For the appraisal of such an extremely precious special card, Shade wanted to be safe, so he naturally sought help from the Vice President he was well-acquainted with, Mr. Cyndia Mark.
Mr. Mark had been incredibly busy lately organizing next month's Great City Players Rhode Card Tournament, but upon hearing that Shade was looking for him, he still made time for a meeting.
"Wait... Mr. Hamilton, you couldn't have obtained another new Rhode card, could you?"
After the initial pleasantries, the man leading Shade upstairs suddenly paused and instinctively gripped the stair railing.
"Alright, you can tell me now."
His eyes were full of anticipation.
"Yes, a new Rhode card. You actually guessed it," Shade nodded.
"An ancient one?" Mr. Mark probed cautiously.
"Yes, I'd like to have it appraised."
The moment the words left his mouth, Shade saw Mr. Mark clutch his chest, looking as if he were about to have a heart attack.
"What's wrong—no, no, it's not a Genesis series, not that one. It's this one, this one," Shade explained hurriedly, pulling out the Demon series card.
The middle-aged man in the black formal suit took deep breaths as he looked at the card face. Only after discovering it wasn't a [Genesis] did his complexion gradually return to normal.
"The Demon series? This is truly a rare card."
"Yes. Although it's not a Genesis, it is still an ancient enough Rhode card. I hope the association's appraisers can take a look at it," Shade stated his request.
"No problem, but you'll need to wait a few hours."
Mr. Mark's breathing steadied, and his expression became serious. Even if it wasn't a Genesis series, this card was still priceless... provided it was genuine.
"The Tobesk branch has never appraised a Demon series card, but for the sake of the Great City Players, the veteran appraisers arriving from headquarters should be able to do it."
"Then I'll leave the card here; I'll come back for it tonight or tomorrow."
"No, that wouldn't be according to the rules. During appraisal, the holder must be present," Mr. Mark emphasized immediately. This was to protect both the cardholder and the association.
"It's fine, I trust the association. Besides, aren't we friends?" Shade shook his head nonchalantly; in truth, he didn't have high hopes for this card.
After leaving Silver Cross Avenue, Shade returned home and greeted Dorothy and Mia, who was wearing the ring on her tail. Under the curious gazes of the woman and the cat, he entered the basement once more and returned to Coldwater Harbor.
"He really was busy today," the blonde girl said with a smile, hugging the cat.
By the time he landed on the beach, the rain that had lasted all morning had finally stopped. Soaked to the bone, Shade found a cheap inn in the dock district to bathe and change into clean clothes before heading back out onto the streets.
Whether it was because the afternoons were naturally crowded or because people had stepped out now that the weather had cleared, the dock district was considerably livelier than it had been in the morning.
Shade had never personally reported someone before. Writing a letter or putting it in a drifting bottle to throw into the sea would have been the simplest method. However, since it concerned a Chosen, Shade didn't want to risk the letter at all, so he decided to deliver it to the church in person.
Of course, to ensure the church believed the contents of the letter, Shade not only recounted everything regarding Darkness in detail but even signed the end of the letter as "The God-Caller."
The mysterious snowflakes when the Fishbone pirate ship departed, and the moonlight over the ancient alley occupied by the fishmen last week, had already led the Church of the Righteous Gods to suspect that the thirteenth-ring warlock, who had been severely injured by calling a god, was also in Coldwater Harbor. Therefore, writing it this way posed no problem.
He was unwilling to enter the church and toss the letter aside when no one was looking. Instead, he wrote the letter and wandered around the Nature Church in the dock district, hoping to encounter a priest who happened to be stepping out.
The [Lord of All Things], also known as the [God of Nature and Malice], held divine portfolios related to the ocean, resulting in a very strong following in coastal regions. The church was located on the busiest street of the dock district. With the rain gone and a rainbow appearing on the horizon, the number of believers coming to pray or confess had increased significantly; Shade blended into the crowd, completely inconspicuous.
Holding a newspaper, he stood by the roadside on a Monday afternoon, watching people enter and exit the church. After a long while, he finally spotted a priest in white robes with a holy symbol hanging from his chest, walking hurriedly from the other side of the street. He looked to be around the same age as Dr. Schneider; his haste wasn't due to urgent business, but rather a desire to avoid the next wave of crowds entering the church.
Shade's eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped forward, intercepting the priest before he reached the church.
"Oh, child, is there something I can help you with?"
Being stopped by Shade didn't anger the priest; instead, he stopped kindly and asked. These clergy members were all skilled in communication.
"Father, I wish to repent."
