Shade got off the carriage at the street corner and was very interested in the parade. But because there were too many people, he gave up the idea of watching. When he took out the key to open the door, he met his next-door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who were preparing to go out.
They were also invited to attend the Yodel Palace banquet tonight and were now preparing to go out to pick up their custom-made dresses.
“So, before he retired, Mr. Smith was definitely not an ordinary secretary in the finance department.”
Shade judged.
When I got home and changed my shoes in the hallway, I didn't see Mia running downstairs. Maybe because the noise outside was too loud, the cat didn't hear the door opening on the first floor.
So when Shade found the orange cat scratching the wall in the empty Room 2 on the second floor, the look of surprise on Mia's furry face was really funny.
“Don’t sharpen your claws on the walls.”
Shade warned in a low voice, bending down to pick up Mia. The soft cat meowed a few times, perhaps to act coquettishly, but did not struggle to break free from Shade's arms.
Miss Carina and Tifa did not show up until two o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, Shad was in the study room reading the explanation of "Basic Ritual - Glow" in the second-grade textbook. The badge on his chest that was hot informed him of the witch's arrival one step ahead of the doorbell downstairs.
Miss Carina will go to the Yodel Palace to dress up and change her clothes later, but she brought the formal banquet suit prepared for Shad, and also planned to leave two maids to help Shad with his hair and dress up.
Of course, the most important thing is that Miss Aurora agreed to meet Shade at the Witch Council this afternoon. In order to prevent being discovered by other witches, the two of them only had a maximum meeting time of ten minutes. Before Miss Carina stood at the end of the corridor on the third floor and was about to start singing, she specifically told Shade not to exceed the time limit.
"Do we have to sing in a corridor-like terrain every time before entering the parliament?"
Shade, who still had some ideas about the Witch Council, took the opportunity to find out.
"It is not necessary to use a corridor. A flat terrain of a certain length that allows straight walking will do. There is no requirement for the surrounding area to be open or flat."
As she spoke, the red-haired Duchess grabbed Shade's hand:
"It's time to meet you. Follow me."
She began to sing softly, and Tifa just followed the two of them with a smile. Of course, the maid also had the right to enter the Witch Council.
Miss Aurora showed up two minutes later than the agreed time, not knowing what she was doing. Miss Carina looked like she wanted to complain, but since Shade couldn't stay here for too long, she let Shade ask his question first.
Miss Xivi Aurora, who had not been seen for more than a week, did not seem to have changed much. She had probably arrived in the Kingdom of Carsenrick. The style of her clothes had strong characteristics of the Southern Kingdom.
"Enlightenment-Light? You've been reading The Mad Light Chaser for two months? Saint Byrons is really unoriginal, always using this book."
Hearing Shade's question, the witch raised her eyebrows, leaned one hand on the stone table, and fiddled with the ends of her brown hair:
“Your talent is not bad. Since you yourself believe that you can obtain the spiritual rune in a week at most, then at this last moment, you don’t have to look for relics related to light to experience power.
My suggestion is, Shade, that you go look for relics related to darkness, and use darkness to force yourself to have a deeper understanding of light. Of course, there are risks in contacting relics, and you have to weigh this yourself. "
As he spoke, he glanced at Miss Carina, who waved her hand:
"Don't worry, I will protect him."
"Darkness..."
Xia De nodded. The Dark Realm was an angel-level relic and was too dangerous. Fortunately, he had other options:
"Ms. Carina, I wonder if you still have the Dark Box."
He turned to Miss Carina, who was sitting at the round table, and answered while sharpening her nails with a knife:
"It's still there, but I've loaned it out. I think you can go to my manor and get it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
The Dark Box is a relic that accidentally lost control when Shad first "met" Miss Carina at the Lucky Southern Cross Club. Both of them were deeply impressed by this item.
"Of course, it would be more effective to oppress yourself with negative emotions while feeling the power of darkness. My suggestion is that you feel the power of fear and be trapped in darkness while being deeply afraid."
Miss Aurora thought for a moment and reminded:
"The more fear you have, the more obvious the effect will be. But I don't think you are a coward, so you have to try many times before you can use this method to force yourself to touch the purest light in your heart. Using this method, you may succeed in a few days."
Although a few days was not a long time compared to the time it took to obtain the Spirit Rune, Shade did not think that Darkness would be able to stay in the city peacefully.
So it was indeed feasible to follow Miss Aurora's method, but Shade was faster. Fortunately, he had a better idea. Since ordinary fear was not effective, he chose a more powerful fear, that is, the Dreadburgh. The fear caused by the strange existence lurking in the corridor before entering the gambling room was the most powerful fear Shade had ever felt.
