"The relic is stored in the Rhine Headquarters in Carsenrick. Don't even think about touching it, Shade. The Association has reached an agreement with the Five Gods Church. This relic that can usurp the power of a ring sorcerer is not allowed to leave the Headquarters, and each use must be supervised by at least one high-level sorcerer of the church."
In fact, even if he could contact them at will, Shade would never leave Tobesk and go to a foreign country. Although Coldwater Port was far away, there was an ancient god statue in the basement for teleportation, and Shade was really unfamiliar with the Rhine Principality.
"I understand, but the god-summoning feature of the level 0 relic has disappeared, right? Is it because the old god has also gone away?"
Xia De asked again. He didn't know the name of the old god. He only knew that the other party was a god related to "gambling" and his image was a mysterious man shrouded in a black robe. It was impossible to find information about these vague conditions.
Luvia shook her head regretfully:
"I can't answer that question for you. When the Association took it in, the table was in its current state. You are the one who knows its original condition best compared to the Prophet Association."
Xia De nodded:
"I spent too much time asking Mr. Riddle about the situation in the Dreadfort last time, and I didn't have time to investigate other things. It seems that this time, I have to find a way to get more information about that god. Even if I can't win at the gambling table, I have to find a way to win outside the gambling table."
Xia De expressed his thoughts, and the purple-eyed girl smiled and said:
"That's cheating."
"No, no, Luvia, I don't have the guts to cheat in front of a god. Everything I did was within the rules... It's a pity that I didn't play Rhodes cards, otherwise I wouldn't have to worry so much. The Vientiane cards are the only special items that can be brought to the past. With them, my luck in playing cards will increase."
"But where were the Rhodes cards in that era?"
The purple-eyed girl smiled beautifully. She then asked:
"Anyway, be careful tonight. By the way, is number 6 St. Teresa's Place completely repaired?"
"It's fixed. I paid the balance this morning, but they asked me to open the windows for ventilation for a while, otherwise the smell would be unpleasant. We can go to the third floor now, and I asked them to repaint the walls of the first floor and basement. The decoration, furniture, water pipes, gas lamps and steam pipes are all complete. Now No. 6 St. Teresa's Square finally feels like a home."
"So you still live on the second floor?"
She asked curiously again.
"Of course, I'm used to living there. I always feel unsafe in Room 2 on the second floor where a mass suicide occurred, so like the third floor, I still don't put any furniture in it. However, because the wall between Room 1 and Room 2 where Mia and I live is not a load-bearing wall, I had someone open a door in the wall of the living room for easy access. As for how to use the space of Room 2 specifically, we'll talk about it later."
"What about the first and third floors?"
"The first floor is used as a guest room. There are three large bedrooms there, and the master bedroom has an additional bathroom. The third floor currently has no furniture and is left unused, so that I can perform rituals, practice thaumaturgy, and conduct dangerous alchemical experiments."
Xia De arranged the room very well:
"I heard from the Dawn Church that a strange incident also happened on the third floor. It was a disappearance case. A former owner of No. 6 once disappeared after going to the third floor, and even his body was not found. So for safety reasons, it is better not to let anyone live on the third floor."
"Your house is really weird."
Luvia reminded carefully:
"If the two ring sorcerers who died on the first floor were driven into a frenzy by the power of the statue while fighting for the secret of the basement, then it would be a bit far-fetched to explain the suicides on the second floor and the disappearances on the third floor with the basement. You'd better look through the records of the house and pay attention to the way each owner died. Maybe there is a pattern."
She thought for a moment, then laughed again and asked Xia De to relax:
"But you and little Mia lived there for two months and nothing happened. I thought maybe there really was nothing wrong with the house, or maybe the dangers of the house had no effect on you at all. After all, compared to the real dangers you experienced, what was that house?"
What she said made sense, Sparrow Hamilton's death might have been just an accident, and Shad was willing to believe that there was nothing wrong with his house.
On the way home from the Prophet's Association, Shad fed the wild cats nearby with cat food that he secretly brought from home.
After returning home, he was still a little worried about being discovered by Mia, but the completion of the repair of No. 6 St. Teresa's Square made Mia, who was used to living in this house, very happy. It didn't realize that its food reserves were a little less. That night, when Shad was reading Mr. Riddle's biography, Mia was running around the house in high spirits.
Shad had very good hearing, and the house was so quiet that he could even hear the orange cat jumping upstairs.
