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As for what happened afterward, Shard no longer needed to be involved. His task was to have Steve Event, carrying the "Transmutation Ring," leave this place and be removed from the normal surveillance positions and from the densely populated mansion.
The departing maid would guide him to where he should be, and Miss Tifa Servet, the maid, would be waiting for him there.
Of course, they couldn't kill Event now, to avoid alarming the cultists. Miss Maid naturally had a way to replace the real ring with a fake one and to make Event temporarily forget what he had gone through. As for the exact thod to be used, that was sothing for Miss Galina to worry about, not Shard.
The plan was executing smoothly. All Shard had to do was wait for the signal, then et up with Miss Maid in the mansion courtyard, and he could leave aboveboard.
While he breathed a sigh of relief, he also began to worry about another grand adventure that awaited him shortly.
Without stopping, he made his way to the innermost part of the dining room and spent a substantial amount of Gold Pounds he had received from the maid, taking the two auctioned items into his possession. The maid needed so ti to deal with Steve Event, and during this period, Shard would do best to find a secure place and wait patiently.
Lessons from the Lakeside Manor taught Shard that wandering around would greatly increase the likelihood of running into misfortune. Especially tonight, with a God Summoning Ritual taking place, he had to be extra cautious.
He could no longer stay in the dining room auction venue, as Event might rember sothing upon seeing Shard again when he returned.
"I definitely can't go to the third floor, the second floor seems to have many VIPs as well. I can't go to the courtyard, that would remind
of the events at Lakeside Manor, so I should go to the first floor instead."
Thinking this, he took the two invaluable auction items and headed toward the first floor. The banquet still followed a buffet-style service, but Shard didn't take any food from there to avoid accidentally consuming sothing peculiar.
However, he still stood by the table full of food for a while, pretending to be curious about the fruit salad on the table:
"Is there sothing wrong with these foods?"
He curiously asked the woman's voice in his mind.
[At this distance, I don't sense anything wrong.]
So pretending to be casual, he wiped his finger on the dark liquid marks that had sohow been left on the tablecloth.
"Now what?"
[There is a very slight strange feeling, but I can't tell what has been done to the food.]
"I thought as much."
Standing in a corner by oneself would make one look strange. So after looking around on the first floor, he finally joined a group of people watching a Roder Card ga.
This ti, to his surprise, he did not encounter any acquaintances who could be casually chatted with, so Shard simply stood in the crowd silently. He paid no mind to the special cards possessed by the players, only thinking about leaving as soon as possible.
There weren't many Roder Card enthusiasts at the banquet, and most who were present had co for the auction of the two extrely expensive Special Cards. Shard didn't stand out while standing there, nor did those who ca to watch and then left.
Therefore, when a stranger, a middle-aged man, walked up beside Shard and joined him in watching the ongoing card ga, Shard didn't take much notice of him.
But the voice in his ear truly took him aback:
[Don't move your eyes, look straight ahead.]
"What?"
[Don't change your expression too much.]
Shard narrowed his eyes towards the card ga, feeling sowhat surprised:
"What's happening? Has the Evil God co early? Quick, burn the Divinity, I..."
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[It's not that serious; you have a High Ring Sorcerer by your side.]
"Oh, just a Circle Sorcerer, huh."
He breathed a sigh of relief as he could see out of the corner of his eye the middle-aged man standing next to him. Dressed in a black suit, like Shard, he was slightly taller and of average build, neither fat nor thin.
Because he couldn't observe directly, Shard was unable to note more details. It was only when the voice in his mind reminded him that he suddenly realized that the stranger had a very distinctive aura.
What is called temperant is actually hard to pin down, but when Shard noticed him, that strange feeling surged up as if a huge mountain range stood beside him. In general, he felt the other party was very powerful but did not sense anything peculiar or ominous.
This led him to a conclusion:
"A Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer?"
[Likely so.]
In the entire physical world, there weren't many Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers. This person beside him should be the Sun Church's "Sun Greatsword," Mr. Hog Lendel.
Shard hadn't t Mr. Lendel but it was possible that the latter recognized him. Last Wednesday at noon when Shard got shot, this gentleman had been standing a few hundred steps behind him; he might have seen the photo of Shard on the news afterward.
"You can sense the other person is a High Ring Sorcerer, but can the other's 'other self' sense that I am a Circle Sorcerer?"
Based on Shard's foundational lessons, it should be impossible, but he still asked.
[Don't worry, as long as you don't use Sorcery or Arcane Techniques around him, he will definitely not be able to detect us.]
Whether the other's appearance was a coincidence or intentional, Shard wasn't too nervous since he hadn't done anything wrong.
So, the two of them said nothing more and watched the card ga intently. During this ti, Shard idly thought about the Arcane Technique copied by the "Witch's Reproduction Paper" that he had swallowed, which happened to be the man's signature Arcane Technique.
With this thought and another glance at the man, the middle-aged individual's sharp yet warm temperant made Shard reflect. He probably understood what kind of Arcane Technique he would get.
It wasn't until one of the players in the ga, sowhat annoyed, flipped over the Moon 7, losing with 22 points to 18, that the match temporarily ended. Shard then sighed and turned to leave the place while Mr. Rendell continued to watch the ga.
"It seems he wasn't determined to track
down."
Shard didn't want to get involved with anyone there and after successfully leaving the vicinity of the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, he thought about finding a cooler place to stay.
While the auction was only on the second floor, the rooms on the first floor were also open to guests. The earl's younger son had taken out part of the family's collection, borrowed so from friends, and set it up like an exhibition. It was declared to showcase the family's financial strength and sowhat justify the high ticket prices.
Shard's plan was to find a less crowded room to cool off for a while. As he walked along the hallway looking at the portraits hanging on the walls, a respectable middle-aged gentleman with a wine glass erged from the room ahead, and they were both startled:
"Dr. Schneider?"
"Shard?"
The person coming out from one of the rooms off the hallway was the blue-eyed middle-aged psychotherapist. He was surprised to see Shard, and Shard was even more taken aback.
"Co with !"
After coming to his senses, Shard grabbed the doctor's hand without further explanation and walked to the end of the hallway by the window, overlooking the courtyard of the manor in the night.
Once he made sure there was no one outside the window and no one in the hallway paying attention to them, Shard lowered his voice and asked hurriedly:
"Doctor, what are you doing here?"
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