"What else could it be?"
Xia De asked curiously, and the three of them stopped at the lakeshore. The calm artificial lake was frozen at this time, and there were paths paved with pebbles and gravel around the lake. The scenery here was indeed nice.
"Keep the flies away from the shore across the lake."
Before Shade could look at the darkness on the other side, Miss Carina had already finished casting the spell. She did not reveal her life ring, nor did she use any spellcasting materials. She simply pointed her right index finger at the other side of the lake and shook it gently, and Shade heard a slight sound like a bubble being popped.
But his keen perception allowed him to notice the terrifyingly hot air stream shooting towards the other side, leaving a distorted optical phenomenon in the night air.
There was no sound or movement, and it seemed as if nothing had happened, but Miss Carina frowned:
"You dare to fight back?"
Pah~
Miss Sylvia snapped her fingers with red nail polish, and a sudden gust of warm wind rose from the ground, as if blowing away something malicious.
Shade didn't know what counterattack the ring warlock on the other side of the lake used, but a short man's scream was heard under the night sky.
Then there was a shaking sound coming from the bushes on the other side of the lake, and three dark figures ran away as if they were running for their lives.
"Don't worry, I've got the sounds of the neighborhood under control."
Miss Carina added that the two witches had no intention of chasing each other, and they didn't care who the other party was.
After sweeping away the flies, the two witches began the ceremony of calling the "Secret Keeper".
Miss Sylvia took out the red lacquered wooden box containing the harmonica, and Miss Carina asked Shad to open the canvas bag.
There were a lot of miscellaneous things in it, and at the bottom was half a bag of rice.
As requested by Miss Carina, Shad scooped out a bowl of rice from the bag and came to the lake while Miss Sylvia played the harmonica.
"Moonlight Song."
The Duchess named the piece.
"Offer food."
Miss Carina said, and Shade poured the bowl of rice into the lake. The rice grains entering the lake only caused slight ripples, and some bubbles floated on the surface of the lake.
"Give me flesh and blood."
Miss Carina continued, and Shade took out a salt-covered duck leg from his pocket, sniffed it, and threw it into the lake. The heavy duck leg entered the lake, glistening on the water, and the splashing sound was not obvious in the sound of the harmonica.
"Gold and silver."
Miss Carina added, and Shad pulled out a handful of rusty silver ornaments from his pocket and threw them into the lake as well.
He was actually worried that this ritual sacrifice might be a little too offensive.
"Give me your soul."
Miss Carina said for the fourth time, and Shade rummaged in his pocket and found a piece of parchment with the word "soul" written all over it. The ink was blue-black, and the parchment was probably from last week. This thing did not have any extraordinary power, it was just a dense copy of the words.
Shade did not act immediately, but looked at the two witches in embarrassment. Miss Sylvia was playing the harmonica with a smile by the lake, and the night wind blew her long skirt. She seemed to enjoy this moment; the Duchess lowered her head slightly and looked at Shade, as if wondering why he stopped.
"Each sacrifice is more outrageous than the last."
Shade said in his heart, and threw the fourth offering, the parchment with the word "soul" written on it, into the lake.
"Offer wisdom."
Miss Carina finally said that this ceremony only required five sacrifices.
The canvas bag was almost empty now, and Shade reached in and grabbed something furry and awful to the touch. It was creepy to pull something like that out in the dark, and rightly so, because it was a pile of hair.
Those were all human long hair, with various colors such as black, red, brown, yellow, etc. Some were naturally curly, while others were standard straight hair.
The hair was not straightened and tied up, but all clumped together. Shade threw those hairs into the lake, and then they were blown back by the wind.
Miss Carina moved her fingers, and the stone on the ground floated to Shade. He tied the stone with his hair and threw it far into the lake.
“Why can hair represent wisdom?”
It was only then that he asked the question.
"Isn't this something that's easy to understand? Overusing your brain can lead to hair loss."
The Duchess said.
"That... ... "
Xia De found that he couldn't refute:
"Where did you pick up all that hair just now?"
"It wasn't picked up. Sylvia and I only received the notice from the parliament this evening. Because time was tight, I asked the servants to collect some hair in the manor. You know, where girls live, there will be a lot of hair. And witches' hair itself is an excellent ritual material."