Just as Dorothy had "reported", it was very interested in Room 2 on the second floor. Shad did not close the doors of Room 1 and Room 2, so the cat rushed in excitedly.
But it had no purpose, it just sniffed around like it was looking for something.
The usable area of the house is larger, but it also makes 6 St. Teresa's Square seem a little deserted. Even if Shad doesn't walk around at night, he will turn on all the gas lights in the stairwells and corridors on each floor, so the gas bill will probably be higher in the future.
"Would you like to invite others to live here with you?"
Shade was hesitant about this idea. Dorothy and Iluna both lived in rented apartments in the city. If he invited them to move in, Shade would not charge rent, but would make his home more lively.
But the problem is that this invitation itself is suggestive. Although the social atmosphere is open and the aristocrats in the upper class have chaotic relationships between men and women, girls from respectable families will not live with men before marriage.
"We still need to confirm whether this house is dangerous or not."
Sitting on the sofa holding a file with the title "Prophet Association" printed on it, Xia De thought about it, and then waved to Mia who came in from the door again. The cat immediately ran over, jumped onto the sofa, and lay on Xia De's legs very consciously:
"But all in all, life is really getting better and better."
(Mi Mia is running...)
"May the World Tree protect me in time."
I turned the key and there was endless white fog behind the door.
Xia De stepped into the White Mist Gate, and the murmur sounded at the perfect moment:
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Winter of the Fifth Era, 1784, Northern Continent, Dreadfort.
Event: Gambling-Game of Life.
Duration: twenty minutes (2/3).
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father continues to watch over you.
The ancient god of time has given you a test.
Help mortals win the "gamble of life".
The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: Thaumaturgy - Breath of Ages, a piece of true information - Dark Dungeon.
So far, Xia De has not encountered a situation where the information given by the Father of Infinite Trees has changed. Therefore, after listening to this string of information, he did not stay in the white fog and continued to move forward.
The mist dissipated, and the cold air and the smell of decay surged up. The bright white mist was replaced by the dim yellow firelight, and the old corridor appeared in front of me, and I felt like I was being watched from behind:
"So, why can't you just drop me off at my destination?"
This time, Xia De didn't have time to look around. The candle flames in the wall grid began to shake violently. The biting wind blew from behind, and the completely unexplained fear forced Xia De to run.
With the experience from last time, Xia De knew that this was a straight road, so he ran without any worries. But two minutes later, he saw the metal door with the flip coin symbol in front of him. Xia De rushed forward, knocked the door open and fell directly into the room.
The door closed automatically as if it was equipped with a spring, locking out the unknown creatures that existed in this strange place.
I got up panting and looked around the room. The rectangular stone-brick floored room was still the same as before. The kerosene lamp on one side of the central square table illuminated a small half of the room. The candle on the other side of the table went out, leaving the other half of the room in complete darkness.
On the table, colorful shadows representing witches, evil spirits, and dragons were floating above their respective grooves, eager to try. Mr. Riddle, wearing a brown robe, barefoot, and with a turban wrapped around his head, was trying to stand up from the wall.
He stared at Shade's haggard face with wide eyes, as if he was on a pilgrimage. Then he opened his arms to Shade:
“Oh, you’re back!”
Xia De thought that this poor man who was trapped here alone wanted to hug him, so he opened his arms and wanted to hug him, regardless of the fact that the other person might not have taken a shower for several months.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Riddle just opened his arms and had no intention of hugging him, which made Xia De feel a little embarrassed.
"Have you thought of more memories since I left?"
Xia De asked cautiously. Mr. Riddle shook his head absentmindedly. His mental state was really worrying.
"After you left, I could hardly feel the passage of time. My mind was jumping back and forth between wakefulness and coma. If I hadn't felt the great power of my Lord Huan protecting me, I would have probably stepped into the arms of death."
His legs seemed weak, and he had to hold on to the wall to stand up. Shade took a few steps forward and supported the poor man. Considering Mr. Riddle's predicament, Shade prepared food in advance.
After the gentleman recovered, he handed the food, which had been transformed from toys back into real objects, to Mr. Riddle.
Mr. Riddle didn't care about the supernatural powers that Shad used at all. After getting the dishes of stir-fried vegetables, fish soup, vegetable salad and fruit, he sat on the ground and started to eat voraciously without even taking the cutlery.