Shade did not stay long at Mr. Edmund's place and left before dinner. When he returned home, he was still wondering if Mia would smell the water ghost pheromones on his body. The fact was that before Shade took another bath, Mia kept avoiding Shade like she was avoiding a stinky salted fish.
The following Saturday, Shade still did not receive a letter from the pharmacist at the Green Lake Hotel. If she had not sent a message to Shade asking him to wait, Shade would have even thought about trying to find her himself.
Saturday was the time for the group meeting, so apart from going to Green Lake Hotel to inquire about the situation in the morning, Shad had no other travel plans. After returning from Green Lake, he spent the whole morning at home writing his book report. At noon, he took Mia to have lunch and went to the doctor's clinic.
When he met Priest Augustus, he thought of the "Angel Finger Bones" in the Green Lake area that had not been dealt with. The tomb robbers who sold the angel finger bones to Hela Osenfurt's father were from Mikaela Blast Furnace City, but Shade had no clues about it now. After all, he really knew nothing about that group of tomb robbers.
It is now the 12th day of the Sowing Moon, and spring has finally arrived. Every week when we meet the rest of the group, everyone's clothes change. On this afternoon, the doctor, who was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, talked to the other four people in the group about his recent plan to organize a group activity:
"Yes, the five of us acted together. Since Shade joined our group, we have rarely carried out group activities except for the one time at Lakeview Manor."
The doctor distributed the documents in his hand to the four people. This was the academy's bounty order:
"Don't worry, it's not a big deal, and I'm not asking you to go to Lakeview Manor to attend the banquet again. Compared to last year when Shade was away, the strength of our team has been greatly improved. We can even say that we are the strongest correspondence ring magician team in the Tobesk region. I have accepted a bounty related to our region from the academy this time, and you will definitely be satisfied with the reward."
Shade took the document from the doctor and placed it on the cat that was taking a nap on his lap:
"There's a steam train coming from the south next Thursday, bringing a coffin. We're to pick it up at the railway station in the evening and guard it until daybreak?"
He scanned the document in surprise:
"It says here that the information about the coffin involves top-secret information of the academy, and we won't know until Thursday evening. This is really new. They didn't explain the situation clearly after accepting the mission."
"This type of mission to help the academy receive and deliver goods is rare, but once it happens, it means a generous reward. Of course, the risks cannot be underestimated. The mission description says that in addition to the danger of the coffin itself, you must also be careful of the ring sorcerer who is tracking the coffin."
The doctor briefly introduced:
"That coffin seems to have been shipped from overseas. My acquaintance in St. Byrons said that it is very important. Unless it is a special period, the high-level warlocks of the academy cannot enter a big city like Tobesk at will. In addition, the academy does not want the church to know that we brought such a dangerous thing to Tobesk. This task cannot fall on the shoulders of correspondence students."
"It doesn't sound like a small matter. What will happen to this coffin afterwards?"
Father Augustus asked curiously.
"We will protect it until dawn, and then someone else will take over and transport it out of Tobysk. After that, it will have nothing to do with us."
The doctor obviously asked in detail:
"The people who came to receive the goods were not from the academy, but high-level sorcerers from other sorcerer groups that cooperate with the academy. As long as we wait for them to arrive, anything that happens afterwards will have nothing to do with us."
"This mission sounds good. It reminds me of the mission we took on to protect the sage-level relic in the winter of 1852. Later, I remember that I hid the relic on the third floor of the Prophet's Association, in the suggestion mailbox outside the president's office. Only then could we free our hands to deal with the greedy guys who were attracted. This time, the coffin should not be hidden."
Luvia commented, flipping a coin for a simple divination:
"Fate tells me that it doesn't look dangerous. The reward for this mission is... cash, credits, and a Keeper-level relic?"
"What relic?"
The blonde writer asked as she looked at the document in her hand, and then turned to the last page:
"Oh, so it's written at the end. A Keeper-level relic, the Mind Mirror? Doctor, that sounds like a good fit for you."
"Yes, this is very important to me. After the mission is over, this relic will belong to me and I will compensate you. How about it, do you want to participate?"
The doctor asked everyone eagerly, and Xia De thought for a moment:
"I should have nothing to do Thursday night, so I can attend."
"Can you estimate how strong the strongest enemy is?"
The old priest did not give an immediate answer, but asked a safe question.
