At two-thirty that afternoon, Shade, who was at home, did not wait for a reply from Miss Carina. Instead, someone knocked on the door downstairs.
When I opened the door, I saw a four-wheeled carriage parked at the door. There was no one in the carriage, but the driver, who was holding a cigarette, gave Shade a note. On it was Miss Carina's beautiful handwritten cursive letters, and asked Shade to get in the car directly.
see her.
It seems that the great witch is also very interested in Shade's request for a visit.
The carriage carried Shade through the sweltering city, along the road that Shade had walked once before, to Miss Carina's manor outside the city. The last time we came here was at night, and the unusual heavy fog made Shade suspicious.
Is this a "witch's house"? But during the day, I can't see anything unusual.
The suburban manor under the sun seemed to have just been washed, and the tiles on the roof shone in the afternoon sun. The lawn was trimmed to almost the same height. After the carriage drove in from the main entrance, Shade could see in the distance.
There is a team of servants building a big tree in the courtyard.
He once again had a new understanding of Miss Carina's financial resources.
Compared with the royal family's splendid manor house, the interior decoration of Miss Carina's house is relatively "simple". The only thing worthy of praise are the oil paintings on the corridor walls. She probably likes the scenery from all over the world. Those paintings look expensive.
The oil paintings are all landscapes, and none of them are portraits.
The meeting place was the study on the second floor. When Shade knocked on the door and entered, in addition to the duchess and the maid, there was also a middle-aged woman wearing a white shirt and a ladies' formal skirt who was reporting taxes.
Miss Carina waved her hand and asked the middle-aged woman to go out first. When the latter passed by Shade, she nodded to him, with indescribable curiosity in her eyes.
"Good afternoon, Miss Carina."
"Good afternoon, detective. I haven't spent a summer in Tobesk for several years. It rained just yesterday, and it's so hot today... Let's do it here. Tifa, afternoon tea."
After Shade sat down on the sofa, the duchess behind the desk also came to the sofa. The maid Tifa led a team of maids and pushed the dining cart to bring afternoon tea and snacks.
From the window of the study room, you can see the outline of the manor courtyard, and if you look further into the distance, you can see the vague appearance of the city buildings. In autumn, if the weather is windy, there will be golden wheat waves on the farmland outside the manor.
It's really nice to sit here and look at the scenery.
“It’s really nice here.”
Shade praised softly, and the duchess sat on the single sofa opposite Shade in a very relaxed posture. She waved the maids except Miss Tifa to leave first, and then looked at Shade's outfit today:
"Detective, I didn't expect that you and your friends would be in trouble with the Silver Eyed Man so soon."
Before the Sunday banquet, Shade revealed his thoughts and the letter also stated that he wanted to seek help.
"Yes, people from the [Blood Spirit School] will arrive later. We don't want to deal with so many people at the same time."
"That's right, so what are your plans now?"
The Duchess asked, Shade thought for a moment and nodded:
"On Thursday night, the church is going to encircle and suppress the cultists who believe in the [Lord of the Blood Feast]. We will take advantage of the mercury blood people to be attracted, rush into the underground ruins, and kill the silver-eyed ones."
After a pause to confirm that he had no other ideas, he nodded:
"That's the plan."
The red-haired duchess tilted her head and looked at him:
"This plan of yours is really...concise."
She laughed, but not in a mocking way:
"It's good to have your own plan. A simple plan is less likely to go wrong. I'm happy to help you, so what kind of help do you want from me? First of all, you have to understand that the church now has a thirteen-ring warlock in the city.
, it’s impossible for me to take action directly.”
"No, no, you don't need to take action directly. I want to borrow some relics that I can use and return them after the matter is over. I can mortgage [Creation Silver Moon] with you."
Shade said immediately.
"Forget it as a mortgage, but what price can you pay to convince me to lend you the relic?"
The Duchess asked, Shade looked at her expression:
"What do you need me to do this time?"
Miss Carina smiled, bent down and picked up the tea cup:
"The reason why the Righteous God Church chose this time on Thursday night is because that night, the cultists will gather together to hold a banquet with [Mercury Blood] and call on the evil god again."
Shade's expression became serious, he really didn't know about this.
"This time they are trying to make the gods come to the material world as saints, and the human body is the missing Mr. Lawrence you investigated last time. But don't worry, the church has a complete grasp of their action plan, action time, and actions
location, figured out the organizational status of the entire sect, and obtained a list of people related to this matter. On Thursday night, led by the thirteen-ring warlock from the Church of the Sun, he personally handled the site of the sacrifice, and the church
The Ring Warlock team is searching the entire city for the people on the list."
"Something like what happened at Lakeview, but this time the church is in control... but what does that have to do with me?"
