"This shows that the guardian's mission is related to some extremely terrible secrets... What is the Heart of the Earth?"
Xia De suddenly asked.
"It is rumored that the Randall River Valley is the center of the material world, and the Heart of the Earth is located underground in the Randall River Valley, representing the active golden rock in the cave in the center of the river valley. Some unrealistic rumors mentioned that whoever controls the Heart of the Earth can control earthquakes, soil fertility, and even changes in the world's terrain... Is this the secret they want to protect?"
Miss Benanis was suspicious, but the others could not guess it for the time being, and Shade thought it was impossible for such a powerful "Heart of the Earth" to exist. This should be an exaggeration, but it does not rule out that the "Heart of the Earth" has a similar effect.
"But the golden rock..."
Perhaps the divinity he sensed was referring to this. The source of the pollution in the crazy earth came from the so-called "Heart of the Earth".
"The notebook says that the guardians of the inheritance all take over in the form of souls. They have been guarding the land of the Randall Valley in the dark, fighting the spreading pollution in the deepest part of the earth. They rarely appear directly, unless there is a problem on the ground that cannot be solved under normal conditions, just like last night... ... Interestingly, the guardian of the previous generation, Thomas Granger, is still alive, and the guardian of this generation, Mr. Lathers, has appeared. So there is reason to believe that the so-called "guardian" group is likely to be more than just the two of them."
"Deep in the earth, a group of undead quietly guard the secrets of soil and rock - this statement is quite dramatic."
Luvia commented, and thinking that this included Miss Lathers's father, she added:
"I mean, if that's true, then they're great."
"I think there's something wrong with it. Leaving clues but not explaining everything, guiding people step by step to the end, and then dying to become a guardian, how can it be so much like the tricks of a scammer... I'm not suspicious of them, but I still have some doubts."
Miss Benaness seemed particularly cautious:
"We must find them no matter what, Shade. What is the next clue?"
The witch asked, and Shade flipped through the book in his hand again:
"I didn't find any clues for the next step. Could it be hidden text?"
He handed the notebook to the witch and asked her to study it later. Then he asked Miss Lathers:
"Did your father say anything to you before he disappeared? Something that didn't seem unusual at the time, but seems very suspicious now. Or did he specifically tell you that he was going to some special place?"
That was more than ten years ago, but Miss Lathers still has a very deep memory of it. As a cult of the forgotten old men of the old gods, the Golden Dawn has a unique way of solidifying memories:
"The Heart of the Earth was mentioned in the notebook just now... Two months before my father disappeared, he said that a local auction house was selling an antique that might be related to the rumored 'Heart of the Earth'. He didn't say he wanted to buy it, but just asked me to sort out the accounts of the cult to see how much surplus could be withdrawn for use. Later, the matter was left unresolved."
"Auction house? Which local auction house?"
"Cassandra Auction House. I remember it very clearly."
Miss Benanis immediately looked at Shade. Cassandra Auction House was owned by the old witch. As the most famous auction house throughout the Old Continent, it certainly had branches in important cities like the Randall River Valley.
Xia De nodded:
"I'll go ask. Grandma Cassandra gave me her business card and special membership badge. No Cassandra auction house will refuse me. Ms. Lathers, please tell me the approximate time of the auction. I'll check the account book and find out."
Miss Benanis looked at him strangely:
"Is Granny Cassandra so nice to you? I know that kind of membership badge is not something that even her apprentices can get... Although you said that you have a good relationship with Granny, but..."
"Don't get me wrong, my relationship with Mother-in-law Cassandra is different from my relationship with Miss Carina."
Shade said hurriedly.
The blonde witch shook her head:
"There will be a plenary meeting of the parliament tonight. I will ask if anyone knows about the 'Heart of the Earth'. I will not go to the auction house with you later. Hillis and I will go to her old house to sort it out and see if there is anything else."
"Shade, I won't go with you either. The local Prophet's Association might have some records about the Guardian or the Heart of the Earth. I'll go back and check it out too."
Luvia said that every lady is vigorous and decisive in her actions.
"Well, tomorrow, Tuesday afternoon, we will meet at Wilde's theater to review the clues we have."
Xia De felt that it was really great to collaborate on this investigation.
The witches continued their investigation in the Forgotten Church, while Shade and Luvia left together. The auction house must be in a busy place in the city, not far from the Prophet's Association, so Shade could ride in the same carriage with Luvia.