At this moment, Shade could almost imagine the scene of Tifa and the maids of the manor looking for hair in every corner. He didn't believe that those beautiful witch followers would pull out their hair directly.
Five kinds of sacrifices were offered, and Miss Sylvia continued to play the harmonica in the night, but there was no trace of the elements around her. Miss Carina obviously did not expect this, so she signaled Miss Sylvia to stop and said to Shade:
"The information says that the appearance of the Sage-level relic Prank Boy requires five kinds of sacrifices and then a cheerful scene. Am I wrong in my understanding?"
Humanoid relics are more difficult to contain than other types of relics, so there is relatively little information on them. The information provided by the Witch Council to the two witches is obviously not comprehensive enough.
Xia De thought that "five sacrifices" were definitely enough, but "a joyous scene" might not be achieved by just playing the harmonica.
"Since he is a mischievous boy, Miss Carina, why don't you arrange for someone to perform a farce in Regent's Park tomorrow, or find a circus, nominally to enrich the spiritual entertainment life of the citizens."
He suggested.
"Others have already found this place. We can't waste time."
Although Shade's suggestion was good, Miss Carina still shook her head and refused.
She thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said to Miss Sylvia:
"Emma, answer me a question.
If one night our young detective went out to look for his cat named Mia and met three beautiful blondes in St. Teresa's Square, what do you think he would do if he could give up looking for the cat and spend a pleasant and ridiculous evening with the three blondes
Before Miss Sylvia could speak, the Duchess smiled and said:
"I think Shad will insist on looking for the cat."
"This joke is immoral."
Although this was pointed out, Miss Sylvia, who had short black hair, still covered her mouth and chuckled. When she put her hand down, her red lips, painted with an unknown color of lipstick, drew a seductive curve on her fair cheeks, and her eyes were filled with smiles.
But still nothing happened, only Xia De felt a little unhappy because of being "ridiculed".
"Then change one."
Miss Carina seemed to be interested, and said to Shade with a smile:
“Now there is a relic called the Liar Identifier that can identify lies. If people lie in front of it, it will emit light of different intensities.
So I asked little Ajelina: Have you ever read the color magazines that ladies shouldn't read
She said no, and the relic gave off the light of a gas lamp;
So I asked Tifa: Have you ever done bad things with Shade behind my back
She said no, and the relic radiated the dim winter noon sunlight;
So, I asked Emma... "
She smiled and glanced at Miss Sylvia, who immediately realized that she was the "protagonist" of this event:
"When you were little, did you secretly use your teacher's lipstick to make a ridiculous look on your face? Emma immediately denied it and said, "It's just like I won't covet other people's lovers." Then the relic flashed slightly and then exploded."
Miss Carina couldn't suppress the smile on her face. Although Shade felt that she was hinting at something, he also wanted to laugh. Fortunately, he controlled it. As for the young witch, she was in the same mood as Shade who was teased about the "cat and the girl" just now.
Miss Emma Sylvia was not a witch who would suffer for nothing. Seeing that there was still no movement around her, she smiled equally brilliantly:
"Then it's my turn to tell the joke this time.
One day, the court painter of Delarion painted a beautiful large painting for Duchess Carina Cavendish and named it "The Duchess of Saladil Inspecting Tobesk". The painting was hung in the manor. A curious maid saw the painting and asked the older maid: Who is the handsome gentleman in the painting? The older maid replied: Mr. Shad Suren Hamilton. The younger maid asked again: Who is the lady who is hugging him and kissing him on the bed in the duke's bedroom? The older maid replied: Of course, it is our head maid, Miss Tifa Servet. "
Miss Sylvia smiled and looked at Miss Carina beside her:
"The young maid finally asked: "And where is our Duke?" The older maid pointed to the plaque on the painting: "The Duchess of Saladil is inspecting Tobesk."
Miss Carina pursed her lips and looked at her with a cold face. Miss Sylvia, not to be outdone, also looked at Miss Carina.
Shade was holding back his laughter. Although this joke also involved him, it was indeed very funny. The two witches who were "joking" with each other were not in such a good mood at the moment. Miss Carina, who was ridiculed, did not realize that she was the first to do so. She sneered and wanted to speak again. Miss Sylvia was also thinking of another joke, but Shade stopped them:
“Here it comes!”