After the waiter left, Mr. Rendell lowered his voice and asked Shade, his brown eyes looking at the young detective across the table.
"I am looking for you, we are the same."
Shade hinted at his identity as a ring warlock. He put his hands together on the table. On the table between the two of them, candles were burning on the golden candlestick. This was of course not for lighting. The one above his head was disguised as a crystal gas chandelier.
It is the source of light, candles are just decoration.
The yellowish light illuminated their faces, allowing them to see each other's eyes.
"I'm looking for a ritual recently."
Shade also lowered his voice to prevent others from hearing:
"It's a very ancient ritual, so I need the help of an ancient organization like yours. I have no ill intentions towards you, otherwise I would not reveal my identity."
Mr. Rendall nodded hesitantly:
"In this day and age, not many people know about us. You seem very friendly and have no intention of hiding your identity. So what do you need?"
"this."
Shade took out the notebook from his coat pocket, tore off the dog-eared page and handed it to the other party. The latter glanced at it and frowned slightly:
"You actually think we have something like this? You know what it is."
He glanced around nervously, which gave Shade the illusion that the two of them were secret agents:
"Besides you, I can't think of anyone else who can have it. Can you find this? If so, please make an offer."
He pressed his left arm on the table and made a inviting gesture with his right hand.
"I can't answer you directly. I have to ask my companions for help. After all, I don't have a library in my head. As for the offer, Mr. Hamilton, if you can tell us where you know about our existence, then I can promise you,
The knowledge you want can be sold to you at the lowest price."
Mr. Rendall spoke very seriously. Although he was not a professor, his constant contact with the school made him look like the kind of qualified upper-class gentleman mentioned in the book.
"The Key to Time."
Shade's face remained unchanged and he said the answer he had already thought of:
"During the time travel of the Fifth Era, I saw your organization at the front end of the long river of time, and heard about you. I even heard one of you say with my own ears that you will be the best before the final doomsday comes.
You have always existed and always insisted on your own opinions. That’s why I thought of looking for you in this era. Being lucky enough to find out about the Light Guide Club and then contact you is also a good luck that I didn’t expect. Maybe the arc of fate is pulling me.
us."
Although there are lies, most of them are still true. As for this weird way of speaking with a lot of modifying adjectives, Shade learned it from Luvia, which can make others think that he looks powerful.
Shade gave his excuse, but Mr. Rendall did not speak immediately. For a long time, he nodded slightly, but always looked at Shade:
"Okay, I can accept this reason, and I think other people in the Priory can also accept it. I didn't expect that we would be exposed for such a reason. Please don't tell the second person about the Guiding Light Priory."
"No problem, please keep my identity secret."
So Mr. Rendall excused himself to go to the bathroom and passed Shade's piece of paper to his companion waiting outside. The two sat at the table chatting and eating their own food. Half an hour later, Mr. Rendall suddenly got up.
.When I came back again, I didn’t take anything in my hands.
"What, no news?"
Shade asked.
"There is information you want, but it cannot be recorded on paper, here."
The middle-aged man pointed to his head. His body was sitting very upright. It was obvious from a glance that he often attended such occasions:
"Although we have never liked to expose ourselves since the Sixth Age, the principle of fair trade has never changed. I believe you also know the value of this ritual, and our asking price is"
"Wait a minute, I want to know the completeness of the ceremony."
Shade interrupted, and Mr. Rendell thought for a moment:
"If you only rely on the parts we know, you will definitely not be able to complete the ritual. But if you have some information in your hands, you can corroborate each other and complete the missing parts."
"What I care about is the last part, what is to be accomplished at the end of the ceremony."
This is the key. What Miss Feliana lost was the last part of the ceremony.
"We have this part of the information, and the information is hidden in a fairy tale. If you want all the information, it's 1,300 pounds. If you just want the fairy tale name and interpretation of the last ceremony, it's 430 pounds."
Strictly speaking, this is indeed the lowest price. Even if the ceremony is incomplete, it is a god-summoning ceremony after all, and any knowledge related to "gods" is expensive. This is a premium phenomenon accepted by ring magicians.
"Be on the safe side. I want them all. Can I get them on credit?"
Shade asked embarrassedly. Mr. Rendall obviously did not expect him to say this. He shook his head regretfully:
"Sorry, detective of St. Teresa Square, we only accept cash. Of course, we also accept relics, but the specific valuation needs to be discussed."
It's a pity that Shade doesn't have any consumable relics in his hand. Dorothy still has a scale from a drowned murloc, but that thing Shade still has use for.
"Is it okay to trade tomorrow? I'm going to raise some money. You also know that 1,300 pounds is not a small amount. At six o'clock tomorrow evening, go to No. 6 Saint Teresa Square."
He wanted to sell the bottle of fish-man's elixir to Miss Carina. But the Duchess was not that easy to meet. He needed to write a letter to inform her of some circumstances first.
"No, no, I will not enter a stranger's home in a strange environment."
Mr. Rendall waved his hand hurriedly and thought for a while:
"Tomorrow evening, at sunset, next to the fountain in St. Teresa Square, I will hold the document bag containing the information, and you will hold the box containing the money. We will pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other."
"Can."
After finishing their respective food, Mr. Shade and Mr. Rendall also paid the bill separately, but Mr. Rendall took the initiative to pay the tip.
Dorothy did not appear immediately after Shade left the restaurant, but waited until he turned into St. Teresa's Square before catching up from the night mist behind him.
"Thank you for your hard work. Fortunately, nothing happened this time."
Shade didn't forget to thank her. Dorothy shook her head and said it was nothing, and then asked him if the transaction was successful.
The next night, Shade continued to study the story "Kiss of the Tree" with the female writer. There were too many versions of this ancient fairy tale, and there was even a version in which the princess and the ancient tree met their end in the light of fire.
Dorothy liked this ending very much.
At the same time, Dorothy is also using Shade's spiritual runes to better grasp the power of "The Little Match Girl" before the promotion ceremony at the end of this year.
Because of Dorothy's unreserved help, the study of "Tree Kiss" progressed much faster than Shade's "Crazy Light Chaser" which he watched alone. He had a hunch that maybe the magic talisman of "Tree Kiss"