Complaining in his heart about his own laziness, Shade carefully released Luvia from his embrace, but the movement of getting out of bed still woke the purple-eyed girl. Luvia, Dorothy, and Lacia all knew that Shade had a habit of waking up on time, so they weren't surprised that he was already awake.
"Luvia, come pick a few."
Sitting up, Shade reached for the wooden box on the nightstand, opened it, and handed it to Luvia. Luvia, still bleary-eyed, did not leave the warmth of the quilt; she had Shade place the wooden box on her pillow.
"Honestly, waking up with a girl and immediately giving her pretty jewelry and ornaments—Detective, where did you learn such a bad habit?"
Despite her words, she lay on her side and took a purple gemstone, the color of which closely matched her eyes.
Shade did not respond to Luvia's teasing. He looked around and realized that Mia was nowhere to be seen. He didn't remember where the cat had been last night; he only remembered that Luvia's new nightgown was very beautiful.
"Mia?"
After getting dressed and walking out of the bedroom, he finally saw the cat looking at him pitifully from mid-air. The reason she was in the air was that Shade had not put away the palm-sized stone tablet with silver corners last night; the cat was currently perched on the tablet, which was floating horizontally in the air.
It wasn't the first time Luvia had stayed overnight at St. Delan Square, so she had stored some of her own clothes in the astrology room specifically reserved for her on the third floor. There was no need to rush home to change this morning, so she had breakfast with Shade before heading to Silver Cross Avenue for work.
In fact, because St. Delan Square was closer to Silver Cross Avenue, she was in even less of a hurry.
During breakfast, Shade mentioned that the "Goddess in the Lake" had promised him that for each of the first three trials completed, he could receive a gift or bring a friend to meet her. Shade had brought Sister Daphne the first time; he now had two opportunities remaining.
Priest Augu was unwilling to meet another angel, and he could ask the doctor again. Although Dorothy and Lacia were also very special, they could not use the [Magician's Escape Box], which required a high-circle sorcerer.
Although Luvia's level was lower than that of the two princesses, Shade believed she had a way to use that relic. Therefore, during breakfast that day, he asked for Luvia's willingness. To his great surprise, Luvia refused without a second thought
"I have no questions to ask, nor any wishes that only someone else can fulfill. I will not proactively seek out any entity that might be related to high-dimensional existences. Yes, Shade, thank you for your kindness, but I think you can give this opportunity to someone else."
She spoke so decisively that Shade, who had wanted to ask for the reason, found it difficult to speak. But thinking carefully, this should be related to the time curse on Luvia. She was shunned by time, and because of this, she was not affected by the Unknowable-grade relic [Time of Retrospection]. Although Shade still didn't know exactly what Luvia had done to become so special, he figured she must have destroyed something important.
Shade was still busy today, but he still didn't dare leave the precious Mia at home. He had thought about sending her to Miss Galina's manor for "refuge" again, but Luvia took the initiative to assume responsibility for looking after the cat for the day
"I'll take her to the Seer's Association; the Association doesn't forbid bringing cats to work. Besides, isn't it quite fitting for the stereotype of diviners to have a cat?"
The purple-eyed girl said, and so Mia was reluctantly carried away by her.
When completing Old John's delivery mission on Saturday night, Shade had helped the circle sorcerers of the Apuna Library escape the pursuit of the Church and accidentally discovered that Sir Prisha, the "Guiding Moon," was suspected of being an academic spy.
When delivering the man wounded by the Church's circle sorcerer to No. 21 Ikum Street in the Tobesk University District, Shade had proposed a trade, and Tuesday morning was the agreed-upon time for both parties to meet.
The reason they agreed to meet in the morning was that appearing in such a neighborhood wearing a black robe was only possible without being noticed in the early hours. When Shade knocked on the door of No. 21 in the early morning mist, the door was opened almost immediately.
He slipped into the room and complained in a low voice to the man who opened the door
"Oh, for goodness' sake, do you not pay for the city heating?"
The temperature inside the house was practically colder than outside.
The man who opened the door for Shade was a circle sorcerer he had never seen before. Upon shaking hands, Shade confirmed his level was Sixth Circle, the same as Doctor Schneider. He was a man of few words, calling himself "Mr. Leibert," and led Shade directly to the first-floor study.
Except for the positions of the door and window, all four walls of the study were entirely covered in bookshelves. A desk and a sofa set were placed on the floor, and a tea set had already been laid out on the wooden coffee table, though Shade naturally would not drink the tea here.
