“What else could there be?”
Xia De asked curiously, as the three of them stopped by the lake shore. The calm artificial lake had already frozen over, and a path paved with pebbles and gravel surrounded the lake, making for a truly beautiful scenery.
“Drive away the flies on the opposite side of the lake.”
Before Xia De could gaze into the darkness on the opposite bank, Miss Jialinna had already finished casting her spell. She didn't reveal her Destiny Ring, nor did she use any casting materials. She simply pointed her right index finger at the opposite side of the lake and flicked it gently, and Xia De heard a faint sound like a Bubble being popped.
But his keen perception made him notice a hot, terrifying stream of air shooting towards the opposite bank, leaving a distorted optical phenomenon in the night air.
Silently, nothing seemed to happen, but Miss Jialinna frowned:
“They dared to fight back?”
Snap~
Miss Sylvia, whose fingers were painted with red nail polish, snapped her fingers crisply, and a sudden warm wind rose from the ground, seemingly blowing away something malicious.
Xia De didn't know what counterattack method the Ring術士 on the opposite side of the lake had used, but a man's short scream echoed under the night sky.
Then, the bushes on the opposite side of the lake rustled, and three dark figures fled into the distance as if for their lives.
“Don’t worry, I’ve controlled the sound nearby.”
Miss Jialinna added. The two Great Witch had no intention of pursuing the other party; they didn't care who the other party was.
After sweeping away the flies, the two Great Witch began the ritual to summon the Keeper.
Miss Sylvia took out a red lacquered wooden box containing a harmonica, while Miss Jialinna instructed Xia De to open the canvas bag.
It contained a lot of miscellaneous items, and at the very bottom, there was even half a pocket of rice.
At Miss Jialinna's request, Xia De scooped out a bowl of rice with a bowl from the bag and went to the lakeside while Miss Sylvia played the harmonica.
“Moonlight Sonata.”
The Duchess said the name of the piece.
“Offer food.”
Miss Jialinna said, and Xia De poured the bowl of rice into the lake. The rice grains only caused tiny ripples when they entered the water, and at the same time, some Bubble floated to the surface of the lake.
“Offer flesh.”
Miss Jialinna said again, and Xia De took out a salted braised duck leg from his pocket. After smelling it, he threw it into the lake. The heavy duck leg entered the lake, and the oil glistened on the water surface. The splashing sound was not obvious amidst the harmonica music.
“Offer gold and silver.”
Miss Jialinna said again, and Xia De pulled out a handful of rusty silver-plated ornaments from his pocket and threw them into the lake as well.
He was actually worried that such ritual offerings might be a bit too offensive.
“Offer souls.”
Miss Jialinna said for the fourth time. Xia De rummaged through his pocket and found a piece of parchment covered with the word “soul.” The ink was blue-black, and the parchment was probably from last week. This item had no extraordinary power; it was just densely copied words.
Xia De didn't act immediately but looked at the two Great Witch with a troubled expression. Miss Sylvia was playing the harmonica by the lake with a smile, the night wind blowing her long dress; she seemed to be enjoying the moment. The Duchess looked down slightly at Xia De, as if wondering why he had stopped.
“Each offering is more outrageous than the last.”
Xia De said in his heart, throwing the fourth offering, the parchment with “soul” written on it, into the lake as well.
“Offer wisdom.”
Miss Jialinna said finally. This ritual only required five offerings.
At this point, the canvas bag was almost empty. Xia De reached inside and grabbed a furry object that felt very bad. Taking out such a thing in the dark was very creepy, and it actually was, because it was a pile of hair.
They were all human long hairs, with various colors such as black, red, brown, and yellow. Some had natural curls, while others were standard straight hair.
These hairs were not straightened and tied with a rope but were all clumped together. Xia De threw those hairs into the lake, and then they were blown back by a gust of wind.
Miss Jialinna's finger moved, and a stone on the ground floated to Xia De's side. He then used the hair to tie the stone and threw the stone far into the lake.
“Why can hair represent wisdom?”
Only then did he ask.
“Isn’t that very easy to understand? Excessive use of the brain leads to hair loss.”
The Duchess said.
“Then—”
Xia De found that he couldn't refute:
“Where did you pick up all that hair just now?”
“They weren’t picked up. Sylvia and I only received notice from the Witch Council this evening. Because time was tight, I had the servants collect some in the manor. You know, in places where girls live, there’s no shortage of hair. And a Great Witch’s hair itself is an extremely excellent ritual material.”
