After having lunch at Professor Drake's home, the maid rented a carriage from a Four-wheeled Carriage rental company in the city. Then Shade set off with the professor, who had finished preparing.
Although their destination was rather strange, the coachman asked nothing. After delivering them to Loch Ness in eastern Huntington, he stopped by the roadside and watched Shade push the professor's wheelchair away.
The country dirt road was wholly unsuitable for wheelchair wheels, but fortunately they did not have to travel far. Once he was sure the coachman could no longer see them, Shade pushed the professor down the lake embankment and gazed across the great lake from the shore of Loch Ness.
This was a lake west of the city that Shade had selected at random from a map. Loch Ness was very calm in winter. Although its surface had not frozen over completely, a thin Ice Layer had already formed. The cold wind swept over them. Shade did not react much, but Professor Drake, wrapped up tightly, shivered.
He watched Shade untie the cloth strips around the long object he carried with him, revealing the longsword sheathed within.
"Mr. Watson, that isn't your real name, is it?"
The old professor shifted his gaze from the Silver Sword and gripped his red knitted scarf with both hands, his eyes fixed on the great lake before them.
"No."
"You actually don't... Never mind."
Shade glanced down at the professor. He was standing beside him at the moment.
"I hope that when we return to the lakeside, you'll still thank me like this. The truth may be cruel to you."
"I may regret it in the future, but at least I won't regret it now."
To visit the Goddess in the Lake this time, they needed a sword. Yet even