Night Meeting

Alger had already said during the last Tarot Club gathering that he could find the Horn of a Flashing Black Snake, but Abner had not expected the man to be quite so efficient; it was only Thursday, and he had already successfully acquired it.

Abner received the message relayed by Mr. Fool before dinner, then held a Receiving Bestowal ritual and received the material.

Xio looked at the black sharp horn with faint, hidden electrical currents flashing across it, pursed her lips, and instead of refusing, put it away and asked, "How much did it cost?"

Abner knew Xio's temperament; he neither put on a magnanimous air nor seized the opportunity to raise the price, but simply answered honestly, "700 Gold Pounds."

Come to think of it, Abner did not hold another Sacrifice ritual to send the money over to Alger; instead, he deducted the bounty for Smiler Langman and a portion of the quote for the Wind-blessed formula. After all, the cost of holding rituals at present was not low, so he would save where he could.

"I'll scrape together the money and give it to you as soon as possible," Xio nodded and said earnestly.

"No need to rush..." Abner smiled, shook his head, and asked offhandedly, "How are you digesting your Sheriff potion?"

Xio thought for a moment and replied, "I should be able to finish digesting it in another four or five days."

"That fast?" Abner was somewhat surprised. He remembered that Xio had become a Sheriff while in East Chester County, which was at most a month ago...

The people around him seemed to digest potions quite quickly: Xio was like this, Jane was like this, and only Aitris and his teacher were relatively normal...

"After learning about the Acting Method, I actively maintained order