According to the contract signed between Mr. Mandis and the late Detective Sparrow, when Mr. Mandis voluntarily announced the termination of the commission, in addition to the deposit, he needed to pay an additional fee of no more than one-third of the total amount depending on the progress of the investigation.
Shad didn't want the money, but he wouldn't return the deposit, but Mr. Mandys insisted on paying. So Shad got 1 shilling as commission and left Mr. Mandys's house with the maid.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and there was no sign of dusk at this time of late summer.
"I think this money should only be enough to pay for our carriage today."
On the carriage back to Saint Teresa's Square, the maid said to Shad.
A pair of cotton stockings cost around 5 shillings, a good quality women's work suit cost 1 pound, and boots cost 11 shillings. The cost of hiring a carriage was generally 1 shilling for the first mile within a 4-mile area centered on the Yodel Palace, and 5 pence per mile thereafter.
That's why Tifa made such an exclamation based on the prices she knew.
"Yes, if you add in the preliminary investigation work done by Detective Sparrow, this commission is undoubtedly a loss. But for me, isn't this a big profit?"
Xia De shook the black iron ring on his finger, and the black-haired maid also smiled:
"It seems that the detective profession is really suitable for ring sorcerers."
"No, no, I just don't know how it happened to be so coincidental that this matter would be related to the relic. Generally speaking, the commissions I receive are just ordinary things like playing cards and looking for people."
Shade said, taking out the parchment:
"I happen to recognize these ancient characters, Tifa. Let's have dinner together, and you can leave after I decipher these characters. Don't rush to refuse. You helped me a lot today, and inviting you to dinner is my way of expressing my gratitude."
The black-haired girl thought for a moment:
"Okay, but I can't go back too late, otherwise the lady will have an opinion."
The two returned to St. Teresa's Square first, and then went out with Mia and found a good restaurant in a nearby neighborhood. Shad rarely cooked at home, so he knew where the food was good nearby, and the nearby restaurants were already familiar with the young detective with a cat.
After dinner, they walked home together. When they returned to St. Teresa's Square, they saw a slightly fat man wearing a wig and a red coat, standing anxiously at the door of number six.
Xia De was very curious about who this was. When the other party saw the two people coming, he immediately came to greet them. The two met on the street around the square at the edge of Saint Teresa Square:
"Excuse me, is this Hamilton from Rheed? Oh, it's Miss Servet, good afternoon."
An unusually standard Tobesk accent, the voice was even a little shrill.
He bowed slightly to the girl next to Xia De, and judging by her expression, he was very surprised to see her here.
Tifa also introduced the other party's identity to Shad:
"Mr. Hamilton, this is Mr. Miral Formans, the herald of the Jodel Palace."
"Good evening, Mr. Formans, what can I do for you?"
Xia De was also very surprised, until he saw the invitation handed over by the other party, he understood.
"Hamilton of Rejade, Queen Diana formally invites you to attend her birthday party at Yodel Palace next Wednesday, the 30th night of the Flower Moon."
The herald handed the invitation to Shad. Although it was the queen's birthday party, the style of the invitation was very ordinary, probably to show the frugality of the king's family.
"Knight, will you participate?"
"Oh, of course, I will go."
Shad said, so Mr. Formans nodded, said goodbye to Shad respectfully, turned and left, without even giving Shad a chance to invite him upstairs for tea.
Xia De opened the door, and the cat on his shoulder rushed in first, followed by the maid.
"Why is Mr. Formans' voice so shrill?"
he asked as he dropped his keys into the cookie box.
"Did you notice that his chin is very clean-shaven and beard-free?"
The maid asked.
"Um?"
Xia De thought about it, slowed down his pace and asked in surprise:
"Eunuch?"
"Yes, although this is no longer popular in modern courts and people think it is inhumane, most of the servants trusted by His Majesty are eunuchs. So there are rumors in the court that if you want to gain His Majesty's trust, you must be ruthless and..."
She didn't continue, and Shad nodded to show that he understood.
Larrousse III was a truly strong-handed king with outstanding personal abilities. As the ruler of the kingdom, he coincided with the wave of the steam age. The emergence of such a king was extremely fortunate for Delarion.
However, a strong character and the great power granted by the king himself can also cause certain character flaws. The tradition of court eunuchs disappeared from civilization hundreds of years ago, and the eunuchs now voluntarily give up their body structures for power. Larousse III's acquiescence in power has promoted this trend, which is also one of the few things he is criticized for.
Of course, His Majesty the King had no relationship with Shade, so he didn't care whether the other party had mental problems.
After returning home, Shade went into the study and translated the contents of the parchment alone, using the excuse of looking up some documents. He originally thought that it only introduced the red potion and the effect of the Demon Hunting Seal, but he did not expect that it actually contained a story about an ancient heritage and the whereabouts of another extremely powerful relic.
"Dr. Alfred's ancestor found the relics of a demon hunter who died in the Third Age in the ruins. In addition to seals and potions, there was also a long sword that had become a relic. It turns out that the demon hunting seal, in addition to being more likely to appear in areas where demons are infested, will also actively attract those powerful enough extraordinary people. And the long sword was hidden by him in Mount Xikar..."
