“You're looking at me strangely now,” said the girl with pretty brown hair, then stood up. “It’s late, so I’ll be leaving. Detective, our cooperation continues. If anything comes up, I’ll write to you directly.”
“Miss Bei Ya Si, where do you live then? The Sun Church?”
“Of course not, otherwise wouldn’t it directly tell people that Black Stone Security Company is a stronghold of the Orthodox Church?”
She stated her address, which, of course, was an apartment she rented, similar to Miss Louisa.
“I will continue to track down The Silver-Eyed One. Goodbye then, Hamilton Detective.”
Xia De saw Miss Bei Ya Si off downstairs. As he watched her leave Saint Delan Square, he suddenly realized that his current relationship with Miss Bei Ya Si was very similar to the “friend” relationship Miss Annette was pursuing.
“If Miss Annette's progress isn't smooth, perhaps the progress on my side can help Miss Bei Ya Si learn about The Chosen and be willing to cooperate with us.”
He closed the door, picked up Mia, and started to walk upstairs. He noted the current time in his mind: it was eleven o'clock on Sunday night. Although he had been invited to play cards again this Sunday, no accidents had occurred this time.
The soft laughter of the woman echoed in his ears.
“Alright, no major accidents happened. Last week I encountered an evil god, this week it's just a Ring術士 and a keeper-level relic. Relatively speaking, can this even be considered an accident?”
He asked the woman in his mind, but she did not answer.
Xia De, in a good mood, carried the cat up the stairs. It was time to rest.
Thus, Xia De safely arrived at the thunder moon, which was the second week of July in the common era of the sixth epoch, 1853. When he woke up on Monday morning, he was still summarizing the gains and losses of the previous week. But it seemed that since the Lakeview Manor incident on the last day of June, life had gradually become peaceful, and the things he encountered were not too dangerous.
After breakfast, he took a taxi carriage to the psychological clinic on Lunqin Avenue in Tobesk East District. It was not yet nine o'clock, but the clinic was already open.
When Doctor Schneider heard of Xia De's visit, he rushed downstairs from the second-floor consultation room in a panic.
“What happened? Xia De, are you alright?”
His face was filled with fear, probably thinking that Xia De had encountered some dangerous situation and needed his help.
“I’m fine.”
The two then moved to the reception room on the second floor to talk.
“I recently met some good friends... I can't reveal their identities, but in short, I received intelligence that Mr. Pang Dun from the City East Steam Engine Special Screw Factory and Mr. Roosevelt, the accountant from Xingxingcao Public Tobesk Nursing Home, are closely related to Mercury Blood and are helping those hiding guys guard some relics.”
“Hmm? Is the information accurate?”
The Doctor immediately became energetic.
“Absolutely guaranteed. Both of them are probably ordinary people, of course, only highly likely. But this news will be revealed to the Orthodox Church on Tuesday, which is tomorrow, so...”
“Understood!”
The middle-aged Doctor clenched his left fist and struck his palm, a smile appearing on his face.
“As long as there are clues, it's easy to handle. Even if the items guarded by these two gentlemen are not the forged philosopher's stone, they must know more people who are guarding things for Mercury Blood.”
The Doctor looked ambitious, but he was also cautious.
“Xia De, I need to prepare a little, cancel the Gluttony treatment for the Countess's wife and daughter that I was supposed to do tonight, and then tonight I... No, I'll call Louisa to act together. Even though they are just ordinary people, we can't be careless. Do you want to go together? Just to gain some experience.”
“Of course.”
Xia De was actually very interested in the relics guarded by these ordinary people.
“I'll go with you. My friend who gave me the clue said that if the relic isn't what we're looking for, don't take it, to avoid disrupting the Orthodox Church's investigation.”
“No problem.”
The Doctor waved his hand indifferently; he was not a greedy person.
“I only want the forged philosopher's stone, nothing else.”
The two agreed to meet at Xia De's house at seven in the evening, as his house was closer to both targets. As for this intelligence, the Doctor believed it was very valuable and he couldn't let Xia De suffer a loss.
“Aren't you still owing 20 pounds this month? If we find the forged philosopher's stone later, you won't have to pay it back; I'll pay it for you. If we don't find it, then you only need to pay back 10 pounds.”
Although his financial situation was much better than two weeks ago, Xia De was still very happy that the debt could be reduced.
Xia De didn't delay too long at the Doctor's place, so he then took a carriage to Old John's pawnshop.
Because the journey was a bit far, it pained him to pay when he got off the carriage. But now that he had a weekly legitimate income, Xia De was also convincing himself that he absolutely shouldn't save on pounds that needed to be spent.
He didn't think he was stingy, just that he had been poor for a while before.
There were no customers in the pawnshop. Before Xia De entered, the elderly shop owner was reading a letter. Looking up and seeing a regular customer, he calmly put away the letter.
“Detective, you look well after half a week...”
