According to the agreement, after successfully receiving the inheritance, Mrs. Lemaire needs to pay Shad 5 pounds in cash as a reward. This is one-tenth of the inheritance received by Mrs. Lemaire, which is definitely not a small amount even for a middle-aged woman today.
Of course, she didn't regret it when she really had to pay. On the one hand, she was indeed a kind woman, and on the other hand, now in a cramped room, some malnourished middle-aged woman would not want to annoy the young and strong detective.
But when she was about to hand the money to Xia De, Xia De shook his head and refused:
"I don't think I have to pay the commission in cash. I want the books."
He pointed to the pile of old books lying around with the old clothes:
"These old books are very interesting. Why not give them to me to offset part of the commission fee? Of course, Mrs. Lemaire, if you are worried that I won't give the correct price when I appraise them, you can also find someone to appraise these old books."
"No thanks, Detective. I trust you. Please take what you want."
The lawyer just now said that those old books were worthless, so the middle-aged woman did not doubt Xia De's behavior.
He reached out and pulled the box of old books in front of him, then took out the old books and diaries and piled them together. Mrs. Lemaire didn't care about the notebooks, perhaps in the eyes of this illiterate woman, notebooks and books are the same thing.
"Seven in total, mostly adventure novels, with a few logbooks and diaries. What's the estimate? ... one shilling apiece?"
Although Mrs. Lemaire had never bought a book, she knew that the price was not very high, but it was definitely not low. The middle-aged woman probably thought that Xia De was taking care of her, and said rather embarrassedly:
"No problem, Detective."
So Shad got the diaries that recorded the crew's secrets and received a reward of more than 4 pounds. In return, he told the middle-aged woman the address of Old John's pawnshop. There were many things in the estate that were difficult to find suitable uses, and Old John happened to like this kind of messy things, so it was just right to sell them to him.
Seven shillings was enough to buy the diary of the deceased ringmaster. This was considered a bargain for Shad, so before leaving, he reminded Mrs. Flamel that since they had suddenly gained so much money, it would be better for the family to move to a safer place:
"Many of your neighbors saw me and Lawyer Laurel coming to their homes today. You'd better make up a plausible reason for why we're here... How about the death of your missing husband?"
Xia De suggested, and the dull woman didn't know how to respond.
"In short, take this money and move out of this place as soon as possible. Most importantly, don't let anyone know that you have this money, not even your children."
In fact, Mrs. Lemaire should know these basic things to survive with her two children. Although Xia De knew that he was talking too much, he always felt uncomfortable if he didn't say it out.
"Also, you know my address. If you need any help in the future, you can always come to me. I have discounts for old customers. My detective agency has expanded a lot of business recently... I wish you a happy life."
He had taken advantage of the other party this time. If Mrs. Lemaire really needed help with something else, he would definitely not be stingy with his time.
After leaving the attic and going downstairs, after saying goodbye to the middle-aged woman who had suddenly become rich, Xia De stood under the building with swear words painted on the wall and looked up at the house which had no sunlight all year round because of the surrounding buildings.
With this huge sum of money, the lives of Mrs. Lemaire and her family would definitely change, and the future of the two children would probably change as well. But what would happen to the family in the future was beyond what Shade could imagine.
Maybe half a year, a year or two years later, he would think of this commission by chance while playing with his cat one day, or he would see the record of this commission while sorting out documents, and then he would find a way to find the Lemaire family and see how they were living.
But at least for now, Xia De is more concerned about his own affairs. After completing this commission, at night, he still has to step into the year 3002 again.
The task corresponding to the time key of the year 3002 in the universal calendar is "helping mortals complete the god-summoning ceremony - contacting the door to the old god's transformation". Although it sounds easier than "witnessing the old god's last wish" of the key of the year 1068, Shad believes that the innocent creator can actually fulfill the children's three wishes. It was only when he saw the appearance of his "future child" that he allowed himself to come with the mentality of "having fun".
The idea sounded ridiculous, but based on Shad's brief experience with the old god, his guess was likely correct.
The mission this time was to help three witches whose rituals had run into trouble, real trouble. So even though they would only come into contact with the gods at the end of this mission, the difficulty of the mission was no less than the first time.
So far, Shade has obtained information about the old god "Yaobianmen" from various channels. The time when this old god appeared is unknown, and the earliest document recording the name of the old god comes from the Third Age. Similar to the pure creator, the old god Yaobianmen is also a very low-key god, with extremely few believers, and there is no definite evidence to prove that the believers form a cult.
According to the information of the Orthodox Church, the Old God's Gate of Transformation possesses the power of time and space. The most important event related to it was that at the end of the Fourth Era or the beginning of the Fifth Era, it appeared in the material world in the form of a saint and prevented the angel-level (level 1) relic's broken map of the Old World from going out of control, which led to the land changes in the material world. That catastrophe directly led to the formation of the five continents of the Fifth Era and had an impact on the civilization of an entire era.
