On Saturday morning, after breakfast, Shad first went to Midhill Castle and brought back information about local legends and the narrow space between life and death from the Blind House.
At the same time, he heard good news that the spiritual cult had moved very quickly and had found a suitable entrance to the narrow space. The preparations for the ceremony would take about a day, and the ceremony could be performed tonight.
This happened much faster than Shad had imagined. In his imagination, even if the cult didn't want him to pay any price, they would at least tell him that there were important materials missing and ask him to collect them. Then Shad would do subsequent tasks such as defeating monsters and evil spirits, delivering letters, mediating family disputes and exploring ancient ruins. Only then could he complete the final ritual after all the hardships.
But now he really doesn't need to do anything. However, it's better this way. It's better to rescue the priest as soon as possible than to keep thinking about it.
It was already ten o'clock in the morning when I got home. Since I had a meeting in the afternoon, I did not go out again. Instead, I carefully read over the information I had received to prepare for the evening's action.
After lunch, Luvia, Dorothy, and Dr. Schneider arrived. The doctor shared the latest news with Shad, and it was good news:
"Because of the disappearance of its own students, the academy forced the church to reveal the situation of Midhill Castle. The church gave in yesterday!"
The middle-aged psychiatrist with blue eyes looked very happy:
"Since the middle of last month, disappearance cases have occurred frequently in Midhill Castle. As of the priest's disappearance, there have been 32 disappearances that meet similar conditions in the past month. And this is just a rough statistics at present. In fact, there will be more. After all, it is difficult for mountain dwellers in the mountains to be included in the official statistics."
"Doesn't that mean one person disappears almost every day?"
asked Dorothy in surprise.
"There were 32 incidents, but most of them involved groups of people disappearing together. Friends who shared a room disappeared together, and young people who went on an adventure to Mount Xikar never returned. The total number of missing people, conservatively estimated, should be more than three digits."
The doctor said.
"I looked at the data Dorothy gave me from previous years. There weren't that many disappearances in the autumn. Dozens of people missing in an autumn is the average."
Xia De said, and the doctor nodded cautiously:
"The academy gave me information that this year is a special case. There was a big problem underground in Midhill Castle. The church started preparing last year to strengthen the seal, and they mobilized the devout old priests to Midhill Castle in the hope that they could join the ceremony."
"Did the academy say anything about the narrow space between life and death?"
Luvia also asked.
"In fact, the church is also vague. We only know that if something goes wrong underground, the entire Sikar Mountain will become a den of ghosts, and it may even affect the entire eastern part of the Old Continent. But there is no need to worry too much. This kind of frequent disappearance of people has not appeared since Wednesday. Father Augustus is the last of the missing people."
Shad raised his eyebrows, not knowing which one was the cause and which one was the result: "the priest disappeared" or "the disappearance phenomenon disappeared after Wednesday".
But what happened at Fort Midhill seemed to be an event no less in scale and impact than the "Tobysk Divine Descent in the Summer of 1853" and the "Shadow of Coldwater Harbor". After the arrival of outsiders, the world was really not peaceful.
"Could it be that devouring living people is the seal's way of maintaining stability? The sudden cessation of disappearances doesn't seem like a good sign."
Dorothy guessed, frowning.
The doctor shook his head, his expression very serious:
"The church doesn't want to tell other groups of ring sorcerers because they're worried that the news will leak out and hostile forces will sabotage the upcoming large-scale ceremony. There must be no mistakes in this matter, otherwise the consequences will be no less than the advent of the evil god. Moreover, the academy also mentioned that this ceremony is related to some chosen person... Sorry, the information the academy gave us is very messy. They just asked us to wait patiently and not to meddle in other people's business."
Shade raised his eyebrows and looked at Luvia beside him. The purple-eyed fortune teller also glanced at him.
"The academy said that they will definitely rescue Father Augustus, so we can rest assured."
The doctor was full of confidence.
"When did the academy become so concerned about correspondence ring sorcerers like us?"
asked Dorothy curiously.
The doctor hesitated and lowered his voice:
"The academy won't let me say it... They suspect that Father Augustus is the 'chosen one'."
Luvia pursed her lips, and Shade's mouth trembled. Hearing what Dr. Schneider said, the priest could indeed be the chosen one. The church's special action clearly indicated that the third chosen one would appear in Midhill Castle. They had already deciphered this part of the content from the Whispering Poems.
The priest himself does have very special abilities, and the blessings he bestows can even allow Shad to travel safely through the dark realm.
Although that ability seemed to come from a Level 0 relic that the priest encountered in his youth, it was also possible that it was simply the priest's own power. Coupled with the fact that the priest Augustus had inexplicably fallen on the brink of life and death, and his miraculous performance all along, not to mention the academy, even Shade began to doubt it at this moment.
"With the cooperation of the academy and the church, I think Father Augustus will be rescued!"
Dorothy's voice brought Shad back from his chaotic thoughts. He nodded, and then saw Luvia winking at him, so he said:
"But we can't stop here either. After all, no one knows what will happen next."
"That's right, Shade. This will be hard work for you."
The doctor patted Xia De's shoulder:
"But we don't need to be as anxious as we were a few days ago. Now we mainly wait for the actions of the church and the college. As for our efforts, they only need to be used as a backup option."
His original intention was to let everyone relax a little, but he saw Xia De shook his head seriously:
"Although the church and the college have intervened, it is uncertain whether they can succeed. In fact, I have found a way to rescue Father Augustus."
