Dawn Church does not have a specific worship day, so you don't have to wait until the weekend to attend the worship.
The Dawn Church in the Randall Valley covers a larger area than the one in Tobesk, but the interior decoration is relatively old. Although Shade and Luvia are not familiar faces in this parish, it is not uncommon for believers from other places to come to churches in big cities to worship, so no one has explored their identities.
Xia De didn't catch up with the morning worship ceremony, so he sat alone on a bench in the auditorium and prayed alone. The whole process was relatively simple. After all, in a world where the true God exists, the church does not need to rely on cumbersome and meaningless rituals to prove the majesty of God.
However, at the end of the service, he had to confess his recent mistakes. Shade thought for a long time, but he didn't know what mistake he should confess, so he admitted that he seemed to be too harsh on Mia recently, causing this cat, who was very afraid of the environment outside the home, to go out more frequently than last year.
After the service, there was still some time until nine o'clock. Luvia wanted to visit the local church with Shade, but Shade thought of something else:
"You and Dorothy left immediately after the exams at the beginning of this year. Father Augustus told us a story at that time. When he was young, he came to the Randall Valley and lost 10 pence in a bet with Father Murphys of the local church, and he never paid it back. Since we are here today, why not meet Father Murphys and help the priest pay off his debt (Chapter 1162). In this way, when we return to Tobesk, we can give Father Augustus a surprise."
Shade suggested, and Luvia nodded, also interested:
"But, Father Augustus actually also bets with others?"
But suddenly he realized something was wrong, and looked at Xia De with a frown:
"Wait a minute, how come you guys are talking about Randall Valley after the exams? I didn't know I was going to this city on a business trip until half a month after the exam week. Did you guys start discussing Randall Valley so long ago?"
That's because Shad wanted to find the Black Time Key, so he talked about his travel plans with the priest and the doctor.
"This is destiny's guidance. It means that a long time ago, there were signs that you would come to the Randall Valley."
Xia De said confidently, and pressed Mia, who had just emerged from his arms, down unceremoniously:
"Let's go find Father Murphys and don't miss Stone Oxenfurt's arrival."
Shade didn't know the exact age of Father Murphys, but he knew that he was older than Father Augustus. He was worried that this ordinary priest had passed away or was unable to take on the work of the church due to health reasons, but he didn't expect that the old priest was still serving in the church.
However, compared to Rat Augustus who had always been an ordinary priest, Father Morpheus had actually become the bishop of the Dawn Church in this diocese. When Shade and Luvia heard about this, they were still very surprised:
"Are we still going to see him then?"
Luvia asked.
"Of course, but you have to use your identity. You met Father Augustus in Tobesk City, and before you left, he specifically asked you to visit Father Morpheus."
Xia De reminded him that as for himself, he was a friend that Luvia met locally and they happened to meet again in the church.
Being a diocesan bishop is a very busy job, which Shad has learned from Bishop Kanas Owen of Tobesk. It is very difficult for ordinary believers to meet the regional bishop casually. The difficulty of meeting the bishop today is not because they did not make an appointment in advance, but because Bishop Murphys was not in the church today.
Because of the petrified plague, the bishop took people to the hospital to visit the believers early in the morning and was said to be back in the afternoon. So even if Shade arrived at the Dawn Church today, he still had to wait until next time to know about the past of Father Augustus.
Luvia was looking forward to it.
It was almost nine o'clock, and Shad temporarily handed Mia over to Luvia's care. He asked Luvia to stay in the main hall of the church and look outside from the window, while he himself came to the church door.
At 8:59, another carriage pulled up at the church door and Stone Oxenfurt jumped out. It looked like it was his own carriage, because Shad noticed that he hadn't paid for it.
Although Oxenfurt wore a black hat and a silver brooch on his chest as Shad requested, he did not hold a red rose, but a rare black rose.
Xia De walked towards him, and the two met at the foot of the majestic steps in front of the church, where the flow of people up and down met, and Luvia in the church could just see them.
Shade asked with a smile:
"Why, your roses are not fresh, so they turned from red to black?"
The tall man cursed a slightly dirty word:
"What on earth do you want me to do here?"
"Don't you like church?"
Xia De shook his head and looked at the obviously wilted flower in his hand:
"A withered rose is still so beautiful."
