“I haven’t gotten the Secret of Immortality yet, but I’ve seen the content you mentioned.”
In the separate lounge on the first floor of Rothschild Manor, the young witch, who was dressed up but had no intention of attending the party, went straight to the point in her first words after Shade walked into the room.
The room was quite spacious, with a sofa set placed near the window. Outside the window was the thick night of the manor, and the light from the floor-standing gas lamp in the courtyard seemed so dim.
Miss Sylvia's silhouette was reflected on the glass. The young witch was still wearing a black long skirt with dark purple lace trim on the hem. She wore a large, exaggerated wide-brimmed hat on her head with a circle of petals on the edge.
She had light makeup on her face and a lipstick on her lips that Xia De couldn't tell the color of. After Xia De sat down, he clearly smelled the scent of the "Witch's Scent" perfume.
"Don't look at me strangely. Although I don't plan to attend the party, since I'm here, I can't dress casually."
Miss Sylvia explained.
"Are you sure there are indeed fragments of poems in the Secret Art of Immortality?"
Shade did not make any extra small talk, but asked directly. Seeing his expression, the witch knew that this was definitely not his first time dealing with these things. And based on the information about a large number of chosen people that Carina Cavendish had obtained from somewhere this year, Miss Sylvia felt that she had roughly guessed the source of Carina's information:
"Yes."
The witch nodded slightly, frowning. But this did not affect her beauty. She was the youngest of all the great witches of the Sixth Epoch that Shade had seen. Girls of this age were already at the most beautiful period of their lives. Coupled with the witch's extraordinary charm, she looked beautiful in any expression:
"You provided this information. I will inform you of the relevant content as agreed. I will talk to the parliament later. The content on the page you provided does not seem to be special, but through a special method, after decoding and sorting the letters according to the seats in the parliament, some interesting information was obtained."
She even helped Shade save the decryption process:
"There are two sentences in total. The first sentence is that the heirs of the wise must solve the puzzle of wisdom."
"The Wise? Does this refer to the Ancient God Secret Keeper, the Ancient God of wisdom and knowledge?"
Shade asked. He heard the name of this ancient god from the old god Gray Robe Sage at the end of the Gadis Library. And the knowledge of the impermanence of all things corresponding to this ancient god is in the hands of the Prophet Association.
"Yes, the fragments of poems recorded in the Secret Art of Immortality are most likely pointing to the chosen one of wisdom and knowledge."
Miss Sylvia nodded slightly and looked at Xia De in surprise:
"You know a lot. I always thought it was the Duchess who was helping you. Now that I think about it, the actual situation is not that you have been helping Duke Carina, right?"
"We've been helping each other... What's the second sentence?"
"The second sentence - when fate comes, the keeper of the puzzle will wait for the chosen one to arrive. Those are the five tests."
The witch continued, then looked at Shade:
"What do you think this means?"
Shad thought:
"It's not absurd that the god of wisdom and knowledge uses puzzles to test the chosen one. But it sounds like the chosen one's ritual is related to solving five puzzles? Moreover, the puzzles are held by the so-called 'keeper'. I'm not sure if the 'keeper' refers to a real individual or something else."
Miss Sylvia also nodded:
"Yes, there are only two sentences, which sound a bit obscure. But at least it is very clear now. This is information related to the chosen one of knowledge. Judging from what has happened in the past six months, when the chosen one appears, the corresponding fragments of his or her poems or its poems will also be discovered with a high probability. So after death, the next one is wisdom and knowledge."
The witch sighed:
"Knowledge is power, and wisdom is the most valuable asset. This chosen one should be quite remarkable."
Then the topic changed, and her beautiful eyes looked at Xia De:
"Mr. Hamilton, I was able to find this thanks to the information you provided. I have contributed to the parliament, and I will not forget to repay you. What do you need?"
Miss Sylvia is different from Miss Carina. The relationship between the former and Shade is not yet to the extent of free help, and Shade is also aware of this:
"I don't need anything for the time being. I'll tell you when you get to Tobesk."
The witch nodded, as if relieved, and smiled:
"How was the banquet? Are you used to the noble banquets in Carsenrick? I hope you will be satisfied with the hospitality here."
"Ma'am, I have no requirements for the banquet. In Tobesk, I am only the lowest noble."
"But I heard from Miss Carina that you have a close relationship with the royal family of Draerion, and you even receive a salary from the Royal Army of Draerion."
At this point, Xia De laughed:
"I'm probably one of those salary thieves who takes part of the salary provided by taxpayers but doesn't actually do any work."
But if you think about it carefully, Shad's contribution to MI6 is completely worth his salary.
"Is this the job Miss Carina offered you?"
Miss Sylvia asked with great interest, and Shade didn't mind chatting with her about these things:
"Yes, five pounds a week now."
He opened his palm.
"Major-level treatment."
Miss Sylvia nodded, knowing a lot about this:
"That's really good. As a tutor and private doctor to the royal family, after deducting the laundry fee, my annual salary is only... converted into gold pounds, it's about 235 pounds."
This was a very high salary for a tutor, most of which should be the salary of a private doctor. After all, according to Shade's understanding, women in this era could not make much money as tutors. Dorothy worked as a tutor for a few months when she first moved out of her home, but soon gave up because it delayed her writing time and the income was too little.
"Actually, I'm curious, what is your main source of income? Oh, sorry, this question may be a bit presumptuous."
Miss Sylvia didn't seem to mind the question:
"My teacher left me a fortune, most of which is real estate and jewelry and antiques. The only fixed income comes from a wool textile steam factory in Willendal and a few spice shops and bookstores in the city center. Of course, compared to the expenses, these incomes are not particularly large."
She said to Shade half complainingly:
"Mathematical research requires more than just paper and pen. It costs money to attend academic conferences and publish articles every year. Not to mention mystical research. Any research related to space is not cheap. So I have been trying to find other sources of income. The witches in the parliament are happy to help me, but..."
She shook her head cautiously, and Xia De understood very well:
"After all, you still have to rely on yourself."
"Yes."
Miss Sylvia nodded to Shade with some surprise, and Shade was also surprised that he would talk about income issues with a ten-ring sorceress.
But if you think about it carefully, it is normal. Since you live in a civilized society, you have to find a way to get a legal source of income for yourself. Illegal ring magic organizations will seek cooperation with nobles, and people like Sister Defulin will also worry about the taxes and government funding of the Snake Heart Hospital. The cultists are even more thoughtful to launder their income.
This is a very real world, so outsiders have to worry about the trivialities of life, and the Great Witch of Ten Rings does not have the power to change the rules of society.
Xia De currently has a large sum of money in his hands, and since he has no spending plan at the moment, he plans to invest it. If Miss Sylvia, who is also looking for a source of income, has any good projects, he would be happy to cooperate with the witch.
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