"What happened last night was not an explosion. It was the church's attempt to capture members of the Mirror Society."
At ten o'clock on Friday morning, after sending Dorothy and Lecia away to Lecia's private tailor to have their spring dresses custom-made, Shad, who had just returned to 6 St. Teresa's Square, heard the news from Luvia.
The girl with purple eyes was waiting for Shad to come back home in advance. She didn't care about the two different scents of perfume on Shad's body. Instead, she congratulated Shad on his victory, helped him put the trophy in the study, teased Miss Carina, and even tolerated Leicia and Dorothy "playing games" with Shad in her place.
"I received news from Yin Luna that the Mirror Association's bold action this time is related to the Chosen One."
Luvia said.
"What?"
Xia De came out of the bedroom after changing his clothes, and frowned after sitting on the sofa with Xiaomia in his arms:
"Is it related to the Chosen One? Wait, is it the fragment of the Whispering Poems that points to the equestrian competition?"
"We don't know the details yet. The church used psychic methods to summon the soul of the ring warlock from the Mirror Association who was shot dead last night, and only then did we get some information. Wait for Yin Luna, she will be here in about half an hour."
Xia De nodded and stroked Mia's back:
"It looks like my break is over again."
They said they would arrive in half an hour, but in fact it was already eleven o'clock when Yin Luna arrived at St. Teresa's Square.
Xia De went downstairs to open the door and welcomed Yin Luna up. After the 17-year-old girl sat down, she didn't exchange too many pleasantries and said:
"The Mirror Association has obtained some fragments of the poem. The sixth chosen one is the chosen one of space. The information the church has obtained from the broken souls is that the chosen one of space is related to the 36 contestants who participated in the 1854 Tobysk City Ring Equestrian Competition."
Luvia frowned deeply:
"What do you mean related? If they are related, since Shad is a contestant, even you and I can be counted as one of them."
"The relevant thing is that the person chosen for the space could be one of the 36 contestants, or it could be their most trusted friend or closest relative."
“You’re still in it.”
Shad noted:
"I don't have any relatives, and you are my most trusted friends... or rather, not friends but more intimate relationships."
The purple-eyed girl smiled:
"Look at what you said. Yin Luna, the Mirror Association brought the Faceless Man here this time because..."
"The Chosen One has a peculiar destiny and peculiar means. The Mirror Society tried to have the Chosen One meet the Faceless Man so that they could obtain useful information no matter what happened. But unfortunately, the Chosen One probably did not arrive at the scene. The only ring sorcerer who had a direct conflict with the Faceless Man was Shad, and Shad only used ordinary people's means. Luvia, you have said many times that Shad cannot be the Chosen One."
Yin Luna said, and looked at Xia De again:
"But the church should investigate Shade's interpersonal relationships in the near future to determine whether the Chosen One is related to him. Don't worry about that, I'll help you get it done. But according to past experience, once an event that matches the poem fragment occurs, it means that the epic of a new Chosen One has begun. Shade, we originally planned to let you rest for the entire spring."
She said apologetically, and Xia De shook his head:
"That's fine, but what is the direction of the investigation now? Are we going to investigate the interpersonal relationships of all 36 contestants as well? The church can do that, they have enough manpower, but we can't conduct a large-scale investigation."
"Let Yin Luna inquire about the news in the church first. I will communicate with Jialina, and then think of a solution from the Prophet Association. Now that we can borrow the power of the Witch Council, many things will be more convenient. Once I have a clue, I can use the remaining two demon gold coins to further narrow the scope of the investigation."
Luvia turned her head and looked out the window:
"But why are there clues about the Chosen One in Tobesk? Is this city really that special?"
So far, except for the Chosen of Death and the Chosen of Earth, all other Chosen are more or less related to Tobesk.
"The key now is to determine whether the chosen one is in the local area. If not, I will prepare white stone crystals and items that can make me lucky in a short period of time and go to other cities... I was originally planning to visit Miss Goder after this competition, but now it seems that my spring travel plan will have to be postponed for the time being."
Shad said.
"Meow~"
Mia shouted, but no one knew what she was trying to say.
Yin Luna brought the news of the poem fragments on Friday, which was the fourth day of April, the month of sowing. On the next day, early on Saturday morning, Shade received a letter from Miss Mia Gold from afar:
"Ha, Miss Gold said that Mia's birthday is this week! I said, my guess was right! Mia, how about we have a big dinner tonight?"