It was unknown what had touched Ossenfurt's heart with Shade's words. The impatience and anger on his face became even more obvious:
"What exactly are you going to do? Did you find the sapphire earring?"
"I haven't found it yet, but I think I'll find it soon."
Xia De was not bragging. Some time ago, Old John said that he had a way to get a special coin and he should be able to get it soon. When the time comes, Luvia can use special divination to locate it:
"You are here on time, but remember? I asked you to stay here for three minutes."
"You want to test the church's power and resistance to 'it'?"
Ossenfurt's expression became more serious:
"It's useless. If it worked, I would have hidden in the church long ago."
In other words, although the Stone Mirror Demon - Goethe is still afraid of the power of the righteous gods, he still cannot escape its contractual power by hiding in the church.
"Whatever you think. I want to ask, have you ever seen a gemstone about this size? A six-sided gemstone."
Shad opened his notebook and displayed Luvia's hand-drawn pencil sketch.
He had originally just wanted to buy time so that Luvia would have time to observe carefully, but he did not expect that when Osenfurt saw the appearance of the gem, his expression suddenly changed:
"Where did you see this?"
"I haven't seen it, so I'm looking for it."
Xia De looked at him inquiringly:
"Some spirits asked me to find it, you know what I mean... Have you really seen it?"
Stone Oxenfurt hesitated, and the impatience on his face disappeared:
"Three years ago, 'it' asked me to look for gemstones of this shape locally. There are four in total, emerald green, scarlet red, golden yellow and white."
The four colors should represent the colors of the four seasons. The color Xia De got from the bottom of the memoir is the scarlet color representing summer.
"It's also looking for... How many have you found?"
He asked inquiringly, while Stone Oxenfurt folded his arms across his chest and looked at Shade:
"Why should I tell you?"
"It seems that you have obtained at least one. Is the gem in your hands now, or is it in the hands of 'it'?"
Ossenfurt narrowed his eyes slightly:
"What did it ask you to do when you met it outside Watson Manor?"
It looked like he wanted to trade problem for problem.
Mr. Lyman's tomb is of great importance. The glowing key represents that the secret is very likely related to the truth about the guardians and even the heart of the earth.
"It asked me to teach you a lesson."
After thinking about it, Xia De said:
"It helped me get a good weapon. The raw materials are what the Watson family intends to use to deal with it. However, the weapon will take another week or two to prepare, and the raw materials are very special."
Ossenfurt folded his arms and nodded:
"The white gem is in my hands. I found it in the hands of an antique dealer who came to the local area to do business in the winter of 1852. I knew that the gem might be important to 'it', so I did not tell 'it' that the gem had been found, and I did not even bring the gem back to the manor."
"The merchant's location and information."
Shade said, and Ossenfurt's face darkened.
"Tell me, what is the power of the weapon you prepared?"
Xia De shook his head:
"I told you how to complete my mission. Besides, I don't think you will be prepared if I tell you."
"Even if you don't tell me, I can guess it. It's a weapon against my immortality, right?"
Stone Oxenfurt's words were affirmative, and his face became even more gloomy in the thick morning fog:
"Do one thing for me. When you're done, the white gem will be yours."
"No."
Xia De shook his head:
"I've had enough of your endless commissions and missions. Do the people in Randall Valley have some kind of mental illness? Looking for wedding gifts, gems, weapons, I've had enough."
He turned around and pretended to walk up the steps to enter the church, but Oxenfurt stopped him:
"Wait. You have to be patient in negotiations. If you are not satisfied with my bargaining chips, then in addition to the white gem, I can also tell you the contents of the contract I signed with it."
"oh?"
Xia De stopped and turned around with interest:
"Are you sure?"
"I don't know if you were prepared. If you hadn't met me at the church entrance, I wouldn't have been able to bring up this offer."
Stone Oxenfurt took a few steps closer to Shade, and the two of them were almost touching each other. People passing by looked at them curiously, but immediately moved away because they looked like they were about to fight:
"It gave me the strongest immortal power and the luck to always win. It asked me to do a few things for it and wanted my soul. But the soul was not given to it directly. We agreed that if someone could break the immortal power it gave me, then my soul would belong to it completely."