Chapter 41: A Special Notice

Shade stared with a stiff expression at the elective course parchment, which looked more like a price list. Based on his current circumstances (city, occupation, age), the academy he joined, and his core spiritual rune, the academy was offering him nearly two hundred elective courses in his first year. Among them were highly practical courses such as *Inspirational Divination* and *Simple Acquisition of the Four Elemental Runes*.

Some courses required the completion of certain foundational or elective courses before they could be selected; otherwise, Shade would see even more electives.

The fees for the relatively cheaper courses exceeded 20 pounds, while the most expensive category could not be paid in currency at all, but rather through [Relics] or other specific requirements and tasks.

Fortunately, electives could be chosen at any time. When visiting Doctor Schneider every Saturday, if he intended to pay, he could contact the academy directly.

Doctor Schneider suggested that Shade familiarize himself with the foundational courses for a while before considering electives; the Old Priest recommended several useful courses; and Miss Louisa helped Shade cross out a portion of them. Having just received a large sum of manuscript fees during her first year, she had spent a lot on courses and knew which ones were currently unnecessary

"You don't have to pass the electives; the academy and the professors don't care about that. However, electives are a great opportunity for us correspondence circle mages to encounter and get to know the academy professors. You should know that whether certain valuable elective courses are opened depends on the professors' own willingness."

Miss Louisa continued her introduction. Shade was quite familiar with this system; although it was slightly different from his past, he adapted well to such rules.

Reading through the elective list in his hands, he instinctively flipped to the back as he reached the end. He had assumed the reverse side of the parchment would be blank, but to his surprise, there was indeed text

[Mr. Shade Solen Hamilton, First-Circle Mage

Please prepare four wooden chairs in an empty, deserted room at midnight tonight. They must not be decorated with any divine symbols. Place the four chairs facing each other in the cardinal directions—East, West, South, and North—surrounding a basin filled with clear water. The basin must not be made of pure silver. You must sit in the chair facing North before midnight, ignite this parchment, and cast it into the water basin.

Please dress formally. You may turn on the gas lamp, but please close the curtains. Do not tell anyone about this, including other circle mages in your group. Professor Hamus Sanchez of the Library Management Academy and Professor Hessen Garcia of the History Academy wish to see you.

St. Byrons Comprehensive Academy - Student Management Office

Professor Hamus Jane Sanchez]

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Shade staring blankly at the back of the parchment, Miss Louisa also looked at it.

"What is there to see on a blank page? Oh, I know, you probably haven't used parchment before. Common sense dictates that we usually don't use parchment double-sided, so there shouldn't be anything on the back."

Miss Louisa's position allowed her to see the text perfectly, yet she acted as if she saw nothing.

*Am I the only one who can see this? What does the academy mean? Do they have a secret mission for me? A private meeting... has my identity as a foreigner been exposed?*

Shade thought to himself, memorizing the information before rolling up the parchment and placing it back on the sofa.

Because of Shade's [Space-Time] core rune, the History Academy had promised to provide him with a [Keeper-level] relic for self-defense upon his enrollment. This relic only appeared after all the books and documents had been delivered and the receipt note had been confirmed.

The upper limit of items that a Poet-level relic could transmit was limited to the [Keeper-level], and even then, only certain Keeper-level relics could be transmitted. Therefore, it seemed the History Academy had gone to great lengths for Shade's sake.

The [Relic] was placed inside a cubic, rusted bronze box, no larger than a palm. The patterns on the surface of the box depicted incomprehensible, vine-like motifs.

Pressed beneath the bronze box was an instruction document describing the function of this [Relic].

The relic was not a gift to Shade; if he were to leave the History Academy or depart from St. Byrons Comprehensive Academy, he would need to return the [Relic]. However, if he graduated normally, he would not need to.

[You have encountered 'The Whisper.']

According to common sense, Shade should not have immediately known this was a relic, as he did not know its properties.

"The [Twenty-Sided Die of Fate]?"

Shade did not hide it from the others and directly opened the antique-looking bronze box. The inside of the box was almost solid metal, with only a bronze-colored die embedded in the very center.

The surface was covered in rust. It was a 20-sided die, with the numbers recessed into the metal surface. The numbers were gold, some of which had almost merged with the rust—a mark of passing time.

"I know this!"

Miss Louisa said with some surprise. She raised her hand as if to touch her earlobe, but then shook her head.

"No, rather, 'another me' knows this. I probably caught information about this die in a book by accident... But why would the academy give such a dangerous relic to you?"

"All relics are dangerous; they are all terrifying residues condensed from the whispers of past times," the Priest August reminded them. But the writer shook her head, her blonde hair swaying slightly.

"This one is particularly dangerous. Its properties manifest in two ways.

On one hand, while carrying the die, most divinations will fail to work on the bearer. However, this only applies while carrying it; carrying this die for a long time will cause a permanent decline in one's luck. I know luck is an immeasurable concept, but the [Whisper] element truly interferes with luck.

On the other hand, there is the active use of throwing the die, which is limited to once per day. When the die is thrown, one event related to the thrower will be determined as lucky or unlucky by the number rolled. The higher the number, the better the luck, and the random number cannot be determined by any skill or technique."

"Any event related to the user?"

Doctor Schneider caught the key point. He was often considered to have bad luck by his peers in the group, so he was exceptionally concerned about such a relic.

"Yes. Therefore, after throwing it once, you won't immediately know which specific event was affected, but you will certainly understand later. This is also one of the properties of the Twenty-Sided Die of Fate."

The blonde lady moved a little distance away from the bronze box in Shade's hand with a hint of fear.

"But in most cases, it only rolls numbers below 10, which lean toward bad luck—this has been statistically proven. And it is said that if you roll a 1, something even more terrifying than death will occur. Why would the History Academy hand such a terrifying thing to a detective?"

The information provided by the academy was much like Miss Louisa's description. This die could only be contained within that special material bronze box; when not contained, the die would always unconsciously tempt the holder to throw it. Furthermore, the probability of the numbers appearing was not equal; numbers below 10 were the most likely, intended to trigger terrible events.

Therefore, Miss Louisa strongly suggested that Shade should not use the die's active effect and should only treat it as a [Relic] to interfere with divinations.