Because in his reply at the beginning of last month, Shad mentioned his plan to visit her, so in this month's letter, in addition to the usual greetings and talk about little Mia's trivial matters, Miss God also mentioned Shad's visit.
She obviously thought that Xia De had not set out when she received the letter, because when she talked about this matter in the letter, it was also based on the premise that Xia De was preparing for this trip.
To put it simply, Miss Goder welcomes Shade to visit her with Mia, but she has been dealing with trivial matters in the family territory recently. On the one hand, she is recruiting helpers and adventurers who are willing to stay in the remote and desolate old town, and on the other hand, as the local lord family, she is repairing the town’s churches, sanatoriums, taverns, carriage stations, craftsmen’s unions, cemeteries, blacksmith shops and other basic functional buildings that were damaged due to various accidents last year.
In the letter, she suggested that Shade could wait until the summer a few months later to visit her, when the town should have gradually returned to its former peace. At the same time, she also mentioned that after Shade's visit, Mia could stay with her directly, thus ending this long-term commission of taking care of the pet cat.
"Once I go to visit her, I'm going to leave Little Mia with her?"
Xia De took the letter and glanced at the cat licking goat milk on the dining table. The cat with sensitive senses noticed Xia De's gaze, raised its head and looked at him with innocent eyes. The white goat milk on the hair around its mouth looked very funny.
You wouldn't decide to never go near Mia Gold's town for this reason, would you
"She" suddenly whispered in Xia De's ear. Xia De shook his head and shook off the unethical thoughts in his mind:
"Of course I have to go. I have to keep Mia by my side no matter what. However, since Miss Gode asked me to postpone my travel plans, and the matter of the chosen one happened, I think I can postpone my visit to her."
Shad muttered to himself as he folded the letter and put it away, along with the 10-pound note.
"Since Miss Gold is working hard to revive the family and the town, perhaps I can show my kindness in other ways. For example, if she is short of money, I can lend her some. I am relatively wealthy now."
After the adventure in Randall Valley, even without counting the shares of the unmined gold mine in Randall Valley, Shad's savings had unknowingly reached five figures. Add to that the box of gems in Huntington City, which Shad was not willing to cash out easily, and his average wealth level was probably comparable to the lowest level of his neighbors.
Since he had already thought of what to say to Miss Gold, he had intended to write back to Miss Gold immediately, in case Yin Luna or Luvia had further news about the chosen one and he forgot about it. But just as he walked into the study, he heard a knock on the door downstairs:
"The client?"
Shad went downstairs and opened the door with anticipation, only to find two twin brothers wearing monocles, Eric Foran and Charles Foran.
Although he had only known them for a short time, Xia De regarded them as his friends because they shared similar interests. He warmly invited the two brothers to go upstairs, but they just stood in the hallway. They came to say goodbye:
"Mr. Hamilton, we are leaving Tobesk this afternoon. I was on a business trip to Silver Cross Avenue just now, and I thought you lived nearby, so I came to say hello to you."
Mr. Eric Foran, the elder brother, said, while Mr. Charles Foran, who wore a monocle on his left eye, handed Shad a book:
"We came from Willendel and didn't bring anything good with us. This book is given to you as a gift. This book is out of print. Although it is not worth much, it is also a token of our appreciation."
It was the "Carsenrik Fairy Tales" written in the Carsenrik language. It was an old book, but it was well preserved.
"I'm so sorry, this was supposed to be my parting gift to you."
Xia De was about to go upstairs to look for the gift, but was stopped by two brothers in black suits:
"As a friend, there's no need to be so polite."
Eric Foren said with a smile, then reached out to shake hands with Shade and said goodbye:
"We're going to Green Lake City and Michaela Blast Furnace City next. I envy your comfortable detective life."
Xia De also shook hands with the two brothers separately:
"Will the seriously injured Earl Lewis go too? Or will he return to Willendale to recuperate? I hope my behavior at the banquet last night was not too rude."
Mr. Charles Foran shook his head:
"It's time for someone to teach the Earl a lesson. Ahem, I mean, yes, Earl Lewis is still going to the Green Lake area as planned. Since he is so seriously injured and still insists on participating in the subsequent negotiations, what reason do we have not to go? However, this is not a meaningless trip. We have always wanted to visit Green Lake. That is our mother's hometown."