"Copywriter? I wrote this."
Hearing Shade's request, Father Augustus pointed at himself and asked in confusion:
“Any questions about the speech?”
"No, no problem, it's just... Priest, are you good at this kind of stuff?"
Shade asked again, and Father Augustus nodded with some complacency:
"I entered the church in my twenties and spent most of my time doing clerical work, writing speeches and public documents all my life."
Shad looked at the old man in front of him with great admiration. Compared with Dorothy, who often polished the reports, Father Augustus was actually a real talent.
After the speech, Shad's work in the church was basically completed. Bishop Owen took time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He not only gave him 20 pounds for the speech, but also encouraged him to come to the church frequently. It seemed that the bishop believed that the outsider had the potential to become a senior and devout believer.
Hamilton from Rejade, together with Bishop Owen, was interviewed by the Tobesk Morning Post in the bishop's office. The magnesium flash of the old camera was very bright, but the questions asked were also prepared in advance. Shade stood there with a smile. Bishop Owen was talking most of the time. He only needed to praise the arrangement of the church today.
This money is really easy to make.
After the interview, Father Augustus also brought Shad the church donation receipt that he was going to reimburse in August.
It was already evening, and after being busy all afternoon, Xia De finally had time to take the cat to the celebration square.
This afternoon, Mia followed Shad obediently after eating. When Shad participated in activities, she quietly lay on Shad's legs, either taking a nap or staring at her tail. When Shad was giving a speech, she lay next to the water cup on Shad's right hand, so much so that Shad almost grabbed the cat when he was holding the water cup.
The cat, which was still timid about the unfamiliar festival environment at noon, has almost completely adapted to the place. So after saying goodbye to Bishop Owen, Shade wanted to take the cat outside to take a look.
Just as I left the bishop's office with Father Augustus, a tall middle-aged priest hurried over:
"Mr. Hamilton! Someone wants to see you."
“Don’t run in church.”
Father Augustus spoke to the priest quite seriously, and the latter apologized quietly and said that the person who was looking for Shad outside was Duchess Carina Cavendish's man.
"You have something to do again?"
The priest asked Shade with interest, but Shade didn't know why she wanted to see him. But according to his past experience, every time Miss Carina came to see him, it must be something important.
"Then I'll be leaving first, priest. Say goodbye to Bishop Owen for me."
"I'll take you there."
With that, the two said goodbye to the priest and walked out along the corridor. After turning the corner, the priest looked back and saw that there was no one behind him, so he whispered to Shade:
"I remember you still need 15 credits. If you have nothing to do the day after tomorrow, Thursday, come with me to a place. There is a 50% chance that it is an evil spirit, and a 50% chance that the relic is out of control."
"Oh? Priest, are there any other people going with us?"
Xia De also asked in a low voice.
Of course he would go. Although he hoped that Iluna, who would return to Tobesk soon, would bring him new things, after all, there was only a probability of finding trouble there. If the priests also had problems to deal with, Shad would certainly not miss the opportunity.
"Just the two of us, two second-ring sorcerers are enough, and we both know exorcism."
Father Augustus said that two young priests holding documents happened to pass by. Father Augustus stopped to greet them and asked about the distribution of promotional leaflets.
"Reverend Father, I have to go to the train station to pick someone up on Thursday morning."
This refers to Iluna, who has returned from the Church of the Sun. She has been away for more than a week.
"How about we meet outside the church at ten?"
"No, not at the church. I'll meet you at your house on Thursday morning at ten."
The priest said, then patted Shad on the shoulder:
"If the relic is really out of control, all the credit this time will be given to you. I calculated that the small bottle of mercury you mentioned is worth about 4 credits or 5 credits. If the relic is really out of control this time, and you submitted a report and the dangerous relic that is out of control, even if it is just a clerical-level relic, it is worth at least 9 credits, which is almost enough."
The doctor only got five credits for the fake Philosopher's Stone made from a Keeper-level relic, because the academy provided a lot of clues, and in addition to the credits, there was also a personal reward from the professor who issued the task. More importantly, the doctor only submitted the relic, while Shade could provide a containment report that could be used as a reference for future generations.
"Priest, how can I thank you?"
Xia De was a little embarrassed.
"No need to thank me. This is just a small thing, and it is not necessarily a relic. The doctors will help you in the same way if they have the chance. Remember what happened on Thursday. We will meet on time at St. Teresa's Square at 10 a.m. Also, I will bring the Holy Prayer Festival souvenirs and the potion you asked me to identify to you on Thursday."
"It's all right, priest."
After leaving the church and saying goodbye to the priest, standing on the high steps, Shad saw Miss Carina's carriage parked at the edge of the square.
Holding the cat in his arms, he walked quickly through the stalls in the square. When he passed by a seminary student wearing a hat and standing on a stool to give a loud speech, he took a look. When he passed by a stall selling shiny souvenirs, the cat in his arms meowed and wanted to take a look, but Xia De did not stop.
As soon as he approached the carriage, the police came to stop him, but the coachman said something and Shad was allowed to approach the carriage.
The door on one side of the carriage was pushed open, and he walked in with his head down. He thought that the maid, Tifa Servet, would be in the car, but unexpectedly, the maid and Miss Carina were both there.
After more than a week, the Duchess, who was injured in the God's Descent incident, seemed to have fully recovered. She greeted Shade with a smile while holding a cup of tea, and then asked Shade to sit down and talk.
