Whispering Verse

Before Mr. Lebert spoke, Shade emphasized:

"I am proficient in ancient literature. In addition to the texts of the Fifth Age, I have also dabbled in some texts of the Fourth Age."

This was the bargaining chip he had thought of before he proposed the deal with [Apna Library]. Knowledge is wealth, and outsiders know this very well. Although he only has a meager savings of five digits in gold pounds, he has a lot of "wealth" in his head.

"Oh? The writing of the Fourth Age?"

Mr. Lebert, who received Shade, said curiously:

"Our library does collect some books from the Quaternary Age, most of which have not been translated into modern languages. If you are really proficient, then we can compensate for the value of that ancient object by translating the books. The library has always believed that, Knowledge and wisdom are the most precious wealth”

He turned and looked at the bookshelf behind him:

"I have here a book "The Lost Melika" that records information about the cannibal tribe of the Quaternary Age - the Akans. There are a few lines of ancient writing on it, if you can identify them."

As he said that, he wanted to get up and get the book, but Shade directly stretched out his hand:

"Library Search."

The old book with a black cover flew directly into Sha De's hands from the left side of the third floor of the east wall. The nose behind the mask twitched, and the inspiration made him feel like he was touching sticky blood, but the book was actually very dry, which showed that the knowledge in this book was extremely dangerous.

"Is it this one?"

Shade put the book on the coffee table, and Mr. Lebert sat down again in surprise:

"What kind of thaumaturgy was that just now?"

Shade did not answer. Mr. Lebert glanced at him curiously, opened the fifth page of the book, and pointed out the crooked letters on the sixth line that looked like simple drawings of cow and sheep hooves:

"That's it. This is a quoted sentence. I think I copied it correctly."

The entire book is a manuscript, and its shape is very similar to the narrow black notebooks carried by detectives and police officers. A red string was used as a bookmark, and the yellowed pages were covered with orange silk-like milky white traces, like some kind of mold.

Shade looked at the sentence and suddenly felt a strong discomfort, and he seemed to hear a wailing sound in his ears.

"This~ It seems difficult to translate. Yes, this kind of writing is quite unorthodox, weird and disgusting."

Shade frowned and pretended to be embarrassed. It took him a full five minutes to translate the two lines of letters:

[Those who eat the brain are wise and intelligent; those who eat the arms are powerful; those who eat the feet are poor and humble; those who eat the scalp are the king of Melika. 】

After the translation, he pretended to be mentally unstable again, lowered his head and breathed heavily for a while before calming down. Mr. Lebert confirmed that Schade's translation is very close to the current mainstream interpretation of those texts.

So the two struck a deal. Tonight, Shade will come to No. 21 Ikem Street again. Mr. Lebert will give Shade the approximately fifty or sixty letters of the same language that he needs to translate. Shade had until Sunday to finish the translation and have the translation back by Sunday night, when he would have the slab he wanted.

Shade originally thought that among the three stone slabs, the Apuna Library stone slab was the most difficult to obtain. Unexpectedly, with the help of Old John, it actually became the easiest one to obtain. Although I haven't gotten it yet, there shouldn't be any surprises.

Therefore, the last stone tablet that has not been obtained is the one that is most likely hidden in the library of St. Byrons Comprehensive College. Shade needs to go to the library in person to find it, and the only chance he has to go to the library in person is if the librarian Miss Danist confirms that the "Moon of Guidance" is useful and requires his presence in the library. Use the aura of the Core Spirit Rune to open the clues of [Silver Moon Library].

"So, the most important thing at the moment is Sir Prisha."

Shade was thinking, but he didn't see that gentleman when he visited No. 21 Ikem Street this time. According to what Shade heard from Dr. Schneider on Saturday, Mr. Priscia was different from Princess Margaret. After the latter came to the local area, she enthusiastically contacted the local group of ring magicians and purchased goods on the local black market through Mr. Alan Madison's group. precious materials, items and specialties. As for Sir Priscilla, after contacting Mr. Madison's group that night at Lakeview Manor, he never took the initiative to contact the local correspondence ring magician again.

Therefore, it seems that it is no longer possible to collect the aura of the "Guiding Moon" through Dr. Schneider's friends, and Shade will still have to take the path of Princess Margaret.

After visiting No. 21 Ikem Street in the early morning, Shade returned home and went from the basement to the White River Valley Vineyard in Huntington. When I changed carriages after entering the city, I bought a copy of "Huntington Morning News" from the boy selling newspapers.

The news in the first few pages had nothing to do with Shade, but he did see the news on the third page that the "Snake Heart Hospital", a well-known charity in the Old World, had acquired local properties and was preparing to open for business.

Snake Heart Hospital has communicated with the local city hall, obtained help from the city hall, and received policy funding. This is an institution under the name of the [Spiritual Order]. Sister Devlin is determined to place more people locally for the secret of the Pantanal. If the nun's plan goes well, around February 1854, she will be able to go into the depths of the Everglades with the witches to hunt down the "evil things of the Pantanal" and recover the flames of the First Fire.

That will happen a few months later, and it has nothing to do with Shade at the moment. He sat in the carriage reading the newspaper and came to Professor Drake's home again. The professor had been waiting for Shade to visit for a long time. He asked the maid to push him to the study anxiously. The old man couldn't wait to ask Shade:

"Mr. Watson, good morning, you are finally here. Do you have any results in your investigation now?"

