Hearing the name "Omni-Impermanence," Shade felt a strange, inexplicable sensation. He lowered his head to look at the card held by the woman sitting on the high stool, which depicted the moon.
"Solon Silvermoon."
He whispered softly, then felt the Miracle Factor actually increasing.
Miss Anat from across the table looked at him in surprise
"What did you say? Solon? Isn't that your middle name?"
"It's nothing, just marveling at the wonderful fate between myself and the Silvermoon."
Shade said, then turned to ask Miss Anat
"So the Association of Prophets doesn't know what these cards are truly used for either?"
"No, but the Association at least created the Rhode Cards based on these cards. The gold pounds the Association has earned over these past few centuries are more than all the other times in the entire Sixth Epoch combined."
Miss Anat said, then turned her interest toward Mia, who was sprawled next to Shade, but the lazy cat had no interest in her.
"Thirteen Ancient Gods, thirteen Witch Empresses, thirteen Chosen Ones... is there a connection between them?"
Miss Anat smiled slightly
"Good question, Detective. You are very sharp. To be precise, it shouldn't be a coincidence. Clear evidence shows that the thirteen Witch Empresses of the Fifth Epoch and the Chosen Ones of the Sixth Epoch share commonalities, yet also possess differences. The greatest similarity is that they all possess the power of the Ancient Gods. You could understand it as them being humans favored by fallen Ancient Gods. But why this is the case, I cannot explain.
The Ancient Gods are the oldest and most mysterious deities. Their affairs are likely known only to those organizations with ancient heritages."
"Then, would an organization like the Witch Council know these secrets?"
Shade asked while stroking Mia's back. The cat glanced at him, and Miss Anat froze
"You know of the Witch Council too? You might have heard of the Ancient Gods from professors at the Academy of History, but who told you about the Witch Council? The Witch Council is very mysterious; all its members are female sorcerers. As the name suggests, they inherited the power of the last thirteen Witch Empresses of the Fifth Epoch. The Council's thirteen most powerful Great Witches correspond to them."
"It's really related to those witches from the Fifth Epoch? But the Witch Empresses were already a matter of over 1,800 years ago."
Shade was very surprised. He had originally thought she just wanted a beautiful name, or had simply been lucky enough to obtain relics related to the Witch Empresses.
"The Great Witches of the Witch Council are all able to ascend to the High Circle at a very young age. One or two might be a coincidence, but since all thirteen Great Witches throughout history have been like this, it's hard not to suspect whether they truly inherited power from the previous epoch. Perhaps it is a special method of job advancement that allows for rapid leveling. But only the thirteen Great Witches possess such power; the other sorceresses in the Council are quite normal."
Miss Anat's tone became somewhat unnatural when speaking of this organization.
"Are you also a member of the Witch Council?"
Shade asked.
"Detective, what nonsense are you talking? I have merely dealt with them; that experience was very unpleasant."
The female diviner asked, leaning back on the sofa and swinging her fingers.
"Is the Witch Council also a wanted illegal organization?"
Shade suspected that Duchess Galina Cavendish was a Great Witch of the Witch Council. If so, all the information he had overheard while wandering around Lakeview Manor finally fell into place.
He was almost certain of this guess.
"This organization... is very complex. It is difficult to define as good or bad. The Church is only hostile toward a few of them, not the entire organization. But unlike madmen like the [Blood Spirit School], they are merely keen on seizing relics and books related to the last thirteen Witch Empresses of the Fifth Epoch; otherwise, they are quite well-behaved.
The thirteen most powerful members who form the Council are all sorceresses of the tenth circle or higher; one of the most powerful witches even possesses the strength of the thirteenth circle. Compared to the Witch Council, an organization like [Mercury Blood] isn't even worth comparing. However, the Witch Council itself is not united. The thirteen Great Witches all have their own factions. Those women—hmph—though they won't deal lethal blows to one another, their skill at internal infighting is top-tier."
"In that case, they must also know about the *Whispering Psalms*."
This was a statement of certainty.
"Of course. Aside from the Church and the Academy, they are certainly the most knowledgeable."
Shade nodded. Miss Galina had promised that if he could win at the weekend card game, she could reveal her identity to him. At that time, he might be able to learn some secrets from the Duchess's mouth.
"But when she saw that 'Founder · Silvermoon' card, she didn't seem to have much of a reaction. Does the Witch Council not know the secret of the Rhode Cards? Or was she acting?"
He pondered silently in his heart, while Miss Anat tried to reach for the cat that had moved to the coffee table, but Mia used her small paw to push her hand away. The coffee table was cooler than the sofa, and the petite cat was unwilling to leave.
As July arrived—the month commonly known as the Thunder Moon—the weather seemed to heat up instantly. Thinking that this world had no air conditioning or fans, the outsider felt somewhat apprehensive about the upcoming hotter days.
"Detective, since the Founder · Silvermoon has chosen you, there must be a reason. Although you exist outside of fate, you clearly cannot remain uninvolved in the approaching era of chaos."
Miss Anat made a summary of the conversation, seemingly intending to end the visit, but Shade's next sentence made her sit back down
"Speaking of which, I saw Miss Beas yesterday."
"Oh? Is that so? Tell me more."
