The Last Godfall: Transmigrated as the Young Master-Chapter 173: Terms That Don’t Settle

Inside Quesil Migdol, floor four. Tall stone pillars rose in fixed intervals, and rows of parchments hung high above in ordered vertical lines that formed the archive.

Vencian held a parchment between his fingers and read without looking down for long. "Arche of Living Causatum. The arkspren bonded to archean of this arche can see the invisible threads of emotion, promise, causality and destiny. Quite an interesting Arche, isn't it?"

He let the words sit, then folded the lower edge of the parchment with his thumb before lifting his head.

He leaned back against a pillar with his legs stretched out, parchments scattered across his thighs and brushing the stone floor. His gaze stayed forward as if waiting.

Roselys sat against the next pillar with her back straight, one hand resting against the stone beside her while her eyes stayed slightly off him.

"You said you wanted to talk?"

Vencian turned his head toward her and gave a small nod. "I did."

Her gaze shifted to him with a narrow angle. "Then why are we discussing me?"

Vencian kept his eyes on her. "I wasn't necessarily talking about you."

She looked at him from the side without moving her head.

He held her gaze a moment longer before speaking. "Don't give me that look. Just wanted to know about your Arche… in detail."

Pulling himself upright from the pillar, he gathered a few loose parchments into a stack against his knee.

He didn't need to look to know she had gone still.

Her fingers pressed slightly into the stone at her side.

The space between them stayed quiet for a few seconds.

He dragged his thumb along a narrow line near the middle of the parchment and stopped where the ink thickened.

Vencian's eyes followed the line once, then again, slower this time.

"...manipulation of Fate," he said.

Roselys shifted her weight against the pillar and adjusted the fall of her sleeve before speaking. "It's the most important part of its power. Though it's as good as nothing until the arkspren has touched the fourth arc and their anchor is solid."

Vencian lowered the parchment slightly. "Which arc are you then?"

"Third."

His thumb stayed pressed against the same line without folding it.

"That's listed as its core function," he said. "So why does it only matter at fourth arc?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"You're reading it too far ahead," she said. "At third arc, you don't control outcomes. You work with what's already there."

Her gaze moved briefly to the parchment in his hand, then back to him.

"The threads respond because they already exist. You can pull them, loosen them, bind them for a while. But anything beyond that doesn't hold."

She adjusted her sleeve again, slower this time.

"Without a stable anchor, the thread corrects itself. Or it snaps back through you."

Vencian's thumb eased off the parchment as his eyes dropped to the same line again.

*Yeah, I don't get it.*

He let the parchment dip a fraction before shifting his grip and folding the lower edge this time.

"That's enough."

He stacked the loose parchments together against his knee and set them beside the pillar.

The space between them held for a moment as his shoulders settled back.

He turned his head fully toward her and waited until her gaze met his.

"When we contacted last time, you said something about telling me about what you want from me. Tell me, I'm all ears."

Roselys didn't answer immediately.

Her eyes dropped to the bandage along his side before lifting again.

"We can talk about it later. You're not fully recovered."

He shifted his back against the pillar and adjusted his posture without looking down at the injury.

"I don't need to be just to hear you out and tell me answer."

She held his gaze for a second longer, then moved on.

Roselys stepped back to her pillar but didn't lean against it this time. "I need to investigate ruins in Tolstall forest."

Vencian gave a slight nod. "Go on."

"The inner perimeter is sealed by a barrier," she said. "Arksprens can't enter without being detected."

She paused briefly.

"Normal humans aren't restricted."

Vencian adjusted the parchment on his knee with a small push. "And I'm supposed to be useful how?"

"You're not an arkspren," Roselys said. "You can pass through."

She met his eyes. "I need you to enter and disable the barrier from inside."

Vencian's gaze stayed on her. "And you're certain I can do that?"

"Nothing is certain," she said. "But from what I've seen, your path holds longer than others."

"What does that even mean?"

"Well, let's say I can use my powers to evaluate you or anyone else if they can perform certain tasks or not. And it says your evaluation score was higher than anyone else."

Vencian didn't respond to that.

"How am I supposed to disable it?" he asked. "Barrier work isn't exactly open knowledge. The Church keeps it tight."

"It wasn't always like that," Roselys replied. "In earlier epochs, barrier systems were common."

She shifted her stance slightly. "They don't always need direct control. Some operate on conditions."