The two did not waste time on pleasantries; the conversation went straight to the point
"The news from Saturday night was indeed leaked from our side, which led to your team being surrounded by the Peace Church's squad. As compensation, I have already negotiated the terms with the gentleman from the Hermetic Order to try and fulfill the trade you proposed. Sir, what do you need?"
Shade wore his robe and mask, his voice sounding very raspy behind the mask
"I need a stone tablet. After the collapse of the cult of the Old God [The Grey-Robed Sage], some of its members joined you. At that time, they brought not only a staggering number of books but also some special items. Among them should be a stone tablet, roughly square, with corners wrapped in metal caps. Upon contact, there is a probability of obtaining spirit runes or occult knowledge."
Shade described it based on the tablet he had already acquired. There was no reason for the [Grey-Robed Sage] to make the three tablets look vastly different; since one had been confirmed as rectangular, the others would not be circular or triangular.
The man hosting Shade fell silent for a moment
"I will go confirm if the item you described is still in our possession."
He rose and left. Shade sat alone in the empty room and flipped through today's newspaper on the coffee table. Mr. Leibert returned about half an hour later, likely having contacted the headquarters of the [Apuna Library]
"Yes, that stone tablet is indeed in our hands. We believe it is a book, but so far, no one has been able to discover its secrets. Its size matches your description, there are no letters on either side, and the four corners are made of a material similar to ruby."
The corners of the tablet in Shade's hand were made of silver. Since the one in the Apuna Library's possession was ruby, the final tablet suspected to be in St. Byron's most likely had yellow corners—though it was uncertain if it was brass, gold, or perhaps yellow topaz.
"Oh, as long as it's in your hands. Please name your price."
Mr. Leibert nodded
"We never use money to judge the value of a book; we prefer bartering. Although we don't know exactly what this tablet is, it is certainly an item from the previous epoch. Its value..."
"There's no need to emphasize its value; I believe I know more about it than you do. Please tell me directly what I must pay."
Shade interrupted him.
"Books. Valuable books."
"The gentleman from the Hermetic Order should have secured some convenience for me, so please tell me which books."
Mr. Leibert paused
"I must admit, that old gentleman from the Hermetic Order is truly a skilled negotiator, but the value of that stone tablet will not become as cheap as cabbage in a vegetable market because of it. You only need to provide a few handwritten manuscripts that record how to obtain spirit rune knowledge, and then you can make up the difference with a large sum of gold pounds."
Shade felt that Old John had likely done the negotiating himself. After all, while everyone liked gold pounds, the items circle sorcerers pursued were sometimes truly priceless; the Apuna Library generally did not accept cash transactions.
"If you need books, would this work?"
Shade reached into his pocket and took out the book he had found in the river cave yesterday, which could grant the [Snake] spirit rune: *The Slitherers in the Dark*.
Spirit runes related to animals did not fit Shade's circle sorcerer system at all. He had no intention of controlling snakes, turning into a snake, or becoming a bald person without nostrils or eyebrows, and the others around him weren't suited for this spirit rune either. Shade had originally planned to sell it to Mr. Edmond of Coldwater Harbor over the weekend; he decided to try his luck now. Unexpectedly, the man talking to Shade immediately recognized the origin of the book
"A book from the Pantanal region."
Mr. Leibert muttered and flipped through it quickly
"It should be the 1795 translation. The spelling errors on pages nine and eleven are the most important characteristics of this edition. Your book should be one of those translated manuscripts."
As he spoke, he sniffed it
"The smell of the ink is correct; the ink is mixed with the Shelan flower unique to the Pantanal Great Marsh. Of this edition, as of 1853, there are no more than 27 manuscripts remaining. Over a decade ago, we obtained a poorly preserved copy of *The Slitherers in the Dark* that was missing a quarter of its pages. I didn't expect to see one so well-preserved today."
Shade noticed that while he was flipping through the book, his eyes emitted a faint blue light. This wasn't a Magic Eye, as Shade felt no whisper elements; this should be a unique occult technique mastered by the [Apuna Library] used for inspecting books.
"This is considered stolen goods," Shade emphasized.
The man nodded: "Whether it is stolen goods or not is irrelevant; we have very professional skills for aging and disguising items."
Mr. Leibert placed the book on the coffee table between them
"This is a fine collectible, but you must understand that the value of this book is far inferior to the antiquity from the previous epoch that you desire."
He rubbed his fingers toward Shade. Shade snorted
"Of course. As long as an antiquity doesn't belong to the Sixth Epoch, its price grows exponentially. Tell me, how much more do I need to pay? A few thousand pounds? Tens of thousands? Or perhaps, you want me to do something else for you?"