After explaining why he had come, Shade handed Mr. Edmund the eyeball-shaped stone covered in strange runes.
He had originally worried that Lady Gerd had said the Guiding Light Hermitage of the Fifth Epoch could recognize this symbol, but the Hermit Order of the Sixth Epoch might have lost that knowledge. To his surprise, the moment Mr. Edmund saw the symbol, his expression turned grave. He immediately set down the fishing rod he had just cast, letting it rest casually by the shore:
"Tell me in detail where this stone came from."
The story about playing cards was not complicated. However, for Elder Harald's sake, Shade did not explain its origins in too much detail. He only carefully described the Appearance Of the Misfortune Order and the secret they had revealed.
Mr. Edmund did not interrupt while Shade told the story. Only after Shade had finished did he speak over the sound of the waves:
"Although the Guiding Light Hermitage is a low-profile organization that rarely contacts outsiders, we have enemies of our own. Our enemies are not any fixed group or individual, but those who proclaim that the apocalypse is imminent, then stir up chaos or profit from it. Some are truly mad, while others have ulterior motives.
"And although our Hermit Order also firmly believes that the apocalypse will inevitably come, we actively prepare for it."
Shade nodded.
"I understand."
"A handful of mad Seers or Prophets who claim to have seen through the future often have their own explanations for the apocalypse. I am not unfamiliar with the symbol on this stone. No one in the Hermit Order would be unfamiliar with it—it is the symbol of 'doomsday.'
"We do not know the precise origin of this mark, but from the distant Ancient Epoch until today, it