After lunch, Shade took out the vine containing spiritual toxins that he had obtained while searching for the Aiken Ola Knowledge Arrow and gave it to the Nun, so that she could continue searching for the "Pantanal Evil." He did not stay in Middlesburg for long. At two in the afternoon, he bid farewell to the reluctant Helen and Grace and prepared to return home.
The carriage had been arranged by the witch's apprentice, Miss Swift. Braving the heavy snow, the flaxen-haired girl brought Shade to the entrance of the auction house and stood in the snow, waving goodbye to him.
Fluttering snowflakes settled on the young girl's hat and shoulders. At parting, Miss Swift seemed hesitant to speak, biting her lip for a long while without saying anything. Seeing that the snow was growing heavier, Shade urged her to hurry back. Only then did the young girl suddenly toss something through the carriage window before turning and quickly walking toward the auction house entrance.
The coachman flicked the reins, and the wheels crushed through the snow with a dull rustling sound. As the carriage entered the drifting snow, Shade picked up the thing that had been thrown inside.
It was certainly not a Steam Bomb with its safety removed, but a pebble Rune Stone. From the faintly glowing branch-like rune on its smooth surface, Shade recognized it as the Disguise Rune Stone Tifa had once used beside Schluch Lake.
All one needed to do was recite the incantation to activate the Rune Stone and disguise oneself. Miss Pawo, the six-ring vice president of The Truth Society, had been led by this Rune Stone to firmly believe, even now, that the female companion suspected of being the "God Summoner" was an ugly woman, while the "God Summoner's" pet was a