"Um... ... "
In the restaurant, Miss Louisa had already put down her knife and fork. She saw Shad's hesitation and knew that he would definitely not be able to take it out, so she smiled and said:
"Shad, don't tell me it was Mia who ate the leaves."
"Meow~"
The cat who was eating heard someone mention him. His little pointed ears moved and he looked up and around.
"Oh well... ... "
Miss Louisa was concerned about herself, and Shade understood this very well:
“I only have one leaf left.”
The blonde girl asked in surprise:
"Is the God's Descent incident really related to you? I heard a rumor that the 'Masked Man Under the Silver Moon' is the 13th Ring Warlock 'Godcaller'. I was originally thinking of going to check on you and confirm whether the church has made a mistake again, but I didn't expect you to come to my house in high spirits with a cat in your arms. You don't look like you have experienced a God's Descent."
She put on an expression as if she was listening to a story, so Shade explained to her while eating how he and his companions, whose identities were not convenient to reveal, attacked the Silver Eyed One. As for what happened after the evil god came, Shade used the same words he told Luvia and Iluna. Miss Luisa just listened carefully and did not interrupt:
"Just know what you're doing."
She sighed after Shade finished speaking.
She stirred the soup in front of her with a spoon, then raised her eyes, and her emerald green eyes swept across Xia De's face:
"Xade, don't die so easily. Otherwise, I will be... very sad."
After lunch, the two went to Old John's pawn shop. Miss Louisa wanted to commission Father John to make some alchemical items, while Shade wanted to identify the mercury bottle.
Father John acted quickly, carefully observing what Shade took out, then went to his own residence on the second floor of the pawn shop to look through some information, and found the name and level of the relic corresponding to the small bottle.
Of course, he first collected two pounds from Shade for the appraisal before he was willing to reveal the information:
"Poet-level (level 5) relic, Endless Mercury Bottle."
"Poet level?"
Shade was surprised and stretched out his hand to grab the banknotes he had put on the counter, but Old John was faster and swept them into his own hands. In the fight for the two pounds of cash, even if Shade was promoted to the second ring and his body was cleansed by divinity, he could not compete with the old man in front of him:
"Don't worry, don't worry. I knew you would think so, but the poet level is not worthless."
The old man took off the brass mechanical telescopic magnifying glass on his left eye and carefully placed it in the box:
"Listen to my description of the properties. This bottle can produce mercury infinitely. Yes, infinitely."
He took out a bottle of red liquid from under the counter, carefully poured it into the mercury vial, then took the bottle and shook it:
"To get the mercury out of this small bottle, you need to slowly inject a small amount of blood and the ringmaster's spirit, and then shake it gently."
As he spoke, he shook the bottle and then turned the bottle mouth downward. The liquid metal that Shade had been unable to get out was immediately poured out, while the liquid level inside the bottle did not change at all.
The cat standing on the counter and looking around immediately became interested in the silver liquid. But before it could stick its head out, Miss Louisa picked the cat up and signaled Shade not to worry.
"Meow~"
The tail was swinging back and forth as if it was whipping Miss Louisa's arm. The orange cat didn't like being hugged by her.
"The negative property is that this bottle tempts its owner to pour the liquid into his mouth. This is of course not very effective against a ring sorcerer, but few ordinary people can withstand the mental induction of a relic... Speaking of which, I remember that this thing should be in the hands of a fifth-ring sorcerer of Mercury Blood? Where did you get it from?"
"It doesn't matter. Is this worth money?"
"Shad asked, glancing sideways at the wall behind the counter where there was a specimen of a small yellow flower hanging on the wall. Old John always had all kinds of weird things at his place.
The old man looked up at Xia De, with an expression that showed that he didn't know what he was talking about:
"For a ring sorcerer organization like Mercury Blood that relies heavily on mercury as a spellcasting material, this thing is simply a priceless treasure. Moreover, if a madman dares to bury the relic inside his body, it means that he can perform mercury spells and magic almost without consumption. The ring sorcerers of Mercury Blood have done this before and have proven the feasibility. Do you think it is worth the money?"
"Worthless... What is the ratio of blood to mercury output?"
Xia De asked again. Father John looked at him curiously, with a smile on his old face:
"What did you think of? Tell me."
Miss Louisa also looked at Xia De curiously. The stranger sorted out his thoughts:
"The advent of the steam engine has driven the rapid development of our civilization. The level of development in the past 100 years has far exceeded that of the past 1000 years. From what I understand, the value of mercury in steam factories and mechanical industries is unquestionable. Extraction of non-ferrous metals, mirrors, reflectors, barometers and even explosives..."
