"No, this is not a scam."
Mr. Madison held his glass and shook his head:
"The magic is definitely real. As for whether the ritual is really that complicated, I don't know. I only know that the last guy who learned this magic did the same thing. It was a story, and the story itself was describing the ritual."
Xia De was very familiar with this kind of thing, and the sea return ceremony was also hidden in the nursery rhyme.
“In fact, there is reason to suspect that most of the fairy tales, ballads, and poems that have come down to us from antiquity contain some occult element.”
"You're lucky that it was Shade who came to investigate, but what are you going to do after that? Now that the church has noticed you, even if there is nothing wrong with the spice itself, you will be the focus of attention sooner or later."
The doctor asked again, and Mr. Madison sighed:
"Then I will have to temporarily leave Anthem Square and go to the countryside to sell spices. It took a lot of effort to find such a good place, but in order to avoid paying protection fees to the gangs, I... Forget it, safety is the most important thing. I can only get up early every day to go to the countryside to be a peddler. Mr. Hamilton, when you write the investigation report, please just write that I suddenly disappeared. This way, your friends won't get into trouble, and neither will I."
"no problem."
Shade nodded, and the doctor asked:
"What is the effect of your magic?"
Only true friends can ask such questions. Mr. Madison didn't care about Shade's presence and said with a sigh:
"Merchant Instinct, corresponding to Spirit Rune Trade. This is a passive form of thaumaturgy. Once I master this, when I discuss the price of goods with anyone, whether buying or selling, I will be able to subconsciously know the other party's psychological price."
Dr. Schneider, like the stranger, looked at them with envy and surprise.
Mr. Madison, a six-ring warlock, is proficient in alchemy, but his combat ability is not particularly outstanding. He has known Dr. Schneider for many years. To be exact, Mr. Madison knew him when Dr. Schneider was still a one-ring warlock.
Talking about this, Xia De was a little curious about how Dr. Schneider's group was established. After all, when other people joined the group, Dr. Schneider was always the most senior in the group.
It was just that the doctor didn't seem to want to talk about it, and Shade didn't ask any more questions. While the doctor drank too much tea and got up to deal with his personal problems, Mr. Madison, who was wearing a headscarf, lowered his voice and told Shade:
"When I met Schneider, your team actually had three people. In addition to Schneider, who was only a first-ring warlock at that time, there was also a third-ring warlock and an eighth-ring warlock in the team."
"Eight rings?"
Xia De looked at the gentleman with some surprise:
"I thought that correspondence ring sorcerers were only six or seven rings at most."
"I don't know the details, but he was the most powerful correspondence ring sorcerer in Tobesk fifteen years ago. I even heard from Schneider that the gentleman had intended to be promoted to the ninth ring in Tobesk, and then apply for a tenured position directly after entering Saint Byron."
Talking about this, the middle-aged man in a headscarf was still very sad:
“It’s really amazing.”
The rules of the three academies are basically the same, and the rules for going to the academy are also the same. In other words, the highest-level people in the group will be happy to find new talents when the group is insufficient, so it is rare to see a correspondence ring sorcerer who is preparing to be promoted to a higher ring.
"And what happened next? Mr. Madison, to be honest, I haven't heard anyone talk about this. I always thought that the doctor built our group from scratch."
"No, no, he was also a gifted person found by our predecessors. As for the two who are older than Schneider..."
He quietly stretched his head to look in the direction of the corridor, and then whispered:
"Schneider never mentioned it, so don't say I said it. More than ten years ago, a famous incident happened in this area. Two senior ring sorcerers in your group died in that accident. It is said that the eighth-ring gentleman and the third-ring lady were in a relationship, and the eighth-ring gentleman's lifelong dream was to become a teacher at St. Byron's."
Mr. Madison paused, shaking the glass in his hand with a rather melancholy look, watching the beer foaming:
"I was not in Tobesk when that happened. Later, I heard rumors that it was those two people who saved Schneider, who was only one ring at the time. This was a huge blow to him, and even the Ring Warlock's studies fell behind a lot, and he was not very willing to recruit new team members. Later, Schneider vowed to inherit that gentleman's wish and go to St. Byrons to become a professor..."
He sighed, and Shade looked at him in surprise.
"Otherwise, Mr. Hamilton, why do you think Bill Schneider, who has a successful career in Tobesk, is so obsessed with going to St. Byrons?"
Mr. Madison shook his head:
“Sometimes, inheriting someone else’s wishes is more terrifying than having your own wishes.”
Xia De pondered the last sentence:
"Who said that?"
"I said so."
Mr. Madison said, and then continued his story:
"Let me tell you what happened more than a decade ago. What happened that year was only worse than this year. Someone opened a level 0 relic in the city. Hamilton, do you know level 0? Then evil..."
"What are you talking about?"
The doctor came over and asked with a smile. He probably didn't hear what the two were saying.
"Rod Cards, we are talking about Rod Cards!"
Shade said immediately, then winked at Mr. Madison, and the middle-aged man in the turban understood:
"Yes, we were just talking about Rhodes. I told Mr. Hamilton that the owner of this hotel is also a Rhodes expert and likes to play cards with others using special cards as stakes."
"Oh, Shad, don't forget what Father Augustus said, don't get addicted to gambling."
The doctor said with some concern that what happened just now was just a bluff.
The adult men all had their own things to do, so after chatting for a while at the Three Cats Inn, they left.
Before leaving, Shade and Mr. Madison exchanged business cards, and Shade learned that Mr. Madison's real occupation was actually a spice merchant. But he was not a small merchant doing business in the square, but a real big merchant in the downtown area.
Shade wanted to continue asking this gentleman about the past, but seeing how busy he was, he was afraid that he couldn't do it today. But Mr. Madison gave Shade a small bottle of sleep-inducing spices as a gift, which was considered a greeting gift between the two.
When living in Delarion, known as the Pearl of the North, it’s always a good idea to have more friends.
"Doctor, St. Byrons is on the great ice cap in the far north, so where is the Sukses Higher Medical School?"
The doctor would pass by St. Teresa's Place on his way back to the clinic, so Shad got into the carriage with him.
"I heard it was in the sea."
"In the sea?"
This is an answer I hadn't thought of.
"It's in the sea south of the Old World, but I don't know the exact location. It is said that the founder of the Sukses Higher Medical School used some large-scale ceremony to open up a huge waterproof space on the seabed. Shade, don't think too highly of him. After all, Saint Byrons was also a survivable space opened up by Miss Felena from the extreme cold. The living conditions north of the polar ice cap are no better than those in the deep sea."