"I asked my friend in Tobesk to contact Professor Manning and find your letters, but those letters are of little value. I just know that you were in very good health before visiting the Lady of the Lake."

The professor was a little disappointed, and Shade took out the photo he had folder in his notebook:

"But I found new clues elsewhere. Professor, do you recognize this photo?"

He handed over a photo of the professor and Halder Ondiba, the owner of the "Arrow" more than ten years ago. Professor Drake reached out and took it, his eyes widened in astonishment:

"I have no memory of this photo. Looking at the background, this should be a photo taken in the countryside in the Pantanal. I also remember the clothes in the photo, but I don't remember taking a photo with this person. .”

He raised his head and asked Shade:

"Mr. Watson, who is this? Does he know something? Can we find him?"

"Halder Ondiba was arrested and executed by the [War and Peace Church] Inquisition of this diocese more than ten years ago."

"What?"

"This is a cult."

Shade said, looking at the professor's expression seriously, but the surprise and fear on the old professor's face did not seem to be fake:

"Oh, what on earth did I do more than ten years ago?"

"It's hard to say."

Schad pointed to Halder Ondiba in the photo:

"Even now, the dead gentleman is still being sought. When I was investigating this matter, I almost came into conflict with dangerous guys who dared to kill people and had no regard for the police."

Professor Drake tremblingly put the photo on the desk, then tightly grasped the armrest of the wheelchair with his right hand, gasping for air:

"Mr. Watson, I'm really sorry for putting you in danger. Do you know anything more?"

"The current progress of the investigation is only this. It seems that the 'Lady of the Lake' not only erased your adventure memories, but even blurred a large number of relevant clues. Judging from the current information, Professor, the memories you lost may not be The price is what you give up on your own initiative and don’t want to know.”

The old professor's already old face seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. The stacked wrinkles made the age spots so clear:

"You mean, I did something wrong, maybe even committed a crime, and the wish I made was for the Lady of the Lake to erase all traces of it?"

"There is no conclusion yet, but this guess should be very close to the truth."

Shade paused to give the horrified Professor Drake time to think.

When the professor picked up the tea cup, Xia Decai asked softly:

"Speaking of which, Professor, do you have any antiques at home that you don't remember the origin of?"

The professor recalled:

"No, at least I don't think so. I remember every item in the house very clearly."

His tone was not very firm, and he obviously knew that his memory was not reliable.

"Do you have any arrows in your collection?"

Shade stretched his head forward slightly, lowered his voice and narrowed his eyes, and asked again in the study room filled with books, under the light of the gas lamp lit due to the heavy fog outside the window.

"Yes, I also collect antique weapons."

The old professor answered quickly, and Shade felt his heart beat suddenly. His peripheral vision swept over the red and gold wallpaper in the study room, the old-style gas lamps, and the bookshelves:

"Can you describe the specific appearance of the 'arrow'?"

"I'll show it to you directly."

The professor was about to call the maid as he spoke, but then he frowned and looked at Shade:

"Speaking of which, I really don't remember where that arrow came from."

The old man on the inside of the desk licked his flaky lips that had just been moistened by the tea. He was a little confused:

"Oh, yes, if you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have even remembered that I had that item. I never seem to have looked at it in the past ten years, but I'm pretty sure I have it. It's such a feeling."

Kansas Drake raised his head from his wheelchair and looked at the ceiling of his study. The familiar study room seemed to be spinning at this moment, and everything in front of him was becoming blurry. The spinning feeling made him want to lower his head and vomit, but then he felt that he was being supported:

"Professor, professor!"

He heard the young man's voice, felt the teacup being brought to him, and the heat was steaming up his cheeks.

"Have a drink of tea, Professor, Professor!"

Shade fed the tea with No. 4 holy water to the old professor. The professor swallowed the tea with difficulty, and then seemed to be dead, with his eyes closed and his back leaning on the back of the wheelchair.

After a long time, he opened his eyes again, and there was some sparkle in his old eyes. His lips moved a few times, and his voice gradually returned to normal:

"Yes, I own an 'arrow'. Although I don't know where it came from, I remember that it is in this study."

"Where?"

Shade looked around, trying hard to find traces of the hidden grid. According to outsiders' understanding of detective novels, this kind of study should have a mechanism that "moves the position of the books to open the secret door."

"it's here."

The professor lowered his body with great effort, opened the drawer in the lower left corner of the desk, and took out a slender mahogany box. There were no words on the box, but instead there were circles of chain-like patterns.

"For more than ten years, I have never thought about why there is a box in the drawer."

The professor closed his eyes and sighed, then handed the mahogany box about one meter long to Shade.

Shade didn't feel any traces of the elements when he touched the box, but when he opened the box, the whispering elements immediately emerged.

He narrowed his eyes, and the palm of his hand holding the box suddenly tightened. Embedded in the red lining is a gold-colored arrow with bronze patterns on the surface. The simple atmosphere showed that it came from ancient times, and the heavy sense of history made Shade almost hold his breath.

The lines climbing on the surface of the arrow form a strange text:

【Knowledge is power. 】

"The answer to the mystery lies in the riddle. I actually found the sage-level relic [Arrow of Knowledge of Iken'ora] in Professor Drake."