"No, no, of course I am willing to go to the opera. I am just curious. Although the curfew has been lifted next Saturday, aren't places where people gather like this open under control?"
Of course, the subsequent impact of the evil god's arrival will not disappear so easily, so Shade is curious.
"The royal family requested the opening. This seems to involve a conflict between the church and the royal family. I don't know very clearly. In short, Shade, do you accept the invitation?"
Miss Louisa asked again.
"Of course, I haven't seen the opera yet."
Shade nodded, and then asked suspiciously:
"The thing you said you were going to do at the Queen Maria Opera House is not to collect relics, is it?"
"Where are there so many relics for me to collect? Do you think they are things that can be encountered casually?"
Miss Louisa smiled and asked, and then explained:
"I'm going to pick up the goods. I asked someone to bring back some sensitive things from other places. There won't be any surprises. Xia De, the number of recorded relics does not exceed five digits. We are not people chosen by fate. Where can we go?
Will you often encounter relics?"
"Speaking of which, Miss Louisa, do you know that an angel-level (level 1) relic went out of control in the town under Tobesk? This proves that the danger is actually very close to us."
Shade has already put little Mia aside. The cat's body temperature is higher than that of humans. Holding it in Xia De is like holding a small stove. Now he is holding the water glass again.
"Speaking of relics getting out of control..."
The blonde female writer glanced at Shade, with a smile in her green eyes:
"My friend Princess Lesia is now in Coldwater Port. She wrote to me and told me that there have also been bad incidents of relics getting out of control in Coldwater Port. It is said that they are sage-level (level 2) relics with strong curses. They are a batch of relics.
Mermaid statue.”
"Ahem."
Shade, who was drinking water, choked:
"Any more news?"
"Lecia said that the first group of people who were cursed all died, but the last person died not from the curse, but from a gunshot."
Miss Louisa said while observing Shade's expression. Shade lowered his head to wipe his mouth with a towel and did not notice that she was looking at him.
"Are you interested in this matter? There is also some news. It is said that the church believed that the dock dispatcher who died after being shot was very valuable. Maybe the strange ritual he arranged really caused something, so he performed a divination on the cause of his death."
Shade nodded. He was carrying the [Twenty-sided Dice of Destiny] and was not afraid of divination at all:
"I guess something should be divined?"
"Because I was worried about the interference of the relics, I specially asked the diviners from the local Oracle Association to help this time. I also used a large-scale ceremony to assist, and even used a clerical-level relic to assist."
Miss Louisa said in a soft voice.
[The Twenty-sided Dice of Destiny] can interfere with destiny, but there are no other ways to clear the fog.
"So what's the end result?"
he asked.
Miss Louisa lowered her voice and said:
"The divination was very vague, but we still got a few important clues."
She glanced at Shade's expression, put the pen in her hand into the gap of the notebook, flicked her wrist and said:
"The fact that the murderer came to the dock dispatcher's home has a lot to do with the seemingly ineffective pentagram ceremony."
Shade did decide to investigate after seeing the blood stains on the ceiling.
"The murderer comes from the ocean."
Shade did crawl out of the sea.
"The murderer came from far away."
Shade indeed traveled from the distant Tobesk to Coldwater Harbor.
"The murderer used the power of the evil god."
Shade indeed used the spell "Underwater Breathing" from the "God of the Drowned in the Deep Sea".
"Before the murderer went away, his body almost merged with the fish."
Shade did indeed hold a fish and travel through space.
He was very surprised that the divination was so accurate. Although he knew that the church still could not know that it was him, he was still a little worried. Shade hesitantly explored:
"So the church believes that the murderer of the last deceased person was..."
Miss Louisa smiled and shook her head:
"These details are not very clear, and the divination is not 100% correct. The church only makes guesses."
"Guess?"
"The murderer is a terrifying fish-man from the deep sea who was favored by the evil god and summoned by a ritual."
Miss Louisa carefully observed Shade's expression and felt a little disappointed when she saw that Shade had no expression.
At this time, Shade had turned his head slightly to look at the window. Outside was the dim dusk scenery, which made him involuntarily think of the vampire's words of sublimation.
"It turns out that this information can be pieced together to piece together such outrageous news."
Shade sighed softly in his heart.
He had decided not to go to Coldwater Port in the near future. As a detective in Tobesk, he thought it was better not to get involved with the troublesome things in the distant city.
Of course, the most important thing is that the sage-level relic is out of control and has no profit for him. Only when he goes crazy will he go all the way to Coldwater Port just to put himself in danger.
