Capítulo 1696: Chapter 1695: Mood Ring
The Church currently has no plan to completely seal off that island, because with the presence of the white mist, it’s impossible to have people stay on the island or even nearby for a long ti.
“Thirteen Rings… Is there any clue about the investigation on the other island?”
“Regrettably, no. If it weren’t for many people seeing that other island that night, I might have thought it was an illusion. As for the captain we brought back, his soul has disappeared. It seems the forefather indeed had everything prepared.”
Shard nodded, then opened Professor Boulanger’s letter.
Professor Boulanger had indeed found the owner of that fountain pen, the lecturer at Saint Fabrie Academy in Velindale City, Durut Giles.
He wrote to his friends in Velindale and soon learned that Durut Giles, after venturing alone to the Green Lake region two years ago, had resigned from Saint Fabrie Academy shortly after. His whereabouts after resigning were quite clear; he was a bachelor who moved to Tobesk City in Draleon alone and has lived there ever since.
Although he never returned to Velindale City, his forr colleagues and friends continued to correspond with him occasionally, knowing that he lived well. However, this correspondence abruptly ended over two months ago, in early 1854.
Professor Boulanger’s friends investigated and found that during his ti in Tobesk, Durut Giles frequently visited a respected elderly professor in the “Northern Pearl” to discuss various issues together. Hence, if Shard wanted to find Durut Giles’s whereabouts, he could start by locating that elderly professor in Tobesk:
“The professor’s na is… Tiris Manning, now retired, residing at 17 Cat Tail Alley in the Tobesk City University District… Ha, I’m not surprised at all.”
The old professor, who exposed his fondness for cat girls due to the Joyful Dream Pen, had given Shard a lot of help over the year. The honorary doctorate Shard received a month ago was partly due to Professor Manning’s efforts. To say the least, Shard had not visited Professor Manning since recovering from his illness, making this a good opportunity.
“Is there a clue about Durut Giles?”
gan curiously asked as Shard finished reading the letter. Shard nodded:
“We’ll find him in two days. Whether dead or alive, this tomb robber clue is finally wrapping up.”
He said, taking out his notebook and flipping through it, revealing the daily schedules of the Carsonrick and Draleon negotiating teams:
“This week’s negotiations are in Green Lake City. The morning schedule is… No etings this morning, the Carsonrick representative is visiting the local church?”
He perceived the current ti and found that there was about an hour left before the delegation would arrive at the “War and Peace Chapel.” Starting the visit with Peace Church was quite a thoughtfully arranged gesture. Despite the slow progress of negotiations between the two nations, such courteous arrangents were well executed.
“gan, would you like to accompany
to the Peace Chapel?”
Shard suddenly asked, and gan blinked in surprise:
“What?”
“I’m going to et Edward Edwards’s grandchildren, trying to get the blood. Last ti I suggested they et you, they said they’d consider it. If they agree this ti, we’ll arrange a direct eting. Currently, only the two surviving descendants of Edwards from the fifth and sixth generations are alive. You haven’t t them, have you?”
gan thought for a mont:
“I can’t rember how long it’s been since I last went to church. No problem, I accept your invitation.”
Shard smiled:
“Haven’t been to a church for a long ti? Unlike you, I am a loyal believer of Mr. Dawn… relatively loyal. In the area where I have lived for a long ti, I am the core parishioner of the local church, invited to speak during Holy Prayer Day.”
“What is your social identity, exactly?”
The female sorcerer asked Shard with her face in her hands, her eyelashes fluttering slightly, which was truly enchanting.
“You’ll find out next week, I promise.”
Then gan said again:
“Before we set off, I want to give you a gift. No, don’t rush to refuse.”
She reached for Shard’s hand across the table:
“On Monday when you touched that heart, and later when you ca out of the water, I noticed your expression was off. A hollow and cold heart can drive anyone mad.”
“But all that has passed, and I’m quite normal now. I talked to an old friend and figured everything out.”
Yet gan shook her head:
“You ntioned it was an aftereffect of touching the Angel-Level Relic, don’t downplay it. In terms of ntal confusion and emotional imbalance, I have decades of experience… I an, I want to give you a relic that can enhance your emotions. Though I haven’t obtained it yet, next ti we et, I’ll bring you to it.”
“A relic? Please don’t give
sothing too valuable.”
Shard imdiately shook his head, and the female sorcerer smiled and said:
“You’ve helped
so much; can’t I even give you a gift?
