Shad had not made an appointment for this visit in advance, but when the professor heard that the writer was from Delarion and had come to visit specifically to collect material for his new book, he happily invited him in and received Shad in the study.
Professor Kansas Drake was a thin old man wearing a pair of brown-framed reading glasses and a red checkered blanket covering his legs, so Shad couldn't see him below the waist. Unlike the Delarion people Shad often saw, Professor Drake had a standard appearance of an Old World southerner, that is, a long face, slightly dark skin, and slightly raised eyelashes.
Shade entered the study first, and then the maid pushed Professor Drake in. He asked the fat maid who looked very reliable to prepare tea, and then started chatting with Shade.
This was not the first time Shad had disguised himself as a writer from Delarion, so he could talk about a profession he did not practice. He quickly transitioned from the topic of local folklore to the legend of the "Lady of the Lake".
"Yes, I have indeed studied this legend. Mr. Watson, you should also know the general content. In a lake west of Huntington City, there lives a goddess who can fulfill people's wishes."
The old professor solemnly drew the holy emblem of the Church of Nature on his chest. This is a loyal believer in the God of Nature:
"Mortals always crave such legends, but most studies believe that perhaps in ancient times, there was a solitary woman living in the lake area west of the city. Local villagers occasionally saw her bathing in the lake, or saw her walking in the forest on foggy mornings, so the legend of the Lady of the Lake spread. As you know, country people always like to exaggerate their experiences, and those stories passed down by word of mouth, after several generations, became the legends we know now."
“But is this really the case?”
Shad asked suspiciously. Of course, this was not the case, otherwise Sister Defulyn and Mr. Edmund would not have recommended Shad to come here.
"This is just the most widely circulated theory at present, and it is also the general view of scholars who study the local history and folklore of Huntington."
The professor shrugged and answered Shad in Delarion. Although Professor Drake was from the south, he had lived in the north for a long time when he was young, and his Delarion language was very good.
"So what do you think? Viscount Bernhardt, who introduced me, said that you are a scholar with your own ideas."
Shade gave a small compliment, and Professor Drake also smiled:
"Young people nowadays speak so sweetly. I know what you want to know from me, and you are not the first person to ask me this question. Yes, I do know some things that ordinary people don't know, but I can't tell you directly."
"You need crowns? No problem, I'm willing to sponsor your research."
Xia De put down his teacup and was about to take out his wallet, but the professor shook his head slightly:
"Young man, I am going to ask you three questions. Your answers will determine whether you can get answers from me."
Xia De didn't expect to encounter such a request, but nodded:
"No problem. I don't like to brag about my intelligence to others, but these are just three questions. I think I can handle them. Professor, please."
A sparrow flew in from the window and landed on the windowsill of the study. The professor turned his head to look at the sparrow and sighed softly:
"In my opinion, wisdom is equal to wealth. I don't want your wealth or your wisdom. Please listen carefully, Mr. Watson, if you meet the Lady of the Lake and she gives you the opportunity to make a wish, what wish will you make?"
Shade thought for a moment:
"In addition to wanting to collect materials, I have actually been looking for something I lost recently. If I really meet that goddess, I will ask her to tell me how to find the lost thing. Or, maybe she can just give it to me directly."
Shad said that he also saw the sparrow on the windowsill, and thought of Mia who was still sleeping when he left home. The cat might have woken up now and was "inspecting the territory" at home.
"Second question, if the Lady of the Lake can help you make a wish come true, but you have to pay a price to make your wish come true, are you willing to pay?"
The disabled professor asked again, looking at Xia De sharply. Xia De thought for a moment:
"Is it an equal exchange? Or do I have to pay more?"
“You don’t have to pay, but when you get what you want, some subtle changes have already happened.”
Professor Drake whispered, and Shade raised his eyebrows:
"Then I won't make a wish. Although I want to find a certain item, there are other ways to try. There is no need to take risks. After all, I have too many treasures in life that I don't want to give up... Professor, what is the third question?"
"If you could grant a wish without paying anything by killing the Lady of the Lake, would you do it?"
The professor finally asked, and Shade shook his head:
“Although I don’t think the Lady of the Lake in local legends is as truly great as the true gods, I don’t think it would be that easy to kill such a legendary creature, right
"Assuming the other party does not resist at all."
The professor stared at Shade, who still shook his head without hesitation:
"Professor Drake, this is a strange question. But a long time ago, when I was still very young about the world and my own life, I told my friend that if you murder others for your own purposes, you will only get a lifetime of guilt that you must bear."
This was the content of Shad's conversation with Father Augustus and Doctor Schneider back in the summer.
