Although Father Nobel looked like a middle-aged man of about the same age as Dr. Schneider, it was only after he sat down that Xia De discovered that he had obvious white hair on his temples.
Mr. Bernhardt and Shade sat on the same side. After learning that Shade had not eaten lunch yet, he asked the waiter to take another order. Father Nobel extended his hand to Shade very friendly. After Shade shook his hands, he confirmed again that the other party was an eight-ring warlock.
"This is the friend from out of town that I mentioned."
Mr. Bernhard introduced, and then winked at Shade:
"I have known Father Nobel for many years. He is a pious, loyal and trustworthy clergyman. I have already explained that you are also from our side. You can trust him."
Xia De nodded in understanding, and Father Nobel also accepted Mr. Bernhardt's compliment.
"Good afternoon, my friend from out of town. Are you looking for information about the year 1842 in the Universal Calendar?"
He lowered his voice:
"I won't ask you what you want to do, but you have to promise not to cause trouble for the city."
"Yes, I swear on my soul... Even if there is trouble, I will solve it. I am a peace-loving person, Mr. Bernhardt can testify to that."
"Yes, this gentleman helped me solve a lot of big troubles this autumn. He really loves peace."
Mr. Bernhard immediately agreed, and Father Nobel raised his glass:
"Peace!"
He said solemnly, and Mr. Shade and Mr. Bernhardt also raised their glasses:
"Peace!"
Three wine glasses collided on the table, and after drinking the wine, Xia De clearly felt that the attitude of the priest opposite him had become milder. The middle-aged priest with gray hair took out his glasses case from his pocket, put on his small gold-rimmed glasses, and took out his notebook:
"Bernhardt asked me to find information about 1842 last week. Actually, after he described it, I almost knew what you were looking for. A lot of things happened in the year 1842 of the Universal Calendar. As you can imagine, sir, there is no shortage of strange things in such a big city. As for the events that match your description, they also correspond to the time points you mentioned. The specific events..."
He flipped back a few pages in his notebook:
"There was a Sage-level (Level 2) relic that went out of control in the city. That time, with the help of the Sexus Higher Medical College, it took us several months to quell the incident."
The Church of the Five Gods and the three major thaumaturgical academies had an agreement to notify each other when a sage-level relic appeared, so it was normal for the church to receive help from the academy in storing the relic.
"A sage-level relic? I have some impression of it, but is it that thing?"
Mr. Bernhardt frowned slightly:
"I was only in my twenties at that time, and was not as mature as I am now. Yes, I remember it seemed to be an arrow. I have only encountered a few sage-level relics in my life, and this relic left the deepest impression on me."
"What characteristics?"
Xia De asked curiously. Father Nobel was very secretive. When he spoke, Xia De seemed to feel that even the lights in the club dimmed a lot. The fog outside the window swirled and spread as the carriage hurriedly passed by. The slightly gloomy winter noon made the atmosphere even more depressing. The words of the priest brought the three of them back to that time more than ten years ago:
"The Sage-level relic, the Arrow of Knowledge of Aikenora, looks like an arrow. To be more precise, it is a golden arrowhead with bronze lines on it. The wooden shaft was added later and is not important."
Father Nobel's voice was low and hoarse. The memory was not pleasant for him:
"One of the properties of this arrow is a very rare property. After piercing the body of an ordinary person, it can make an ordinary person who will become a gifted person in the future directly awaken to become a gifted person. For ordinary people without any talent, it will gradually make them mentally ill, afraid of light, have auditory and visual hallucinations, have enhanced motor abilities, and be infected with a very terrible abscess disease until their internal organs fail and they die."
"The Speed Ring Warlock is awakening?"
Xia De was very surprised:
“There are still such relics?”
"Yes, to be more precise, it accelerates the awakening of the extraordinary, but this acceleration will make the new ring sorcerer very unstable. It is rumored that this arrow comes from a time older than the Third Age, and it may even be... It has been contained countless times over the years, but it is always used at certain specific times. Although it is only at the sage level, this relic... is very ancient, powerful and mysterious."
Mr. Nobel looked at the two of them:
"If you understand the ancient Heman language of the Fourth Age, you should understand the meaning of 'Aik'ola'..."
Because he pronounced it correctly, Shad gave the translation:
"The wisdom of the crown."
