"Oh, you actually beat him?"
The old curator was not curious about the strange profession of "Demon Scholar." Instead, he was greatly astonished by what Shade had said:
"That's impossible. Stone Osenfott can lose?"
"But I really did win. That's why I got caught up in so much trouble afterward and eventually came here seeking help. Madam Haila Osenfott was unwilling to tell me much, but it seemed that you knew something?"
Mr. Fernandes swallowed and turned once more to look at the holy emblem of the Old Man with the Lantern, as though it could give him strength.
Of course, it truly could give him strength. After all, this true god genuinely existed and constantly influenced the Material World. Even beneath the holy emblem, there was no need to worry that speaking of demons would alert them.
"Young man, would you be willing to listen to my story?"
he suddenly asked.
"Of course."
Shade nodded at once. He had come today precisely to hear a story.
"It wasn't long ago, about two years back, in the winter of 1851. Stone Osenfott and Haila Osenfott had only recently married, and I was already the curator of this Exhibition Hall at the time."
They had married two years ago, but this was the first time Shade had learned the specific timing of their wedding.
"I cannot forget what I did then, and I constantly wish time could turn back, so that the me of today could stop the me of that time. Through acquaintances, I learned that Stone Osenfott possessed a very precious antique stone sculpture. It was a full-body statue, a work that had been released from stone around two hundred years ago by a famous sculptor from Randall River Valley."
The old curator wore a sorrowful expression, and Shade