When Shad opened his eyes on Monday morning, the first thing he heard was the sound of rain hitting the bedroom window. His mind was still reminiscing about the party last night, as if his nose could still smell the perfume on the girls' hair.
Perhaps because of the dances at the banquet, he had a strange dream last night.
At the beginning of the dream, he was playing Rhodes with someone whose face he couldn't see clearly, with the melodious sound of saxophone in the background. Then Miss Bei Yasi got out of Shade's cards, casually threw up Shade's entire deck, and pulled him to dance in the rain of cards that fell from the sky like snowflakes. But while dancing, the girl with beautiful long brown hair suddenly turned into Mia.
It's not Miss Mia San Gold who has not been met yet, but the lazy and timid Mia the cat.
Realizing that he was dancing with a giant cat, Shad was severely frightened in his dream, and then he immediately realized that he was in a dream because of the bizarre reality.
Just after realizing this, he returned to the familiar ridge of the field in his dream and looked up at the huge silver moon above his head.
Because the experience in the dream was so wonderful, I still had a headache after waking up.
Sitting up from the bed, he gathered his thoughts and planned a new day. The cat lying next to the pillow was awakened by Shade's action of getting up. The small cat jumped up, looked around for a while, and then jumped onto the quilt.
The two front paws stretched forward, the front half of the body pressed down, and the back half of the body tilted up, making a stretching posture. Then it meowed at Xia De and walked around on the quilt, looking like it wanted Xia De to prepare breakfast as soon as possible:
"Good morning, Mia..."
Then I immediately thought of the strange dream I had last night:
"You really look cutest when you maintain this body shape."
He sighed.
"Meow?"
The cat was rubbing its little head against the back of Shad's hand.
Summer is the rainy season in Tobysk. Located in the foggy city in the north of the Old World, it is often affected by the cold air blowing from the Far North. Since there are no tall mountains blocking the way from the west coast to Tobysk, the warm air from the ocean can reach the inland areas unimpeded and meet with the cold current from the north over Tobysk, resulting in a rainy monsoon climate in the local summer.
After breakfast, Xia De read the newspaper for a while. Seeing that the drizzling rain outside showed no sign of stopping, he went out with Mia in his arms and holding an umbrella.
This orange cat rarely goes out on rainy days and remained curled up in Shade's arms throughout the entire trip.
It wasn't until Shad knocked on the door of Quill Pen Street and was led by Miss Louisa to her apartment that the cat relaxed a little and looked around at the slightly unfamiliar environment.
"Mr. Knight, you came to see me so early, what's the matter?"
Because it was raining today, Miss Louisa had no plans to go out. She wore home clothes and entertained Shade in the living room. The first words she said were teasing. Shade saw that the newspaper on the coffee table was turned to the second page, which showed the photo of him when he was awarded the medal.
Due to the limitations of printing and photography technology, the photo was not very clear. As long as Shade was not walking around in this suit, it would be basically impossible for a stranger to recognize Shade based on the photo in the newspaper.
And the king in the photo really looked taller than Shad.
"Do you need me to congratulate you? Although the knight class has disappeared for hundreds of years and people nowadays no longer consider knights to be nobles, this still represents a big step forward for you."
The blonde asked as she prepared tea for Shade.
"It is I who need to thank you, Miss Louisa. I heard from Miss Carina that it was Princess Resia..."
"She just wanted to thank you for saving her mother."
Miss Louisa said this, and then she made eye contact with the cat in Shade's arms. The small orange cat immediately meowed twice in a soft voice, which is the way animals intimidate their enemies.
Xia De then got down to business:
"I didn't come here to thank you today. I just want to ask you for help with something. I'm really sorry to say it."
He put the cat he was holding on the armrest of the sofa. The orange cat cried uneasily, wagging its tail to pat Shade's arm. Shade looked at the cat and said to Miss Louisa who was already sitting opposite him:
"I'm going on a long trip today, and I'm not sure when I'll be back. It could be right away, or it could take a day or two."
Shade was not sure whether there was a waiting time for the teleportation of the Ancient God's Original Rift Statue in the basement, but because of the divination of the "Red Moon Witch", he believed that even if there was a gap in the use of the statue, it would not be too long.
"So, I want you to help me take care of the cat for a while. Of course, it's okay if you don't have time. Father Augustus said that the nuns of the Dawn Church can also help take care of it, but after all, you are more reliable."
As he said that, he reached out and stroked Mia cat's head. The orange cat squatted there and squinted its eyes to accept the pat.
