Whispering Verse

"I won't take the remaining two stones to the table. After all, they are not clean. One of those two stones is also part of the seal, and the other was left by the ring magician back then to record the whole thing. A stone tablet of experience. But unfortunately, now only a part of the stone tablet is left, and even less information can be interpreted."

Shade said regretfully.

"What's written on it?"

Miss Lassers asked curiously.

"A warning, the demon I am going to deal with is similar to a mirror, at least in the eyes of humans. Therefore, apart from its weird contract ability, manipulative conspiracy and its own combat power, it is very good at hiding itself. Transform yourself into any living or non-living thing you see."

Shade said:

"So, that stone tablet warns people in the future that if you want to catch the devil again after it breaks free, you must pay attention to its hidden ability."

"Is there any way to crack this ability? For example, some special relics?"

Miss Bernice asked, Shade shook his head:

"These are the only remnants of the stone tablet that can be found. I rummaged in the mud for a long time and could not find any other parts. Moreover, it is too late to look for the relics now. Fortunately, my friends in Tobesk gave me He gave me a bottle of special eye drops that will help me and enhance my tracking abilities."

"Then have you ever thought that everything from the moment you met the maid yesterday evening was a trap set by the devil for you?"

Miss Carina asked again. Shade shook his head, cut off a small piece of sausage and gave it to Mia:

"I thought about it, so after I went back last night, I visited a 'demon expert'. He analyzed it with me and thought that what the maid said was most likely true."

With that said, he put down the ring and asked Iluna:

"I give you this, do you want it?"

The table suddenly became quiet, and all the ladies looked at Shade in surprise. Iluna was also surprised, looking at the surrounding people with some uneasiness, and then asked softly:

"Give me a ring?"

"I already have one, and holding the second one is useless. The fate of the chosen one means that you will encounter the devil one day, so wouldn't it be appropriate to put it here with you?"

"That's it"

Then the sound of talking and laughing resumed at the table, and Shade looked at the witches in surprise, not quite understanding why they were so concerned about this matter just now.

"Then put it here with me first."

Iluna nodded, stretched out her hand, and said casually:

"Put it on for me"

"Ahem."

Miss Carina coughed, so the seventeen-year-old girl reluctantly took the ring from Shade's hand, and then caught a glimpse of Miss Rita Swift snickering, and Hailey Aurora The young lady stared at the bacon in front of her, as if studying the artistry of breakfast.

"Speaking of which, is anyone else going to Margaret's banquet tonight besides me?"

Shade asked curiously again.

"Me, Sirius and Sylvia are all going."

Miss Benenice said:

"I am a baron and I have some reputation locally."

She is so humble.

"Although Sylvia is traveling in a private capacity, she is also the princess's tutor and personal doctor, so she also received the invitation."

"I also received an invitation, but I declined."

Miss Aurora said:

"Tonight Carina and I will go to the Black Night Temple you mentioned. Since we cannot rule out the possibility that it is the venue for the ceremony of the chosen ones, we will go and observe the terrain in advance. When we come back, we will talk to you again. Meet Sister Devlin and then enter the Parliament to report to the Speaker.”

"I came here secretly. The party has nothing to do with me."

The Baroness of the North Kingdom said, while Miss Hayley Aurora, Tifa and Miss Rita Swift all had their own missions, so they would not go. Hailey wants to sign a deal with the local chamber of commerce on behalf of Miss Aurora. Tifa goes to the Temple of the Night with the Great Witch. Miss Swift is waiting to contact Cassandra's mother-in-law and also goes to the black market to recycle some time ago. , the information that the witches paid a high price to find out.

As for Iluna——

"I can go or not. Her Royal Highness the Princess gave several anonymous invitations to the local church, but you also know that everyone has been very busy recently. Therefore, except for a few ordinary clergy, for the sake of maintenance and The reason for the royal relationship will come into play, and other invitations will be useless. Oh, the Peace Church sent two teams into the manor to prevent the cultists from causing anything else."

Iluna looked at Shade sideways:

"So, do you need me to go?"

"You'd better have a good rest. Even if you go, I'm afraid we won't be able to meet."

Iluna nodded regretfully:

"That's right. Then I'll stay in the church. I wish you a good time tonight, Shade. But don't stay at the party until late. We have to deal with the devil tomorrow night."

The banquet in the evening came as scheduled, and the location was still at the manor where Margaret was staying.