Shade lowered his head by the roadside and delivered his prepared lines, while the clergyman before him wore an expression of understanding.
"No problem, that is very good. Why don't you come into the church with me? We shall go to the confessional, where your privacy can be protected."
"Oh, no, Father. My sin is too great; I do not wish for my defiled soul to pass before the God," Shade said again, trying to make his tone sound as sincere as possible.
A worried expression appeared on the priest's face.
"Then, what it is you wish to say is..."
He likely worried that Shade was a murderer or something of the sort.
"I have fallen in love with many girls at once."
This was the lightest—yet not too light—sin Shade could find. Although this was self-defamation and damaged his image, since it was for a noble reason—to have the Church of the Righteous Gods arrest Darkness—Shade didn't mind.
The worry vanished from the middle-aged man's face, and he nodded with considerable sympathy.
"That is indeed a sin, but since you already know it is wrong, it shows you are still a good person. Repent sincerely, then choose the girl you truly wish to spend your life with, and you will find happiness."
"Oh, thank you, Father."
Shade kept his head down, forcing a raspy voice from his throat, then sniffled and shrugged his shoulders, pretending to be on the verge of tears.
"You are truly a good man. You're right; I think I know what I should do now. I'm going to see her now and tell her my thoughts."
As he spoke, he took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to the priest.
"Father, please donate this money to the church on my behalf. Please do not let a sinner like me face the holy symbol and the divine statue. If I truly manage to marry her, Father, I will return to thank you."
Shade tried his best to sound emotionally invested.
"Then I wish you happiness, young man. Perhaps you were swept away by dark thoughts, but the God will guide you toward the light. Make sure you truly understand what you want before making your decision."
The priest took the envelope with a kind smile. Standing on the crowded street, flanked by brass gas pipes glistening in the sun after the rain, and with a rainbow overhead, the scene actually felt quite sacred.
But Shade never looked up. After bidding the priest farewell, he turned and left.
The middle-aged priest walked toward the church with the envelope. He couldn't open a believer's donation in the middle of the street, and church donations always had their totals checked in the end. Therefore, the envelope would inevitably be opened inside the church. Aside from Shade's single 1-shilling note and dozens of slips of paper that read "1 shilling," the letter tucked inside would certainly be discovered.
"Essentially, I spent 1 shilling to hire someone to deliver a letter."
Thinking of this, Shade was quite satisfied with his actions.
Of course, to prevent the church from opening the letter immediately and chasing after him, Shade didn't linger. However, before he could even leave the street, he saw a carriage turning the corner toward him.
A carriage appearing on such a bustling street was not an issue; the issue was that this was not a public four-wheeled hansom cab.
With just a glance over the crowd, Shade could tell that the handcrafted ironwork of the carriage frame was undoubtedly expensive, and the muscular build of the hatted coachman differed from that of an ordinary driver.
"A noble's private carriage?"
He froze in place. In that brief moment, the carriage drew closer, and Shade saw the family crest on the side.
"That's... the Aurora family crest? Oh, it's Sylvie Aurora! That witch."
At this thought, Shade turned and walked quickly toward a side alley. Just then, the carriage window slid open a crack. The woman looking out curiously observed Shade's receding back, but she quickly lost interest.
Because he ran fast enough, the second Great Witch of the Witches' Council to appear before Shade failed to notice anything unusual about the man.
The chance encounter with Sylvie Aurora gave Shade a massive sense of crisis. Although Miss Galina seemed relatively normal, he actually accepted the notion that most members of the Witches' Council were mentally unstable.
To make himself safer, he absolutely could not delay the creation of the alchemy tool he had seen in Miss Felianna's notebook.
Thus, after leaving the vicinity of the Nature Church, Shade returned directly to the Seven Broomsticks Tavern and paid a high price of 69 pounds to collect the alchemy materials he had purchased. After confirming that he only lacked the most important core material—a witch's hair—Shade didn't stay in the city any longer. He took a carriage and headed toward the Sophia Mansion in the north of the city.
Princess Lacia had also just returned from the city. Seeing Shade clutching a paper bag with a look of lingering shock, she asked what he had been doing today.
"I went to the tavern to buy things first, then went to a small inn to play Rhode cards. Before coming back, I went to the church to make a donation."
He thought for a moment and gave a simple summary of his day.
"Oh?"
The princess walked side-by-side with Shade down the corridor, turning to look at him with a slight frown in her beautiful brows.
"Shade, it sounds like after entering the city, you commissioned the tavern to procure items, then spent the day gambling. As you were preparing to return, you passed by a church and made a donation just to soothe the guilt of wasting your time."