Since he had learned more about the “Life Gamble” in the past, Xia De actively began to investigate.
The method of investigation, of course, was to entrust others to help him gather information. This was unavoidable; Xia De had no direct intelligence channels. Unless the Silver Moon Library, which the Librarian called “recorded all Knowledge,” was opened to him, Xia De could only honestly ask others for help.
Early Monday morning, Priest Augustus had just finished breakfast in the church’s dining room and was about to take a walk in Dawn Square to digest his food when he saw Xia De hurriedly jump out of a carriage:
“Oh, Detective, you’re here so early, you’re not here to listen to the sermon, are you?”
The Priest was in a good mood, standing at the church entrance in his robes, even joking with Xia De. He invited Xia De into the church to talk. As they walked down the corridor, Xia De quietly handed the Priest the holy emblem drawn by Mr. Riddle, somewhat worried that passing an Old God’s holy emblem in a righteous God’s church would be an act of blasphemy:
“Priest, I want to entrust you to help me find the Old God corresponding to this holy emblem.”
“Holy emblem?”
Priest Augustus looked down at the strange lines. The sense of chaos and slight discomfort confirmed to him that this was not a random doodle.
“This is… oh, it’s this one!”
“Priest, you recognize this?”
“Of course, this is the Old God who has long departed, the 【Rumbling Black Hunter】, or also known as the 【God of Gambling】. In fact, even today, this God still has scattered believers. Although the cult has long disappeared, gamblers will pass down His stories by word of mouth, and His statues and holy emblems can occasionally be found in underground casinos.”
The Priest introduced, then curiously asked:
“I heard Annette say that your luck at playing rhode cards is always very good, so you shouldn’t need to pray for this God’s help, right?”
“No, no, it’s not rhode cards.”
Xia De immediately shook his head:
“I want to know more about this great one.”
“I can’t help you with that.”
The Priest regretfully shook his head, looked left and right, and then lowered his voice and said:
“This God’s cult has long disappeared, and the Church has very few records of Him. Some time ago, the Church found materials left by the followers of the Old God 【Pure Creator】, but the Church doesn’t always find such ‘treasures’.”
“I see… What would happen if I tried to cheat in front of this God?”
Xia De didn’t dare to say that he wanted to cheat in a gamble with a God. He just wanted to try to join the game himself. Although his life experience in this world was only a short two months, it was definitely more exciting than Mr. Riddle’s experience.
“If that God has not departed, the consequences of cheating in front of a great one, you can refer to those famous blasphemers in history.”
Which meant certain death. This made Xia De understand that he should not have any crooked ideas about this gamble.
Seeing that Xia De did not continue to ask questions, the Priest then said:
“It just so happens that you came to see me today. The 【Weak Angel Potion】 I promised you last time is ready. Come with me to my workshop to get it.”
Priest Augustus’s potion workshop was a friend’s basement he rented on the street next to Dawn Square. The two walked and chatted, and on a Monday morning, there weren’t many people like them who could leisurely walk on the street.
After all, everyone had to make a living, and the Old Priest of the church and Xia De, who could live for a month on a single commission, clearly did not belong to the normal crowd.
The two talked about the upcoming prayer activities at Dawn Church, and about the church’s plan to rent out the Delarion Royal Opera House this weekend to invite a theater group to perform an opera with a “religious story” theme there.
And as a senior believer in the area, if Xia De wanted to go, he could, of course, get tickets directly from Priest Augustus.
“Does the Church often hold such… cultural activities?”
It took Xia De a while to find the right way to describe it. A Boy selling newspapers came over to promote newspapers to the two, but seeing Priest Augustus’s attire, he retreated—the church itself subscribed to newspapers.
But the Priest still smiled and motioned for the Boy to come over, then bought a copy of the Steam Bird Daily with the change in his pocket. Today was Monday, and there was also Dorothy’s Detective story serial. On Saturday, Dorothy had said with a glowing face that she had truly succeeded this time.
