'Huh, six days ago…' Jack showed a complicated face, leaning his glaive to his chest as he placed an index on his chin. 'Did we somehow get into the past? Remember when I said that the corpse is one week old, Sephiroth?'
[I've also recorded the overall state of the skeletal structure and its corrosion formation_
[And just like you've predicted, it seemed like we went to the past on the day where you opened the tunnel entrance but didn't have enough preparation before the day after that. The exact moment in which it happens is unknown.]
'Does that mean, there is my past version outside of this tunnel?'
[There seems to be none_
[If there were a second vessel and the soul of yours out there, that means there would be a second Sephiroth as well. But as we did this pandering, I've been checking for any wavelength and I couldn't detect any outside of this tunnel. Either that your past existence at this timeline is overwritten, or the currently naked Jack is still exploring jungle_
[Although it will take time to stretch it far beyond unless I bother Malkuth who's designed perfectly for large scale searching.]
'Hmm? Couldn't you do that?'
[It will immediately detach her current work progress, she can do that however.]
'Nah, no need. We can just see it with our own eyes after we deal with this lady…'
As Jack snapped to reality once again, Prithvi had been spectating the unique and troubled expression he made when he was in thinking mode. Before he knew it, Prithvi had already assembled a pair of chairs and tables for him and her to sit on as she admired Jack's face with curiosity.
"You seem to be thinking a lot of things," said Prithvi who supported her chin with both of her palms on the table.
"Yeah… One of them consists of how suspicious you are."
"I take that as a compliment, fufufu."
"So, I only need to make a deal with you, right?" Jack reluctantly grinned with uncomfort. "Lady Prithvi, can I ask you some questions?"
"Sure, throw away!"
Instead of sitting on the chair that was prepared for him, Jack walked through the free space in front of the showcased goods of the merchant. He could see that Prithvi started to gaze at the glaive he was carrying, but he wanted to assess it later.
"Why didn't you question me?" Jack, hunched down to analyze the goods on the carpet, all without minding a single glance to the merchant. "I came directly from a place where there is toxic fumes and possibly dangerous traps while wearing the clothing of a dead person that had their life taken six days ago.
"Your lack of curiosity shows that you're hiding something."
Prithvi maintained her smile, but both of her eyes were closed. "You talk big for a brat, don't you? As a person of business, I respect the privacy of my future and former customers, so I hope you will stay as my customer and eventually end in settling 'deal'...
"Or else." She opened her eyes, she was still smiling but the intention beneath it was malicious. "You don't want that, don't you? Mister Forbidden Bearer."
Jack immediately stepped back and spun his whole body before thrusting the air in front of her with his glaive, barely connecting the fabric of her ruffled high-neck collar.
The merchant didn't move an inch, the smile on her face slowly turned sinister.
Jack amusedly grinned in response. "You seem used to this."
"Many have done the same thing, my dear Jack. You don't want to know what happens to them."
"You're quite on the scary side there." Jack lightly chuckled. "And no, this glaive of mine isn't exactly for a trade, my lady."
"I knew that to some extent, of course." The killing intent softened, and her smile became genuine again. "As much as I wanted to add that treasure to my collection, it won't accept me as its new owner at all cost~"
"You mean that it has a mind of its own?" Jack played along as he put down his unlit lantern.
"Indeed, my little Jack. Although its intelligence is still within the borderline of an infant, your treasure can comprehend and act according to your emotional flux and its surroundings."
"Well then," Jack picked up a mysterious spoon, aiming for something small and negotiable. "What about this?"
"An interesting choice! But an unnecessary pick." The merchant clapped her hands before striding to the space beside him. "That is a retrieved utensil from an ancient civilization, the former owner of it was the Almighty Pharaoh himself! If you eat your food with this, the wisdom and its owner's memory might flow into your conscience."
She then started to whisper, "He was also known to bear the secret of an ancient dark magic, or so they say."
"Huh, what do you charge for this then?"
"70,200 Solus." The merchant rubbed her hand mischievously. "Because you're a cutie, it will be 50,500 Solus instead, non negotiable."
[So the currency of the world is named Solus, huh.]
"You don't take anything aside from Solus?"
With her eternal smile, she replied. "Nothing."
"What if I didn't buy anything?"
"You can't leave without buying anything, such is the rule that I abided. Though! You can try on settling a 'deal' instead~"
Jack felt unsure. "What is the difference?"
"Fufufu, by making a 'deal', we will settle on an unorthodox ceremony of equivalent exchange! But because of its nature, the object that I shall give you will be up to me.
While you, on the other hand, must either comply with anything I say, or offer me something that is equal to my liking, in requirements to attain my possessions!"
"Isn't that suspiciously one sided!?"
"Of course! But do remember that I don't give anything useless within my collection." Prithvi smirked. "Just like the thing you wore, my goods were either reality breaking or extremely powerful depending on how much you satisfy me~
"Though, knowing that you don't have any Solus with you is really disappointing." Prithvi sighed in distress. "It's not easy to satisfy me in any way, and too many have failed in their attempts, to the point that I'm reconsidering on increasing the amount of low-quality goods that I have, just to prevent any meaningless death. In case that they embarrassingly failed somehow~"
"They failed to meet the satisfaction requirements that are equal to your otherworldly items, huh."
"Yup! You catch things fast, I like you already~"
"Then stop calling me 'brat'. The wisdom I have beyond this cranium of mine is spectacular, you know?"
"Your appearance says otherwise. I prefer if you say that again after reaching your adulthood, sweetie."
[Better listen to her for a while, I couldn't get any kind of coherent information from her existence. Most likely, she is the same as you in some sense.]
'Hmm? Meaning?'
[She doesn't come from this world.]
'I see,' Jack closed one of his eyes subconsciously for better thinking, while still maintaining the gaze of his opened eye to the peculiar merchant. 'This is important information, thank you for relaying this.'
As much as Jack didn't want to interact further with a problematic individual like her, he couldn't reject the fact of how the safety set he wore had saved him multiple times in just a day. If he could, he might want to get more useful things if he had the resources.
'Not to mention, I might not be able to get another chance like this. There might be a better merchant with an unknown quality of goods that they can offer, but I feel like I will regret not making a Deal with this fella.'
For unknown reason, Jack felt like he had been within this situation before. Piece by piece, his memory helped him to convince on what kind of person he was currently handling.
An enigmatic merchant with a lot of unique treasures, offering not only a price but a mutual agreement to enact some kind of ritual.
The only thing that Jack could think about, is that he was dealing with a devil.
"Alrighty, then. Let's go with this 'deal' you're talking about."