Xia De had not made an appointment for this visit, but when Professor Drake heard that he was a Writer from Delarion, visiting specifically for research for a new book, he was very happy to invite him in and received Xia De in his study.
Professor Kansas Drake was a thin Old Professor, wearing brown-rimmed reading glasses, with a red plaid blanket covering his legs, so Xia De could not see him from the waist down. Unlike the Delarion people Xia De usually saw, Professor Drake had the standard appearance of a Southern Old Continent native, meaning a long face, slightly darker skin, and somewhat upturned eyelashes.
Xia De entered the study first, and then the maid pushed Professor Drake in. He instructed the plump maid, who seemed very reliable, to prepare tea, and then began to converse with Xia De.
It was not the first time Xia De had impersonated a Delarion Writer, so he could speak fluently about a profession he did not actually engage in. He quickly transitioned from local folklore to the legend of the “Lake Goddess.”
“Yes, I have indeed studied this legend. Mr. Watson, you should also know the general content: in a certain lake west of Huntington City, lives a Goddess who can grant people's wishes.”
The Old Professor solemnly drew the Natural Church's holy emblem on his chest; he was a loyal believer of a nature god:
“Mortals always crave such legends, but most research suggests that perhaps in ancient times, a solitary female lived in the lake area west of the City. Local villagers occasionally saw her bathing in the lake, or walking in the forest on foggy mornings, which led to the legend of the Lake Goddess. As you know, country folk always like to exaggerate their experiences, and those stories passed down by word of mouth, after several eras, became the legends we know today.”
“But is that really the truth?”
Xia De asked suspiciously. Of course, it wasn't, otherwise Sister Devlin and Edmund would not have recommended Xia De to come here.
“This is just the most widely circulated theory at present, and it is also the common view of scholars who study Huntington's local history and folklore.”
The Professor shrugged and replied to Xia De in delarion. Although Professor Drake was a Southerner, he had lived in the North Country for a long time in his youth, and his delarion was very good.
“Then what is your opinion? Viscount Bernhardt, who introduced me, said that you are a scholar with very unique ideas.”
Xia De complimented him slightly, and Professor Drake also smiled:
“Young people nowadays speak so nicely. I know what you want to learn from me, and you are not the first person to ask me this question. Yes, I do know some things that ordinary people don't, but I cannot tell you directly.”
“You need crown? No problem, I am willing to sponsor your research.”
Xia De put down his teacup and was about to pull out his wallet, but the Professor shook his head slightly:
“Young man, I will ask you three questions, and your answers will determine whether you can get the answer from me.”
Xia De didn't expect such a request, but he still nodded:
“No problem. Although I don't boast too much about my wisdom to others, it's just three questions; I can probably handle them. Professor, please ask.”
A sparrow flew in through the window and landed on the windowsill of the study. The Professor turned to look at the sparrow and sighed softly:
“In my opinion, wisdom is equivalent to wealth. I don't want your wealth or your wisdom. Please listen carefully, Mr. Watson, if you encounter the Lake Goddess and she gives you a chance to make a wish, what wish would you make?”
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Besides wanting to gather material, I've actually been looking for something lost recently. If I really encountered that Goddess, I would ask her to tell me how to find the lost item. Or, perhaps she could give me the item directly.”
Xia De said, his eyes also falling on the sparrow on the windowsill, which reminded him of Mia, who was still sleeping when he left home. The cat might be awake now, “inspecting her territory” at home.
“Second question, if the Lake Goddess can help you fulfill your wish, but fulfilling the wish requires a price, are you willing to pay it?”
The physically disabled Professor asked again, scrutinizing Xia De with sharp eyes. Xia De thought for a moment:
“Is it an equivalent exchange? Or do I have to pay more?”
“You don't need to pay, but when you get what you want, a subtle change has already occurred.”
Old Professor Drake said in a low voice. Xia De raised an eyebrow:
“Then I won't make a wish. Although I want to find a certain item, there are actually other methods I can try, and there's no need to necessarily take risks, after all, I have too many precious things in my life that I don't want to give up. Professor, what is the third question?”
“If killing the Lake Goddess could fulfill your wish without any cost, would you do it?”
The Professor asked finally. Xia De shook his head:
“Although I don't think the Lake Goddess from local legends is a true great one like the righteous gods, I imagine it wouldn't be that easy to kill such a legendary creature, would it?”
“Assume the other party doesn't resist at all.”
The Professor stared at Xia De. Xia De still shook his head without hesitation:
“Professor Drake, this question is truly strange. But a long time ago, when I was still very naive about this world and my own life, I once told my friend: murdering others for one's own goals will only result in a lifetime of guilt that one must bear.”
This was something Xia De had discussed with Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider, and it was back in the summer.
