Whispering Verse

Helena Oxenfurt was not joking when she said she wanted Shad to be a model for an oil painting. After the maid brought the painting supplies, she really set up the easel and asked Shad to stand in the flowerbeds and shrubs in the snow. Beside the bush.

When working as an oil painting model, you can move, but not to a large extent. In the following more than an hour, which was slightly boring, the lady, still wearing a veil and concentrating on painting, stopped talking to Shade, and the maid standing behind Haila Oxenfurt did not talk to Shade. the meaning of.

By the time the oil painting was finished and only the coloring was needed, it was already noon that day. The old housekeeper came from the front yard of the manor and handed a letter to Shade:

"Sorry, Mr. Watson, the master is busy at noon and cannot come back."

It was a letter sent by Stone Oxenfurt from the city. He was left for lunch by Prince William of Anjou, and the two of them had to go to a local club to have fun together in the afternoon, so they couldn't return to the manor today.

Oxenfurt didn't express much apology in his letter, he just said that Shade could make an appointment at another time. He clearly knew that Shade had come to visit and must have found at least one of the three items, but he still looked like he didn't care, which seemed a bit weird.

"Sorry, Mr. Watson."

Haela Oxenfurt expressed her apology to Shade on behalf of her husband. Shade shook his head:

"This visit, in addition to returning an item, actually has another thing. I am looking for a statue. This statue is very important to me. It took me a long time to find out that the statue is in Oxenfurt. In the hands of Mr.

As he spoke, he took out a photo of the statue obtained from Cassandra Auction House and handed it to the woman:

"Madam, since Mr. Oxenfurt is not here, I wonder if you can make the decision and sell it to me?"

But the woman shook her head slightly:

"My husband once purchased many statues. He has his own special room to store them. No one can handle these statues without his permission. However, I can take you to see and confirm whether the statue is here."

The maid and housekeeper listened to the conversation in silence. Shade nodded:

"Then I'm sorry to trouble you. Since Mr. Oxenfurt is not here, I will leave after seeing the statue. After that, I will find time to visit again."

The mansion of Oxenfurt Manor has three floors. The highest floor is the living and resting area for the owners of the manor, and the first floor is the play area for Stone Oxenfurt and his "friends". The room where the statues are stored is on the second floor like the reception room. The former is located in a relatively remote corner. Helena Oxenfurt doesn't even have the key to that room, so she has to ask the old housekeeper to open the door.

When the old housekeeper took the key from the keychain, Shade noticed that the metal door handle of this room was darker than the door handle of any other room in the house. This was a sign of frequent rubbing, indicating that the room in front of him was being used. quite frequently.

After the door was opened, Haila Oxenfurt led Shade in. The housekeeper and maid were waiting outside the door. Contrary to what Shade thought, this is not a collection room, but more like a mason's workshop. The statues purchased by Stone Oxenfurt were densely placed in the exhibition cabinets against the wall, while the middle of the room was slightly empty.

In the center of the floor, there was an unfinished full-length statue of a tall woman. The work is only a rough prototype, and the tools used for carving are placed on a small cart nearby.

"Men like engraving, women like painting. Old Harker, who attacked Prince William, said that Stone Oxenfurt also learned his trade in the Masons."

He was thinking in his mind and asked:

"Madam, does your husband like carving very much?"

"When he was at home, if those friends didn't come with him, he would stay here alone for a long time and shut himself in his room."

The woman said indifferently, and the fingers that were placed together on her chest pointed to the side:

"Is this what you are looking for?"

On the cabinet in the southeast corner, there is a bust protected by a glass cabinet. There was a lock on the glass cabinet, so Shade couldn't touch it directly.

"Yes, that's it."

Shade took a closer look and saw a golden nameplate nailed to the cabinet under the statue:

[May the earth be with you and me - Edward Marcus. 】

The rumored "Edward Marcus" founded the city of Randall Valley and was the first monarch of Randall Valley. According to local Miss Lassers, the name "Edward Marcus" represents a history that dates back to the dark and chaotic era of the Fourth Age. It is difficult to say whether it is even that name.

Local legends believe that Edward Marcus discovered gold mines locally and received the blessing of the earth. With his wealth and strength, he opened up human settlements in the river valley that was still a virgin forest at that time. Until around 1000 of the Sixth Era, there were local festivals to commemorate this person, but not many people today know about these traditions.

Shade and Miss Benenice believe that this item is related to the "Heart of the Earth" and it is also because of this legend.