"It's a medium ring at best. The probability of a high ring is very small, and the academy will give us a batch of supplies to help us complete the mission... ... If the supplies are not used up, there is no need to return them."
The doctor said, and Father Augustus smiled and nodded:
"Originally I had to attend a dinner party, but I can postpone it. No problem, I'll go, and I'll prepare a batch of potions that will be needed in advance."
"That's fine with me. It's good to participate in group activities occasionally, which helps to enhance cohesion. After I was promoted to the middle ring, I haven't really faced a serious battle with a ring warlock. This opportunity is very good."
Dorothy also said so, and as for Luvia, of course she said that she had no problem.
"Well, I'll give you more specific information later. Everyone, gather at my place next Thursday afternoon, and then go to Tobysk Railway Station together. Yes, that's the street where Xia De was shot last year."
"Doctor, you can actually use other landmarks to illustrate the location."
Xia De said helplessly while touching Xiaomia.
In addition to this incident, the doctor mentioned the summer exam week as usual during the team meeting that afternoon.
Although it seems that it has only been a short time since the winter exam week, it is actually mid-April. According to the tradition of summer exams in July and August every year, more than half of the first half of the school year has passed.
"Has it been that long?"
Luvia asked in surprise:
"I thought it was the beginning of the school year."
"Don't wait until June to review."
The blue-eyed psychiatrist shook his head:
"After finishing those elective courses, start preparing for the final thesis. Our group's grades were pretty good last winter, and I don't want anyone to say they might fail after the summer exams. However, that's two or three months away, and there hasn't been any major news at the academy recently. It's just that the notice to investigate the foreign ringmasters who visited the local area during the Ring City Riding Competition has just been delivered, and I don't know what the academy wants to investigate."
"Probably the Mirror Society."
Father Augustus said, polishing his pipe, and the doctor asked again:
"Priest, after the Mirror Society members were captured, were the Faceless Men taken in?"
"No, this humanoid relic took the initiative to leave the area and is now wandering in the wild. It should complete self-containment soon. This has nothing to do with us now."
It was Luvia who gave the answer:
"But there is still no news about the other suspected Unknown Level (Level 0) relic. If it came to this city on its own and has nothing to do with the Mirror Association, we don't know where it is now."
"The Unknowable Relics are too far away from us, so let's talk about the Mirror Association. Speaking of which, I have a past with them."
The doctor said something surprising in a casual tone. Reverend Augustus stopped polishing his pipe, Luvia put down the coin in her hand, Dorothy sat up straight on the sofa, and Shad took his hand away from Mia.
The doctor didn't expect such a big reaction from everyone. He asked in confusion:
"Haven't I mentioned that before?"
"No."
The second most senior blonde female writer in the group shook her head:
"That should have happened before I joined the group, right? I haven't heard you mention it either."
"Doctor, tell us what that is."
Xia De then urged:
"Maybe we'll run into someone from the Mirror Society, and tell us your story with them."
"Yes, Bill, let us hear your story, too."
Father Augustus also urged.
So Bill Schneider nodded and said with a sigh:
"It was probably more than ten years ago. I have forgotten the exact time. At that time, I went to... deal with a very dangerous ancient creature."
He winked at Shade, apparently one of the demons the Doctor had hunted down to devour.
"It's not here, it's in a small town northeast of Delarion. At that time, the Mirror Association also had its eyes on that dangerous ancient evil creature, but unlike me wanting to kill it, the Mirror Association wanted to seal it with a mirror."
The doctor also explained to everyone about the Mirror Society:
"They have an angel-level (level 1) relic, the ancient mirror, the Cursed Mirror of Fasha. That mirror can seal non-human creatures and use it to release their mirror images to fight. It is a very practical relic. The Mirror Association relies on the Thirteenth Ring Mirror Hider and this mirror to be able to operate in the Old World for a long time as an illegal ring sorcerer organization in such a peaceful era. Otherwise, they would have been forced to flee to the New World like the Blood Spirit School."
The ability of this mirror reminded Shade of the cards he brought out from the Sixth Epoch in his past life.
"Doctor, the enemies you encountered back then were very strong, right?"
Dorothy asked with great interest, and the Doctor nodded:
"Of course I did. Back then, I met a high-level sorcerer, two middle-level sorcerers, and a pair of twin brothers with strange abilities in this small town."
Hearing the word "twins", Shad instinctively paid attention.