"Roast goose, vegetable salad, steak... ... they look really good. Your new spell has almost no disadvantages except that the materials used are too expensive."
Luvia commented, placing little Mia, who had smelled the scent of dinner, back into Shade's arms.
So the two of them and the cat sat around the campfire and ate dinner. After dinner was over, they simply cleaned the plates and pots and put them away as toys. Then Xia De hesitantly talked about another thing:
"Actually... I received a letter from Miss Gold this morning."
"Ms. Gold? Who is that?"
Luvia thought for a moment before remembering:
"Oh, little Mia's master. I remember you said that in the letter you sent last month, you mentioned that you wanted to formally adopt little Mia."
"It was just a joke."
Shade spoke slowly. He sat on the stone, let the cat lie on his legs, and took out the folded letter from his pocket:
"In fact, I haven't opened it yet to see what's inside."
The envelope glowed red in the light of the bonfire.
"Aren't you always decisive?"
Luvia took the letter, looked at the mailing address, and opened it for Shade. She first took out the monthly "Mia support," then glanced at the contents of the two pages of letter paper, and after reading them, she handed it back to Shade:
"Miss Gold's handwriting is really beautiful. Don't worry, there is no mention of your last 'joke' in the letter. But is Miss Gold not feeling well? She said she is sick again."
"Are you sick again?"
Xia De went to read the letter. Miss Gold said in the letter that she was busy with family affairs, dealing with the family's manor, dock, old house, farm, etc., and she was exhausted again in the winter. Fortunately, many strange things surrounding the remote town have been suppressed by the Orthodox Church, so Miss Gold can recruit people to deal with the property and garbage left by the ancestors.
Her illness this time was not more serious than last autumn, and in the letter she told Shade not to worry about her. She even told him some interesting things when dealing with the family property, such as finding some blue star-colored mineral crystals in an almost abandoned farm, which the church said might be meteorites; for example, in a manor not far from the family's ancestral home, which was specially used for banquets and entertainment, some vessels that once contained human blood were found, and the church is also investigating; for example, in the sewer under the ancestral home she mentioned, traces of suspicious creatures were found; and even some strange scales were found on the town dock behind the ancestral home, and people followed the scales to find the bay caves full of glowing corals... ...
"Do you think it's possible that Miss Gold is the chosen one?"
Xia De couldn't help but ask Luvia, and Luvia looked at him suspiciously:
"You are a little overly sensitive. It would be so easy for the chosen one to appear."
"But everything Miss Gold mentions in her letter is suspicious."
He raised the letter and handed it to Mia. The cat immediately stretched its neck to sniff it, then opened its mouth and meowed. The cat squirmed in Shade's arms, with its four hooves raised to reveal its snow-white and soft belly. Shade reached out to touch it:
"I have made up my mind. I will go to that town no matter what when spring comes. It only takes one or two days to travel east from Fort Midhill to the east coast of the Old World by train. Of course, I have to leave after the matter in Randall Valley is over."
"Then I hope the gods will protect that town."
Luvia said softly while holding the teacup. Shade did not understand what she meant, but continued to read the end of the letter:
"Look, Miss Gold said she's going to send me some interesting things she found in her ancestral home next month."
"What could it be?"
"Whatever it is, it's fine. Come to think of it, I even doubted whether Miss Gold really existed."
He smiled and folded the letter and put it away, planning to write back after returning home:
"But since we can receive the goods by mail, Miss Gold must exist."
"Why do you think Mia Gold doesn't exist?"
Luvia asked again.
"After all, I have never met that lady, and of the four commissions left by Detective Sparrow, the other three point to extremely dangerous follow-ups—
Investigating my lover allowed me to find the blood of mercury and witness Tobesk's blood feast; looking for a doctor who treats eye diseases allowed me to get clues about the Night Watchman and see the Demon Seal and the Witch Seal between Life and Death halfway up Mount Sikar; helping Miss White find her missing sister was even more amazing, as Grace and Helen appeared right in front of me.
In this case, isn't it normal to suspect that Miss Goder has a problem? "
Shade said seriously, and Luvia pointed out the loophole:
"Then why is it the client who has the problem, and not the object of the client - your cat?"
"Meow?"
Mia called softly, tilting her head to look at her.
"Is there something wrong with Mia? Of course Mia has a problem. As a cat, she is too cute..."
“Ahem.”
"It's too smart and sensible, but over the weekend, I tested its blood at Midhill Castle and found that it has a very rare bloodline of the Son of the Sun, which explains everything very well. So, Miss Gold may have a big secret, and her suspicious 'declined family'. Maybe the ancestor of the family was obsessed with the occult and accidentally discovered or summoned some ancient evil creature, and that evil creature is under her ancestral home."
Xia De analyzed seriously.
"Thank you for your 'reasoning' on behalf of Miss Godd. I think even if you want to take the cat for yourself, there is no need to curse her like this, right?"
Luvia said this half in anger and half in amusement, and Shade changed the topic:
"I wish Miss Gold all the best, and I wish Miss Gold's family can smoothly revitalize, just like the Oxenfort family... This spring, I will definitely visit that town in person. No matter what troubles there are, I can solve them for her... If I can't solve them, I can report them to the church after finding out the truth."
