Whispering Verse

The truth was discovered, and all but the murderer, the dead man, and the manservant were satisfied. Shade bid farewell to Agelina, took the cat from Tifa's arms, and left with the maid. People spontaneously made way for the two of them.

After returning to the deserted corridor, the black-haired girl whispered to Shade:

“It was a really good performance tonight.”

"Yeah?"

He patted the cat in his arms:

"Mia has the greatest credit, otherwise I really don't know what evidence I should provide to prove my point of view. Fortunately, after settling this matter, His Majesty the King will have to consider for some time how to arrange Agelina's marriage. ”

Tifa chuckled and winked:

"I thought that you solved the case so quickly because you wanted to go back to find Her Royal Highness Lecia and Miss Louisa as soon as possible."

Shade turned to look at her, and the maid pursed her lips and reminded softly:

"This is Yodel Palace, knight, you can't do bad things."

She happened to stand under the gas lamp with the royal family emblem on the wall, and the bright light made her delicate face look even brighter.

"Speaking of which, since the lady and I came back, I haven't been able to be alone with you. The last time I was in the room, I was disturbed by the lady."

Shade then looked around and kissed the maid who was smiling.

When she held hands with Tifa and returned to the corridor where the lounge was, she took the initiative to let go of Shad. Finally, she stepped up and kissed the side of Shad's face, raised her right forearm and waved goodbye gently. Of course, she didn't forget to pick up the cat. She knew that Shade still had something to do.

Lecia and Dorothy have not returned from the banquet hall at this time. The evidence is that none of Lecia's maids are here. It only took Shade forty minutes to solve the case, which was less than the hour given by Lesia.

But the news about the case should be spread soon, and the two girls will be back by then. So while he had time, Shade took out the time key given by the elf girl Emilia on Monday, calculated that it could be used at this time, and came to the door.

[You actually still remember this at this time. 】

"Do you think I'm the kind of guy whose brain is blinded by desire?"

Shade asked softly in his heart and muttered:

"May the World Tree protect me in time."

There was a clear "click~" sound from the inside of the door, and behind the door that was pulled open by Shadra was an endless wriggling white mist. He took a deep breath and stepped in:

"Once this is done, I can enjoy the night, right?"

[Outlander, you have stepped into the "corridor of time". 】

[Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree": ]

[Autumn of 3028 in the Fifth Age, Northern Continent, Yongye City. 】

[Event: Whispering of the Evernight Curtain. 】

[Duration 40 minutes (1/4). 】

"Fifth Age 3028. Wait, forty minutes? And this time it's four times?"

But if you think about it carefully, no one really said that Shade's mission was completed three times. After all, ordinary time investigators only do it once.

The autumn of 3028 was only four years away from the time in 3024 when Shade separated from the three witches in the Valley of Death and handed the flower to Miss Feliana. The elf girl Emilia who gave the key said that it was a time key from around 3000 years ago, but she didn't expect it to be so accurate.

"Old God - Curtain of Eternal Night? I remember that this god is also called [Lord of Eternal Night] and the God of Night?"

"Dark night" is an image that has existed and will exist since the birth of the world. It also represents half of the time and almost all darkness. The old god who symbolizes "dark night" is an extremely powerful one among all the old gods.

It can even be said that among the gods that Shade has encountered in the past, none is more mysterious than this god, except for the "Year Change Door" in the Forest of Thousand Trees.

However, there are not many records about the God of Night in the Fifth Era, and most of the believers of the God of Night maintain secrecy, or in other words, they are a group of occultists. Most of the textual information about the Old God [Curtain of Eternal Night] in the Sixth Age comes from the descriptions of the Church of the Five Gods. All Shade can think of now is that this god has left, and the [Night Order] uses a black gauze curtain as its symbol.

"What is the mission this time?"

[You have obtained additional information. 】

[The figure of the father of the infinite tree is watching you. 】

[The ancient god of time gives you a test. 】

[Help mortals break through the maze of eternal night and explore the truth behind the curtain. 】

[The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you a reward: Miracle Spirit Rune-Dark Night. 】

"Um?"

The reward this time was really good. He had only seen the spiritual rune reward when he used the Time Key for the first time. And that miracle - [Echo] also became the starting point of his words of low-level sublimation. And this time, [Dark Night] fits perfectly with his Ring Warlock system. Even if it is not him, for others, "Dark Night" is an extremely powerful spiritual rune.

