The next day was Thursday. When Shad woke up early in the morning, he received a letter from Miss Carina. The witch asked him to go to her manor to see her that afternoon, absolutely and without rejection.
Xia De knew that she wanted to ask about Coldwater Harbor, so he yawned, put the letter aside, and enjoyed a quiet breakfast with his cat at home.
After dinner, Shade changed his clothes and prepared to go out. He took a towel and motioned the cat standing on the windowsill, who was watching the pigeons with great interest, to come over:
"Mia, do you want to see the sea and the lighthouse?"
"Meow?"
This cat probably didn't understand the words "sea" and "lighthouse" in the common language of Draerion, but when it saw Shade calling it, it ran over happily.
So two hours later, Shad was holding the cat, standing in front of the lighthouse guarded by old Mr. Edmund, and looking at the sparkling and choppy sea in the distance of the cliff with Mia, who had her eyes wide open.
The orange cat looked really funny with its mouth open and eyes wide open.
Today is a good day. Under the blue sky, the sea is not calm, but the sparkling waves are much friendlier than the red ocean. Standing on the cliff, feeling the sea breeze at the end of summer, basking in the warm sun, and listening to the deafening sound of the surging waves, this feeling makes Xiade, who came to Coldwater Harbor this time, really feel like he is on vacation.
Mia, a pet cat born in Tobesk, probably saw the sea for the first time. When Shade turned it from a puppet back into a real cat at the cliff behind the lighthouse, the cat's fur stood up and it huddled in Shade's arms.
But after making sure that the sound of the waves would not hurt it, Mia curled up in Shade's arms and looked around, and even became interested in the seagulls flying in the sky. The sea breeze made its soft short fur stick to its body, and the bright sun shone on the orange cat, making its orange and white fur shine as if it was glowing.
Of course, Shad sincerely hoped that the seagulls now circling over the lighthouse would not have the habit of defecating indiscriminately... ... Judging from the traces on the ground nearby, these seagulls were even more impolite than he thought.
Today was such a nice day, and Mr. Edmund hung a sign saying "Going Fishing" on the door under the lighthouse, and was not at home. Shad was not in a hurry to look for him on the nearby coast, but was holding the cat and enjoying the sea view.
He had heard from Miss Aurora the ending of the Coldwater Harbor incident. The local fishman secret cult was almost completely destroyed, and the few surviving fishmen were once again lurking in the city in human form, just like their ancestors, waiting for the next conspiracy thousands of years later.
The unexpected appearance of the "God Caller" caused the battle at dawn yesterday to end faster than planned. In the eyes of the people in Coldwater Port, yesterday morning was just due to the abnormal movement of the monsoon and the increase in urban pollutant emissions, which caused the sky and ocean colors to change in a small area in a short period of time.
This did not have much impact on the lives of ordinary people.
As for the victims who fell into the sea during the sea return ceremony under the influence of the mermaid curse, although the official statistics have not yet been completed, according to the witch's calculations, the total number will not exceed 600, including the fishing boats that did not return to the port in time and capsized in the open sea.
Compared with the scale of this incident, this sacrifice is completely within an acceptable range.
"This world is really dangerous for ordinary people."
While holding the cat and watching the cruise ship passing by in the distance, Xia De sighed in his heart.
If no mysterious events happen around them, ordinary people will probably never understand how dangerous the world is. Once they become associated with relics, ring sorcerers, or cults, the survival rate of ordinary people is actually very low.
This can be seen from the girl Sophie Dice's family to the painter Mr. Freeman who collects oil paintings, from the summer god's descent in Tobesk to the shadow of Coldwater Harbor.
The Orthodox Church is currently working with the Coldwater Harbor City Hall to carry out relevant follow-up work. The ring sorcerers who gathered in this port city in the name of the fishmen are also leaving in an orderly manner. The witch seems to have spread the news locally that the second chosen one has left Coldwater Harbor. Now the traffic arteries around Coldwater Harbor are the places that should be paid attention to and investigated.
The red ocean receded, the remains of the merman in the abyss disappeared, and the giant mermaid corpse that was split into four pieces melted into the sea. In general, at the end of the summer of 1853, the cult incident in Coldwater Harbor ended with a relatively perfect result.
What people are most curious about now is the whereabouts of the thirteenth ring warlock "God Caller". The church believes that this ring warlock found a way to heal himself in the temple of the fishmen and recovered from the injuries he suffered when he called on the gods in Tobesk.