Because Miss Feliana had tried the god-summoning ritual in the Fifth Epoch, Shad originally thought that the academy library would have more information about this god, and even records of related events left by Miss Feliana, but the information Miss Danister gave Shad was no more than that of the church.
Even if Miss Feliana's matter was considered confidential by the academy and could not be leaked at will, it was not right that the information about the old god was so scarce. The academy had no need to hide the matter about this god. The current situation was as if Miss Feliana's summoning of the god had never happened, so Saint Byrons had no information.
Xia De couldn't help but feel a little worried, as there might be other unexpected events in 3002.
However, the information Luvia found in the Prophet's Association was unexpected. Unlike the five orthodox churches and the three major thaumaturgical academies that only appeared in the Fifth Era, the Prophet's Association, like the Blood Spirit School, is an ancient organization that has gone through several eras.
Some of the books on Miss Feliana's list were found in the association, and Luvia even found an old book about the "space" god in the database of the Tobesk branch.
But the book was confidential to the association and could not be taken out of the library. So Luvia could only copy out what Shade needed. The information was not long, only half a page, which roughly explained the role of the holy emblem of the Old God's Transformation Gate in the occult ritual, and explained that this god not only had power over time and space, but also had power over nature.
Although the scope of a god's duties cannot indicate whether he is powerful or not, judging from the information in hand, the ceremony of contacting the door to the old god's transformation is definitely not simple.
After leaving Mrs. Lemaire's house, Chad spent the rest of the day sorting out the materials. But after dinner in the evening, another unexpected guest came to visit.
That was Captain Rades. It was the first time Shade had seen the captain since the awarding ceremony two weeks ago. He had now received a notice from the Royal Army of Delarion, confirming that he would return to the Windy Trail on the front line in late August or September.
The captain came this time, not only to invite Shade to find time to go out for a drink before he left, but also to inform Shade that he had moved to another place.
Having gained honor and washed away the shame, Captain Rades, who had the rank of lieutenant, rented a nice apartment in the western district of Tobisk with the help of his friends, where he planned to spend the rest of the summer in Tobisk.
"Human fate is so unpredictable. The ups and downs I've experienced in the past year are more complicated than those in my first half of life. Detective Hamilton, sometimes I wonder how fate views mortals like us."
"Captain, are you thinking about philosophy?"
Shade asked with a smile. Captain Rades' mental outlook had changed greatly from the first time he met him at the club. He had completely stepped out of the title of "Captain of Eight Guns" and was about to face a brand new life.
"No, this should be considered theology."
Captain Rades shook his head:
"Detective, do you want to play Rhodes? No money involved, just a couple of rounds. I know you're a good Rhodes player."
"Not tonight."
Xia De shook his head regretfully:
"I have to go out in a while. I have an important commission to carry out tonight. The client is a great man who deserves respect. Captain, let's play cards together next time we have a chance."
"Well, in that case, I'll take my leave. Oh, do you know what happened last week? Later, even the chief of police at Redwich Field was killed by someone who broke into his house. The curfew is over, but it's best not to wander around the city at night... If your client is really extraordinary, just pretend I didn't say anything. I heard that Miss Carina..."
He shut his mouth and dared not say more. I guess he had heard the rumors.
Shade went downstairs to see the captain off and watched him walk out of St. Teresa's Square. While holding the door, he was thinking that among the ordinary people he had met who had come into contact with the relics, either Professor Manning and Captain Rades had their lives severely affected, or they were facing life-threatening situations like the little girl's family and the group of people who had come into contact with the mermaid statue.
This world is really unfriendly to ordinary people, especially to those who are unlucky.
"When I first came to this world, I was able to meet Dr. Schneider immediately. This was not the doctor's luck, but my luck."
He sighed and adjusted his mood, closed the door and returned to the study to sort out the information he had found about the old gods. After 11 o'clock in the evening, he played with Mia for a while and planned to give the cat a bath when he had time.
The past was very dangerous, so I didn't bring Mia with me this time. When the clock struck midnight, Shade stood in front of the bedroom door with a suitcase full of documents and inserted the damaged key into the keyhole:
"May the World Tree protect me in the infinite time."
With a click, the keyhole turned, and Shade opened the door. The familiar white mist floated out from behind the door like a thread. Shade stretched out his hand to try to catch it, but the white mist was not a physical substance that could be caught:
"Mia, wait for me three seconds."
The cat, who was familiar with Shade's frequent visits to this kind of door, was no longer curious about the current situation. He meowed lazily on the sofa in response, resting his head on his two paws and squinting his eyes as if he was taking a nap.
But in fact, the cat could still see Shad. It watched Shad walk into the door, and then waited obediently for his return.