OBS Chapter 3444 Xia De, the Late-Night Snack Deliverer
Chapter 3444 Xia De, the Late-Night Snack Deliverer
Chapter 3444 Xia De, the Late-Night Snack Deliverer
Having arranged with Denise to meet Shad the next day, Shad returned home with the information on the false man she had obtained from the Church of Creation, and the glass slipper.
It was only a little past seven o'clock, and only Xiaomia was at home.
Shad knew that Galina had been busy with war mobilization and other matters recently. As King Larousse III's aunt, she was more trusted than the princesses and princes. Lacey and Dorothy had just stayed overnight last night and had to make up for tomorrow's classes on Sunday, so it was normal for them not to show up tonight. But he didn't expect Luvia to be absent as well.
He wanted to talk to Luvia about the three people he had met at the association that day, the special ink on the letters from a hundred years ago, and the matters concerning the [Stadium of Destiny] and the [Book of Time]. So after returning home, he thought about it and, unusually, proactively activated the "Undying Flame Seal" to locate its owner.
Within the Tobesk region, with Mia by his side, Galina and Lacey were indeed both at the Yodel Palace, and it seemed that both of them were in Lacey's study. Shad then guessed that they were teaching Adelina.
Dorothy wasn't at the apartment, but at Louisa's house; it seems she's gone back to her parents' house for a short stay.
Luvia wasn't in the apartment either, but she wasn't far away, just across from the Yordle Palace at the Prophet's Association.
"Are they working overtime?"
As Shad pondered this, he turned to look at the kitchen; it seemed the rubies from last time still had some uses left.
"I need a suitable late-night snack."
He thought to himself, then reached for the cat on the back of the sofa. Mia leaped into the air and landed on Shad's hand, then nimbly ran up his arm and onto his shoulder.
"We're going out for a bit."
"Meow~"
"Don't run yet, listen to me. We won't go far. We're just going to find Luvia and then we'll come back."
"Meow~"
Only then did it obediently squat down on Shad's shoulder.
Unless there are major events, the Prophet's Association rarely works overtime for Rhodes Card business. There haven't been any major events in the Tobesk region recently, so Luvia's overtime is likely due to matters involving supernatural powers within the association, namely, pseudo-humans.
The gas streetlights on Silver Cross Avenue were still brightly lit, and the snow on the street had been swept away and piled up against the walls along the roadside. At this time, even on this main thoroughfare of the city, there were hardly any pedestrians. When Xia De arrived at the association's entrance, he indeed found some rooms on the third floor still lit up.
The gatekeeper recognized Xia De, or rather, everyone in the association knew him. After Xia De gestured with the food box he was carrying, the gatekeeper smiled and let him in.
"Please wait on the first floor for a moment, I will go and inform them."
This was to prevent Shad from seeing the association's secrets.
Before long, Luvia followed the gatekeeper downstairs. At that moment, Shad was in the association's hall, looking at the oil painting "Origin·Destiny" hanging on the wall.
"Shad~"
The girl with purple eyes felt an indescribable sense of happiness as she watched Shad carrying the cat and the lunchbox.
Why weren't you home dealing with your affairs?
“I saw the association’s lights were still on when I got home, so I thought maybe you hadn’t left work yet.”
As he spoke, Shad handed the lunchbox to Luvia. Luvia wanted to eat with Shad, but then glanced upstairs.
"Can you wait for me for half an hour? I'll be off work in half an hour, and we can go home and have dinner together."
Shad gave a no-questions-asked gesture, and Luvia didn't take the food box with her, but went straight back to the third floor.
When she hurried downstairs thirty-five minutes later, wearing a winter coat, she saw Shad chatting and playing cards with the gatekeeper. Luvia had intended to wait for Shad to finish, but Shad voluntarily gave up the game and apologized to the gatekeeper, who waved her hand amicably.
"Playing cards shouldn't interfere with life. I've seen countless gamblers here who don't understand this. I hope you understand, Detective Hamilton."
He stood at the doorway, watching the two of them walk arm in arm down Silver Cross Avenue under the streetlights.
The reason Luvia was working overtime tonight, just as Shad had guessed, was because of the "false humans." Although the Church was still unaware of the [House of Resurrection], and Galina was secretly investigating, the Church had already realized that the spread of the "false humans" in Topsk was far from optimistic.
Therefore, the Five Gods Church hoped that local diviners could provide the necessary assistance. As a result, the association convened diviners from Central and above to discuss a plan to use the diviners' methods to investigate false people.