Professor Drake smiled:
“Very good, you are more rational and kind than most young people I know. I am quite curious about your upbringing.”
He raised his hand and pointed behind him:
“Now, could you hand me the red photo album on the third shelf of the bookcase? Please forgive the request of an old man with inconvenient legs.”
Xia De got up, found the album on the bookshelf, and handed it to the Professor. The Professor opened it with a nostalgic expression, pulled out one of the photos, and handed it to Xia De:
“Mr. Watson, please look at this one.”
As the black and white photo touched his fingers, a voice immediately sounded in his ear:
“You have touched the ‘whisper.’”
This was an extremely faint whisper element. Without “her” prompt, Xia De might not have even noticed it immediately. He paused slightly, but didn't show too much surprise, instead looking at the photo itself.
Black and white photos were inherently difficult to discern very subtle details, and coupled with the fact that the photo in his hand had already yellowed due to oxidation, even though the Professor's finger pointed out a clear location, Xia De still couldn't see anything special. It was a landscape photo of a lakeside, taken at least ten years ago.
He looked very carefully at the yellowed old photo; it was clearly a very normal lakeside landscape photo, but the more he looked, the more he felt a sense of unease, as if he was staring at something terrifying, yet there was truly only ordinary lakeside scenery in the photo.
“Do you feel it? Staring at it for a long time makes one feel unsettled.”
The Professor said softly, then reached out and pointed at the photo again:
“Look behind that tree, there's a human face here.”
Xia De looked down at the tree again suspiciously, trying to imagine the shadow behind the tree as a human face. Unexpectedly, as the blurry black shadow slowly writhed, the whisper element in the photo quickly became denser.
At the same time, in the blurry black shadow at the position originally pointed to by Professor Drake, a woman with black hair (because the photo was only black and white) and a pale white face actually appeared. Her upper body, revealing her shoulders, looked as if she was not wearing clothes. As the woman became clearer, the rotting sludge on her body also became visible, appearing more and more real and vivid.
She looked at Xia De from within the photo, her eyes even blinking, her malicious expression completely unconcealed.
“relic?”
Although the Divine Radiance was still present, without the Divine Radiance by his side, a cold sensation immediately spread from his fingertips to Xia De's body along with the curse, and was then suppressed by the First Fire flowing within him.
Xia De immediately let go of the photo and then looked at Professor Drake in surprise, only to find that the other party seemed not to have seen the increasingly clear woman, instead looking at Xia De hesitantly:
“Mr. Watson, what's wrong?”
“The Professor can't see it?”
Xia De was a little confused, but then he understood. Professor Drake's spiritual sense was probably very weak, not enough to capture the malice of the blurry human face in the photo. And Xia De, with his extremely high spiritual sense, captured the malice, so he was targeted by the curse.
This photo was definitely not the relic itself; it was just the power of the relic recorded by the photo, thus spreading the curse. Xia De had heard of such items, which could also be considered relic derivatives, but their effects were not strong.
“I saw that woman, yes, very blurry, just an outline.”
Xia De said vaguely:
“Is this the Lake Goddess?”
“Of course not. This is a photo that a local sold me many years ago. This photo proved to my younger self that there are indeed some things in western Huntington that normal people find difficult to understand. This world is actually not simple.”
The Professor said, casually tossing the photo onto the desktop. The sunlight from outside the window shone on the photo, and as the two of them no longer looked at it, the whisper element on the photo returned to an extremely low level.
Xia De immediately nodded. Now he knew that there was at least one curse-type humanoid relic in the form of a black-haired woman in western Huntington City. The relic's level was at least Sage-level (Level 2), and the curse was still suppressed within his body. He would have to find a way to resolve this curse once he left the Professor's place.
“Is that when you began to transform from an ordinary scholar into a folklorist who also studies mysticism?”
“Yes, I used to think that legends were just legends, but later I started trying to study folklore from a mystical perspective. Of course, my involvement in that field is very superficial because it is quite dangerous. As for the existence of the Lake Goddess, there is actually much more evidence. Young man, you probably don't know that the Pantanal Great Swamp region has been continuously shrinking over the past five hundred years.”
“Oh?”
Xia De raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the City's tourist map hanging on the study wall:
“Are you saying that the location where the Lake Goddess appeared was once part of the Pantanal Great Swamp?”
“Yes, I once deeply researched the folklore and legends of the Pantanal region. Oh~ those were very strange, evil, and distorted things, and I often regret having gotten involved with them in my youth.”
The Professor shook his head and said to Xia De:
“But encountering those terrible materials was not entirely without reward. I am very certain that the ‘Lake Goddess’ in local legends truly exists, and she is in a certain lake east of Huntington City. The location of that lake is not fixed; according to certain rules, only special people can access it.”
