The man in front of Mortred looks more like an old man. But he could sense the great experience of this person in combat. And Fang didn't react to Arlene's introduction making her statements true about the man.

But there was more, the man himself... Was blind. And it appeared like his eyes were gouged out.

Then Shin nodded.

"My eyes... I... They were used as payment to save my home." He smiled as he raised his head, looking at the ceiling despite his hollow eyes. "Its a long story to be honest..."

Mortred then understood that it was a delicate topic for Shin so he decided to just be satisfied for such a reason for now and changed the topic.

"Did my men explain why we need your help?" He asked.

"I have an idea of what it was. A solution to the language barrier." Shin said.

"Yes." Mortred confirmed. "Frankly speaking, I have a lot of questions and curiosity in knowing more about your people as an avid scholar of Akavir. But I have to endure such curiosity and focus first on the matter at hand."

Then he rested on his two hands that he put behind his head. And he leaned closer to Shin.

"What I will tell you now will sound stupid... Gibberish or even outright unbelievable. But I want you to take them literally as what you will hear from me."

Shin nodded at was both confused and surprised at his words.

"Good. I don't know much about the mythos in Akavir but here in Tamriel, prophecies are always accurate. They speak of our future and the tragedies that we have to avoid."

He was about to continue but Esbern somehow got worried and kneeled to interrupt him.

"Milord, please forgive my impudence for questioning your decision, but is it wise to let this man know?" He asked.

Mortred just wave his hand in reply.

"Don't worry, knowing such a thing isn't a threat to my plans. In fact I want him to know this to initiate an establishment of trust between us."

Esbern nodded and walked back to the corner in silence.

Mortred stood from his seat went to the nearby table to pour two cups of hot tea. Then went back to Shin and offered him the other. The man himself was able to sense the aroma of the tea that he once tasted with the help of a passing imperial trader that he had saved from drowning.

"Drasna Tea?" Shin asked.

"Yes, you are already familiar with them?" Mortred was half surprised to know that Shin already knew one of the most expensive tea leaves in the empire.

"One of my favorites. It doesn't just calm the nerves but also a great introduction during trading and dialogues." Shin replied.

"Mmm. It is." Mortred sat back to his seat. Meanwhile Fang poured herself a cup of tea and sat on the chair beside the tea table.

Both Mortred and Shin took a sip which made them react with a soothed breathe.

"You speak of prophecies... Are they even true? And do you believe in them?" Shin asked.

"I do." Mortred smiled. "Afterall, it's part of my life since I was born."

Shin thought to himself that although it existed in his homeland, it wasn't that much of a big deal and mostly taken as fiction. But no one took them as false so he thought that this country took prophecies seriously.

"As you may have noticed from my words, prophecies are part of our great culture here and the way of life in this continent. But most of the time, they were not only hidden from plain sight but also from common understanding." Mortred took another sip before continuing. "They were purposely written in vague meaning or sometimes with poetic themes. This was done to deceive time itself. For prophecies should not exist naturally as it would create a time paradox that would contradict past, present and future. It's like when you are in the middle of a deep dream. And these vague and poetic prophecies are like gentle whispers you may hear. It doesn't disturb your sleep and your dream but it may affect your view and even change something in your dream."

Shin actively listened.

"If a contradiction happens, then the worst event could occur. It's like someone is screaming on your ear that causes an interruption on your dream or worse, wakes you up. That person screaming in your ear is the contradiction." Mortred sipped his tea again.

"But this plane of existence wouldn't allow such interruption to occur. This plane itself will instead force something to correct such contradiction and that correction is what we called here, a Dragonbreak. For this situation, it would be an event where the prophecy would both happen and will not happen at the same time. It doesn't matter if the end result was for the benefit of this world or not, good or evil. It will not matter. As it will not choose one but at worse, multiple events to happen at the same time."

"So... Isn't that actually a good thing?" Shin asked.

