The silver light trace on the surface of the longsword on his shoulder flickered. In his ear, "she" was explaining Shard’s understanding of "loyalty." The problem Shard had struggled with for over half a month was solved last week, due to Mrs. Miles’ simple love story from the Fifth Era and his own reflections. At this moment, he could confidently speak these words, unexpectedly even triggering a reaction from the element.

However, he did not receive a response from Lecia for a long time. Raising his head, the golden-haired girl, with red eyes, looked at the knight kneeling on one knee in front of her. When Shard looked at her, Lecia covered her mouth, trying not to make sobbing sounds:

"You know, Dorothy is complaining about me now, complaining that I didn’t let her listen to what you just said."

"Are you still doubting me now?"

"I would never doubt you."

With a clang, [Night Watchman] was casually thrown aside by her. Then, she pulled up Shard’s hand to let him stand up, but did not kiss him:

"How foolish of me to doubt such a thing."

"According to my calculations, your time is approaching, so this is very... oh, don’t slap me. I mean, if you have worries, express them. The matter of Green Lake is about to conclude soon. It’s better to clarify any troubles now than to encounter mistakes later. Remember, Lecia, please listen to me, trust me."

"Yes, my knight... didn’t you say you wouldn’t leave this afternoon? Very well."

She wiped her red eyes and, holding Shard’s hand, led him to the bedroom. Only the cat standing on the windowsill was left, not understanding what had just happened.

"Meow~"

At the same time, it hoped that tonight’s dinner time would not be delayed.

On a rainy Wednesday afternoon, only the little cat knew what happened in the third-floor room of Green Lake Hotel. This rain would not stop people from continuing their respective activities; in the cities on both shores of Green Lake, the actions of the church and other Circle Sorcerer Organizations continued.

That evening, after a temporary goodbye to Dorothy, who would sleep after dinner, Shard received a letter delivered that afternoon from Mr. Soren Green, and at eight o’clock in the evening, he met Miss Danester again at Juen Estate, just two streets from Green Lake Hotel, where the church had arranged accommodation for professors from Saint Byrons.

It was still raining in the city, and when Shard entered the study, Miss Danester was reading a book with a red cover. But that didn’t seem to be a book of the Circle Sorcerers, nor a Saint Byrons textbook, but a simple knight novel.

"Good evening, Miss Danester."

"Good evening, Shard. The Prophet’s Society has news. Tomorrow morning at nine, the believers of Old God - Golden Sovereign will appear in this room. Be sure to come by and ask about the things you want to know."

Shard immediately showed a smile. Tomorrow was Thursday, the last time the Time Key could be used. The coin production on the doctor’s side was in its final stage, presumably soon to be completed, and Miss Danester had also connected him with the believers of the Old God.

Hence, he could verify his conjectures and quickly complete the mission with that key. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

[This time, not leaving the key for the final showdown to buy buffer time for yourself?]

"She" suddenly asked in Shard’s ear.

"No need, since the time for the Green Lake showdown has yet to be determined."

[Are you really not just eager to gain information about the ’Silvermoon Library’ from the reward sooner?]

Shard blinked and chose not to answer the question as Miss Danester spoke again:

"Besides, there is another matter for which I invited you here, related to other Old God believers.

Given that this time the ’Chosen of Space’ involved ancient times and sealed Green Lake Central Island, maybe believers of Old Gods related to ’Space’ might know something about it. Have to admit, the Church of the Five Gods, in controlling human civilization, has some means. They’ve really found believers of the Old God - [Twin Gods] and the Old God - [Blazar Gate]."

"Oh?"

Two familiar Old God titles surprised Shard. [Twin Gods] are closely related to the Red Butterfly Maidens. In the Destiny Track of Grace and Helen, aside from Shard and the Vampire God, [Twin Gods] have the most significant influence.

As for the Old God [Blazar Gate], Shard had even seen this deity in "Forest of Thousand Trees" with Miss Feliana and Miss Orland. He vividly remembers mistaking this deity for a peer colleague with his teacher and the Yellow Moon Witch.

Moreover, the Old God [Blazar Gate] is extremely special. Not only possessing the power of time, alerting Shard that Sixth Era isn’t really the Sixth Era, but also possessing spatial power, which led Miss Feliana and Miss Orland to seek help from this deity to establish methods for the Academy’s protection.

Shard’s [Kiss of the Tree] is derived from the story of the deity, and the sealing characteristic of [Kiss of the Tree] is related not only to Shard’s courage but also to the spatial power demonstrated by the deity.

