“Adjusting myself? This really is a judgment on myself.”
Xia De sighed softly, picked up the cat from behind his head, and let it lie on his lap. Mia narrowed her eyes lazily, not knowing if she was feigning sleep or actually asleep.
“Did you try it?”
Luvia asked again. Iluna shook her head regretfully, her brown long hair swaying slightly:
“I originally wanted to pay some property and try to make the old scar on my arm disappear. But the Tribunal must have three people to use it, and one of them must have the Balance Ling Rune.”
Among Iluna’s core Ling Runes, there was “Balance.” She didn't have it before; it suddenly appeared on the second night after she became a Chosen One. This was also the first case Xia De encountered where someone could obtain a core Ling Rune after becoming a Ring術士.
“Among the three, one holds the holy emblem as the judge, one stands below as the audience, and the last one manipulates the scales. Even if I am The Chosen, I cannot transcend the rules of that space itself.”
“In other words, we have more things to look for.”
Xia De couldn't help but shake his head, while Luvia smiled:
“But at least this time we don’t need to look for coins.”
“Why?”
Iluna asked curiously.
“My divination is ineffective for only a few things. Although I can find relics containing divine power, statues of gods and holy emblems are not possible. These two things are almost equivalent to the gods themselves. Even if I pay a lot of coins, I cannot perform divination.”
In other words, although Xia De knew about the fifth white mist space left by the ancient gods, besides the Time Corridor, Space Labyrinth, Silver Moon Library, and Creation Birthing Chamber, he still couldn't enter it.
Moreover, even if he entered, Xia De had nothing he wanted to change. It wasn't that he was satisfied with the current situation, but that he was unwilling to give up anything of his own besides property.
That would make him feel incomplete.
The information Iluna temporarily obtained was only this much. Afterwards, Xia De took her to visit his basement. Perhaps because The Chosen’s soul was stronger, Iluna was actually able to withstand the pressure of facing the ancient god statue directly and touched the statue just like Xia De.
However, when she chanted the incantation and entered the Space Labyrinth, the only landmark she could see was the one representing Saint Delan Square.
This gave Xia De a new understanding of this space: those landmarks were not recorded in the statue, but on the user.
Xia De had opened the Coldwater Port landmark and touched the Saint Delan Square landmark, so no matter where he used the statue, he could see these two locations again. But Iluna had not been to Coldwater Port, so she only had this one landmark for now.
However, Xia De obtained the second landmark not by actively expanding to another place himself, but by sacrificing the white stone crystal. He intended for Iluna to do the same, so that when he went to Coldwater Port next week to help Princess Leia, he would have a helper by his side.
But when he told Iluna about this and was about to try his luck at the Tobesk Mining Association, the young woman with brown long hair asked curiously:
“What white stone crystal?”
“Did your other self not receive the information left by the ancient god?”
Luvia asked curiously. Xia De had told her about this before.
Iluna tilted her head and communicated with the voice in her head, then shook her head blankly:
“No information.”
“Could it be that only Xia De can open new landmarks by sacrificing ‘white stone crystal’? And even if others enter there, they must touch different statues to travel through space?”
Luvia offered a very plausible guess, but it was just a guess.
“Although white stone crystal is precious, I remember the church warehouse seems to have some. I can find an opportunity to borrow a piece and bring it here to try.”
Iluna suggested, but all three instinctively felt that Luvia's guess was correct.
As long as they had a key, those favored by time could enter the Time Corridor, but only Xia De could truly travel through time; as long as they could find the hidden wall, those favored by space could enter the Space Labyrinth for spatial travel, but only Xia De could obtain new landmarks through sacrifice.
Inferring from this, perhaps in other ancient god-left spaces, Xia De could also have special performances. However, the Silver Moon Library lacked the “yellow moon” core Ling Rune, the Creation Birthing Chamber was only heard of, and the Judge's Tribunal required an additional holy emblem.
Xia De's conjecture could only be verified later.
He looked forward to Iluna's return, not only hoping to see this girl, who had experienced so much, as soon as possible, but also hoping she could bring him “new surprises.”
Even if she became The Chosen from a candidate, the brown short-haired girl was not short of accidents around her, and these accidents would also prompt her to advance to 13th Ring as soon as possible.
Speaking of this, Iluna shared with some distress the various accidents she encountered while traveling back to Tobesk by steam train with her church companions. However, after returning to the City, her current life was relatively peaceful.
She already knew that Xia De was busy accumulating 15 practical credits. Although Xia De no longer needed to find new relics due to yesterday's unexpected gains, Iluna still brought what Xia De wanted.
“There’s a lot to do.”
The young woman couldn't help but cover her head. The three walked upstairs together, her tone quite distressed:
“You know that the Black Stone Security Company I belong to is actually a Ring術士 team under the Church. Besides dealing with tasks assigned by the Church, we also have to handle ordinary commissions from people if we have time. Although Tobesk has five churches, and each church has many teams like ours, there are always endless tasks.”
Saying that, she took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Xia De, on which some commission information was recorded.
Black Stone Security Company prioritizes urgent church tasks first, then matters clearly related to the mysterious, and only then other matters. Therefore, there are quite a few backlog commissions within the security company. Iluna copied a few that seemed potentially problematic and brought them to Xia De.
However, these tasks had already been screened once by the Church and then again by the Ring術士 team responsible for execution, so the chance of them being valuable was very low. Iluna thought Xia De might be able to try his luck, which is why she selected a few. If Xia De solved the problem, then next week Iluna would select these tasks, apply for a private investigation, and then submit an investigation report with no issues.
Therefore, Xia De was also helping Black Stone Security Company reduce some of its task burden.
