“Excellent, truly excellent. Although this book is dangerous and reading too much of it could lead to loss of control, several chapters can be extracted from it and compiled into entirely new books that could potentially grant Ring術士 Ling Runes. Look, here’s a story of ancient Mermaids, the ancient war between Mermaids and Mermen, and the fusion and conflict of Coldwater Port’s three major faiths.”
The old man casually flipped through the pages, each one seemingly offering him new insights:
“With this, my ‘Study of the Three Secret Cults of Coldwater Port’ can finally complete its last section.”
A smile appeared on his face, then he looked up at Xia De:
“I said before that all material gains would be yours, and we would share Knowledge gains. This one you brought,”
He patted the book:
“Its value is far greater than the information I provided you. I want the ownership of this book. You can make additional requests; the Guiding Light Hermitage will not take advantage of you.”
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Mr. Edmund, I hope that if I need to consult this book, I can do so at any time.”
The old man nodded:
“A very reasonable request. You can come anytime.”
He said:
“Additionally, I also need the Knowledge from this book, so I hope I can obtain your valuable organized notes. Of course, I will also assist you in translating the content of this book. I have learned some languages of aquatic intelligent species from a friend.”
When facing desire, Xia De was forced to read this book. Under normal circumstances, he would not read such a book that records the secrets of an evil god. Moreover, this book has no table of contents or abstract, and if he were to carefully flip through it himself, he wouldn't know how long it would take.
“That’s simple, but you’ll have to come read it yourself. I won’t bother sending letters to Tobesk.”
Mr. Edmund nodded again.
“I only have these requests for now. If you feel you’ve gotten a good deal, you can give me a discount when I come to buy things in the future.”
Xia De said, holding the cat. The cat kept by Mr. Edmund was now lying at Xia De’s feet, which greatly displeased Mia.
“Trading with you is much better than trading with John. If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t let me go without squeezing every last bit of value out of this book.”
The old man said with a smile. Just then, the kettle on the stove began to whistle. He got up to fetch hot water and poured Xia De a cup of tea.
“Speaking of which, Mr. Edmund, is it the sixth epoch now?”
Xia De asked again.
“Of course it is. What kind of question is that?”
The old man asked back in surprise. Xia De shook his head:
“Something happened recently that messed up my sense of time.”
“That could be a premonition of losing control.”
Mr. Edmund reminded him. Xia De nodded without explaining:
“Also, I’d like to inquire about something. I remember you mentioned last time that there was a rumor in modern times that a Class 0 relic appeared in Coldwater Port?”
He did not directly say the name desire.
“Yes, I don’t know much about the specifics. I only settled in Coldwater Port thirty years ago, and at that time, there were already such rumors among the local Ring術士, but no one could provide evidence. Later, the rumors subsided, and now, few people probably remember this matter.”
Xia De nodded. Before coming to the lighthouse, he had swum to the secret chamber beneath Aurora Manor. As expected, just as the witch had said last night, the secret chamber was empty. That Class 0 relic had broken free from its seal and could now be anywhere.
He suddenly asked again:
“So, are all Class 0 relics very dangerous?”
Mr. Edmund considered for a moment:
“Not necessarily dangerous, but definitely bizarre. Most Class 0 relics possess the ability to directly cause Ring術士 to lose control, so records about them are very scarce. The Church and the Three Great Academies strictly control related information.”
Xia De nodded, saying nothing more. The thing that called itself desire had given him great help, but he absolutely did not want to see it again.
He planned to inform the local Church about this matter later, using “Summoner” as the signature, of course. Even if this diocese absolutely couldn’t catch that thing, at least the Church should understand that a troublesome Class 0 relic had once again become active in the material world.
This could be considered Xia De’s small contribution to world peace and stability.
Xia De hoped that one day he would be able to find information about desire in the Saint Byron's Library. But no matter how good his relationship with Miss Daniste was, the librarian would not disclose information about a Class 0 relic to a low-level Ring術士.
Mr. Edmund invited Xia De to stay for lunch, which consisted of the fish he had caught. Since it was still a long time before Miss Jialinna required him to appear, Xia De accepted the invitation.
The two of them processed the fish together and set up a grill outside the lighthouse. During the meal, Xia De also gave Mia a piece of fish meat with the bones removed, and the cat ate happily.
When Xia De was about to bid farewell and jokingly said he might drop by from time to time, the old man suddenly asked:
“Are you interested in joining the Guiding Light Hermitage?”
From his expression, Mr. Edmund was not joking.
