On Thursday morning, after checking the progress of the renovation, Shad took Mia to Dr. Schneider's clinic. He thought the doctor would not have any work in the morning, but he actually started seeing patients at 8 a.m.
Xia De waited for two hours before he saw the yawning doctor. He was wearing a clean white shirt and sitting on a chair behind a desk with a pen, writing medical records. When he saw Xia De come in, the tone of his greeting and the look in his blue eyes showed that he was very tired.
There was a strange smell of burning spices in the room, and on the desk was a sphere fixed by a wooden frame.
“Doctor, is your work so hard?”
Compared to him, Shad is the epitome of laziness.
"Oh, I'm not sleepy. I just used hypnosis to diagnose and treat you. Did you smell the scent in the air? This is a spice used to aid sleep. Didn't Alan give you a bottle when we met at Anthem Square last time?"
The doctor briefly explained, asked Xia De to sit down, and then explained in a low voice:
“I really like hypnosis as a therapeutic method.”
"Why?"
Shade asked curiously, looking at the psychology books on the table that were obviously frequently flipped. These were not St. Byron's textbooks, but the doctor's own professional books.
"Because my consultation is charged by the hour."
Dr. Schneider smiled and clapped the alarm clock beside him. The delicate brass mechanism made a pleasant clicking sound:
"At 1s 3d for 10 minutes, that's 7s 6d for an hour. In two and a half hours in the morning, I made nearly a pound."
Xia De immediately showed an even more admiring expression. The doctor earned more money from one consultation than an ordinary worker in a month. Just sitting in an office, he could live a decent life. This was the life Xia De wanted.
"Come to think of it, how did you find time to come to my place? Is there something going on?"
The doctor asked as he put the cap on his pen.
"Yes, I'm learning new magic recently, but I'm short of materials for casting spells. I want to ask you to help me purchase them."
"What is missing?"
"The crystal of the soul."
"Um?"
The doctor really knew about this thing. He frowned and thought for a while:
"Alchemical items made from the mind and spirit involve advanced psychological alchemy, which is not easy to do. Shade, how many do you need?"
"Two dozen lan (about 3.5 grams) of crystals, one for every dozen lan. Two small crystals are required to cast the spell."
The density of this strange crystal is not very high, a dozen is about the size of a grain of rice.
The doctor thought for a moment and said:
"That's not easy. The academy does have this material, but the price is very high, about 500 pounds, which is comparable to the price of ordinary clerical-level relics. So if you are not in a hurry, I don't recommend you to buy it from the academy. But if you want to buy it from the black market, you may not be able to find a seller by the end of the year. However, I can make some. I have studied advanced psychological alchemy."
"Are you in trouble?"
Shade asked.
"Yes, and the trouble is, you have to find the raw materials. That is, the objects that can produce spiritual crystals."
“What characteristics are needed?”
Xia De took out his notebook and prepared to take notes.
The doctor held up his fingers and listed them, and Shad noticed a stain of blue ink on his index finger:
"His spirit is strong enough to extract the crystallization of the mind. His imagination is rich enough for us to explore his dreams. Only people with unstable mind and spirit can produce crystals... ... These are all for now. If I can find the target, I will do further inspections."
"So, we need to find a crazy artist with great mental power... I'll try my luck at the Delarion Academy of Art?"
Shad concluded.
“It’s not that simple.”
The doctor waved his hand:
"You go looking for it, but you won't be able to recognize it even if you really meet it. How about this, I'll visit the mental hospitals around Tobesk this weekend and let you know if I have any news. If there is no news, I'll investigate for two weeks, and if I still haven't found it, you can go to the academy to buy it. But I can't give you this business for free."
"No problem, doctor, how much do you need?"
Shade wouldn't take advantage of his friends.
"The materials for the ritual and alchemy don't cost much, 30 pounds will be enough. But the labor costs... Let's put it this way, Shade. You pay the 30 pounds for the materials. Besides, I heard from Father Augustus that you have smuggling connections in Coldwater Harbor. It just so happens that I need some ritual materials from the New World recently to assist in my Six-Ring Promotion Ceremony. I'll make a list for you, and you help me get these things. I'll pay for the materials, and you can use the labor costs of getting them to offset the labor costs of making the mind crystals."
