novelonline Chapter 4196 Intelligence and Debt
Chapter 4196 Intelligence and Debt
Chapter 4196 Intelligence and Debt
Adelina didn't need to buy anything here, while Miss McDonald purchased a batch of metal parts stored under special conditions, intending to make preliminary preparations for her next experiment.
While Miss McDonald went shopping, Shad took Adelina to the black market to gather information. Essentially, they checked if anyone had accepted his coin-buying commission and bought some dubious, cheap intelligence.
"The local vampires have gone missing. Oh, finally someone has noticed. The local vampires were really keeping a low profile. The [Leather Goods Guild] has been successfully taken in by St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy. There are now many leather goods circulating in the local market that have not yet been collected by the church."
Xia De held the intelligence note he had exchanged for paper money and thought about it. He then concluded that organizations that possessed the AllSpark would probably want to acquire this batch of leather goods, since he had already verified that the "leather goods" contained life energy far exceeding that of normal people.
"The Old Continent Industrial Exposition, which opens later this month, is rumored to be fraught with extremely dangerous events. The intelligence from the local black market is indeed accurate. A peculiar mechanical infectious disease has emerged locally. The symptoms in ordinary people are currently unknown, and the church is controlling related information."
Xia De frowned as he looked at the last piece of information. The "mechanical plague" that had appeared so far was just mechanical activation, which had nothing to do with ordinary people getting sick.
"Is this the effect of some kind of relic going out of control?"
This is the most reasonable guess, and relics that can produce this effect are not rare; Shad himself can think of at least three.
“You see, although the guild hall has been taken in, there are still many other things happening locally.”
Shad then handed the notes to Adelina, who read them carefully:
"So, there are still leather goods in this area?"
"Of course, now that the guild has arrived, there must be quite a few leather items being distributed. Didn't quite a few people wear leather items at the club event that your teacher and I attended?"
Hearing Shad say that, Adelina moved even closer to Shad on the bench, feigning fear. So when Miss McDonald returned, she saw Adelina practically leaning against Shad.
The little princess was clearly more than just scared.
"I've finished my business, let's go."
Despite some mixed feelings, the tall girl pretended not to notice anything and spoke to Shad and Adelina. The three then prepared to return to Fragrant Mansion, but as they walked towards the black market exit—
Click~
The faint sound of gears turning reached Shad's ears. With his current hearing, he could easily hear the sound of a pocket watch in someone's pocket, and the click sound was not particularly noticeable.
But to Shad, the sound was unlike any gear turning he had ever heard before. Trusting his instincts, he looked in the direction of the sound and then at Miss McDonald's chest.
The tall girl asked hesitantly:
"What's wrong?"
Shade shook his head:
"It's alright. Can I give you a check-up when we get back?"
"Ok?"
Shad always trusted his instincts, and upon returning to Fragrant House, he took Miss MacDonald's hand in the study. They both sat on the sofa, while Adelina sat on a short sofa nearby, watching curiously.
Xia De held the girl's wrist for a moment, then shook his head:
"It seems like nothing's wrong. Do you have any particular feelings about it?"
The tall girl shook her head:
“I feel great. Last night, the teacher had all the followers who had entered the Leather Goods Club undergo physical examinations to prevent any problems from occurring. My examination results were normal.”
"Shad, have you noticed something?"
Adelina then asked, and Shad nodded:
"Just now at the black market, I heard a clicking sound coming from Miss McDonald's heart. It sounded like gears turning. Wait a moment."
He brought his right hand together in front of his eyes, then suddenly opened the gap between his index and middle fingers:
"Sharp Eye - Edwards' Eye, Echo of Blood, Spark of Life".
The tall girl felt a little embarrassed by Xia De staring at her chest, but although she blushed slightly, she didn't say anything.
Shad used three investigative spells in succession, but found nothing unusual:
"everything is normal."
To be on the safe side, it would have been most prudent for Xia De to directly touch the areas where there might be problems. However, since all the checks had been completed without any issues, he couldn't possibly ask to touch the girl's chest based solely on a sound that might have been a hallucination.
Of course, along the way, outsiders do not overlook any potential hidden dangers:
"For the next week, you need to pay close attention to your health. If any problems arise, please tell me or Weige immediately. Do not go out alone these days, and if you need to go out, make sure someone accompanies you."
Shad gave her further instructions, and Miss McDonald smiled and agreed, feeling very happy that Shad cared about her in this way.
At 4:30 PM, Viggo returned home. When she entered the study, she saw Agelina and Miss McDonald sitting at the desk discussing potion recipes, while Shad sat alone on the sofa reading a book. Viggo inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm back~"
She walked towards Shad with her arms outstretched, and was only satisfied after Shad hugged her.
