The gas lamps at home were bright, Mia the cat under the light was cute, and Shade in the living room was very surprised.
He was so surprised that he didn't even stop Mia when she stretched her head out to sniff the metal plates.
Two concave plates and two convex plates; first, the pattern of the one-shilling note was exceptionally exquisite and realistic. Rubbing them with a finger, one couldn't feel the roughness of metal at all; they possessed a feeling unique to civilization and the steam industry.
"Hmm."
Shade felt a sudden heat flush through his body and an itch on his back in the middle of the night, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead
"This couldn't be..."
Checking the sides of the metal plates again, the same position on all four plates was clearly engraved with the letters "Kingdom of Draeleon Mint · Top Secret," and beneath the letters was the crest of the Cavendish family.
"Hmm."
Shade put down the four silver-gray metal plates and then covered his face, rubbing it vigorously a couple of times
"The Kingdom of Draeleon Mint... these are the master plates used for printing banknotes."
The [God's Gift Box] provides gifts by duplicating existing items. Therefore, even if Shade's guess was correct, there wouldn't be news of important items missing from the Mint or a nationwide manhunt for a criminal.
Shade examined the items in his hand carefully under the light again and basically confirmed that these were the standard master plates for the current 1850 edition of the one-shilling banknote.
This gift was quite a huge trouble.
"I really want more gold pounds, but giving me the printing plates and letting me print them myself..."
Setting aside the fact that Shade wasn't poor enough to risk making counterfeit money, even if he wanted to, he had no idea what materials were used for the banknote paper.
"So, these things are completely impossible to sell. Am I supposed to use them to prop up table legs at home?"
Shade thought hesitantly, then plucked out the cat that had jumped into the [God's Gift Box] to curl up at some unknown point.
He looked at the four metal plates on the sofa
"Destroy them... that's too wasteful. Besides, this is a gift from God; it would be impolite to destroy it rashly. Then, why not give it to someone else? I can't keep this; even if I'm not discovered, thinking about it every day would be unpleasant. Lacia will be back in Tobesk soon; I'll give this to her as a return-from-travel gift. This should count as a surprise... but are banknote printing plates an appropriate gift for a young lady?"
He didn't consider Miss Galina, who would certainly pay a huge sum for these things, because Shade was truly worried that the witch would cause trouble using these banknote printing plates.
Shade believed Miss Galina was exactly that kind of person.
Having decided on a way to deal with these troublesome "gifts," Shade placed the [God's Gift Box] and the four printing plates back behind the basement wall, and only then did he carry the cat across the dim stairs back to the second floor.
The outsider loved the sound of his shoes stepping on the stairs, because it reminded him that the large house beneath his feet belonged entirely to him.
"Hmm, Lacia will probably like it."
In any case, Shade didn't intend to tell anyone that he had come into possession of these things, not even Dorothy. After all, in a sense, these four printing plates were more dangerous than relics. Once they leaked out and were obtained by someone who truly understood their use, it would cause great trouble for the country, and Shade's peaceful life would cease to exist.
"However, the requirement for this gift is quite simple."
Last week it was helping someone do laundry; this week it was feeding stray cats outdoors twice within a week. This wasn't complicated for Shade; he had cat food at home, and a city like Tobesk had no shortage of stray cats.
"But I still have to avoid Mia."
If the cat, who had been getting smarter lately, discovered that Shade was taking her rations to feed outside cats, she would probably faint from anger.
"Anyway, this is another quite magical Monday."
This was the last thing Shade thought about before turning on the gas desk lamp, removing the pen cap, moving the cat off the papers in front of him, and starting to write his investigator's report.
(Dorothy is rushing her manuscript...)
When he woke up on Monday morning, the sky outside was hazy, making it impossible to tell if the weather was good or if it was about to rain.
The fountain pen on the desk reflected a faint light under the weak morning glow, and the owner of the pen stretched, preparing to start a brand new week.
The report submitted to the academy last night had already received a response. Professor Garcia seemed to have been startled by the first key, so he had stayed up late waiting for Shade to deliver the report. He had processed all the follow-ups for this investigation task overnight and provided the approval for the investigation report.
Because the report was written in a standard manner and Shade didn't mention encountering a god, the professor gave Shade a reward of 5 practical credits based on a normal Poet-grade key. 3 credits were the basic investigation reward, and 2 credits were the reward for Shade providing information on "Terror Castle" and Mr. Riddle's life.
The History Department would conduct a more in-depth investigation into Mr. Riddle and Terror Castle in the future. The event Professor Garcia originally expected the key to correspond to was not the one Shade encountered; therefore, even if he hadn't been in danger, the matter could not be abandoned in the spirit of filling historical gaps.