Mount Sikar is located in the east of the middle of the Old World, and is one of the borders between Dralion and Carsenrick. That place is too far from Tobesk, and even if the parchment describes the location where the relics are hidden, it is still impossible for Shade to go there to look for them at this time.
He was still waiting for Darkness.
After careful consideration, Shad chose to hide part of the contents on the parchment and only told Tifa the information related to the potion.
"These things were indeed left by a ring wizard! Doctor Alfred's ancestor was a powerful ring wizard. According to the description on the parchment, he lived about 800 years ago and was a nine-ring wizard before he died."
Nine rings is already a high ring, and one is a strong person no matter which era.
"And how did that gentleman die?"
The maid sitting on the sofa asked.
"I don't know. He wrote on the parchment that he was going to challenge a powerful enemy and fight against an eleventh-ring warlock with his friends. Because he was worried that he would not be able to come back, he left two items that he would not need in the basement of the old house. He wrote in ancient characters in the hope that ordinary people who found these two items in the future would not touch them, and that if they were a ring warlock, they would be able to use them."
Here, Shade omitted anything about the sword.
"He obviously didn't expect that his descendants would continue to live in that town and use the surname Alfred for 800 years."
The signature of the Nine-Ring Warlock was also Alfred, so Shad knew that this was the ancestor of the ophthalmologist.
"The ring is a Secret Keeper-level relic. Although I have seen information about it before, I don't know its specific function yet. However, I know the function of the potion."
Shade placed the bottle of red potion on the coffee table. Since Dr. Alfred had used up some of it, only about three-quarters of it was left:
"This is not a potion, but a derivative of a relic obtained by a ring warlock in an accident eight hundred years ago. The parchment does not mention what the relic is, but the effect of the potion is clearly written."
He and the maid looked at the bottle together:
"If you drop the potion directly into the eyes, it can further enhance the evolution of spells and magic related to the eyes. If you store the magic eye in this potion, it can effectively suppress some of the negative effects of the magic eye when it leaves the body."
"To evolve thaumaturgy and spells? This is a very rare thing."
Tifa covered her mouth and sighed, and Shad nodded. It was a pity that time perception had nothing to do with eyes, otherwise he would be able to know the truth.
Xia De pointed to the other half bottle of bright yellow potion:
"I'm afraid the potions that were processed by Doctor Alfred are unusable. But I have three quarters of the red potion left, and I want to try to evolve my Blood Echo. Tifa, can you please help me? I need someone to control the drops into my eyes and stop the dripping when I say stop."
"No problem, but what direction can the ability to observe bloodstains evolve in?"
“Maybe I can see it more clearly.”
Shade said, and then laid down on the couch.
The cat, who had been doing nothing in the bedroom just now, immediately jumped up and landed on Shade's chest, looking down at him. The cat was not heavy at all, but in order to prevent it from disturbing what was going on, Shade stretched out both hands and pressed it on his clothes.
"Okay."
He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Tifa uncorked the medicine bottle and controlled the liquid to fly out in streams.
The first drop of liquid entered his eyes, but Shad didn't feel anything. Then came the second and third drops.
He gradually felt his eyes getting warmer, but not scorching hot. As more than ten drops fell, the temperature around his eyes seemed to drop again, but it was still not particularly cold.
The spirit in the special potion gradually permeates the entire eye and interacts with the soul that controls this body.
With the sound of the whistle and bell, the life ring automatically appeared above Shade. While Shade was letting the liquid enter his eyes, he watched his life ring slowly rotating.
The seven spirit runes flashed with four colors of powerful spiritual light, and the most dazzling one was undoubtedly the echo of the miracle spirit rune that had been washed by a drop of divinity.
"Echoes of blood... echoes."
An idea came to his mind, and as the idea came into being, the rune with dazzling golden light immediately burst into an even stronger light.
"Tifa, put a drop of your blood into my eyes!"
He suddenly said.
The black-haired girl didn't ask why, she cut her finger with a knife and squeezed out a drop of blood above Shad's eyes. The light from above shone into Shad's eyes, and facing the light reflected from the eyeballs, red droplets and bright red blood fell.
At this moment, the bells of the bell tower in the distant city rang. The lingering sound echoed, and Xia De's scalp tingled with a strange feeling.
"Her" voice finally appeared in my ears:
Blood and time, a red echo. Swallow the blood, stain the light, you have met blood many times, and the power of blood will eventually echo in your blood vessels and soul along with time and space.
The power of the spell, Blood Echo, was somehow connected to the Miracle Spirit Rune. It did not disappear, but gained a whole new power.
Outsider, you have gained the magic - Blood Echo.
Above the rotating life ring, the light of the echoing spirit rune shone on Shad below like the sun, making Tifa unable to even look directly at the scene in front of her.
The golden light shone on her body, and even the six-ring warlock and witch candidate could vaguely hear the illusory, grand, soul-shaking bell. But in the end, the life ring slowly disappeared in the steam mist. Shad asked Tifa to stop dripping the liquid and slowly sat up on the sofa.
"How was it? Was it successful?"
She probably had never seen the scene of the evolution of magic, and the scene just now was indeed shocking.
“The results are very good.”
Xia De closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again. The blood-red halo gradually converged in his eyes. The moment the blood-red disappeared, a golden arc of light flashed across his eyes:
"It's better than I thought. The spell has turned into a magic." (To be continued)