“What responsibilities would I have to bear?”
“Many responsibilities, the responsibility of preserving civilization.”
The old man’s expression was serious, but Xia De shook his head:
“If there’s anything you need me to do, you can give me a commission, but bearing the weight of civilization is too heavy. I know what you do—collecting information about civilization, storing, preserving, and passing it on. I admire you, but I don’t have the time right now. Ten years, Mr. Edmund, ten years from now, if I’m not dead, even if I go to Saint Byron's to be a teacher, you can invite me again, and I’ll most likely agree immediately.”
Far from being disappointed, the old man smiled:
“Besides the responsibilities you mentioned, we actually have more to do, such as investigating and maintaining ancient seals, and like the Church and the Academies, containing and managing relics. In fact, since 1306 of the sixth epoch, we have been searching for the thirteen shelters left by the Ancient Gods. The Hermit Order believes that these are the last refuges prepared by the Ancient Gods for the lives at the end of the world. So, it’s settled then. I will write to you in ten years.”
Xia De was startled. This was the first time he had heard of the thirteen shelters. Connecting this to the content of the parchment he had seen behind the hidden wall in his basement, it was not difficult to infer that the Guiding Light Hermitage regarded the spaces behind the white mist doors left by the thirteen Ancient Gods as shelters.
“Shelters?”
“I can’t tell you that. Even if you agreed to join the Hermit Order immediately, it would take at least ten years for you to gradually gain access to these secrets.”
The old man said. Xia De shook his head regretfully:
“Then it’s settled. I look forward to your letter in ten years.”
He held the cat, which was full and starting to get sleepy, waved to the old man guarding the lighthouse alone, and prepared to go home. Mr. Edmund stood at the base of the lighthouse, watching his retreating figure disappear into the distance, and couldn’t help but sigh:
“As the fire of civilization is about to extinguish, and more and more rumors about the end of the world surface, will we, who preserve the last spark, gain a new companion?”
(Mia running)
First, he went to the Natural Church’s entrance to ask someone to help deliver the letter about the Class 0 relic desire to the Church’s priest. Afterward, Xia De went to the Seven Broomsticks Tavern to inquire about acquiring coin-type relics, and regrettably, finding no results, he did not linger in Coldwater Port but returned home to prepare for a bath before seeing the witch.
Leia was expected to return to Tobesk in about a week, so Xia De didn’t need to stay in Coldwater Port for long, and Dorothy didn’t have to come often to help Xia De take care of the cat. However, the Golden-haired girl was still very interested in the Detective records in the study and would occasionally visit in the future, so although he wouldn't see Dorothy today, there would be plenty of time to see her in Saint Delan Square later.
Miss Jialinna’s carriage stopped downstairs promptly at two in the afternoon. The one who came to pick up Xia De was, of course, the Black-haired maid Miss Tifa Servett.
Seeing Xia De holding the morning newspaper, she tilted her head slightly to look at the content of the newspaper after the carriage slowly started moving:
“Is this the Steam Bird Daily?”
“Yes, I’m reading a novel serialized by a friend.”
Xia De turned the newspaper over and showed her the section with Dorothy’s “hamilton detective story collection”:
“You probably haven’t heard of it, this is—”
“I’ve heard of it. This is the most popular Detective novel recently.”
The maid’s words surprised Xia De. Dorothy’s novel had only been serialized for a week, and he hadn’t expected it to attract attention so quickly.
“The Steam Bird Daily already has a large circulation, and the newspaper even specially allocated a very good section for this Detective novel. Plus, the story itself is very good… Is this based on you?”
The maid was a little curious.
“Yes, but it’s heavily adapted.”
Xia De reopened the newspaper, wanting to see how Dorothy managed to describe that half-century-long saga of grudges and affections without delving into mysticism and ghosts:
“I thought people were still keen on ancient knight novels or modern court novels. I didn’t think they would accept Detective novels depicting contemporary life so quickly.”
“It’s not that people don’t accept them, but that there aren’t good stories to attract them. Most people’s lives are boring, so it’s natural for them to seek some fun from stories.”
The Black-haired maid said with a smile. Xia De nodded. But for him, his life was far more interesting than the Detective stories in the newspaper.
“Speaking of which… Is Miss Jialinna angry?”
Hiding his face behind the newspaper, Xia De finally asked the question he had been wanting to ask.
“Angry? Sir, have you done something to make Miss Jialinna angry?”
Xia De glanced covertly; the maid’s expression was smiling. She wasn’t unaware; she was asking knowingly.
