The Doctor's Praise

He met Shade in the same consultation room. Compared to That Lady from the Third Floor of The Club last night, Shade trusted the doctor quite a bit more, so he told him everything that had happened the previous night. He did not think there were any details worth concealing.

This naturally included the matter of the Darkness Box, though Shade was vague about the conditions under which the box would breach containment.

When the doctor heard how Shade had encountered a relic containment breach at the very beginning, he rose in surprise and paced around the room. By the time Shade mentioned the Sage Level Relic, he was standing there with a hand over his forehead. When he heard of the Silver-Eyed One's mad scheme, he let out an undisguised groan:

"What a lunatic. I knew Blood of Mercury was on the New Continent and had tried using the unique minerals there for alchemy, but I never expected them to actually come to Tobesk."

He was quite pleased with Shade's performance against the Darkness Box, but he did not think Silver Moon Light Art was particularly valuable. There were simply too many thaumaturgies of that kind. Though the Light Spell Shade described was somewhat too bright, it was hardly unique.

As for Shade trading away the statue containing remnants of an Old God, the doctor thought he had done the right thing. He was not particularly concerned that the woman might learn about the five-person Correspondence Group through Shade either:

"Quite a few people know we exist. Otherwise, how would we exchange materials and knowledge with others? How would we find talented people to help us? Are we supposed to wear masks every time? As long as it isn't an Orthodox Church, it's fine. The fact that she was willing to trade with a Low-Ring Arcanist like you means she was friendly enough."

As for guessing the woman's identity, the doctor had no idea who she might be. But he also believed that her Ring Arcanist rank was very high. Otherwise, there was no reason she could have discovered Shade in that manner, nor would she know such specific information about a Sage Level Relic.

"No matter what, this is a good thing. You gained a rare spell and a very decent relic without risking your life. I think that counts as luck. This world is not safe; you will not have such luck every time."

The doctor gave his final assessment of the matter.

"Does that count as luck?"

Shade asked, but after thinking it over, it did seem quite fortunate.

The evil god statue bearing remnants of an Old God was certainly worth far more than that Document Level ring, even though Shade could only gain knowledge from his first contact with it. But when the free information and knowledge were included, along with Shade's accidental triggering of the Darkness Box's containment breach, calling this a "fair trade" was not much of a stretch.

More importantly, That Lady was far stronger than Shade.

The doctor did not care much about That Lady from The Club. After all, this was the royal capital of the Northern Kingdom on the Old Continent; any sort of Ring Arcanist might emerge from nowhere. What concerned him was Blood of Mercury:

"Actually, the Academy recently issued a mission related to the Blood of Mercury organization. I was even planning to take part. It seems I need to reconsider that. Sage Level..."

The doctor muttered to himself, then raised his eyes to Shade:

"Shade, overall, you handled this matter very well. You did not put yourself in danger, handled your trade with an unknown Ring Arcanist properly, and provided the group with valuable intelligence. You can now be considered initiated. This is roughly what your future life will look like.

But This information is quite useful. Perhaps I should give you some compensation. No need to refuse. Although the five of us belong to the same group and may very well cross the Northern Ice Cap together in the future, some matters must be settled clearly. Ordinary information can be shared freely, but this concerns something like this..."

He thought for a moment:

"How about four pounds? Each of the other four will give you one pound. That is about what this information is worth."

Such important insider information would naturally fetch more than four pounds on the black market,

but it could not be priced that way when shared within their group of five. The four pounds were not a return of benefits to Shade, but recognition of his contribution to the group. The two were fundamentally different, representing that the relationship among the five was not one of pure profit exchange.

"Four pounds. That means I could bring Little Franklin back from The Club eight more times, and it is also worth more than one orange cat Mia."

Shade calculated in his heart, equating the three things. He did not seek more, so he smiled at the doctor.

"Of course. That sounds very good. But Doctor, I did not mention that Lady Lassoya last night. Will that have any consequences?"

He took the opportunity to ask for advice. Doctor Schneider shook his head.

"Since she did not ask, you had no right to say anything. But do not contact that lady you mentioned again. She is probably a member of Blood of Mercury. Still, I have not heard that they possess a relic capable of changing one's sex. It was likely prepared for Blood of Mercury's synthesis formula. That Academy bounty is more difficult than I imagined."

The doctor frowned.

"In any case, do not get involved with anything related to Blood of Mercury again.

I will probably do something in the near future, but I am a Fifth-Ring Arcanist. You are not. Blood of Mercury is a group of lunatics who always believe they can create the legendary Angel Level Relic, but how could that possibly happen?"

"That is true. If Angel Level Relics could appear so easily, this world would be far too insane."

Shade said the same. He truly believed it.

The Blue Eyes doctor seemed to have dealt with the organization before, but he did not intend to share that with Shade, so he changed the subject:

"Shade, your current task is to learn more common sense about daily life and build up your detective business. Get more exposure to the ordinary world. Once you advance to the Second Ring, or gain sufficient strength, then consider involving yourself in the shadows of Tobesk City. This mad world will always be madder than you think."

"Then Doctor, does the Academy always hide key information from us like this?"

Shade asked, taking the opportunity. To his surprise, the doctor shook his head.

"Do not judge Saint Byrens Comprehensive College too harshly. They usually share the appropriate information with us at the appropriate time."

"Then when is the appropriate time?"

Shade asked again, then saw Doctor Schneider lean back slightly on the Single Sofa.

"Only they themselves know that."

After leaving Doctor Schneider's psychiatric clinic, nothing else happened that day worth remembering for Shade, aside from hearing at noon that the alley opposite Silver Parrot Milk Company had suffered an unexpected gas explosion the previous night.

No illegal organization came looking for him, no generous client rang the bell downstairs, and none of Sparrow Hamilton's acquaintances came to see him. Instead, Shade's research at home alone actually produced results.

He still could not draw upon any power of spacetime whatsoever, but perhaps because of his breakthrough use of Silver Moon on the Third Floor of The Club, Shade could now make the light of Silver Moon cling to external objects, in addition to using Light Spell.

In his most successful attempt, he made the orange cat "Little Mia," who had gradually grown affectionate toward him, emit light continuously for ten seconds.

The act terrified the cat so badly that it dashed wildly around the house, even scrambling up the broken staircase to the Third Floor of the apartment building.

It took Shade quite a while to call the fleeing cat back. This led him to wonder whether the Detective had hidden his gun on the sealed-off 1st Floor, the inaccessible Third Floor, or Room 2 on the unoccupied Second Floor.

Unfortunately, he did not have sufficient tools in hand to investigate any of those three places. Still, investigating them had already been added to Shade's schedule. After all, he had to make sure the house he lived in was absolutely safe.