"Take care of the cat for the time being? Of course no problem."
Miss Louisa thought for a moment and nodded, then said casually:
"It's not a big deal, but you have to come back as soon as possible. Although I know you probably won't tell me your destination, you might be in danger, right?"
"Of course, there are dangers in doing anything."
As he spoke, Xia De took out another yellow envelope and placed it on the coffee table:
"The envelope contains the money for taking care of Mia. Don't refuse. I was paid by the client to take care of her anyway."
Miss Louisa didn't care about the money. She looked at the detective who was sighing at the cat:
"Xia De, if there is any danger, remember to come to me for help."
"Of course. I'll be back soon, don't worry about me."
He touched Mia's head reluctantly and stood up to leave. The orange cat noticed that Shade was leaving and immediately grabbed his clothes to let him hold him.
But this time Shade didn't pick up the cat:
"Mia, I'll be back soon, is it okay for you to stay here for a while?"
Mia certainly couldn't understand what people were saying, but she probably understood that Shade didn't intend to take her away. When Shade left Miss Louisa's apartment, the orange cat was held in the arms of the blonde writer, and looked pitifully at Shade walking away with an umbrella.
"Meow~"
The aggrieved cry could be heard far away in the rain. Miss Louisa hugged the orange cat and laughed, while Xia De turned around with an umbrella and took another look, waved to the man and the cat, and then really left.
After finding someone to take care of Mia temporarily, Shade officially started planning to go out. Because he didn't know where he would end up, and for safety reasons, he had to sort out his belongings first and pick out the right things to take with him.
The Earl's left eye and the other face must be left at home, while the twenty-sided dice of the blood money fate of the Kind Spear Pirates must be carried with him. As for the page that can be used to contact the academy, Shade thought about it and also carried it with him in case of emergency.
In addition to the above items, the bag of frog legs that had not been used up and the brooch with the sacred emblem of the sun were also very important. As for the Rhodes card, Shade thought about it and decided to wear the card as well.
All of the above items were packed in the suitcase. In addition, he also prepared an umbrella, a strong hemp rope, several sharp knives, matches, candles and a whole piece of bacon.
Seeing that the box was not yet full, he stuffed some warm clothes into it, and then he felt relieved.
After finishing the preparations, it was already 10 a.m. I locked the door downstairs from the inside, and then went into the basement through the small door behind the stairs.
The Life Ring appears, causing the hidden wall to disappear. After entering the circular Hidden Snow area, take out the white stone crystal from the small box next to the wall.
He took a deep breath to adjust himself, then approached the statue of the two-headed man and reached out to touch the statue:
"May the original rift protect me in infinite space."
Thick white fog immediately rolled in, enveloping Shade. He once again entered the world wrapped in white fog, and as he wished, he heard the whispering voice in his ear:
Outsider, you have entered the 'space maze'.
Message from the ancient god "The Guide in White Robe":
Existing space landmarks:1.
"Sacrifice this white stone crystal."
Without thinking, Xia De immediately lifted the white crystal in his hand upwards. As soon as he finished speaking, it disappeared silently in Xia De's hand, as if it had merged into the thick fog.
As the white stone crystal disappeared, there was still only a wooden sign representing "St. Teresa's Square" on the path in front of him.
New information is available, and new spatial landmarks can be searched for. Please select a direction.
"direction?"
Xia De stood in the fog and thought:
"Can I only choose the direction? Can I choose the distance?"
Information from this space: You can only vaguely specify the direction, and then this place can be connected to another random statue of the ancient god 'Original Rift'.
He was not worried about encountering other statue users, but he was worried about another thing:
"The academy forbids ring sorcerers from setting foot on new continents. What if I accidentally run to a new continent?"
The closer you are to the next statue of the ancient god you randomly link to, the greater the probability. The possibility of you running to the bottom of the sea is greater than the possibility of you entering a new continent.
"Okay then, West."
Xia De said casually that in fact, east, west, south, and north made no difference to him. He just wanted to try and see what kind of effect this place could have.
The statue of the Ancient God, the Guide in White, has accepted your sacrifice.
Randomly linking spatial signposts.
Link successful, existing space landmarks: 2.
A new signpost suddenly appeared on the path in the white fog. It still had the dilapidated shape as if it had been ravaged by time for a hundred years, and the arrow on the signpost pointed to the west.
Xia De walked over quickly, stood there with his suitcase and waited for a while to make sure that nothing else happened, then reached out and touched the new signpost.
The guide will show you the way.
The white mist around dissipated.