Whispering Verse

"Although this matter is over, I don't think the Scarlet Secret Cult's failure was due to insufficient preparation."

Shade said suddenly.

"What's that for?"

The witch asked as she continued to eat.

"They chose the wrong time. If it hadn't been during Darkness's stay in Coldwater Port, if it hadn't been after the Tobesk incident, the church and the academy would certainly not have invested so much force in dealing with them."

Shade replied, peeling the fish meat off the plate from its skeleton with a dining knife.

The witch thought for a while:

"But no matter what, this time the church, which still represents a positive image, won... just like in Tobesk, and the god-caller is already qualified to become the character in the story thousands of years later. The legend... will probably also be stamped with a Rhodes card."

Compared with the reputation that bothers him, Shade is quite looking forward to the fact that he may become the card face of Rhodes. .

After dinner, neither Shade nor Miss Aurora went to the banquet. Driven by curiosity, Shade finally followed the witch to the beach behind the manor to see the mermaid.

Miss Aurora's personal maids, carrying golden candlesticks, followed Shade and the mistress of the manor through the garden to the beach. Then, under the moonlight, the young girls took off their shoes and walked into the water, forming two vertical rows extending from the water to the shore of the beach.

Miss Aurora and Shade stood at the end of the long maid queue, watching the flickering candlelight going deep into the sea. The sea breeze blew the maids' skirts and long hair, and also caused the flames of the candles to drag out short threads from the candle wicks to the shore. This scene under the moon looks quite magical.

The witch took off the small conch pendant hanging on her chest. After bending down and dipping into the sea water at her feet, the pendant squirmed and grew larger. As the witch blew the conch, the long and ethereal sound of the conch spread from the shore to the bottom of the sea.

The sound made Shade seem to hear the waves of the deep sea, and feel the sea water soaking into his skin. This was the sound Shade heard after Miss Aurora chased Darkness and jumped into the cave under the temple.

There are male mermaids, but their numbers are very small. Due to the witch's curse, Miss Aurora is also more willing to get close to female mermaid girls.

They are also highly intelligent creatures, but unless they use special potions or spells, thaumaturgy or even relics, individuals of the mermaid race cannot turn their tails into beautiful long legs like in the story.

Therefore, under the harbor behind Aurora Manor, there is a temporary residence specially built for them. As Miss Aurora blew the conch, the mermaids on the bottom of the sea gradually moved to the surface of the water, and then popped up in the shallow sea.

Following the guidance of the candlelight, they got closer and closer to the shoal, but in order not to run aground, they could only swim at the end of the light. Miss Aurora also took off her high heels and walked towards the water. Shade looked down at the moonlight, her feet stepping into the relatively clear water, and then realized how rude it was.

So Shade followed and walked into the shallow road between two rows of maids.

Because of the culture and living habits of the species, mermaids are very timid, similar to little Mia. At first, even with Miss Aurora around, they were reluctant to get close to Shade, but after gradually trusting Shade, they dared to swim to the shoal to say hello to him.

Most of them understand Draion Common, but prefer to speak to each other in racial prophecies. Of course, Shade also understood this language that was very similar to the language of the fishmen, and heard the mermaid girls praising him for looking good, smelling good, and the moonlight on his fingertips was beautiful.

Miss Aurora and the mermaids all thought that Shade couldn't understand these words, but Shade actually did, and in this case, they couldn't say that they understood.

These beings living in the water like to use shells and water plants as clothing, so as he got closer to them, Shade even had to remove the silver moonlight from his fingertips to prevent him from seeing things he shouldn't.

Although this was not the first time Shade had come into contact with alien creatures in this world, the contact with strange intelligent races still made him feel very novel.

As for Shade's main purpose of coming to see the mermaid, in addition to satisfying his own curiosity, he also wanted to find out about things related to [Desire]. That intelligent level 0 relic looks like a mermaid, maybe it's not a coincidence. There might be clues about the ancient alien race.

"The mermaid race used to be a symbol of desire in the past. Sailors rumored that they would use their songs to lead ships into the center of storms or deviate from safe routes."

There is no news about that relic among the mermaid race. However, after Shade briefly mentioned the symbolism of mermaids in mysticism, Miss Aurora gave some explanations.

"Maybe [Desire] resembles a mermaid in appearance, which is caused by this rumor. People's ideas and culture are also affecting [Desire] that claims to be born from desire."

This is Shade's idea.

Although there was indeed a mermaid girl who was very interested in Shade, Shade did not stay in Coldwater Port for long. After meeting the mermaid, he talked with the witch for a few words about the follow-up news of the Shadow in Coldwater Port, and then left.

