Whispering Verse

Dawn Church does not have a specific Sunday, so it is not necessary to attend services on weekends.

The Church of the Dawn in Randall Valley occupies a larger area than the one in Tobesk, but its interior decoration is relatively old. Although Shade and Luvia are not familiar faces in this diocese, it is not uncommon for believers from out of town to come to churches in big cities to worship, so no one has tried to explore their identities.

Shade missed the church service that morning, so he sat alone on a bench in the auditorium and prayed alone. The whole process is relatively simple. After all, in a world where the true God exists, the church does not need to rely on cumbersome and meaningless rituals to prove the majesty of God.

However, at the end of the service, I have to confess my recent mistakes. Shade thought for a long time and didn't know what mistakes he should regret, so he admitted that he seemed to be a little too harsh on Mia recently, causing this cat who was very afraid of the environment outside the home to go out less frequently. More than last year.

After the service, there was still some time until nine o'clock. Luvia originally wanted to visit the local church with Shade, but Shade thought of another thing:

"After the exams at the beginning of this year, you and Dorothy both left immediately. Priest Augustus told us something at that time. He came to the Randall Valley when he was young and had a meeting with Father Murphy from the local church. I lost 10p in a bet and never paid it back. Since I’m here today, why not go see Father Morpheus and help the priest pay back the debt (Chapter 1162). In this way, when we return to the Trust Besker, you can also give Father August a surprise.”

Shade suggested, and Luvia nodded, also very interested:

"However, Priest Augustus can actually bet with others?"

But suddenly he realized something was wrong, and looked at Shade with a nice frown:

"Wait a minute, why did you talk about Randall Valley after the exam? I was going to this city for a business trip. I only got the news half a month after the exam week. You started discussing Randall so long ago. River valley?"

That's because Shade wanted to find the black time key, so he talked about his travel plan with the priest and the doctor.

"This is a guide from fate. It shows that there were signs that you were coming to Randall Valley a long time ago."

Shade said with certainty, and Mia, who had her head exposed from his arms, pressed it down rudely:

"Let's go find Father Morpheus quickly and don't miss Stone Oxenfurt's arrival."

Shade did not know the specific age of Father Morpheus, but he only knew that he was older than Father Augustus. I was originally worried that this ordinary priest had left or was unable to undertake the work of the church due to physical reasons, but I didn't expect that the old priest was still serving in the church.

However, compared to Rat August, who had always been the most ordinary priest, Father Morpheus had actually become the bishop of Dawn Church in this diocese at this time. When Shade and Luvia heard about this, they were very surprised:

"So are we still going to see him?"

Luvia asked.

"Of course, but you have to use your identity. You met Priest Augustus in Tobesk City. Before leaving, he specifically asked you to visit Father Morpheus."

Shade warned that as for himself, he was a friend Luvia met locally and happened to meet him again at the church.

Being a diocesan bishop is a busy job, as Schad learned from Bishop Canas Owen of Tobesk. It is very difficult for ordinary believers to meet the regional bishop casually. The difficulty in meeting the bishop today is not only that they have not made an appointment in advance, but that Bishop Murphy is not at the church at all today.

Because of the petrified plague, the bishop took people to the hospital early in the morning to visit the believers. It was said that he would not be able to return until the afternoon. So even if Shade arrived at Dawn Church today, if he wanted to know what happened to Priest Augustus in the past, he still had to wait for the next time.

Luvia is looking forward to this.

When the time was close to nine o'clock, Shade temporarily handed Mia over to Luvia's care, and asked Luvia to stay in the main hall of the church. He looked out from the window while he himself came to the door of the church.

At eight fifty-nine, as another carriage stopped at the door of the church, Stone Oxenfurt jumped out of the carriage. It looked like it was his personal carriage, as Shade noticed he hadn't paid for it.

Although Oxenfurt wore a black hat and a silver brooch on his chest as requested by Shade, he did not hold a red rose, but a rare black rose.

Shade walked towards him, and the two met at the foot of the grand steps in front of the church. The flow of people up and down met here, and Luvia in the church could just see them.

Shade asked with a smile:

"Why, your roses are not fresh, so they changed from red to black?"

The tall man cursed a not very dirty word:

"What on earth do you want me to do here?"

“Don’t like church?”

