Whispering Verse

On Saturday morning, after breakfast, Shade first went to Fort Midhill and brought back information about local legends and the narrow space of life and death from the House of the Blind.

At the same time, he heard the good news that the [Spiritual Cult] moved very quickly and had found a suitable entrance to the narrow room. The preparation for the ceremony will take about a day, and the ceremony can be carried out tonight.

This happened much faster than Shade thought. In his imagination, even if the cult did not want him to pay any price, at least it would say that there was a lack of important materials for Shade to collect, and then Shade would do it to defeat monsters and evil spirits. Only by completing follow-up tasks such as delivering letters, mediating family disputes and exploring ancient ruins can the final ceremony be completed after all the hardships.

But now he really doesn't need to do anything, but it's better to rescue the priest earlier than thinking about it all the time.

It was already ten o'clock in the morning when I got home. Because I had a meeting in the afternoon, I didn't go out again. Instead, I carefully studied the information I got and prepared for the evening's action.

After lunch, Luvia, Dorothy and Dr. Schneider arrived one after another. The doctor shared the latest news with Shade, and it was good news:

"Due to the disappearance of its own students, the college forced the church to reveal the situation of Fort Midhill. The church relented yesterday!"

The blue-eyed middle-aged psychiatrist seemed very happy:

"Since the middle of last month, local disappearance cases have occurred frequently in Fort Midhill. As of the priest's disappearance, a total of 32 disappearances that meet similar conditions have occurred within a month. And this is only a rough statistics so far. In fact, There will be more, because after all, it is difficult for mountain people in mountainous areas to be included in official statistics."

"Isn't that someone missing almost every day?"

Dorothy asked in surprise.

"There were 32 incidents, but most of them were a group of people disappearing together. Friends who lived in the same room disappeared together, and young people who went on an expedition to the Sikal Mountains together never returned. The total number of missing people, conservatively estimated, should be more than three number of digits.”

said the doctor.

"I looked at the information Dorothy gave me from previous years. In the past, there were not so many local disappearances in autumn. It is an average phenomenon to lose dozens of people in one autumn."

Shade said, and the doctor nodded cautiously:

"The college gave me information that this year is a special situation. There is a big problem underground at Fort Midhill. In order to strengthen the seal, the church started preparations last year and mobilized devout old priests to go to Fort Midhill. I also hope they can join the ceremony.”

"Did the academy say anything about [the narrow room of life and death]?"

Luvia also asked.

"Actually, the church is also vague. We only know that once there is a problem underground, the entire Sikal Mountain will turn into a ghost, and this may even spread to the entire eastern part of the Old World. But don't worry too much, this kind of frequency is very high There have been no missing persons since this Wednesday, and Priest August is the last missing person.”

Shade raised his eyebrows, wondering which one was the cause and which one was the result.

But the incident at Fort Midhill seems to be another major event with a scale and impact no less than the "Tobesk 1853 Summer Divine Appearance Incident" and the "Cold Water Harbor Shadow". After the arrival of outsiders, the world is really different. Peace.

"Is swallowing living people a way for the seal to maintain stability? The disappearances suddenly stopped, which doesn't seem to be a good sign."

Dorothy guessed, frowning.

The doctor shook his head with a very serious expression:

"The church does not want to tell other groups of ring magicians because it is worried that if the news leaks, hostile forces will destroy the upcoming large-scale ceremony. There must not be any mistakes in this matter, otherwise the consequences will be no less than the coming of the evil god. Moreover, the academy also I mentioned that this ceremony has something to do with the Chosen One. Sorry, this part of the information given by the academy is very messy. It just tells us to wait with peace of mind and not to meddle in other people's business."

Shade raised his eyebrows and looked at Luvia who was standing aside. The purple-eyed fortune teller also glanced at him.

"The college said it will definitely rescue Priest Augustus, so we can rest assured."

The doctor was full of confidence.

"Since when did the academy become so interested in correspondence course magicians like us?"

Dorothy asked strangely.

The doctor hesitated for a moment and lowered his voice:

"The academy won't let them doubt what I said. Priest August is the 'Chosen One'."

Luvia pursed her lips, and the corners of Shade's mouth trembled. From what Dr. Schneider said, the priest may indeed be the chosen one. The church's special move clearly meant that the third chosen one would appear at Fort Midhill, and they had already deciphered this part of the content from the "Mumbling Psalms".

The priest himself does have a very special ability, and the blessing he bestows can even allow Shade to travel safely through the [Dark Realm].

Although that ability seems to come from a level 0 relic from the accident the priest encountered when he was young, it may also be the power of the priest himself. Coupled with the fact that Priest Augustus had inexplicably fallen on the edge of life and death, as well as his miraculous performance, not to mention the academy, even Shade had doubts at this moment.

"With the cooperation between the college and the church, I think Priest Augustus will be able to be rescued!"

Dorothy's voice brought Shade back from his chaotic thoughts. He nodded, and then saw Luvia blinking at him, so he said:

"But we can't stop here, after all, no one knows what will happen next."

"You're right, Shade, you have to work hard for this."

The doctor patted Xia De beside him on the shoulder:

"But there is no need to be as anxious as a few days ago. Now we are mainly waiting for the actions of the church and the college. As for our efforts, they only need to be used as a backup option."

His original intention was to let everyone relax, but he saw Shade shaking his head seriously:

"Although the church and the academy have intervened, it is uncertain whether they will succeed. In fact, I have already found a way to rescue Priest Augustus."