Besides, it’s not that valuable, just sothing to manipulate emotions. The Poet-Level Relic, [Mood Ring], rely enhances specific emotions, offsets emotional wear, and oh, it can store a certain emotion to release it at the right ti, transforming you into an acting master. The ancient wisdom inscribed on that ring underscores the importance of rich emotions to us.”
She coughed once and formally said:
“[The blending of joy and sorrow is the intrinsic interpretation of wisdom].”
Shard inexplicably felt the ring might be very suitable for his cat. If he wasn’t mistaken, the side effect of the [Ring of Immortality] obtained from a demon was the erosion of emotions.
Additionally, the style of the ancient inscription on the ring was similar to that on the other five rings in “Mia’s Five Charms.”
Seeing gan insist on giving him the gift, he no longer declined but asked again:
“This ring is quite suitable to aid certain Arcane Techniques that require extre emotions. For instance, my technique that transforms into an Angel Statue requires the emotion of rage, and the technique I recently learned that makes ice blocks explode requires positive emotions. Since it’s a Poet-Level Relic, the containnt thod should be straightforward, with only minor negative traits, right?”
gan nodded:
“According to the information I have, the containnt of this relic is simple, any walnut wood box will suffice. The side effect is that it may trigger extre emotions, causing a Circle Sorcerer to lose control. Oh, also, if this relic is used to offset the negative effects of other relics that erode emotions, it will result in permanent blindness. However, offsetting the effects of spellcasting, alchemical items, and magic potions does not have such negative traits—emotions are blind, that’s probably the aning.”
“Offsetting the effects of the [Ring of Immortality] leads to blindness…”
Shard nodded thoughtfully, pondering not the negative traits of this relic and what to find to offset them, but rather how many rings could really be strung on Mia’s little tail.
Before visiting the church, the only thing to note is not to carry relics. Once prepared, Shard set off with gan. Her carriage waited outside the inn, and today Green Lake was experiencing another rainy day.
Only, today’s rain was very light, drizzling enough not even to require an umbrella. This was the misty drizzle of spring, while the rain on Monday was overly excessive.
The War and Peace Church of Green Lake City was located in the city center, not far from the Green Lake Inn. In front of the church was a circular large square, where on non-rainy days, one could see the white pigeons raised by the Church, but unfortunately, in rainy weather, those pigeons did not co out to forage.
Although today the representatives of Carsonrick were visiting here, the church did not close its doors to other believers because of this. The delegation did not have that much influence to make the Church do so.
When Shard and gan arrived, it was still early, so they did not imdiately enter the church but waited in the carriage for a while. Through the carriage window, they could see the line of poor people waiting to receive relief food at the side entrance of the church, pressed against the wall.
This scene was deeply moving to the Outlander:
“So the Peace Church distributes relief food on Wednesday mornings.”
He rembered clearly that the Dawn Church did so on weekend evenings.
“Yes, more is distributed in the winter. According to the girls responsible for business in Green Lake City, in recent years, due to bankruptcy and unemploynt, more and more people have fallen into destitution, and more people are lining up for relief food.”
Shard nodded slightly. Suddenly, he asked:
“And what about the City of Glass on the south shore of Green Lake?”
“The sa, even though comrce and industry are more developed in the City of Glass, beggars are also increasing. Therefore, people like Rot-Eye Barry can recruit enough personnel. When soone cannot feed themselves, they have to find so way to survive.”
Seeing Shard pursing his lips and looking outside, the brown-haired lady suggested:
“We got quite a bit of money from Rot-Eye Barry. Since neither of us wants that dirty money, let’s donate it to the Church as we discussed. However, it shouldn’t all be donated at once to prevent us from being associated with Barry.”
She pondered for a mont, wrote a note, and handed it to the driver outside. The driver left quickly, and after about twenty minutes, soone handed an anonymous bill of exchange through the window.
This bill of exchange only needed to be presented to receive the money, and did not even require a password or key. It was one of the most convenient paynt tools of this era.
The female sorcerer checked the bill of exchange, gently flicked it, and handed it to Shard.
Shard put it away carefully and, looking at the queue braving the rain outside, remarked:
“We all know that just donating a sum of money won’t change this situation.”
“Do you want to change this world?”
“No, of course not. I just want there to be fewer beggars, for people to earn a living with their wisdom or strength and live better lives. It’s a very idealistic thought, but isn’t that the internal reason and result of civilization’s progress?”
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