"What a peaceful day. This is the kind of life I remember Arcadia. I'm going to change my clothes. Shad, would you like to stay for dinner?"
"I'm going home for dinner, and after dinner I'm going to visit a few friends."
Xia De shook his head and said, "Wei Ge is not disappointed either."
“It’s still early, so there’s no need to rush off. Stay a little longer and talk to me. Oh, wasn’t it originally supposed to be tomorrow, Monday, when we could perform the Chaos Blessing for you? I discussed it with everyone, and we’ve decided to postpone the ceremony to Wednesday. That way, everyone will have time to go to the council.”
She went to change her clothes first, and when she came back, Xia De told her about his experiences visiting various places that afternoon.
Shad didn't rush to have the witches help him collect the materials to open the door. Since the core of the ritual, the "Seed of Life," couldn't be found, there was no point in collecting other materials. He planned to try to find this ancient item first.
As for the incantation for extracting the mother liquor that the fake man shared, Vigo thought it was very easy to learn after listening to Shad's explanation:
"All the materials are here. Let's go to the underground palace. You can help me perform the ceremony."
The learning of the spell went without a hitch, the whole process even smoother than Shad had anticipated. Having mastered the spell, it was natural to test its effects. While the spell wasn't solely effective on Shad's bodily fluids, it wouldn't matter if it worked on other fluids, so Viggo could only awkwardly move closer to Shad:
"Alright, I'm going to begin~"
In the study on the second floor of Fragrant Mansion, Agelina, Miss McDonald, and Miss Rowling saw Viggo, who was sitting on the sofa, lean closer to Shad and kiss him on the neck—the blood there is most effective.
She kissed him deeply, while Shad's expression grew increasingly strange. As Vigé's hands tightened on Shad's chest and shoulders, Shad eventually lay on the sofa, Vigé kneeling there, continuing to suckle.
"Something seems off. Should we stop it?"
Adelina, increasingly sensing something was amiss, wanted to protect Shad, but Miss Rowling, remembering how she had once interrupted her master's good time, immediately shook her head.
"This seems normal."
Is this normal?
The tall girl, seeing her teacher's rather uncouth behavior, also felt the scene was quite strange.
"Why don't we make some strange noises to wake them up?"
The housekeeper was naturally unwilling to do this, but feeling it was her responsibility to protect Shad's red-haired princess in the absence of Iluna and Emilia, she put her fist to her mouth and then coughed loudly:
"Cough cough~"
No one paid her any attention. Wei Ge lay on Xia De's body and sucked his blood for a while before sitting up with a dazed look in her eyes.
"Cough cough~"
She coughed softly, not because she was still weak, but because she choked on the last sip.
The three young women at the door hurriedly entered the study, and Xia De, clutching his neck, sat up as well.
"Wei Ge, something was off about you just now. Did you lose control?"
Wei Ge's voice had an ethereal quality, and her eyes remained unfocused.
"This spell is really strange. Your blood already tasted good, but it tastes even better after being affected by the spell. I have never tasted anything so delicious. My soul and body crave this flavor."
It wasn't until she took the teacup Miss Rowling offered for rinsing her mouth and took a sip that she finally realized what she had done:
"Oh!"
She glanced at Xia De, her eyes finally returning to normal, but her cheeks flushed instantly:
"I'm so sorry, I really am."
She wanted to check the wound on Shad's neck, but it had already healed. It was just a bite mark, not a particularly serious injury for Shad.
Wei Ge felt extremely self-loathing at this moment, and she covered her face with her hands:
"What have I done?"
"But at least the spell is effective, and I feel that you are in quite good condition now."
Shad wiped his neck with the handkerchief Miss McDonald handed him:
"If we consider your normal state as 1, and your state after drinking the blood brew as 4, then after taking the potion given by Miss Feliananna, your normal state will be permanently increased to 2. Now that you have used magic to suck my blood, your state can be considered as 3."
"Isn't that still inferior to blood wine?"
Adelina asked in a low voice, and Shad replied:
"The mermaid who gave this method made it very clear that this treatment is not a cure. Its biggest advantage is that it extends Vige's lifespan. Vige, you should feel for yourself what cycle you need to use the spell to make this state normal."
She looked at Xia De with guilt, her biting lip making her even more heartbreaking than before:
No, I don't want to.
"We finally defeated the [Leatherware Guild] and obtained a reward from the Unknown-level relic. Vige, you can't let everyone's hard work go to waste."
The black-haired witch could only whisper:
"I've been doing this five times a week for the past month. Once my condition stabilizes completely, I'll reduce it to once or twice a week. I'll control myself better and won't get so agitated anymore. I owe you so much more and more."