After saying goodbye to the witch, the maid and the little princess that evening, Shad did not stay in Green Lake City for dinner. Instead, he returned home and had dinner with Little Mia and Dorothy.
Because Luvia had to go to St. Teresa's Square to watch the stars some time ago, Dorothy rarely found a chance to date Shad. Now that Luvia's stargazing was over, the writer could come here more often.
Since they had dinner together, she naturally stayed at home that night. Shade and Dorothy also tried the effect of the Thorn of the God of Love. For a writer with five rings, this magic improved her more than Miss Carina and Tifa. During the experiment of the magic effect, Leicia's soul was also exchanged once, and she also tried this magic.
Of course, she did not forget to ask Shade whether he had seen Miss Carina in Green Lake, and asked about Ajelina's situation. Although she was usually a little harsh towards Ajelina, Leisia really cared about her sister.
At night, Dorothy's blond hair, soaked by sweat, was scattered on the pillow. She had closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep while holding Shad's arm. It was past midnight, and it was time to sleep. But she woke up in the middle of the night, opened her eyes and looked at Shad in the dark bedroom, but she was reluctant to close her eyes.
what's on your mind
"She" whispered softly, and a pink light appeared in Shade's empty left hand, and then formed the crystal spike:
"What would happen if I thrust the thorn of Eros into my heart?"
"She" smiled gently, neither supporting nor opposing. Xia De brought the crystal closer to his heart, but the crystal eventually disappeared, and he did not seek the answer. After a soft sigh, he turned to lie on his side, hugged the soft girl, and fell into the dream illuminated by the silver moon.
After the night of the blonde's entanglement, time finally came to the Friday of the Green Lake City dinner. Although the most important thing today was the evening banquet, Shade did not waste the daytime.
In the morning, after seeing Dorothy off for breakfast, he took out the black key of time, tossed it in his hand, and then touched the cat standing on the dining table.
Of course the cat recognized this kind of key, and it meowed and wanted to follow Shade. When Shade picked it up, it rubbed Shade's hand excitedly, but then Shade carried it out of the house.
The adventure of the Black Time Key is to challenge the few remaining evil creatures after the end of the Sixth Era. Shade did not plan to do such a thing early in the morning. It would not be too late to go before going to bed at night.
Today's schedule was quite tight, because it was drizzling in Tobesk, so Shade took an umbrella. The bad weather naturally meant that Old John's Pawn Shop had few customers. When Shade was closing his umbrella with his back to the door, he heard the old man behind the counter complaining:
"I was wondering who the first guest would be today, good morning, Detective."
"Good morning, Father John. Is there anything wrong with me being the first guest?"
"You are good in everything except being too stingy."
Just as it was embarrassing to be described as "unlucky" by Dr. Schneider, it was also embarrassing to be described as "stingy" by Old John.
Of course, he didn't come here early in the morning to discuss his attitude towards money. After inserting the umbrella into the umbrella tube behind the door and holding Mia to the counter, he took out the illusory book with "Conch", "Broken Sword" and "Black Coin" just like yesterday:
"Take a look at these three items. Which one do you recognize?"
"This magic trick of yours is quite interesting."
The old man said, holding his glasses, taking the book and reading it carefully, then raised his eyebrows:
"Interesting, where did you see this thing?"
He pointed to the black coin with three views drawn on it. Where the holder's portrait was located on the coin, Xia De had written the corresponding content.
Xia De shook his head and didn't answer, so the old man didn't continue to ask, but walked to the door of the store, hung up a sign saying "Temporary Rest" and asked Xia De to wait for a while on the first floor:
"You and your cat can just walk around the store. I'm going to need some time. That relic coin has a very special origin, so I'll need a lot of time."
"Relic?"
Shade raised an eyebrow, he clearly remembered the coins of the boy, old lady Myers and the young witch Miss Higgins, but there was no whispering element.
"In other words, that coin became a relic when the Fifth Era turned into the Sixth Era?"
Old John said that we had to wait a little longer, but unexpectedly, we had to wait for a full hour. During this time, Shad held Mia and visited the first floor of the pawn shop, which looked like a garbage dump, and then found that every item here was very interesting.
For example, the "steam-powered mechanical toothbrush" is a new invention that appeared in the newspaper only last month. This toothbrush is made of metal except for the bristles. The inside of the toothbrush is hollow and needs to be filled with high-pressure steam each time it is used. When in use, the buttons on the toothbrush can achieve functions such as "heating cold water", "spraying hot and humid steam to the inner wall of the mouth", and "driving the toothbrush to rotate automatically".
