"clear."
Iluna seemed eager to try:
"It was only with your help that I was able to defeat Darkness last time. This time, I must prove that I can do it myself."
This meaningless "comparison" is actually because Iluna feels that Shade has done too many things. Similar to Luvia's frequent self-deprecation of being useless, the 17-year-old girl also wants to prove that she has an irreplaceable role among the three.
"Your safety is the most important thing."
Shade reminded, and Iluna nodded with a smile:
"Oh, one more thing. A thirteenth-ring sorcerer has arrived from one of the three great schools of thaumaturgy."
Granny Cassandra mentioned this:
"Who is it?"
"It's your St. Byrons people."
"Um?"
Xia De was surprised that there were only two Saint Byrons in the thirteenth ring in this era:
"Miss Danister is here? I have to be careful then."
"No, it's your principal, the 'Silver Guardian' Professor Andre Pigman."
"The principal is here in person?"
This is the most surprising thing so far:
"But...how could the Five Gods Church allow such a thing?"
Although the church and the academy have a cooperative relationship, normally, the thirteenth ring warlocks of the academy will not step into the core parish of the church at will. For example, Midhill Castle is the core parish of the Church of Nature.
"The church also needs the help of the academy to deal with the matter of the narrow space. Moreover, in the incident of the second chosen person, Miss Mana Felena, the founder of Saint Byron, appeared. Saint Byron believes that since it happened once, there might be a second time."
"Although this inference is not unreasonable. But it will not happen this time. I can be sure of that."
Shade said immediately, Iluna smiled and turned the cup in her hand. She was also present when Miss Felina appeared:
"You can be sure, and I believe you, but Saint Byrons and our church don't know. So Professor Pigman came... Oh, he hasn't come yet. The thirteen-ring warlocks are all busy people. He will come to Midhill Castle on the day of the ceremony. Or, when we find the trace of Joey Barton and take action, he will come."
"The church was really well prepared this time. They first eliminated the unstable factors and deterred other ring sorcerers, and then invited thirteenth-ring sorcerers from outside the church to help. I think Zarath and Serksais should have sent twelfth-ring professors."
"After all, with the precedents of Tobesk and Coldwater Harbor, the church will always learn from it."
She shook the little silver teaspoon.
Iluna held a cup of black tea mixed with milk, which had twice the amount of black tea as milk, making the tea look very smooth, with a gradient of white and red on the surface. In Shade's hand was black tea with lemon juice. Outsiders didn't know how to taste tea, and didn't have a very elegant taste, so Iluna recommended it to Shade.
"So when does the ceremony start? I asked my priest friend, who also wants to attend the ceremony, but he still doesn't know the exact time."
"Because the time has not yet been determined, the church's astrologers are waiting for the right time."
Iluna lowered her voice:
"But it certainly won't be this week, after all, four nails have not been solved. It should be next week, definitely before Thursday."
Today is already Thursday, and the story of Middlesbrough has finally come to its final act.
Iluna couldn't stay out for too long, so after finishing her talk, she took the red rose and returned to the Sun Church. There was a strange fog in the whole city, and the church didn't know the reason, so Iluna's fighting force had to be ready to go at any time.
After bidding farewell to Iluna, Shade headed towards the Dawn Church in the city center on foot. Fortunately, as it was near noon, the rising sun had cleared the fog a little, and he could finally find an empty carriage on the street. Otherwise, Shade estimated that he would not be able to reach the Dawn Church before 1 p.m.
As agreed, Priest Augustus waited for Shade at the corner of Oak Street. After they met, they went to have lunch, during which Shade told the priest that the Witch Council had reinforced the seal on the mountainside.
Although the priest didn't know what connection Shade had with the Witch Council, he was very satisfied with the matter:
"So far, everything has gone very smoothly. I think the matter at Midhill Castle will come to a perfect conclusion."
Although everyone hopes so, to outsiders, it seems a bit unlucky to say such things before things are over.
The mission of Father Shad and Father Augustus this afternoon was to locate the remaining two "nails." Since the church had already launched an operation in the north of the city, they searched from the south.
Priest Augustus claimed that he could roughly sense the target's location. Shade originally thought that he only needed to stand on a high place and close his eyes to get information from the wind. But the old priest laughed at Shade for being too naive. The mysticism of the ring wizard also had to follow basic rules.
The search for the resurrected person relies on a jet-black feather, which looks like a feather that the priest plucked from his own wings.
"No, don't let your imagination run wild. This is my magic. The nature of this feather is similar to your Moonlight Greatsword."
The priest explained as if he knew what Shade was thinking, and then he held the feather in his palms and raised it to his face on the foggy street.
