The old man flipped through the pages at random, and each page seemed to bring him new gains:
"In this way, I can finally complete the last part of my "Coldwater Harbor Three Secret Teachings Examination"."
A smile appeared on his face, and then he looked up at Shade:
"I said at the beginning that all material gains will belong to you, and we will share the knowledge. This one you brought..."
He patted the book:
"It's worth much more than the information I provided you. I want the ownership of this book. Please make some additional requests. Will the Light Guiders take advantage of you?"
Xia De thought about it:
"Mr. Edmund, I hope that if I need to look up this book, I can do so at any time."
The old man nodded:
"It's a very reasonable request. You can come anytime."
He said:
"In addition, I also need the knowledge in this book, so I hope to get the valuable notes you have compiled from you. Of course, I will also help you translate the contents of this book. I have learned some languages of aquatic intelligent species from my friends."
When faced with desire, Xia De had no choice but to read this book. Under normal circumstances, he would not read a book that recorded the secrets of the evil god. Moreover, this book had no table of contents and summary. If he read it carefully, he didn't know when he would finish.
"It's very simple, but you have to come and see for yourself. I won't bother to send a letter to Tobesk."
Mr. Edmund nodded again.
"These are my only requests for now. If you feel you've gotten a bargain, I'll give you a cheaper price next time I buy something."
Shad said while holding the cat. Now the cat raised by Mr. Edmund was lying at Shad's feet, which made Mia very dissatisfied.
"It's much better to trade with you than with John. If it were him, he would definitely not let me go until he squeezed out every last bit of value from this book."
The old man said with a smile, and just then the kettle on the stove began to hum, so he got up to get some hot water and poured a cup of tea for Shad.
"Speaking of which, Mr. Edmund, is it the Sixth Age now?"
Shade asked again.
"Of course, what's the problem?"
The old man asked in surprise, and Shade shook his head;
"Something happened a while ago that messed up my sense of time."
“This is a sign of losing control.”
Mr. Edmund reminded him, and Shade nodded without explaining:
"Also, I want to ask you something. I remember you said last time that there was a local rumor that a level 0 relic appeared in Lengshui Port in modern times?"
He did not name the desire directly.
"Yes, I don't know much about the details. I settled in Coldwater Harbor only thirty years ago. At that time, there were rumors like this among the local ring sorcerers, but no one could provide evidence. Later, the rumors died down, and now there are probably not many people who still remember this incident."
Shade nodded. Before coming to the lighthouse, he swam to the dark room under the Aurora Manor. As expected, just as the witch said last night, there was nothing in the dark room. The level 0 relic had broken free from the seal and could be anywhere now.
He suddenly asked again:
"So are all level 0 relics dangerous?"
Mr. Edmund considered:
"Not necessarily dangerous, but definitely weird. Most level 0 relics have the ability to directly cause a ring sorcerer to lose control, so there are very few records about them. The church and the three major colleges strictly control relevant information."
Xia De nodded and said nothing more. The thing that called itself desire helped him a lot, but he definitely didn't want to see the other person again.
He planned to tell the local church about this matter soon, and of course he would still sign it as "God Caller". Even if the diocese would never be able to catch that thing, he at least wanted to let the church know that a troublesome Level 0 relic was once again active in the material world.
This can be considered as a small contribution that Xia De has made to world peace and stability.
Shade hoped that one day he would be able to find information about desire in the St. Byrons Library. But no matter how friendly his relationship with Miss Danister was, the librarian would not share the information about the Level 0 relic with a low-level warlock.
Mr. Edmund invited Shad to stay and have lunch with him, which was the fish he had caught, and Shad accepted the invitation as it was still far before the time Miss Carina asked him to appear.
The two of them processed the fish together and set up a grill outside the lighthouse. During the meal, Shad gave Mia a piece of fish meat with the bones removed, and the cat ate it happily.
When Xia De was about to say goodbye and leave, and said with a smile that he might come to bother him from time to time, the old man suddenly asked:
"Are you interested in joining the Priory of the Guiding Light?"
Judging from his expression, Mr. Edmund was not joking.
"Do I need to take any responsibility for this?"