In other words, Shad only needs to pay 30 pounds.
"No problem, doctor."
"That's good."
The blue-eyed doctor nodded and asked curiously:
"But what kind of magic are you going to learn?"
"Mind Blast, I have prepared the learning materials. Now I just lack the materials for casting the spell."
"Mind Blast, it's the most primitive mind attack ability. It's not bad. At least it gives you another way to fight the enemy."
Only then did Xia De realize that this ability was his third purely active offensive ability after Moonlight Slash and Moonlight Greatsword.
"In that case, I have a notebook here that you can take back and read. It contains tips on using psychic abilities, which may be helpful to you."
The doctor stood up, took a book from the bookshelf and handed it to Xia De. There was no charge for borrowing notes from each other in the group.
For the next two days, Shad did not take any more adventures. The rest of Thursday was spent at Professor Manning's place. Although Shad was reluctant to bring Mia to visit the professor, he could not leave Mia in his house which was under construction.
The professor still remembered his archaeological experience in the town of Herkills decades ago. After getting the photos of old lady Ilar from Shad, he was very excited and kept telling stories to Shad until noon. He even invited Shad to have lunch at his home.
Although Professor Manning had some strange ideas about cats, his archaeological skills were absolutely first-rate, and his storytelling ability was even better. Shad was attracted by those archaeological stories.
In the afternoon, hearing that Shad had nothing to do today, Professor Manning took Shad to the Archaeology Department of King's College Delarium where he worked.
Although it was still summer, it was rare to see people wearing short sleeves in a serious place like the academy. And although women had the right to education decades ago, it was rare to see female students in the academy.
Walking on the cobblestone road of the college, mottled light and shadows were cast from the gaps between the leaves above. Looking at the young people holding books and scholars wearing glasses walking and chatting around, Xia De had a smile on his face. He liked this atmosphere very much.
It was a pity that he didn't have time to be a serious student in this era. If this world didn't have real mysticism and was just a world of ordinary people, he would be willing to spend the rest of his life in school like Professor Manning.
Professor Manning has his own office and a group of students waiting to graduate. He showed Shade with great interest the artifacts collected during the archaeological excavation in Herkil's Town more than a decade ago, and then asked his students to move more artifacts related to the eastern ruins of Herkil's Town from the warehouse.
Although the professor and his team did not discover the underground temple at that time, they had confirmed that the ruins were built by believers of the old god Earthshaker Worm.
Talking about his major, and seeing that Shade was very interested, Professor Manning began to talk nonstop. He sat behind the desk by the lattice window, leaning on his chair to talk to Shade, who was sitting on the short side of the desk. There were some flower pots on the windowsill behind the professor, and the professor's students could only stand behind Shade and listen to their teacher's story.
The professor spoke for an hour, and Shade was impressed by the students behind him for being able to stick with it. You know, even the orange cat lying on his lap turned over and over at least 23 times during this period because he felt bored.
Shade's attention was not only on the cat. He also observed the flower pot behind Professor Manning, the pile of paper drafts waiting to be corrected on the professor's desk, and the literature behind the glass in the bookcase on the east wall that was almost overflowing.
Professor Manning's office is not dirty, but it is messy. Various documents and artifacts are placed in every visible corner, and the cardboard boxes piled on the bookcases look like they are about to fall down. But it is not too messy. Looking carefully, Xia De feels that this simple and chaotic environment with some old-fashioned decoration style is suitable for the office atmosphere of busy scholars.
"Maybe I should also renovate the second floor to make it look more professional."
Xia De thought to himself.
Professor Manning talked incessantly to Shade about the connection between the old god Earthshaker Worm and the old god Midgard Python. He also used the mythological system described by the Orthodox Church to connect the Orthodox god Old Man with the Lantern, who holds the priesthood of the earth, to the god of the sun and the earth.