He took a deep breath and blew, and the feather flew quickly into the sky as if it was blown by a strong wind.
"That's all."
The priest let out a long sigh and motioned for Shad to find a carriage with him:
"The original feature of Thaumaturgy Dead Search is to accurately detect undead creatures, but because of my talent, the effect of Thaumaturgy has changed to be able to search for any creature that can be defined as 'dead' in a large area. Of course, I need to know their main characteristics to do so."
That pitch-black feather will hover over the target area. Today's weather is just right for using this magic without being discovered.
The priest could sense the approximate location of the feather, so the two of them only needed to drive the carriage to the corresponding location. As for the rest, that was what Shade needed to do.
Luckily, after floating for 20 minutes, the feather actually found its target in the south of the city. When Shade and Augustus arrived later, they found that the area was the relatively prosperous core district of the southern city.
Father Augustus roughly demarcated the area on the map, and then Shade and the priest walked and searched in the fog. At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the two turned from the intersection of Elm Street to Annabell Street, Shade finally felt a burning pain in his right shoulder:
"It's near here."
The two quickened their pace, and when they arrived outside a large house belonging to a local noble in the middle of Annabell Street, the red butterfly mark on the shoulder finally left the skin impatiently, and flapped its wings in front of Shade, as if trying to lead him into the house:
“It’s right here!”
Shade stopped and priest Augustus looked at the red butterfly in confusion, then looked at the noble mansion in the fog.
The house was surrounded by a high wall, and the ground in the courtyard was at least half a person's height lower than the road. Only the middle part of the second floor of the mansion could be seen in the courtyard. Judging from the decoration, the owner of the mansion was a fallen noble, which was very common in big cities of this era.
The reason why it was in a bad state was that the decoration of the house was very old, and the fact that it was a noble family could be seen from the decoration of the gate. In the class every Saturday, Leicia would also tell Shade some common sense about the nobility, so Shade also understood these things.
Of course, this was not enough for Shad and Reverend Augustus to know whose house this was, but after asking around, they learned that the mansion belonged to Earl Darlach of Campbell.
"Is it him?"
Back at the gate of the mansion, Xia De was surprised.
"Detective, do you know him?"
"Yes, I saw him at the Fire Festival. The Count wanted to ask one of my female companions to dance, and then he proposed to me to play Rhodes, and then..."
He shrugged, the result speaking for itself.
"Do you know this man?"
The priest asked again, and Shade nodded and recalled:
"He was dressed very fancy, with a red dress with fancy medals on it and a flower in his reddish-brown hair. He wore dark red trousers and a pair of white stockings that covered the trousers to the knees. Oh, I can't appreciate this style of dressing. The earl was about the same height as me, but a little thinner. It was said that he had just recovered from a serious illness..."
At this point, Shade realized something:
"Could it be that the so-called recovery from a serious illness was actually his death. It's just that after his resurrection, people and the Count himself all thought that he was cured... Speaking of which, when I first saw him at the Fire Worship Festival party, I felt that there was something wrong with this person, but I couldn't tell what was wrong. (Chapter 693)"
"He sounds like a typical fallen noble. I've seen a lot of him in Tobesk. As for whether we're looking for him or a servant in the house, we'll know once we go in and take a look."
The priest was about to ring the door bell, but Shade stopped him with his hand:
"What's our excuse for visiting? I may have the Night Watch, but I can't say we're here to sell antiques, right?"
Xia De shook the long sword wrapped in gray cloth in his hand.
He applied witch's eye shadow to disguise himself. Father Augustus also had his own potion to use, so he was not worried about being discovered. However, a reason was needed to visit.
The old priest gave an experienced answer:
"Isn't he a Rhodes player? You claim to be a Rhodes player from out of town and want to play cards with the Earl. You should have some special cards in your hand that you didn't use when you were a player in the big city, right?"
"Of course. The Legend of the Brave, the Bard Fletcher, can use it."
Xia De waved his hand, and the cards automatically flew out of his pocket and hovered between the two of them.
This card was won in the tavern of the Windy Trail Traveler Camp from a young poet who traveled the Old World. No one knew that this card was in Shade's hands except Mr. Sean Asmon, who called himself a "demon scholar", Sister Develyn and the blood-sucking Armand Bernhardt. As for the Queen's Suit, the New World Development History: Development Wind, which was also obtained in Middleburg, it was not convenient to take it out because it was related to Miss Aurora.
"Show this card, maybe the butler will let us in."
"What if you don't let it go?"
Shade asked, and the priest shook his head again:
"Detective, look around."
"What's going on around here?"
Xia De was puzzled, and the old priest said meaningfully:
"It's foggy now. It's normal for anything to happen in this kind of weather."