The tuft of tail feathers given by the unicorn last week, Shad had taken it to Old John and asked him to make it into a headband, but it had not been brought back today. Luvia still remembered it and even thought about showing it off to Dorothy after returning to Tobesk. She chatted with Shad casually. Mia was full of energy after dinner and ran around in the snow, but she never left Shad's sight.
When the sun had completely set, the time was 7:03, and a very penetrating "Ah~" sound was heard from the creek woods covered with snow. It was the cry of the little animal.
Sure enough, after a while, the little beast emitting pure white light and shadow appeared from the woods with a beautiful blonde elf on its back. The elf sat sideways on the unicorn's back, wearing a hood to cover herself, but her hair still showed from the edge of the hood. This scene was like a fairy tale really coming true.
The elf girl Emilia jumped off the unicorn outside the camp and entered the camp with the little beast. The firelight illuminated them, and Shade, who was holding the cat running back, immediately saw the little beast. When the latter came to Shade and rubbed against him intimately, Mia broke free from Shade's arms and jumped onto the unicorn's head.
"Meow?"
The cat and the beast started to play around. At least that was how Shad felt. After all, he hadn't seen the larger unicorn bullying Little Mia. The elf girl sat down by the campfire with Shad and Luvia. Shad reached into his pocket and took out a suitcase that definitely couldn't fit in his pocket:
"These are all fresh ingredients. Please count them."
The blonde elf nodded somewhat stiffly, and then handed the information about "Randall Valley" and "Crazy Land" that she had obtained from the library to Shad.
In addition to the information, she even gave Shade a time key:
"I heard that you are a time investigator. This is a gift for you. The corresponding time point is probably the middle of the Fifth Epoch, around 3,000 years ago. I didn't calibrate the time carefully, but the error will not exceed 50 years."
She was even worried that Xia De would not accept it:
"Thank you for helping take care of it."
They all looked at the cat and the unicorn. At this time, they were in the shadow of the fire. Little Mia was still standing on the unicorn's head. The pure white little animal was timid and seemed a little scared. It seemed that they got along very well. The powerful unicorn did not bully the weak cat.
"And for a ring sorcerer who doesn't have the Time Spirit Rune, it's useless to keep the Time Key in his hand."
"The time key from around 3000 in the Fifth Epoch?"
The first time I met Miss Feliana and Miss Orlannod was during their trip to the Thousand Tree Forest in the year 3002 of the Fifth Era; and the second time I met Miss Orlannod, Miss Samuel, and Miss Drago was during their trip to the Dead Valley - Gaddis Library in the year 3024.
Although even if you arrive near those time points, you may not necessarily meet the ladies you are familiar with, but using this key will undoubtedly greatly increase the probability of meeting old friends.
The elf girl was very satisfied with the materials that Shade prepared for her. After the two sides traded goods and money, Emilia Sienod mentioned that she had not yet found the "hidden space" that Shade mentioned.
It would be unusual to find it in such a short time, so Shade didn't care. However, the two sides agreed that the elf girl would report the progress of the investigation to Shade once a week, and Shade would teach her a new ancient elven language every time.
The transaction location was not set here, but at the Fertile Land Inn in the city:
“Every time I come to Randall Valley, I eat there.”
She said it sheepishly, and it was obvious that she had plenty of disguise skills.
This time, Shade also prepared a long poem written in ancient Elvish as payment for the transaction. The blonde elf girl held the book and read and excerpted carefully beside the campfire. Shade added firewood to the campfire, and Luvia smiled and stroked the unicorn lying beside Shade.
The white little animal didn't look very happy. Of course, it wasn't because it was being stroked by Luvia, but because there was a cat lying on its back and taking a rest.
The bonfire crackled, and no one spoke for a moment. But suddenly, the little beast stood up on its own initiative, and when the cat also stood on the unicorn's back, the little beast turned around and looked towards the forest, which was also the direction of the city, and then let out a loud "Ang~" cry.
The golden horn glowed slightly, as if a gentle breeze was blowing through everyone present. Everyone looked towards the dark forest, but there was clearly nothing there.
"It's okay. It's okay."
The elf girl hurriedly comforted the unicorn, and after it hesitantly lay down again, she explained to Shade and Luvia:
"There is a very evil thing hidden in this city. The perception of humans and elves is not enough to detect it without the other party actively releasing its power, but the unicorn is very sensitive to its power. Lianna can occasionally detect it, and every time she reacts like this..."
"Lyanna" is the name the elf girl gave to the unicorn.
"You must be very careful when you move around this city. The other party may be some kind of ancient being."
This reminded Shade of the time when he was in the "Saint Perry Cemetery". Before the old nun disappeared, she reminded him that this city not only had guardians, but also some kind of evil power. Now that he thought about it, that should be the strange power that the Unicorn Model Lake had just sensed. When thinking of the "evil power", Shade unconsciously thought of the weird Mr. Stone Oxenfurt, who claimed to have the clues of the founding earth.
Shade's inspiration was always accurate. Once he had such an association, it meant that an investigation was necessary. However, he planned to go to the Stonemasons' Guild tomorrow to look up local legends. As for Stone Oxenfurt and the evil entrenched in this Spring City, there was still time to consult Dr. Schneider on Saturday.