opened without considering other parts of the kingdom."

"So? Isn’t that logical? An operation on this scale requires a lot of resources, don’t they?" Hex asked confused.

"Yes, but only a part is used on the things they claim to spend on. Others can be fooled but I know the cost of each grain of food and each drop of medicine like the back of my hand. I know who takes what amount of bribery and the cost of each prostitute. Heck, I even know what it cost to clean the second prince’s bodily fluids.

Something else is going on. Something far more important than we know. So far, I only know it’s connected to something the Queen saw just before her death."

The more Sterling spoke, the more agitated he became. Hex, too, became a bit unsettled at this. Once again he was in the middle of something that started long before he existed.

"But why are you so interested in investigating it?" If the royals were doing something in secret, they wouldn’t appreciate someone snooping around. And as far as Hex knew, a merchant wouldn’t wish to offend the rulers of a place they were earning from.

"Because information is the biggest resource a merchant has. Only by knowing more than others can we earn the biggest profits...or prevent huge losses."

"And why me? You don’t have any reason to trust me?" Hex continued to ask questions.

"Wrong. Of all the people entering, you are the best person to trust. After all, you are a dead man walking." Sterling grinned at Hex.

"Huh?" Hex gaped at the young man. ’Is he cursing me? Or is he threatening me?’

"Don’t pretend. If you didn’t realize this on your own, you wouldn’t be here. The chances of you dying are huge. The people at the command center wish the task to be completed but don’t expect you to complete it. All they wish for is that you survive as long as possible, providing them clues to the dangers toward the gate of the Temple district."

Hex stared silently for a while then sat comfortably. Sterling was right. He knew he was expected to die inside. He pointed at the box and spoke.

"I am taking all three. And I expect to be equipped properly. If I return, I also expect a generous compensation."

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