The statue in front of you is a work that was probably made around 500 years ago. Although it is relatively well preserved, the vicissitudes and erosion of the years are inevitable on the surface of the stone.

Of course, what Shade was most interested in was not this statue, but this room. Just stepping into the room, he felt traces of extremely strong and malicious elements. Even if he is not carrying the [Demon Hunting Seal] and the [Night Watch], he can still be sure that the power of demons is everywhere here.

Using the thaumaturgy of sight magic again, this time I saw large areas of filthy traces all over the room, and the gathering point of all the filthy traces was the unfinished statue. The statue was so infested with demonic power that Shade even believed that once the statue was completed, it would come alive.

"Is this statue the true form of that unknown demon?"

Shade had doubts in his heart, but he did nothing. After all, once the devil was disturbed and allowed to escape, things would become very troublesome. His only advantage now was that the devil did not know his purpose. He firmly remembered everything in front of him and planned to discuss it with Dr. Schneider when he went back.

As for Shade's target this time, which is the antique statue of "Edward Marcus", it seems to be just an ordinary antique if you only rely on your eyes and feelings from a distance. If it wasn't possible that there was a demon hiding here, Shade could have quietly come to check after dark, but the current situation did not allow him to do so:

"Madam, does your husband only have the key? It's a pity that I can't even touch it even though I've found it."

Shade said to Haela Oxenfurt again, and the noble lady remained silent. When the two of them left the room and returned to the corridor, the old housekeeper suggested to Shade:

"Sir, maybe you can go directly to the city and find the owner. If you can get a message from him, or come back with the key and credentials, you can take it with you."

"That's not a bad idea."

Shade smiled and nodded. After bidding farewell to the mistress of the manor, he followed the housekeeper to the backyard to retrieve his horse. Along the way, they also tried to ask the old butler for personal information, such as what he did before and whether he was a local, but the old butler used clever words to talk things over.

When Shade led the horse out of the gate of the manor, got on the horse and watched the housekeeper lock the fence gate again, he used the thaumaturgy [Seeing Demon] for the last time.

Turning towards the housekeeper walking inside the manor, his body was wrapped in black mist, with dense scarlet eyes blinking in the black mist. Sitting on horseback, I raised my vision to look at the entire ancient manor standing next to the pier. The black mist shrouded the manor, like a ferocious giant hand, covering the top of the manor.

I have to admit that at least the visual effect of [Visual Demon] is quite good.

It was already eleven o'clock in the morning, and if Shade could seize some time, he might just be able to grab a lunch at the Wilde Opera House while returning his horse. But he is not in a hurry to return to the city now. The last time he read the "Book of Sublimation" of "Golden Dawn", he found the words of sublimation, "The shadow of the silver moon guides the final direction." Miss Lassers said that this paragraph of sublimation The language has a special origin, drawing memories from the land of the Randall Valley (Chapter 1266).

The location recorded in the "Book of Ascension" was not far from Oxenfurt Mansion, so Shade wanted to stop by and have a look.

After riding through the forest, he did not cross the bridge, but rode into the depths of the forest and continued eastward. Not long after, they entered the transitional area between the valley plain and the hilly area at the edge of the forest. Due to the complex terrain, it was inconvenient to ride a horse, so Shade led the horse forward instead.

Fortunately, the destination was not far away, and not long after, a broken wall was discovered in the forest. A simple low stone fence surrounded the area, and a rusty metal sign hung on the tree next to it:

[The ancient moon worshiping sacrificial site is a second-level cultural relic protection area of ​​the United Kingdom of Kasenlik. Rangers, hunters and travelers are not allowed to enter. This area is under the agency jurisdiction of the Church of the Sun, and you will be responsible for the consequences of trespassing illegally. 】

The time written on the back is "1803 Universal Calendar".

The so-called "cultural relics protection areas" are divided into four levels. The rating standard is not based on the degree of importance, but the degree of danger. Generally speaking, "First-level cultural relics protection area" means historical relics from the Sixth Age, "Second-level" refers to historical relics before the Sixth Age and is relatively incomplete and basically worthless, and "Level-3" refers to historical relics from the Sixth Age. Historical relics from before the Sixth Era are relatively complete and valuable, while "Level Four" are historical relics from before the Sixth Era and are extremely dangerous.

For example, the Karas Mountain Tower that collapsed last spring is a relic suspected to be related to the body of the stranger, and it belongs to the fourth-level cultural relics protection area.