The city of Randall Valley is located at the southwestern end of the Old Continent, and is even farther away from Tobesk than the city of Midhill Castle, so Shad still chose to use the space maze to move this time.
To go to a city without specific road signs, you need to rely on your luck to sacrifice white stone crystals. Fortunately, at the end of the year, Grandma Cassandra gave Shade white stone crystals, and within half a month of repair, he had successfully entrusted Old John to purchase suitable items. That night, after saying goodbye to the two princesses at the opera house, Shade went to Old John's pawn shop.
It was the middle of the New Moon, and it was still deep winter in the city of Tobysk. Because it had snowed heavily a few days ago, only the center of the street was cleared for carriages to pass.
In the streets of deep winter, only gas lamps radiate light and heat. Most citizens go to bed early, and even drunkards know not to walk on the streets in such weather, otherwise once they fall, they probably won't be able to get up again.
When Shade got off the carriage in the snow, the lights were still on in Old John's pawn shop. But when he pushed the door open, there was no one behind the counter. Shade held the cat, held the cat's paw and pressed the bell on the counter, and then the old man hurried in from the back door:
"Oh, it's Shade, did you receive my letter?"
There was some dust on his body, and he had probably been fiddling with his alchemical equipment in the warehouse in the backyard.
"You want a relic that can temporarily increase your luck, but with a small negative effect. This is quite troublesome."
As the old man spoke, he took off his sleeves, then put on his glasses and took out his account book from under the counter:
"Let me confirm. Does it have to be a relic?"
"As long as it can make me lucky temporarily, it'll be fine. But relics are the best choice, because the luck I want... well... must be quite lucky."
"If it weren't for the fact that your exam week is over, I would have thought you were going to cheat on the test."
Old John said, taking out a black and white photo from the account book and handing it to Shade:
"The golden lucky rabbit's foot you used before can't be used often, so this time I recommend this."
He tapped the photo, and Shad saw that it was a conical glass bottle placed on a wet table, with a clover pattern painted on it with ink.
"This is... ... "
"Do you know the White Sacred Tree, the Old God - the Oak God?"
Father John asked, and Shade nodded immediately:
"Of course I know. It is also called the lucky tree. According to legend, it brings luck to people."
Last winter, Dr. Schneider's patient with "paranoia" Mr. James was a believer in this old god (note).
"Yes, yes. Although the gods have gone, some special magical items have survived to the modern era. We know a small group of ring sorcerers called the Hermits of the Forest. They worship trees and collect a branch that is said to be given to mortals by the old god in the Fifth Age. The branch is an extremely powerful magical item. The juice secreted by the branch can be mixed into a magic potion called 'Oak Luck Potion' using special techniques, which can temporarily increase luck."
The old man introduced that the small bottle in the photo probably contained medicine.
"So what's the price of getting lucky?"
Xia De asked again. Although this was not a relic or a derivative of a relic, he always knew that if one manipulated fate, one had to accept the price of fate, and fate was always fair.
Of course, he had already decided to buy the potion, which sounded like it would suit his needs.
"After drinking the potion, you will have a chance to enter the Emerald Dream during your sleep for the next week. You probably haven't heard of this, the Emerald Dream, an angel-level relic, a real dream of nature and the earth. Drinking the Oak Tree's Luck Potion allows you to visit there for a short period of time, which is actually the real purpose of this potion. After all, the luck increased by the potion can only last for a very short time, but visiting the Emerald Dream can allow the soul to get close to nature almost directly under the intrusion of the whispering elements and get acquainted with the concrete spirit of nature. This is an opportunity that many ring sorcerers dream of."
Father John said these things, and Xia De wrote them down carefully:
"Then I will buy this potion. A small bottle is enough. I just need a very short period of luck to allow me to choose the most suitable one among thousands of possibilities."
"Then I can only wish you luck. This potion can only bring you luck, but it can't make your wishes come true."
Old John also made a few entries in the account book:
"The potion will be mailed to you this weekend, so you can pick it up then. The Hermits of the Forest have recently been working with the Church of Nature to repair the environment deep in the Pantanal Swamp that was damaged by evil creatures and wars, so they are not short of money recently. They can give you a discount, and then add the introduction fee for me..."
