“Just now.”
【The woman who shoved those things into your hands is a Circle Scholar.】
“Hmm.”
Shade looked in the direction where the police had disappeared, then looked at the paper bag—which looked like something from a bakery—that had been forced upon him
“Is there anything dangerous inside?”
【There are no traces of Elements or Spirits. You can take a look at what's inside.】
Shade thought for a moment, looked again toward where the young lady and the police had vanished, and then turned to walk into the alleyway the group had just run out of.
The alley was flanked by two-story buildings, so the lighting was poor. After confirming that no one else was around, Shade glanced into the heavy paper bag; it was filled with books and documents.
“I didn't expect to run into something like this.”
Shade was unwilling to attract any trouble in an unfamiliar city and felt no particular curiosity about the bag he had been forced to take. Since he had confirmed the contents were neither relics nor bombs, he thought about paying the clothing store at the mouth of the alley to keep the bag for a while, so the lady could retrieve it when she came looking for it.
However, as he examined the outside of the bag more closely, he discovered a small blue ink mark in the upper right corner.
The mark was circular, with a ring of vines around the inner edge and an ancient rune representing "text" in the center.
The design was simple, but it caused Shade to frown instinctively
“The emblem of the Zalas Academy of Literature?”
The Zalas Academy of Literature, also known as the Zalas Academy of Incantations, was one of the three great occult academies of the contemporary Sixth Epoch, alongside St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy and the Sercsex Higher Medical College. St. Byron's excelled in relic containment, Zalas was proficient in the development of occult arts and incantations, and Sercsex was highly accomplished in potions and alchemy.
Not long ago, when he had broken into the residence of Official Lidwich's kept mistress in Tobesk with the doctor, they had encountered a correspondence Circle Scholar from the Zalas Academy. Shade hadn't spoken with him, as he wasn't familiar with the students of the other occult academies.
“Could that girl just now be a correspondence Circle Scholar from the Zalas Academy here in Coldwater Port?”
Thinking of this, he looked down at the paper bag in his arms. After a moment of hesitation, he reached in to flip through the documents and pulled one out.
The Zalas Academy emblem was printed at the top, and the header read 【Academy Bounty Order】. A quick scan of the contents revealed that a Sage-level relic, 【The Mermaid's Dream】, had appeared locally. A bounty mission had been issued to correspondence Circle Scholars in and around Coldwater Port, hoping they could provide leads for the academy.
“If she didn't steal this bag, then there's a high probability she really is a correspondence Circle Scholar from the Zalas Academy.”
At this thought, Shade hesitated on whether to leave immediately.
He had no acquaintances locally. If he could find a correspondence Circle Scholar familiar with the local situation, it would certainly be of great help in searching for blood money or other currency-type relics.
The three academies did not require their students to be "good people," but they absolutely could not be "bad people," which guaranteed a basic level of character. However, when it came to abruptly contacting an unknown Circle Scholar, Shade decided it was better to be cautious.
But before he could make up his mind, footsteps sounded again. The true owner of the paper bag, the girl in the black-and-white gauze dress, actually walked into the alley.
Less than five minutes had passed since she had shoved the bag into Shade's hands.
“Sir, I am truly sorry about earlier.”
Wearing small black leather shoes, the young woman in her twenties stood there looking at Shade. Her meticulously groomed long blonde hair draped behind her, and a ruby earring hung from her right ear
“Now, could you return my things to me?”
She was very beautiful when she smiled. With fair skin and an outstanding aura, she reminded Shade of the high-born noble girls he had seen at the banquet at Lakeview Manor.
Whether it was her face, neck, or hands, there wasn't a single scar or flaw. The black-and-white gauze dress she wore looked ordinary in style, but a close look at the tailoring confirmed it was a handmade custom piece.
Shade couldn't find the right rhetoric to accurately describe his first impression of her, but in short, she was definitely a girl of noble birth.
【Circle Scholar. The ruby earring is a very powerful relic.】
“Oh?”
Shade said softly, observing the strange girl
“Were the police chasing you just now?”
She had returned far too quickly.
“I simply happened to appear in a place where I shouldn't have been. Rest assured, sir, I haven't broken any laws.”
She said with a smile. Seeing Shade step forward to hand her the paper bag, the strange girl also took a step forward.
At close range, Shade caught the scent of her perfume. Nowadays, foreigners knew many girls from different backgrounds and possessed a simple ability to distinguish perfumes. Shade couldn't judge the quality of the perfume she was using, but he knew it must be very expensive.
“I'm truly sorry for disturbing you. Goodbye, then.”
Seeing that Shade didn't want to say anything, the girl with the ruby earring took the bag, nodded slightly, and turned to leave. She walked somewhat slowly, but Shade, who was deep in thought, didn't notice.
Looking at her back, after a moment of hesitation, Shade called out to her
“Excuse me, miss, I forgot to ask your name.”
The young woman turned around immediately
“No, it's better that you don't know my name, otherwise you might get into trouble. Sir, when striking up a conversation with a strange girl, you must be careful to see if the other person is a dangerous figure.”
She said with a smile, as if advising a chance admirer to be wary of danger.
“You are quite right,” Shade said, then asked softly, “However, could you satisfy my curiosity? I noticed the bag was full of books. I wonder which school a lady such as yourself attends?”
“Me? You looked at my books?”
She arched an eyebrow
“I can't tell you that, sir. That is a secret.”
With this, although the possibility of a misjudgment still existed, Shade basically confirmed that the other party was a correspondence Circle Scholar from the Zalas Academy.
Based on the simple conversation, she was someone he could communicate with. Furthermore, Shade's question had triggered her alertness, which was exactly what he wanted. He decided to continue probing; after all, he couldn't find a correspondence Circle Scholar from the three great occult academies just anywhere.
“Sir, you didn't flip through my things, did you?” the young woman asked, frowning.
“Of course not.”
“That's good, because inside here is—”
Unexpectedly, she suddenly looked up and locked eyes with Shade
“Who are you?”