"Knowing both things that happened and living on the results of both things will usually cause madness to a person. It's like knowing that your childhood girlfriend married your best friend then at the same time, knowing that your childhood girlfriend married a passing prince and finally, knowing also that your childhood girlfriend was married to you. It may sound confusing but you wouldn't think too much about it as the world will make it seem as if it's natural. But for those who have been gifted with better understanding on the world around them, this will make them go into the state of madness. Fortunately, the madness most of the time only happened to few people. By the way, to normal people who were unaffected, they will feel at most like it's some sort of Deja Vu."

Shin honestly got confused even more but he decided to silently listen and ask questions after.

"This lecture would take days to end so now that I mentioned the main points, I will summarize what we are going to do. We are planning to read a prophecy but we need your assistance Master Shin due to our great knowledge about the language of Akavir. And at the same time, I will also maintain the balance with time itself." Mortred put down his cup and made a serious face.

Shin obviously got confused again at his statement but Mortred smiled.

"Basically I can sense any disturbance with time that could initiate or trigger a Dragonbreak. If this was just an ordinary prophecy from the augur I would have just ignored it. But this is a written prophecy. And we don't know how 'hidden' the meaning was written and what will happen when you read it later. That's why I will put a stop to the reading if I sense something is going to be wrong."

To be honest, this would have no problem at all if I read it myself but I can't read Akaviri language yet and it's more dangerous if I misread it due to mistranslation and cause even more damage. Mortred thought. I swear I will fucking punch the makers of this pillar in the face if I ever find them. They're making it more troublesome to be honest. If only they could have just written it on Dovahzul, I would have an easier time.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"But first we need to do something on your eyes if you don't mind." Mortred reminded Shin of his blindness.

"Ah yes." Shin scratched his head awkwardly.

"But before that also, I want to ask on what do you want in exchange for helping us?"

"Huh?"

"Surely you're not assuming that we are making this much trouble on you without thinking for compensation?" Mortred frowned. "One of the most dangerous things in the world is a transaction without a benefit on both parties. As it will sour and scourge both parties with distrust and suspicion."

Shin smiled awkwardly again and replied.

"True but actually..."

"Hmmm?"

"I don't know what I wanted as payment," Shin replied.

Now this is interesting also. Mortred thought.

"Hmmmmm... Then how about this. After your eye surgery, you can think about what you want as your payment. Of course, you can also make it as a favor instead." Mortred said.

"Favor?"

"Yes, as long as it's in my power and sovereign authority, I will grant you anything later. So you can take your time on deciding what to do with your favor."

"True... But..."

Honestly, I expected him to ask for more time to think about. It seems I was just to overthinking things. But it's too suspicious to immediately agree on what we wanted him to do. Should I pry deeper? I don't want to offend him this early though and I don't have time if he asked for it. Mortred thought, so he decided to use one of his cards just in case something was making Shin hesitate.

"And I think you should also know this before giving your answer, this prophecy may also heavily involve your homeland." Mortred revealed.

"W-what?!" Shin became shocked.

"Another thing to mention, did you notice that you were brought here due to your knowledge about your language?" Mortred said. "You must have known already that the prophecy that you will be reading was written in Akavir langauge."

"Y-yeah."

"But it seems you didn't know that the people who wrote this prophecy are your people."

Shin was just speechless. He thought that people of this land probably wrote it in his language for some strange coincidence that he yet to know. His ancestors actually did something in this continent that he never learned in their history about this land.

"You should note that the previous prophecy was never written in Akavir but only depicted through the drawn mural. Now with the discovery for the new part of the future, this changes things."

Fang who was silently watching them on the side, was also trying to detect any subtle response that may indicate a contradiction to what Shin was showing.

"This prophecy was not written in Akavir without purpose. From the information that I got, I can confirm that your presence here was intended and not a result of a coincidence."

Shin struggled obviously in taking all of this in. He frowned in silence for several moments then opened his mouth. He finally mentioned the words that Mortred was expecting.

"How will I know that you're telling the truth and not just trying to manipulate me?" Shin was taking into possibility that he was being led into a trap where his captors would use him for their own advantage. Even thought of being used as a tool of invasion to his homeland. This was why he prepared himself to take out his own life in any moment with the use of a technique to cut off his heart from the inside using his muscles. A skill that he still know from his previous occupation.