This was just a customary greeting, but then he looked at Xia De's face suspiciously.
“Why do you feel like your appearance has changed a bit... I'm overthinking it. What do you want? There's still no clue about the relic you were looking for last time.”
“Do you have a time key?”
Xia De stood at the counter and tapped the desktop with his finger.
“Yes.”
“Huh?”
He had only asked casually, not expecting there to be one, so he became excited.
“How many are there?”
“One. Although this is a relic that exists in multiples, do you think a time key can be picked up just anywhere?”
He left the counter, went out the back door of the pawnshop, and returned in less than two minutes holding a slender box.
He pushed the wooden box to Xia De. When opened, a wooden time key lay on the red lining.
“Is such good packaging meant to raise the price?”
After receiving permission, Xia De picked up the key to examine it.
“This is a business strategy, young man, you don't understand.”
Old John waved his hand. Seeing that Xia De liked this key, he began to quote a price.
“I won't guess what you're looking for a time key for, although I can guess. Because time keys exist in multiples, the price is relatively transparent. I'm quoting at the average market price. I've already checked the time point corresponding to this key; it's around 3002 of the fifth epoch, belonging to the mid-fifth epoch. Nothing major happened that year, so this key should be a very ordinary Poet Grade... 25 pounds.”
High-grade time keys are generally more expensive than other relics of the same grade, while low-danger-grade time keys are generally cheaper than other relics of the same grade. Xia De had investigated this and therefore knew that this price was relatively reasonable.
“20 pounds. For the sake of that cane.”
But facing Old John, he still habitually tried to bargain down the price.
“How long are you going to keep bringing that up? I didn't raise the price this time; this price is just right.”
“Lower it a bit more, my financial situation isn't very good.”
Xia De put the key back into the box. The old man looked him over, seemingly thinking about the thickness of his wallet.
“13 pounds and 15 shillings, no more discounts.”
“Deal.”
Xia De nodded, and the old man also let out a sigh of relief, pressing one hand on the box and rubbing his fingers with the other.
“Payment first, then delivery.”
“No problem, but I also want to sell a relic.”
“A relic? Why didn't you say you wanted to sell something first? Hurry up and let me see it.”
Seeing Xia De take out a slender object wrapped in newspaper from his pocket, Old John immediately became interested. Perhaps he was more interested in seeing new things than making money.
“If I say I want to buy something first, and I have the money, wouldn't it be harder to bargain?”
Xia De said with a smile, unfolding the newspaper to reveal the finger bone. This time, Old John didn't complain about Xia De's bargaining strategy, but instead looked at the finger section with a serious expression. After only a moment of scrutiny, he exclaimed.
“Oh? It's this?”
“You know it?”
“Of course, I know it. The Secret Keeper Level relic, 【Yin Corpse Remains】, a relic that can grant immortality. If I can't even recognize these special relics, why would I open a pawnshop?”
After receiving Xia De's permission, the old man solemnly put on gloves to examine the relic, then put on a special geared metal device resembling a monocular telescope, carefully observing the engraved lines on the surface of the finger bone.
“No problem, it is indeed the Secret Keeper Level relic 【Yin Corpse Remains】. Look at these texts on it; these are genuine fourth epoch undead texts, completely lost. If it weren't for the severe side effects, this thing would be one of the most valuable Secret Keeper Level relics.”
He leaned closer to the finger bone and sniffed.
“The smell of a corpse and the smell of a graveyard. Oh, yes, that's it.”
He put the finger bone back into Xia De's newspaper and then took off his gloves.
“Good stuff, name your price.”
Xia De had previously understood the general pricing of relics, and had discussed this issue with Miss Bei Ya Si last night. But just as he was about to open his mouth to state the price, Old John raised his hand to stop him.
“Speaking of which, are you interested in bartering? I don't have four or five-digit cash on hand right now.”
Although acting with Miss Bei Ya Si was dangerous, the returns were huge. All the money Xia De had earned since coming to this world didn't add up to this much.
Xia De looked at the old man in front of him, suspecting this was another bargaining strategy. But bartering was not out of the question, after all, he earned money to spend on relics or Knowledge.
“Tell me what it is first.”
Old John first walked out from behind the counter, looked around the door, then locked the door from the inside before returning to the counter and whispering to Xia De.
“This is a truly good item. I just acquired it recently; it's also Secret Keeper Level, but quite special. The Academy and the Orthodox Church have named it the witch's copy paper. This is a relic used by the Witch Emperor of the fifth epoch. When it was first discovered, there was a stack of 108 sheets in total, which later dispersed into the hands of different people. Each sheet has the same effect: point the copy paper at a Miracle, spell, or ritual being cast, and it can be imprinted on the paper. A Ring術士 burns the copy paper, soaks the Ashes in water, and drinks it, and will likely obtain a Miracle, spell, divine art, or even a Ling Rune similar to the imprinted extraordinary ability...”