Time flew by, and soon more than ten days had passed. As the pages of the calendar on the wall were torn off one by one, the year officially came to an end. In just one more day, the new year would arrive.
December 31st, snow flurries drifted down from the sky in Tivian, and a thin layer of white had already begun to accumulate on the rooftops. Although the city's temperature had dropped to a new low, the streets were even livelier at this time.
East Tivian, in the Boyle family mansion, Naifnis, who had returned home for the holidays, was in her study. She was sitting at her desk wearing a sweater and trousers, with a basin of burning charcoal fire beside her. On the desk was an old book.
Naifnis looked intently at the content of the book. This book was not too thick, and she had already reached the last page. After a while, she turned the last page of the book, finally finishing it completely.
"Phew... I've finally finished this one too."
Letting out a long sigh, Naifnis closed the old book on her desk. Then she leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and focused her expression, concentrating on praying. After a moment, she reopened her eyes, and the color in them was clearer.
"Thank you Aka... thank you for the blessing..."
Covering her chest, Naifnis murmured sincerely. With Aka's help, she had now purified the Spirit Sight in her mind and accumulated the corresponding Spirituality. Afterwards, Naifnis picked up the secret transmission she had finished reading and looked at its cover again. The title written on the cover was "Wolf Sacrifice Rite."
'"Wolf Sacrifice Rite" is a secret transmission that describes in detail the characteristics and even the promotion methods of Treading the Path of the Beast in the "Cup" domain. I feel like I accumulated a lot of "Cup" after finishing this one. Adding the "Cup" accumulated from "the queen insect's queue" and ""Lamb Song"" given by Miss Dorothy before, I feel that the Spirituality required for promotion is already completely sufficient.'
Looking at the secret transmission in her hand, Naifnis thought to herself. Yes, after more than a month of diligent study, Naifnis had now met the Spirituality requirements for promotion to Black Rank and was only one ritual away from being promoted to Black Rank.
Ever since Naifnis experienced the mummy undead curse incident, she had become exceptionally diligent in studying secret transmission knowledge. In response to her diligence, Dorothy continuously provided Naifnis with the secret transmission containing the Spirituality she needed.
First, Dorothy copied a copy of the Spirit Sacrifice method secret transmission obtained from the New World for her. Then, she obtained her Grandpa's notes from her family's butler, Nu Nuo Te. She spent more than half a month concentrating on studying them. By the time Dorothy went to her for help with the transaction with the Netherworld Coffin Society, she had almost finished reading Davis's notes and the Spirit Sacrifice method, and had extracted quite a bit of ""Silent"" from them.
After that, Dorothy gave Naifnis the two books and one painting, three secret transmissions containing ""Silent"", which she had traded from the Netherworld Coffin Society, along with "Wolf Sacrifice Rite," which had an extremely high "Cup" content. Naifnis spent another half a month studying these, and finally finished reading all of them. After more than a month of diligent study, Naifnis finally converted the secret transmission resources in Dorothy's hands into Spirituality. Now, Naifnis's Spirituality, both ""Silent"" and "Cup," had met the requirements for promotion to Black Rank on the Spirit Bearing Path, and she only needed to perform the ritual.
Sitting in her seat, Naifnis began to recall the promotion ritual for the Spirit Bearing Path from her Grandpa's notes. As an extraordinary path where one controls the spirit with one's body, the Spirit Bearing Path requires one to actively allow a spirit that is unbound, has high intelligence, and is relatively strong, to possess them, and then tame the spirit. This can be done either by directly suppressing the spirit with one's own will or by communicating with the spirit and making it act according to one's pace.
'Taming the spirit with one's body... This is the promotion method for the Spirit Bearing Path. However, the haunted places in this Tivian have basically been cleared by the An Yin Bureau and the Church that Miss Dorothy mentioned. Where can I find a suitable spirit?'
Frowning slightly, Naifnis thought to herself. At the same time, she shifted her gaze to the other side of the desk, where Davis's notes were placed, a part of his notes.
'I wonder if Grandpa knows where in Prit I can find a suitable spirit for promotion... If he knows, he should have recorded it in his other notes, but unfortunately... there is only this one note now, and the others are still with Grandpa Nu Nuo Te. He is still not at ease giving me all the notes at once...'
Looking at the notes on the desk, Naifnis thought to herself. Davis had decades of experience in adventure and tomb raiding, so he naturally left more than just this one note. After Davis's death, all his notes were kept by his most loyal servant, who is now the Boyle family's butler, Nu Nuo Te.
Although Nu Nuo Te agreed to give Naifnis the notes after the mummy incident to help her formally embark on the extraordinary path, he was worried about Naifnis's problem with digesting the Spirit Sight and did not give them all at once. Instead, he gave them slowly, one by one, allowing Naifnis to read them gradually.
Although Naifnis often hinted to Nu Nuo Te that she had a very efficient method for protecting against Spirit Sight and that giving her all the notes at once would not be a problem, Nu Nuo Te did not believe Naifnis's words. For safety reasons, he still kept the remaining notes, so Naifnis had no way to find a spirit through the notes even if she wanted to now.
'Forget it... I've just accumulated enough Spirituality, I'll worry about the promotion later. There are other things to do now...'
