Whispering Verse

"The relic is stored in the Rhine General Assembly in Kasenrik. You can't touch it, Shade. The association has reached an agreement with the Church of the Five Gods. This relic, which can usurp the power of ring warlocks, is not allowed to leave the general assembly, and every Each use must be supervised by at least one high-level warlock from the church."

In fact, even if he could contact him casually, it would be impossible for Shad to leave Tobesk and go to a foreign country. Although Coldwater Port is far away, there is a statue of the ancient god in the basement for teleportation, and Shade is really unfamiliar with the Rhine Principality.

"I understand, but the god-summoning properties of level 0 relics have disappeared, right? Is it because the old god has gone away?"

Shade asked again. He didn't know the name of the old god. He only knew that the other god was a god related to "gambling", and his image was that of a mysterious man shrouded in a black robe. It is impossible to find information under these vague conditions.

Luvia shook her head sadly:

"I can't answer your question. The table was in its current state when the association took it into custody. Compared to the Prophet Association, you are the one who knows its original condition best."

Shade nodded:

"Last time I was in the Dreadfort, I spent too much time asking Mr. Riddle about the situation and had no time to investigate other things. It seems that this time, I have to find a way to get more information about that god. Even so. If you can’t win at the gambling table, you have to find a way to win outside the gambling table.”

Shade expressed his thoughts, and the purple-eyed girl smiled and said:

"That's cheating."

"No, no, Luvia, I don't have the guts to cheat in front of a god. Everything I did was within the rules. It's a pity that it wasn't playing Rhodes cards, otherwise I wouldn't have to worry so much. The Impermanence card is The only special items that can be brought to the past, and with them, my luck in playing cards will increase.”

"But in those days, where were the Rhodes cards?"

The girl with purple eyes had a nice smile. She then asked:

"Anyway, be careful tonight. Speaking of which, has No. 6 Saint Teresa Square been completely repaired?"

"It's repaired. I paid the final payment this morning, but they asked me to open the windows for a while to ventilate, otherwise the smell will be bad. You can go to the third floor now, and I asked them to repaint the walls on the first floor and basement. . The decoration, furniture, water pipes, gas lights and steam pipes are all complete, and now No. 6 Saint Teresa Square finally feels like home."

"So you still live on the second floor?"

She asked again curiously.

"Of course, I'm used to living there. I always felt unsafe in Room 2 on the second floor where a mass suicide case occurred, so I still didn't put any furniture like the third floor. However, because Mia and I lived in the same room. The wall between Room No. 2 and Room No. 2 is not a load-bearing wall, so I asked someone to open a door on the wall of the living room to facilitate entry and exit. As for how to use the space in Room No. 2, we will talk about it later. "

"What about the first and third floors?"

"The first floor is used as a guest room. There are three large bedrooms there, and the master bedroom has an additional bathroom. There is currently no furniture on the third floor, and it is completely idle. It is convenient for me to hold rituals, practice thaumaturgy, and do dangerous alchemy experiments."

Shade arranged the room very well:

"I heard from Dawn Church that strange accidents also occurred on the third floor. It was a disappearance case. A certain homeowner on No. 6 once disappeared after going to the third floor, and even the body was not found. So for safety, It’s better not to let anyone live on the third floor.”

"Your house is really weird."

Luvia reminded carefully:

"If the two ring warlocks who died on the first floor were fighting for the secrets of the basement and were driven into a frenzy by the power of the idol, then it would be far-fetched to explain the suicide on the second floor and the disappearance on the third floor in terms of the basement. . You’d better look through the past records of the house and pay attention to the way each owner died. Maybe there are any patterns.”

She thought for a moment, then laughed again to let Shade relax:

"But you and little Mia lived there for two months and nothing happened. I think maybe there is really nothing wrong with the house, and maybe the dangers in the house are not effective for you at all. After all, compared with the real dangers you experienced, What does that house mean?"

What she said made sense. Sparrow Hamilton's death might be just an accident. Shade wanted to believe that there was nothing wrong with his house.

On the way home from the Prophet's Association, Shade fed the wild cats nearby with the cat food he secretly brought from home.

After returning home, I was still a little worried about being discovered by Mia, but the repairs at No. 6 St. Teresa Square were completed, which made Mia, who was used to living in this house, very happy. It didn't even realize that its food reserves were low. That night when Shade was reading Mr. Riddle's life information, Mia was running around the house energetically.

Shade's hearing was very good, and the house was very quiet. He could even hear the orange cat jumping upstairs.

