After the waiter left, Mr. Rendall asked Shad in a low voice, his brown eyes looking across the table at the young detective.
"It's me who's looking for you. I'm the same as you."
Xia De hinted at his identity as a ring wizard, and put his hands together on the table. On the table between the two of them, a candle was burning on a golden candlestick. This was certainly not for lighting. The light source was the disguised crystal gas chandelier above the head, and the candle was just decoration.
The yellowish light illuminated their faces and allowed them to see each other's eyes.
"I've been looking for a ritual lately."
Xia De also lowered his voice to prevent others from hearing:
"It's a very ancient ritual, so I need the help of an ancient organization like yours. I have no ill will towards you, otherwise I would not have revealed my identity."
Mr. Randall nodded hesitantly:
"Not many people know us these days. You seem very friendly and have no intention of hiding your identity... So what do you need?"
"this."
Xia De took out a notebook from his coat pocket, tore off the folded page and handed it to the other party. The latter took a look and frowned slightly:
"You actually think we have something like this? This is called... you know what this is."
He glanced around nervously, which gave Xia De the illusion that the two of them were secret agents:
"I can't think of anyone else who could have it except you. Can you find it? If so, please make an offer."
He pressed his left arm on the table and made a gesture of invitation with his right hand.
"I can't answer you directly. I need to seek help from my companions. After all, there is no library in my head. As for the price... Mr. Hamilton, if you can tell us where you know about our existence, then I can promise you that the knowledge you want can be sold to you at the lowest price."
Mr. Randall spoke very seriously. Although he was not a professor, his long-term contact with schools made him look like the qualified upper-class gentleman described in the books.
"The Time Key."
Xia De said the answer he had already thought of without changing his expression:
"During my time travel in the Fifth Era, I saw your organization at the beginning of the long river of time and heard about your affairs. I even heard one of you say that you will continue to exist until the final doomsday and always stick to your own ideas. That's why I thought of looking for you in this era. I was lucky enough to find out about the Guiding Light Club and then contact you. It was also a good luck that I didn't expect. Maybe the arc of fate is leading us."
Although there are some lies, most of it is true. As for this weird way of speaking with a lot of modifying adjectives, it was learned by Shad from Luvia, which can make others think that he looks very powerful.
Shad gave his excuse, but Mr. Randall did not speak immediately. After a long while, he nodded slightly, but his eyes were always fixed on Shad:
"Okay, I can accept this reason, and I think the other members of the monastery can accept it too. I didn't expect that we would be exposed for such a reason... But please don't tell anyone else about the Guiding Light Hermitage."
"No problem. Please keep my identity secret."
So Mr. Randall used the excuse of going to the bathroom to pass the piece of paper from Shad to his companion who was waiting outside. The two sat at the table chatting and eating their own food. Half an hour later, Mr. Randall suddenly got up. When he came back again, he had nothing in his hands.
"Why, no news?"
Shad asked.
"There's the news you want, but it can't be recorded on paper. Here it is."
The middle-aged man pointed to his head. He sat very straight, and it was obvious that he often attended such occasions:
"Although we have never liked to expose ourselves since the Sixth Epoch, the principle of fair trade has never changed. I believe you know the value of this ritual. Our asking price is..."
"Wait, I want to know the completeness of the ceremony."
Mr. Randall considered:
"If you only rely on what we know, you will definitely not be able to complete the ritual. But if you have some information, you can verify each other and fill in the missing parts."
"What I care about is the last part, what the ceremony is going to accomplish at the end."
This is the key point. What Miss Feliana lost was the last part of the ceremony.
"We have this information, and it's hidden in a fairy tale. If you want all the information, it's 1,300 pounds. If you only want the name of the fairy tale and how to interpret the final ritual, it's 430 pounds."
Strictly speaking, this is indeed the lowest price. Even if the ritual is incomplete, it is a ritual of summoning gods after all, and any knowledge related to "gods" is very expensive. This is a premium phenomenon accepted by the ring sorcerers.
"It's safer. I want them all. Um... can I buy them on credit?"
Xia De asked again embarrassedly. Mr. Randall obviously didn't expect him to say that. He shook his head regretfully:
"I'm sorry, detective at Saint Teresa's Square, we only accept cash. Of course, we also accept relics, but the specific valuation needs to be discussed."
It's a pity that Shad has no consumable relics in his hand, but Dorothy still has a scale that drowned the merman, but Shad can still use that thing.
"Can I do the deal tomorrow? I need to raise some money. You know 1,300 pounds is not a small sum. Go to number 6 St. Teresa's Square at 6 o'clock tomorrow evening."
He wanted to sell the bottle of fishman's elixir to Miss Carina. But it was not so easy to meet the Duchess, so he needed to write a letter to inform her of some circumstances first.
"No, no, I won't enter a stranger's house."
Mr. Randall waved his hands hastily. He thought for a moment:
"Tomorrow evening at sunset, next to the fountain in Saint Teresa's Square, I will hold the document bag with the information, and you will hold the box with the money. We will exchange the money and the goods."
"Can."
After finishing their respective meals, Shad and Mr. Randall paid their bills separately, but it was Mr. Randall who took the initiative to pay the tip.
Dorothy did not appear immediately after Shard left the restaurant, but waited until he turned into St. Teresa's Square and then caught up with him from the evening mist behind him.
"Thank you for your hard work. Fortunately, nothing happened this time."
Shad thanked her, but Dorothy shook her head to say it was nothing and asked him if the deal was successful.
The following night, Xia De continued to study the story "The Kiss of the Tree" with the female writer. There are so many versions of this ancient fairy tale, even a version in which the princess and the ancient tree meet their end in fire.
Dorothy liked this ending very much.
At the same time, Dorothy is also using Shad's spiritual runes to better master the power of "The Little Match Girl" before the promotion ceremony at the end of this year.
Because of Dorothy's unreserved help, Shad's progress in learning "Tree Kiss" was much faster than that of "Mad Light Chaser" which he read alone. He had a hunch that perhaps the spiritual rune of "Tree Kiss" would be obtained faster than light.