"Wouldn't it feel weird to attend your own funeral?"
Shade raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice.
The guardian shook his head slightly. He was dressed similarly to Shade, but a little more old-fashioned. And Siris, who was standing next to the priest and delivering a eulogy, had obviously noticed the new guest, but she did not stop her speech.
After Hillis came Shad, who briefly expressed his respect for Mr. Lasser and acknowledged that he had laid an important foundation for the current glory of the Golden Dawn Opera Company.
Shade thought that after he finished speaking, Siris would let the guardian say a few words, but in fact, he did not. The priest announced that everyone should stand up, and he led everyone in the final prayer, praying that the soul of Willon Lathers could rest in peace.
After the church service, the coffin was moved to the grave under the tree. Led by Hillis, everyone threw a handful of soil on the coffin in the grave, and then the grave was filled, leveled, and surrounded by a circle of small stone pillars. According to the custom of the Randall River Valley, the highest point of the grave should be flush with the ground.
Everyone stood in front of the tomb in silence for a while, and then they parted again. The church's search and investigation of the entire city will intensify, and everyone will not see each other again in a short period of time.
Seeing that Sirius had no intention of talking to him, the guardian walked a little further away and waited for a while to talk to Shade.
Xia De said goodbye to the girls one by one. Although the moment of parting is always sad, he knew that this parting meant the countdown to the next reunion had begun.
"This is a letter to Helen and Grace. I will come to Middlesbrough to see you after I finish the things I have on hand."
Shade handed the letter to the flaxen-haired girl. Miss Swift nodded slightly and put the letter away. Then, without paying attention to other people's eyes, she kissed Shade on the side of her face:
"You've worked really hard on the Randall Valley. Don't forget to come visit us at Midhill Castle in the spring. The Sikar Mountains are beautiful in the spring."
Shad nodded with a smile.
Then it was Miss Aurora. The proud witch seemed not to care about the separation, but when Shade reached out to hug her, her face still showed some reluctance:
"You have to be careful and don't always go to dangerous places."
She gave Shade instructions but didn't say anything else. As for Miss Haley Aurora, she quietly waved to Shade. Although she didn't communicate much with Shade, she had a good impression of him.
Miss Carina and Tifa will return to Tobesk today with the help of Miss Sylvia, so there is no need to say goodbye. However, she did ask Shad to make time for it tomorrow, which is Tuesday, as she may have something for Shad to do.
When Miss Carina said these words, Tifa stood behind her and winked at Shade. This was an obvious hint, but Shade didn't quite know what it meant. He wanted to ask Tifa, but the black-haired maid smiled and refused to speak.
Finally, it was Miss Sylvia and Margaret. Because of the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the shipyard, they would stay in the local area for another week. Although this was not the first farewell, Margaret was still very sad:
"During our time in Randall Valley, you always helped me with various things. It was also thanks to you that I was able to handle the Masons Guild. I'm always busy, and I'm really sorry that I didn't have time to spend more time with you."
She bit her lip and hugged Shad goodbye, feeling really sad about this:
"Next time we meet, no matter when or where, I will definitely put aside all my plans."
Although she blushed a little, she still kissed Xia De and looked at Xia De closely:
"Thank you for everything you have done for me, my...lover."
Xia De clearly felt that the looks of the ladies around him had changed.
"Margaret, you will meet with Countess Hartiers later, so don't waste time."
So Miss Sylvia gently pulled her, then smiled and said to Shade:
"Take care of yourself. Don't worry about our business. Margaret will help me. Oh, I didn't bring the finished product to the Randall Valley. When we return to Willendel, I'll ask Margaret to send it to you. You'll like it."
Everyone knows what she means by "the finished product".
“Remember to come to Randall Valley often.”
Miss Benanis finally said, but she had an appointment with Shad to go to the opera tonight, and now was not a farewell, so she looked the least sad.
Hillis did not talk to Shade. She half-knelt on one knee and looked at the tombstone in front of her sadly. The words on the tombstone were very brief:
Veron Garland Lathers
The second director of the Golden Dawn Opera Company and a good father.
Born on the earth, die on the earth, and be buried on the earth.
May the earth be with you and me.
"Are you okay?"
Shade asked softly behind her. Sirius shook her head slightly. She had already become strong:
"Everyone will grow old, this is something we should understand when we meet. My father chose his own path, and I am very happy for him. He did not abandon me, but to better protect me."
She turned to Shade and said:
"You're going to leave one day, right?"
The "she" beside him chuckled, and Shade shook his head. Together with all the ladies around him, he looked up at the now bare tree:
"Look at this tree. It has no leaves in winter, but in summer, its dense leaves will shield the grave from the scorching sun, and the warm wind will make it play the sound of summer. Then it will be winter again, withered and dead again, and then it will be a vibrant spring again."
"You want to say that this is the law of nature and we have to face it?"
Hillis asked, and Shade shook his head again:
"This tree will always change, but the ground beneath your feet will remember its appearance every year. Sirius, whether people leave or not is not up to me, but up to you. As long as you remember us, we will always be by your side."
The ladies around her all smiled, and the young girl with golden hair also stood up and nodded with a smile, as if she wanted to engrave the figure before her in her heart forever:
"I will always remember you, and never forget you."
"I will never forget you, or any of you."
So, Hillis gently left a kiss mark on Shade's cheek.
Just as Xia De said, soon the shade of the tree will cover this small grave. Because spring has really come.
The witch and the apprentices left one by one. After the simple funeral, Shade waved goodbye to everyone, then put his hands in his pockets and went to find the guardian who was waiting on the side.
Two men, at least they looked like two men, walked together on a path paved with square stone slabs in the cemetery. The hazy fog made the cemetery seem a little unreal, but it was indeed a good place for a secret conversation.
Shade asked:
"You didn't come here just for this funeral, did you? I thought if you had something, you would contact Luvia directly."
Just like Sister Develyn gave Luvia the flame that could directly contact her, Shad also asked the guardian to give Luvia the way to directly contact him. Of course, if Shad wanted to find the guardian, he didn't have to go directly to the passage under the Night Temple and walk that road again. As long as he stood on the ground in the Randall River Valley area and called the guardian's name, the latter would appear directly.
"There are other things. If it's not necessary, I don't like to be on the ground."
The guardian said that although there were many people in the city's public cemetery during this period, it was also quiet in the mist. Shade was not the chosen one of death, but he could still feel the "breath of death" through his own perception. It was a feeling that was difficult to describe, and in his perception, the Randall River Valley, which was filled with the breath of death, was being illuminated by the morning sun, and the fog was about to dissipate.
"It's about curing the petrifying plague and the ring warlocks who were stained by the sludge."
The Guardian said, his tone was calm:
"These people must be dealt with as soon as possible. Even if the source of distortion is eliminated by you, the contamination can still spread."
Xia De's expression also became serious. This was indeed a big problem:
"But the problem is that even if we solve the root distortion of the earth, we still haven't found a convenient and cheap antidote. Besides, I don't have a single Holy Grail in my hand."
Xia De said regretfully:
"You can't really break off a small piece from the current Heart of the Earth, right? This is probably the most wasteful way to use the Heart of the Earth, besides skipping stones on water."
"The current power of the Heart of the Earth must not be lost any more."
The guardian said that this was true, otherwise he would not have been unable to leave the Randall Valley so easily:
"The Church of the True God discussed this matter with the Chosen Ones of Balance. They have a way to deal with petrification, but whether it is high-level potions, the table on the sanctified riverside vacant land, or the relics, they are not a method that can be mass-produced to treat thousands or tens of thousands of people."
Xia De nodded to show his understanding:
"I can actually treat the petrification plague directly, and even the petrification symptoms of those who have been contaminated by the black mud, as long as they are not dead. But I don't want to reveal my identity, and my own spirit is not enough to treat the people in an entire city."
Shade sighed and said, and the guardian asked:
"May I ask what method it is? Spells? Thaumaturgy? Unique rituals? Or some high-quality relic that can be replicated and has minimal negative properties?"
So Shade described his "active mud" and then realized that there was no prefix "power of the earth" in front of this magic. In other words, even the guardian who had performed the chosen ceremony and now fully mastered all the power of the earth could not learn or use this spell.