With the badge given by the old witch, Shade was able to view the account book at Cassandra Auction House. Unfortunately, the records were from decades ago. During this period, the local auction house experienced fire, relocation, the person in charge was killed by Cassandra's people for corruption, and the account book was renovated and repaired several times. Therefore, Shade could not see the original records for the rest of the day.
However, President Kimberly of the local auction house wiped his sweat and assured Xia De that Xia De would definitely be able to see the account books tomorrow morning, and personally took Xia De to the warehouse where the account books were kept to check the situation.
Although the stranger is not a professional accountant in his hometown, when he sees the piles of documents and the invisible labels and records, he probably knows what the so-called "bad bookkeeping habits" are.
"Well, I'll come back tomorrow morning, and I'll definitely get the account book then."
"Okay, okay."
Mr. Kimberly personally escorted Shad to the door of the auction house and gave him an envelope containing tickets for tonight's Wilde Opera House as an apology. However, when Shad opened it in the carriage, he found that in addition to the tickets, there was also a 50-kroner draft in the envelope.
"Ha, he wouldn't think that I'm a specialist sent by Mother-in-law Cassandra to check the accounts, right?"
He thought about it, put the draft away, and planned to find time to donate it to the church, or buy some gifts for the old witch, Miss Swift and the Red Butterfly girls next time he went to Middlesbrough.
(Little Mia is running...)
Monday, 10pm, Witch Council.
As the Speaker, Ms. Isabella Yin, announced the end of the meeting, the thirteen members of parliament either chatted and laughed with their companions, or stood up gracefully to say goodbye to the Speaker.
Miss Vanessa Benanis, the "Great Witch of the Earth", sorted out the documents about the "Crazy Earth" at hand, put her golden pen in her pocket, and hesitated to get up immediately, wanting to talk to the "Great Witch of Space" about the apprenticeship issue again.
Unexpectedly, in addition to Miss Sylvia, Miss Carina Cavendish, the "Great Witch of Balance", did not leave immediately.
The three of them waited until everyone else had left before they began talking. The Duchess of Delarion asked Miss Benannis:
"What has Shad been doing lately? Is he not involved in anything dangerous in the Randall Valley? I'm about to return to Tobesk, and I really miss him."
"He is... currently on his own adventure. I have already mentioned the matter of Crazy Land in the parliament. As for his safety, please do not worry. Since I am by Shade's side, I will naturally not let anything happen to him."
Miss Benaness said, and the Duchess looked at her:
"I noticed that you called him by his name..."
He curled his lips and said to Miss Sylvia who was flipping through the contract in her hand:
"You see, for the better part of a month, Shad and Benanis have been on pretty good terms. Last month, we were actually worried about him and Benanis clashing, which was ridiculous."
Miss Benanis felt that she was being insinuated, but she had always been on the right track - at least for now, so she didn't feel ashamed of it.
"Shad has Vanessa by his side, so we don't have to worry."
Miss Sylvia put the contract aside:
"I've been very busy lately. The opening of the factory is more complicated than I thought. Fortunately, I have the relationship with the Anjou royal family. Otherwise, the expensive city gas emission fees alone would be enough to give me a headache for a while."
"What kind of business are you planning to start? I just saw you asking the speaker to sign a document to buy shares in your factory, but you didn't say what you were planning to do."
Miss Carina asked curiously, and Miss Sylvia showed an expression that said "I've been waiting for you to ask":
"It was Shade who gave me the idea and the general idea. Later, during the Pantanal War, I got more detailed ideas from the enlightenment. After a month of experimentation, I finally made the finished product. The best product currently requires the participation of extraordinary power to make. But the cruder products can be produced after the steam factory is built... However, it will take until autumn or winter to fully put it on the market."
This speed is fast enough.
"It's so mysterious. What can you invent in a month?"
Miss Carina asked lazily, not really caring about the question.
In the era when the steam wave swept the world, new inventions appeared every day, and there were countless inventors seeking investment for themselves in newspapers. Even if Miss Sylvia had a good vision, Miss Carina didn't think she could invent something groundbreaking.
"Besides, how many shares do you plan to give to Shade? I heard from Lecia that because he gave you 5,000 pounds of investment funds, he even had to consider the expenses of decorating his house. Really, I left him money in the manor, but he didn't even use it..."
"It's not how much I want to give him, it's how much he wants."
Miss Sylvia winked:
"If he wants... I can give it to him. Do you want to see the finished product?"