Shade paused, and Old John nodded in satisfaction. The old man looked at the bottle in a slightly intoxicated manner, then shook it violently and completed Shade's words:
"This relic can produce high-purity mercury, and the production method is harmless, and there will be no additional exhaust gas and pollutants. The detective means that if the output ratio of blood and mercury is appropriate, this small bottle is enough to change the industrial structure of an area. Yes, yes, detective, I praised you last time. You are indeed the most intelligent young man I know."
The old man said with satisfaction.
"Is it possible, then?"
Xia De asked again.
"Of course not."
Old John said mercilessly, placing the small bottle on the table:
"One gil (about 142 ml) of blood of any creature, plus a small amount of spirit, can produce one gallon (about 4.5 L) of mercury. But this is a relic after all. Do you think the mercury it produces is normal mercury?"
Old John shook his head:
"These mercuries also have the whispering element. Even if the influence of the ring sorcerer can be basically ignored, they are absolutely dangerous to ordinary people. Remember, young man, do not try to use any relic. For relics, except for your own use, other relics must be strictly contained. The church and the academy have contained so many powerful relics. Why have they never thought of using such extraordinary items to change the world? Is everyone's brain not as bright as you and me?"
Miss Louisa gave the answer:
"Because the whispering elements represented by the relics are the enemy of civilization. Using relics to change the world is similar to using steam bombs to keep warm."
She happily stroked Mia in her arms, but the cat still found an opportunity to jump out and stood on the counter of the pawn shop to "roar" at the blonde.
"Shad, do you understand?"
Miss Louisa asked.
"Understood."
Xia De nodded with some regret, and Father John took the opportunity to say:
"You guys don't have any use for this thing, why don't you sell it to me? I can give you a good price."
"No, I have no plans to sell it for the time being."
Shad shook his head.
"You don't need money anymore?"
"I have recently made a large sum of money. I met a wealthy and powerful female nobleman. She is very generous."
"A noblewoman?"
Old John smiled ambiguously, first glanced at Miss Louisa, then lowered his head to tidy up the pile of things on the counter used to identify relics:
"Young man, this is indeed a shortcut, but you must be careful of your body. But even if you are not short of money, you can also find out the news about the legendary thirteen-ring warlock. You should know this, right? You can sell me any information. I need it."
"Is it Carina?"
After leaving Old John's Pawn Shop, Miss Louisa finally couldn't help asking. The two of them walked side by side on the street, with many pedestrians around them. Because there was a curfew for the next week, people had to speed up their daytime schedules.
Rusty gas pipes were piled up against the wall in front. This street was recently undergoing urban infrastructure renovation. Old John had just complained about the rude people walking around in front of his store every noon. Unfortunately, due to martial law and curfew, I'm afraid the project will be delayed for a long time.
Even though there was still no sunshine today, Miss Louisa still wore a white wide-brimmed ladies' hat with a small pink flower pinned on it, which looked very matching with her hair.
In the aesthetic of this era, girls with blonde hair and blue eyes are the most standard beauties.
"Yes, I have a good relationship with the Duchess. She spent a lot of money to buy some of the spoils from the ruins from me."
Shad told the truth.
"Oh? I wanted to ask you last time. You and Karina are very familiar with each other... Is that right?"
The blonde girl squinted at Shade, wondering what she was thinking.
Shade noticed that she never used any honorifics when addressing Duchess Carina Cavendish, which certainly did not mean intimacy, but more like a contradiction between the two sides.
Dorothy Louisa was just an ordinary citizen of Tobesk, and she should have no connection with the Duchess who was not in Tobesk for many years. Therefore, Shade guessed that her good friend Princess Leicia had a conflict with Miss Carina.
The princess that Shade had not yet met was five or six years older than Carina Cavendish, but in fact they were three generations apart. If they really had a conflict, it would probably be just like what was described in court romance novels, all secrets that ordinary citizens could hardly imagine.
Why not a palace politics novel
"Because I haven't read the court politics novels of this world. It's not like you haven't read the book The Queen and Her Lovers left by Mr. Sparrow with me."
Of course, the main purpose of reading that book is to find the so-called "spy code book".
Along the crowded street, Shade chatted with the woman in his heart about the contents of the erotic novel while walking side by side with Miss Louisa. Mercury Blood was destroyed, the evil god left, and before Luvia divined the second chosen one, Shade could temporarily spend some leisure time.