Shade asked hesitantly:
"Miss Carina, you don't want me to stop the evil god...".
"Oh, detective, don't be stupid, I just want you to go, can you do it?"
The Duchess shook her head and tapped her fingers on the teacup in her hand:
"I need you to attend this party and get an item."
She said, and Shade looked at her seriously to confirm that the other party was not joking:
"Sorry, even if I don't mention whether I should show up on that occasion, and I don't have time, Thursday is also the time for us to take action."
"It doesn't matter, I will arrange people to assist you at the banquet. After you get it, you can leave immediately in a carriage. I will be responsible for the aftermath. To be honest, if [Mercury Blood] hadn't guessed that there is a big witch in Tobesk, be careful
Looking at suspicious women, it would be more appropriate to let Tifa do this."
Miss Carina said, the maid beside her didn't show any expression.
"Then what do you need me to get?"
"[Metamorphosis Ring]."
"Huh? That's not..."
"Yes, it was taken in by the Peace Church. In order to allow its own hands to infiltrate the cultists, the church deliberately made the ring 'accidentally lost'."
There was a smile in the duchess's golden eyes:
"So, this gives me an opportunity. I have already organized my people and made a plan. At that banquet, there were not only cultists and people from the Zhengshen Church, but also my people. You just need to follow the plan, and the ring will
It was easy to get. Oh, by the way, the excuse for holding the banquet is to donate money to the Tobesk University District, and there will be an auction at that time. No matter what you buy, I can help you pay for it later."
"This...will you be there then?"
Xia De didn't care about the good thing about being paid by others to attend the auction. He cared more about his own safety.
The witch saw what he meant:
"I was not present, and the church notified a very small number of members of the royal family to keep us away from the banquet on Thursday night. Therefore, I was able to learn about the incident in advance and conduct an investigation."
She narrowed her eyes:
"I won't force you to go, but if you agree, once you get the ring, according to our previous agreement, you can ask any question about the [Witch Council] at will. As long as I know, I will definitely answer. In addition to lending you the relics
In addition, I promise that after this, you will have my complete trust. Also, please give me your hand."
"What's the meaning?"
Shade didn't know why, but he still stood up and stretched out his hand across the coffee table, and Miss Carina grabbed his wrist.
"Again?"
He tried to break free a few times, but he couldn't break free:
"Don't worry about safety. Do you know why? Detective."
Those dark golden eyes looked at Shade. Shade looked at the maid hesitantly. The latter shook her head, not knowing what she meant.
"have no idea."
"Because, after finally meeting you, the only man who is not affected by the witch's curse, I am not willing to let you die easily in such a trivial matter."
This sentence was so convincing that Xia De stopped worrying:
"Actually, you can let me go and talk again."
He reminded, the witch smiled at him, and then let go of his hand:
"Tifa will show up at Thursday's banquet, as well as several other of my servants. Even if you really encounter big trouble, you can escape unscathed. After the incident is over, I will arrange a carriage to take you away without delaying you.
thing."
"That's no problem. I will attend the banquet on Thursday."
Shade nodded and looked at the red mark on his wrist. The duchess's hand was really strong.
Although the temporarily added tasks will make things a little more complicated on Thursday night, there is no need to worry too much since we are so well prepared.
"Well, as for the relics you want to borrow..."
She didn't let Tifa, the maid, get anything. Instead, she leaned on the sofa and thought about it for a while, then reached out and took off the gold necklace she was wearing around her neck.
The necklace is luxurious and exquisite. The gold chain is woven into a rhombus pattern and wrapped with a ruby.
Miss Carina signaled the maid to hand the necklace to Shade. The black-haired maid looked very surprised, but still did as she was told. As for Shade, when she took the necklace, she could even feel the body temperature on it.
"This is the gift I got when I officially joined the Witch Council. Detective, guess the level."
"Hmm...Secret Keeper Level (Level 3)?"
"No, it's a sage-level (level 2) relic [ancient witch's gold necklace]. After wearing it, you can get an improvement in the effect of any thaumaturgy or spell used on non-witch objects. It's too dangerous a relic.
I can't give it to you. There is a risk of losing control. Most of the relics without risk are of little use. But I think this one should be just right. After all, you have already demonstrated your mastery of Silver Moon Magic in Lakeview Manor. With that,
With this necklace, your thaumaturgic effects can be further enhanced."
"Sage level..."
Shade couldn't help but marvel. It was not that he had never seen the world before, but this was the first time he had encountered a true sage-level relic (note). Sage-level relics would not be circulated on the black market and were truly valuable.
City. A self-circulated warlock like the doctor has never even touched a single sage-level relic.
He lowered his head and looked carefully. Except for the ruby, the entire necklace was made of gold. The golden chains clung to each other, forming a pattern and a sentence at the same time: