At 9:30 in the evening, the audience applauded the actors who lined up in three rows on the stage in costumes for the curtain call. Luvia's face was flushed and she looked very excited, while Shad woke up from a short sleep and realized that the opera was over.
He tried his best to hold back his rude yawns, and as the curtain slowly closed and the audience left their seats while discussing enthusiastically, he said to Luvia:
"It's over? It's really fast."
"You slept almost a third of the time, of course it's fast."
The two followed the crowd and left from the right door. At the entrance of the opera house's grand lobby, Miss Bernardes's maid had been waiting there for a long time and was about to lead them backstage, but at this time, Shade heard a noisy sound outside the opera house.
"What happened?"
“Someone is protesting.”
The young maid whispered, leading the two away from the crowd and walking towards the side corridor:
"The local stonemasons' association is protesting against the royal family's failure to pay them wages."
"The royal family of Carsenrick is in arrears with wages?"
Xia De was a little surprised and looked at Luvia, who also didn't understand:
"Is the financial situation of the Kasenrick royal family so bad?"
"The problem is very complicated. It is related to the previous generation of kings and the statue that collapsed in the storm. About 20 years ago, the local stonemason association received a royal commission to build a 10-meter-high statue in the royal mausoleum in Willendel. But before the statue was completed, heavy rain and lightning destroyed the statue."
The maid said softly, she herself was a third-ring sorcerer with not-so-obvious witch powers, and she looked to be less than twenty years old.
"The Royal House of Anjou therefore defaulted on the final payment for the project?"
Xia De raised his eyebrows. He really didn't know about this kind of thing.
"No, no, the destruction of the statue itself is nothing, but..."
The maid hesitated for a moment and told the rumors in her country:
"It is said that the collapsed statue destroyed the tomb of the previous King Charles V... Then there were some very complicated things. The lady said that this was related to the determination of responsibility. There were also rumors that it was the previous king's misconduct that led to the destruction of his father's tomb... I have no intention of criticizing the royal family's actions, but those things that no one can explain clearly now have caused the final payment of the project to be delayed until now. However, there is no need to worry too much. Every time a member of the royal family comes to the local area, the Stonemasons Association will organize people to participate in the protest. The locals are used to it. The stonemasons will not do anything violent. They just protest peacefully."
"Randall Valley is also known as the 'City of Stonemasons'. Their craftsmanship must be very good."
Shade nodded, and then thought of the urban rumors about these stonemasons in the information given by Miss Lathers. Next week, he would probably be able to have an intersection with those stonemasons.
Margaret would not come back until she returned with the team, so when the maid brought Shad and Luvia to the backstage dressing room, there were only the troupe members chatting and laughing while removing their makeup, and a reporter in the corner was interviewing the deputy troupe leader, Miss Lathers.
Miss Benannis had her own separate lounge here. The maid led the two to the door. Shad knocked on the door before entering with Luvia.
The decoration of the lounge is not inferior to that of the main hall of the opera house. I am afraid that this room is reserved for Miss Benanis. When Shade and Luvia entered the door, the witch was talking about the contract with a lady in a black tight dress. This lady was the chief accountant of the Golden Dawn Opera Company.
Seeing Shade coming, Miss Benanis closed the file and asked the lady to take it out.
"Let me introduce myself."
After the door closed, Miss Benanis stood up from behind the desk, and Shade introduced the two ladies to each other. At this time, Luvia looked at this new witch with interest, and the witch also looked at Luvia curiously.
She had met Miss Carina in the parliament, so she knew more about Shade. Miss Carina described Luvia as a "very talented fortune teller", so Miss Benanis was also quite interested in Luvia.
"This is Miss Vanessa Benanis, the director of the Golden Dawn Opera Company."
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
Luvia nodded in greeting, her respect for Miss Benedict came more from her artistic attainments than her strength.
"This is Miss Luvia Anat from the Prophet Association, and also my most important friend."
Shade introduced Luvia again, so the witch stretched out her hand and shook it with hers, and Luvia had a bright smile on her face.
The three of them sat down on the sofa, and the maid brought them tea. Although they were going to sing a song for Shade on stage, the other people in the opera house had not yet left, and Margaret had not arrived yet, so they had to wait a while.
