Whispering Verse

Early Wednesday morning, Shade received a suitcase from a stranger knocking on his door.

So after having breakfast, leaving Mia in the care of Luvia who slept on the first floor after stargazing late last night, Shade set out again for the city of Fort Midhill.

But he did not go directly to the Middleburg Railway Station. Instead, he went to the Cassandra Auction House and found the great witch Granny Cassandra for help:

"Excuse me, is there any way to completely change your appearance in a short time?"

Shade asked. The two were talking in the reception room on the top floor of the auction house. The witch with silver hair and an old face seemed to welcome Shade's arrival. .

"I have a box of eye shadow here given by Miss Carina, but it can only slightly change the appearance. In a moment, I will do something that must not reveal my identity, so is there a way to completely change the appearance."

"How long is this going to last?"

The old man asked with a smile. Xia De thought for a while:

"About two hours."

"Is the other party a ring warlock?"

"Most likely not."

Shade thought it was better to be cautious. Maybe the guy who came to pick up the goods was forced to complete the work for various reasons just like himself.

"It's simple."

Granny Cassandra then called the maid nearby, a middle-aged woman with a level of about 5 levels, and immediately went to pick up things from the auction house warehouse:

"Also, bring me the keys."

Grandma Cassandra ordered again, and dozens of minutes later, two more boxes with whispering elements appeared on the coffee table, which meant that the boxes were all relics.

"The key to time in 3024 of the Fifth Era. I know Carina is helping you find the key to this time period. You just happened to be here, so I don't have to give it to her anymore."

Granny Cassandra motioned to Shade to open the first box. On the red lining, there was indeed a very familiar wooden key lying on it.

The key to the Vampire God's Drinking Party in Fifth Age 3014 has been used three times, and he can start a new adventure this Sunday morning. I originally planned to go to the college to apply for a new key during the meeting on Saturday afternoon and check it out at other times, but I didn't expect that Granny Cassandra could actually provide one.

"The other one is lent to you. Open it and take a look."

Shade opened another box, and what he saw was a metal piece connected to a rusty metal clip.

There is no writing on one side of the metal piece, and identification information is written on the other side:

[Institute of Second Century History, Typist, ****]

The place where the person's name should have been written on the back has been scratched.

Below this line of identification information is a pattern of an unfolded book occupying the center of the metal card. This is probably the emblem of the so-called "Second Age History Research Institute".

Below that is a line of extremely tiny letters, which when translated means:

[Without names, everyone is us. 】

"What's this?"

"Secretkeeper-level relic [Unknown Name Identity Card]. This relic has been passed down for a long time. It is said to come from the ancient Third Era. Clip the small clip of this identity card in the breast pocket of your jacket to allow you to stand out from others. It becomes another image in the eyes, and every time it is used, the image is different.”

Granny Cassandra introduced it, and Shade curiously checked the items in his hands:

"This is really convenient, but why is it a secret keeper? Is it a special containment method, or is it because of its strong negative characteristics?"

"Containment is very simple. No more than 5 intelligent creatures are exposed to this card in a day. It has powerful negative characteristics. Mr. Hamilton, do you know about the Faceless Man?"

The old man asked, holding a tea cup.

Shade thought for a while:

"It seems to be a kind of terrifying creature that lived in the early fifth era. It lived by taking away people's faces and identities. Later, it offended the witch who shouldn't be offended, and was completely destroyed."

This is what I learned from Miss Feliana's handwriting.

"Yes, and the negative characteristic of this relic is that if it is held for too long or used too frequently, the user's face will peel off, and the user must peel off other people's faces to survive. Once the negative characteristic is triggered, the user will be transformed As the [Faceless Man], he gradually lost his mind and fell into madness. At the same time, the more faces he peeled off, the stronger his power became, until he finally completely degenerated into an indescribable creature composed of thousands of faces."

Although she said terrible things, the silver-haired old witch still had a smile on her face:

"If you only use it for two hours, and it is the first time, you will not encounter any problems. If you are really unlucky and feel that your face is strange, take off the relic immediately and continue to chant your name. , to enhance self-awareness.”

"Okay, this is very helpful to me, so what reward do I need to pay for giving me this key and lending me this relic?"

Shade asked.

"No, no, no, there is no need for payment."

Grandma Cassandra shook her head and said before Shade spoke:

"But I need you to do one thing. Remember what I mentioned last week, my teacher is preparing for a ceremony that happens every 22 years?"

Grandma Cassandra's teacher was not a witch from the Witch Council, but she was also respected by the council.

"Remember."

Shade nodded, but muttered in his heart:

"Huh? 22 years?"

"I would like to invite you to observe the ceremony. The specific time has not yet been determined, but it will definitely be held in the mountains of Sikal Mountain before the end of this month. If you have time, please come with me to observe it."

"Just tell me the time and place then."

Shade nodded, but he didn't promise to go. After all, he didn't even know what the ceremony was.

After bidding farewell to Granny Cassandra, Shade clipped the identity tag to the inner pocket of his coat inside Cassandra Auction House. He himself has not been deformed, but in the eyes of others, he has become something else.

This can be judged through the mirror. The Shade in the mirror has now turned into a middle-aged man with thinning hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes. He almost has "midlife crisis" written on his face.

After that, he bought red roses near the Middleburg train station, put the gray gloves he had prepared in advance on his hands, and put the gold pen in his pocket. Shade carried the box and walked into the bustling train station.

After buying a platform ticket, I took a look at the train timetable.

Professor Higgins' last words asked Shade to deliver the goods at 9:30 this morning. Xia De was not sure whether the person who picked up the goods was in the city and would leave by car at this time; or the person who picked up the goods was out of town and came by car at this time.

There were actually seven or eight steam trains departing for and coming from Kasenlik around 9:30. This seemed to be one of the busiest times of the day at the station.

Since there were no clues worthy of analysis, Shade pretended to be a passenger waiting for the train and waited slowly with his suitcase on the steamy and crowded platform.