Whispering Verse

The Randall Valley Municipal Public Cemetery is divided into East, Southeast and South Districts according to development time. The southern area is a cemetery built in the past ten years, and the funeral that Shade will attend is here.

Because I knew the address in advance, I didn’t get lost when I rushed there. But just as the taxi driver said, last week's earthquake caused too many tragedies. On this foggy Monday morning, there were quite a few people in the cemetery.

No matter where in the Old World, a funeral requires a final farewell ceremony in a church. But because I have been really busy recently, the farewell ceremony in the church was kept simple. Hillis's appointment time was at ten in the morning, because there were two funerals scheduled ahead, so Shade arrived at nine-thirty, just in time.

When Shade found Hillis, all the people attending the funeral had arrived and were standing and talking next to the grave chosen for Mr. Lacers on the side of the church.

The four great witches and the four witch apprentices are very conspicuous. The tall witches all wore long black skirts, black hats decorated with black artificial flowers, and veils. Their long red, gold, brown and black hair was all tied up, looking very capable.

As for the young apprentices, they were all dressed up in different styles. Only Tifa was still wearing a black and white maid dress.

The real relative at this funeral, that is, Sirius, was wearing a narrow black velvet skirt, a black slim-fitting jacket without any decoration, and a white flower on her chest. The black hat is also decorated with black artificial flowers, but she is not veiled.

In addition to the nine people, some members of the Golden Dawn also came here. However, these ring warlocks did not approach the witch, but stood on the outside, as if on guard.

When Shade's figure emerged from the hazy mist, the girls spotted him immediately. And when Shade also came to the big bare pine tree, Sirius opened his arms and hugged him.

The witches didn't say anything, and Miss Benanis even patted Sirius on the back. The two were best friends.

"There are about twenty minutes left before we can enter the church again."

Miss Aurora said softly from the side. This lady usually likes to wear various gemstone rings, but today when she attended the funeral, she only wore a relatively simple black gemstone ring.

Hearing her voice, Shade immediately thought of what happened after lunch yesterday. He immediately freed himself from distracting thoughts and gently patted Sirius on the back.

It took a long time for the young girl to let go of Shade and lower her head to stand beside him.

Shade asked again:

"Where is the coffin parked now?"

"The church basement, the church people will arrange to send you to the auditorium later."

Miss Carina said that this was the first time Shade had seen the Grand Duchess of the North wearing such a style of clothes, but she was still very beautiful.

"I thought the funeral would be held at the Church of the Forgotten."

"Since my father has chosen to be the guardian of the earth, I think his belief is not limited to my Lord."

Sirius spoke next to Shade, her voice a little hoarse.

"The stone statue is heavier than the corpse. Won't the people in the church find something wrong with the coffin?"

Shade asked again, and this time Miss Bernice answered:

"It doesn't matter. I carved runes that affect gravity inside the coffin."

The beautiful blond lady has a sad expression on her face behind the veil. She is sad for Siris. Seeing Sha De looking at her, the witch gently hooked Sha De's hand, and then there was a note in Sha De's hand.

So Shade put his hand in his pocket, opened the note, and rubbed it with his fingertips.

[It says: Come to the opera house at nine o'clock tonight, and I promise you a solo performance. 】

"She" softly told Shade the contents of the note.

So Shade nodded slightly to Miss Bernice and asked again:

"A corpse held in a public funeral must be registered with the police. How to write the cause of death? I remember that official records indicate that Mr. Lacers disappeared more than ten years ago."

"I asked Margaret to help change the official records."

Miss Sylvia said, pointing to Her Royal Highness the Princess who was talking to Miss Rita Swift and Miss Hayley Aurora. In order to conceal her identity, Margaret covered herself tightly today, and her veil was the thickest of all. However, Shade could still see that she turned her head slightly and smiled at herself.

"It's not a complete revision of the record, but just some details, changing the missing to the body found after the disappearance. Because the tomb was damaged by the earthquake, I thought of organizing a replacement funeral and moving the tomb. The Golden Dawn more than ten years ago was not very famous. Opera Company, so few people remember this gentleman, and the alteration of the official record will not attract the attention of others.”

Miss Sylvia explained that the youngest witch also dressed simply. However, when she was talking, her eyes were staring at Shade's eyes. Shade thought that she might have thought about what happened yesterday afternoon.