"What? So soon?"
Dr. Schneider was very surprised.
"Did you know about this yesterday? Why didn't you tell us?"
Dorothy frowned slightly, and Luvia understood immediately, looking at Shade with purple eyes:
"Wait, Shade, you don't want to enter that strange place and rescue Priest Augustus?"
Even though Xia De didn't say anything, Luvia guessed it right away. This might be the unique talent of fortune tellers.
"Yes, and tonight. To be exact, after the sun sets..."
"What? That won't do!"
The doctor's reaction was more intense than anyone else's:
"We have already lost Father Augustus, we cannot lose you. This group, this group..."
The blue-eyed doctor's eyes widened, his chest heaving violently, as if he couldn't breathe:
"I can't lose anyone anymore! I swore to protect everyone, just like..."
He didn't name the previous team leader, but Shad could relate to the doctor's feelings;
"Calm down, doctor. This is the best and most feasible method at the moment. None of you can go to Midhill Castle, but I am the only one who can go. I should do this."
"Shad!"
Dorothy's serious voice interrupted the conversation between Shade and Dr. Schneider. The blonde girl stared at him:
"Are you going on another adventure?"
“If I don’t take risks, I’ll never catch the moves I want.”
Shad raised his right hand, palm up, and made a grabbing motion in the air. Before Dorothy could object, he turned to Luvia and said:
"You're not going to oppose me, are you?"
Looking into Xia De's eyes, the girl with purple eyes pursed her lips and didn't say anything.
"The ceremony will be tonight. You can wait here for my good news."
Shade has decided to take this risk, and from the information currently obtained, the risk is much lower than entering the dark territory and mistakenly entering the Fishbone Pirate Ship.
The other three remained silent for a long time before Dr. Schneider sighed:
"What can we do for you when you go on an adventure? If you tell us in advance, we can also prepare some relics or alchemical tools for you."
"I don't need any of these. I have prepared them myself. However, we need to collect 3,000 pounds for materials. My friends at Midhill Castle can help me for free, but we have to pay for the materials ourselves. I am short of funds now..."
Because he still needed to purchase special blood, and the only cash Shade had was the 2,000 pounds he got yesterday. Without selling valuable items such as the queen's ruby ring, he was really poor now.
The doctor interrupted Shade:
"No need to bother. I'll take the 3,000 pounds first. I won some money by betting on you to win the Grand City Player Championship. I'll use the money to save Father Augustus... Although he's not in Tobesk, he's still here, reminding us not to gamble all the time."
No one laughed at this joke. Only the ignorant orange cat yawned and patted Shade's arm to ask him to hug him.
"I was actually going to suggest that each of you three take out 1,000 pounds first."
Shade raised his eyebrows, and then Dorothy asked everyone's question. Dr. Schneider's behavior was suspicious:
"Doctor, how much have you bet on Shade?"
Originally the doctor said he wanted to bet 800 pounds, but this time he was able to take out 3,000 so easily, which obviously meant he won a lot.
“This one.”
The doctor touched his nose and turned to look out the window:
"Since I've always had bad luck, I can't let this chance of getting lucky go, can I? Hasn't our detective never lost at playing cards?"
The female fortune teller then gestured with a "5" to the other two people, and it was unclear whether it meant 5,000 pounds, or a five-digit number... ... It should be 5,000 pounds. After all, even for this wealthy doctor, it would be impossible for him to easily come up with a five-digit number of gold pounds.
There was nothing worth discussing in this week's study session, and the meeting ended at about 2 p.m. The doctor returned to his clinic temporarily and handed over 3,000 pounds in cash to Shad. But he left immediately, after all, waiting in St. Teresa's Square would not help.
Luvia went upstairs to continue installing the stargazing equipment and take care of Mia. Dorothy went to find Luvia. Originally, Her Royal Highness the Princess had planned to leave Yodel Palace today to teach Shad the dormant knowledge.
“What a pity.”
When Shad went downstairs to see Dorothy off, the blonde female writer said with regret, and then suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed Shad on the cheek:
"Be careful at night."
As for Shad, he did not waste time in Tobesk. Instead, he said goodbye to Mia at home and went directly to Midhill Castle with the things he had prepared.
Of course, before leaving, he did not forget to remind Luvia, who was busy on the third floor, that several maids would come here to clean in the afternoon.
I walked out from behind the hidden wall and came to the ground from the basement of the abandoned tower through Raglai's jump. The bats were gone. Maybe after being attacked by Shade last time, they realized that this place was no longer safe.
After walking out of the abandoned tower, Shade went to the back of the tower as usual to look at the Midhill Castle stretching to the north in the distance, and then turned and walked into the forest.
He had walked this road more than once. When walking through the mountains and forests, he relied on the position of the sun to identify the direction. If there were obstacles that were difficult to overcome, he would use "Raglai's Leap" to continue moving forward.
This time they entered the forest in the afternoon, and soon after Xia De left the abandoned tower, fog began to rise in the mountains.
In the past few days, I have seen the fog of Mount Xikar in the city, but today, while walking, I was suddenly surrounded by fog coming from the mountain. It was a bit like the snowflakes that disperse during an avalanche, or the sea water that engulfs the land during a tsunami.
Thick fog poured in, and in just a moment, the fog lingering in the mountains and forests made everything around become foggy.