Chapter 1264: Chapter 1264: Arcane Technique of Sloth
Shard gave Angelina no chance to object:
“I’ll look for the gift again, and please address me by name from now on, Your Highness.”
The Little Princess finally showed a sincere smile, while Lecia was responsible for making her face reality:
“When sending invitations, don’t forget to send one to Dorothy Louisa. Also, at your birthday party, prepare a safe, soundproof room for us to rest, yes, one with a big bed.”
She looked at Shard with a smile:
“Knight, the Day of the Red Butterfly is coming, are you… ready?”
Half an hour later, Randall Valley City, first floor of the Abundant Land Inn.
Although there were many people at the inn on Monday morning, it was still very serene. The guests enjoyed their lunch, and no one in the spacious first floor paid too much attention to Luvia and Shard sitting by the wall.
Mia stayed in Tobesk, taken by Lecia, so little Mia could enjoy a royal meal today.
Shard talked with Luvia about last night and this morning while eating. The purple-eyed girl nodded as she listened and finally summarized:
“So you are indeed interested in girls’ legs. I never realized you had this hobby before.”
“Is that the focus of the story?”
Luvia smiled:
“Alright, the focus is the relationship between Mr. Lathis and Thomas Granger. If we assume both belong to the same organization… actually, we don’t need to assume, both souls died because of Crazy Earth, and both mastered the ‘Power of the Earth’ after death, appearing as saviors in the direst times. They must be connected and definitely know each other.”
“Indeed, and neither wants to see us. But don’t worry, since we confirmed that the church’s stone statue is indeed Mr. Lathis, there are ways to find him. Miss Lathis is his direct descendant, even if Mr. Lathis’s relic, I mean the real relic, has no clues, a bloodline divination can provide us some. The truth is about to be revealed to us!”
“This also means dangerous proximity, the three God Summoning Rituals constitute the final Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess, and the Evil God Stone Heart Demon’s followers indeed have been encountered by you, among them are also ‘Power of the Earth’ holders.”
She lifted the sandwich, her eyes looking at Shard:
“You already have the ritual for Contact with the Old God, Thousand-Eyes Illusion Butterfly, what’s the focus?”
“Hosting a feast at a special location—this can be prepared later, offerings to the deity—leaves, flowers, fruits. The three items can’t be ordinary but don’t need powerful strength either. They must symbolize spring vitality and hold great significance in mysticism.”
Shard explained, then stretched out his fingers:
“Leaves can be the Ever-Youth Leaf, whose power stems from the Ancient God, Father of the Infinite Tree, meeting the requirements. The flower can be a souvenir of the Time Key this time, a pink-white bloom from gifts by three friends, which I plan to call Spring Flower, representing the Thousand-Eyes Illusion Butterfly’s power. Hence, I need to find a special fruit, I’ll commission for purchase in various cities, witches can also help.”
“You also need to supplement the difference between the three God Summoning Rituals and the real Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess.”
Luvia added, Shard nodded, thinking maybe they would still have to go to Huntington City to seek help from the Lake Goddess. Although the Lake Goddess possesses great wisdom, he shouldn’t seek help for everything, especially as gaining knowledge requires facing trials. Thus, it’s not too late after gathering the three rituals.
“Things are going smoothly, everything is steadily progressing.”
He softly exclaimed.
“Including your relationship with the witches.”
Luvia added, flipping her hair as Shard wanted to explain, she said:
“Your relationship with the witches is getting better, which I’m glad to see. No need for me to say these things. Speaking of which, have you not used those two sylphs yet?”
“Not yet, last night… a lot of things happened.”
“Yes, yes, you broke into Yordle Palace at night, then slept with the Princess of the House of Cavendish, I know.”
Amid Luvia’s teasing, Shard held one verdant leaf to his eye. Slightly turning his head, not allowing other patrons on the inn’s first floor to see the faint golden glow emerging from the leaf veins.
“This is the merfolk race’s knowledge.”
He rubbed his eyes saying:
“Very extensive knowledge, now I’m also somewhat fluent in merfolk language, want to hear it? Well, seeing your expression, I know you don’t want to listen.
Unexpectedly, this race is so ancient, originally familiars of the god of wisdom and knowledge, Secret-Keeping Mentor, possessing a very advanced underwater civilization in the First Era. Moreover, the mermaid form of Desire doesn’t seem coincidental, it indeed has some relation to merfolk… I need to sort this out, it’s an incredible discovery!”
Luvia nodded, showing no interest in such matters:
“Then the other one is… ”
“Yes, corresponding to the Spirit Rune of [Sloth], the [Fiona’s Housekeeper]!”
