Leaving the psychologist’s clinic, the outside already had the sun setting over it. The twilight in the foggy city made Shard feel a sense of surrealism as he walked along the streets.
Half a day ago he was an ordinary person, and now, he could light a piece of paper with just his thoughts.
“Actually, it’s not all that different.”
When he thought carefully, he realized that he had gained all of this without paying much, almost as if he was too fortunate.
“But, according to the doctor, aside from the mandatory credits earned from learning, one must also complete the academy’s practical tasks every school year and earn practical credits. Otherwise, even if one advances to the second ring, they would have to repeat the grade.”
Life seemed to be truly getting on track, making the foreigner, who was considering welfare grains just yesterday, feel a bit unreal. He could now update his plans further. With power, the detective work could continue.
Shard planned to complete the three-month tasks left by the former detective. Of course, the condition was at least to finish one formal commission to see if he suited it.
To save money, he walked home but celebrated by having dinner at a restaurant.
By the time he returned home, it was already seven in the evening. He experimented a little with the doctor’s notes, learning that the academy had formal courses for both odd and curse techniques. However, for spirit runes, each person had different explorations, which could create personal odd techniques. These could be exchanged or learned by oneself alone.
Given this, instead of researching odd techniques by himself, it would be better to wait for textbooks and learn some basic ones first. Yet, Shard couldn’t overcome his curiosity and spent the night exploring the spirit rune.
Mind influences matter, and the mind intervenes in reality. As a result, by bedtime, he could not move the power of [Time and Space] at all and could only make his fingertips shine with a faint silver light, which was the odd technique of the [Silver Moon] rune.
That light was very peaceful, staring at it made Shard feel at ease.
“Although it’s not very useful, at least it can save some gas. Speaking of which, do I need to pay the water, gas, and steam bills for this house too?”
With such troubled thoughts, he fell asleep in fatigue.
The night sky outside had a high-hanging crescent moon, with the brightest lunar phase of the silver moon already past, but the silver moon still shone on him.
Though both the doctor and writer lady thought the impacts brought by becoming a ring warlock were not easily ignored, requiring the detective to rest in bed for three days.
Shard woke up at six thirty the next morning, feeling no different from yesterday.
He lay in bed for a while, pondering the connection between the world and life, only to be dragged back to a lower and more realistic level by his financial difficulties.
Then he extended his fingers and saw the faint silver light at his fingertips. Staring at that light for a while, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. His bad mood due to the empty wallet improved instantly, not even thinking about the gas bill he had contemplated before sleeping.
He got up and washed up, promptly waiting by the door for the newspaper and milk after seven. Yesterday, he didn’t see the newspaper because he got up too early. In fact, he saw the [Tobeysk City Morning Report] and [Kingdom Early Report] on the doormat when he got home last night.
Starting next month, he’d have to pay for the newspaper himself.
After drinking two bottles of milk and placing the empty bottles in the milk box at the door before going out for breakfast, he decided he felt no abnormality, thinking it was the strong soul of the outsider making this possible.
So, he decided to try taking on the commissions left by the former detective today.
If the commission was not successful, he planned to pawn the detective’s inheritance to pay off the debt.
He decided not to further involve himself in Mr. Lawrence’s mistress investigation, waiting three days to ask the doctor and others about the pebble ring before planning further.
Among the remaining three commissions, searching for Miss White’s missing sister and looking for a doctor who could treat eye diseases seemed difficult, so today’s task was to find the lost orange cat for Miss Mia Sun Gold.
The former Detective Hamilton had actually found the cat but didn’t hand it over to leave a simple task for Shard. Therefore, Shard just needed to pick it up and return it to the client.
After having breakfast at a restaurant near St. Deran Square, he rolled up the newspaper and walked along Chared Avenue to the east. At the next intersection, he waited, looking at the morning crowd preparing for work in the Monday morning mist.
Then he turned left into the slightly narrow Purple Iris Lane, glancing at the wild grass unusually lush due to the arrival of summer, carefully avoiding the barefoot children running wildly in the alley. According to the detective’s notes, he stopped under a building with a sign reading [Good Man Peter’s Pet Shop].
His nose already caught the smell of animal waste fermentation, but just as he raised his hand to knock, the pet shop’s door opened on its own. A young-looking girl with long brown hair holding a red purse walked out.
Seeing Shard, she was slightly startled before politely nodding and bypassing him, walking east along Purple Iris Lane.
Shard’s gaze followed her, watching her merge into the crowd at the alley entrance.
“She…”
It wasn’t love at first sight, but the moment he saw her, Shard felt a strange sensation.
“It was as if the surrounding lights suddenly dimmed, and only a spotlight shone on her. She was the protagonist on the stage.”
“That’s someone from the Sun Church, young man. You best not get any unnecessary ideas.”
Only then did he notice the middle-aged man with a bulbous red nose in front of the pet shop door looking at the turning Shard.
The middle-aged man’s smell of fermenting animal waste mixed with food was even stronger. He wore blue overalls, a coat whose original color was indistinguishable, and muddy black boots.
“Is there something you need?”
The middle-aged man asked.
“Hello, I’m from Hamilton Detective Agency. I’m here to pick up… please wait.”
Shard retracted his wondrous feeling just now and looked at the note in the former detective’s notebook:
“An orange cat, about half a year old, with a pure white tail, orange fur on the left front leg, and other legs all pure white, named Mia.”
He described the characteristics of the orange cat but was surprised to see the man’s face suddenly change dramatically.
“Don’t tell me that cat is lost?”
Shard’s expression also changed dramatically, holding onto the door frame and asking in a low voice. The previous detective had paid for that cat to be boarded here, and the client, described as a [generous lady], offered two pounds and three shillings for finding the cat, even allowing reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred during the search.
Such a generous reward indicated the owner’s urgency. With such high remuneration, if it wasn’t the weekend when [Good Man Peter’s Pet Shop] was closed, Shard’s chosen first commission would surely not have been Mr. Lawrence’s mistress.