Miss Anat gave up on teasing the lazy orange cat and focused on listening to Shade recount yesterday's events. When she heard "Sunlight Spear," she raised an eyebrow
"Eluna Beas didn't do that because she wanted credit. According to my preliminary investigation, she had a conflict with [Mercury Blood], which happened before she was transferred from the Holy See of the Church of the Sun to Tobesk. A while ago, she came to me to divine whether her recent endeavors were going smoothly; so that's what she meant.
Your actions yesterday were perfectly fine. Do not expose your identity as a Circle Sorcerer, and even more importantly, do not let yourself be dragged into anything involving Eluna Beas. On my end, I will accelerate my contact with her, striving to make her a true Chosen One as soon as possible."
"Sorry, what does that mean? She isn't a Chosen One yet?"
Shade looked at her and asked with some surprise; he quite liked the color of Miss Anat's eyes.
"The power of a Chosen One is more than just what she is currently displaying. Becoming a true Chosen One has certain manifestations. The greatest manifestation is that she can turn her life ring into a weapon. According to my divination, the Chosen One corresponding to [Balance] should eventually be able to turn their life ring into a golden scale."
Shade tilted his head, imagining the scene
"Since a metal ring can appear behind a Circle Sorcerer, it wouldn't be too strange for a metal scale to appear."
"She has only just touched the edge of a Chosen One's power, which allows her to suppress a fourth-circle sorcerer to some extent and even use a miracle like [Sunlight Spear] beyond her current level, but this is not the true power of a Chosen One."
Miss Anat shook her head
"The method to become a Chosen One is very cumbersome. I suspect even the Church of the Sun might not know it. The possibility that they happened to find that part of the *Whispering Psalms* is very low."
"What is the method?"
Shade asked curiously, and Miss Anat did not hide it. She held up one finger
"Three requirements.
First, one must obtain a relic possessing the corresponding power of an Ancient God. The scope of 'relics' here is very broad; it could be a [Relic], or a statue, or a broken holy emblem, or even an ancient temple in the wilderness, but it must possess the power of an Ancient God. The Ancient God representing the power of Balance is called the [Inverted Arbiter] by mortals."
The card face of [Founder · Balance] was an image of a man hanging upside down beneath a tree.
"That kind of relic should be very hard to find," Shade commented, though if it were a relic of a Time Ancient God, it would be far too easy to find.
"But I already have a clue, and the Church of the Sun can probably think of something similar, so it isn't difficult."
She held up a second finger
"Second, the Chosen One must deeply understand the meaning of the qualification corresponding to their selection."
"That can only be understood by Miss Beas herself; we can't help with that," Shade said again.
Finally, she held up a third finger
"Lastly, and most difficult, the Chosen One must complete a ritual. The ritual requires no materials; one only needs to accomplish a certain task. This ritual should be contained within a certain part of the Psalms. I am trying my best to divine it, but because the price to be paid is too great, I haven't made much progress yet."
"May I ask what the price you pay is?"
Shade asked. Miss Anat shook her head, her short brown hair swaying behind her
"It is inconvenient to reveal for now. Wait until you ascend to the second circle; I will tell you then. In any case, I will handle these matters. You still need to obtain power as quickly as possible. The epic composed of the thirteen Chosen Ones has only just begun; I think we still have plenty of time."
She sighed, her expression turning momentarily sorrowful. Shade didn't know what to say, so he refilled Miss Anat's black tea.
Before leaving, the diviner thought of the sealed first floor and proactively offered to help Shade divine the matters regarding this house. Of course, it was just an ordinary divination.
She carried a pendulum crystal for divination and borrowed a basin of water from Shade. After being busy for a while, she sat before the basin, letting the purple crystal hover above the water's surface.
Miss Anat could likely see certain images from the water, combined with the different perspectives of "another self" to perform the divination, but Shade could see nothing.
"There are no results, or rather, everything here is normal," Miss Anat said after a long while, explaining her reasoning
"I saw your house within the mist. A veil was obscuring it, but the house itself did not reveal any strange colors. This indicates that even if there is a problem here, it is not related to mysterious factors. Of course, it could also be that my divination is flawed, after all, I am only a third-circle sorcerer. However, when you report to the Dawn Cathedral about using other parts of the house, they will come to inspect it again. The Cathedral's inspection should be more reliable than my divination."
She said this while putting away her purple crystal pendant. Shade breathed a sigh of relief; he could finally rest easy and make use of the bedroom where Detective Spylo had passed away.
"Detective, I will leave you my address. You can contact me anytime if something comes up. Be careful of everything lately," the diviner said.
Shade opened the door to see her downstairs, hesitated for a moment, and then urged
"Miss Anat, you should also be careful. If there is truly a major, unsolvable danger—such as an evil god or an unknowable-level relic—you can come to me. Treat me as a last resort... the power of Lakeview Manor can be used one more time."
He truly regarded Miss Anat as a friend, and he also greatly admired people like Miss Beas. Although he was reluctant to part with his divinity, he would not be stingy if it were necessary. After all, he was still far from ascending from the first to the second circle.
"Shade, do not underestimate the power of ladies. You are not the only one with secrets."
Miss Anat said, her purple eyes carrying a hint of a smile. This was the first time she had addressed him by his name.
(End of Chapter)