Whispering Verse

"What kind of dream is that?"

Shade rarely had dreams that were so clear after waking up. When a ring warlock encounters something like this, he will begin to wonder whether this is a special situation such as a "precognitive dream". The last time this happened was when I first arrived in the Randall Valley and dreamed of riding a cat and flying towards the sun.

"So, did I predict that I would encounter the vampire god and the Night Manor again, or did I predict that Mia would turn into a golden lion?"

Shade murmured lowly, grabbed the cat's waist with both hands and picked it up. Little Mia struggled twice symbolically, then meekly stopped moving. Only then did Shade realize that the scene at the end of the dream where he was slapped on the chest by Big Mia was most likely caused by the cat seeing that his expression was wrong in his sleep, so it jumped on his chest.

This also explains why Mia rolled off Shade's chest when he woke up.

"I'm so sorry that I have to take you out on an adventure tonight."

He whispered to Miss Gold's cat, but the orange and white kitten only meekly meowed a few times. Instead, it seemed to be comforting Shade.

Outsiders feel that this world is really gentle towards them.

Because he got up half an hour earlier than usual, Shade had time to wash up slowly and go over tonight's plan in his head. I waited until 6:30 to go downstairs, get the newspaper and goat's milk from the door, and start today's breakfast.

He originally planned to go to Randall Valley early, discuss the plan with the witches, and then fulfill his promise to Siris, but packing the things he wanted to bring last night was too hasty, and he had to confirm what he wanted to bring again. relic.

Among the two angel-level relics, [Aiken'ora - Arrow of the Chosen] is related to the qualifications of the Chosen. If it is lost or damaged, it will be a big problem, so Shade will not carry it. As the [Night Watch] is the key to fighting the devil, of course it must be taken to the Randall Valley together.

There are two sage-level relics in hand. [God's Gift Box] is not very helpful for this operation, and it is not easy to carry, so it is kept at home, while Huang Yue's orb [Source of Chaos] is carried with him.

All of Shade's Keeper-level relics are small in size and have uses, so [Twenty-sided Dice of Destiny], [Higgs Dragon Head Stone], [Perfume Vial of Desire], [Profane Cross], [ Demon Hunting Seal] and the newly acquired [Soul-Draining Demon Blade] must be carried.

The clerk-level [Gear of Kindness] will be placed at home first this time, and the poet-level [Key to Time] and two [Eternal Leaves of Youth] will be taken with him. If things go well, maybe there will be three leaves tomorrow night.

The special coin [Emperor's Banquet Copper Coin] left in his hand was temporarily given to Luvia for safekeeping. The rings of metamorphosis, fish training, vampires, and plague doctors, which Shade calls "Mia's Four Rings", each have a unique effect, so they are all carried on him.

Of course, according to the basic education of St. Byrons Comprehensive College, it is actually quite dangerous to carry so many relics with you at one time, but since it is the final battle of the Earth Chosen Incident, Shade can't control too much. .

There are non-relics that must be brought, as well as spell-casting materials and alchemy items that need to be packed away. When these are finished, the bell will ring from downstairs.

"It wouldn't be such a coincidence that someone would visit me now. Is there a client coming to visit today?"

But before Shade could open the door, the door was opened by the key, and then a worried Dorothy walked up:

"Shad, I just received a letter from Dr. Schneider. He said that the group meetings this week and next week are cancelled. He has difficult matters to deal with out of town. He will try to come back within two weeks. Does this matter have anything to do with you? Is it related to what happened in Randall Valley?”

She frowned and saw a lot of things spread out on the coffee table in the living room. Without waiting for Shade's reply, she added:

"I just asked Lesia, and she said that Carina Cavendish is no longer in the city. Now she claims to have a winter cold and is resting in bed. She even gave her time to visit. This is very unusual. , since you are still here today, and the doctor will certainly not be there tomorrow afternoon, is something big going to happen in the Randall Valley tonight? Don't tell me, you are packing these things for an outing."

Cat stood on the dining table that had been wiped by Shade, staring at Shade on the left, and then at the blond girl on the right who had just entered the living room. Miss Writer writes detective novels, and her reasoning ability is stronger than that of second-rate detective Shad Hamilton.

Shade put down the potion bottle in his hand:

"Well I'm not going to lie to you, Y/N. I've been planning this for almost two months and it's finally coming to an end tonight."

Dorothy pursed her lips nervously:

"Is it related to the recent frequent earthquakes in the Old World? The academy sent letters to remind ring warlocks everywhere to pay attention to the local earth elemental giant spirits and to report abnormal conditions on the earth?"