Even Xia De now enjoyed following Dorothy’s serial, which was certainly not because he wanted to see others praise him, but because he wanted to know how Dorothy managed to adapt those boring Detective records.
The Priest folded the newspaper and tucked it under his arm, continuing to explain:
“We often hold similar activities. The sermons and preachings that were popular in the old era are already difficult to satisfy this era. The prosperity of the steam industry has created more spiritual needs for people whose lives are increasingly affluent, so in addition to the most important annual festival activities, the Five Gods Church organizes various forms of gatherings from time to time.”
“Insufficient and unbalanced, I understand.”
Xia De nodded, but did not delve too deeply into the topic, instead asking:
“Besides organizing opera viewing, what other activities are there?”
Seeing Xia De looking very interested, Priest Augustus smiled and explained:
“Psychological counseling, mutual aid groups, or organizing cookie making in the church, which the church sends to the slums or City welfare homes. Oh, every six months, we also organize gatherings for young believers whose family situations are well known, to create opportunities for them to meet.”
This could be considered a matchmaking event, and the next generation of children born from believers combining would most likely also become senior believers.
Priest Augustus did not invite Xia De to participate in such an activity, as the Old Priest vaguely realized that Xia De had an unusual relationship with the two Sorceresses in his group.
The two then talked about the Ring術士 from the Truth Society they encountered last week at the nameless cemetery at the end of Hanging Ghost Path. Priest Augustus handed him over to the Church, and the Church naturally conducted further interrogation, hoping to obtain more information about the Truth Society.
Unfortunately, probably because Xia De’s Great Sin Chains twice pierced that soul, even if he resurrected through a ritual, his inherent wisdom and thinking still experienced a certain degree of confusion.
The Church believed after examination that his soul had undergone distortion, attributing this to that terrifying resurrection ritual. As for more news about the Truth Society, it can currently only be deciphered from the Ring術士’s private letters found subsequently, but decrypting those letters encrypted in ancient languages also takes time.
An organization like the Truth Society would not send only one person to Tobesk to act; the Church believed he must have companions still in this diocese.
“So, unless absolutely necessary, don’t use your chain casually.”
The Priest warned Xia De while taking out his key to open the door:
“Just seeing that chain, I can almost feel the sin. I believe you can control your power, but I’m worried others won’t believe you.”
Stepping over the threshold into the basement, because Priest Augustus often formulated potions here, there was a very indescribable strange bitter smell in the air, and the temperature in the basement was much higher than on the ground, which might be due to the furnace still glowing with fire in the corner.
The 【Weak Angel Potion】 Priest Augustus had prepared for Xia De was now on the test tube rack on the workbench. When he handed the glass test tube to Xia De, he also complained that further advanced potion courses required more precise chemical instruments, but purchasing such instruments was a big hassle. Saint Byron's price was too high, the Delarion National Precision Instrument Institute was inconvenient to contact, and some Mechanical College in the University District could customize them, but the cycle was very long.
The 【Weak Angel Potion】 was a transparent liquid, indistinguishable from water in appearance. But upon contact, the voice in his ear immediately prompted Xia De that he felt the Miracle.
Xia De held the test tube and immediately felt a warm temperature. This feeling was similar to holding a suitably warm hot water bottle in winter.
Although not the same type of item as Iluna’s Sunlight Gun brooch, the elements and spirits contained in Priest Augustus’s potion were almost more powerful than that brooch.
“The most direct way to deal with demons with this is to pour it into their mouths. But considering that books record that most Evil Spirits and demons are not human in form, and may not have mouths or other orifices, you can also sprinkle it on their bodies.”
The Priest leaned on the table and explained to Xia De:
“I don’t know what exactly you’re dealing with, but one tube of this, even if it can’t completely expel the opponent, will certainly have a great impact on them.”
“Is it useful to pour this on a weapon?”