Professor Drake smiled:
"Very good. You are more rational and kind than most young people I know. I am curious about your growing environment."
He raised his hand and pointed behind him:
"Now, can you please hand me the red photo album on the third shelf? Please forgive the request of an old man with limited mobility."
Xia De stood up and found the photo album from the bookshelf and handed it to the professor. The professor opened it with a nostalgic expression, took out one of the photos and handed it to Xia De:
"Mr. Watson, please look at this one."
As the black and white photo touched my fingers, a voice immediately rang in my ears:
You came into contact with "Whisper."
This was an extremely weak whisper element. If it weren't for "her" prompting, Shade wouldn't have even noticed it at the first time. He was slightly startled, but didn't show too much surprise, instead he looked at the photo itself.
Black and white photos are difficult to distinguish very subtle details, and the photo in his hand has long been yellowed due to oxidation. Even though the professor pointed out a clear location, Xia De still couldn't see anything special. It was a landscape photo by the lake, and the photo was taken at least ten years ago.
He looked at the yellowed old photo very carefully. It was obviously a very normal photo of the lakeside scenery, but the more he looked at it, the more uneasy he felt, as if he was staring at something terrifying. But the photo was really just an ordinary lakeside scenery.
"Feel it, right? Staring at it for too long will make you feel uneasy."
The professor said softly, then pointed to the photo:
"Look behind that tree, there's a face here."
Xia De looked down at the tree suspiciously, trying to imagine the shadow behind the tree as a human face. Unexpectedly, as the black shadow slowly moved, the whispering element in the photo became thicker at a very fast speed.
At the same time, in the dark shadow at the location originally pointed by Professor Drake, a woman with black hair - because the photo was only in black and white, and a pale face - actually appeared.
Most of her body was hidden behind the tree, and her upper body, which showed her shoulders, looked like she was not wearing any clothes. As the woman became clearer, the rotting mud on her body also appeared, becoming more real and vivid.
In the photo, she was looking at Shad, blinking her eyes, with an undisguised malicious expression on her face.
"Relic?"
Although the afterglow of divinity still existed, without the support of divinity, the cold feeling immediately spread from the fingertips to Shad's body along with the curse, and was then suppressed by the primordial fire flowing in his body.
Xia De let go of the photo and looked at Professor Drake in surprise, but found that the other party seemed not to see the increasingly clear woman, but looked at Xia De hesitantly:
"Mr. Watson, what's wrong with you?"
"Professor, can't you see?"
Shade was a little confused, but then he realized that Professor Drake's intuition was probably too weak to capture the malice of the face in the photo. However, Shade, who had a very high intuition, captured the malice, so he was cursed.
This photo is definitely not the relic itself, but the power of the relic is recorded in the photo to spread the curse. Xia De has heard of such items, which can also be regarded as derivatives of relics, but the effects are not strong.
"I saw the woman. Yes, she was very vague, just an outline."
Xia Dehanhu said:
"Is this the Lady of the Lake?"
"Of course not. This is a photo that a local sold to me many years ago. This photo proved to me when I was young that there are indeed some things in the west of Huntington that are difficult for normal people to understand. This world is not simple."
The professor said, throwing the photo on the table. The sunlight from the window shone on the photo, and as the two people stopped looking at the photo, the whispering elements in the photo also returned to an extremely low level.
Shade nodded immediately. Now he knew that there was at least one cursed humanoid relic in the western part of Huntington City, which was in the image of a woman with long hair. The relic was at least sage level (level 2). Now the curse was still suppressed in his body. When he left the professor, he had to find a way to solve the curse.
"Is that when you transformed from an ordinary scholar to a folklorist who also studies the occult?"
"Yes, I used to think that legends were just legends, but later I began to try to study folklore from the perspective of mysticism. Of course, the areas I involved were very superficial because it was quite dangerous. As for the existence of the Lady of the Lake, there is actually a lot of evidence. Young man, you probably don't know that the scope of the Pantanal Swamp has been shrinking in the past five hundred years."
"oh?"
Xia De raised his eyebrows and turned to look at the city's tourist map hanging on the wall of the study:
"You mean to say that the location where the Lady of the Lake appeared was once the Pantanal swamp?"
"Yes, I have delved into the folklore and legends of the Pantanal. Oh, it is very strange, evil and twisted stuff, and I have often regretted getting involved in that stuff when I was young."
The professor shook his head and said to Shade:
"But it's not completely fruitless to access those terrifying materials. I'm sure that the 'Lady of the Lake' in local legends really exists, and it's in a lake east of Huntington. The location of that lake is not fixed, and according to certain rules, only special people can access it."