Shard excitedly looked at the leaf in his hand, but before placing it in front of his eyes, he hesitated and said:
“What if the Spellcasting Material is dragon scales?”
“Why would you think this Arcane Technique is related to dragons?”
Luviya asked back in confusion, which reminded Shard that he couldn’t prove this Arcane Technique was related to Miss Fiona Drago, and it was just his own speculation.
So he slightly turned back, facing the wall, and placed the leaf in front of his right eye. After a short moment, feeling a bit of a headache from absorbing too much knowledge at once, he pressed his temple:
“Arcane Technique [Fiona’s Housekeeper], it’s not what I thought, it’s actually a time-related Arcane Technique instead of a summoning type.”
“Time?”
“At somewhere in the river of time, there exist some magical dragons that have signed contracts with the Tree Father. After using the Arcane Technique, the environment or items that need cleaning are temporarily banished to that point in time. The housekeeper cleans them and then returns them… those dragons signed contracts with the Tree Father, and the creator of the Arcane Technique also signed contracts with those dragons. Only a very few who are acknowledged by the creator of the Arcane Technique can acquire this Arcane Technique. Or in other words, the truth of this Arcane Technique is essentially a contract of time.”
“Hard to imagine signing a contract with such powerful creatures just for cleaning purposes.”
Luviya continued, sounding not at all surprised, though she was quite surprised at how unsurprised she was:
“Is Spellcasting Material necessary?”
“Very special Spellcasting Materials, all gemstones. Using Spellcasting Material once, the gemstone can sustain several usages based on its quality.”
Shard held up a teacup, repeating the information he acquired:
“Spellcasting Material Sapphire or Blue Cat’s Eye, the housekeeper is a Blue Dragon, specialized in laundry;
Ruby or Blood Diamond, Red Dragon, specialized in cooking and kitchen work;
Green Gemstone or Precious Jade, Green Dragon, specialized in living room cleaning, brewing of black tea, and making snacks;
Obsidian or Flashing Obsidian, Black Dragon, specialized in bedroom organizing, closet cleaning, and airing of bedding;
Pink Gemstone or Stone Heart, Pink Dragon, specialized in handling baby items.”
“What species is the Pink Dragon? Also, isn’t this categorization a bit too detailed? It seems more like offerings than Spellcasting Materials.”
Luviya asked:
“Moreover, I believe that even the highest-quality gemstones probably can’t sustain too many usages of the spell. Given the availability of gemstones, selling them and using the proceeds to hire a full-time maid can not only clean the entire house but also allow for some interesting activities at night. Such [Sloth] is not cheap at all.”
“After all, it’s an Arcane Technique created by the Witches of the Fifth Era.”
Shard also lamented, almost certain that the source of this Arcane Technique was the witch with the beautiful big tail:
“For a Thirteenth Rank witch, a gemstone can exchange for comforting cleaning or meals, it’s indeed a very worthwhile trade…”
Last time at Pantanal Lake Heart Island, although he was unconscious, he later learned from Miss Feliana and the others that they had complained to Iluna that the witches of this era hadn’t taken good care of Shard. He had a small suspicion that perhaps this Arcane Technique crossed time to fall into his hands because of Miss Feliana’s complaint.
But anyway, free Arcane Techniques were something Shard would not disdain in the slightest. Moreover, when he really gets rich in the future, he might be willing to…
“No, even if I have money, I won’t waste it on such things.”
Still, this didn’t stop him from trying Spellcasting once when he could. After all, it was an Arcane Technique he had already learned, so he must test its effects. An expensive cleaning he couldn’t accept, but merely experimenting, Shard could handle it.
“So, do you have any plans for today? Going to Coldwater Port to gather the materials that Miss Elf wanted?”
Luviya asked again, but Shard shook his head, as the elf’s materials were all available in his basement, and the ones that needed purchasing could be acquired through Old John’s channels:
“I’ll go see Miss Benanis later to ask about the follow-up to last night. But before that, Luviya, I want to ask you a question—why did you come to Randall Valley, to acquire their Sublimation Codex from a secret Cult of the Old God? So, what is the name of that Order?”
Shard had thought of this question only yesterday when he realized the relationship between the Golden Dawn and the Church of the Forgotten.
As expected, just as Shard anticipated, the girl with purple eyes blinked in confusion:
“Of course, it is… come to think of it, I really don’t know… strange, I never had any doubts about this question.”
Shard wiggled his finger:
“Is it possible that the Order is the [Cult of the Forgotten]? I heard from Miss Benanis that this Old God Cult is connected with the local Circle Sorcerer Organization, and it’s very possible that the Prophet’s Society is acquainted with them too.”