Thinking this, Naifnis put away all the secret transmissions on the desk, then carried the fire basin and opened the door to leave the study. Then she went down the stairs from the third floor to the first-floor entrance hall.
After placing the fire basin by the fireplace in the entrance hall, Naifnis quickly walked to the door, put on her thick cotton coat for going out, and prepared to leave. At this moment, a voice came from behind her.
"Miss, are you going out?"
Hearing this voice, Naifnis turned around and saw Nu Nuo Te, dressed in a butler's uniform, on the second-floor railing.
"Yes, I am. A friend from out of town is arriving in Tivian soon, and I'm going to pick him up now."
"A friend arriving at this time... I see. So, will Miss be back for dinner tonight?" Listening to Naifnis's words, Nu Nuo Te continued to ask, and Naifnis answered uncertainly.
"Hmm... I don't know for now. Mom took Dad back to the old family estate to recuperate for the New Year and they're not here, so I might not come back either. I might find a place to watch the New Year's Eve party or something."
Pointing her chin with her index finger, Naifnis said to Nu Nuo Te, who finally nodded and spoke.
"Alright then, be careful on your way, Miss."
After saying goodbye to Nu Nuo Te and putting on her coat, Naifnis walked out of the house. In the cold wind, she tightened her clothes, then went to the roadside and hailed a carriage. After getting in, she spoke directly to the coachman.
"Please go to the Swallow Road intersection at North Bay Port."
Following Naifnis's words, the coachman drove forward, heading all the way towards the east sea. Sitting in the carriage, Naifnis looked out the window, watching the streets with rich New Year decorations and the bustling pedestrians on them.
'Arriving here just in time for the New Year, that member from the New World really knows how to pick a time...'
While looking out the window, Naifnis thought to herself. As the scenery outside quickly passed by, the carriage she was in soon reached its destination, an intersection in front of a harbor in East Tivian.
Amidst the buzzing of distant ship whistles, Naifnis paid the fare and got out of the carriage. Then, stimulated by the colder sea breeze in winter, she tightened her clothes. After exhaling two puffs of white steam, she looked around and saw countless carriages pulling goods constantly coming and going on the road, many of which were filled with fish barrels. A faint salty smell of the sea permeated the air.
Seabirds flew and called out in the sky, and even as the New Year approached, the crowds on the ground were still busy. Naifnis, who had just gotten off the carriage, looked around at the intersection as if searching for something, and a moment later, she found her target.
At an intersection near the port, under a certain street lamp, Naifnis saw a figure that seemed somewhat different.
It was a young man, dressed in an ordinary cotton velvet suit and trousers, wearing a low top hat, and carrying a suitcase. His exposed skin had a somewhat unusual yellowish-brown color.
At this moment, the young man was standing under the street lamp looking around, his expression showing obvious curiosity and nervousness. After seeing this scene, Naifnis immediately walked over, and without the man noticing much, she walked behind him and whispered softly.
"Excuse me, are you... Mr. Kapak?"
Hearing the voice from behind, the young man was startled, then turned around to look behind him. Upon seeing Naifnis, he was slightly taken aback, his eyes wide as he murmured.
"I, I am Kapak, you... you are..."
"You can call me 'Thief'. I was sent by'Scholar' to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you here, friend from the New World."
Facing Kapak before her, Naifnis spoke with a smile.
...
In a teahouse on a street corner in the port area of East Tivian, in a corner booth with a brazier, Naifnis and Kapak sat opposite each other, observing one another.
"So... Miss Thief, you were sent by Mr. Scholar to meet me? You belong to the same organization as Mr. Scholar and Detective, an organization that believes in Aka?"
With a curious tone, Kapak asked Naifnis, while Naifnis put her finger to her mouth, feigning mystery.
"Shh... keep your voice down, Kapak. Our organization is a secret society on the Main Continent and cannot be known by ordinary people. It's best to be careful when discussing such matters in the future."
"Ah... is that how it is? I'm very sorry, Miss Thief, I'm from the tribe and just arrived here, so I'm not clear on many things. Please forgive me if I've done anything inappropriate." Listening to Naifnis's words, Kapak apologized. Seeing Kapak's appearance, Naifnis nodded, feeling a little smug. Kapak's attitude made her feel like an elder in the society.
"It's alright, just be more careful in the future. In fact, Kapak, your performance surprised me a bit. Scholar said you are a native of the New World. In our general impression here, natives should be more... well... wilder, more natural... But I didn't expect you to be completely unlike these impressions. Not only are your manners not very different from ours, but you speak prite language more standardly than many people."
Naifnis spoke like this, and Kapak continued to answer humbly.
"My prite language comes from Aka's blessing. I am a doctor in my tribe, and because I often have to go to your colonists' cities to buy medicine, I also frequently move around in your cities and even obtained legal status through some means. This is why I was able to travel to this city by ship so smoothly."
Kapak said this, and listening to Kapak's words, Naifnis's heart couldn't help but stir slightly.
'Aka's blessing? So Aka's blessing can not only eliminate Spirit Sight but also allow a person to quickly master a language... Damn, I really want this kind of blessing too...'
Naifnis thought with a bit of envy in her heart. At this moment, Kapak began to speak with a serious expression.
"Miss Thief, since you were sent by Mr. Scholar to meet me, you should also know the purpose of my trip here. