Shade wanted to be on the safe side when it came to identifying this extremely valuable special card, so he naturally went to ask for help from the vice president, Mr. Cynthia Mark, whom he was very familiar with.
Mr. Mark has been very busy recently in order to organize the Big City Players Rhodes Card Tournament next month, but when he heard that Shade was looking for him, he still took the time to meet with Shade:
"Wait... Mr. Hamilton, did you get a new Rhodes card?"
After the greetings, the man who was leading Xia De upstairs was suddenly stunned, then he skillfully reached out and grabbed the handrail of the stairs:
"Okay, you can talk now."
His eyes were full of anticipation.
"Yes, the new Rhodes card. You actually guessed it."
Shad nodded.
"The very old kind?"
Mr. Mark probed again carefully.
"Yes, I want to identify it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia De saw Mr. Mark holding his heart, as if he was about to have a heart attack.
"How did you... Oh, no, no, not the original series, not that one. It's this one, this one."
Shade hurriedly explained, then took out the Devil series of cards.
The middle-aged man in a black suit took a deep breath and looked at the cards. After he found out that it was not the founder, his expression gradually returned to normal:
"Devil series? This is a rare card."
"Yes, although it is not the original one, it is an old enough Rhodes card. I hope to ask the appraisers of the association to take a look at it."
Shad stated his request.
"No problem, but you'll have to wait a few hours."
Mr. Mark's breathing became steady, and his face was serious. Although it was not a founding series, this card was still valuable enough... If this was true:
"The Tobesk branch has never authenticated any Demon series cards, but for the sake of the big city players, the veteran appraisers coming from the headquarters should be able to authenticate them."
"Then leave the cards here first, I'll come get them tonight or tomorrow."
"No, this is against the rules. The owner must be present during the appraisal."
Mr. Mark immediately emphasized that this is to protect both the cardholders and the association.
"It's okay, I trust the association, and aren't we friends?"
Xia De shook his head indifferently, actually he didn't have much hope for this card.
After leaving Silver Cross Avenue, Shad returned home and greeted Dorothy and Mia, who had a ring on her tail. Under the curious gazes of the man and the cat, he entered the basement again and returned to Coldwater Harbor.
"He's really busy today."
The blonde said, smiling as she hugged the cat.
When he landed on the beach, the rain that had lasted all morning finally stopped. Shade, who was soaked all over, found a cheap hotel in the dock area to take a shower, then changed into clean clothes and went out to the street again.
I don’t know if it’s because there are already many people in the afternoon, or if people go out of their homes after the weather clears up, but the dock area is much more lively than in the morning.
Shade had never done anything to report someone personally, and writing a letter or even throwing a message in a bottle into the sea was actually the easiest way. But since it was about the chosen one, Shade didn't want to risk the letter, so he decided to deliver it to the church in person.
Of course, in order to ensure that the church believed the contents of the letter, Shad not only told the church everything about Darkness, but also signed the letter with "God Summoner" at the end.
The inexplicable snowflakes when the fishbone pirate ship left, and the moonlight over the ancient alley occupied by the fishmen last week, have made the Orthodox Church suspect that the thirteenth ring warlock who was seriously injured by the summoning of the gods is also in Coldwater Harbor. So, there is nothing wrong with Shade writing this way.
He didn't want to walk into the church and throw the letter aside when no one was around, so he wrote the letter and wandered around the Natural Church in the dock area, hoping to meet the priest who was out occasionally.
The Lord of All Things, the god of nature and evil thoughts, has a priesthood related to the ocean, and therefore has a very strong faith in coastal areas. The church is located on the busiest street in the dock area. After the rain, the sky cleared up and even a rainbow appeared in the sky. There were many more believers who went to the church to pray or confess. Shade was inconspicuous in the crowd.
He stood on the street holding a newspaper, watching people coming in and out of the church door on Monday afternoon. After a long while, he finally saw a priest in a white robe with a holy emblem on his chest, walking hurriedly from the other side of the street. He was about the same age as Dr. Schneider, and he was walking hurriedly not because he was in a hurry to do something, but because he wanted to avoid the next wave of people entering the church.
Xia De's eyes lit up, and he immediately went to meet him and stopped the priest before he approached the church:
"Oh, kid, what's up?"
The priest was not angry when being stopped by Xia De. Instead, he stopped and asked kindly. These clergymen are good at communicating with others.
"Father, I want to repent."
Xia De lowered his head on the street and took out the speech he had prepared long ago, while the clergyman in front of him showed an understanding expression:
"No problem, that's great. Why don't you come into the church with me and we'll go to the confessional where you can have your privacy."
"Oh, no, Father, my sins are too great, and I do not want my filthy soul to pass before God."
Shade said again, trying to make his tone more sincere.
The priest had a worried look on his face:
"So what you want to say is..."
He was probably worried that Shad was a murderer or something like that.
"I like a lot of girls at the same time."
This was a crime that Shade found to be light enough, but not too light. Although it was self-slander and damaged his image, since it was for a noble reason, in order to get the True God Church to arrest Darkness, Shade did not care about it.
The worried expression on the middle-aged man's face disappeared, and he nodded sympathetically:
"This is indeed a sin, but since you already know it is wrong, it means you are still a good person. Sincerely repent, and then choose the girl you really want to spend your life with, and you will be happy."
"Oh, thank you, Father."
Xia De lowered his head, held his throat and made a hoarse sound, then twitched his nose, shrugged his shoulders, and pretended to cry:
"You are a very kind man, and you are right. I think I know what I should do. I will go to her now and tell her what I think."
As he spoke, he took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to the priest in front of him:
"Father, please donate this money to the church on my behalf, and don't let a sinner like me face the holy emblems and statues. If I can really marry her, Father, I will come back to thank you."
Xia De tried his best to make himself look more sincere.
"Then I wish you happiness, young man. You may have been carried away by dark thoughts, but God will guide you in the direction of light. You must really understand what you want before making a decision."
The priest took the envelope and smiled kindly. Standing on the crowded street, next to the brass gas pipes shining in the sun after the rain, and with the rainbow after the rain, this scene is quite sacred.
But Xia De never looked up. He said goodbye to the priest and turned away.
The middle-aged priest walked to the church with the envelope. He could not open the donations from the believers on the street, and the church would definitely check the amount of donations. Therefore, the envelope would definitely be opened in the church, and in addition to Shad's 1 shilling note and dozens of pieces of paper with "1 shilling" written on them, the letter would definitely be discovered.
"It's the equivalent of paying a shilling to have someone deliver the letter."
Thinking of this, Xia De was quite satisfied with his actions just now.
Of course, in order to prevent the church from opening the letter immediately and chasing him out, Shade did not stay here for long. But before he walked out of the street, he saw a carriage coming from the corner.
There is nothing wrong with seeing a horse-drawn carriage on such a busy street, but the problem is that this is not a public four-wheeled rental carriage.
Just by looking across the crowd, Xia De could tell that the handmade iron frame was definitely worth a lot of money, and the coachman with a hat looked strong and muscular, different from ordinary coachmen.
"A noble's private carriage?"
He stood there in a daze. During this moment, the carriage was getting closer and closer, and Xia De also saw the family emblem on the side of the carriage.
"Is this... the family crest of the Aurora family? Oh, it's Xiwei Aurora! That witch."
Thinking of this, Xia De turned around and walked quickly towards the alley on the street. At this moment, the window of the carriage was pushed open a crack, and the woman looking out from inside looked at Xia De's receding back curiously, but soon lost interest.
Because he ran fast enough, the second great witch of the Witch Council who appeared in front of Shade did not notice anything unusual about the man for the time being.
The chance encounter with Xiwei Aurora gave Shade a huge sense of crisis. Although Miss Carina seemed normal, he actually accepted the argument that most people in the Witch Council were mentally ill.
In order to make himself safer, the production of the alchemical tools seen in Miss Feliana's notebook must not be delayed.
So after leaving the area around the Natural Church, Shade returned directly to the Seven Broomsticks Tavern, paid a high price of 69 pounds, and got the alchemical materials he bought. After confirming that the only thing missing was the most important core material, the witch's hair, Shade did not stay in the city for long, and got on the carriage and headed for Sophia's mansion in the north of the city.
Princess Leisia had just returned from the city. Seeing Shade holding a paper bag and looking frightened, she asked him what he had done today.
"I ... went to the tavern to buy some things, then went to a small hotel to play Rhodes, and before I came back, I went to the church to make a donation."
He thought for a moment and briefly gave an account of his day.
"oh?"
The princess and Shade walked side by side in the corridor. She turned to look at him, her beautiful brows slightly wrinkled:
"Shad, it sounds like you went into the city and asked the tavern to buy something for you, and then spent the day playing cards. When you were about to come back, you passed by the church, and in order to appease your uneasy mood about wasting time, you donated some money."