Xia De asked curiously, pulling out the stopper of the test tube and sniffing it, smelling a not-too-strong scent of grass. Fortunately, Mia was currently engrossed in “exploring” at home and hadn’t followed him out, otherwise, that cat would definitely extend its claws.
“Of course, it’s useful; it can provide a certain duration of holy light damage to weapons. In addition, dripping the liquid on your eyelids, nose, and ears can allow you to detect traces of evil things with invisibility.”
The Priest thought for a moment:
“This potion is very difficult to formulate. In a short time, I can only provide you with this much. If you can’t handle it yourself, remember to ask me for help. Oh, I mean, ask me to ask the Church for help.”
“Of course, Priest.”
Xia De didn’t mention that he had companions. He then awkwardly said:
“Priest, this potion you provided is too precious. My help to you is actually nothing. So, what else do you need….”
“Don’t say that. Our group should help each other, and you are doing this to fight demons, which is righteous. If I accept your reward, I would become a person blinded by greed.”
Priest Augustus told Xia De not to continue, so Xia De could only keep this gratitude in his heart, thinking of repaying him when he had the chance in the future.
At the same time, he took out the Demon Hunter seal he had copied from Mr. Riddle, wanting the Priest to see if he knew what it was.
He had expected the Priest to need to look up information, but to his surprise, he frowned. The Priest not only recognized the God’s holy emblem but also recognized this:
“Oh? Where did you see this mark? I imagine you are not proficient in basic heraldry. This symbol, when deformed, is adapted into many blessing rituals.”
“I saw this from… an ancient book that recorded methods for dealing with demons. It said that this mark can expel demons. Priest, is this the imprint left by a relic?”
“Yes, oh, Detective, I never thought I would see this from you.”
Priest Augustus asked Xia De to sit down and talk:
“As you know, those Evil Spirits and demons are twisted and terrifying things that have survived from the ancient third epoch. Although the intelligent beings of that time feared them, with the mystical system of that era, there was not absolutely no way to resist them. So, a group of people whose goal was to hunt demons gathered together. The mark you see is the seal they wore. In that era, this was a considerably powerful alchemical item.”
“So, has that group of people been passed down? For example, in the chaotic fourth epoch, the Sorceress’s fifth epoch, and the current sixth epoch, are there still people from this group? Do they have any organization?”
Xia De asked curiously.
“They all disappeared at the end of the third epoch, or the beginning of the fourth epoch, due to various reasons. The remaining metal seals later transformed into relics, which is what you are looking for. I don’t know how many seals remained, but I know this is a keeper-level relic, the demon hunting seal.”
“Only Secret Keeper Level?”
Xia De was a little surprised.
“Because the sole purpose of the seal is to grant the object imprinted with it the power to resist demons. Aside from resisting demons, it is useless, and even its two negative characteristics are only related to demons. If it is not touched by a Ring術士 for a long time, once it is touched again by a Ring術士, it will directly attract demons, and holding this seal will also increase the probability of encountering demons.”
The Priest said.
“So, where are these seals now?”
“I don’t know.”
The Priest shook his head:
“But there’s a saying that when demons appear, these seals will also appear; this is the last gift left by the Demon Hunters of the third era to future generations.”
“This is troublesome now.”
Xia De thought to himself, currently, Ring術士 groups, including the Church and the College, are all searching for Darkness’s whereabouts. At this time, no matter how Xia De looks for the Demon Hunter seal, other organizations will find out.
Unless the seal actively bumps into Xia De, Xia De couldn’t think of any other possibility of getting it.
“Oh, Xia De, regarding this potion, remember not to tell anyone that you got it from me.”
Priest Augustus suddenly said again.
“Can’t even Doctor Schneider and them know?”
“Yes, no one can know.”
The Priest repeated very seriously.
“No problem, anyway, I have quite a few items of strange origin on me.”
Xia De nodded, knowing in his heart that this potion was definitely not simple.
