“The Church bribed a Great Witch of the [Witches' Council] to find a plausible origin for the magical materials obtained by the students of St. Byron's?”
Ignoring the matter of the so-called "reward," Shade summarized the current situation
“This is at least a one-fifth ticket for the Chosen. Does the Council have no interest in gaining control over this thing?”
The [Sage's Brilliance] could only have its ownership transferred once; it could not be forcibly seized, nor obtained through intimidation or deception.
“Currently, the only ones who know the second Brilliance is in your hands are the Five Gods Church. I have not informed the other Great Witches that you possess one.”
Miss Karina looked with satisfaction at the expression on Shade's face
“I won't actively drag you into matters concerning the Chosen, and I suspect that by exposing this Brilliance, you aren't looking to trade with us.”
She waved her hand and looked down to handle the food on her plate
“I went to a meeting earlier, and the Speaker did mention wanting to buy the fragments of their poetic chapters from the [Apuna Library].”
“The [Apuna Library] has sold those records more than once; I know of at least two occasions. If you need them, I can write the information for you.”
Shade had seen those records while helping Old John pick up goods. The only valuable piece of information was that this iteration of the Chosen ceremony needed to be held on the surface of water.
“What we want is the medium itself; after all, it is a relic of the Witch Emperor,” Miss Karina said, gesturing for Tifa to continue pouring her wine. Her right hand slid a few times, letting the steak knife cut the food on the plate by itself, while she pressed her right hand against her neck.
“You don't need to worry about Wednesday. Aside from the Church and the Seers' Association, no one knows you have the [Sage's Brilliance]. Just wait for them to make their offers. However, Sylvia likely heard about this from Margaret of Anjou; I will tell her to keep it a secret. She... admires you, so she will certainly be willing to keep this secret.”
Shade nodded, and the Witch asked again
“Have you considered keeping this Brilliance? It can increase your wisdom and grant you extraordinary talent. Even if it isn't a material for the Chosen ceremony, it is an extremely valuable item.”
“No, no. Wisdom cannot be acquired through external objects. ‘The wise never give power directly; the wise only provide guidance,’” Shade said with certainty.
“Who said that?”
“An Old God I encountered in the year 5177 of the Fifth Epoch.”
The hand Miss Karina used to hold her wine glass trembled slightly. Shade looked down at the box beside him
“Speaking of which, has the Council been able to determine the identity of the fourth Chosen?”
“New news has come from St. Byron's; it's confirmed that the Chosen this time is still a male. Truly remarkable—out of four Chosen, three are actually men... The Chosen are certainly located near where those 'Secret Keepers' appear. The Church is currently comparing the guest list of the Lakeview Manor banquet with the people around the locations of the abnormal phenomena these past few days, which includes the guests of Little Lecia's salon. Of course, the Church certainly won't suspect you.”
She spoke with a smile. Shade thought for a moment
“Actually, there's no need to suspect me. Luvia said that anyone could be the Chosen, except for me.”
Miss Karina glanced at Shade, thinking of that purple-eyed girl
“What do you intend to do this time? I'm quite interested in your actions. Your first three operations were so successful; you can't possibly do nothing this time, can you?”
“Once we determine who the Chosen is, we will have a concrete plan of action. For now, we are just waiting for news and attempting to collect the Brilliances in the meantime.”
“How could the Chosen be found so easily? Aside from Iluna, whom the Church discovered in advance, Ivan Darkness clearly visited Tobesk, yet he wasn't discovered as the Chosen until he reached Coldwater Port. Joey Barton was even more excessive; he lived under the Church's nose for so many years, and only jumped out to say he wanted to resurrect his lover before the Battle of Midhillburg. At first, the Church didn't even know who he was.”
The Witch gripped her steak knife again
“Perhaps this time, the Chosen will also jump out from somewhere unknown, then be encountered by you for some strange reason, and finally fight you for some strange reason.”
The Witch's golden eyes gazed at Shade.
“Iluna didn't fight me back then,” Shade countered.
Miss Karina smiled and raised her glass to Shade
“However, there is something I want to ask you. After [Gentleman Jack] was caught by you, were the things he gave you really that box of jewelry and diamonds?”
“Of course not. That box of jewelry is something I got from Huntington. [Gentleman Jack] let me choose one of three relics, but I took the letters he stole from my friend Dorothy Louisa, and I made him return the relics he stole from Iluna's team.”
Shade spoke the truth, then saw the Witch reveal a peculiar smile
“I wondered why Iluna was in such a good mood when the Church found me through Larus III. As for Louisa... if I remember correctly, the Miss Louisa you mentioned is that beautiful blonde, blue-eyed writer who was once with Lecia and you—”
“Ahem.”
Tifa coughed timely, stopping the Duchess from uttering an indecent sentence.
Shade cut a small piece of beef from his plate and placed it on the saucer in front of Mia; the cat sniffed the scent excitedly. To prevent the Witch from continuing to tease him, Shade opened the jewelry box and pushed it toward Miss Karina
“Want to pick one?”
“Lecia was still at Yodel Palace this morning, asking me if you had woken up. She rarely initiates conversation with me. Detective, you certainly have your ways.”
As the Witch spoke, her slender fingers picked a small silver brooch inlaid with diamonds from the box.
She casually placed the brooch on the table and then tilted her wine glass toward Shade
“Before you leave tomorrow, remember to produce more red wine. After drinking your wine, other wines have almost no taste.”
“Is it really that exaggerated?” Shade was somewhat skeptical.
“That's because you don't understand wine tasting,” the Duchess said regretfully, winking at Shade. “Wine tasting is an essential skill for nobles; you cannot be ignorant of this. In the future, when you have time, there are many things you still need to learn from me. It's not good to know nothing.”
