"Meow~"
Held by Luvia by the wall, little Mia looked at Shade with great concern, believing that doing such a thing in the cold of winter was truly foolish.
In the entire house, the attic was the room with the fewest steam pipes running through it, second only to the basement. Furthermore, to better catch the moonlight, Shade had opened the window. Once the night breeze blew into the room, even Luvia, wrapped in her cloak, felt the room was exceptionally cold.
Fortunately, the new firewood added to the First Fire a while ago had greatly increased Shade's resistance to cold. He had no time to complain about the temperature; he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, facing the moon outside the window.
As the massive Life Ring appeared behind him, he followed the materials provided by Sister Devlin, covering his eyes with a black cloth band and meditating in his heart upon that great silver moon. This was quite easy for him, as Shade frequently saw that moon in his dreams.
Gradually, Luvia and Mia both saw Shade under the moonlight, as if he had begun to glow. The silver moonlight resonated with the core spirit rune [Silver Moon], and a strange halo spread from him across the entire attic, once again making Luvia feel as though she were standing before an ancient lunar cathedral or shrine.
The purple-eyed girl raised an eyebrow
"Truly impressive."
It was unclear if she was speaking to Mia, but the cat was staring at Shade with shining eyes, as if afraid he might vanish in an instant.
Soon, those strange lights and shadows vanished completely. Only after the Life Ring behind him disappeared did Shade remove the cloth band from his eyes
"Sister Devlin's ritual is very effective. But strangely, in my perception, there are only two moons in Tobesk."
He stood up suspiciously, and Luvia immediately stepped forward to hand him his coat and help him put it on
"Which two?"
"One is myself."
He pointed to himself.
"One is in the sky."
Shade pointed to the moons in the sky and said, rather troubled
"The radiance of the moon and I are simply too bright, to the point where I cannot see any other moonlight at all. Of course, it's also possible that there are simply no Yellow Moon relics in the vicinity."
Luvia didn't know whether she wanted to be angry or laugh
"Actually, you don't need to praise yourself like this; I know your moonlight is very pure."
"But it seems the method of searching for the so-called 'Yellow Moon' through this resonance is unattainable."
"It doesn't matter. After all, whether we can obtain five [Sage's Glowstones] is not important to us; we don't have any candidates suitable to become the Chosen."
Luvia spoke gently and urged him
"Hurry downstairs to warm yourself by the fire. Although with your physical constitution, a cold is unlikely, you can't stay here forever."
Thus, Shade took Mia and left the attic with Luvia. Luvia would still be staying the night; the two of them needed to cross-reference their current understanding of the Pantanal region to determine the challenges they would face next.
Meanwhile, on Henrietta Garden Pedestrian Street, two streets east of St. Delan Square, two ladies familiar to Shade arrived, bathed in tonight's exceptionally bright moonlight.
Coming from the east was Miss Daneste, the librarian of St. Byron's. Like Shade, she had chosen this clear night to use a spiritual resonance ritual to search for relics. Originally, she had found nothing, but she had just caught a glimpse of brilliant silver moonlight. Although she knew this was not her target—a Yellow Moon relic—she still walked in that direction to investigate.
A step behind Miss Daneste was Miss Pavo, the Vice President of the [Truth Society], with a large silver book floating beside her.
She was still wearing the black-and-red long dress that Shade was very familiar with. While checking the large book that flipped its own pages, she turned into the winter night's pedestrian street. Looking up, she saw Miss Daneste wearing a black velvet cloak for warmth. After a slight blink, she looked down at her book and revealed an expression of extreme surprise.
"The Angel-grade relic *The Smowell Codex* is truly powerful; it can even see through the disguise of a Thirteenth-Ring Warlock."
Miss Daneste stood under a gas streetlamp, withdrawing her gaze from the now-vanished silver moonlight, and turned to look at Miss Pavo
"Good evening."
"Good evening. Are you the Red Moon Witch of St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy?"
Miss Pavo bowed respectfully and explained
"I cannot peer into your power, but I can judge that you are a high-ring warlock. I heard news of the Red Moon Witch of St. Byron's a while ago, and combined with the descriptions of your beauty I've always heard, I judged that the person I had the honor of meeting tonight was you."
"No need to praise me, lady of the Truth Society. What are you looking for here?"
Miss Daneste asked the Sixth-Ring female warlock with a calm expression. The latter answered honestly
"Through *The Smowell Codex*, I used a ritual-assisted numerical divination and believe that the Yellow Moon sought by that bard is most likely the Sage-grade relic [Source of Chaos]. The last time the [Source of Chaos] appeared was approximately 101 years ago, when it was taken by a Seventh-Ring warlock to a lakeside about 20 miles from Tobesk in a straight line."
Miss Daneste nodded slightly
"Continue."
"Our people recently found the notebook of that astrologer, Mr. Euclid, in the ancient ruins of Mount Callas. I searched for his whereabouts and believe he ultimately died on Mount Callas, but the [Source of Chaos] should still be in Tobesk City. Based on the records in the notebook, we later used local noble connections to commission professors of folklore and history to help dig through century-old records, studying several accidents and urban legends suspected to be related to the moon."
"Finally, after very accidentally finding an old newspaper in the library, I dared to be certain that the relic is very likely in a house in this nearby neighborhood. That astrologer from a hundred years ago once stayed in a house around here."
Miss Pavo spoke in one breath, her expression equally composed
"Since I couldn't determine exactly which house it was, I wanted to come here personally to search and divine, but unfortunately, I couldn't divine a result. Actually, this is normal; so many people from the Church were present that night. If the relic could be easily found through divination, the Seers' Association would certainly be more precise than my calculations."
Miss Daneste wasn't very clear on the matters of the "astrologer" and the "Source of Chaos"; she had originally suspected a different relic, as records of the [Source of Chaos] were far too few
"I see. In that case, since you also know that bard, were you also at the concert hall the night the demon appeared?"
"No, I was not. However, a Southern poet I collaborate with was. I sought a promise from him, and in exchange, he requested that I assist him in climbing a lighthouse and finding this relic, which would be of great help to him."
Miss Pavo admitted. Miss Daneste nodded again
"This relic now belongs to me. You have successfully used this information to trade for your life."
"Thank you for your generosity, lady. Good night; I shall now leave the city and return to the South."
Miss Pavo bowed respectfully once more, then turned and left.
Miss Daneste frowned slightly
"Source of Chaos, hm? Indeed, that could directly represent the Yellow Moon. Although it is only Sage-grade, its moonlight is indeed quite pure. But the problem is..."
She scanned the surrounding houses
"Where exactly would that relic be?"
***
The next time Shade saw Miss Daneste was on Friday morning. He had planned to go to Midhill Castle today to see Sister Devlin and arrange to welcome the two Great Witches arriving in Huntington on Saturday, but the bell downstairs rang during breakfast.
"Miss Daneste? Why are you here so early?"
Shade was very surprised and wanted to invite the lady upstairs. But the librarian shook her head slightly
"The Church obtained some news from the Apuna Library. The location of my temporary business trip has changed, and I will be leaving the city shortly. Therefore, the matter of searching for that Yellow Moon relic is left to you."
"Oh, no problem. Safe travels then, and if I find—"
Shade spoke immediately, but Miss Daneste interrupted him
"Do not use poetry manuscript pages to send me messages. The receiving rights for manuscript pages belong to the Academy. Although I have left trustworthy people behind, this is ultimately our matter. Once I've finished the business in the South and before I return to the Academy, I will come find you again."
She smiled at Shade
"It has been confirmed that the relic is the Sage-grade relic [Source of Chaos], a standard spherical, flawless orb. That item should be in the nearby neighborhood. You can seek help from the Royal History Library or the folklore professors in the university district."
"Yes, I understand."
Shade nodded, and Miss Daneste produced a ring and handed it to him. It was a brass band with a ruby face. The entire ring was engraved with dense elven runes; because Shade possessed knowledge of elves, he recognized these ancient languages.
"An alchemical item I made myself. I thought it would be enough as a Year-End gift. It's not of great use—it has a permanent Light spell, and under the moonlight of the Red Moon at night, it can cast a healing spell, though the effect isn't particularly strong."
Seeing that Shade had accepted the ring, she added
"I've worn this ring for a long time; basically, everyone who knows me recognizes it. Therefore, this ring can represent me. Keep it well; if you encounter truly troublesome matters, you can produce this ring. Warlocks from the Church, the Academy, and most neutral organizations should give me face."
Having finished, she didn't give Shade a chance to thank her, waving a smiling farewell
"Then I'll see you in a few weeks, Mr. Hamilton. As a professor, I must remind you that while the [Source of Chaos] is important, do not forget your exams."
"I would hate for the next librarian I've chosen to fail his compulsory course exams. You know, when I was a student, I was the best ring-warlock in my year. If you successfully promote to the fourth year, next year I can open a few elective courses for you privately to discuss the moon and the library. I believe this is very necessary."
With that, the lady departed, leaving Shade standing at the door looking at the ring in his hand.
Compared to the supernatural power it possessed, the ring itself was the most important part. Although Miss Daneste had still not found a way to open the [Silver Moon Library], she seemed to have made up her mind to groom Shade as the next librarian.
For an outsider, this was indeed the best Year-End gift.
***
PS: Modified the rules for [Genesis · Knowledge], changed to
[If this card is the first card, it nullifies any effect of one special card already played by the opponent; if this card is the second card, the value can be adjusted between 1, 2, and 3; if this card is the third card, the player can choose whether to force the opponent's total points to decrease by 3; if this card is the fourth card, in the event of a bust, one card may be redrawn to replace the first card, but special rules cannot be used; if this card is the fifth card or later, the player wins immediately regardless of the situation.]
In other words, it has an effect regardless of which turn it is drawn, and the instant win has been moved to the fifth card and beyond, rather than the nearly impossible sixth card.
(End of Chapter)