"Miss Benanis, has the earth curse on you not been cleared yet?"
Shade asked curiously, he thought the parliament would be able to come up with a solution soon.
“The problem is more complicated than we thought.”
The blonde witch looked very troubled. Although she was already in her thirties, her expression at this moment was like that of a little girl like Yin Luna:
"The speaker examined me personally, and even she had to confirm it again and again before she was sure that there was something wrong with my soul. Although there are witches in this generation who are very good at healing, she can't do anything about my problem. This is the soul being contaminated by the pollution of the earth. If you want to solve it, the best way is to solve the problem of the earth, then my problem will no longer exist."
"But it's clear that the earth's problems are not so easy to solve."
Xia De said, and the witch nodded helplessly:
"Yes, yes. We looked through the documents collected by the parliament and finally confirmed that there are other methods. However, this method requires the power of the ancient goddess of the earth, the Mother Earth... This is enough to show how troublesome the Randall Valley is facing right now. Hamilton, you are probably right. The land under our feet is changing, but no one can detect this change."
"Ms. Benannis, what kind of power is needed to heal you?"
Luvia asked, and the blonde witch said:
"The ancient Church of the Earth possesses a holy grail made from the power of the earth. It is a cup dedicated to the gods, symbolizing the power of the earth to nurture all things. Using those earth holy chalices, combined with the power of the earth, one can concoct a healing potion. This requires the consumption of a holy grail, but it is enough to alleviate any pain caused by the madness of the earth. The potion - the universal earth elixir."
Luvia raised her eyebrows and glanced at Shade, apparently thinking the same thing as Shade:
"So, the method of mixing this potion is difficult?"
"No, it's very simple. All you have to do is pray to the ancient god. The witches in the past have tried it. Even if the ancient god is gone, you can still make potions this way. The problem is the earth chalice that contains the power of the earth. Tens of thousands of years have passed since the second era when the god left. This item that is almost equivalent to a divine artifact has long disappeared. Although there are other ways to make it, it is obvious that it is not a secret that the Council knows."
She said with annoyance, and looked at Xia De again:
"But don't worry that this will affect my performance. Since I promised you that I would show you my best singing voice, I will definitely satisfy you. This is Vanessa Benanis's promise."
Luvia looked at Shade, who understood and said:
"The Holy Grail of Clay... Miss Benanis, take a look and see if this is what you are talking about."
He used Shade's handkerchief to take out the toy cup from his pocket, and then restored it to its original appearance.
Miss Benanis took it, first puzzled, then a little surprised:
"Is this the clay chalice you used when Sirius and you went to solve the problem at the manor? Although Sirius described it to me, how can a spell create such an artifact?"
Not only was she surprised, Shade was also a little surprised:
"I'm glad I could help you. I don't know why my spell can create such an item."
"Can you please tell me what kind of spell it is?"
The blonde witch asked again.
"Power of the Earth. Healing Aura."
This is no secret, and Shade doesn't mind telling it:
"Do you know what the power of the complete earth is? It's a bit strange how I got this spell. It was given to me by a soul in a dream."
He then talked about his experience in the Emerald Dream:
"I learned that the land of the Randall Valley was going crazy, and it was that man who gave me the information."
I thought the Witch of the Earth would have some clues about the power of the Earth, but I didn't expect her to just shake her head blankly:
"It seems to be a very ancient divine art. I think I will have to go to the parliament to look up information about it again."
"Have you seen that man?"
I was about to describe the other person's appearance, but then I thought of my newfound power:
"Library of the Moon."
Reaching out to one side, a translucent bookshelf with a dreamy color like a sea of stars appeared on one side. Xia De reached out and took out a book from the bookshelf. After opening it, the man in the dream appeared inside.
She showed it to Luvia first, and then handed it to Miss Benannis. But the witch had never seen this man before. She looked at the book again, called the maid outside the door, and called Miss Lathers over:
"Sirius, look, is this your missing father?"
The witch handed the book to Miss Lathers who came hurriedly. She took a look at it and shook her head slightly:
"No, I haven't seen this person."
"Miss Lathers's father is missing?"
Shad thought suspiciously in his heart, and then realized that Miss Elathers was the leader of the Old God Cult at such a young age, so the disappearance of the previous leader of the cult should be one of the reasons.