"What? So fast?"

Dr. Schneider was very surprised.

"Did you know it yesterday? Why didn't you tell us?"

Dorothy frowned slightly, while Luvia understood immediately and looked at Shade with her purple eyes:

"Wait, Shade, you don't want to enter that weird place and rescue Priest Augustus, do you?"

Obviously Shade didn't say anything, but Luvia still guessed it right away. This may be the unique talent of diviners.

"Yes, and it's tonight. To be precise, after the sun goes down."

"What? This is not okay!"

The doctor's reaction was more intense than others:

"We've lost Padre Augustus, we can't lose you again. This group, this group"

The blue-eyed doctor's eyes widened, and his chest heaved violently, as if he couldn't breathe:

"Can't lose anyone anymore! I swore I would protect everyone, like"

He did not name the former team leader, but Shade could understand the doctor's feelings;

"Calm down doctor, this is the best and most feasible way at the moment. None of you can go to Fort Midhill. Only I can go, so I should do this."

"Shadow!"

Dorothy's serious voice interrupted the conversation between Shade and Dr. Schneider. The blonde girl stared at him:

"Are you going on an adventure again?"

“If I don’t take risks, I’ll never catch the action I want.”

Shade's right hand, palm upward, made a gesture of grabbing something in the air. Before Dorothy could object, he turned to Luvia and said:

"You're not going to oppose me too, are you?"

Looking into Shade's eyes, the purple-eyed girl pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

"The ceremony is tonight, you can wait here for my good news."

Shade has decided to take this risk, and judging from the information obtained so far, the risk this time is much lower than breaking into the dark realm or accidentally entering the [Fishbone Pirate Ship].

The other three did not speak for a long time before Dr. Schneider sighed:

"If you go on an adventure, what can we do for you? If you tell us in advance, we can also prepare some relics or alchemy tools for you."

"I don't need any of this. I have prepared it myself. However, we need to raise 3,000 pounds for the material cost. My friends at Fort Midhill can help me for free, but we have to pay for the material cost ourselves. I am tight on funds now."

Because he still needs to buy special blood, and the cash in Shade's hand is only the 2,000 pounds he got yesterday. On the premise of not selling valuable items such as the queen's ruby ​​ring, he is really poor now.

The doctor interrupted Shade:

"Don't bother me. I'll take the 3,000 pounds first. I just happened to bet on you to win the Big City Players Championship, and I won some money. I used this money to save Priest Augustus. Although he is not in Tobesk, he really What’s more, it reminds us not to gamble.”

No one laughed at this cold joke. Only the orange cat, who didn't understand anything, yawned and then patted Shade's arm for him to hug.

"I just wanted to propose that each of the three of you come up with 1,000 pounds first."

Shade raised his eyebrows, and then Dorothy asked everyone's questions. Dr. Schneider's performance was very suspicious:

"Doctor, how much did you bet on Shade?"

Originally the doctor said he would bet 800 pounds, but this time he came up with 3,000 pounds so easily, which obviously meant he won a lot.

"This."

The doctor touched his nose and turned to look out the window:

"Since my luck has been bad, I can't let it go if I finally encounter a chance to get lucky, right? Our Mr. Detective has never lost at cards, hasn't he?"

The female fortune teller then gestured a "5" to the other two people. She didn't know whether it meant 5,000 pounds, or whether the five-digit number should be five thousand pounds. After all, even this wealthy doctor wanted to easily come up with five-digit numbers. gold pounds is absolutely impossible.

There was nothing worth discussing in this week's study meeting, and it was only after two o'clock in the afternoon. The doctor temporarily returned to his clinic and handed 3,000 pounds in cash to Shade. But he left immediately, after all, waiting in Saint Teresa Square would not be of much help.

Luvia went upstairs to continue installing the stargazing equipment, taking care of little Mia by the way, while Dorothy went to find Luvia. Originally, Her Royal Highness the Princess planned to leave Yodel Palace today to teach Shade the knowledge of [Sleep].

"what a pity."

When Shade went downstairs to see Dorothy off, the blond female writer said regretfully, and then suddenly stood up on tiptoes and kissed Shade on the cheek:

"Be careful at night."

As for Shad, he did not waste time in Tobesk. Instead, he said goodbye to Mia at home and went directly to Fort Midhill with the things he had prepared.

Of course, before leaving, he did not forget to remind Luvia, who was busy at home on the third floor, that several maids would come here to clean in the afternoon.

Walk out from behind the hidden wall and use Raglai's jump to reach the ground from the basement of the ruined tower. The bat swarm has disappeared. Probably after being attacked by Shade last time, he realized that this place is no longer safe enough.

After walking out of the ruined tower, Shade went to the back of the tower as usual and looked at the Midhill Fort stretching to the north in the distance, and then turned and walked into the forest.

He has walked this road more than once. When walking through the mountains and forests, he relies on the position of the sun to identify the direction. If there are obstacles that are difficult to overcome, he uses "Raglai's Jump" to continue moving forward.

The time of entering the mountain forest this time happened to be in the afternoon, and soon after Shade left the abandoned tower, fog began to form in the mountains.

A few days ago, I saw the fog miasma in the Sikar Mountain in the city, but today I was walking and was suddenly surrounded by the fog coming from the mountain. This is somewhat like the falling snowflakes during an avalanche, or like the seawater swallowing up the land during a tsunami.

Thick fog rolled in, and in just a moment, the mist lingering in the mountains and forests made everything around them foggy.