The carriage started slowly and left the Dawn Square. There was a lot of noise outside the carriage. Although only believers would come to the church to participate in the celebration, the excitement of the celebration could not affect the entire city, but this was the most lively scene that Shade had seen in this world.
"Good afternoon, Detective."
The smell of perfume known as the "smell of the witch" was very strong in the carriage.
"Good afternoon, Miss Carina."
Xia De responded, and then asked in confusion:
"Where are we going?"
"Take you home."
"Um?"
"I happened to go to the Yodel Palace today, and when I was about to go back, I remembered that I had something to tell you. I knew you would come to the Holy Prayer Festival, so I came directly here to find you. Did I disturb your mood for the festival?"
She asked with a smile, while the maid quietly poured tea for Shade:
"Don't bother me. I was planning to go home later. After all, I have something to do in the evening."
"That's good. This time I'm not giving you a mission. I have two important things to tell you."
She looked at the black-haired maid, who carefully took out an iron triangular object from her pocket and threw it on the floor. It should be something like the "Silence Note Spell".
"First of all, we have confirmed that the Whispering Poems are completely correct. After the first chosen one appeared, the other witches in the council have become more active recently. In the past, this group of people actually preferred to stay in one place... So, detective, you'd better not leave Tobesk casually. Not every witch is as friendly as me."
Miss Carina warned.
"Yes, I understand."
Xia De nodded:
"What about the second thing?"
"There's news about the second chosen one."
"Um?"
Xia De's surprise at this moment was like suddenly discovering that Mia was catching a mouse. Although this was normal, it was not normal.
"The Church of the Orthodox God, the Thaumaturgy Academy, and the Ring Warlocks including the Council and other organizations fought fiercely in the newly discovered Fifth Epoch ruins in the New World, snatching the brand new stone tablet engraved with the contents of the Whispering Poems. I don't know who got the stone tablet in the end, but almost everyone knows the contents on the stone tablet now. I think it will spread all over the world in a few days."
Although she mentioned such an important topic, the red-haired Duchess' tone was still relaxed:
"Don't worry, this time it has nothing to do with us. The stone tablet does not directly reveal the identity of the chosen one, but rather defines a range."
"What did you say specifically?"
Xia De asked hurriedly, which made Miss Jialina a little confused:
"Are you interested in the chosen one? Oh, young sir, you won't be so eager to win the favor of the ladies."
She teased, and the maid smiled as well.
"It is said on the stone tablet that before the darkness falls, the chosen one will be in distress at sea. That is the direction of the setting sun, that is the harbor of the old land, and he will escape from the bandits on the sea."
Here "ta" is a neutral personal pronoun, which means that the gender is uncertain.
Xia De's face tightened and his mouth closed subconsciously because he thought of something:
"Um... ... "
"This is a very clear instruction. It probably means that before the chosen one truly awakens, he will be in danger on the west coast of the Old World. The danger he will encounter is related to pirates, but since it is worthy of being written about in the Whispering Poems, the so-called pirates cannot be ordinary pirates."
"Um... ... "
Miss Carina concluded:
"Starting from half a year before the first chosen one appeared, until now, among the escapees from the mysterious pirate incidents on the west coast of the Old World, there must be one who is the second chosen one."
She nodded as she spoke, and the maid said:
"The predictions of the Witch Emperors are really accurate. They can give such accurate predictions about things that will happen thousands of years later."
Only Xia De didn't speak. He held the cat with his mouth closed, and no one knew what he was thinking.
There were more than a dozen ring warlocks on the cruise ship yesterday. Most of them were still alive when they jumped off the ship and escaped.
Now he finally understood why the cruise ship happened to encounter the sage-level relic. If he guessed correctly, the ship the witch was talking about was most likely referring to them. They encountered the relic because there were chosen ones who had not fully awakened on the cruise ship.
But think about it carefully, from south to north, the west coast of the old continent is so long. There must be more than one pirate-related incident. Maybe Shade's guess is not true.
"You should know that the ancient organizations have more or less mastered some fragments of the Whispering Poems. Now that they have such important information, combined with the clues in their hands, the church and the academy have begun a comprehensive search, and the parliament is also acting in secret. I think it won't take a few days to find out which incident the chosen one survived. The witches of the parliament will rush there to investigate, just like I came to Tobesk."
Miss Carina said again, and Shade, who was holding the cat, finally spoke:
"A few days? Doesn't this require a massive search? I thought it would take months."
The witch smiled:
"Shad, although the world is dangerous, at least the civilized world is safer. The deep sea is a high-incidence area for all kinds of strange events, but the areas near the coastline are still very peaceful, otherwise the kingdom's offshore fishery would have collapsed long ago. How many things do you think could have happened offshore since half a year ago? No, not much. What's more, the time span should not even be counted from half a year ago, but from a few months ago. After all, the Whispering Poems points out the time period 'before awakening'."
“Although the time span is short, the west coast of the Old World is very long.”
Xia De said in a low voice, and Miss Carina shook her head again and said in a teaching tone:
"Things related to pirates, as you can imagine, are definitely not just static objects. Most of the relics in these events are higher than the Secret Keeper level. Think about it carefully, Shade, how high is the probability of events above the Secret Keeper level? Think about it again, most of these events happen in the deep sea far away from the coast, how many of them can happen on the coastline?"