Seeing that Shade did not answer, Old John did not press further
"But as you know, a few hundred pounds sounds like a lot, but in reality, it's just the entry threshold for crafting alchemical weapons. If you truly possess a very powerful relic arrow, I still suggest, as I did last time, that you dip into your savings to acquire a truly powerful alchemical item for yourself."
Because relic weapons were often expensive and hard to find, most Ring-casters proficient in weapon usage relied on alchemical weapons. Old John's suggestion now wasn't an attempt to earn Shade's gold pounds, but genuine advice
"Gold pounds are earned to be spent. Listen to me, young man, spending tens of thousands of pounds to create a crossbow that can be used for over a decade is a very worthwhile investment. Of course, letting me help you craft it is even more worthwhile."
He spoke with a smile. Shade knew Father John was right, but the problem was that he couldn't spend all his money at once
"An expensive weapon certainly can't be finished in a week like this one."
Shade put the small crossbow back into its box
"But I might need to use that arrow soon, so I'll use this as a substitute for now. As for the new crossbow, I'll think about it some more."
In truth, he wanted to gather enough money and materials to seek help from Priest Augustus.
After fusing more remains of the Death Angel, the priest had acquired more knowledge. In the list of alchemical items he provided to Shade, one was the "Holy Angel Hand Crossbow (Degraded Version)." Since Shade could buy cheap materials in Coldwater Harbor and Priest Augustus could give him a discount on labor, the cost of that hand crossbow could be compressed to just over thirty thousand pounds.
While Father John's prices were exorbitant, he could customize the crossbow's functions; the priest was cheaper, but he could only give the crossbow holy attributes.
That was why Shade needed to think it over; he once again felt that he was short on money.
Returning home, Shade hugged his cat and, wrapped in a cloak on a snowy day, walked to the Seer's Association to wait for Luvia to finish work. The falling snow made Mia exceptionally excited.
After dinner that day, the Seer who had come to No. 6 St. Delan Square for exorcism carefully checked Shade's physical condition after his partial fusion with the [Weeping Angel], and spent a wonderful night with him. Of course, Shade did not forget that the following morning—Tuesday—he had to meet two witches.
By Tuesday morning, the heavy snow that had lasted nearly two full days finally stopped. Looking out the window, the entire city was silver-white. While eating breakfast with Luvia, Shade mentioned to the Miss Seer that he was considering whether to collaborate with the witches on an investment. Luvia did not give him her opinion, instead encouraging Shade to make his own decision.
With the city sealed by snow, even the carriage drivers' prices were significantly higher than usual. Shade first delivered Sir Prisha's itinerary and invitation to the doctor's clinic before taking a carriage out of the city. Because the roads were quite difficult to traverse, he didn't arrive at Miss Galina's manor until 9:30 AM.
By now, the manor had also turned silver-white, which only made the luxurious estate look even more beautiful.
The two witches were already in the warm study, sipping red tea while waiting for Shade.
As Tifa led Shade into the room, Miss Galina was flipping through *The Secrets of Eternal Youth*, a book originally borrowed by Princess Margaret from the Sussex Higher Medical College. Because this book recorded fragments of the poetic verses and was a relic of the Witch Emperors, it had been "appropriated" by Miss Sylvia and now belonged to the public property of the Council.
As for Miss Sylvia, she was currently reading a magazine on sweater knitting.
After taking a seat, Shade first complained about the terrible weather before discussing business with the two ladies
"I've obtained a brilliance stone from the Prankster Boy, and adding the one from Gentleman Jack, I now have two."
"See, I knew you'd somehow get involved in the affairs of the Chosen," the Duchess smiled, glancing at Miss Sylvia before continuing
"The brilliance stones aren't important right now. The Speaker used time reversal to restore another fragment of the poetic verses from ancient stone carvings. There are two new pieces of information."
She held up her fingers to Shade
"The island in the center of the lake where the Chosen of Knowledge and Wisdom hold their ritual is not in Tobesk, but in a certain region in the center of the Old Continent."
Beside her, Miss Sylvia waved her finger, and a bright blue light formed a topographic map of the Old Continent above the coffee table in front of the three of them.
Not long ago, Luvia had mentioned that this ritual was not in Tobesk but further south, so Shade immediately pointed to the map
"Could it be the Pantanal Great Swamp region?"
"Why do you think so? Though it's not without reason," Miss Galina mused.
"Additionally, I believe you already know that if one is within the coverage area when the Chosen's ritual takes place, everyone will receive an enlightenment of wisdom."
