The door opened and a man wearing a hoodie that covered half his face appeared before them. He clearly valued his privacy, seeing as he kept on looking around as if wary of any people that would eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Professor Lichtenstein," the man greeted. "Our leader will see you now—"
But before he could even finish his sentence, he noticed that there was one other person that was unaccounted for.
"Excuse me, who is this?" the hooded man asked, gesturing towards Michael.
Professor Lichtenstein, without a moment's hesitation, made up an excuse for Michael.
"He's my protege. He's studying under me to learn more about the world's history."
The man stared at Michael, looking at him from head to toe. Even though his eyes were obscured from his hoodie, Michael could feel the man observing him with the utmost intensity.
Unfortunately, the professor's excuse didn't seem to work on him.
"Professor, you do know that our leader wants this meeting to be as discreet as possible. We do not want unknown people finding out about this," the hoodies man said.
This would have been the greatest excuse for the professor to leave Michael behind.
However, Michael's mutterance of the word 'Unity' made him all the more curious about the boy's true identity. If Michael knew about that mystery of the world, then perhaps they had more in common than he first thought.
"He has to be with me," the professor insisted. "I won't be able to do my work if I don't have him by my side—or do you not need my help anymore?"
Lichtenstein's threat of completely abandoning this meeting seemed to have finally worked on the hooded man. He bit his lips before eventually nodding his head.
"Alright. Both of you follow me. Under no circumstances are you to leave my side," he instructed them.
After that, the man pulled his hoodie down, further obscuring his face before he started walking back through where Michael and the professor came from.
"Follow me," the professor said to Michael, signalling for him to stay by his side.
While they were walking, the professor leaned in towards Michael and whispered.
"If they ask you any questions, just say that I'm your teacher and I instructed you to not say anything."
Michae looked at him. "Why did you have to lie?"
He appreciated the professor for covering for him, but Michael didn't see the need to lie in the first place.
"The meeting that I'm about to have is supposed to be as discreet as possible. They could get in trouble if people find out that they're about to give me this information, so you'll have to excuse them if they seem a little paranoid."
Michael understood that and didn't question it any further. He just followed behind the professor and the hooded man before they eventually exited out of New Sparta and came across a hut out in the distance.
The hut was hastily made. He couldn't see any signs of furniture inside after peeking through the small gap in between the cloth door.
It seemed that this hut was specifically made to be disassembled as soon as the meeting was over.
Eventually, they reached the hut and the man signalled for Michael and the professor to stop.
"First, I'll inform my leader of your arrival," he said before entering the small hut.
Michael could hear a faint discussion from two men talking about him. The hooded man was basically asking for permission from his leader about the unexpected appearance of the professor's 'protege'.
Eventually, it seemed that their leader relented. The hooded man came back and gestured for Michael and the professor to come inside.
As they walked through, Michael saw that they were only meeting one person.
It was a middle-aged man with a stocky build, a bald head, and a patch on his right eye.
"Welcome, professor," said the supposed leader.
Professor Lichtenstein immediately moved towards the man and sat on the chair opposite him. He didn't waste any time before asking the question he so desperately wanted to find out.
"Do you know where the antique is located?"
The bald man with the eyepatch didn't answer the professor's question and instead turned towards Michael, gesturing for him to have a seat right next to the professor.
"Please, sit. You can call me One Eye. May I know who you are? Forgive me, but I haven't heard of the professor having a protege by his side. He's quite infamous for being too focused on his studies, making him neglect forming any connections outside of the scrolls and books he's buried in."
Michael was about to speak, before the professor answered the question for him.
"His name is Keo. I found him as an orphan and took him in as my student after realizing his talent in history."
"Oh," One Eye muttered. "What makes one talented in history? Do you perhaps know the history of GodForge pieces?"
This was a test intended to truly see if 'Keo' was truly the professor's protege.
The professor started sweating as he realized that One Eye wasn't going to be as easily fooled as he thought.
He quickly opened his mouth, about to answer, when Michael stepped in and gave a response.
"From what I learned about history, the GodForge were once a solid piece. However, a great cataclysmic event shattered it into pieces, with the Dwarves retaining a large piece but most of it was scattered all around the world."
One Eye raised his eyebrows, surprised that Michael was able to answer his question.
Even Professor Lichtenstein was shocked. Perhaps his lie was true. Perhaps this boy truly was talented in history just like he was.
"Impressive," One Eye praised. "I do not know your true identity, but your skill in history proves that you indeed have the right to be here."
The professor perked up. "Does this mean we can finally talk about the antique?"
One Eye nodded. "Yes. Just as promised, you'll help me with my problem, and I'll help with yours in turn."
Then, One Eye gestured for the hooded man to fetch something from the chest on the corner of the room.
After retrieving the item, the hooded man presented it towards the professor and Michael.
It was a furled up scroll, and after unrolling it out, it turned out to be a map degraded by time, with lots of tiny holes and tears that made it completely vague as to where this place was truly located.
Right at the center of the map was an X mark.
"This is a treasure map that we chanced upon. And according to the diary that accompanied it, we believe it to contain a Mithril Relic that is extremely well preserved. We want this, professor. Can you help us locate its exact position?"
The professor looked over the map, subconsciously rubbing his chin as he did so. The crazed look on his face was replaced by one of seriousness and focus. Only a map from history could make him act like this.
"Hmmm… this must be a few hundred years old," the professor concluded. "It's not from anywhere in the Royal Continent, that's for sure."
One Eye frowned. "Are you sure, professor? Where is it exactly?"
Lichtenstein nodded. "This map is not human made."