“Even with my luck, I can’t encounter relics going out of control every day, after all, there are only so many relics. After becoming The Chosen, the bad things happening around me are significantly fewer than before. Sorry, Xia De, I probably can't help you this time, and I can't act with you today either.”
Iluna said regretfully. She had many things to deal with after returning to Tobesk, and this was originally a team task, so it would be inconvenient for her to appear if she gave it to Xia De.
“But if there's trouble, you can find me at the security company. I'll be there for a while recently.”
“It's okay, the credits are already complete, these things aren't really important.”
Xia De shook his head and said, then asked again:
“Luvia, do you want to come with me to check out these matters?”
Xia De asked the Diviner again. She thought for a moment, and also shook her head regretfully:
“Sorry, the Great City Player rhode cards tournament is about to open next month. This is the first time such a large-scale event has been held in Tobesk in fifty years, so I can't take leave recently.”
The “Great City Player rhode cards Tournament” is a worldwide rhode cards competition held every three years, only in large cities on the Old Continent. At that time, players from all over the world will gather to compete for prizes and special winner cards.
“It's okay, I'm a Detective after all. I can handle these commissions alone. If there’s really a problem, I’ll ask you for help.”
Although regrettable, he really had to act alone today. Everyone had things to do, everyone had their own professions and lives.
“Iluna provided three commissions. Do you want to try to solve all of them? So, which one to start with?”
The Diviner asked again.
“Xia De, I recommend you first check out the haunted empty house; it's the closest to here. Then there's the mysterious person who appears punctually at noon every day on the street, which is the only commission I brought that wasn't issued by the Church.”
Iluna recommended, truly regretting that she couldn't go along.
Xia De picked up the paper and looked at it again. The three investigation tasks were diverse. Besides the two mentioned by Iluna, the last one was actually to investigate a spice merchant in the north of the City. The spices he sold had a very good sleep-aiding effect, but after analyzing the spices, they were completely ordinary items. The Church suspected there was a very small possibility that he was a Ring術士 proficient in potions and alchemy, which is why the task existed.
Of course, the probability was very small, and the other party had no intention of escaping, so this task was backloged until next week.
“Alright, I'll proceed with the investigation in that order. Iluna, tomorrow I will send you the investigation records for these three matters.”
Xia De looked up and said.
“Then we'll split the commission fee nine-one; you take nine and I take one, considering I introduced these tasks to you as a broker.”
The young woman handled such matters very skillfully. Although their relationship was very good, settling accounts clearly would make the relationship even better, and Xia De appreciated her approach.
“Additionally, regarding the second Chosen One, we both need to investigate.”
Luvia also said, pointing in the direction of Coldwater Port:
“Iluna, I hope you can gather as much progress on the Coldwater Port incident as possible through Church channels. Now that you are the only Chosen One, I imagine the Sun Church will not hide information about other Chosen Ones from you.”
“No problem, my status is different after returning from the Holy See.”
The seventeen-year-old girl smiled happily.
The two girls prepared to leave together, and Xia De also took his clothes and prepared to go out. He had many things to deal with this Friday.
Since he had to travel around the City, besides those investigation tasks, he also had to stop by the MI6 outpost, deal with tax issues, inquire about pipeline installation prices at the gas and steam companies, and settle next month's advertising fees at the Steam Bird Daily.
“Xia De, can I take your cat with me? Anyway, you plan to leave her at home, so why not let me take her? You've been to our place, and I think Mia will become friends with our cat.”
Before leaving, Iluna also suggested. Luvia stood smiling at the side, already knowing the outcome. Xia De looked back at the orange cat standing on the sofa, ready to see him downstairs and then quietly enjoy being alone at home:
“If you can get her consent, I have no objection.”
He said with a smile.
“Oh, Mia, come here.”
So the girl in the dress clapped her hands at the small orange cat. The latter's big eyes looked at her suspiciously, then she raised her front paw and rubbed her face, doing nothing else.
“Iluna, I think that should mean no.”
Regardless of how Iluna felt, at least Luvia was in a good mood at this moment.
The three parted downstairs. Xia De, holding the information Iluna gave him, first walked for twenty minutes to Number 6 Squirrel Alley.
Squirrel Alley is an ordinary alley in the East District of Tobesk City. Most of the people renting here work in relatively decent jobs nearby, such as clerks, accountants, and copyists. Although their income is not high and they cannot be called standard middle-class, they can at least support their families without too much physical labor.
Number 6 Squirrel Alley is a common rental apartment in the City, with three floors in total. The landlord's family lives on the first floor, the second floor is rented to a clerk's family working in the City Hall logistics department, and the third floor belongs to a student who came from his hometown to Tobesk and is studying at the local Tobesk Secondary Mechanical College.
A month ago, the resident on the third floor, Sal Hark, unfortunately passed away, and then rumors of a haunting began. Before the task was assigned to Iluna's team, the Church had already sent an ordinary priest with divine artifacts to check, and no traces of evil spirits were found. Moreover, the so-called “haunting” had no definite evidence from beginning to end, and no one was injured because of it.
The landlord's family and the residents on the second floor had already moved out, so Black Stone Security Company believed that the importance of this task was not high.
Because it was close to the City center, the alley itself was quite clean. However, the road was a bit narrow, probably not wide enough for a carriage to pass. After entering the alley, Xia De stepped on the gravel on the ground, looking for house numbers one by one on the rusty signs.
Both sides were mostly brick walls, with steam pipes covered in insulation attached to them, though most of the rivets fixing the pipes were rusty. After passing under a stone archway connecting the buildings on both sides of the alley, he saw the locked front door.
He tilted his head to examine the house. The windows on both sides were boarded up with wood, but the mailbox on the wall was empty, indicating that someone had returned to collect things recently.