Mr. Madison and the disguised Princess Margaret arrived at the Three Cats Inn on this foggy Friday afternoon. They chose a table close to the woman sitting alone and sat down. The maid at the Three Cats Inn quickly brought them drinks.
Xia De saw Mr. Madison ask the maid not to leave yet, then pointed at the woman sitting alone, as if asking about her. The simply dressed maid answered a few words, then received two small coins from Princess Margaret.
"Doctor, don't prepare the ritual yet."
Xia De, who had just witnessed the "picking beans" scene, kicked the Doctor under the table, then put a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet, and then pointed to the table on the other side of the atrium.
The Doctor also saw Mr. Madison and the other lady. He frowned and thought for a moment, then motioned for Xia De to also be quiet. The Doctor wrote a message in his notebook with a pen and pushed it to Xia De:
【Although we are friends, they have their own agenda. We should not interfere in such matters. If it's something related to Success Higher Medical College, our presence would only cause unnecessary trouble.】
Xia De nodded to the Doctor. That woman was clearly the target of the Letter-based Ring術士 from Cerces.
He wasn't worried that Mr. Madison and Princess Margaret would stay here indefinitely. The newspaper said that Princess Margaret was invited to the Delarion Royal Opera House tonight with Queen Diana and others to watch a Delarion opera and experience Delarion's traditional art.
Therefore, Princess Margaret would conservatively have to return to her manor before five o'clock.
"She's truly busy, participating in diplomatic activities and also needing to attend to her Ring術士 studies. The Princess's schedule must be quite terrifying."
Xia De thought to himself.
To avoid being seen by Mr. Madison and Princess Margaret, Xia De and the Doctor took advantage of the two not paying attention to stand up and move to a spot not illuminated by the gas lamp, leaving the drowsy accountant slumped in his original position. Drunkenly sleeping while slumped over was a common "scene" at the Three Cats Inn, so it wasn't out of place.
For the first ten minutes after Mr. Madison and the Princess sat down, everything was completely normal. But at 3:17 PM, the woman holding a wine glass put down her ale again. She didn't pour herself more wine as before, or reach for other things on the table, but instead cupped her hands under her cheeks, lifting her head off her neck once more.
Xia De had seen this scene just now, but Doctor Schneider, who had only heard Xia De say the woman was strange, was truly startled to see this.
【Outsider, you have come into contact with the whisper element.】
Her head was only held up for less than ten seconds before being placed back on her neck. During this time, another peanut emerged from under her head. It seemed that this "detachable" head was not suitable for eating legumes.
The prompt for the "whisper" element only appeared when the head was separated. When the head reconnected to the neck, no trace of the element could be felt anymore.
Xia De looked at Doctor Schneider with a tense face; the Doctor's face was somewhat blurry in the shadows.
"Doctor, can you identify what that is?"
Xia De wrote in his notebook.
"I don't know."
The Doctor also wrote on the paper, then emphasized again that this was a matter for Success Higher Medical College, and that it was best for the two of them not to interfere unless the other party explicitly needed help.
Xia De and Doctor Schneider, despite being so far apart, saw the anomaly. Mr. Madison and Princess Margaret, of course, also saw it.
Xia De couldn't see their expressions, only that they exchanged a few more words.
Then, Princess Margaret remained seated, while Mr. Madison actually got up and walked to the woman who had resumed drinking from her glass. He leaned over and said a few words, then returned to his own table.
"This is a test, to determine the other party's mental state through language, and to determine if their body has mutated through close-range visual observation. When encountering strange humanoid creatures, this is a relatively basic and primitive testing method."
The Doctor wrote on the paper, signaling Xia De to continue watching.
Mr. Madison sat back down opposite Princess Margaret. The two spoke softly again for a few moments, then took out some things that Xia De couldn't clearly see and placed them on the table.
"They're going to act. They're preparing casting items. There should also be relic containment ritual items. That woman is related to a relic!"
The Doctor wrote in his notebook again; his handwriting was very neat.
"Aren't they going to lure her to an empty place before acting?"
Xia De asked in his notebook. The Doctor shook his head; he also wasn't clear on the specifics:
"Alan is a very reliable person, no need to worry."
Seeing the letters the Doctor wrote, Xia De immediately started to worry.
Princess Margaret and Mr. Madison didn't prepare for too long. They walked together towards the woman drinking alone. The woman holding the wine glass seemed confused by their arrival and turned to look at them.