Because there was nothing to do today, Shade came to the manor early at six o'clock in the evening on Thursday. He did not bring a female companion with him. After all, Miss Sylvia and Miss Benenice should not have any contact with his status.

This is not a banquet just for fun like a wedding banquet. Because of the riots in Mason Street a few days ago and the attacks on Margaret and Prince William at the Masons' Association, most of the local nobles know the purpose of this banquet. Therefore, when the guests who came to the banquet entered the venue, most of them had serious faces and talked quietly with their companions or acquaintances, which made the banquet seem a bit serious at the beginning.

The brightly lit banquet hall was quickly filled with well-dressed men and women. Although most people knew the purpose of the banquet, the tense atmosphere soon relaxed as the band's violin music filled the light like a wave. The glasses and silverware on the table reflected the light of the gas lamp, and the ladies' gold and silver jewelry shone brightly in the banquet hall.

Margaret and Prince William did not appear in the banquet hall immediately. Instead, the housekeeper of the manor and the royal equerry who accompanied the prince and princess on their trip received the guests at the door.

Shade knew that Margaret and her brother were probably in final negotiations with representatives of the Masons' Guild about the joint speech that would be delivered at the banquet. Therefore, he did not go to find Margaret, nor did he go to Miss Benanis and Miss Sylvia. He just watched the two great witches from a distance, talking and joking with the local ladies on the sofa. , and Miss Lassers was nowhere to be seen.

He came alone again to the window where he had last spoken to Mr. Enriquez. Holding a wine glass and squinting his eyes, he looked at the people behind him from the reflection on the glass window:

"What a quiet night."

The red wine glass was gently shaken by Shade, and a subtle vortex formed on the liquid surface. When people nearby saw his posture, they knew that he didn't want to talk to strangers now, so no one took the initiative to talk to Shade.

Shade was originally looking at the reflection on the window, but unexpectedly saw the figure of Stone Oxenfurt flashing past in the shadow of the garden outside the window.

He asked Margaret, and her original intention was to mainly invite local nobles to this banquet, and not invite Oxenfurt, who was only a businessman. But Prince William, who has a very good relationship with Oxenfurt, gave him an invitation letter, so it is normal to see Oxenfurt:

"What is he going to do again?"

It was seven o'clock in the evening, about an hour and a half before the scheduled public speech. Therefore, Shade planned to go outside and take a look. He didn't believe that Stone Oxenfurt dared to fight him here.

So holding the wine glass, he passed the reporters who were choosing a suitable photo location in the banquet hall, and passed the crowd of people playing Rhodes at the table on the right side of the door. Shade ducked out of the door of the banquet hall, and then walked through the corridor to outdoor.

At night in the Randall Valley in March, although the night wind is still cold, it is much softer than the real cold winter. For some unknown reason, only a few gas lamps are on in the manor garden today.

So Shade walked through the dark night and soon came to the place where he saw Oxenfurt just now. He even glanced at the window where he had been standing a few minutes ago, and was pleased to see that no one occupied his spot for the time being.

"But what about people?"

Shade didn't have the unique ability to observe footprints on the ground and be able to find people based on the traces. Fortunately, no matter how large the manor was, the garden's area was still limited. In addition, most of the guests were waiting indoors for the outcome of the mediation between the descendants of the Anjou family and the Stonemasons Association, so there was no one outside at all.

Shade relaxed and closed his eyes, listening carefully, then swung the red wine glass he was holding and walked toward the stables in the southeast corner of the manor.

There were many guests here today, but no one came on horseback, so there were only horses from the manor in the stables. The horseman was not here, and there was no gas lamp burning near the stables.

When Shade walked along the path among the evergreen bushes, he saw only the faint light of the kerosene lamp coming from the gap in the stable door.

He glanced through the crack in the door, and then saw Stone Oxenfurt standing in the middle of the stable with a pitchfork in his hand. On the ground was a man with one hand on the ground to support his body, and the other hand in front of him to protect himself. Obese middle-aged man. The latter kept crawling on the ground toward the door.

Both of them wore decent banquet attire, but the fat man wore a modern black formal dress, while Oxenfurt wore a robe with some local characteristics of the Randall Valley. If you smell carefully, you can even smell the smell of spilled red wine among the smell of feed and horse manure in the air.

PS: This volume is coming to an end, and the manuscript has been saved until the decisive battle. This banquet is the last important plot before the decisive battle, but it will not be too long.