Although "Dark Night" has existed forever, it is extremely difficult to obtain the [Dark Night] Spirit Rune. To give a simple example, this is like one of Luvia's core spiritual runes [Destiny]. Although it exists, although it is within reach, there are few mortals who can truly understand it.

There is no evidence that the tree father's rewards are related to the difficulty of the mission, but the generous rewards and the unusual number of times show that this mission is special.

"I don't know if the so-called 'Maze of Eternal Night' is a real maze, or if it is some kind of metaphor."

Thinking in his mind, he prepared himself and took a step forward in the thick white mist.

The quiet fog quietly spread to the surroundings, like a curtain opening, revealing a corner of the curtain of time to Shade in the year 3028 of the Fifth Era.

This time there was no disgusting insect den smell. When the white mist dispersed, I first felt the rain, and then noticed that above my head was a dark night without stars and moon, and at my feet was a high center paved with uneven rectangular stone bricks that was slightly lower on the sides. the way.

There are continuous gray stone buildings in front and behind, and the sky is pouring rain, which wets the walls and moistens the soil between the bricks under the feet. There was a faint smell of damp earth in the air, but it wasn't unpleasant.

Although it was dark night, there was not no light around. There were more or less faint firelights in the windows of the buildings along the street. It looked like a gas lamp, but there was also the light of a candle or a kerosene lamp.

This is indeed a city, but the city is surprisingly depressing. Shade's perception could only detect the sound of rain, but could not hear any trace of human activity. But the unattended carriages on the street, the illuminated store signs along the street, and the leaflets on the walls wetted by rain, the eyes can see traces of life everywhere, as if observing the pedestrians here just a second ago Walking on the street with an umbrella.

This sense of contradiction and contrast greatly enhances the strangeness of the current environment. And just like before, Tree Father would never throw Shade directly to a safe place.

The silent night suddenly started to move after Shade took a breath. A second ago, he thought it was darkness coming, but then he realized that the light of lights was extinguishing one by one in the distance, as if the night had gained consciousness, surrounding him from both sides.

There was nothing in the silent night, and it was this sense of nothingness in the darkness that made Shade directly aware of the fatal crisis:

"You must not fall into the night here!"

With a judgment in mind, he braved the rain and looked up at the brightly lit store sign in front of him based on past experience. Unfortunately, this time it is not the colorful signboard of "Hope Town Toy Store". The weird letters written in the teeth are even more surprising:

【Dragon Maid Cafe】

Even if he was in front of the "Dark Coffin Shop", "Cultist Assembly Hall" or "Soul-sucking Ghost Club", Shade wouldn't be so surprised. But it was too late to think at this time, the night had almost gathered on both sides of him.

He started suddenly and rushed towards the wooden door in front of him in the rain. While he was worried that the door in front of him was locked, he almost "thrown down" and entered the interior of the old but seemingly constantly used building.

After leaving the rainy night, the dry and warm environment almost made Shade groan. The strong mental oppression caused by the Eternal Night City on a rainy night has been reduced by most, and the void of night cannot invade here.

But instead of looking inside the building immediately, he immediately turned his head and looked behind him.

The door here is equipped with a spring and will automatically close slowly. At this time, the street outside was completely shrouded in darkness, and the night was just outside the door, but it didn't penetrate through that door.

Shade breathed a sigh of relief before he could say anything, a brand new voice appeared in his ears:

"Welcome to the Dragon Maid Cafe, what do you need?"

Shade turned to look inside the store again and saw a red-haired girl dressed as a maid, holding a menu and standing between the tables and chairs in the cafe. Although the maid uniform is somewhat different from the Sixth Age style, it basically maintains the black and white color scheme, paired with black leather shoes and a white lace headband. In addition, the black necklace around his neck was something Shade had never seen before, which was also very beautiful.

The interior is warm and cozy, with the reassuring glow of the fireplace lining the wall. There are more than a dozen white round tables placed in the not-so-large space, and on the other side are counters and shelves with green plants. The old walls are covered with warm yellow wallpaper and brightly colored oil paintings. The clock in the corner slowly rotated in the opposite direction, and then suddenly started to rotate crazily in the forward direction.

But Shade didn't care about this. He looked at the face of the young maid in front of him in shock, and at the familiar big scaly tail behind the maid. The last time I saw her, she was wearing a thick winter coat:

"Miss Fiona Drago? Why are you here?"