Shade knew just now that the four apples used as targets were not normal fruits. First of all, they were incredibly hard, and secondly, there were whispering elements attached to them, which meant that these apples were also one of the items produced by the "Darkmoon Circus".
Seeing that the "game" was over and the people watching under the stage had dispersed, Rust Edwards floated in front of Shade and circled around, praising his excellent performance. Tifa walked onto the stage with two maids and whispered to Shade:
"The Darkmoon Faire produces a variety of unique tokens. These event relics are always like this, dangerous but also of great value. For example, this is the golden apple."
Xia De picked up the apple and found that it had indeed turned into a heavy piece of pure gold. But when he smelled it carefully, he still smelled the fragrance of apple.
"After being consumed in its entirety, it can heal almost all injuries, including irreversible injuries caused by relics. It is a top-level healing item. In addition, after being made into a potion using a specific technique, it can temporarily increase luck. However, this requires a master-level pharmacist to make it."
Fortunately, although Father Augustus is not a true master potion master, both Mother-in-law Cassandra, Audrey and Megan are.
So Shad put away the golden apple temporarily, discussed with Tifa, and treated the target boy's injuries first, but did not hastily remove him from the numerous nails. Those nails were attached with elements and were very close to his vital points. It would be difficult to carry out follow-up treatment if he was rescued hastily.
However, Shade promised the boy that he would come back to save him after solving the circus's troubles, and he also helped him remove the matchsticks from his eyes and the strings from his mouth. The boy had just experienced a nightmare, and he was satisfied with the promise.
He told Shade and the maids what he knew:
"I just saw that after the captain came back from the village, he was dragged into the tent by a centaur, oh, yes, a strong female centaur! Oh, I also saw our new accountant Mr. Merkel rushing out of his tent with two guns in his hands and being grabbed by a monster with parrot wings! Yes, those were the wings of Kreacher, the parrot raised by my teacher. It must be that pair of wings! Mr. Merkel was captured by the winged monster and flew to the south!"
While sobbing, he provided important information to Shade. Regardless of the situation of the circus director, the new accountant should not have mastered the skill of "using two guns". An accountant should not have such a skill.
Therefore, the unfortunate Mr. Merkel was most likely the gray-gloved agent that Margaret asked Shad to find, sent by Samuel Anjou to the north shore of the lake.
"This is all God's punishment, and we deserve this punishment."
At the end, the boy with a nail on each palm said something shocking:
"I knew long ago that recruiting children into the group and then taking them to the next place to sell them would definitely be punished by the gods. Even if this could allow some children who might otherwise starve to death to survive, more boys and girls lost their lives because of us. Their parents... wuwu, probably thought that they really had the skills to make a living, not knowing that they might... go to other villages... wuwu, and become slaves. This is our sin. I helped them guard the children who wanted to escape, I, I deserve this punishment."
Shade opened his mouth, and Tifa, who was listening to the conversation beside him, said softly:
"Detective, we can't waste too much time here. Diviner."
"Do you have a fortune teller in your circus? Where? Have you met him today?"
The boy sobbed and finally answered the question:
"Yes, in the pointed tent over there. I didn't see her today. She doesn't like to be disturbed. She is an old woman with a bad temper."
The fortune tellers in the circus are different from regular fortune tellers like Luvia who are registered with the Prophet Association and are actively preparing for the "Registered Fortune Teller Examination". The latter rely on real skills, outstanding talents and acquired efforts to achieve themselves, while the former are just a group of liars.
If someone dared to compare Luvia with the fortune teller in the circus, even the purple-eyed girl who usually had a good temper would definitely teach that rude guy a lesson.
In short, this is Shad’s first impression of the circus fortune teller. As for what abilities the fortune teller will have after being connected with the relic “Darkmoon Circus”, he can only go and see for himself.
After leaving the magician's stage with the girls and Rusty Edwards, the group discovered the camp's stall that was originally selling normal souvenirs, now being guarded by a guy with an octopus head and foul-smelling black slime dripping all over his body, who was selling evil charms with cursed properties.
