Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 199 - 200: Intertwined.

The couple's hesitation to talk about the jade was painfully obvious, and Orion felt it the moment the conversation drifted in that direction. It wasn't just a pause or an awkward delay—it was deliberate restraint. They knew something, and they were choosing their words carefully to avoid saying it.

For now, Orion did nothing.

He sat still, posture relaxed, gaze neutral. There was no need to press yet. The most important part had already been confirmed: the two Sylgrid leaders were aware of something connected to a "special" jade, and they were actively guarding that knowledge. The problem now wasn't whether information existed, but how to extract it without crossing into open hostility.

He left it to Seris.

If things deteriorated, force was always an option—dangerous, costly, and likely to complicate everything that followed—but it remained an option. Orion didn't like it, but he acknowledged it all the same.

Seris exchanged a brief, cautious glance between the two Sylgrid leaders, then tilted her head slightly.

"Complicated?" she asked, her tone light, feigning ignorance without sounding dismissive.

Orion watched their reactions closely.

The hesitation was immediate. Subtle, but there. A fraction too long before either of them responded. The male Sylgrid's eyes flicked toward the woman beside him, just for a moment, before returning to Seris.

Was the jade really that special?

"Yes," the man said slowly. "You said your friend was involved with a special jade?"

Seris nodded once, offering no elaboration.

The man inhaled, preparing to continue—but the woman spoke first, cutting in smoothly.

"There are many types of jade in the Jade Forest," she said. "Several of them could be described as special. Without knowing which one your friend was involved with, it's difficult to narrow anything down."

Her tone was even. Reasonable. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with the answer.

Orion's pupils narrowed slightly.

She was sharp.

Technically, she might not be lying. There may be different jade variants scattered across the forest, each with distinct properties. But the speed with which she redirected the discussion, and the way she avoided naming any specific type, told Orion everything he needed to know.

She knew exactly which jade Seris was referring to.

The Sylgrid Jade.

Orion noted it and said nothing.

They couldn't challenge her without revealing that they knew more than they were supposed to. From the Sylgrid's perspective, they were outsiders with limited information, following vague leads. Pressing harder here would look unnatural.

Still, the implications were stacking up.

The jade mattered to them. That much was clear.

How much, though—that remained uncertain.

The fact that they refused to even acknowledge its existence suggested two possibilities. Either they were extremely loyal to the Sylgrid capital and unwilling to speak without permission, or the Sylgrid Jade was deeply tied to their survival in a way they couldn't risk exposing.

Orion considered both.

The male Sylgrid's earlier outburst—cut short by the woman—didn't look like blind loyalty. It looked like resentment. Frustration. Abandonment.

Which made the second option more likely.

If the Sylgrid Jade was essential to their survival, then removing it—or allowing others to interfere with it—could endanger the entire race.

The thought settled uncomfortably in Orion's mind.

If that were true… would he still take it?

He didn't answer himself.

Seris lowered her gaze, her expression shifting into disappointment. She inclined her head slightly, as if weighing her next words carefully.

"There wasn't much information on what type of jade it was," she said. "Only that it was special. Does the type of jade determine what might have happened to him?"

The woman paused, fingers tightening briefly against her clothing.

"Yes," she replied after a moment. "Different Sylgrid groups hold monopoly over different types of jade. Knowing which jade your friend was involved with would help us determine where to begin looking."

Seris frowned, her hands curling slowly into fists.

"What did you get yourself into…" she muttered under her breath.

Orion resisted the urge to sigh.

The act was convincing, but transparent to him. She was buying time—stalling while she figured out how to continue without crossing the line into suspicion.

They were close now. Too close.

The conversation had reached a narrow margin where a single poorly phrased question could unravel everything. Orion shifted his focus, preparing contingencies. If the Sylgrid leaders shut down completely, extraction by force would become inevitable, though far from ideal.

Violence would create ripples. Not just here, but across every settlement connected to this one.

He preferred not to go down that path.

His gaze drifted, briefly, toward the boy still pressed against the woman's chest.

That was when he noticed it.

The woman was holding something in her hand.

It was small, partially obscured by her fingers, but the flash of green was unmistakable.

Jade.

At first glance, it looked like a simple piece—polished smooth, worn from handling. But the way she held it wasn't casual. Her grip was precise, her fingers positioned as if she were regulating pressure or flow.

Orion focused.

The jade wasn't inert.

Something was being drawn from it.

Not mana—at least, not mana in any form he was used to sensing. There was no detectable exchange, no fluctuation that his mana sense would normally pick up. And yet, the connection was there.

His mind immediately returned to the abomination he had fought in the cave.

The conversion.

The way it had absorbed something unregistered by mana sense and transformed it into raw energy.

Orion's eyes widened slightly.

The female wasn't simply holding the jade.

She was extracting whatever that essence was—slowly, carefully—and converting it within her body.

The realization completed itself as his gaze shifted back to the boy.

Milk.

The jade wasn't just a resource.

It was sustenance.

The Jade wasn't just important to their economy or trade.

It could feed them

Orion remained still, face neutral, but his thoughts moved quickly now. The picture was becoming clearer, and the implications were heavier than he'd anticipated.

If the jade was tied directly to Sylgrid survival—biological survival—then everything about this mission had just become far more complicated.