"fair enough."

Shade sighed, the atmosphere at funerals was always sad. As he spoke, he looked up at the tall trees in front of him:

“This location was chosen really well.”

"Yes, when the weather gets warmer in a while, I plan to move my mother's grave here. The underground tomb area where my mother is buried has seen serious water seepage in recent years."

Sirius whispered again. Shade thought for a while and finally expressed his thoughts:

"Actually, I have a way to turn that stone statue into flesh and blood."

Sirius raised his head suddenly, and the other witches also looked at Shade.

Shade shook his head:

"It's not resurrection, it's just turning the stone statue into a corpse. Mr. Lacers is dead, and his soul can't return. This cannot be changed."

So Miss Benanis looked at Sirius, who pursed her lips and nodded:

"Well, burying a body is better than burying a stone statue."

Although the body is stored under the church, family members who want to see it again before the funeral will not be stopped.

It was not necessary for everyone to go there. In the end, only Siris, Miss Benanith and Miss Sylvia followed to the church basement.

There is a special place for corpses in the church basement of the cemetery. There were no other family members here as the first two funerals had already been held and Mr. Lathers's was the last before noon.

The young priest who came with a group of people wisely left a place for the four of them. Shade reached out and opened the brown lacquered wood coffin, and then saw that the sitting stone statue had been transformed into a lying position by some means. .

After confirming with Sirius for the last time, Shade stretched out his hand and pressed it on the forehead of the stone statue:

"Activated clay."

The spell obtained from the divinity of the earth slightly emitted a golden light under Shade's hands. In that light, the gray stone slowly transformed into the color of normal human skin.

Because Mr. Lassus was a normal person before being petrified, when the transformation was completed, what lay in the coffin was a corpse as lifelike as a living person.

Sirius lowered his eyes and shed tears:

"Father."

Miss Benanis glanced at Shade. Although she had seen Shade use this spell to treat Miss Carina in the early hours of Saturday morning, she was still curious about this almost miraculous spell.

No matter how you look at it, this doesn't look like a normal spell. Although magic and magic are both supernatural powers, they must follow rules.

The hands of the corpse were originally placed on both sides of the body. Sirius reached out and moved the hands of the corpse to the chest, then took off the rings on his hands and placed them in both hands.

"If the body is kept incorruptible, maybe one day, I mean maybe, Mr. Lassus is willing to leave the group of guardians, and maybe he can be resurrected."

Miss Benanis said softly, but Shade knew that this was absolutely impossible. The Guardian's eternity as one was not reversible.

"No, he won't do it, and I don't want to do it."

Sirius shook his head and took a step back from the coffin:

"My father has passed away. I don't want to reawaken the dead. I won't."

"Well."

Shade nodded and put the white bone ring he finally got back from Mia before going out, which is the clerical relic "The Ring of Immortality", on his finger. After rubbing it twice, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled:

"The Breath of Time."

An undetectable gray airflow spurted out from the nasal cavity. After covering the corpse, the corpse quickly shriveled up like a living person. Although there was no decay, under the acceleration of the current ten-year limit of "Breath of Time", it turned into a withered mummy in the blink of an eye.

"Goodbye, father."

Siris said goodbye softly, and then solemnly closed the coffin lid. Miss Sylvia asked Shade worriedly:

"How much of your life has just been wasted."

"No wear and tear."

He shook the ring on his hand. He didn't tell anyone except the doctor about the devil's "reward":

"I found a way to offset the loss of life. Of course, this is the power of the relic, so my thaumaturgy still cannot be used easily."

The four people returned to the ground to join the others. At 9:50, the group finally entered the church and took their seats under the leadership of the priest. Under the auspices of the priest, the funeral procession began.

The Lacers family is not prosperous, and there are no relatives that can be called in this generation. In addition, the process is simple, so the elders' recollection of the deceased's life story is skipped, and Miss Lacers goes directly as the daughter. Pay final tributes.

The great witches sat in the first row, followed by the members of the Golden Dawn, and Shade and the witch apprentices sat at the back. Because Shade had also met Mr. Lassers, Shade would also deliver a short eulogy later.

On the way here, he temporarily prepared a short paragraph in his notebook. When he was lowering his head for a final check, he suddenly heard someone coming from behind and sitting next to him.

Shade turned around and saw that the face was Mr. Thomas Granger, the "Guardian".