Suddenly, Shard thought of many things, and Miss Danester had not finished her words:

"I remember, last year you asked me to help investigate the information about the Old God - Blazar Gate. (Chapter 292)"

"Oh, yes."

"Actually, during my investigation back then, I unexpectedly discovered that this Old God might be related to the establishment of the Academy. However, unlike the clearly documented help of the followers of the Guardian of the Library - the Old God [Gray Robed Sage], there are many unclear aspects about the relationship between the Old God - [Blazar Gate] and Saint Byrons. Although I don’t know what you were looking into the story of this deity for last year, I assume you have some understanding of this deity. After seeing the believer of the God of Wealth tomorrow, accompany me to meet the followers of the other two Old Gods."

"Of course, no problem."

Shard nodded immediately, and Miss Danester was very pleased with his response:

"I’ve heard from other professors in the Academy that having your own apprentices is a wonderful thing. Research, investigation, writing reports, apprentices can help with all of these, saving a lot of time. In my opinion, you are much more useful than their apprentices."

She gave Shard a small compliment and then asked:

"Speaking of which, how is your learning progress lately? I know you have been submitting course reports recently in preparation for the summer exam week. Have you learned any new Arcane Techniques? Or how is the progress of Spirit Runes?"

Shard revealed his Ring of Fate:

"There’s only one Enlightenment left for the Six Rings, but it’s not a big problem, Miss Dorothy Louisa from our group is helping me, she’s an expert in Enlightenment Spirit Runes. My goal is Spirit Runes related to the ancient fairy tale ’Lovers of the Bell Tower’, like ’Clock’ and ’Love’."

Miss Danester thought for a moment:

"’Clock’ fits well with your Core Spirit Rune [Space-Time], and when you ascend to High Ring levels, you can consider Arcane Techniques like ’Time Pause’. As for ’Love’... it has some connection with the Red Moon, and if you truly acquire ’Love’, I can prepare a few elective classes for you. Very nice, your selection of Spirit Runes is excellent, and your progress is truly fast. I think you might ascend to Seven Rings before summer. You joined Saint Byrons last year in the summer, Seven Rings in a year..."

She remarked with great sentiment:

"I haven’t taken on any students for many years, and many have doubted whether I have the ability to teach students. Not in terms of classroom teaching, but teaching as a true heir. Having you now greatly demonstrates my strength... though much of it is your self-study, at least my judgment in choosing people was not wrong."

She made the teacup on the coffee table fly to her:

"By the way, I remember your relationship with the Draleon Royal Family is quite good?"

Shard blinked:

"Yes, Duke Galina Cavendish is my... good friend... well, you’ve probably heard the rumors, the rumors are true, she’s my, ahem, I mean, I am her lover."

The female sorcerer looked at him skeptically; his words seemed to reveal a lot of information:

"The Duchess is currently hosting a negotiation meeting in this city. I don’t know if you’ve let her know you are here, but nobles of her rank should be quite knowledgeable about matters involving Circle Sorcerers. I’ve heard whispers from the Church; they hope to immediately pause negotiations and have unrelated people leave the Green Lake region, to conveniently deal with Green Lake and the Edwards Family."

"I’ve heard similar rumors, do you want to remind me of something?"

"At the current situation, anyone can see that negotiations can’t just be stopped at will. If truly forcing both countries to withdraw their delegation, then around this time next year, the whole Old Continent might be engaged in full-scale war. The Church still hopes for a peaceful and stable state, so it is negotiating with the two countries to achieve a pause in negotiations through some unexpected event."

Shard had not heard of this matter:

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It’s not clear yet, but should soon happen, given the Green Lake issue is nearing its end. I just wanted to remind you, not to appear near the Duchess, and no matter what happens to her, don’t get involved, it’s likely part of the Church’s orchestrated plan."

Shard nodded knowingly, of course, he does not need to worry about Miss Galina’s safety. In the entire Material World, there are very few who could be a match for the Twelfth Rank Grand Witch.

Though he wanted to go home and sleep, for Dorothy’s safety, Shard stayed the night at the Green Lake Hotel with Mia, resting with Miss Writer. Shard constantly had "her" keep an eye on every girl’s "that" time, and this time it turned out predictable, so this night they simply slept embracing, while Dorothy was quite troubled, obviously Saturday’s Red Butterfly Day had to be postponed again.