"Yes, I know about that."
"But this enlightenment seems to be more powerful than we originally understood. There is reason to believe that Miss Pavo of the Truth Society's true purpose this time is enlightenment. The [Truth Society] seems to be planning some kind of large-scale experiment, but they lack key information."
The witch frowned slightly
"And the [Apuna Library]—they've done so many things behind the Church's back, also for the sake of enlightenment. They are searching for a hidden ancient library containing numerous books; the collection there is worth their betrayal of the Church."
Shade thought back to last Monday, when he and Luvia had simultaneously seen Ring-casters from the Truth Society, the Apuna Library, and the Pantanal Voodoo Society at the Three Cats Inn
"The possibility that the final location is in the Pantanal Great Swamp is very high," he said softly. Miss Galina nodded, appearing quite convinced by Shade's judgment. Miss Sylvia didn't understand why she was so convinced, as Shade hadn't provided a specific reason.
"Emma, if the Council wanted to cross thousands of miles to place three or more Great Witches in the center of the Pantanal region, would you have a way?" Miss Galina asked.
Miss Sylvia thought for a moment
"At the very least, the exact location must be confirmed. Give me a coordinate; the Pantanal Great Swamp is quite vast. If the specific location is unknown, rather than using spatial powers, it would be better for us to simply fly there—at least the field of vision is wider."
Miss Galina thought for a moment and then asked Shade
"Shade, so what do you plan to do?"
"I'm still making judgments on certain things. This Chosen... the Pantanal Voodoo Society is plotting a conspiracy. I hope it has nothing to do with the eldritch entities of Pantanal."
Miss Galina shook her head with a smile
"Since it's possible it involves Pantanal, the chance that it's unrelated to that subspace eldritch entity is very small. The rituals of the Chosen have never gone smoothly. If no unexpected power appears, how can the Chosen undergo their trials?"
"Shade, speaking of which, do you have any clues regarding the Bard's trial?" Miss Sylvia also asked. She had appeared at the opera house that night to rescue Princess Margaret, so she had also heard the Bard's poetry.
"The yellow moon... I don't know exactly what that refers to."
Shade shook his head. Although he was good at finding things, he had no starting point when there were no clues at all
"Once the weather clears, I plan to hold a ritual at night, using my core spirit rune to see if there is a resonance with a power of the same origin."
This "resonance ritual" was considered a basic ritual, but because it often resonated with dangerous things, Ring-casters didn't necessarily use it.
"I hope a way can be found."
"It's a pity this Chosen is a man. Otherwise, once we found the five brilliance stones, we might have been able to win over another lady similar to Sister Devlin," the witch sighed.
After the incident with Sister Devlin, the Council also learned that the Chosen had a candidate mechanism. However, the Council had no way of finding the lower-ranked candidates, nor did they have enough confidence to kill a Chosen protected by fate. Thus, all they could do was wait.
The roads were poor due to the snow. Knowing that Shade's only plan for the afternoon was to go to Midhill Castle, Miss Galina specifically asked Shade to stay for lunch. Thus, Shade shared a meal with the two witches for the first time in a while. Miss Sylvia didn't bring up the investment with Miss Galina; instead, she and Miss Galina expressed concern over Shade's upcoming year-end exam week in a few weeks.
Shade was quite confident about this. Although skipping grades meant he had to read over thirty more books, compared to the rushed exam week in the summer, he had begun "reviewing" more than a month in advance under the doctor's thoughtful urging.
During the short week of living with Dorothy, courses that required not only memorization but also understanding—such as the reconstruction of Basic Ritual Studies and the pharmacological analysis of Intermediate Potion Studies—had received help from the writer lady and the princess.
He hadn't taken any electives this winter and only needed to pass his compulsory subjects. The question now wasn't whether he could pass, but how many marks he could get.
After lunch, the two witches entered the Council to contact the Speaker, and the Duchess didn't forget to send a carriage to take Shade back to the city. Upon returning home, Shade first ensured that Mia had eaten the cat food he left for her at noon, then headed from the basement to Midhill Castle, walking from the abandoned tower in the mountains toward the House of the Blind in the city.
At two in the afternoon, together with the Chosen of Death and the Caretaker of the First Flame—Sister Devlin—he passed through the oil painting in the basement of Midhill Castle's Snake Heart Hospital and arrived at the sacrificial grounds located atop the Rommel mountain range.
The snow in the mountains was even harder to melt; the ancient sacrificial grounds were wrapped in silver attire even in the depths of winter.
(End of Chapter)