At 2:30 in the afternoon, Xia De, who was at home, did not wait for Miss Galina's reply. Instead, someone knocked on the door downstairs.
When I opened the door, the four-wheeled carriage was parked at the door. There was no one in the carriage, but the coachman with a cigarette in his mouth gave Xia De a note. It was written in Miss Galina's beautiful cursive letters, and Shade got in the car directly to meet her.
It seems that the big witch is also very concerned about Xia De's request for a visit.
The carriage drove Xia De through the sweltering city, along the road that Xia De had walked once, to Miss Galina's manor outside the city. The last time I came here was at night, and the abnormal thick fog made Xia De wonder if this was some kind of "witch's house", but I couldn't see any abnormalities during the day.
The suburban manor under the sun seemed to have just been washed, and the tiles on the roof glistened in the afternoon sun. The lawn was mowed to almost the same height. After the carriage drove in through the main entrance, Xia De saw a group of servants in the distance building a big tree in the courtyard.
Once again he had a new appreciation for Miss Galina's financial resources.
Compared with the magnificent manor house of the royal family, the interior decoration of Miss Galina's house is relatively "simple". The only thing worthy of praise is the oil paintings on the corridor walls. She probably likes the scenery of various places very much. Those oil paintings that seem to know that they are expensive are all landscape paintings, and none of them are portraits.
The meeting place was the study room on the second floor. When Xia De knocked on the door and entered, besides the duchess and the personal maid, there was also a middle-aged woman in a white shirt and a lady's dress skirt, reporting taxes.
Miss Galina waved her hand and let the middle-aged woman go out first. When the latter passed by Xia De, he nodded at him, with indescribable curiosity in his eyes.
"Good afternoon, Miss Galina."
"Good afternoon, Detective. It's been years since I've spent summer in Tobesk. It rained yesterday and it's so hot today... Do it this way. Tea, Tifa."
After Xia De sat down on the sofa, the duchess behind the desk also came to the sofa. Maid Tifa led a team of maids and pushed the dining cart to bring afternoon tea and snacks.
From the window of the study, one can see the outline of the manor courtyard, and looking far away, one can see the vague appearance of the urban buildings. In autumn, if it is windy weather, there will be golden waves of wheat on the farmland outside the manor. It is really nice to sit here and watch the scenery.
"It's really nice here."
Xia De softly praised, while the Duchess sat on the single sofa opposite Xia De in a very relaxed posture, waved to let the maids except Miss Tifa retreat first, and then looked at Xia De's outfit today:
"Detective, I didn't expect that so soon, you and your friends will find trouble with the silver-eyed man."
Before the Sunday banquet, Shad revealed his thoughts, and the letter also stated that he wanted to seek help.
"Yes, people from [Blood Spirit School] will arrive later, we don't want to deal with so many people at the same time."
"That's right, so what's your plan now?"
The Duchess asked, Xia De thought for a moment and nodded:
"On Thursday night, the church is going to encircle and suppress the cultists who believe in [Lord of the Blood Banquet]. We took advantage of the people drawn by the blood of mercury to rush into the underground ruins and kill the silver pupils."
Pausing for a while, confirming that he has no other thoughts, he nodded:
"That's the plan."
The red-haired duchess tilted her head and looked at him:
"This plan of yours is really... concise."
She laughed, but not mockingly:
"It's good to have your own plan. A simple plan is less likely to go wrong. I am happy to help you, so what help do you want from me? First of all, you have to understand that there are thirteen-ring warlocks in the city now. , I can't shoot directly."
"No, no, you don't need to sell directly. I want to borrow some relics that I can use and return them after the matter is over. I can mortgage [Founding Silver Moon] with you."
Xia De said immediately.
"It's fine as a mortgage, but what price can you pay to persuade me to lend you the relic?"
The Duchess asked, Xia De looked at her expression:
"What do you need me to do this time?"
Miss Galina smiled, bent down and picked up the teacup:
"Thursday night, the Orthodox Church chose this time point because that night, the cultists will gather and hold a banquet with [Blood of Mercury] to call out the evil **** again."
Xia De's expression became serious, he really didn't know about it.
"This time they are trying to let the gods come to the material world as saints. The human body is the missing Mr. Lawrence you investigated last time. But don't worry, the church has a complete grasp of their action plan, action time, action location, figured out the organizational status of the entire church, and got a list of people related to this matter. On Thursday night, the thirteen-ring magician of the Church of the Sun led the team to personally handle the scene of the sacrifice, the church People on the ring warlock team's city-wide search list."
"It's something like Lake View Manor, but this time the church has taken the initiative... But what does it have to do with me?"
Xia De hesitated and asked:
"Miss Galina, you don't want me to stop the evil god...".