Instead of going home immediately, he swam in the sea for a full hour first, avoiding the church's patrol boats. Relying on the strong memory in his heart, he found the [Soul Fishing Rod] inserted in the seabed under the cold water harbor. . Then he swam to the cave under the cliff and returned to his home through the hidden wall.

Shade, dripping with water, returned from the basement to the first floor. Although he had only been away from home for a day, Shade breathed in the atmosphere of home and really missed his house.

The sound of his walking probably alerted the people upstairs. Before Shade could get close to the stairs and turn on the gas light in the foyer, he heard the sound of fast and loud footsteps coming from upstairs and getting closer and closer.

"Shadow!"

First, Mia the cat rushed over, but it was not the cat who spoke. The blonde girl behind the cat almost rushed over directly.

She opened her arms, not caring that Shade was soaked all over, and hugged him. Before he could react, she kissed him on the lips.

"Woo~"

Shade made such a sound with his nose. The cat waiting for him to hold at his feet used its two short legs to support its body. It grabbed Shade's trousers with its front paws. After waiting for a long time, Shade didn't bend down, so he recovered. Cheng stood on all fours and looked up dissatisfied, then his big amber eyes showed a curious look.

Even Shade, who had the [Time Perception] thaumaturgy, couldn't measure the length of this kiss. He felt fast, but also felt extremely long.

When he was finally released by Dorothy, he breathed heavily and looked at the girl in front of him in shock:

"Wait, are you Dorothy or Lesia?"

"Is this question important?"

The blonde blushed and wiped her mouth. Shade noticed that she wore light makeup and even put on lipstick.

"Of course it's important. I at least want to know who...whose soul is kissing me.

She laughed and looked at Shade up close with her green eyes:

"Then just think that it's the two of us kissing you at the same time. Shade, thank you for saving Lesia Cavendish, and the princess didn't even have time to say goodbye to you. This kiss is both a thank you and an apology... ....Also, we should do less dangerous things in the future."

"At the same time? Can you still think so?"

Shade asked in shock.

Dorothy didn't care what Shade thought. As she spoke, she hugged Shade forcefully and wanted to kiss him again, but Shade pushed him away. He looked at the blonde girl in his arms seriously:

"Before that, you need to know one more thing. The relic [the scales of the drowned fishman] that belonged to both of us was destroyed by me."

Dorothy looked at Shade in shock:

"Now? At this time? Shade Hamilton, you actually want to tell me this?"

"I want to compensate you for your losses."

"You... then consider this as compensation."

Then she kissed him again, holding the back of his head so hard that Shade even thought his lips were going to be broken.

There was no gas light on the first floor of No. 6 St. Teresa Square, only the light of the gas street lamp outside the window. They stood in the square light extending from the window on the floor, making the shadows of each other stretch out to the wall.

The carriage drove past the window, making a rhythmic sound on the road. The moment it passed the window, its shadow swayed on the wall. The moonlight was beautiful, but little Mia meowed dissatisfiedly. She had been waiting for a long time, and Shade hadn't come to hold her yet.

The girl's kiss lasted for an unknown amount of time before it ended. She looked at Shade with a slightly red face, and Shade also looked at her. Although Shade was still affected by the piece of [Desire Flesh], he thought of more things, but he still had reason, so he turned the messy thoughts that emerged because of this kiss into reality.

The two of them chatted until ten o'clock in the evening. They talked about Shade's experience in Coldwater Port, about Shade once again using the power of the thirteen-ring warlock he used at Lakeview Manor, and even about Shade's meeting with the mermaid just now.

Dorothy laughed and complained that Shad still smelled fishy even after taking a bath, and then jokingly called him "The Mermaid Angler of Cold Water Harbor."

And until he put the blonde girl into the carriage at the intersection of Saint Teresa Square, Shade was still not sure whether it was Dorothy Louisa or Lesia Cavendish who was talking to him tonight. Although she had touched her ears, it might have been a disguise.

[Outlander, I'm a little surprised that you didn't keep her at home overnight. 】

"Why stay?"

Shade put his hands in his pockets and stood under the yellowish streetlight watching the carriage drive towards the university district.

[Given her mood tonight, if you extend an invitation, she will not refuse. 】

"When will you ever have an opinion on my life again?"

Shade said with a smile, turned around and walked through the quiet square towards the door of his house, kicking away the stones at his feet. The orange cat Mia poked her head behind the half-open door, worried about Shade who went out at night, but she didn't dare to run into the night on her own.

"I know if I invited, she would probably stay."

He said in his heart.

[Well, why not? 】

"You also said that this is because of her mood tonight. I will not be such a person."

【Then I understand. 】

She chuckled in his ear.

Shade also smiled, walked into the door and held the door handle from the inside to close the door. But he suddenly turned around and looked at the moon over Saint Teresa Square outside the door.

The silver moon tonight is so bright.