By the time Shade brought Mia back to No. 6 St. Theran Square, it was already ten o'clock at night. He changed his shoes in the first-floor foyer, and as he walked up the stairs, it felt as though a century had passed since the last time he had descended them.
Priest Augustus had placed all of Shade's belongings in his study. The [Orb of the Silver Moon] had been damaged due to yesterday's dream, and the Document-grade Relic, the [Vampire Ring], had turned to dust because it had overreached by attempting to absorb the power of a god.
The only relics Shade currently possessed were the pages of the poetry manuscript, the [Spear of Kindness], and the [Twenty-Sided Die of Fate]. Even the [Puppeteer's Script] had completely lost its Beyonder characteristics because all the pages had been used up.
Looking at the calendar on the wall, the month of June, known as the "Sunlight Moon," had passed. It was now July, a month people called the "Thunder Moon."
He sat in the chair behind his desk, looking at the items on the grand desk and summarizing his gains and losses from the Lakeview Manor incident. Due to Baron Lavender's invitation, he had attended the open-air banquet at Lakeview Manor, obtained the special Rode Card [Ancient Fairy Tale: The Little Match Girl], obtained that gun, and obtained divinity...
A surge of scorching steam erupted behind him. Turning around, he saw that on the rotating brass ring, the silver blasphemous spirit rune [Gluttony] was circulating upon the metal ring. This was Shade's first spirit rune.
"I have obtained the state of Divinity Afterglow and obtained [Gluttony]. An Encircled Beyonder needs one of each of the four runes to upgrade; now I have easily satisfied one-fourth of that. Thinking about it this way, last night's harvest far outweighed the cost."
He muttered to himself.
Not only that, but there was a high probability that *The Mad Light-Chaser* would bring him an Enlightenment Element spirit rune related to the concept of "Light" within three months; and as for the task of the Ancient God [Father of the Infinite Tree], there was still a Miracle, [Echo], waiting to be harvested. Looking at it this way, if he didn't consider the combination with Sublimation Words, he didn't seem far from the Second Circle, and might even be able to promote within a few months.
It was a pity that although the Divinity Afterglow had appeared on Shade, the key would take a week to open. It was only Monday; he would have to wait until Thursday dawn.
However, no matter how much he had harvested at Lakeview Manor, that was something that happened under extremely special luck. He did not believe such good fortune would visit him again.
And aside from the silver blasphemous rune [Gluttony], the biggest harvest from last night should have been his understanding of the Silver Moon. Although it was impossible for him to recreate that step of standing suspended before the Silver Moon, Shade had not forgotten the image of standing upon a field ridge in his dream, gazing up at the massive Silver Moon overhead.
"From this perspective, the [Orb of the Silver Moon] was also worth the price."
He thought of the [Relic] he had destroyed, and his finger traced lightly in the air, wanting to try the [Silver Moon Slash] again, but he suddenly stopped. He was in the study now; if any item here were destroyed, Shade would be very heartbroken.
He rose from the study chair, walked into the living room, pushed open the door to the hallway, and followed the stairs down to the first-floor foyer. Standing in the foyer, he faced the layers of wooden boards that sealed off the first floor.
Accompanied by the sound of bells and steam whistles, the massive brass Fate Ring behind him manifested amidst the steam.
Chanting an ancient incantation, he traced a light line in the air with his finger.
As a dazzling silver light bloomed, an arc of light appeared in the air. This was followed by the sound of wooden boards being shattered, which startled Mia, who had been peeking around the corner of the first-floor stairs to see what Shade was doing. But this time, the orange cat was not scared away; instead, she tucked her tail, unsure if she should go "rescue" Shade.
The foyer itself was not large, and Shade was hit by the splashing wooden fragments. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, merely a cut on the back of his hand.
"Hmm?"
Along with the shattering of the boards, a brown object fell out of the gap behind the wood with a *thud*. Shade looked at it in surprise under the gaslight of the foyer, staring at the heavy wallet.
