Xia De held the relic with one hand and reached out his right hand to Miss Bei Ya Si. She gazed at him, then looked at the finger bone.
In the shadows of the alley, the expression on her face subtly changed. After a long moment, she grabbed Xia De’s hand firmly and squeezed it:
"Detective, you must explain clearly."
Her voice was no longer as relaxed as it had been a few minutes ago when discussing payment with Xia De.
"Of course, I’m very sorry... Could you relax a little?"
Her grip was very strong.
"Just a few seconds."
As she spoke, Miss Bei Ya Si's Destiny Ring actually appeared behind her. Xia De thought there would be another battle, but no Ling Rune was activated. Instead, the Destiny Ring itself began to glow.
The light shone towards Xia De, and a golden scale illusion appeared beside Xia De and Miss Bei Ya Si.
"Detective, you need to regain my trust."
"Hmm?"
Looking at the scale illusion, Xia De immediately recalled what Miss Annette had said: The Chosen's ultimate manifestation was their Destiny Ring transforming into a weapon. It seemed that while Miss Bei Ya Si hadn't fully succeeded yet, she was gaining more and more power.
"Detective, if you want me to continue trusting you, then relax your mind and don't resist."
"What?"
Xia De didn't understand.
"Goodness, evil?"
The Sorceress, gripping Xia De's hand, asked. The light from the scales flickered before Xia De's eyes, its brilliance illuminating a part of the alley. Then, the scales almost immediately tipped overwhelmingly to the left.
The wary expression on Miss Bei Ya Si's face changed:
"Oh? Detective, I didn't realize you were so good... No, where did you come from, a great benevolent person?"
She looked at Xia De with confusion. Xia De had some guesses about this; it was probably because he had only been here for a short time, and the scales could only judge his experiences in this world.
Miss Bei Ya Si's attitude was noticeably better, and her expression was no longer so serious. She asked again:
"Order, chaos?"
The scales returned to Balance, then tipped to the left at an even faster speed, as if someone was pressing it down with a finger:
"Hmm? Such a strong sense of order? It seems you've received very strict training and strongly identify with rules and order."
She looked at Xia De with the eyes of someone seeing a magical animal, and her hand relaxed as if she was about to let go.
"No, what I identify with is civilization."
Xia De explained. Just then, Miss Bei Ya Si's hand tightened again:
"Miracle, blasphemy?"
The scales swayed slightly, but quickly regained Balance, tilting almost imperceptibly to the left. Xia De had multiple encounters with the good god The Innocent Creator and had devoured the divinity of an evil god. In essence, he identified more with Miracle, but the divinity of blasphemy still resided within his soul.
Therefore, the scales maintained an almost balanced state.
Miss Bei Ya Si frowned slightly but didn't comment further:
"inspiration, whisper?"
Both watched the scales, then saw them slowly move to the left, to the lower left, downwards... It toppled over, scattering into golden specks of light in the air.
"..."
Miss Bei Ya Si released Xia De's hand. The toppled scales also vanished from sight along with the Destiny Ring. Xia De was amazed by what had just happened, never expecting that The Chosen would have such interesting abilities. The Sorceress, however, looked at Xia De and asked very seriously:
"Hamilton Detective, are you the holy son of a fallen Old God?"
"Holy son? What? No, no, no, I'm just an ordinary person."
Xia De quickly shook his head. He felt a bit tired and missed the cat at home.
"Take me to your home."
Miss Bei Ya Si said, looking at the gas street lamp at the alley's entrance.
"Hmm?"
Xia De looked at the brown-haired girl with some surprise.
"There are some things I want to discuss with you. I have full confidence in my abilities, so I think our cooperation can continue."
Leaving the body where it was, Miss Bei Ya Si said she had a way to conceal the matter. Then, the two walked out of the alley, one after the other.
It was far from Xia De's home, so they eventually boarded a horse-drawn carriage. Because of Miss Bei Ya Si's attire, the coachman looked at Xia De with surprise, seemingly misunderstanding something.
It was 9:50 PM when they opened the downstairs door of Saint Delan Square Six. Xia De turned on the gas lamp in the hallway and invited Miss Bei Ya Si inside.
During the journey, neither of them spoke a word.
Returning home, Xia De truly felt a sense of relief. Seeing the orange cat Mia happily run over to greet him filled his heart with immense warmth.
Miss Bei Ya Si sat directly on the sofa. She had been here before, so she wasn't unfamiliar. Xia De returned to his room to change out of his expensive formal wear before coming back to the living room to speak.
"I am a Letter-based Ring術士. That's how it is. I didn't mention it last time because I didn't want to expose myself in front of the Orthodox Church's Ring術士. If you want me to apologize for lying, that's certainly not a problem."
This was Xia De's opening remark.
"I understand. I also know about the situation of Letter-based Ring術士. Don't worry, I won't report you."
Perhaps because of the four questions just now, Miss Bei Ya Si's attitude was quite good.
