“Please believe me, absolutely do not drink it too quickly.”
Seeing Miss Karina take the water glass, Shade, who had learned his lesson, gave a kind reminder. The Duchess gave him a puzzled look, then held the cup and took two small sips; as she swallowed, her throat moved slightly against her fair neck.
Following Shade's suggestion, she drank only three sips before closing her eyes. A full half-minute passed before she placed the cup on the coffee table
“There is some effect.”
She offered no further evaluation. It seemed that while there was an effect, it wasn't particularly pronounced.
Shade stopped mentioning the matter of helping with her treatment. After taking out the jewelry box containing the necklace, he began to discuss the events that had occurred in the ruins the previous night.
He omitted the key details of the fight, stating only the final result, but he did mention that when he had been grabbed by the throat and lifted up by the vampire, the [Golden Necklace of the Ancient Witch] had suddenly glowed.
“Two things are wrong. First, I was indeed in direct contact with him at the time, yet I didn't have a severe allergic reaction; second, what was with the necklace glowing? Does this necklace have such a function?”
The black-haired maid took the necklace from the jewelry box and put it on Miss Karina. The Duchess was not surprised by this
“This necklace bestows an amplified version of the Witch's Curse's negative traits upon the wearer; it is useless to a witch herself. Otherwise, a necklace meant to protect witches would instead aggravate our curse—wouldn't that be ridiculous?”
“Useless to a witch... then I...”
Shade was so surprised he could only think of himself, saying in his heart
*And you still claim you aren't...*
【Listen on.】
“You are certainly not a witch. A witch's intuition toward her own kind is even more sensitive than her reaction to men. My current guess regarding you is that your gender exists in a conceptually blurred state; you could be male, you could be female, or you could be a witch. Therefore, the Witch's Curse, gender potions, and this necklace all have strange reactions to you.”
The Duchess said.
“No, no, I am definitely a man.”
He added a mental note of *“God said so,”* then shook his head, not wanting to discuss this topic further
“Then what was that golden light?”
“That was, of course, the occult art I left on the necklace to protect you. Otherwise, why would I insist that you must not lend the necklace to anyone else? Simply because I don't want others touching my jewelry? Of course, it's more than that. While my occult art protects you, it will trigger a reaction in anyone else. After all, I don't have the ability to make it precisely judge exactly who is touching the necklace.”
Miss Karina said. Seeing that Shade wanted to thank her, she stopped him before he could speak
“I provided you with so much help because your operation this time was valuable. Now, did you bring the things I requested?”
“Of course I did.”
In front of the two ladies, Shade used a handkerchief to restore the corpse of the Silver-Eyed One and the vampire that were hanging from his waist, identifying them
“The headless one is the Silver-Eyed One; his head was evaporated. The one whose original appearance is unclear is the vampire, referred to by the people of the Mercury Blood as Mr. Madis, from the [Blood Spirit School]. Although the body is incomplete, but...”
Miss Karina suddenly sat up straight, her face flushing with excitement
“A vampire? Madis? Oh, I think I know who that is. This is useful, very useful.”
She didn't mind that Shade had dropped the corpses on the study floor. Instead, she took the gloves handed to her by the maid, leaned over, and reached out to examine the bodies
“You say he was already active near Tobesk? In that case, the two members of the [Blood Spirit School] who traveled from the New World to this city—though they have already disembarked at Coldwater Port—will likely not proceed according to plan. With this corpse, I can also report back to the Council. Very good, Detective, very good. This vampire is an important member of the [Blood Spirit School]; this is far too valuable.”
For the first time today, she showed a smile. She then took the letters found on the vampire from Shade. She couldn't decipher the ciphers for the moment, but the Witch Council had plenty of ways to understand the contents
“The harvest is even greater than I imagined. It seems lending you this necklace was the right choice. This way, I might be able to obtain information about the 'Creation Nursery' directly from this vampire. Truly wonderful. Detective, you are truly wonderful—and of course, my eye for talent is also wonderful.”
Afterward, she heard about the relics Shade had obtained from the enemies: the blood-stained scissors and the small bottle containing mercury. She didn't know what those were, but she recognized the fang from the vampire's mouth
“Document-grade relic [Vampire's Fang]. That tooth is one of the inherited tokens of the vampire race. It can be used by implanting it into the body. For the vampire race, it strengthens their innate racial talents. For other creatures, it allows the user to gain some of the vampire's abilities. This fang is said to be related to an Old God; implanting it not only causes symptoms like fear of sunlight and hematophagy but may even lead to influence from the power of the Old God remaining in the world. Detective, sell this fang to me. The Silver-Eyed One's corpse was promised to me originally, but the vampire's corpse was an extra. Adding the fang, the letters, and the corpses together, I'll give you...”
She glanced at Shade's attire. Shade didn't have many coats; aside from formal wear, he seemed to wear this same set of clothes every time he met Miss Karina. The formal wear had been a gift from Miss Karina when he played cards with the Duke.
“1,200 pounds? This amount should be sufficient.”
“Oh, yes, it is sufficient. You are very generous.”
“You are worth the value.”
Relics like the [Vampire's Fang] that required implantation into the body were things neither Shade nor the two ladies could use, so selling it to Miss Karina was the most appropriate choice. He knew the price of 1,200 pounds was actually on the high side, because the corpses, relics, and letters held significant meaning for the [Witch Council], which is why the Duchess was so generous... or perhaps she was always generous.
“I won't ask about the other matters in the ruins, whether it's the [Genesis·Balance] you mentioned or the relics of the Old Day Cult you intend to hand over to the Church; you may handle those yourself. I am very satisfied with you, Detective, very satisfied...”
She suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, and the maid worriedly patted her back. After a long while, the Duchess looked up, brushed aside the red hair covering her eyes, and continued speaking
“Although your operation this time was dangerous, it was indeed very valuable. If I had known in advance that this vampire was also in the ruins, I would have had Tifa follow you. *Cough, cough.* When I called you here this time, I didn't expect you to give me such a surprise. What I truly wanted to discuss with you is the Metamorphosis Ring.”
She pointed to the red velvet ring box on the coffee table, and the box snapped open automatically. The familiar pebble ring lay inside the box; this was the starting point of Shade's contact with the supernatural.
“Detective, look closely.”
In front of Shade, the Duchess picked up the ring and slowly brought it toward the index finger of her right hand. None of the three spoke, but they all saw that as the ring approached the witch's finger, cracks actually appeared on the surface of the pebble. When the ring was almost slipped onto her finger, the pebble on the band nearly split into two halves.
She sighed and moved the ring away; the cracks on the pebble slowly healed.
“See, I cannot use this relic. It would rather destroy itself than be worn on my hand. Detective, I promised you that if you brought the [Metamorphosis Ring] to me, I could tell you all the secrets of the Council. But the arrival of this ring was a result of me planning the scheme and you executing it. Therefore, for now, I can only tell you one secret about the Council.”
“Please tell me.”
Shade looked at the ring with curiosity, and then at her with curiosity.
“The thirteen Great Witches of the Council indeed simultaneously possess the witch system of the Fifth Epoch and the Ring-caster supernatural system of the Sixth Epoch. We are witches living in the Sixth Epoch; although we differ from the witches of the Fifth, we are indeed still witches. The purpose of the Council's existence is not for witches to huddle together for survival; the Council has two common goals.”
She paused to signal Shade to listen carefully. Although she said she would only tell him one secret, the Duchess had decided to give Shade her utmost trust this time because he had demonstrated his value
“First, to find the Chosen One prophesied in the *Whispering Verses*—I will discuss this with you in detail later. The other goal is to find a way to utilize the power of this epoch to break the curses upon us without our own power declining. For example, the 'Creation Nursery,' or this ring...”
The Duchess glanced at the [Metamorphosis Ring]
“This was just a small attempt. As expected, it won't be that easy.”
She suddenly laughed again, her complexion appearing healthier and healthier. Her dark golden eyes met Shade's, and her tone suddenly became extremely gentle
“Detective, would you like to try this ring? You suspected you were a witch just now; isn't this a chance to prove it?”
Shade raised an eyebrow and brought the ring close to his finger, but there was no reaction
“See, I am indeed male.”
While breathing a sigh of relief, Shade placed the ring directly back into the box on the coffee table. Miss Karina raised an eyebrow
“What I mean is, put on the ring, recite the incantation 'The transition of positive and negative is the start of a new life,' and see what happens. I am quite curious whether a man like you, who doesn't trigger the Witch's Curse, is also unable to use similar relics, just like us.”
“No, sorry, I won't use it.”
Shade shook his head in refusal. This was a matter of principle; he would absolutely not turn into a woman.
“Just try it, and I'll give you a reward. For example... a kiss?”
She tilted her head, joking.
“No, no reward will work.”
Shade continued to shake his head. It wasn't just because of the ring's negative traits, nor because the previous two owners of the ring had met untimely ends, but because he had a psychological barrier—he would absolutely not become a woman.
He thought Miss Karina would offer more tempting conditions or force him to wear the ring, but unexpectedly, she stopped there.
The Duchess said regretfully
“I see... very well. However, this ring is useless to me, and although Tifa is not yet a true witch, I don't want her to become a man either. The [Metamorphosis Ring] is yours, Detective, as a reward for showing concern for me.”
This tactic of retreating to advance was very effective. Although Shade could not use the [Metamorphosis Ring], he would not refuse to keep it temporarily. Strictly speaking, this ring was stolen property; not to mention selling it locally, even if he went to Coldwater Port to sell it, there was a high possibility he would be caught by the Church of the True God, which was currently determined to capture all cultists. And if he sold it to the Academy, which shared intelligence with the Church, he would have to explain the ring's origin, which would then involve the witches.
Miss Karina likely figured that if the ring stayed in Shade's hands long enough, he might eventually figure out how to use it.
The witch didn't try to hide her thoughts, but rather waited with curiosity for Shade's decision. Shade pursed his lips in thought, his finger on his knee twitching slightly, his expression conflicted, but in the end, he leaned over and took the ring box from the coffee table.
After all, this ring was truly valuable.
“Thank you for your generosity. I'll take the ring—but I won't use it. After six months, once the heat dies down, I'll sell it.”
Shade emphasized once more. Seeing him like this, even the black-haired maid standing behind Miss Karina showed a smile.
“Detective, I never said you *could* use it,” the Duchess joked, and the maid's smile became more pronounced
“But remember, if you accidentally or coincidentally use it, remember to tell me whether it worked for you. Regardless of the result, I will give you a... testing fee. I like that phrasing.”
“No, I won't use it.”
Shade emphasized again, then securely placed the ring box into his pocket.
“I believe you.”
The Duchess was in a very good mood now.
【I believe you too.】
The whisper in his ear also carried a hint of laughter.
PS: Just to emphasize, to prevent readers from misunderstanding, there are no gender-bending plots for Shade in this book.
(End of Chapter)