Chapter 138: The God's Descent Vessel

Since the meeting on Tuesday, Xia De's experiences these past few days had been quite remarkable. To summarize, there were roughly four matters: the Dream Pen, Miss Jia Lin Na's commission, the Sunshine Gun, and Luo De Pai.

The incident of recovering the relic 【Joyful Dream Pen】 together with Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha naturally did not require his telling. And as agreed, he also did not mention his meeting again with Miss Jia Lin Na or Miss Miss Beiya Si's "Sunshine Gun," so he only shared the successful appraisal of the Origin · Silver Moon.

Everyone was happy for the young detective, but apart from Miss Annate, the others did not understand the special nature of the "Origin" series cards, so they simply treated this matter as the detective possessing a very valuable treasure.

In the eyes of the others, the young detective was a rather decent person, and he deserved to have a large sum of money.

However, the elder Father Augustus cautioned Xia De not to lightly pick up the habit of gambling on Luo De Pai. He had seen countless stories related to Luo De Pai in the church, and there were also countless gamblers in the confessional repenting of their sins.

The old priest said uneasily while wiping his pipe:

"Our Lord Mr. Dawn tells us that mortals must learn to restrain unnecessary desires, and gambling is one of them."

Regarding 【Quicksilver Blood】, everyone tacitly did not bring it up too much, but Xia De believed that apart from Father Augustus, who truly had nothing to do with the matter, everyone had their own plans.

Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha and Doctor Shi Nai De were after the 【Forged Philosopher's Stone】, and Miss Annate was after Miss Miss Beiya Si.

During his Bedridden Period, Doctor Shi Nai De also gathered some intelligence through his own channels. Apart from what Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha had mentioned—that Quicksilver Blood had broken itself into scattered pieces—he also mentioned that the Church was preparing to launch a major operation against the cultists who worshipped 【Lord of the Blood Feast】.

And Miss Annate had also obtained some information from the Prophets' Association.

According to her account, cultists are mostly not normal, which is why they firmly believe in the abnormal doctrines of evil gods. For example, the followers of 【Lord of the Blood Feast】 believe that becoming ingredients on the evil god's dining table is the best way to be one with the god.

The cultists had still not given up on the idea of bringing the evil god into the world. However, after the failure at Lakeview Manor, they abandoned directly summoning the evil god's true body to Tobsk, and instead prepared a mortal vessel for the evil god's descent, allowing it to come to this era in the form of a saint.

"Let me guess—the mortal vessel is Mr. Lawrence."

Xia De said, and Miss Annate looked at the detective with some surprise:

"You can guess that too?"

Xia De tilted his head; he had merely strung together the clues in his hands:

"It's actually not surprising at all, otherwise there's no way to explain why 'Lady Lasoya' went to such great lengths to make contact with him. Last time the Academy said that ring was called 【Ring of Transformation】—although the relic did indeed twist his preferences, honestly speaking, an oily middle-aged man like Mr. Lawrence doesn't look like the type who could attract women, especially since 【Quicksilver Blood】 is not short on money."

He thought of the tragically deceased Mrs. Lawrence, pressed his lips together, and continued:

"Moreover, recently because of a commission, I've gotten in touch with the Police Department and heard about the Lawrence family's situation. It's not hard to guess that the abducted Mr. Lawrence was the vessel prepared for the evil god."

Mr. Lawrence's date of birth, personality, age, physique, and so-called soul in the field of mysticism all met the conditions to become the evil god's vessel; after being artificially induced into a binge-eating disorder through drug intervention, he became the candidate for the god's descent that the 【Quicksilver Blood】 organization had prepared for the cultists.

Moreover, using the method of summoning a saint for the god's descent is much easier than directly summoning the evil god's true body, and the impact produced is also smaller. Therefore, the Church has recently intensified its screening efforts to ensure that no second god-descent ritual appears in the Tobsk region.

Xia De, the doctor, Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha, and Miss Annate provided information about the cultists, while Father Augustus provided information from the Zhengshen Sect Church.

"Next week, Mr. Hogg Lundell, the thirteen-ring sorcerer of the Sun Church known as 'Sunshine Greatsword,' will arrive at the Tobsk Parish. At that time, the Wushen Sect churches will conduct a joint operation to round up all the cultists in one fell swoop, and then slowly deal with the 【Quicksilver Blood】 scattered throughout the city."

"That Lundell? I thought it would be that 'Sun Emblem' one."

Miss Annate said, while Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha quietly told Xia De that these two were the contemporary thirteen-ring sorcerers of the Sun Church. The former was famous for the divine spell 【Sunshine Greatsword】, and the latter was a woman well-versed in the "Emblem" system of thaumaturgy and divine spells.

"'Sun Emblem' recently went to the New Continent to handle some matters—seems to be some ruins related to the Sun God."

Father Augustus's information was really very well-informed.

"Then what about the original thirteen-ring sorcerer of the Tobsk Parish? I remember he was called 'Iron Right Hand,' wasn't he?"

Xia De also joined in the questioning.

"I'm not too clear on that—the Creation Church has sealed off the news. But it's said he was tied up with troublesome matters. Angel-level relics (Grade 1) have gone out of control in the small towns around Tobsk, and the Creation Church has been busy with that lately."

The priest shrugged, and seeing Xia De's look of astonishment, added:

"Although this kind of thing can't be said to happen often, once every few years is still a normal frequency—this world has never been peaceful."

After Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha finished sharing the containment incident regarding the "Joyful Dream Pen," she told Xia De about last night's battle with the fish-men. The others did regret that they hadn't obtained more leads about 【Quicksilver Blood】, but regarding that scale, everyone had plenty of interesting views.

Because none of the others had experienced any topics worth mentioning this week, the conversation somehow drifted to politics.

They jointly discussed the topic of the next heir of the Kingdom of Delarion, and agreed that the current king's excessive number of children would inevitably lead to a war of succession decades later. Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha had quite good insights on this issue—she was very well-versed in royal secrets.

Then the topic turned to the scenery of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick. The doctor talked about his experiences attending an academic conference in Carsonrick when he was young, mentioning the southern country's seascape; Miss Annate preferred Carsonrick's primeval forests, believing that staying in such an environment for a long time was good for the skin; Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha had a special fondness for the southern kingdom's vineyards, and claimed her greatest dream was to have a vineyard of her own.

When the topic progressed to the winter exhibition in the nation's art capital, Artak City, and then drifted to next week's ribbon-cutting ceremony for Princess Diana, the time finally arrived at the moment agreed upon by the Academy's professors.

Still using the ritual Xia De had once used at home, the ritual required that at the start, all four chairs facing east, south, west, and north must be occupied. This time, Professor Roentgen of St. Byron's Theological Academy and Professor Garcia of the History Academy were to come, and since the doctor could not leave his bed, the higher-year Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha and Miss Annate occupied two of the chairs.

The doctor's bedroom was large, with the curtains tightly drawn. On the round white embroidered carpet between the desk and the four-poster bed, a water basin and chairs were set out. When Xia De, checking his pocket watch, announced that the time had come, the blonde writer immediately lit the parchment and tossed it into the water basin.

A blue luster spread across the water's surface, and with the appearance of two beams of light, the transparent figures of Professor Roentgen—somewhat plump and wearing a hairpiece—and Professor Garcia, whose ears were slightly pointed, appeared in the chairs.

"Professor Roentgen, Professor Garcia."

The five people greeted them respectfully, and the two professors smiled and nodded.

The Vice Dean of the History Academy, Hessinger Garcia, had come specifically for Xia De, so after responding to the greetings, he said nothing more.

Professor Roentgen coughed once, and his transparent hand picked up a piece of parchment from the air, unfolded it, and said:

"I won't say any unnecessary words—now I begin to read the Academy's report on the Lakeview Manor incident. Ahem—

The investigation into the Lakeview Manor incident of the Month of Sunshine, 1853 of the Sixth Era has been completed. The Theological Academy and the Mathematics Academy dispatched two associate professors to the Tobsk region to verify the scene on-site and validate your investigation report."

Xia De was a little nervous—after all, the report had significant problems. But he noticed that Father Augustus standing beside him, and the two ladies facing the professors, were not nervous at all, and he couldn't help but suspect they regularly engaged in report falsification.

"The investigation report is essentially true; some vague details await confirmation with the Zhengshen Sect Church."

Professor Roentgen said, looking at the five people on the bed, in the chairs, and standing, his somewhat walrus-like face breaking into a smile:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to see those of you who experienced such an incident safely appearing before me."

The doctor quickly coughed.

"Of course, regarding Bill Schneider's injuries, the Chemistry Academy has provided a batch of magic potions to heal the spiritual damage. But I must remind you—absolutely do not lightly use the Sublimated Voice; next time you may not be able to endure it."

When saying this, the professor gazed at the doctor, his tone becoming somewhat stern. The doctor nodded weakly, but Xia De felt that he now looked even more "weak" than before the professors had appeared, not at all like the lively man who had just been debating economic topics with everyone.

"Regarding the reward of practical credits, a reply was already given on Tuesday, so I won't repeat it here. As a side note, Miss Dorothy Lu Lu Lu Yisha, your fourth-year practical credits are already full. If you intend to take the promotion examination at the end of this year, please advance to the Fifth Ring as soon as possible."

Miss Lu Lu Lu Yisha smiled:

"Yes, Professor, I think that should be no problem. The Sublimated Voice relying on 'Match Girl' is already prepared, and I plan to advance to the Fifth Ring in autumn."

Professor Roentgen nodded:

"Additionally, after the Academy's investigation and verification of the situation you faced at the time, it is recognized that your group made extraordinary and outstanding contributions. Therefore, in addition to the credit reward, your group is awarded a special contribution bonus from St. Byron's, one thousand pounds."

Xia De's eyes widened slightly, and he held his breath. As expected, being of the good-aligned St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy, it would indeed give exceptional rewards for acts of "saving the world."

Professor Röntgen knew Xia De was a newly enrolled Circle Ringed Ringed Shushi, and specially added an explanation:

"This money can only be used by Circle Mages for their studies, and only for expenses at St. Byrons Academy. Think of it as a voucher worth £1,000, valid for one year, usable only at St. Byrons."

Xia De knew the academy's prices, so his excitement ebbed slightly. He hadn't expected the professor's gaze to leave him and turn to the others, warning:

"In principle, this money can't be withdrawn, but I know you'll pull all sorts of tricks. That's not my concern, but I warn you — don't go too far. If the academy's year-end accounts don't balance, the people from the Accounting Office will come making trouble."

Only then did Xia De realize that none of the people here were the quiet, well-behaved sort.