Mr. Bernhard showed a disgusted expression:
"Back then, a madman in the Pantanal Voodoo Society got hold of that arrow and tried to mass-produce ring wizards in the city with it. But as you know, there aren't many gifted people among normal people, and even if you become one, you may not be able to successfully become a ring wizard. If you check the newspapers of that year, you'll find in the corner that a small-scale epidemic broke out in Huntington in 1842 of the Common Calendar, and there were news reports of madmen killing people. That was actually the terrible consequence of that arrow."
Shade took a deep breath. Despite its various drawbacks, Aikenora's Arrow of Knowledge did have some remarkable properties.
"But this is not the main feature. You already know the effect of an ordinary person being accidentally scratched. If a ring wizard is accidentally scratched, he can directly obtain some... weird knowledge."
Mr. Nobel was reluctant to talk more on this topic:
"This is just a scratch, but if this arrow is used as an 'arrow', after the accumulation of force, and is fired by a bow or crossbow..."
He drank the wine in his hand, and his voice became even hoarser. The tulle curtains let the weak sunlight penetrate into the room, and because of the color of the tulle, it showed a strange rose color:
"Depending on the knowledge of the user, the arrow can have different effects. Theoretically, the more knowledgeable a person is, the more powerful the arrow he shoots will be. This does not limit ordinary people or ring sorcerers, but after an ordinary person uses this arrow, his head will explode."
Mr. Bernhardt nodded cautiously:
"I was still young that year and did not directly participate in the incident, but many ring sorcerers from the Orthodox Church died that year."
"More importantly..."
Father Nobel narrowed his eyes slightly:
"In 1842, we defeated and killed the voodoo covenant that held the arrow, but we did not find the relic. More than a decade after that incident, the church believes that other members of the Pantanal voodoo coven took the arrow and hid it."
"So there are other possibilities?"
Xia De asked, and the priest of the Peace Church nodded:
"Some people also believe that the arrow is still in this city, and that the ring wizard back then had other followers who have not been discovered by us. What is very interesting is that in subsequent investigations, we found that the Arrow of Knowledge of Aikenora is very likely a weapon forged by a lost sect of the old gods in a very ancient era."
Shade said nothing, but nodded slightly. At this time, the waiter came with a dining cart, brought desserts for Mr. Bernhardt and Father Nobel, and prepared appetizers for Shade's lunch.
"Sir, do you have any clues about this relic?"
After the waiter left, the priest holding the red wine glass asked.
"No, at least not yet. In fact, I'm not even sure if this is the incident I'm investigating that was caused by this Sage-class relic."
Shade shook his head slightly, Father Nobel's expression remained unchanged, and Mr. Bernhardt took a deep breath.
Judging from Shade's recent performance, the middle-aged vampire knew that he must be planning something big in this city. At this time, the sage-level relic was already involved, and Mr. Bernhardt could hardly imagine what would happen in Huntington next.
At noon, Shade, the vampire and the priest chatted in the White King Club. Mr. Nobel was a very interesting person. He knew very well that Shade was definitely not a simple foreign ring sorcerer, but he still revealed some local secrets to him. When talking about the Pantanal Voodoo Society, he was also happy to share with Shade the church's recent arrests of them. After all, before Princess Margaret left the area, this group of people did make big news.
When Shade left the White King Club in the afternoon, Mr. Bernhardt and the priest were still spending time in the club. Shade was very curious about why the other party trusted him, and then he realized that the priest trusted Mr. Bernhardt.
The local vampire seed lord and the eight-ring warlock of the Orthodox Church have been able to establish a friendship for more than ten years. There must be many stories behind this. If we explore it, it will definitely be as exciting as Mr. Bernhardt's experience in Midhill Castle in the autumn.
Sometimes Xia De would think that although he was pursuing the poem of fate, in fact, the life of every person he met was a wonderful and exciting story. Although no one would write a book about the people who passed by, those stories did happen.
If possible, he would like to witness those stories with his own eyes, and what he wants to do on this increasingly cold Monday is to explore Professor Drake's past stories.
Shad now has reason to believe that Aikenola's Arrow of Knowledge is most likely the reason that led Professor Drake to look for the "Lady of the Lake". The description of his "physical condition" that Professor Drake boasted about in the letter to Professor Manning roughly fits the consequences of being hurt by the Arrow of Knowledge.
But to be on the safe side, Shade still believed that he needed to find more clues to confirm this conclusion. And the questions that his second test needed to answer were not only about what happened to Professor Drake, but also about the price the professor paid and the wish he made.