This night nothing happened and everything was peaceful. At half past six on Thursday morning, he was woken up by Mia on time, and the golden-haired girl, wearing a nightgown, was still lying beside Shard. Her golden hair covered her petite ears and delicate side face, and her eyelashes trembled slightly when she opened her eyes. Dorothy Louisa also liked mornings like this.

Miss Sylvia, who was setting up the ritual in Dorothy’s room, had opened a portal early and arrived at the Green Lake Hotel from the basement. While Shard, Dorothy, and Miss Sylvia were having breakfast together, they heard that Sister Delphine had already arrived locally:

"The nun brought over a dozen blind nuns from the Spiritual Practice Order, and they have already met with the Church. The church is planning, if the divination by the Prophet’s Society doesn’t go well, to rely on the strong inspiration of these blind nuns to find a way to enter another island, which counts as the second plan."

Granny Cassandra’s party is approximately expected to arrive tomorrow or the day after. As for Miss Aphrola, who is coming quietly in a private capacity, she is likely to arrive in the City of Glass by the weekend.

However, Shard doesn’t specifically need to look for Sister Delphine; the nun should come to find him. The most important thing for Shard today is still to meet the Old God believers.

The agreed time with Miss Danester is nine in the morning, so Shard is not in a hurry to go out. After breakfast, he went to see Dr. Schneider and Priest Augustus separately.

The doctor these days is busy making that alchemical item for Shard, so most of the time he is either in his room or using the basement for busy alchemical experiments. When Shard entered the doctor’s room this morning, the unfinished coin was being calcined in a small furnace on the living room coffee table, where a blue giant spirit floated above, with arms crossed, monitoring the temperature of the calcination.

The portable small furnace, which looked like an ordinary gas stove, had a flame related to the power of the flame demon, but even so, the coin only changed color without melting.

"The production is going smoothly."

The doctor invited Shard to sit down:

"There’s only one final problem left: what size do you want the coin to be, and what do you want on the obverse and reverse? Should it be made according to existing currency, or do you have another plan for me?"

As the decision involves gambling on heads and tails, this question is indeed important:

"There’s no requirement on the size, just whatever is convenient. As for the design... one side with the moon symbol, the other with the sun symbol. If it feels that having only symbols makes it look too simple, doctor, you can randomly pick some runes related to the sun and moon to embellish it."

"That’s simple, since the design has no special requirements, the coin should be done by tonight, you remember to pick it up."

That is rather quick; Shard will meet the Old God believers in the morning, get the coin in the evening, and won’t even have to wait until Friday to use the key immediately.

[Are you really that eager?]

Dr. Schneider probably still has to be busy all day today, but that’s a good thing. It’s still raining outside, so it’s not really a good time to go out. Moreover, with the doctor’s luck, it’s hard to say what events will occur if he goes out, but during the time he stayed at the hotel without going out, nothing happened except for Dorothy’s accident.

Priest Augustus, on the other hand, has insisted on going out these past few days, but Shard found him before the old cleric left today. The priest seemed to be in a good mood, and occasionally leaving Tobesk for a spin around other places indeed helps with mindset adjustment.

"I went to see that Mr. Nicholas Green, and he does indeed like roasted chicken very much."

In the priest’s room on the third floor, he said with a smile:

"Although Elder Green doesn’t know much, what he knows is very valuable. Some of the materials and books left by the diviner you mentioned, which relate to the Ancient God - Ancient Reaper. I can guess where he got that relic from."

This also means that at least the angel skeleton was not originally from the island.

"Is it possible to get hold of the bones? If not, when the church and we storm the island, you’ll see the bones sooner or later."

But the priest shook his head while wiping his pipe:

"It’s not that troublesome, and getting the bones back in advance can also ease your final action. I need something closely associated with that relic, using them to resonate with the bones’ location. Plus, with the other remains I have, it’s enough for it to appear before me voluntarily."

In other words, the bones can be obtained without setting foot on the island.

Shard thought for a moment:

"Are you referring to the liches that the Green brothers have become?"

"Yes, the special ghoul that Nicholas Green transformed into, although it possesses the power of that skeleton, it is not much."

The Cleric nodded:

"Didn’t you say that those three brothers are currently looking for descendants of Green Lake Town?"

