When he had followed the girl and entered the room, Adam had expected to find himself in some standardized office room. But what he found was all the opposite.
The first thing that attracted his attention was the sound of waves, the scent of the sea, and the fresh but slightly salty breeze.
He looked around in curiosity. The room he entered following the young girl was something long to find himself on what looked like a private beach.
The sand was yellow and well-taken care of, the sea was blue and seemed to go as far as the eyes could see and there was even a blue sky and a sun above them.
A little further, he could see a very large and luxurious bungalow with a large terrace and a few comfy chairs.
"You coming?"
Adam snapped out of his reverie and asked,
"This….Where are we?"
"Hum…This is my house. I don't really like traveling to work and I hate staying in America so I had them build a dimensional portal that connected the bureau to my place. Pretty simple."
"Simple?"
Adam had heard many things, but this took the cake. Thanks to Makarov, he was not ignorant about those dimensional gates but still…
"You must be thinking I am quite extravagant, right?" She grinned as she indicated Adam to take place on the Sofa while she entered the house and took some juice.
"This is a potion I created. Mixed a few special fruits."
Adam looked at the juice with suspicion and used the eyes of Akasha on it. Surprisingly it worked.
[Name: Unnamed juice
Composition: Ansault Pear; Taliaferro Apple; Kalimantan Mango.]
'I can do this?'
He nearly choked in surprise at this sight but what surprised him even more was,
"So you can use Appraisal? No…It seems to be a higher level than what I felt when you observed me. I could only partially block it. Hum. Well, no matter. There is so many observation skills in this world."
Adam narrowed his eyes, calmly washing over him as he put back down the juice and looked at the woman who called herself Piaget Freud. Then he gave a simple smile,
"Is my skill so obvious?"
"Calm, measured, nearly no obvious reaction. Interesting."
She ignored him and began to scribble on her notepad before nodding to herself,
"Before we begin. No. Observation-type skills are so rare nowadays, only old people who have studied magic actually have protection set against them."
"So you are also an apostle?"
She gave a sneer at this question, "I was."
Her eyes became distant for an instant. She was obviously a woman with a story to tell. But also obviously had no reason to share this story with him.
She went back to her note and pulled Adam's file. "Okay. I believe we should go to the official introduction before continuing this."
She cleared her throat, "I am Doctor Piaget Freud. I specialize in Biocybernetic, Alchemy, Biology, and many other such things. I have probably more degrees than the number of years you have lived."
She gave a thin smile at this, "Today, I will work as your Psychologist and determine whether or not you are fit to become a hunter. Any questions so far?"
"So, is it a coincidence your name is composed of the family name of two psychologists?"
In order to obtain the Snake Tongue, Adam had to study and increase his understanding of psychology and psychoanalysis. It was impossible to study such a domain and not see the name of famous forefathers of this disciple such as Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget.
She gave a smile, one that was much more open, "I was friends with Piaget and Freud. They were also my students."
She chuckled a little, "A little too naughty. But it was cute in a way."
Adam's eye slightly twitched but he otherwise showed no other reaction. Jean Piaget was born in 1896 and died in 1980 while Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 and died in 1939.
"You are calm even now. When people learn how old I am they usually freak out a bit. This is quite disappointing I must say."
"Sorry for not giving you amusement."
He had seen the two mothers of humanity and was the son of the second man to ever exist. In terms of seniority, Adam was technically the uncle of humanity. No matter how old she was, technically she was the one who should address him with respect.
[How shameless]
'Doesn't mean it isn't true.'
Piaget, ignoring the banter that was going on inside her patient's mind shook her head.
"Oh don't be. I initially came here simply because I was curious about something but I am now pretty interested."
She arranged a strand of her hair and continued, "Now then. Could you introduce yourself? Who are you?"
"Is it necessary?"
Piaget simply smiled and looked at him. The contest lasted a while but in the end Adam decided that the last thing he wanted to do was to try entering a waiting contest with someone who had an alias like 'One who witnessed the end of civilizations' or 'Gazed in the abyss.'
"My name is Adam Gospel."
"Anything else?"
"I am the son of Camelia Gospel and a law student. I am currently a prospective hunter as well it seems."
"I see. Very interesting. But…I asked…Who are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You see Adam. When people are asked who they are, they all give their names and believe they have answered the question. Thing is…They didn't."
She looked up, "A name is beautiful. It's the first true identity we are given at birth. But at the same time, a name is nothing more than a way to identify yourself when thrown into a group. Your name, your mother's name, or what you are studying. None of this truly tells me who you are."
"Do psychologists have to be so roundabout? ?"
"What can we do? It pays to be mysterious."
She nodded and scribbled in her notepad, "Since you are uncomfortable with this question. Let's take baby steps, shall we? I will ask more standard questions and then we will do a morality test where you will tell me how you would react in different scenarios I will give you."
She looked at the sea, and took a deep breath, "You are free to lie or tell the truth. Just know that this may or may not affect my final decision. Can I start?"
"I am ready whenever you are."
"Very well then, tell me, Adam. Why do you wish to become a hunter?"
'Because I want to farm karma, obtain governmental advantage, and increase my influence.'
"Because I believe in justice and wish to protect the weak."
She tilted her head at this before chuckling, "Mind manipulation? No, this is nothing so advanced. Mind inducement?"
She smiled, "You have quite an interesting skill set I must say. I know for a fact that you are lying. But when I listen to you, I feel like you are telling the truth. How intriguing. The fact that it even breached my mental defense astounds me."
She looked at him and her eyes seemed to shine slightly. "You…in your file, you said you are worshiping a god called The World, right?"
Adam stoped.
Piaget had given him a clear hint. She could detect lie from truths. This was the very reason why he had bought the Silver tongue skill. But it looked like it hadn't been enough.
"The World is my principal source of power. I obtained my power thanks to meeting a very powerful and old entity. I do not know if that person is a god or not. But they might as well be in my opinion."
"I see. The World."
Piaget muttered. She could detect no falsehood in his words and this got her thinking. Entities who dared to use Titles related to the Major Arcana were few and far between.
'Is it a new god? Or perhaps a mischievous celestial? I felt he was observing something.'
She laughed, "Adam, oh Adam. This was supposed to be just a surprise. But like Russian dolls, there is a new layer every time I dig."
Her face flushed as she looked at him, her breath became somewhat rough and Adam could see her emotion change from curiosity to extreme interest. She was showing all the traits of someone who was completely in heat. But the words that followed completely shocked him.
"Tell me, Adam — Would you accept becoming my lab rat?"
Adam looked at the crazy woman in front of him with bewilderment. Even when asking such a question, he could feel absolutely no malice or ill will coming from her.
There was pure excitement in her eyes. Like an innocent child having fun burning the wings of a butterfly.
It seemed like the title of Mad Scientist was well-earned.
"I refuse."
Adam decided then and there that after this he would make sure to never meet this woman again.
[1] So this is another warning. I know by now I don't really have to. No readers who reached here would be offended by anything but here – The historical figures in my work will be different from the real ones. Those who know Fate or Marvel and DC know how anime, manga, comics, or movies like to twist some historical figure and add a touch of magic here and there. Like how Hitler was a Master who participated in a holy war in Fate grand order or how Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter in that old movie, or how Einstein is a blue-haired short woman in Honkai Impact.
This is a work of pure fiction whose goal is for readers to have fun.
(AN: A very chaotic chapter for a Chaotic woman. I wonder what is your opinion of Piaget? Also, has anyone guessed her true identity? If someone does there will be a bonus chapter the next day.)