Whispering Verse

"So madam, do you love him? I heard that you were childhood sweethearts like Mr. and Mrs. Enriquez. At that time, Mr. Oxenfurt had not yet made his fortune and was still just a sailor on the ship, and your father was a famous local man. Rich businessman.”

After hearing Shade's inquiry, the eyes behind the veil closed, and it took a long time before he continued:

"Yes, I love him very much. Sometimes, I don't even know how I should love him."

This is a very strange thing to say, but Haila Oxenfurt herself is very strange.

"Speaking of which, I don't know your last name before you got married. Oh, no offense, just a little curious."

"Wasant."

Shade thought for a moment and didn't remember hearing this surname in Randall Valley. Haila Oxenfurt probably noticed his doubts and explained softly:

"Three years ago, my father and mother passed away unexpectedly, and the family has declined."

The wedding of the woman in front of me to Stone Oxenfurt was held two years ago.

"I am sorry."

Shade immediately apologized, but the woman didn't care:

"The Watson family is distantly related to the Granger family. After my parents passed away, Earl Granger helped me a lot, but Stone didn't like him."

"Earl Granger? What a coincidence, I also know this gentleman."

"It's no coincidence that the Granger family is the oldest family in the Randall Valley. Most of the local ancient surnames can be related to the Granger family. My father once told me that the entire United Kingdom of Carsonlik Among them, the surnames with the butterfly pattern in the family coat of arms can all be traced back to the ancestors of the Granger family in the Randall Valley."

"oh?"

Shade looked at her in surprise, not expecting to have such a harvest today. Most of the ancient surnames in the Randall Valley include butterflies in their family crests, so the search for the descendants of Mr. Lyman, whom he met at the banquet of the Butterfly God in the Fifth Age, has been quite unsuccessful.

Originally, I thought that the only special thing about the Granger family was Mr. Thomas Granger, who disappeared seventy years ago. Unexpectedly, this family can actually be related to Mr. Lyman who married Butterfly Girl.

After drinking afternoon tea, Xia De, who had no reason to stay, stood up and left. But it was already half past four in the afternoon, so Shade, who was still thinking about the nearby Moon God ruins, was not in a hurry to return to the city, but was planning to wait until the sun completely set to try his luck in the ruins.

Of course, Shade did not waste the two hours before night completely fell. He rode his horse through the nearby river valleys, searching for unusual places in the vicinity with Oxenfurt Manor as the center.

The temperature has risen rapidly this week, but the snow in the wild shows no sign of melting. About half an hour away from Oxenfurt Manor, Shade discovered a small forest farm. There is a small yard in the forest farm. In the yard are warehouses for stacking wood and a row of wooden houses, which are used for loggers to rest. However, because it is winter now, only an elderly guard at the forest farm is still here.

When Shade walked along the forest path and dismounted in front of the forest farm courtyard, he was almost mistaken for a robber by the old guard. But fortunately, just a small bottle of rum gave him the qualification to enter the old man's house to keep warm. And this old guard, who only went to the city once every half month to do shopping, was also happy to have someone talk to him.

There is a coal stove inside the wooden house, and hot water is boiled on the stove. When he heard that Shade was interested in the nearby Oxenfurt Manor, the old guard also expressed his opinion:

"You'd better not get close to that manor. Legend has it that there is a curse on that manor, and anyone who comes close will be unfortunate."

This was a rumor that existed before Stone Oxenfurt bought back the estate.

"But isn't it normal for the family living there now?"

Shade asked. The old guard shook his head while holding the wine glass:

"Normal? The bride's family is dead, and the house she originally lived in has become a haunted house that people don't want to go near. Is this normal?"

"But the death of the bride's family happened a year before their wedding."

"But at that time, the bride's father strongly opposed his daughter marrying Oxenfurt. Oxenfurt had a very bad reputation in the local area, and no one was willing to marry their daughter to him. Later, the businessman died, so the wedding could not be held. held.”

Shade didn't know about this, he was very interested in it:

"The bride is unlucky, but isn't Oxenfurt very lucky? Old gentleman, don't look at me as a northerner, but I know this city very well and know the history of Oxenfurt's fortune. He always wins. .”

The old guard smiled again and asked:

"Then have you met the other members of the Oxenfurt family? His brother, his father, and others? Outsiders may not know about it, and even people in the city probably don't know about it. After all, people only pay attention to Oxenfurt. But in fact, before Oxenfurt became rich, although their family was poor, there were many people in the family. After Oxenfurt became rich and bought this manor, the family gradually died. Oh, although I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, this is definitely not nonsense, and people in nearby villages also know it.”