Therefore, the church is sure that he will not leave the Old World for the New World. Although it is unknown which faction the "God Caller" belongs to, judging from his movement trajectory, this thirteen-ring sorcerer is also interested in the thirteen chosen ones prophesied in the "Whispering Poems".
From this perspective, the church's inference should be correct. However, they may have to wait for a while to find Shade. It is not easy to connect the detective in St. Teresa Square in Tobesk with the thirteen-ring sorcerer who was fishing in Coldwater Harbor.
Shad was holding the cat and thinking about things. Not long after he looked at the sea view, Mr. Edmund came up from the path under the sea cliff, carrying a fishing rod on his back, a bucket in one hand and a metal tool box that could be used as a stool in the other.
His catch today was quite good. Without the influence of abnormal tides, this old man living by the sea demonstrated quite amazing fishing skills.
When they approached the lighthouse, they found that there was a guest visiting. When Shade turned around with the cat in his arms, the old man showed a surprised expression:
"Do I need to remind you that you don't have a mask on your face?"
"Do you need a mask? Father John probably doesn't have many acquaintances in Tobesk who can introduce business to him, and it's even more unlikely that there are many who know about the Guiding Light Hermitage. Combined with my height and body shape, you only need a few letters to easily determine who I am."
Shad shrugged, he had thought of this as he ran to the lighthouse in the rainy night, but for that drop of divinity, it was worth it.
"No, actually I didn't mean to ask John at all. It doesn't matter to me whether you are Hamilton from Rejade."
The old man continued to climb upwards with the bucket and metal box, and Shade came over, put the cat on his shoulders, and helped Mr. Edmund carry the bucket. There were now four bearded fish swimming in the metal bucket, and the clear water reflected the sunlight, allowing Shade to see all the physical details of these aquatic creatures.
Mia was very interested in these fish.
"The Hermitage has no interest in the secrets of the transaction partner. As long as you don't get in the way, that's fine. Don't worry, young man. I won't tell anyone about you, and I don't want to know what your relationship is with that God Summoner."
After struggling to get to the lighthouse, the old man searched for the key in the brown vest full of pockets he wore when fishing. As soon as he opened the door under the lighthouse, the cat locked in the lighthouse immediately jumped out.
"Meow~"
Mia, who had been sitting obediently on Shad's shoulder, immediately "roared", and the cat, which was much larger than Mia, actually took a step back because of the "roar", and seemed to be frightened by Mia.
Shad touched Mia to calm her down for a moment.
Entering the lighthouse with Mr. Edmund, the old man packed up his fishing gear before sitting down with Shad and talking:
"The Priory is an organization formed to deal with the end of the world. As long as you don't hinder us from collecting and preserving information about civilization, and you have no intention of destroying the world, then we can be friends. As for secrets, oh, young man, which ring sorcerer doesn't have secrets? Even if you say now that you are the Godcaller, I won't be surprised at all."
Xia De summoned the life ring behind him:
"Unfortunately, I am not."
"It's a pity indeed."
Mr. Edmund sighed regretfully:
"Originally, I was expecting you to be the one. This way, I would have another Thirteen Rings trading partner."
He pulled the gas valve on the wall and boiled hot water on the small stove.
"However, I do know the thirteen-ring sorcerer. If there is a chance, I can introduce him to buy things here."
Xia De said, and seeing that the old man did not comment, he reached into his pocket and took out the leather book "Mysteries of the Ocean" that was definitely impossible to stuff into his pocket without leaving any traces:
"This is what I promised you, the secret book of the Scarlet Cult. After I entered the city that night, I found a node for the Sea Return Ceremony and attacked them with the help of my friends, and got this."
He handed the book to Mr. Edmund, who took it, stood up, took out the paper bag containing the banknotes from the desk and returned it to Shad, then sat down and stroked the cover of the book with his hand.
“Isn’t this human skin?”
Shade asked, somewhat worriedly.
"Of course not. This is the skin of a male gilded seahorse. There is a very small amount of gold in the feces of this magical creature. Although the amount is small, raising gilded seahorses is one of the few ways in the material world that can convert other substances into gold at almost no cost."
The old man explained, and the transformation of gold reminded Shad of the famous relic, the Philosopher's Stone.
Mr. Edmund placed the large book on his lap, opened it carefully, and casually checked the chapters, while Shad looked at the decorations inside the lighthouse with great amusement.
This book is written in the language of the fishmen, and it uses the language of the fishmen of more than one era. Shade can understand all of it, but Mr. Edmund can only understand part of it.