As Dorothy once "reported", it was very interested in Room 2 on the second floor. Shade didn't close the doors to Rooms 1 and 2, so the cat rushed in happily.

But it has no purpose, it just sniffs around, as if looking for something.

The usable area of ​​​​the house is larger, but it also makes No. 6 Saint Teresa Square seem a bit deserted. Even if Shade doesn't wander around at night, he will turn on all the gas lights in the stairwells and corridors on each floor, so the gas bill will probably be higher in the future.

"Would you like to invite others to live here with you?"

Shade was hesitant about the idea. Dorothy and Iluna both lived in rental apartments in the city. If they were invited to move here, Shade would not charge rent, but would instead make the house livelier.

But the problem is that the invitation itself is suggestive. Although the social atmosphere is open and the aristocrats of the upper class have chaotic relationships between men and women, girls from respectable families will not live with a man before getting married.

"We still need to confirm whether this house is dangerous."

Shade, who was sitting on the sofa holding a document with the title "Prophet Association" printed on it, was thinking, and then waved to little Mia who walked in from the door again. The cat immediately ran over and jumped onto the sofa. Consciously lying on Shade's lap:

"But all in all, life is really getting better and better."

(Little Mia is running)

"May the World Tree protect me in time."

Turning the key, the door opened and there was endless white mist.

Shade stepped into the white mist door, and the murmur sounded just right at this moment:

[Outlander, you have stepped into the "corridor of time". 】

[Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree": ]

[Winter of 1784 in the Fifth Age, Northern Continent, Dreadfort. 】

[Event: Gambling - Game of Life. 】

[Duration is twenty minutes (2/3). 】

[You have obtained additional information. 】

[The figure of the father of the infinite tree continues to watch you. 】

[The ancient god of time gives you a test. 】

【Helping mortals win the "gambling game of life". 】

[The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: Thaumaturgy - Breath of Time, a piece of true information - Dark Dungeon. 】

So far, Shade has not encountered a situation where the information given by the "Father of the Infinite Tree" has changed, so after hearing this string of information here, he did not stay in the white mist and continued to move forward.

The fog dissipated, and the cold air surged up together with the smell of decay. The bright white fog was replaced by dim yellow firelight, the ancient corridor appeared in front of me, and behind me, I felt like I was being peeped:

"So, why can't you just send me to my destination?"

This time, Shade didn't have time to look back and forth, and the candle flames in the squares on the wall began to shake violently. The biting wind blew from behind, and the completely unfounded fear forced Shade to run away.

With the last experience, Shade knew that this was a straight road, so he ran without any worries. Within two minutes, he saw the metal door with the symbol of a flipped coin appearing in front of him. Shade rushed forward with all his strength, knocked open the door and fell directly into the room.

The door closed automatically as if it was equipped with a spring, locking out the unknown creature that existed in this strange place.

Panting, he got up and looked up at the room. The room with its rectangular stone tile floor was still the same as before. The kerosene lamp on one side of the central square table illuminated a small half of the room. The candle on the other side of the table was extinguished, leaving the other half of the room completely in thick darkness.

On the table, colorful shadows representing witches, evil spirits, and dragons are eagerly floating above their respective grooves. Mr. Riddle, who was wearing a brown robe, barefoot and with his head wrapped in a turban, was trying to stand up from the wall.

He widened his eyes and looked at Sha De's haggard face, showing an expression that seemed to be on a pilgrimage. Then he opened his arms to Sha De:

"Oh, you're back!"

Shade thought that the poor man trapped here alone wanted to hug him, so he opened his arms and wanted to hug him, regardless of the fact that the other person might not have showered for months.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Riddle just opened his arms and had no intention of hugging at all, which made Shade feel a little embarrassed.

"Have you thought of more memories since I left?"

Shade asked cautiously. Mr. Riddle shook his head in a daze. His mental state was really worrying:

"After you left, I could barely feel the passage of time. My spirit jumped back and forth between wakefulness and coma. If I hadn't felt the mighty power of my Lord [Mr. Huan] protecting me, I would have been on the verge of death. into my arms."

His legs and feet seemed to be weak. After standing up suddenly, he had to hold on to the wall to stand steady. Shade took a few steps forward and supported the poor man. Considering Mr. Riddle's distress, Shade prepared food in advance.

After the gentleman recovered, he handed the food, which had been transformed from toys back into real objects, to Mr. Riddle.

Mr. Riddle didn't care at all about Shade's extraordinary ability. After getting the dishes of stir-fries, fish soup, vegetable salads and fruits, he sat on the floor and wolfed them down without even taking the tableware.