"There are many responsibilities, the responsibility of passing on civilization."
The old man's expression was very serious, and Xia De shook his head:
"If you need me to do anything, you can commission me, but the responsibility of civilization is too heavy. I know that what you do is to collect information about civilization, store it, preserve it, and pass it on. I admire you very much, but I don't have the time now. Ten years later, Mr. Edmund, if I am not dead, even if I go to St. Byrons to be a teacher, you can invite me again, and I will most likely agree at once."
Far from being disappointed, the old man smiled:
"In addition to the responsibilities you mentioned, we actually have more things to do, such as investigating and maintaining those ancient seals, housing and managing relics like the church and the academy, and even since 1306 of the Sixth Era, we have been looking for the thirteen shelters left by the ancient gods. The Priory believes that it is the last blessing prepared by the ancient gods for the lives on the day of the end of the world... Then we have a deal. I will write to you in ten years."
Xia De was stunned. This was the first time he heard of the thirteen shelters. Thinking about the contents of the parchment he saw behind the hidden wall in his basement, it was not difficult to infer that the Light Guiding Order used the space behind the white mist door left by the thirteen ancient gods as a shelter.
"Shelter?"
"I can't tell you this. Even if you agree to join the monastery immediately, it will take at least ten years for you to gradually learn these secrets."
The old man said, and Xia De shook his head regretfully:
"It's settled then. I look forward to hearing from you in ten years."
He held the cat, who was full and sleepy, and waved to the old man who was guarding the lighthouse alone, ready to go home. Mr. Edmund stood under the lighthouse, watching his back go away, and couldn't help but sigh:
"As the flame of civilization is about to go out, more and more rumors about the end of the world surface. Will we, who are inheriting the last ray of fire, have a new companion?"
(Mi Mia is running...)
First he went to the entrance of the Natural Church and asked someone to help deliver a letter expressing his desire for a level 0 relic to the priest of the church. Then Shade went to the Seven Broomsticks Tavern and inquired about the purchase of coin-type relics. After regretfully learning that there was no result, he did not stay in Coldwater Port for long, but returned home, preparing to take a shower and then go see the witch.
Leicia is expected to return to Tobesk in about a week, so Shad will not need to stay in Coldwater Harbor for a long time, and Dorothy will not have to come to help Shad take care of the cat often. However, the blonde is still very interested in the detective records in the study, and will occasionally come to disturb him in the future. So although Dorothy can't see her today, there will be plenty of time to see her in St. Teresa's Square in the future.
Miss Carina's carriage stopped downstairs on time at two o'clock in the afternoon, and the one who came to pick up Shad was of course the maid Miss Tifa Servet.
She saw Xia De holding this morning's newspaper. After the carriage started slowly, he tilted his head slightly to read the contents of the newspaper:
"Is this the Daily Steambird?"
"Yes, I'm reading a novel serialized by a friend."
Shad turned the newspaper over and showed her the page from Dorothy's Hamilton Detective Stories:
"You probably haven't heard of it. This is..."
"I've heard that this is the most popular detective novel recently."
The maid's words surprised Shad. Dorothy's novel had only been serialized for a week, and he didn't expect it to attract attention so quickly.
"The Steambird Daily has a very high sales volume, and the newspaper has given this detective novel a good space. Plus, the story itself is pretty good... Is this based on you?"
The maid was a little curious.
"Yes, but the degree of adaptation is very large."
Shade opened the newspaper again, wanting to see how Dorothy described the half-century-long feud without describing the occult and ghosts:
"I thought that people today are still keen on ancient chivalric novels or modern court novels. They would not be so quick to accept detective novels that describe contemporary life."
"It's not that people don't accept it, but there are no good stories to attract people. Most people's lives are boring, so it's natural to want to find some fun in stories."
The black-haired maid said with a smile, and Shade nodded. But for him, his life was much more interesting than the detective stories in the newspaper.
"Speaking of which... um... is Miss Carina angry?"
Hiding his face behind the newspaper, Shad finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask.
"Angry? Sir, did you do anything to make Miss angry?"
Xia De took a peek and saw the maid smiling. It was not that she didn't know, but she asked knowingly.