It’s a pity that because it is too cumbersome to charge the steam each time and it is very easy to burn your mouth, this invention, which has never been heard of in the hometown of outsiders, is still just a prototype.
"Come to think of it, I've never cleaned your teeth before."
Shade looked at the cat standing on his shoulder, and the orange cat, which was one year old but still young in size, showed him its gleaming teeth in a threatening manner.
When Old John came down the stairs holding a book, Shad and his little Mia in his arms were looking at the round glass cylinder standing between the clock and the antique cabinet on the west wall of the first floor.
The glass cover is as tall as a person, and inside is an upright metal rod, on which are connected hundreds of densely packed metal butterflies made of phosphorus powder with tough metal wires. As long as the spring on the base is tightened, the metal rod will rotate in the glass cover, making the metal butterflies look like they are dancing.
This is a purely mechanical device, and the principle is very simple, similar to a large music box without sound. But because of its exquisite workmanship, it immediately attracted Xia De and Xiaomia.
"I got that last month. If you want it, I can sell it to you at a lower price."
Old John said when he returned to the counter, Shade was quite tempted. His house was still quite empty, and buying this kind of decoration and placing it in the corner would not take up any space, and this kind of device could easily be attached to a ritual to cast an illusion:
"We'll talk about this later. Is the coin confirmed?"
"Yes, the power of the poet-level relic."
The old man nodded, turned the big book in his hand upside down, and displayed the paragraph written in the Fifth Era language in front of Shade:
"It has the lowest danger level, but that doesn't mean the coin itself is worthless. Do you know the origin of this coin? This coin is made by stripping the 'existence' of a living being and transforming it into a coin. The pattern on the coin represents the identity of the coin's owner. 'Existence' is a concept, which means that this coin represents an illusory concept. Its only known characteristic is that it can resist the effects of 'erasing existence' when carried on the body. If it loses control, the holder will gradually be forgotten by everyone."
"Erase existence? This kind of power is rare, right?"
"Yes, only ancient evil beings, great beings, or angels are proficient in this kind of methods. Among the magic arts mastered by mortals, the more famous ones are 'Hand of the Void', 'Symbol of the Black Moon', and 'Death's End'."
Old John introduced:
"Although these are the properties known so far, this coin is very precious and is a valuable research material. After all, we rarely see pure conceptual polymers, not to mention that this coin represents 'existence' itself. Detective, although I don't know where you saw this coin, if you can find it and sell it to me, I can exchange it for a Sage-level (Level 2) relic."
After Shade recovered from his shock, the transaction at the Black Mist Camp was indeed strange. It was no coincidence that Witch Higgins, Granny Miles, and the boy all happened to have a large number of coins.
"You probably forgot that Luvia and I are also collecting special coins... What would happen if a certain individual lost a large amount of the power of existence?"
In other words, Shade's companions in this time adventure were actually using their own "existence" to trade with those strange things.
"To be lost? It's simple. To be forgotten. Not just by friends and family, but by the world."
Old John waved his hands, as if to shoo away invisible flies:
"It's the same as disappearing into thin air. I'm not an expert in this area, I can only say that we should try to avoid losing our existence. Losing part of our existence won't cause immediate disappearance, but it's definitely not a good thing. As for the impact of increasing existence, I'm even less sure. I'm very interested in this kind of knowledge, but it's not something you can study by reading a few books."
Xia De nodded, his expression quite solemn. Although Shufu had not asked him to guarantee the safety of the three companions, he still felt that he should find a way to protect them without them doing anything stupid, so that the past story could end with a relatively perfect ending.
The Black Mist Camp had obviously distorted some of the three people's perceptions, making them think that the coin was brought from the outside world. Once Shade told them the truth, the three people would probably be more cautious when using the coin.
"I don't know Broken Sword and Conch. If you don't have time, I can study them. If you don't have time, go ask other people."
Old John said again, and Shade was ready to pay for the "identification" fee. But he turned his head to look at the huge glass jar that he and Mia had just looked at, and asked with Old John's satisfied expression:
"With this, and a set of frames and tools for oil painting, how much is it?"
The gray-haired old man stretched out five fingers and compared them. Xia De complained:
"Are you a believer of the God of Wealth?"
"Are you calling me a demon?"
Old John raised his eyebrows, and Shade asked in surprise:
"What does this have to do with demons? Do demons have beliefs too?"
"I'm talking about ordinary demons. Don't you know? As alien creatures, most demons believe in the God of Wealth. I'm a pure human."
Shade blinked, feeling as if he understood something. However, this would explain all the strange things about the "greed" chain and fair trade.