"This..."
It was indeed a wallet, and it was bulging; one could tell at a glance that it contained quite a lot of banknotes. Shade's expression tightened as he reflected on his initial "Great Search"
"Come to think of it, at the time, I only thought Room No. 1 on the second floor was the detective's legacy and didn't check the first floor at all... hmm."
In truth, even if he had searched the first floor back then, he most likely wouldn't have found it; this wallet was hidden far too well.
Looking up at the solid brick wall behind the third layer of wooden boards, he picked up the wallet with his bleeding hand
"That board should be removable, so hiding the wallet here is indeed something no one would expect, and it makes it very convenient to take money every time one goes out. Detective Spyllo and the original owner should both have known this location, but I did not inherit his memories."
For a moment, Shade did not know how he should feel—both happy that he had finally found the wallet, and stunned that the answer was so simple.
He opened the wallet to check; it indeed contained nothing but banknotes. After counting, there was a total of 28 pounds and 12 shillings, enough to maintain the agency's operations for three months and allow a single man with low expenses to live reasonably well.
"But the value of that cane must exceed 15 pounds, and the price of high-grade black tea won't be low either. If this is all the legacy Detective Spyllo left behind, could it be that he calculated it intentionally? Calculating that this amount of money would be just enough for three months of normal expenses."
Taking the wallet and walking up the stairs to clean up the foyer, he summarized his impression of Detective Spyllo in his mind
"Extremely rigorous in his work, writes a diary every day, and keeps his accounts organized. His detective skills are very strong, but some detective records are not truthful, and some clients have a poor impression of him. He has high taste in black tea, owns an expensive cane, and likes reading novels involving knights, war, and court intrigue... Although this makes the image more three-dimensional, I still cannot see what secrets he actually holds."
His footsteps suddenly stopped, causing the cat climbing the stairs ahead of him to look back curiously. Shade narrowed his eyes slightly, but in reality, he wasn't looking at anything
"Wait, if everything I experienced that night at Lakeview Manor was the result of luck, then do the things I failed to understand correspond to the things I am unaware of?"
Among the many matters at Lakeview Manor, the most incomprehensible were the intelligence regarding the "Witches' Council" heard near the stables, and the intelligence regarding the Carsonric United Kingdom spies heard after breaking into the garden maze.
The "Witches' Council" certainly had nothing to do with Detective Spyllo; after all, a detective is a man by any definition, and multiple sources had confirmed he was indeed an ordinary person. Conversely, Shade somewhat suspected that the intelligence regarding the "Witches' Council" pointed toward "that lady" who was also present at the time.
As for the spies—
"If I think along these lines, the identity of a foreign spy does indeed fit the setting of 'possessing a huge secret while being just an ordinary person.'"
He continued up the stairs while thinking, the cat already impatiently scratching at the second-floor door
"Extremely rigorous in work—the caution of a spy;
Writing a diary every day—to disguise his identity and movements as an ordinary citizen;
Keeping accounts organized—so as not to leave clues for others, making it easy to forge sources of funds;
Strong detective skills—consistent with the characteristics of a spy;
Untruthful detective records—clearly covering up information while simultaneously strengthening his persona as an ordinary detective;
Poor impression from some clients—he must have done something extra or used a gun during his commissions;
High taste in black tea—his own true hobby;
An expensive cane—possibly the only personal item he brought from his homeland, having commemorative value;
Liking novels—perhaps those novels are codebooks, but I cannot decipher them..."
Shade opened the door for Mia, and the nocturnal cat immediately darted into the living room. He stood at the doorway, looking at the place where Mr. Spyllo had lived. Moonlight pierced through St. Theran Square, shining into the living room through the window, but the light stopped at his feet, leaving half of Shade's face hidden in the shadows
"So, Spyllo Hamilton... he isn't really a Carsonric spy, is he?"