Miss Louisa didn't mention that seaport city again after that, but casually lamented that her friend Princess Lesia was very bored in Coldwater Port City now, and it would be great if she could have friends to visit her.
It's a pity that Shade didn't have enough clues and couldn't figure out what the blonde writer meant.
During the rest, he also talked about the story about the two ghosts in the cemetery, which quickly diverted Miss Louisa's attention. She listened quietly to Shade's experience in the rain in the cemetery, and then
I also looked at the picture of Moon Dance Festival:
"Xia De, you know that I plan to serialize a detective collection in the newspaper after the exam week. I have decided to use this story as the opening chapter... Don't worry, the specific plot will not be exactly the same, and it will not let anyone know.
The old lady saw it."
With the touching story, she could easily temporarily forget about Princess Lesia.
Because of the night curfew, Miss Louisa could not stay at Shard's place for a long time. After dinner together, the blonde girl left, not forgetting to remind him to remember the exam next week.
Shade took advantage of his free time at night to sort out his tax returns. It was almost the end of the month, and he needed to file a tax return with the Tobesk Tax Bureau. A legally operating detective agency could not evade taxes.
But five minutes after the blonde girl left, there was a knock on the door downstairs again.
It was not dark yet, so Shade couldn't guess who would visit him at this time.
After opening the door downstairs, what he saw was Priest Augustus. The dim sunset behind him coated the priest's body with a layer of gold.
Behind him is Saint Teresa Square, where people are coming and going. Pigeons are parked in the square to be fed by people. Shade has always felt that the pigeons living in the square probably have a better life than little Mia living in the house.
Comfortable:
"Priest? Why do you have time to visit me? Come in quickly."
With the cat behind his legs, Shade warmly invited the priest to come in. When the two sat down at the coffee table covered with ledgers and contracts, the priest seemed to be in a very bad mood. He didn't even care that Shade's family was obviously a bit low-key.
temperature:
"Shadow, do me a favor."
When the priest came to the door, he was carrying a wine bottle wrapped in newspaper. The straw rope was tied to the outside of the newspaper and eventually extended upward to become a handle. It was a very coincidental coincidence that the page facing the outside of the newspaper was the one posted three days ago.
Photo of the mayor of Beske City giving a public speech.
If Shade remembers it correctly, that speech was related to this summer's recruitment campaign. Fortunately, the total war has stopped and the kingdom is no longer recruiting troops on a large scale. Shade does not have to worry about suddenly receiving a recruitment notice one day and carrying it directly.
Pack your bags and head to the front line.
"That's not right. I am an agent of MI6 and I am part of the Royal Army. The recruitment notice is completely useless to me."
Thinking of this, my mood suddenly became very good.
The old priest with a grimace tore open all the layers of newspapers on the outside of the bottle, and then Shade saw that inside the dark glass wine bottle was a pure white cat that was even smaller than Mia.
But no matter how small it was, its body was inevitably deformed when it was squeezed into the wine bottle. It was impossible to tell whether the cat inside was alive or dead. It was stuffed in the bottle with its eyes closed and motionless.
"Meow~"
The orange cat that was originally lying on the sofa suddenly jumped up. This cat has always been quite repulsive to the same kind. Shade heard about it when he first picked it up in the pet store. Later, he was picked up by St. Teresa.
After temporarily living in the square, as long as Shade hugs other cats outside, he will definitely hear the "vicious" sound of the small orange cat when he returns home.
"I'm curious, priest, how the cat got stuck in there?"
Shade stared cautiously at the wine bottle filled with cats.
"Don't look at the joke, Shade. You must have noticed that this is not a cat at all."
The priest grabbed the wine bottle with the cork and shook it vigorously a few times. Then the "white cat" melted into the bottle and turned into more than half of the bottle's milk-like liquid.
Shade was greatly surprised. Although people joked that cats are liquids, what he saw was a bit too exaggerated. Mia stood on the sofa in horror and looked at the bottle, then at Priest August, and then
He ran behind Shade and hid.
The cat probably misunderstood something and mistook Priest August for the cat murderer.
"What is this? A relic?"
Shade comforted the timid cat, and then reached out to touch the dark brown glass wine bottle, but felt no trace of the whispering element.
"Where can one encounter a relic so easily? This is a magic potion, or in other words, a precursor to the potion... Just think of it as a semi-finished product."
The old priest explained that he saw that the liquid had the tendency to turn into a cat again, so he picked it up and shook it again:
"Magic potion - [Cat in a Bottle], humans can turn into cats in a short time after drinking it."
"Meow?"
The orange cat behind Shade poked its head out to look at him, its pointed ears pointed and its big amber eyes staring at the wine bottle.