"Yes."

Shade nodded:

"The Randall Valley is recognized in mysticism as the center of the material world. Things there will directly affect the entire world. Including this morning. Although I haven't had time to go out yet, it's almost eight o'clock now. The speed of dawn today, Isn’t it a little too slow?”

He walked to the dining table and held the table with one hand beside Mia:

"I'm going to Randall Valley tonight to do something very dangerous. But don't worry, I'll take care of the trouble."

The blonde girl came over, opened her arms and hugged Shade, and it took a long time before she let go:

"I know you have your own goals and ideas, so I won't advise you not to do it. But please pay attention to safety, and don't forget to protect Luvia. I look forward to our meeting again one Saturday in the future. Showed up at Dr. Schneider’s clinic together.”

She took out three rolled volumes of parchment:

"This is a copy of 'Cinderella,' or 'Grey's Glass Slipper.' It's not any modern version, it's the one you told me."

"Didn't you already give me one last Saturday?"

Shade asked, reaching out and taking it:

"Lecia was worried, so she copied a few more copies with me for you to take with you. We all know that this is very important to you."

Dorothy looked at Shade with quite worried eyes:

"Promise me that you will come back safely."

"Yes, I will come back safely. This is my promise."

Shade stretched out his hand to her and made a hook gesture. The blonde girl pushed his hand away with a forced smile:

"I don't want such childish behavior, I just want you."

He closed his eyes as he spoke, and when he opened them again, it was Lesia who looked at Shade:

"Dorothy has already told you what should be said. Remember to come back early. Do you want us to help take care of your cat?"

"I'm going to take it with me this time, it will be useful to little Mia."

Shade touched the cat standing on the dining table:

"If nothing else happens, I will be back on Saturday morning. If you are really worried, you can let Dorothy sleep here and wait for me."

"Okay, we'll wait for you at home. And..."

Lesia looked up at Shade:

"You must come back safely."

Shade made a reassuring gesture to her:

"In Mia's name, I will. Do you want to go to Dr. Schneider's with me? I want to put a Rhodes card at his place temporarily."

The two went to Dr. Schneider's clinic together. After temporarily handing [Origin Darkness] to the doctor, Shade warned the doctor that the Randall Valley area would probably be "very lively" tonight.

After returning to No. 6 Saint Teresa Square with Dorothy, they marked their brief farewell with two kisses.

The reason why there are two is because both the blonde girl and Her Royal Highness cherish this farewell.

After arriving at Randall Valley, the Church of the Forgotten was silent and empty. Shade carried Mia to the main hall and retrieved a photo of the Watson family next to the stone sculpture of Mr. Lacers. I flicked the edges of the photo and clipped it into my notebook:

"First insurance."

Turning around to look at the holy emblem hanging on the wall, and then patting the shoulder of the stone statue sitting there, Shade walked along the carpeted walk between the benches in the main hall towards the door of the church without looking back. .

This Friday was obviously the last day before the first Randall flower of this spring bloomed according to the divination, but when Shade walked out of the church, he actually found thin snowflakes dancing in the sky. This snow has obviously been falling for a long time. The courtyard of the church, which has been cleared away, is now covered with snow, and the color of the snowflakes is actually gray:

"What is this?"

Shade bent down and touched the snow with his hands, but he didn't notice any trace of the elements.

And "she" explained gently:

[The ancient god - the Mother Goddess of the Earth, has the power to represent the "foundation". The changes in the earth will fully affect the rest of the world. Fortunately, the change has not yet reached its final level, so the last snow before spring will show this color. 】

It was already nine o'clock in the morning, but the color of the sky was the same bleak gray as the snowflakes. In addition to the thick fog that smelled of rotten eggs and stinky cabbage leaves that hung over the city, the sky itself was looking rather strange.

As for the sun, when Shade and Mia looked up, they could only see the dim shadow of the sun with a black outline behind the thick fog and clouds. Not even Shade opening his arms and shouting "Praise to the Sun" could inspire the thaumaturgic effect of increased strength in the sun.

Standing on the steps outside the church door and looking at the city, you can see two or three thick black smoke pillars floating in the distance. At the same time, the sounds of gongs and police whistles were heard from all directions. It was clear that when we left last night, the city was just in a depressed state as it had just contracted the disease, but looking back this morning, it was clear that it had reached the advanced stage of the disease, which was incurable.