Xia De could almost imagine Tifa leading the manor's maids to search for hair in every corner. He didn't believe that those pretty Great Witch followers would directly pull out their own hair.
With the five offerings presented, Miss Sylvia continued to play the harmonica in the night, but there were no traces of elements around. Miss Jialinna evidently hadn't expected this either, so she motioned for Miss Sylvia to stop and then said to Xia De:
“The data says that the appearance of the sage-level relic 【mischief boy】 requires five offerings and then a cheerful scene. Am I mistaken in my understanding?”
Humanoid relic are more difficult to contain than other types of relic, so there is relatively little data. The information provided by the Witch Council to the two Great Witch was clearly not comprehensive enough.
Xia De believed that “five offerings” was definitely enough, but a “cheerful scene” probably couldn't be achieved by just playing the harmonica.
“Since it’s the mischief boy, Miss Jialinna, why don’t you arrange for someone to perform a comedy show in Regent Park tomorrow, or bring in a circus, under the pretext of enriching the citizens' spiritual and entertainment life.”
He suggested.
“Others have already found this place; we can’t waste time.”
Although Xia De's suggestion was very good, Miss Jialinna still shook her head and refused.
She thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said to Miss Sylvia:
“Emma, answer me a question.
If one night, our young Detective goes out to look for his cat named ‘Mia,’ and then he meets three pretty blondes in Saint Delan Square. If he can give up looking for the cat, he can spend a pleasant and absurd night with the three blondes. What do you think he would do?”
Before Miss Sylvia could speak, the Duchess laughed and said:
“I think Xia De would definitely insist on looking for the cat.”
“That joke is immoral.”
Although she pointed this out, Miss Sylvia, with her short black bob, still covered her mouth and chuckled. When she lowered her hand, her red lips, painted with an unknown shade of lipstick, formed an alluring curve on her fair cheek, and her eyes were brimming with a smile.
But still nothing happened, only Xia De felt a little unhappy because he was “mocked.”
“Then let’s try another one.”
Miss Jialinna seemed to have her interest piqued and smiled again at Xia De:
“Now there is a relic that can distinguish lies, 【Liar Identifier】. If people lie in front of it, it will emit light of different intensities.
So, I asked young Angelina: Have you ever read an indecent magazine that a lady shouldn’t read?
She said no, and the relic emitted the light of a gas lamp;
So, I asked Tifa: Have you ever done bad things with Xia De behind my back?
She said no, and the relic emitted the dim yellow midday sunlight of winter;
So, I asked Emma—”
She smiled and glanced at Miss Sylvia beside her, who immediately realized she was the “protagonist” this time:
“When you were little, did you secretly use your teacher’s lipstick to draw funny make-up on your face? Emma immediately denied it and argued: That’s just like how I wouldn’t covet someone else’s lover. So the relic first flashed slightly, then directly exploded.”
The smile on Miss Jialinna's face was completely uncontrollable. Although Xia De felt she was hinting at something, he also wanted to laugh a little, but fortunately, he controlled himself. As for the young Great Witch, her mood suddenly turned sour, just like Xia De's earlier when he was made fun of with the “cat and girl” joke.
Emma · Miss Sylvia was not a Great Witch who would suffer a loss for nothing. Seeing that there was still no movement around, she showed an equally brilliant smile:
“Then it’s my turn to tell a joke.
One day, the court painter of Delarion painted a beautiful large oil painting for Duchess Galina Cavendish and named it “Duchess of Saladill Inspecting Tobesk.” The oil painting was hung in the manor. A curious maid saw the painting and asked an older maid: Who is this handsome gentleman in the painting? The older maid replied: That is Mr. Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun. The young maid asked again: Then who is the lady embracing him and kissing him on the bed in the Duchess’s bedroom? The older maid replied: Of course, that is our head maid, Miss Tifa Servett.”
Miss Sylvia smiled and looked at Miss Jialinna beside her:
“The young maid finally asked: Then where is our Duchess? The older maid then pointed to the painting’s nameplate: The Duchess of Saladill is inspecting Tobesk.”
Miss Jialinna pursed her lips and looked at her with a cold face. Miss Sylvia looked back at Miss Jialinna, unwilling to show weakness.
Xia De, on the other hand, was stifling his laughter. Although the joke also involved him, it was indeed very interesting. However, the two Great Witch, who were “teasing” each other, were not in such a good mood at the moment. Miss Jialinna, who had been mocked, had no idea that she had started it. She sneered and was about to speak again. Miss Sylvia was also thinking of another joke, but Xia De stopped them:
“They’re here!”