What happened next was too fast for Xia De to see clearly. He only saw Mr. Madison take out something and wave it in front of the woman, while Princess Margaret walked behind the woman, as if trying to strangle her with an invisible, transparent rope.
All of this was silent, but it was clear they failed. The item in Mr. Madison's hand suddenly caught fire, and a bright flash of light appeared for an instant before disappearing. And Princess Margaret seemed to be pushed backward by a great force; she maintained her strangling posture, her body stiffly retreating two or three steps before she regained her balance.
Taking this opportunity, the woman stood up, then removed her head with one hand and waved it at Mr. Madison and Princess Margaret.
"Oh~"
The fluctuation of the whisper element suddenly intensified. Xia De heard the Doctor sigh softly, while Mr. Madison and the Princess nearby were clearly directly affected by the relic. Both simultaneously covered their necks with their hands, staggering backward. The Four Ring Princess even sat down on an empty chair.
Still, no one noticed what was happening in the corner, and after forcing the two Ring術士 back, the woman placed her head back on her neck, turned, and ran. Mr. Madison's face was pale, and he stumbled as he chased after her. The Princess recovered after more than ten seconds before standing up and quickly pursuing.
The two Ring術士 dared not use their Ring術士 powers in a public place, so they could only closely follow the woman, trying to find an empty corner to try again. But they had no chance. The woman, walking quickly at the front, did not leave this floor but instead walked almost directly in the direction of Doctor Schneider and Xia De.
As she got closer, Xia De and the Doctor both felt that something was wrong. But they had no chance to get up and leave. The woman passed Mr. James, who was dozing, then pulled out a chair and sat down next to Xia De and the Doctor.
Xia De looked at the Doctor, and the Doctor seemed to understand his meaning:
"This is absolutely not because I'm unlucky."
The Doctor also didn't speak, but Xia De felt he understood his expression.
Even without removing her head, Xia De could feel the coldness emanating from this lightly made-up middle-aged woman nearby, as well as the influence of the curse attached to the whisper element. The mental pressure forced Xia De and the Doctor to remain motionless, and at the same time, both felt an itching sensation in their necks.
Xia De looked at the Doctor and clearly saw a black line on the Doctor's neck, and from the Doctor's expression, a similar mark should have appeared on Xia De's neck.
By this time, Mr. Madison had caught up, and there was also an abnormal black line on his neck. Xia De and Doctor Schneider had not disguised themselves, and Mr. Madison immediately recognized them. This gentleman, with his head wrapped in a turban, slightly slowed his pace, then showed a relieved expression.
He hesitated for a moment, then walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite the woman, closer to Doctor Schneider's side.
And Princess Margaret, who arrived shortly after, also noticed the situation here. Xia De remained seated, thought for a moment, and didn't make any deliberate disguise, so the somewhat flustered Princess, who had seen Doctor Schneider at the Lakeview Manor banquet, first saw him, then her gaze fell on Xia De's face.
For a moment, Xia De almost thought she would exclaim in surprise, but Her Royal Highness had extremely strong psychological fortitude. Even after seeing an incredible scene, she still feigned composure and, imitating Mr. Alan Madison, pulled out a chair and sat down.
She sat opposite the woman, to the right of Mr. Madison, closer to Xia De's end of the table. There was also a strange black line on her neck, a trace of the relic's curse.
"Let's introduce ourselves."
The woman who could remove her head, after sitting down, seemed to freeze like a wax figure, motionless. Mr. Madison said with annoyance, then complained softly:
"Bill, if I had known you were here, I definitely wouldn't have attempted relic containment here. Oh, this is Mr. Hamilton, a local Letter-based Ring術士 from Saint Byron's. I've met him; he's a very excellent Letter-based Ring術士. Knight, this is a Letter-based student from out of town—"
"Miss Mary."
Princess Margaret, greatly surprised, said.
"Mary" is the most frequently used female name in Delarion; using this name for self-introduction is basically equivalent to telling others it's an alias.
"I apologize, my identity is a bit sensitive."
She apologized to Xia De. Xia De nodded. He didn't particularly care about Princess Margaret knowing his Saint Byron's student identity; in fact, letting her know this way was even better. Now the Princess knew he was a Ring術士, but she didn't know he knew she was also a Ring術士, nor did she know he knew she knew he was a Ring術士. It was a very interesting situation.
"Are you trying to say that my bad luck caused this?"
The Doctor complained to Mr. Madison, tapping the table, and looked at the frozen woman. The latter had not made any other movements after infecting Xia De and the Doctor with the curse:
"Alan, what exactly is going on?"
