"Okay."
The priest smiled and clasped his hands together like Shad, then turned sideways to look at the fire in the fireplace. The two were silent for a while, each with their own thoughts. Amid the slight crackling sound, only Mia's breathing was even, and the cat seemed to be asleep.
"The spring of 1854 is almost here."
"Yes, I hope so... and it's better this way."
That night, Shad had a very strange dream. When he woke up on Tuesday morning, he could no longer explain what he saw in his dream. He only remembered that he was chasing after long-haired Luvia and running non-stop in the snowy forest.
When he was awakened by the sound of Mia scratching the closet door, he felt a little lost. But then he suddenly became afraid, and quietly looked at the sleepy blonde girl who had just been awakened, and asked carefully in his heart:
"I didn't call out Luvia's name in my sleep, did I?"
No, you never talked in your sleep.
"That's good."
Now Xia De felt relieved.
"Shad, is the inside of your closet door okay? Do you want to ask Lecia to send someone to replace it?"
This was Dorothy's concern at the moment.
After breakfast, Dorothy kissed Shade's cheek downstairs and left. The writer was a busy woman. Shade did not stay at home. Seeing that the lazy cat had no intention of going out today, he carried it to the door by force, took a carriage, and went to Dr. Schneider's clinic.
The doctor knew that Shade had been to the haunted manor yesterday, so he was waiting for Shade to come. Shade still briefly described his experience yesterday, focusing on his first encounter with the devil:
"The other party is different from the old, weak, sick and disabled ancient evil spirits we have encountered so far. I even suspect that now is the most prosperous time in the history of the other party."
Although it seemed that Shade had forced the other party to retreat, in fact, that demon had no intention of killing Shade on the spot.
"No, no, it can only be considered the most prosperous in this era. You don't know the story of the Third Era, so you can't imagine what the situation was like back then."
The doctor shook his head slightly:
"Things are a little troubling, but you did a great job yesterday. As long as we schedule the next meeting with the demon, we can make plans ahead of time."
"Yes, the Stone Mirror Demon-Goethe said that he will appear after I complete the task. That is to say, I want to get the forged weapon-I have already found the forger in the Randall River Valley, and then "teach" Stone Oxenfurt a lesson."
"You mentioned earlier that the weapon can only be obtained next Wednesday at the earliest?"
"Yes, but it can't be done so easily. This time, to teach Oxenfurt a lesson, I must destroy everything about him. His wife, the indifferent lady, seems to be hinting that I must defeat everything about him before I can stab him in the chest with my sword."
"You also wish to complete Hela Oxenfurt's mission."
The doctor said, and Shad nodded as he stroked the cat on his lap.
"Not only that, there is also a mission from Stone Oxenfurt himself. I haven't found the third item, the sapphire earring with his blood. This mission is most likely Oxenfurt's act of resistance against the devil. Completing it should also be beneficial to our actions."
Before the doctor could respond, Shad added:
"This is not the clue for the founding earth he promised."
As he said this, he patted little Mia's head, and the latter immediately made an approving "meow".
The doctor laughed:
"You don't have to explain this to me. After all, you are the one carrying out the operation. I am just waiting for you to create an opportunity for me. I am ready. I have arranged everything for the clinic. I can go to Randall Valley at any time."
"It will probably take another half a month to a month, which is the end of winter or the beginning of spring."
Xia De said carefully:
"That demon is more cautious and more powerful than I thought."
The life ring slowly emerged from the thick steam behind Shade, and the five-ring blasphemous spirit rune - Pride was flashing a somewhat crazy silver aura. The aura shone on Mia's fur, flashing an even weirder light.
"That demon is even connected to the cultists. Although the formation of this spiritual rune is also related to the evil god statue, most of it is the power of the evil spirit that I absorbed through the relic."
"You have to be careful recently and don't lose control. Generally speaking, normal people would not do such a thing as absorbing demonic power, especially through a relic that is prone to losing control."
The doctor was very worried, but Shade was not worried at all. He had already used the Night Watcher on himself this morning, and there was no reaction. Moreover, compared with the spiritual runes formed by the evil god's divinity, the demonic power was nothing.
"Arrogant..."
Xia De muttered softly, and the doctor asked:
"I know a lot of interesting magic about these spiritual runes. Do you want me to share some knowledge with you?"