"Priest, you can actually prepare this kind of magic potion?"
Shade asked with admiration on his face.
"Of course not, what are you thinking about? I am only a second-level magician. Even few people in St. Byrons can make this top-notch magic potion that can change the body of a magician. This is an expired potion I bought from the black market.
I wanted to study the potion as part of my course report. But after I got it, I discovered that not only was it expired for at least thirty years, but there were also some terrible things mixed into the potion."
The priest's face became serious:
"Look carefully, is there something black like velvet inside the white liquid?"
Shade picked up the wine bottle, shook the liquid that was about to condense into a cat, and looked around for a while before he saw:
"Yes, indeed there is."
"This is a mixture of curses. This thing exists in the potion. I'm worried that sooner or later, this potion will give birth to something more terrifying. So, I used some methods to perform an exorcism in the church."
Although Priest Augustus is not a church magician, as a senior clergyman, it is impossible for him to not know any exorcism techniques.
"Does it work?"
"It works. When I first got this bottle of potion, at least one-fifth of the contents inside was black. At that time, I thought it was mold. It wasn't until I discovered that it had a strange reaction when it came into contact with our Lord's Holy Emblem that I realized
It's a curse. But I can only do this. I still remember Louisa saying that you can also exorcise demons, so I want to ask you for help. If it still doesn't work, I can only hand it over to the academy for processing.
"
He pointed to the bottle, and Mia Cat and Shade looked at the contents inside with great interest. When the milk-colored pure white liquid gradually formed the shape of a cat, it did not change its shape like plasticine, but first changed from
The internal organs began to take shape, and they looked very disgusting.
"Exorcism? No problem."
Shade looked around, stood up and picked up his coat from the hanger at the door. Holding the bottle in his right hand, he wrapped his coat around his right hand:
"Priest Augustus, please don't look directly at my hand. Silver Moon!"
The bright light shines through the black fabric, but because it is blocked, it is not dazzling.
"If it doesn't take much, try it a few more times."
The priest touched his chin and suggested. Shade nodded, and then the clothes in his hand continued to glow frequently. He didn't know what was enough, so he counted twenty times before stopping.
Put the wine bottle in front of your eyes and observe that there are no traces of black in the white liquid, but there are some black solid precipitates at the bottom of the bottle. They look very heavy, and you have to shake the bottle vigorously to float, but they will not dissolve.
.
"Is this okay?"
He handed the bottle to the priest. The old priest looked at it for a long time and finally smiled:
"Very good, that's it. The liquid on the top is the expired semi-finished potion, and the solid below is the curse combination. After I separate it, it can be used as precious casting materials... I have
A very good curse spell. Thank you, Shade, for your hard work."
"It's just a small matter. Oh, priest, actually I also have something to ask you. I want to try to prepare some joy potions and eternal sleep water next week. I need your guidance. I wonder if you have time?"
"What's the practical content of Potions class in the first grade? Of course, it's very simple. Go to the church and see me on Wednesday morning. Bishop Owen just wants to talk to you."
As he said this, he stood up and prepared to say goodbye. The curfew time was coming soon and he couldn't stay long.
"Wednesday, right?"
Shade stood up, and Mia immediately followed.
Going downstairs with Priest Augustus, the two talked about next week's exams and the Feast of Holy Prayer.
The old priest also had a headache about the exam, and what he complained about was not the exam itself:
"I get a headache when I think about exams. At this age, I still have to take exams. When I was young, I never thought that such a thing would happen."
"So when you were young, how did you think you would spend your old age?"
Shade helped Priest August open the door, and the priest put the hat on his head:
"I have some savings of my own, and then with the help of the church, I can find a job in the government welfare department that can get paid without working. It is best to have a weekly salary of more than half a pound. I have a house of my own in Tobesk, and drink every day.
Have a cup of tea and read the newspaper, maybe raise a cat like you... Look, Shade, how do I feel that you now have achieved what I wanted for myself when I was young?"
Having said this, the old priest himself laughed. He reached out and patted Shade on the shoulder, and then walked out of the door.
The afterglow of the setting sun had reached the roof of the house across the square, and the bright golden light in front of him made Shade subconsciously squint his eyes. Priest Augustus went away facing the sunset, while Shade stood at the door holding the door and watching him.
Back view:
"It would be great if I could be as handsome as Priest Augustus when I get older."
When the priest was young, he envied Shard's current life, and the young Shard envied the life of the old priest. This made Shard think more about life in a foreign land.
【What are you thinking?】
Shade closed the door gently, shutting out the sunlight and the square.
"Even in this world, having a house of your own is the most important symbol of a successful life."