The old witch sitting on the sofa nodded slowly to Shade
"Yes, there is indeed a witch in the city of Wheelondale; as for which one, I cannot tell you. To think you've already heard the rumors? Very well, I will let her know next week and tell her to keep a low profile for the time being."
Shade nodded and said nothing more. He was simply curious about which direction this steam-age civilization would head once the two great human kingdoms of the material world had both obtained partial theoretical data and models of the 'Difference Engine.'
Shade did not leave Midhill Castle for the entire day. After lunch, he visited the House of the Blind and the station's black market to gather intelligence. He heard nothing of great value, but he did learn that after the earthquake, the mountains of Sicar had begun to grow dangerous at night.
The Ring-casters living in the city already knew that the evil spirits here were becoming more powerful. Meanwhile, the Church of the True Gods had been frequently entering and exiting the mountain forests recently; it seemed that the large-scale ritual was about to begin.
After returning home in the evening, he solemnly put away the 200 crowns, then went to find Dorothy and asked her to inform Lacia that the suitcase had been delivered to its destination. As for the 1,000 pounds promised by the princess of the Southern Kingdom, Shade was in no hurry to collect them from the address on the note. On one hand, the information should not have reached Tobesk so quickly; on the other, the Grey Owl needed to maintain some dignity.
He planned to collect it in a few weeks if he ran short of money.
Subsequently, Shade wrote a letter to Miss Galina, wanting to discuss the witch of Wheelondale, the capital of the Southern Kingdom.
He was not yet very familiar with Grandma Cassandra, but he already trusted Miss Galina considerably. The fact that the princess of Carsonric possessed the power of a witch was something Miss Galina absolutely had to know.
And that night, while stargazing at St. Delan Square, Luvia suddenly burst into Shade's bedroom again at one in the morning.
Having had experience once before, little Mia immediately dove under the covers; no matter what happened this time, she would not be thrown into the wardrobe by Shade again.
"Oh, Shade, wake up! Quick, look at what I've discovered!"
The purple-eyed girl stood by Shade's bed, attempting to wake him while holding a hand-drawn star map and a black-and-white photograph.
Mia poked her head out from under the covers to curiously peek at the shaking photograph. Shade, bleary-eyed, yawned as he climbed out of his comfortable bed
"Oh, Luvia, do you realize it's one in the morning?"
Still, he twisted open the gas lamp on the bedside table and took the hand-drawn star map and the photo
"I can see... your drawing is very precise? Yes, quite good."
"No, it's an omen! A big one is coming from the starry sky!"
Luvia appeared exceptionally excited, and this statement instantly woke Shade up completely. He looked upward in horror
"The matters in Midhill Castle aren't even resolved yet, and now something else is coming from the starry sky? An unspeakable monstrosity? An evil god preparing for a divine descent? Or an Old One existing in the void?"
"No, no, it's a Star-Sea Whale!"
Luvia was incredibly thrilled. With only the bedside gas lamp lit in the bedroom, she stood in the shadows by the window, her purple eyes appearing as if they truly glowed
"You mentioned it to me before—didn't you drink the blood-brew of such a creature?"
Shade, his mind still a bit foggy, thought for a moment
"Yes, Miss Galina said that because of the over-hunting by the Witch Emperors of the Fifth Epoch, those celestial creatures went from visiting the material world every 300 years to appearing only once every 1,200 years. Furthermore, they used to appear individually, but now they appear in pods. The last time they appeared was..."
Because he had been woken up so abruptly, Shade's memory was a bit blurred.
"Over six hundred years into the Common Era," she whispered in his ear with a smile.
"Over six hundred years into the Common Era."
He yawned and dragged the cat out from under the covers. He usually didn't allow this cat in the bed; although Mia hardly shed and had no odor, he still believed it was best for pet cats to stay out of the covers.
"Yes, 1,200 years after the year 600 of the Common Era—isn't that right now? It is 1853!"
Luvia pointed excitedly upward
"Through observation, I am almost certain that a Star-Sea Whale will appear in the night sky of the material world before the end of this autumn! There must be a perfect observation point. Oh, I must seize this once-in-1,200-years opportunity!"
"Does the Academy know about this?" Shade asked, resisting the urge to yawn again.
"The Academy's astrological equipment is better, and the night sky in the Far North is much clearer than the city's. Yes, the Academy should have observed this omen tonight as well! This autumn's stargazing activity might even use the observation of the Star-Sea Whale as a high-point exam topic!"
She leaned over, hugged Shade's head, gave him a kiss, and spoke rapidly
"I must get a high score so that next spring, I can take Professor Ska Lanch's elective, 'The Starry Sky and My Other Self'!"
