Xia De looked at the parchment scroll, which resembled a price list for elective courses, with a stern face. Based on his current situation (City, profession, age), the college he joined, and his core Ling Rune, the Saint Byron's Comprehensive College offered him nearly two hundred elective courses in his first year. Among them were courses that seemed quite useful, such as "Inspiration Divination" and "Easy Acquisition of Four-Element Ling Runes."
Some courses required the completion of basic or elective courses before they could be chosen; otherwise, Xia De would have seen even more elective courses.
The cost of the cheaper courses among them exceeded 20 pounds, while the most expensive ones could not even be paid for with currency, but with a relic or other requirements and tasks.
Fortunately, elective courses could be chosen at any time. When coming to the doctor's place every Saturday, if he intended to pay, he could directly contact the college.
Doctor Schneider suggested that Xia De familiarize himself with the basic courses for a period before considering elective courses; the Old Priest recommended some more useful courses; Miss Louisa directly crossed out a portion of them for Xia De. When she was in her first year, she spent a lot on courses because a large sum of manuscript fees had just arrived, so she knew which ones were not needed for now:
"Elective courses can be failed; the college and professors don't care about that. But elective courses are a good opportunity for us Letter-based Ring術士 to get in touch with and get to know the college professors. You should know that whether some valuable elective courses are open is also related to the professors' own wishes."
Miss Louisa continued her introduction. Xia De was very familiar with this system; although it was slightly different from the past, he adapted well to such rules.
Reading the list of elective courses in his hand, he subconsciously turned to the back when he reached the end. He had thought there would be no text on the back of the parchment, but to his surprise, there actually was:
"Mr. Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun, a First Ring術士:
Please prepare four wooden chairs in an empty, unpeopled room at midnight tonight. They must not have divine holy emblems as decoration. Place the four chairs facing each other, in the exact east, west, south, and north directions, surrounding a non-pure silver basin filled with clear water. You need to sit on the northernmost chair before midnight and, after lighting the paper scroll, throw it into the water basin.
Please dress formally, you may light the gas lamp, please close the curtains, and do not tell anyone about this matter, including other Ring術士 in your group. Professor Harms Sanchez of the Library Management College and Professor Hessenger Garcia of the History Academy wish to see you.
Saint Byron's Comprehensive College - Student Management Office
Professor Harms Jane Sanchez"
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Xia De staring blankly at the back of the parchment, Miss Louisa also looked at the back of the parchment:
"What's so interesting about an empty page? Oh, I know, you probably haven't used parchment before. It's common knowledge that we usually don't use parchment on both sides, so there won't be anything on the back."
Miss Louisa's position allowed her to clearly see these words, but she acted as if she saw nothing.
"Only I can see these? What does the college mean? Do they have a secret mission for me? Talking to me alone, could it be that my Outsider identity has been exposed?"
Xia De thought to himself, jotting down these messages, then re-rolled the parchment and placed it on the sofa.
Because of Xia De's 【Time-Space】 core Ling Rune, the History Academy promised to provide him with a Secret Keeper Level relic for self-defense after he joined. This relic appeared only after all the books and documents were delivered and he confirmed receipt on a note.
The upper limit of items that a Poet Grade relic could transmit was also limited to Secret Keeper Level, and even then, only some Secret Keeper Level relics could be transmitted. Therefore, it seemed the History Academy had gone to great lengths for Xia De.
The relic was placed inside a cubic, rusty bronze box, smaller than a palm. The patterns on the box's surface depicted incomprehensible vine-like designs.
A descriptive document was pressed under the bronze box, detailing the relic's function.
The relic was not given to Xia De permanently; if he left the History Academy or withdrew from Saint Byron's Comprehensive College, he would need to return the relic. However, if he graduated normally, it would not be required.
"You have touched 'whisper.'"
According to common sense, Xia De should not have immediately known this was a relic, because he didn't know its properties.
"The dice of fate?"
Xia De did not avoid the others and directly opened the antique-like bronze box. The inside of the box was almost solid metal, with only a bronze-colored dice embedded in the very center.
Its surface was heavily rusted, a 20-sided dice. The numbers were sunken into the metal surface of the dice, and they were all golden, some almost merging with the rust—a trace of time.
"I know this!"
Miss Louisa said with some surprise, raising her hand as if to touch her earlobe, but then shaking her head:
"No, I should say 'another me' knows this. Perhaps I accidentally glanced at information about this dice in a book... But why would the college give you such a dangerous relic?"
"All relics are dangerous; they are terrifying residues condensed from the whispers of past times."
Priest Augustus reminded her, but the Writer shook her head, her golden hair swaying slightly:
"This one is particularly dangerous; its properties manifest in two ways.
On one hand, when carrying the dice, most divinations will not work on the carrier, but only when carried. However, carrying this dice 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, actively rolling the dice, with only one chance per day. When the dice is rolled, one event related to the roller will have its luck determined by the number rolled on the dice. The larger the number, the better the luck, and no tricks or means can be used to determine the randomly appearing number."
"Any event related to the user?"
Doctor Schneider grasped the key point. He was often considered unlucky by others in his group, so he was particularly interested in this type of relic.
"Yes, so usually after one roll, you won't immediately know which event was affected, but you will certainly understand later. This is also one of the characteristics of the dice of destiny."
The golden-haired lady moved away from the bronze box in Xia De's hand with some trepidation:
"But in most cases, it can only roll numbers below 10, which tend to be bad luck. This has been statistically proven. And it is said that if a 1 is rolled, something more terrifying than death will happen. Why would the History Academy give such a dreadful thing to a Detective?"
The information provided by the college was similar to Miss Louisa's statement. This dice could only be contained in that bronze box made of special material. When not contained, the dice would always subtly tempt its holder to roll it, and the probability of each number appearing was not even; numbers below 10 had the highest probability, thereby causing terrible things.
Therefore, Miss Louisa strongly suggested that Xia De not use the dice's active effect, and only treat it as a relic that interferes with divination.