"Actually I don't have any proof. That's why I have to ask you again, because I don't want you to be making any misunderstanding from this deal. The only thing that guarantees that what I was telling you is the truth will be my words alone as a dragonborn." Mortred said. He could force Shin by using his Word Power but he wanted to gain the trust of an Akavir than enslave him. He was even willing to offer wealth and position in power anywhere in the empire as one of his cards should Shin show any interest in politics. But Mortred could sense that Shin had none.

"I..." Shin himself was troubled now in making a decision. At first he actually just thought that if what Arlene and Usagi told him, was the truth, he would only have to read and nothing more. And at worse, they wanted his knowledge about his homeland.

But now, Shin couldn't fathom if what he was told was the truth or not, as both situations seems unbelievable. And he realized that reading this 'prophecy' was much more dangerous as what Mortred had implied. Adding also the revelation that his homeland was somehow involved in making this prophecy.

Many new questions started popping up on his mind. After silently musing for several moments, Shin finally decided.

"I will read this prophecy, and decide what I will do after." He told Mortred who was anxiously waiting for his response.

Mortred nodded and waved towards Fang. She shook her head and then nodded. After that, she went to the door and exited the room.

Then Mortred put his hand on Shin's shoulder and said.

"This may shock you but we will be transferring to another room. So please be at ease."

Then the sight around then changed abruptly. The former large hall was now changed into a spacious white marble room brightened by the magical lamps on the ceilings.

"Teleportation..." Shin couldn't see but he could sense that the place he was standing previously was now different. Before he could ask any questions, Mortred woke him up from his curious shock stupor.

"First we have to do something about your missing eyes." Mortred said. "For the sake of your safety, I may have to ask something that may offend you again."

"Y-yes. What is it?"

"How did you lose your eyes?" Mortred asked again. "This question isn't based on my curiosity but just for preventive measures just in case you lost your eyes due to a curse, so that we will be able to correctly decide on what kind of treatment we will give you."

Shin nodded and replied.

"I... I lost my eyes in a battle. I was a sh-soldier once. No curse don't worry."

"That's a relief."

Then the door opened with another man on his white hooded robe, covering his entire body, with long sleeves and even white leather gloves. He was carrying some kind of small rectangular crate. Shin could hear metals clinging inside. But what made him even more peculiar was his beautiful androgynous features that many people would misunderstood him as a female. And adding his wood elf trait, this made it even hard for him to display his masculinity. Fang entered after him and closed the door.

"Master Shin, this is Doctor Lesther. The best surgeon in the entire Empire."

"So this is our patient?" Lesther frowned at Shin.

Shin stood and bowed towards the source of the new sound.

"I will be in your care Doctor Lesther."

Lesther was somehow surprised.

"I didn't expect our Akaviri friend here to be fluent in our language. Well that makes my job easier then." Lesther then added towards Fang.

The trusted companion of Mortred then walked towards the spacious part of the hall and made a wide stance as if she's preparing to fight. Then she stomped on the ground with her right foot and made a grabbing motion on the air in front of her chest as if she was raising something heavy. And as if it bended to her will, the ground in front of her started raising itself then she sent several thrust motions with her hands and kicked the rising ground while in motion, encircling the place with her kicks. She repeated this a few times until it formed into a rectangular long table supported by two firm stands on each ends.

"Thanks Fang." Lesther sent his gratitude and turned towards Shin and gently grabbed one of his arms. "Master Shin, please do follow me."

Lesther helped Shin to the new long table and assisted him to lay on his back. He then took out something made of wood from his pack and used it to support the head of his patient. Then both of his palms suddenly glowed in a golden light and he casted a spell. Shin felt a warm feeling around his body and on his back, Lesther was actually trying to decontaminate the Shin, his clothes and the table with his purification spell to avoid any risk of infection after the surgery. Then he activated a ward and barrier around them as Mortred walked closer and stood out the feet of Shin. Fang stayed outside the shell and waited.

"Master Shin, do you feel any discomfort?"

Shin tried to feel around his body but felt refreshed instead after the purification process.

"I felt better actually."

"Good." Lesther patted his head and nodded towards Mortred. "Well then. Let us begin."