After finding out the truth, everyone except the murderer, the deceased and the male servant felt satisfied. Shad said goodbye to Ajelina, took the cat from Tifa's arms, and left with the maid. People spontaneously made way for the two.
When they returned to the temporarily empty corridor, the black-haired girl whispered to Shade:
“It was a great performance tonight.”
"Yeah?"
He patted the cat in his arms:
"Mia deserves the most credit, otherwise I really don't know what evidence I should produce to prove my point. Fortunately, after this matter is resolved, His Majesty the King will have to think about how to arrange Ajelina's marriage for a while."
Tifa chuckled and blinked:
"I thought you solved the case so quickly in order to return to Her Highness Leicia and Miss Louisa as soon as possible."
Xia De turned to look at her, and the maid pursed her lips and reminded softly:
"This is the Yodel Palace, knight, you can't do bad things."
She happened to be standing under the gas lamp on the wall with the royal family emblem on it. The bright light made her delicate face look even brighter.
"Come to think of it, I haven't been able to be alone with you since the young lady and I came back... Last time, we were in the room, but the young lady disturbed us."
Xia De then looked around and kissed the maid who had a smile on her face.
When she and Tifa walked hand in hand back to the corridor where the lounge was, she let go of Shad, and finally stood on tiptoe to kiss Shad's cheek, raised her right forearm and gently waved goodbye. Of course, she also took the cat away, because she knew Shad still had things to do.
Leicia and Dorothy had not returned from the banquet hall yet, and the evidence was that Leicia's maid was not here. It took Shad only forty minutes to solve the case, which was less than the one hour Leicia gave.
But the news about the eucalyptus should spread soon, and the two girls will be back by then. So while he had time, Shade took out the time key given by the elf girl Emilia on Monday, calculated the time and it was time to use it, so he came to the door.
You still remember this at this time.
"Do you think I'm the kind of guy whose brain is blinded by desire?"
Xia De asked softly in his heart, muttering softly:
"May the World Tree protect me in time."
There was a clear "click" sound from inside the door, and behind the door that Shadra opened was an endless wriggling white mist. He took a deep breath and stepped in:
"After I finish this, I can enjoy the evening, right?"
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Autumn of the 3028th year of the Fifth Era, Northern Continent, Evernight City.
Event: Whispers of the Eternal Night.
Duration: 40 minutes (1/4).
"Fifth Era 3028... Wait, forty minutes? And this time it was four times?"
But if you think about it carefully, no one has ever said that Xia De's tasks are completed three times. After all, ordinary time investigators only complete them once.
The autumn of 3028 was only four years away from the year 3024 when Shade parted with the three witches in the Valley of Death and handed the flower to Miss Feliana. Emilia, the elf girl who handed out the key, said it was a time key from around 3000 years ago. I didn't expect it to be so accurate.
"The old god - the Veil of Eternal Night? I remember this god is also called the Lord of Eternal Night and... the God of Darkness?"
"Night" is an image that has existed since the birth of the world and will always exist. It also represents half of the time and almost all darkness. The old god who symbolizes "Night" is also one of the most powerful among all the old gods.
It can even be said that among all the gods that Shade had met in the past, except for the "Gate of Shining Change" in the Thousand Trees Forest, none of them was more mysterious than this god.
But there are not many records about the God of Night in the Fifth Era, and most of the followers of the God of Night also maintain secrecy, or they are a group of secretive people. Most of the textual materials about the Old God's Eternal Night Curtain in the Sixth Era come from the description of the Five Gods Church. What Shade can think of at present is that this god has left, and the Cult of Night uses the black gauze curtain as its symbol.
"What is the mission this time?"
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father watches over you.
The ancient god of time has given you a test.
Help mortals break through the maze of eternal night and explore the truth behind the curtain.
The Infinite Tree Father will give you a reward: Miracle Spirit Rune - Night.
"Um?"
The reward this time was really good. He had only seen the spiritual rune reward when he used the time key for the first time. The miracle of that time, the echo, also became the starting point of his low-level sublimation language. And this time, the night, no matter how you look at it, fits his ring warlock system perfectly. Even if it's not him, for others, "night" is an extremely powerful spiritual rune.
