Because visiting Mrs. Lemmer in the north of the city had taken some time, there was not much of the morning left. Thus, Shade spent the time before lunch at the Sacrificial Ground. Besides cold-weapon combat training with Sister Devlin, he also mentioned that he had encountered "Desire" again and introduced the God of Love's believers' divine art—God of Love's Thorn.
The Order of Spiritual Cultivation was already exceptionally skilled in soul-related spells and thaumaturgy, so Sister Devlin had many views on this thaumaturgy that differed from Shade's. As for the Pink Crystal soul spell that the young ladies used after casting God of Love's Thorn, she selected several books for Shade to take back and teach to them.
As for the three types of believers of the "God of Love," who specialized in "spirit, flesh, and desire," Shade found them rather "remarkable," but Sister Devlin had a different view:
"God of Love is also called the 'Red Heart Lock.' Is love precious because it is rare, or because it is truly incomparably important? The three remaining believers of the Old God do not seem to have considered that question. They merely wish, on the surface, to lock the feelings between people through their respective methods. They have not touched the core of the soul."
Sister Devlin, who seemed to have no experience with love, spoke words that Shade found difficult to judge. He was no master of soul spells and did not deeply understand the underlying meaning Sister Devlin wished to convey, but one word in her statement still made him pause:
"Love Lock?"
Memories of his homeland suddenly sprang into his mind. He thought of a story—a story of Greed and Desire leading toward Destruction and despair. It was an interesting story, because Shade associated it with himself.