"Oh, detective, don't be stupid, I just let you go, can you do it?"
The Duchess shook her head, tapping her fingers on the teacup in her hand:
She said that Xia De looked at her seriously to confirm that the other party was not joking:
"Sorry, even if I don't mention whether I should appear on that occasion, and I don't have time, Thursday is also the time for us to act."
"It doesn't matter, I will arrange people to assist you at the banquet. After you win, you can leave immediately in a carriage. I will take care of the aftermath. To be honest, if it wasn't [Blood of Mercury] who guessed that there was a big witch in Tobesk, beware It is more appropriate to let Tifa do this for suspicious women."
Miss Galina said, the maid beside her didn't show any expression.
"So what do I need to get?"
"[Metamorphosis Ring]."
"Huh? That's not..."
"Yes, it was taken in by the Church of Peace. In order to allow its own personnel to break into the cult members, the church deliberately made the ring 'accidentally lost'."
There was a smile in the duchess's golden eyes:
"So, this gave me a chance. I've already arranged a good manpower and made a plan. At that banquet, there were not only people from heretics and the Orthodox Church, but also my people. You just need to go according to the plan, and the ring will It's easy to get. Oh, and by the way, the excuse for the banquet is to donate to the Tobesk University District, and there will be an auction. Whatever you buy, I can help you pay for it later."
"This...will you be there then?"
Xia De doesn't care about such a good thing that others give money to participate in the auction, he cares more about his own safety.
The witch saw what he meant:
"I was not there, and the church informed a very small number of members of the royal family to keep us away from the banquet on Thursday night. Therefore, I was able to learn about this matter in advance and conducted an investigation."
She narrowed her eyes:
"I won't force you to go, but if you agree, once you get the ring, according to our previous agreement, you can ask any question about [Witch Council], as long as I know, I will definitely answer. Besides lending you the relic Besides, after I promise this matter, you will have my complete trust. Also, please give me your hand."
"What's the meaning?"
Xia De didn't know why, but he got up anyway, stretched out his hand across the coffee table, and was grabbed by Miss Galina's wrist.
"Again?"
He broke free a few times, but he couldn't break free:
"Don't worry about safety. Do you know why? Detective."
Those dark golden eyes looked at Xia De, and Xia De hesitated to look at the maid. The latter shook his head, not knowing what it meant.
"have no idea."
"Because, after finally meeting you, the only man who is not affected by the witch's curse, I am not willing to let you die easily in such a trivial matter."
This sentence is really convincing, so Xia De is not worried:
"Actually, you can let me go and talk."
He reminded that the witch smiled at him, and then she let go of his hand:
"Tifa will show up at Thursday's banquet, along with my other servants. Even if you encounter serious trouble, you will be able to escape unscathed. After the matter is over, I will arrange a carriage to take you away without delaying you things."
"That's no problem, I will attend the banquet on Thursday."
Xia De nodded, seeing that there was a circle of red marks on his wrist, the Duchess' hands were really strong.
Although the temporary addition of tasks will make things more complicated on Thursday night, but with such full preparations, there is no need to worry too much.
"Well, as for the relic you want to borrow..."
She didn't ask the maid Tifa to get the things, but leaned on the sofa and thought for a while, then reached out and took off the gold necklace she was wearing around her neck.
The necklace is luxurious and exquisite, with gold chains woven into a diamond pattern and wrapped around a ruby.
Miss Galina signaled the maid to hand over the necklace to Shad. The black-haired maid looked very surprised, but she still did. As for Xia De, when he took the necklace, he could even feel the body temperature on it.
"This is the gift I got when I officially joined the Witch Council ~www.mtlnovel.com~ Detective, guess the level."
"Hmm...Keeper Class (Level 3)?"
"No, it's a sage-level (level 2) relic [ancient witch's gold necklace]. After wearing it, you can get an increase in the effect of any thaumaturgy and spells against non-witch targets. Too dangerous a relic I can't give it to you, there is a risk of getting out of control, and most of the relics without risk are useless. But I think this one should be just right, after all, you have demonstrated your skillful control of the silver moon thaumaturgy in Lakeview Manor, with With this necklace, your thaumaturgy effect can be further enhanced."
"Sage class..."
Xia De couldn't help being amazed, it's not that he has never seen the world, but this is the first time he has come across a true sage-level relic (Note). Sage-level relics will not be circulated on the black market, and they are really priceless. A self-ring magician like a doctor hasn't even touched any of the sage-level relics.
Looking down carefully, except for the ruby, the entire necklace is made of gold, and the golden chains are attached to each other, forming a pattern and at the same time forming a sentence:
[We can only trust ourselves. 】