Shade shook his head and looked at the obviously wilted flowers in his hand:

"Withered roses are still so beautiful."

I don’t know what kind of pain Shade’s words touched on Oxenfurt. The impatience and anger on his face became even more obvious:

"What on earth are you going to do? Found that sapphire earring?"

"I didn't find it, but I think I'll find it soon."

Shade wasn't talking nonsense. Some time ago, Old John said that he had a way to get special coins, and he should be able to get them soon. When the time comes, let Luvia use special divination to locate:

"You came on time, but do you remember? I asked you to stay here for three minutes."

"You want to test the church's strength, its resistance to 'it'?"

The expression on Oxenfurt's face became more serious:

"It's useless. If it was useful, I would have hid in the church."

In other words, although Goethe, the stone mirror demon, is still afraid of the power of the righteous gods, he still cannot avoid the power of his contract if he wants to hide in the church.

"Whatever you think. I want to ask, have you ever seen a gem of about this size? A hexagonal gem."

Shade opened his notebook and showed Luvia's hand-drawn pencil sketch.

He originally just wanted to delay time so that Luvia had time to observe carefully. Unexpectedly, Oxenfurt's expression changed when he saw the appearance of the gem:

"Where did you see this?"

"I haven't seen it, so I'm looking for it."

Shade looked at him inquiringly:

"Some souls asked me to find them, you know what I mean. Have you really seen them?"

Stone Oxenfurt hesitated for a moment, and the impatience on his face disappeared:

"Three years ago, 'it' asked me to look for gemstones of this shape locally. There were four in total, turquoise, red, golden and white."

The four colors should represent the colors of the four seasons. What Shade got under the memoir is red, which represents summer.

"It's also looking. How many did you find?"

He asked inquiringly, while Stone Oxenfurt folded his hands on his chest and looked at Shade:

"Why should I tell you?"

"It seems that you have obtained at least one. Is that gem in your hand now, or is it in 'its' hand?"

Oxenfurt narrowed his eyes slightly:

"What exactly did it ask you to do when you met it outside Watson Manor?"

It seemed like he wanted to trade problems for problems.

Mr. Lyman's graveyard is of great importance, and the luminous key represents that the secret is very likely to be related to the truth about the guardians, and even to the heart of the earth.

"It lets me teach you a lesson."

After thinking about it, Shade said:

"It pointed me to a good weapon, and the raw material is what the Watson family plans to use to deal with it. However, the weapon still needs a week or two to prepare, and the raw material is very special."

Oxenfurt crossed his arms and nodded:

"The white gem is in my hand. In the winter of 1852, I found it in the hands of an antique dealer who came to do business from other places. I knew that this gem might be important to 'it', so I did not tell 'it' that the gem had been found. He didn’t even bring the gems back to the manor.”

“Merchant location and information.”

Shade said, Oxenfurt's face darkened:

"Tell me, what is the power of the weapon you prepared?"

Shade shook his head:

"I told you, how will I complete my mission? Besides, I don't think you can be prepared by telling you."

"Even if you didn't tell me, I would have guessed that it was a weapon against my immortality, right?"

Stone Oxenfurt's words were affirmative, and his face became more and more gloomy in the thick fog of the morning:

"Do something for me. When you're done, the white gem will be yours."

"No."

Shade shook his head:

"I've had enough of your endless commissions and tasks. Do the people in Randall Valley have any mental illness? I've had enough of looking for wedding gifts, gems, and weapons."

He turned around and pretended to go up the steps to enter the church, but Oxenfurt stopped him:

"Wait. Be patient in negotiations. If you are not satisfied with my bargaining chip, then in addition to the white gem, I can also tell you the contents of the contract I signed with it."

"oh?"

Shade stopped and turned around with interest:

"you sure?"

"I don't know if you were prepared. If you hadn't made an appointment with me at the door of the church, I wouldn't have even been able to propose this condition."

Stone Oxenfurt took a few steps closer to Shade, and the two were almost touching each other. People passing by looked at them curiously, but immediately stayed away, because they looked like they were about to fight:

"It gave me the strongest immortal power and the luck of always being able to win, and it asked me to do a few things for it, and it wanted my soul. But the soul was not given to it directly. We agreed that if If someone can break the immortal power it gives me, then my soul can fully belong to it."