Whispering Verse

"Um"

In the restaurant, Miss Louisa had put down her knife and fork. She saw Shade's hesitation and knew that he would definitely not be able to take it out, so she smiled and said:

"Xia De, don't say that it was little Mia who ate the leaves."

"Meow~"

The cat who was eating heard someone mentioning him, and his pointed little ears moved, and he raised his head and looked around.

"Oh well"

Miss Louisa is caring about herself, and Shade understands this very well:

"I only have one leaf left."

The blonde girl asked in surprise:

"Is the divine descending incident really related to you? I heard rumors that the 'masked man under the silver moon' is the thirteen-ring warlock 'God Caller'. I originally wanted to check on you and confirm that the church is I didn't make another mistake. I didn't expect you to come to my house with the cat in your arms in a very energetic manner. It doesn't look like you have experienced a divine intervention."

She put on an expression as if she was listening to the story, so while eating, Shade explained how he and his companions, whose identities could not be disclosed, went to attack the silver-eyed man. Regarding what happened after the evil god came, Shade used the same explanation as he told Luvia and Iluna. Miss Louisa just listened carefully and did not interrupt during the process:

"Just know what you're doing."

She waited until Shade finished speaking before sighing.

Use a spoon to stir the thick soup in front of you, then raise your eyes, and his green eyes scanned Shade's face:

"Shade, don't die easily. Otherwise, I will be very sad."

After lunch, the two went to Old John's pawn shop together. Miss Louisa wanted to entrust Father John to make some alchemical items, while Shade wanted to identify the mercury vial.

Father John acted very quickly. He carefully observed what Shade took out, then went to his residence on the second floor of the pawn shop to search for information, and found the name and level of the [Relic] corresponding to this vial.

Of course, he first collected Shade's two pounds appraisal fee before he was willing to disclose the information:

"Poet-level relic [Endless Mercury Bottle]."

"Poet level?"

Shade was surprised and reached out to grab the banknotes he had put down on the counter, but Old John's hands were faster and he swept them into his hands. In the competition for the two pounds of cash, even if Shade was promoted to the second ring and his body was divinely cleansed, he could not compete with the old man in front of him:

"Don't worry, don't worry, I knew you would think so, but the poet level is not worthless."

The old man took off the brass-colored mechanical telescopic magnifying glass from his left eye and carefully placed it in the box:

"Listen to the characteristics. This bottle can produce unlimited mercury, yes, unlimited."

He took out a bottle containing red liquid from under the counter, carefully poured it into the mercury vial, then took the bottle and shook it:

"To get the mercury out of this small bottle, you need to slowly inject a little blood and the ring wizard's spirit, and then shake it slightly."

After shaking it, he turned the bottle mouth downwards. The liquid metal that Shade couldn't get out was immediately poured out, while the liquid level inside the bottle did not change at all.

The cat standing on the counter and looking around immediately became interested in the silver liquid. But before it poked its head out, Miss Louisa picked the cat up and told Shade not to worry.

"Meow~"

The tail flicked back and forth as if slapping Miss Louisa on the arm. The orange cat didn't like being held by her.

"The negative characteristic is that this bottle is tempting its owner to pour the liquid into his mouth. Of course, this has little effect on the ring magician, but few ordinary people can withstand the mental induction of the relic. Speaking of which, how do I remember it? , this thing should be in the hands of a certain five-ring warlock in [Mercury Blood]? Where did you get it from?"

"It's not important. Is this valuable?"

Shade asked, squinting and seeing a yellow flower specimen hanging on the wall behind the counter. Old John always had all kinds of weird things here.

The old man raised his eyes and looked at Shade with an expression that showed he didn't know what he was talking about:

"For an organization like [Mercury Blood], which relies heavily on mercury as a magic casting material, this thing is a priceless treasure. And if a madman dares to bury the relic inside his body, this means that he can almost It is possible to perform mercury spells and thaumaturgy without any consumption. The ring warlocks of [Mercury Blood] have done this before and proved its feasibility. Do you think this is worth the money?"

"What is the ratio of valuable blood to mercury produced?"

Shade asked again. Father John looked at him curiously, with a smile on his old face:

"What did you think of? Tell me."

Miss Louisa also looked at Shade curiously, and the stranger sorted out his thoughts:

"The emergence of the steam engine has promoted the rapid development of our civilization. The level of development in the past 100 years has far exceeded the level of the past 1,000 years. As far as I know, in steam factories and machinery industries, the value of mercury is unquestionable. Extraction of non-ferrous metals, mirrors , reflectors, barometers and even explosives.”