Although "Night" has existed since ancient times, it is extremely difficult to obtain Night Spirit Runes. To give a simple example, this is like one of Luvia's core spirit runes, Destiny. Although it exists and is within reach, there are almost no mortals who can truly comprehend it.
There is no evidence that Treefather's reward is related to the difficulty of the mission, but the generous reward and the unusual number of times indicate that this mission is special.
"I don't know if the so-called 'Labyrinth of Eternal Night' is a real labyrinth or just a metaphor."
Thinking in his mind, he prepared himself and took a step forward in the thick white fog.
The quiet fog quietly spread out around, like a curtain being opened. In the year 3028 of the Fifth Era, a corner of the curtain of time was revealed to Shade.
This time there was no disgusting smell of insect caves. When the white mist dissipated, I first felt the rain, and then noticed that there was a dark night without stars and moon above my head, and under my feet was an uneven road paved with rectangular stone bricks that was higher in the middle and slightly lower around the edges.
There were gray stone buildings in front and behind, and the sky was drizzling, wetting the walls and the soil between the bricks underfoot. The air was filled with a faint smell of damp earth, but this smell was not unpleasant.
Although it was dark, there was still light around, and there were faint flames in the windows of the buildings along the street. They looked like gas lamps, but there were also candles or kerosene lamps.
This is indeed a city, but the city is strangely depressing. Shade can only detect the sound of rain, but can't hear any traces of human activities. But the unattended carriages on the street, the lighted shop signs along the street, the flyers on the walls wet by rain, the eyes can see traces of life everywhere, as if the second before he saw this place, there were pedestrians walking on the street with umbrellas.
This sense of contradiction and contrast greatly enhanced the weirdness of the current environment. And just like before, Treefather would never just throw Shade to a safe place.
The silent night suddenly moved after Xia De took a breath. A second ago, he thought it was the darkness that was coming, but then he realized that it was the lights in the distance that were extinguished one by one, as if the night had consciousness and was closing in on him from both sides.
There was nothing in the silent night, and it was this sense of nothingness in the darkness that made Xia De immediately aware of the fatal crisis:
"We must not fall into the night here!"
He made up his mind and looked up at the brightly lit store sign in front of him in the rain according to his past experience. Unfortunately, this time it was not the colorful sign of "Hope Town Toy Store". The strange and awkward letters wrote something even more surprising:
Dragon Maid Cafe
Even if it was the "Dark Coffin Shop", "Cultist Gathering House" or "Soul-sucking Ghost Club" in front of him, Xia De would not be so surprised. But it was too late to think, the darkness had almost gathered on both sides of him.
He suddenly started and rushed towards the wooden door in front of him in the rain. While he was worried that the door was locked, he almost "fell" into the old building that seemed to be in use all the time.
After leaving the rainy night, the dry and warm environment almost made Xia De groan. The strong mental oppression brought by the Evernight City on a rainy night was greatly reduced, and the empty night could not invade here.
But he did not immediately look inside the building. Instead, he turned around and looked behind him.
The door here was installed with springs, and it would close slowly and automatically. At this time, the street outside was completely shrouded in darkness. The night was outside the door, but it did not penetrate through the door.
Xia De, who was relieved, didn't have time to say anything before a new voice appeared in his ears:
"Welcome to the Dragon Maid Cafe, what may I do for you?"
Xia De turned his head and looked inside the store. He saw a red-haired girl dressed as a maid, holding a menu, standing between the tables and chairs of the cafe. Although the maid's outfit was a little different from the style of the Sixth Era, it basically maintained the black and white color scheme, with black leather shoes and a white lace headband. In addition, the black necklace around her neck was something Xia De had never seen before, and it was also very beautiful.
The room is warm and cozy, and the firelight by the wall makes people feel at ease. There are more than a dozen white round tables in the not-so-large space, and on the other side are counters and shelves for green plants. The old walls are covered with warm yellow wallpaper and colorful oil paintings. The clock in the corner slowly rotates in the reverse direction, and then suddenly rotates forward madly.
But Shade didn't care about that. He looked at the young maid's face in shock, and at the familiar large scaly tail behind her. The last time he saw her, she was wearing thick winter clothes:
"Ms. Fiona Drago? Why are you here?"