Her eyes flicked upward toward the suspended parchments. "This place is one example. The structure holds because conditions are maintained, not because someone actively controls it."

Vencian remained still as she finished.

The silence held for a moment.

*Entry point. Trigger condition. Exit before detection.*

"I'll do it," he said.

He didn't hesitate.

"I want something in return."

Roselys spoke quickly. "We already agreed. I'll help you find—"

"I don't want that anymore," Vencian cut in.

Her words stopped.

"My father's killer isn't my priority now."

Roselys' gaze tightened slightly. "Then what do you want?"

"If I succeed," he said, "you owe me five favors."

He held her eyes. "I'll decide what they are when I need them."

Roselys leaned forward slightly, her posture tightening. "Five favors is excessive."

Vencian didn't move. "It's the only condition under which I proceed."

Roselys held his gaze. "And how do you expect to enforce that?"

Vencian let a brief pause pass before answering.

"There won't be collateral," he said, his voice slower than before. "But if you break your word, you lose me as an ally. Permanently. And I won't remain neutral."

Roselys' eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"

Vencian let the question sit for a moment. "It's a consequence."

She shifted her stance, her weight settling more evenly. "Undefined obligations create instability for me. You're asking for something I can't measure."

"Four," Vencian said immediately.

Roselys didn't hesitate. "Three. And they have to be clean. No ambiguity."

The space quieted.

Vencian's gaze fixed on the edge of a parchment near his knee.

*Three is enough.*

He lifted his eyes again.

"Three," he said.

Roselys' shoulders drew in slightly as she straightened from the lean.

Her gaze fixed on him without wavering. "Would this affect my family's standing?" she asked.

Vencian met her gaze. "No."

Her fingers shifted slightly at her side as her weight adjusted.

"And my life?" she said.

"Probably."

The word stayed between them.

She held his gaze without moving.

"Would you force me to harm someone who doesn't deserve it?"

Vencian met her gaze. "No. You have my word."

The space stilled after that.

Roselys eyes stayed on him as if measuring something that hadn't been said.

She drew a slow breath, then let it out. "Then we have an agreement."

Her voice stayed even.

Vencian gave a small nod and looked away, his attention returning to the parchments scattered at his side.

His hand moved toward the nearest sheet, then slowed before reaching it as his eyes caught the same line near the center.

Footsteps crossed the stone behind him and faded without him turning.

He adjusted the parchment between his fingers and read the section again without shifting his posture.

The ink thinned partway through the line where it should have continued.

The break cut through the letters unevenly, leaving only fragments that refused to form a complete word.

His eyes tracked forward along the line, then stopped when the structure failed to carry through.

He held it there a moment longer before lowering the parchment slightly and setting it aside with the others.

Another sheet rested across his knee, its script tighter and more deliberate than the rest.

He reached for it but didn't lift it immediately.

A faint shift in the air settled near his shoulder.

Quenya drifted into view and hovered close, her gaze moving from the parchments to his face.

"That wasn't like you," she said.

"What was?"

"The fact that you agreed to her request so easily. Not that I'm questioning your decision though."

"That isn't true. I had thought about it a lot in my head before coming here. If her request seemed even five percent reasonable and doable, I'll take that."

Quenya's eyes moved briefly to the parchment he had set aside.

"She was very vague about arkspren powers."

He slid the new parchment fully onto his knee and flattened it with his palm.

"I noticed it too," he said, his voice steady, "hopefully I account for that when it comes back around."

Quenya remained still for a moment, then shifted her attention back to the sheet he was carrying.

Her gaze flicked once toward the earlier sheet where words were starting to end abruptly.

"What's this… Fate Thread?"

His eyes paused on the current page without lifting.

"A broken entry in the information," he said. "I'm guessing it's one of the thread used by Living Causatum Arksprens. Though looks like this floor won't provide further information on this. On this floor at least."

"You could've asked Roselys instead."

"I could've. Guess I forgot."

Quenya didn't respond to that.

He moved his hand off the margin and let it rest beside the sheet, his attention settling fully onto the text in front of him.

The markings repeated in a pattern that tightened as it moved downward, each line building on the last without deviation.

His focus narrowed along that progression as his fingers traced the edge of the script.

The structure held across each repetition, showing the same shift carried forward without loss.

He didn't reach back for the other parchment.

He had come to Quesil Migdol to understand how Solshifters increased their power.