Shade had thought Miss Karina would also mention the "two dangerous existences that descended upon St. Delan Square," but it wasn't until Friday morning, when he met Luvia at the Seers' Association, that Shade learned that only the Church knew the full contents of the [Dice Storybook].
At the time, the only ones who watched the game in its entirety were the Church's Ring-masters and the three princesses. The Church had imposed strict confidentiality restrictions; even though they let the Seers' Association know that Shade held the [Sage's Brilliance], they did not reveal the matter of the "dangerous existences."
Fortunately, before [Gentleman Jack] left, he had informed the Church that the "dangerous existences" had also departed; otherwise, St. Delan Square would certainly have been under surveillance for several months.
“This is it. I couldn't let you examine it closely on Wednesday night.”
In the divination room on the second floor of the Seers' Association, Shade handed the blue teardrop-shaped crystal to Luvia. He sat with his back to the window, where heavy snow was falling outside. It had been snowing heavily since he woke up on Thursday evening, and by this Friday, the snowfall remained intense.
Mia stood on the windowsill, tail perched up, eyes wide as she watched the falling snow; this scene was very wondrous to the cat.
“One of the five [Sage's Brilliances].”
Luvia's purple eyes looked at the stone, which turned into a grey, petrified state in her hand
“Now Iluna has one, and you have one. But these might not be all the Brilliances; the Church might not have investigated the locations of all the Secret Keepers.”
“Yes. Although we only know of two currently, it's possible that by tomorrow, the true Chosen will have already obtained five Brilliances and held the ceremony.”
Shade nodded
“Still haven't found the Chosen? The Witch's side has no clues either. The Church's progress should be faster than ours; they know the opponent is a man, but they probably haven't identified the specific identity.”
Luvia returned the Brilliance to Shade
“The Brilliance in Iluna's hand is the first and only one known publicly. Now that the Chosen ceremony has reached this step, it is officially underway. The forces of the three great academies have been permitted to enter Tobesk directly; the academy professors will likely arrive next week. Before then, I'm afraid we have no other way to determine the identity of the Chosen.”
She sighed slightly
“The [Truth Society] definitely has clues we don't know about. Miss Pavo's clone vanished after taking a direct hit from Iluna's [Sun Spear] on Wednesday night. Thinking back, the reason she didn't personally join the [Dice Storybook] on Wednesday, but instead let a professor from the [Truth Society] participate, was likely to confirm certain things. I'll make an irresponsible guess: this lady is even more intelligent than we thought.”
“But you've already confirmed that she is at least not the first candidate.”
“Yes, she is indeed not the first candidate, but it's highly likely she is further down the order.”
At this point, Luvia smiled again
“In any case, although the accident on Wednesday night was sudden, you and Iluna coordinated well. Two of the five Brilliances are in our hands. If it's confirmed that the fourth Chosen is willing to cooperate, then that Chosen will certainly need something from us—the advantage is ours.”
“That's probably only the best-case scenario. Moreover, the Church won't let an ordinary person like me hold this stone indefinitely.”
Shade tapped the beautiful crystal, then turned in his chair to look at the cat by the window.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. This was the largest snowfall in Tobesk so far this winter; the temperature would likely drop sharply in the coming days.
“The Church will send a representative to talk to you in a while. Have you really decided not to hand the Brilliance over to the academy? It is a Sage-grade relic.”
Sage-grade relics do not circulate on the market; they can absolutely not be found on the black market. The Sage-grade relics in Shade's possession were only [God's Gift Box] and the [Akenora Arrow of Knowledge]. Aside from those, among his friends, he only knew for certain that Lecia's red earring [Saint's Curse-Breaking Stone] and the red butterfly pendant [Crimson Butterfly] were Sage-grade.
[God's Gift Box] was obtained after crossing a complete Time Key mission and accompanying Iluna into the underground ruins to kill the Silver-Eyed One and complete the Chosen ceremony; [Crimson Butterfly] came after the long story of the Red Butterfly Twins, and after the God's Banquet, Shade perfectly resolved the twins' problems in this era before the pendant reached his hands; even the easiest to obtain, the [Akenora Arrow of Knowledge], was related to a series of cases from over a decade ago.
Therefore, Sage-grade relics were quite tempting to Shade, but he still shook his head slightly
“I want to use this stone to make some trades, exchanging it for items that are more valuable and safer.”
The [Sage's Brilliance] could only be traded once. After agreeing to the trade with the Church, the Brilliance would still remain in Shade's hands until the Church needed it, at which point he would transfer it to someone else. Thus, agreeing to the Church's trade did not mean the loss of control, but it meant Shade could obtain things that were normally unobtainable.
[What you actually want is written right on your face.]
Shade touched his face, then together with Luvia, saw Mia in front of the glass window, making small pawing motions against the glass. The cat couldn't wait to touch the snow outside. Although Shade could control the snowfall, the sight of the city turning silver-white through natural environment was still very fresh to Mia, who was likely born in the spring of 1853.
Both Shade and Luvia smiled. Such a peaceful morning made life seem much calmer than it appeared on the surface.
PS: The Witch and Sister Daphne certainly possess Sage-grade relics, they just haven't appeared in the text yet. Moreover, generally speaking, few Sage-grade relics have minimal side effects. Therefore, in this chapter, Shade only thought of the Gift Box, the Arrow, and Lecia's Curse-Breaking Stone; these three are among the few Sage-grade relics that can be carried on one's person without causing loss of control or wide-scale pollution.
(End of Chapter)