As for Shade himself, the most important thing today was not to investigate Mr. Riddle's life, but to buy himself some new furniture.
After all, starting this week, the house was going to be renovated.
Shade had already contacted the Church of Dawn; they would help connect the stairs from the second floor to the third floor during this period, as the church had originally promised. The workers who would check the specific damage on the third floor and carry out the construction would likely arrive at No. 6 St. Delan Square after 10:00 AM along with the church personnel.
Before they arrived, Shade planned to go out and buy some furniture. He wasn't pursuing high-quality, high-end handmade furniture; in fact, if he didn't have some savings, he had planned to look for cheap goods at Old John's.
Just as Shade had finished changing his clothes and was wondering whether to take the lazy cat with him, he felt the badge on his chest warm up slightly
"Oh? My badge is heating up; there must be a witch nearby."
Before he could go search, there was a knock at the door downstairs. Outside was Miss Tifa Servette, who had arrived by carriage.
Seeing that Shade, who opened the door, was dressed to go out, the black-haired maid stepping down from the carriage asked hesitantly
"Mr. Hamilton, have I interrupted your plans?"
"Of course not."
Shade shook his head hurriedly and invited her in
"I was just going out to buy some furniture."
While walking upstairs with the maid, Shade briefly introduced the upcoming construction of the house. Miss Servette nodded in understanding. As for her purpose for coming here, Miss Galina wanted to know from Shade what had happened at the Seer's Association last Thursday afternoon.
"What happened at the Seer's Association... oh, the matter of Princess Angelina being injured."
If it weren't for the fact that the generous reward given by Princess Angelina afterward was truly impressive, Shade might have even forgotten about it
"Is there a problem with that? I believe my investigation results were not wrong."
Though puzzled, he still recounted the events of that day in detail. During this time, the black-haired maid remained silent, and only after he finished did she say in a low voice
"Do you know the identity of that 'murderer' who was 'discovered by the cat'?"
"I don't."
"She is Prince Sax's lover."
Shade recalled the age of the girl in the blue dress at the time and couldn't help but frown. Princess Angelina was currently sixteen, and most of her friends were of a similar age. Even knowing that this world and era were different from his hometown, Shade couldn't help but feel malice toward the prince who had broken into Yodel Palace carrying a weapon
"So, what exactly happened?"
"A naive girl was deceived by someone with an agenda and committed a ridiculous crime to rescue her lover," Tifa said, wanting to explain further, but Shade already understood completely
"In this kind of political storm, people who understand nothing yet get swept in are the easiest to be used as guns."
"You seem to understand a lot," the maid asked with a smile. Shade immediately shook his head
"No, no, I understand nothing, and please don't tell me anything else. I don't want to know anything."
The smile on her face became even more brilliant
"You really do understand... Alright, there is no need to explain. I will tell the Miss your description."
As she stood up, Shade also rose to see her downstairs, but the maid looked around and asked again
"Mr. Hamilton, may I ask how much furniture you are lacking? Please make a list, and it can be delivered to you this afternoon."
"No, no, how could I..."
"There is plenty of spare furniture in the manor; keeping it in the basement just takes up space. Moreover, in a small house like yours, you won't need much furniture. Even if I didn't mention it, the Miss would prepare furniture for you once she heard. Although I shouldn't presume to judge your relationship with the Miss, even when facing a beautiful lady, the Miss rarely takes the initiative to kiss the forehead."
Shade was actually more curious whether Miss Galina had ever kissed the forehead of the beautiful maid in front of him, but he controlled his curiosity well. As for the furniture, after thinking about it, he stopped refusing
"Please thank Miss Galina on my behalf, and of course, thank you as well. As for the furniture I lack..."
While he was thinking about the specific quantity, the black-haired maid suggested
"Why don't you take me for a walk through the house? I'll confirm the size of the rooms and the decorative style you prefer, and I will prepare the furniture for you."
Sometimes, Shade really envied Miss Galina for having such a professional maid.
The maid's unexpected visit saved Shade the time of going to the lumber market in the North District's lower town to look at furniture. After seeing her off, seeing that there was still some time before ten, Shade took the cat to visit Priest Augustus at the Dawn Church.
The "Angel Potion" on the priest's end was not yet completed, but since he knew Shade wanted the church's construction team to help connect the stairs today, he inquired
"Speaking of which, do you need a supervisor?"
"A supervisor?"
For a moment, Shade didn't understand the meaning of the word.