He did a simple calculation:
"On Friday, you come with 132 pounds. Oh, I know this price is high, and it can even buy a very practical poet-level relic. But you have to know what it means to increase your luck with almost no risk. If you hadn't come to us, I bet you wouldn't have had this opportunity at all."
"Dad, I know this is a good price."
Xia De touched the cat lying on the counter, carefully turned his head to look at the dark night outside the window, and then took out a sealed glass tube from his pocket. The tube was half the size of a little finger and contained a light pink liquid:
"This time I want to trade. A relic derivative, a strange fragrance. Spray it on your body to increase your charm for a short time. Drink it to restore your spirit, but it will make you... ... horny."
"What? Restoration Spirit?"
The old man looked up in surprise and took the thing from Xia De's hand.
This is the liquid obtained from the pink perfume bottle of desire. The passive effect of the perfume bottle extracting desire will always be useful as long as Shade carries it with him. After testing, the liquid that leaves the perfume bottle will gradually decay into ordinary liquid within a week.
Since this thing was directly out of desire, Xia De had never thought of exchanging it for money. But considering that there would be a lot of expenses recently, he took out a small amount.
In fact, the expired "flavors" in his home could almost fill an entire bottle of red wine.
"The effect of this fragrance will weaken over time. Dad, you can take it to a specialist for inspection and then give me a quote."
Xia De pointed to the small bottle:
"I have another bottle there, that's all I have."
"No problem. If it's as effective as you say, it's worth a lot of money."
The old man nodded, still examining the liquid in the bottle under the light, his interest clearly piqued.
Since the lucky potion wouldn't be delivered until the weekend, Shad still had some time to prepare for the upcoming adventure and try to get his own affairs in Tobesk in order.
On Thursday morning, Shade was planning to go to the Prophet's Association to inform Luvia of his recent travel plans, but there was a knock on the door downstairs. When he opened the door, he found a blonde writer outside, and behind him was the scenery of St. Teresa's Square in deep winter, with a pile of snow piled up next to the central fountain.
"Dorothy, is there something going on so early in the morning? Come in quickly. What's the matter? Why didn't you let Leicia tell me last night?"
"Oh, great detective, I came here this time because I have something to ask of you."
She smiled and handed a business card to Xia De:
"My father's local friend asked my father to find you through me. He wants to entrust you to investigate some things."
Shade has become famous in Tobesk recently, so it is normal to want to find him to handle things. And the reason why he went through such a long way instead of going to the door in person is of course because he found him through an acquaintance, so that "Detective Hamilton" can be more attentive.
The business card Dorothy handed over belonged to Professor Martin from St. York's College of Arts in Tobesk. St. York's College of Arts was the best department of arts in the local area and even in the entire Delarion Kingdom, and Professor Louisa worked there.
"Go there in the morning and talk to Professor Martin first... After the investigation is finished, my father also wants to meet you. He has always been curious about you."
After saying that, she blinked at Xia De and then bit her lower lip lightly, half in anticipation and half in shyness.
Xia De opened his mouth slightly, then understood:
"No problem, I'll take care of this as soon as possible... But how should I dress when I go to see your father?"
"Just dress normally. He just thinks we are good friends. Father still remembers the white fox scarf produced in Northern County that you sent to mother as a birthday gift last year. He has always wanted to thank you."
When she said this, she blushed instead. The blonde girl waved at Shade:
"I have something else to do later. Remember to keep a good detective record. Maybe this will be a good story. When you have solved this matter, remember to tell me and I will arrange a meeting between you and your father."
After gently kissing Xia De's cheek, she left with a smile.
Xia De looked down at the business card again:
"A professor of literature... Fortunately it's not folklore or archaeology... What could it be?"
Since they were planning to go out, Shad just changed his shoes and went out after Dorothy left. Mia wanted to stay at home, but Shad thought that he couldn't keep her at home all day, so he took her with him this time. The cat seemed a little unhappy.
St. York's College of Arts is located in the northernmost part of the Tobasic University District. It can even be said that if you climb over the north wall of the College of Arts, you will be in the central urban area of Tobasic.
Professor Martin had already informed the school guards in advance, so Shade could enter directly. When Shade saw the professor, he was writing something in his office which was piled with books and magazines. When Shade sat down at the desk, the professor tidied the desk and sighed to Shade:
"Detective Hamilton, I'm really going to trouble you this time."