Shade paused, and Old John nodded with satisfaction. The old man looked at the bottle in a daze, then shook it violently and completed Shade's words:

"This relic can produce high-purity mercury, and the production method is not harmful, and there will be no additional waste gases and pollutants. What the detective means is that if the ratio of blood and mercury production is appropriate, this small bottle , enough to change the industrial structure of a region. Yes, yes, detective, I praised you last time, you are indeed the smartest young man I know."

The old man said happily.

"Is that feasible?"

Shade asked again.

"Of course it's not feasible."

Old John said without mercy and put the small bottle on the table:

"The blood of an ear-sized creature, with a small amount of spirit added, can produce 1 gallon of mercury. But this is a relic after all. Do you think the mercury it produces is normal mercury?"

Old John shook his head:

"This mercury also has the element of whispering. Even if the influence of ring warlocks is basically negligible, it is still absolutely dangerous to ordinary people. Remember young people, do not try to use any [relic]. For [relics], except Except for their own use, others must be strictly contained. The church and the academy have contained so many powerful relics, why have they never thought of using such extraordinary items to change the world? Don't all people have as smart minds as you and me? "

Miss Louisa gave the answer:

"Because the whispering elements represented by [Relics] are the enemies of civilization. Using [Relics] to change the world is similar to using steam bombs to keep warm."

She happily stroked Mia who was in her arms, but the cat still found an opportunity to escape and "snarled" at the blonde girl while standing on the counter of the pawn shop.

"Shade, do you understand?"

Miss Louisa asked.

"Understood."

Shade nodded regretfully, and Father John took the opportunity to say:

"You guys are of no use holding this thing, why not sell it to me? I can give you a good price."

"No, I have no plans to sell it just yet."

Shade shook his head.

"Aren't you short of money?"

"I have made a lot of money recently. I met a rich and powerful female noble. She is very generous."

"Female noble?"

Old John showed an ambiguous smile, first glanced at Miss Louisa, and then lowered his head to collect the pile of things used to identify [relics] on the counter:

"Young man, this is indeed a shortcut, but you must be careful with your health. But even if you are not short of money, you can still find out about the rumored thirteen-ring warlock recently. You should know this, right? Any information can be sold Give it to me, I need it.”

"Is it Carina?"

After leaving Old John's pawn shop, Miss Louisa finally couldn't help but ask. The two of them walked side by side on the street, surrounded by many pedestrians. Because the curfew has been implemented for the past week, people's travel during the day has been accelerated.

Rusty gas pipes piled up against the wall in front. The street was undergoing urban infrastructure renovation recently. Old John had just complained about the rude people walking around in front of his store every noon. Unfortunately, due to martial law and curfew, the project may be delayed for a long time.

Even though there was still no sunshine today, Miss Louisa still wore a white lady's hat with a wide brim. There was a small pink flower pinned to the hat that seemed to match her hair.

In the aesthetics of this era, blonde girls are the most standard beauty.

"Yes, I have a very good relationship with the duchess. She spent a lot of money to buy some of the harvest from the ruins from me."

Shade told the truth.

"Oh? I wanted to ask you last time, are you and Carina very familiar?"

The blonde girl squinted at Shade, not knowing what she was thinking.

Shade noticed that she never used any honorific when addressing Duchess Carina Cavendish. This is certainly not an expression of intimacy, but more like a conflict between the two parties.

Dorothy Louisa was just an ordinary citizen of Tobesk, and she probably had nothing to do with the Duchess, who was away from Tobesk all year round. Therefore, Shade guessed that there was a conflict between her friend Princess Lesia and Miss Carina.

Although there is an age difference of five or six years between the princess that Shade has not yet met and Carina Cavendish, they are actually three generations apart. If they really have conflicts, it may be like those in palace romance novels, with secrets that ordinary citizens cannot imagine.

[Why not a palace political novel? 】

"Because I have not read any novels about court politics in this world. It's not like you haven't read the book "The Queen and Her Lovers" left by Mr. Sparrow with me."

Of course, the main purpose of reading that book was to find the so-called "spy code book".

Along the crowded street, Shade chatted with the woman in his heart about the content of erotic novels while walking side by side with Miss Louisa into the distance. [Mercury Blood] was destroyed and the evil god left. Shade could temporarily spend some leisure time before Luvia divined the second chosen one.