The "nearby" village refers to the small village about 20 minutes further east in the mountains.

The old guard chatted with Shade enthusiastically, and even invited Shade to stay for a meal at dusk when the sun almost disappeared in the forest. But Shade politely refused and gave the old guard a bottle of wine before leaving.

This information was enough for Shade to confirm that the person who signed the contract with the devil was Stone Oxenfurt himself. I just don’t know what role Haela Oxenfurt played in it.

Riding a horse through the creek, when the stars twinkled overhead and the month of March hung peacefully in the deep night sky, Shade also came to his destination this time, the relics of moon worship that had been preserved from an unknown time.

Coming here at night is indeed very different from that at noon. For example, it is really cold at night. Still tying his horse to the tree, Shade climbed over the crooked fences around him and stepped into the ruins.

He walked very slowly, and after arriving at the center of the ruins, he bent down and placed his palms directly on the soil.

He closed his eyes and felt it carefully. Gradually, Shade heard the thump-dong-dong~ heartbeat, but then he realized that it was actually the sound of drums. As soon as I let go of my hand, the drum beat immediately disappeared.

"I did feel something."

[What you feel is not only the moon, but also the memory of this land. 】

"She" whispered.

"What should I do to 'see' the memory of the earth? Should I ask Miss Lassers for help?"

[I think the power of the earth should be able to help you. 】

Now Shade understood. He bent down and grabbed a handful of soil, and with his other hand he rummaged through his pocket to find a small flower.

The ground under your feet is very normal and theoretically cannot be repaired using [Power of the Earth·Healing Spirit]. But this was also Shade's first attempt to use two different casting materials to cast a spell together. The spell enhanced by the God of Butterflies was actively activated at this time:

"The power of the earth·healing aura!"

The soil molded into the shape of the Holy Grail in the air, and the little flower floated into the rim of the cup. Because purification was not actually required, the Grail was not sunk into the earth, nor was it sprayed with spiritual energy.

Shade held the Holy Grail with both hands and felt more touches. But there still seems to be a thin layer of ice between the memories that can break this land.

This time there was no need to ask "her", Shade knew what to do himself.

He took out the materials for learning the thaumaturgy [Moon Dream] that Miss Danist had given him in the morning. The holy silver powder outlined the trajectory of the ritual array on the snow, the expensive spices were ignited in the incense burner, and the potion to assist sleep was drank directly by Shade.

The Holy Grail just collapsed because it did not purify the earth, so Shade used another spell. But this time, he was lying in the ritual matrix on the snow, holding the Holy Grail of clay in his hands. Activating the ritual to prepare for learning thaumaturgy, he relaxed his mind, closed his eyes and turned his face upward, allowing the moonlight in the forest to shine directly on his face.

The wind blew through the pine forest, making a rustling sound, and the moonlight almost melted Shade lying on the forest floor. He heard the sound of the night and the pulse of the earth, but [Moon Dream] was indeed a high-level thaumaturgy. The moon did not lead Shade into a dream. His first attempt at learning thaumaturgy failed. This was also Shade's first attempt. There is no way to successfully learn a certain thaumaturgy in one go.

But the ceremony played another role. As time went by, the sound of the drums became clearer and clearer. The night wind made the cedars rustle in winter, and the crackling of the bonfire was almost close to my ears.

Lying on his back, Shade secretly squinted his eyes and looked around. At some point, clusters of bonfires were lit in the ruins, and the forest at night was already filled with people wearing white robes. People knelt down and prayed to Shade, who was holding the Holy Grail in the center of the ruins. But March, which was originally not a full moon tonight, actually turned into a round shape at this time, floating in the night sky in the forest glade above the ruins, as if it was about to hit the ground.

The light of March shone on Shade, making his face look colorful and making him almost feel like he was turning into light.

"It seems that I do have feelings about this ruins, but something seems wrong."

【What's wrong? 】

"She" whispered in Shade's ear, and Shade could only feel that his body seemed to be rising. As his vision increased, he could see a larger area around him, and he could see more people in white robes kneeling in the forest, until it spread to the end of the night.

Fire burned in the dark night, and devout people prayed to the moon, showing their most sincere feelings. This prayer from ancient times was passed to the ears of Shade in the Sixth Age, and he seemed to have risen to the same height as the silver moon in these prayers.

The silver moon enveloped him, or in other words, Shade himself became part of the moon.