Xia De stroked the cat on his lap, looked at her face, and then asked:
"Miss Bei Ya Si, now you know my Ring術士 identity. But I still have the intention to cooperate with you. As a Ring術士 of the Orthodox Church, do you still want to cooperate with me?"
The young girl nodded slightly. She seemed to have thought it through on the way:
"Hamilton Detective, although I'm displeased with your initial concealment, I also understand the situation of academic Ring術士... Our identities can indeed provide many conveniences for each other. If you wish to continue cooperating, I think it's fine."
"Speaking of identity, I am actually with MI6, but I won't get my ID until tomorrow."
Xia De added. The brown-haired girl looked him over with a strange expression:
"Introduced by Miss Jialinna? No, no need to explain, this identity is also very useful... After those four questions just now, I intended to trust you again. It's indeed good to have a friend like you. However, I hope we can be more open and honest with each other."
"No problem, what do you want to know?"
Xia De sat up straight. Under the gaslight in the living room, Miss Bei Ya Si actually saw golden cracks appear on his body for a moment, but they vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Answer one question, and we'll continue our cooperation."
Believing that what she had just seen was an illusion caused by fatigue, she shook a finger. Xia De, of course, wouldn't disagree:
"Very fair, please ask."
"Do you know... The Society of Truth?"
"What?"
Xia De frowned. He truly didn't know. Miss Bei Ya Si, who was observing his expression, finally let out a sigh of relief:
"It's good that you don't know."
"Are they also your enemies?"
Xia De countered. The brown-haired Sorceress nodded and took the tea Xia De had prepared, which signified that there was no longer any ill will between them:
"Detective, I have many secrets. The Society of Truth is an organization composed of madmen, claiming to seek truth, but they are the truly blind and foolish. Of course, this has nothing to do with you. I'll tell you my story with them when we have time. It involves ancient secrets, old ambitions, the power of the Orthodox Church, my Sunlight Gun, some ancient stone tablets..."
It sounded like a legendary story. Xia De thought for a moment, then suddenly asked:
"The Truth Society you mentioned, is their symbol an equilateral triangle with a circle at each vertex and a winged person in the center?"
"What is that?"
Miss Bei Ya Si shook her head.
"It's good that it's not. Actually, I also have many secrets, and that's one of them. Oh, Miss Bei Ya Si, if you have a chance, could you help me check this symbol at the Orthodox Church Library? Of course, be careful not to be discovered, because I'm not sure what it is either."
"No problem. The Orthodox Church Library has a rich collection. If there's an answer, I'll tell you."
She leaned back on Xia De's sofa, finally relaxing:
"Detective, you want to know the information I obtained tonight, don't you? Alright, listen to me."
Her voice was soft, showing no trace of the toughness she had displayed in the alley just now. Somehow, Xia De suddenly felt a little pity for this young girl; she was still too young, yet she had experienced too much.
After Mercury Blood had dispersed and gone into hiding in Tobesk, Baron Herre, as one of the organization's sponsors, naturally knew some things. Although Miss Bei Ya Si didn't directly ascertain the hiding place of the severely wounded Silver-Eyed One from him, she did learn who might know the Silver-Eyed One's location.
Miss Bei Ya Si's slow search still had a long way to go.
After the organization dispersed, the items they sought to synthesize the angel-level relic Mercury Blood were partially hidden with ordinary people connected to the organization. Baron Herre himself possessed two such items, but the Baron himself didn't know what they were.
Xia De inquired carefully. There was no red liquid substance among them, but rather a silver human figurine and an emerald.
"Detective, I know you really want those two relics. But relics with unknown properties are only dangerous to hold. Regarding those two relics, I will report them to the Orthodox Church through my channels and let the Orthodox Church recover them. If there's a reward at that time, I can share a portion with you."
Xia De had no objections to her arrangement. It was Miss Bei Ya Si who found Baron Herre, and Xia De was responsible for luring him out, so they both contributed to this matter.
Although she didn't find the forged philosopher's stone, Miss Bei Ya Si learned from Baron Herre a list of people who might possess relics like him.
That list had only two names: Mr. Pang Dun, the factory owner of the steam engine screw factory in the east of the city, and Mr. Roosevelt, an accountant at the Star Grass Public Tobesk Nursing Home.
Baron Herre had met these two people and knew they had intricate connections with Mercury Blood.
"What I'm looking for is the forged philosopher's stone. I don't care about anything else."
Xia De stated his position, which was a prerequisite for cooperation.
"These two names, I can report them to the Orthodox Church a day later, which is Tuesday. Before then, you can have your companions search for what they want. If they find it, it's yours. If not, then it belongs to the Orthodox Church. But you must ensure that if it's not what you're looking for, don't take it, to prevent disturbing those two people and causing the Orthodox Church to miss the next clue."
Miss Bei Ya Si was not a person who strictly adhered to rules. Even as a member of the Orthodox Church, she didn't seem to care much about the Dawn Church Ring術士 regulations. But she was indeed a kind and upright girl. If one were to categorize factions by good and evil, and order and chaos, she, while in the good-order faction, was very close to neutrality.
This was probably also a characteristic of The Chosen of "Balance."