"Yesterday, President Stan and several local high-ring diviners conducted a ritual divination together. President Stan advanced to the eleventh ring last autumn and can now be considered the most outstanding professional diviner in the central kingdom."
The association believes that while the spread of 'pseudo-humans' in the city is still in its early stages, several powerful individuals have emerged from among them for unknown reasons—these are the fourth stage pseudo-humans. These powerful individuals need to be eliminated to slow the spread of the pseudo-humans.
When Luvia returned home and went up the stairs, she explained to Shad that after she washed up and changed into her home clothes, she came to the dining room and heard Shad tell her about what had happened that day.
Shad's main task today was to find the two lost relics. An optional task was to find out why the rogue priest returned to the island. Shad successfully completed both tasks. The skull and mushrooms were returned to the elder, and Mr. Sargent successfully identified the ink composition on the letter from the deserted village. As for the special map, Elder Harald is still deciphering it.
Of course, Luvia wasn't concerned with those things; she inquired in detail about Shad's encounter with the three members of the Prophet's Association in the abandoned village that afternoon.
Although the old man's appearance was clearly disguised, this was still a direct contact between Shad and the man. Luvia examined the old man's appearance and physique as depicted in the book Shad handed her, then inquired about Shad's feelings towards him. After a simple divination, Luvia immediately identified the old man:
“Last time you mentioned that the elders encountered them in the Shadow of Hem, I contacted my friends at headquarters to inquire. That should be Mr. Antoine Zarathustra, the Confidential Keeper of the Association.”
Every legitimate ring warlock organization has "keepers of secrets," specifically tasked with safeguarding and protecting knowledge and secrets that are not convenient for everyone within the organization to know. The library and professors of the academy are, strictly speaking, also keepers of secrets.
"Zarathustra? Have you met him before?"
"No, but I've heard about him. His current job is actually related to Megan and Audrey's ancestors."
After Laplace Howard's defection, the association tightened its vetting standards for prospective members, adding a new position of keeper to review the files of prospective diviners. Antoine Zarathustra, in his youth, was responsible for reviewing these files. This wasn't just about looking at documents; they needed to personally determine whether the prospective diviners were trustworthy.
He had already retired and stepped down from his position when I joined the association, but all the older fortune tellers there knew him.
"Is he good at judging people?"
"Yes, he has never misjudged anyone. Is that his talent?"
Luvia's knowledge of the old fortune teller came entirely from gathered intelligence, so the information she provided was not particularly detailed:
"I hadn't heard anything special about him before, but it's possible the association is deliberately concealing it. There's a good chance he's a candidate, but we can't draw conclusions yet. I'll try to gather more information later and then use the special coin to confirm his identity."
The two currently have two [Legend of the Starving] and two [Lucky Coins], and they can consider using some of them.
"However, there's no rush regarding Mr. Zaratu. I'm more concerned about those two relics you mentioned. No, not the relics you returned to the Fatu, but those two unknowable relics."
She put down her knife and fork and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
"Judging from your experience this afternoon, the Prophet's Association, the Order of Doom, the Jester's Troupe, and we, who all seem to possess candidates for the Chosen One, are now searching for the [Stadium of Destiny] for various reasons?"
"Or rather, everyone is searching for this treasure."
The three treasure maps unearthed from the grave were placed on the table by Xia De:
"Before leaving the island today, I asked Elder Harald to take a look at this map. These strange markings are indeed the symbols used by the Fatu people when marking maps. It's not writing, but more like a code, so my knowledge of the written language is useless to me."
The elder helped me reorganize the map, but these symbols are ancient, and even Elder Harald would need time to decipher and study them.
He also told me that when the three maps are pieced together, the resulting image is definitely not a map of the entire island, but rather a map of a specific area. Therefore, either the map is incomplete, or the map itself only marks a small region.
"Then let's do a divination."
Luvia said that Shad agreed, and got up to go to the basement to retrieve the remaining special coins. The purple-eyed girl selected a [Lucky Coin], skillfully flipped it a few times in her hand, and then told Shad:
"If that unknowable relic truly exists within the treasure, I absolutely cannot divine its exact location. This is not only due to the unique nature of unknowable relics, but also because of the powerful characteristics of the [Stadium of Fate] itself."
"I'm only concerned about whether this hasty divination will hurt you."
Luvia smiled and shook her head:
"It's alright, at most it's just a psychological trauma. It's already night, if you're really traumatized, a good night's sleep will fix it, and tomorrow will be another beautiful day. I'm just wondering whether I'm divining about information about the map or about the treasure."
Seeing that Xia De was about to offer advice, she instead placed a finger on his lips:
"I can do it myself. Don't worry, I won't hurt myself."