As for the circus leader who was taken away by the mare, Shade originally wanted to ask Last, who was the most mobile here, to check the situation. But then he was worried that something inappropriate for children was happening in the carriage, so he went to check it out himself, and then found that the mare had just tied the fat leader wearing a top hat to the cage door and kept whipping him with a bloody whip.
If he didn't know the secrets of this circus, Shade might have considered rescuing him first. But now that he knew what the other party had done, Shade decided to deal with the fortune teller who was the core of the "Dark Moon Circus" first.
"What did you think would happen in the carriage?"
Tifa, who was walking beside Shad, asked softly. Seeing that Shad hesitated and didn't speak, a bright smile appeared on her face.
The fortune teller's pointed tent was located in the northwest corner of the entire camp, between the open space where the circus members hung their clothes and the carriage that belonged to the circus leader. Because the "Blue Star Circus" itself was not very rich, although it was obvious that the owner of the pointed tent had carefully maintained the tent, the oldness of the tent could not be concealed.
"There is not much information about the members of the Relic Dark Moon Circus. This is contaminated knowledge. However, the information the young lady gave us shows that we must first defeat the fortuneteller and then face her divination before we can exile her."
Tifa provided information, and Shad immediately felt something was wrong with the tent:
"Space power. The space inside is probably much larger than what we observed outside."
"Be careful."
The black-haired maid said softly, getting ready with the two girls behind her. Xia De looked at the floating girl soul next to him. She looked very interested, and obviously understood that the worst enemy was inside.
"Let's go."
Xia De lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in first. Even though he was mentally prepared, he was immediately shocked by the scene in front of him.
Above his head, in front of him, on both sides and even under his feet, there was an endless galaxy in the black deep sky. The stars twinkled at a strange frequency, and the sea of stars seemed to flow in all directions. The vibrating four elements and the wonderful spirit that made up this space made Xia De really feel the power of the starry sky for a moment.
"No, it's not the real starry sky. I can't feel the moon!"
The three girls and the soul behind them followed in, and the entrance was a curtain that seemed to merge with the deep space, but they could not find it again after entering. They were also surprised by the scene before them, but then they saw with Shad, a woman with three heads riding on a broom.
She was wearing a purple robe, and three heads with enchanting beauty each wore a black peaked hat decorated with the sun, moon and stars. Of course, this kind of dress that only appears in fairy tales is very effective in scaring the country people, but in fact, the fortune-tellers of the Prophet Association in the city would definitely not wear it like this.
"Wearing such old-fashioned and strange clothes to work will make my colleagues laugh."
This is what the purple-eyed girl said when Shade once asked about Luvia.
"On a broomstick..."
Xia De resisted the urge to comment on the other person's appearance, and saw the three-headed fortune teller riding a broom in the starry sky, circling around everyone. The three heads spoke different languages, and they were all extremely difficult to distinguish. It was a language from an older era:
"You will all die!"
"You can all live!"
"I'm going to make your life worse than death!"
The noisy noise made people feel upset. The fortune teller laughed and shook her fingers. The galaxy, which originally had a magnificent beauty, was heading towards chaos because of her command.
Just as Shade was about to take action, Tifa beside him whispered:
"Can we do it?"
She clasped her hands together in front of her:
"Since the maids are here, there is no need for you to do anything. Of course, if the maids are not strong enough, please help with Miss Edwards."
"OK."
Xia De then gave the opportunity to take action to the three girls. Since they were assigned by the great witch to accept the task, they naturally came prepared.
The three of them faced each other and held hands, forming a standard triangle. They then closed their eyes together and turned their faces upwards.
Tifa's eight-ring life ring, along with the other two's seven-ring life rings, appeared behind them, and the light of the life rings illuminated their beautiful faces. But it was not any of the spirit runes on the three life rings that lit up, but the life rings themselves flashed an ambiguous and indistinguishable white light.
The light gradually gathered in the center of each person's life ring, until it formed an abstract question mark representing the holy emblem of the ancient god "Chaos Witch". Although the symbol in the center of Tifa's life ring was still translucent, it was relatively clear. After all, she was a witch apprentice. The symbols of the other two girls were extremely vague.
Although it was the first time he saw it, Shade understood that they were using the power shared with them by the Great Witch of Balance.