"Indeed, the Church has confronted them during this period. Those three ghoul liches, when I first saw them, could only join forces to initiate the Maze Lock, and now they’re growing increasingly formidable. You know, Miss Iluna Beath from the Sun Church is my friend; she informed me not long ago that now even combined, ordinary Eleven-Ring Sorcerers find it hard to handle them. Moreover, they are very adept at escaping and are undead."

Shard explained, and apart from the Church, the witch followers also encountered these three ghoul liches while executing the witch’s task list. They rated these undead highly, and if Shard confronts them again, it might be his turn to consider how to flee. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"The most troublesome issue actually is that most powers with special damage effects on undead are ineffective against those three brothers. Cleric, when I encountered them, even the power you imbued with the badge couldn’t harm them."

"That’s why I came."

Priest Augustus pointed to himself:

"Since I’m here, you needn’t trouble yourself with this matter. No need to set traps to lure those three brothers; I’ll find a way to perceive their location. However, I need a transit pass for traveling between Green Lake City and Mikaela Ironworks City, then wait for my good news."

"No problem, you take my transit pass; this can be used at the crossroads military camp. If you encounter difficulties, look for Captain Lades, he’s my friend."

Shard handed the pass to the Cleric; he could write to Captain Lades later to request another. Although someone as prominent as Miss Galina could directly issue him an indefinite transit document, it would create too much commotion on one hand, and on the other, Captain Lades is the immediate authority—sometimes an immediate authority can be more useful than a Duke’s order.

He left the matter of the Angel Remains to the Cleric while the search for Maria Edwards’ soul was handled by the Witch Council, which allowed Shard to handle other affairs with peace of mind.

Bidding farewell to the Cleric, he set off to meet Miss Danester, arriving ten minutes early, not expecting that the Old God’s followers were delivered by the Prophet’s Society half an hour ahead of time.

Miss Danester did not partake in the conversation but let Shard meet them himself. Similarly, Shard wouldn’t inquire about what the Academy thought about the Fate’s Pedestal—it was a tacit understanding among them.

Entering the study, waiting on the sofa, were two Carson Rick-looking men. The slightly older one seemed at least ten years older than Dr. Schneider, only appearing slightly younger because his hair hadn’t started greying yet. The younger one wore glasses, looking about thirty years old.

Their common characteristic was both having golden rings on their fingers. These were not relics like the "Witch’s Golden Ring," but ordinary jewelry, supposedly a necessary medium for performing Divine Arts.

"I won’t introduce myself; this time, through Saint Byrons, I’m here to inquire about certain matters concerning your Order."

After sitting down, he straightforwardly initiated the topic, causing the two men across to sit upright.

Before arriving, Prophet’s Society’s Circle Sorcerers had informed them someone contacted Saint Byrons, asking them to have these strangers discuss certain doctrinal issues. Therefore, they knew the person before them was absolutely extraordinary.

"I heard you’ve lost most of the Fifth Era’s records, and even most religious documents are gone. But I think you certainly retain some oral stories; I’m not intent on probing your core secrets, but..."

"Please don’t say that; Saint Byrons has already paid, so whatever you ask, we can answer."

The older man reminded them, and Shard, realizing, swiftly altered his approach, reformulating his words as if conversing with Old John from the Tobesk Pawnshop:

"I understand. Then let me ask directly: During the Fifth Era, the Golden Order was one of the most influential religious organizations, and the Great One you worship is documented to have had the most god manifestations. So, in the Fifth Era, was there a universal method to face your deity? I’m investigating Fifth Era history regarding Old Gods walking the Material World, and there are many uncertainties."

He even made an explanation for his inquiry, and the two across promptly answered without much thought:

"Firstly, it must be clarified: Although our lord is recorded as the deity who stepped most into the Material World during the Fifth Era, there must be a cause for a deity’s appearance; it does not occur merely because a mortal calls.

As for the universal method to summon our lord, mortals must possess noteworthy items for trade or the trade itself must be valuable. Our lord enjoys interesting transactions and treasures of immeasurable worth. The treasures referred to here are not powerful weapons, strange relics, or vast golden and silver treasures—these mundane objects are not of interest to the gods.

Our lord cares for other things—be it great symphonies composed in a flash of inspiration, sincere love that moves all, or the fearless hero souls willing to sacrifice. These are the priceless treasures."