“In fact, there are many gods who have land-related duties, but each god has a different focus.”
The professor held the teacup and said:
"The Orthodox Church is very secretive about this, but there is a saying that the power of all gods related to the earth comes from an older god of the earth."
"professor!"
Shade quickly stopped Professor Manning from continuing. Although the Orthodox Church seemed to be a positive character, the Inquisition was not just a legend, it really existed.
Professor Manning smiled and shook his head:
"When it comes to things that interest me, I often can't control my mouth. Shade, just pretend you didn't hear anything."
"certainly.."
"What about you?"
The professor changed his tone and asked the young people behind Xia De in a very serious tone. The latter answered in unison:
"I didn't hear anything."
It seems that this is not the first time this has happened.
"But why don't you think that it was the righteous god, the old man with the lantern, who distributed his authority to other old gods related to the earth and the sun? The righteous gods are stronger than the old gods, so this speculation is also possible."
Miss Aurora on the train mentioned the relationship between the ancient gods and the old gods, so Shade asked again out of curiosity and put forward other conjectures. Professor Manning smiled:
"If it was the righteous gods who bestowed the power on the old gods, then the Church of the righteous gods would definitely mention it to show the greatness of their belief in gods. But I can tell you for sure, Shade, no book in the Church of the Five Gods has ever mentioned that, yes, no book has ever mentioned that the power of the old gods came from the righteous gods. In fact, when the books of the church mention the old gods, they put them on the same level as the righteous gods."
Xia De nodded in understanding, but did not continue asking questions. If he continued asking questions, he would encounter sensitive topics again.
However, if the power of the old gods does not come from themselves, but is really obtained from other places, then it is very likely that all the old gods related to the earth, and even the power of the righteous god Lantern Old Man about the earth, all come from the ancient god Mother Earth who is related to the earth.
It has been confirmed that the ancient gods are the original gods.
"When the Dark Box went out of control, there seemed to be a voice saying that the Old Gods were thieves..."
Xia De thought in his heart.
It seems that talking about religion and history with ordinary people can also be of great help to him. Shade thought that he could communicate more with Professor Manning in the future. Of course, it would be better for Mia to stay away from him.
Most of Professor Manning's students were young people of about the same physical age as Shad, and when the professor introduced Shad to them, they immediately knew that this was the rumored "Hamilton of Redgerd".
Therefore, although Xia De was only "illiterate" compared with them, he still won the respect of everyone. Before Xia De left the college that evening, he exchanged business cards with the professor's students.
Most of them have business cards. People who can study archaeology in colleges and universities in this era are generally not from ordinary families. Xia De recently wants to further expand his detective business and wants more clients to come to him instead of relying on going out and encountering problems, so it is necessary to get to know more people.
The only thing that bothered him the most was that the spread of Rejad's Hamilton's reputation and the spread of Shad's relationship with Miss Carina were almost simultaneous.
Although none of the professor's students mentioned Miss Carina, when Shad was chatting with the professor and mentioned that he had recently received a large sum of money from the Duchess and therefore wanted to obtain an honorary degree, a choking cough was heard behind him.
So what bothers you is that you have a bad reputation, or that you have a bad reputation even though you have done nothing
“Is there any difference?”
Outsider, you certainly know the difference.
Shad did not answer this question. He took the cat, who had slept all afternoon and was now looking forward to dinner, along the cobblestone road of King's College Delarion and came to the main street.
The setting sun was vaguely visible on the horizon, so it looked like dusk had just arrived. A carriage drove from his left side and then to his right side, and a group of students passed by behind him. A man with a briefcase under his arm hurriedly passed by, looking like he was going to an appointment. Two workers with bare arms squatted under a gas lamp on the roadside, as if they were repairing a faulty underground gas pipeline.
In this rapidly changing scene, only Shad seems to be strolling the streets, in no hurry for time.
He put his hands in his pockets and kicked the stones at his feet aside out of boredom. Then he touched the cat, thought about how to solve dinner, and slowly walked towards the sunset.
Before there was any news from Darkness, he had plenty of time to manage his life in this steam wave era.