Although the Dark Box could not bring him back to the past, Shad could have easily run into the corridor and confronted the strange thing before leaving the year 1784 of the Fifth Era. Running away from the thing with his back turned could have caused fear, so confronting it would have had a stronger effect.
As long as he controlled the time well, and was sent back to the Sixth Epoch by the Infinite Tree Father before encountering real danger, and then immediately recited the spell to make the Dark Box go out of control, he could almost guarantee that he would immediately obtain the Enlightenment Spirit Rune related to light.
But this created a problem. There was only one last chance in 1784 of the Fifth Era. If the gamble could not be effectively resolved this time, then the mission of the Time Key would have failed.
Thinking of this, Shade recalled the conversation he had with Luvia not long ago:
"The last four slots have two of them replaced by two of them, and another experience replaced one. Now there is only one missing. Moreover, no one knows what will happen when the All-Seeing Impermanence Card is inserted into the slot..."
Therefore, in order to obtain the spiritual runes related to light, the real problem that Shad needs to solve is to obtain the life experience of Mr. Riddle, the last prophet of the Fifth Epoch.
Seeing that Shade looked deep in thought, the witches knew that he had already made up his mind.
Miss Aurora drew her fingers in the air, and the light marks from her fingertips left the words "darkness" and "light" in the air.
"Of course, I'm giving you this advice because light and darkness are one and the same. They are opposite yet unified."
"I understand. That's what the Dawn Church's teachings say. But it seems like you all know how to leave light streaks in the air."
Because he had already asked about his own affairs clearly, Xia De could make jokes easily.
"Don't underestimate this skill. You must carefully control your light. This requires talent. I don't know if you noticed that the God Summoner used a similar technique to split the giant mermaid corpse in Coldwater Harbor."
She probably mistook Moonlight Slash for some other kind of magic.
So Miss Carina took Shade away from the parliament to prevent being discovered by other witches.
Still unwilling to give up, Shade asked Miss Carina about Sledge Riddle. But just as Luvia said, other than the Prophet Association, no other organization would record this ordinary man from the Fifth Epoch.
"Although I can enter the dark realm without light, I still need it for convenience. Do I have to give up the mission of the third time key for the sake of light? Or should I carry the door-shaped pendant with me and enter the past only when it is absolutely necessary?"
Comparing the importance of the Time Key and the second chosen person in his mind, after Miss Carina left, Shade also began to prepare his attire for the evening banquet with the help of the two maids. Although in his opinion, a formal suit and a combed hair would be enough, Miss Carina obviously didn't think so.
So it was that evening. Shad thanked and saw off the two maids downstairs of his house. After saying goodbye to Mia who insisted on staying at home and didn't want to go out, he went to Old John's Antique Shop first and got the silver-white ring inlaid with three diamond-like crystals.
Xia De lowered his head to examine the beautiful silver ring. After Old John teased him that he was dressed like "to seduce an ignorant noble lady", he curiously asked Xia De what was in the gift box tied with a ribbon that he was holding.
Queen Diana's birthday was the front-page headline of all newspapers today. Old John guessed that Shad was going to Yodel Palace, so he was curious about his gift.
"Dad, you can take it apart and check it, but make sure you can tie it back up."
Shade said, and then he remembered the scene not long ago when he asked Miss Carina's maid to help tie up the gifts.
"Detective, don't look down on me. I promise to tie it better than before. I rely on my skills in packing goods to deliver the goods I sell... But, what on earth will a stingy guy like you give?"
Father John seemed genuinely curious, and after getting permission, he carefully untied the ribbon. After opening the box, he was so surprised that wrinkles appeared on his forehead:
"Oh, this is really... I have seen many large pearls, but it is rare to see such round ones."
"I spent a lot of money on this. I asked a friend to get it from Coldwater Harbor."
Shade whispered, putting the silver ring on his finger, the size was perfect. An ordinary ringmaster could only use Mind Blast on one target at a time, but Shade with the "Divine Afterglow" could target no more than three targets.
When casting the spell, point the finger with the ring on it at the target's head, or at a position equal to the head. The closer the distance, the more obvious the effect of the mind blast. If the target's mind is particularly fragile, if Shade directly presses his finger on the target's forehead, the magic is very likely to directly smash the target's head.
"You are really willing to exchange such a big pearl for a practical poet-level relic. Maybe someone will be willing to exchange it."
Father John was amazed.
"This should be considered an investment, so it's not a waste of money."
Shade corrected him, and Old John nodded, agreeing with what he said. But when he was looking for tools to reseal the gift box, he joked with Shade again:
"I have to remind you, Detective, that unlike the Duchess, Queen Diana is married."
Shade ignored him.