Having finished, the purple-eyed girl turned and left the bedroom; by the sound of it, she returned to the third floor. Only Shade remained, sitting on the bed holding the cat, the two of them staring at each other.
"What just happened?" he asked Mia.
"Meow~"
The soft cat in his arms rubbed against Shade's pajamas, then squinted its eyes as if falling asleep again.
(Little Mia is running...)
"Why do you look like you haven't woken up yet?"
On Thursday morning, Miss Galina, sitting on the sofa, asked Shade teasingly. Shade shook his head
"I had a strange dream. I was running on the surface of the sea, being chased by a giant killer whale."
"And then you killed the whale?"
"No, an even larger little Mia suddenly jumped out of the sun and snatched that whale out of the sea in one bite."
Laughter suddenly erupted from the side. Shade and Miss Galina both looked over to find that the young maid bringing the teacups had accidentally let out a laugh.
This maid was named Vera Torian, one of Miss Galina's personal maids; Shade had seen her many times.
"Control your emotions; do not embarrass me in public," Miss Galina said. Subsequently, Tifa took the young maid who had laughed to the kitchen for a reprimand.
"I am a bit too kind to them, so these girls can indeed be a bit undisciplined sometimes," the red-haired witch told Shade, then picked up her teacup. "However, you didn't write to me just because you wanted to meet my personal maids, did you?"
"Of course not. It's like this: I encountered a female caster with the power of a witch in Midhill Castle, but she isn't one of Grandma Cassandra's people—she is the princess of Carsonric."
"Oh? Are you sure the princess of Carsonric appeared in Midhill Castle?"
This was the point Miss Galina was focused on.
"She was still in Midhill Castle yesterday morning. I think even at her fastest, it would be impossible for her to return to the capital, Wheelondale, immediately today. A little investigation should confirm this."
"That is quite interesting. She actually managed to turn the princess of Carsonric into her follower as well," Miss Galina smiled; she was not as surprised as Shade had been yesterday.
"So, there really is a Great Witch in Wheelondale?"
"Yes, there is indeed. As for which one, I won't say."
"Then, are there actually Ring-casters within the Carsonric royal family?"
"Of course. Since you know Lacia, you should know that the Delarion royal family—that is, our Cavendish family—has connections with the Zalas Academy. Therefore, talented members of the family are sent to the academy to study. Since Carsonric is a human kingdom on par with Delarion, do you really think their royal family has no connection to the mystical world? Even if not to compete with Delarion, the Anjou family must be wary of the Church of the Five Gods."
"Which academy does the Anjou family have connections with? St. Byron's, where I study? Or the Seksus Higher Medical College, which specializes in potions and alchemy?"
"The latter. But I cannot be certain whether the princess you met was trained by a witch or by Seksus. This is indeed interesting; I think it's necessary to investigate."
Miss Galina narrowed her eyes, likely plotting something again. Although the Southern princess was a follower of another Great Witch of the Council, Miss Galina didn't mind using these matters to gain some benefits for herself. After all, her fief, Saladir County, was located in the southwest of the kingdom and shared a border with the United Kingdom of Carsonric.
"The Delarion royal family is connected to Zalas Academy, and the Carsonric royal family is connected to Seksus?" Shade was still pondering this.
"Yes. Although the three great occult academies are all on the fringes of human civilization, they have their own industries within civilized society. Their associations with royal families are based on these considerations."
"But in this era, there are only two major human kingdoms. Zalas and Seksus each connect to one, so what about St. Byron's?"
"St. Byron's has no need, because they themselves are extremely powerful."
"Why?"
"Because what St. Byron's excels in is the containment of relics," Miss Galina said simply. "The top Great Witches of the Fifth Epoch could personally contend with Grade 0 relics and even converse as equals with Saints, but the Thirteenth-Ring casters of the Sixth Epoch cannot. That is the reason."
Miss Galina had other matters to attend to today, so she left after chatting with Shade for a few moments.
Shade also had things to do. Leaving Mia to guard the house after preparing its lunch, he set off for Midhill Castle.
Today was Thursday. After the murder case at the Midhill Castle Mechanical Academy was solved last week, the Captain had invited Shade to meet him at the camp on Wind-Rise Path during his day off today, so old friends could chat or go hunting together.
Of course, if there was no fog on Mount Sicar this afternoon, Shade also planned to look for that monster hunter's sword.
Thus, after stepping out of the ruined tower and crossing the mountain forest to reach the main road, Shade did not choose to head down toward Midburg City, but instead continued up the mountain along that road.
Wind-Rise Path was one of the most important passages for trekking across the Sicar mountain border, and the Red Water Camp where Captain Radis was stationed was the largest military camp beside Wind-Rise Path.