"I plan to ask Miss Danister for advice. Last week, she asked about my study progress. As you know, I have been very busy in Randall Valley recently..."
The doctor showed a sympathetic expression. He knew that Shad had been running around in the Randall Valley since last month.
"So before she left the academy on a business trip, I asked her some questions about the Ringwitch studies, so that she could also feel that I was active and serious, which would help improve Miss Danister's impression of me."
Xia De talked about his plan, and the doctor nodded in agreement. He was a graduate of Tobesk Medical University. When he was young, he went to school and saw all kinds of things with his mentor, so he understood that this was very important.
In fact, after getting up this morning, Shade had already passed on the news of the appointment to Miss Danister through his poetry manuscript pages. And Miss Danister still chose to meet on Wednesday, that is, tomorrow morning, which is the same time as last week.
Therefore, the only thing he had to do today was to visit Earl Granger in the afternoon.
Just like last night, Shad asked the doctor if there was any way that would allow Shad to immediately destroy Stone Oxenfurt's soul or completely expel his soul from the material world the moment he killed or destroyed his body.
"Demons have many similar methods, such as the most famous one, the Sage-level relic Demon Soul Box. However, these are only aimed at ordinary souls. The fallen souls that have been transformed into demons can resist the power of other demons except the master. So, if you really have such a big grudge against Stone Oxenfurt, or have other reasons, I suggest you use a powerful attack to crush his soul directly."
Xia De frowned slightly, and even stopped stroking Mia's hand:
"I'm worried about other situations. If we can crush his soul directly, that would be even better... Then doctor, you should be ready at any time. I will invite you to Randall Valley at the end of next weekend."
"Next Friday is the last day of the Rare Stars Month, and then it's March... I think that's fine, enough time for me to arrange things in Tobesk."
The doctor nodded:
"I just hope that I won't be so unlucky that the college's 1854 correspondence student status review will happen to come to our area during my absence from Tobesk."
"Doctor, don't say such things casually."
Xia De hurriedly stopped him, and the doctor also covered his mouth, looking scared.
After leaving the doctor's clinic, Shad still did not set out for the Randall Valley. Instead, he took a carriage from the city to the Carina Manor outside the city.
Because he left home very early that day, he arrived at the manor at just after nine o'clock. The maids, who were already quite familiar with Shade, welcomed him as their master, and the mistress of the manor was of course still in the manor at this early hour - unless she stayed overnight at the Yodel Palace the night before, Miss Carina would not usually leave for the city before ten o'clock in the morning.
Tifa, who heard about Shad's visit, met Shad on the first floor stairs, who was trying to control Mia. Mia was "roaring" loudly at the cats that gathered from the corridor on the first floor. If Shad hadn't held it, it would probably have fought with the cats.
"Go quickly, go quickly."
The black-haired maid easily drove away the cats in the manor, then pointed upstairs and said:
"Good morning, Shade. The lady is talking to a guest. I'll take you straight there."
"If I'm talking to a customer, I have no problem waiting a little longer."
Xia De hurriedly shook his head, but the black-haired maid smiled and said:
"It's okay. It's Her Highness Leicia. Her Highness came here half an hour ago."
"Lecia took the initiative to visit Miss Carina?"
This is really new to Shade:
"Could it be that the king sent her to deliver some important document?"
The weather outside the city is pretty good today. The bright sunshine shines into the study through the window, illuminating the faces of the beautiful ladies.
After knocking on the door, Tifa opened the door and pushed Shade in without even notifying her of the matter. The Duchess and Princess Royal, who were inside and outside the desk, stood up and showed surprised expressions when they saw that it was Shade who came:
"Shad, why are you here? Have you had breakfast?"
"Shad, didn't you go to Randall Valley?"
Shade didn't know what they were talking about, but it shouldn't be an important topic. But when Miss Carina came out from behind the desk, Shade noticed that she was wearing the pair of black fabric made by Miss Sylvia on her legs.
The morning light shone into the room from the window on the side wall of the study, and the light made the pair of fabrics look more textured and more attractive.
Miss Carina blushed when she noticed Shade's gaze, but she was very satisfied with the effect. Even in her own manor, she didn't wear it every day. Miss Sylvia didn't have many pairs of this top-quality fabric, so she wore it very carefully. Today she wanted to show off in front of Leicia, but she didn't expect Shade to come as well.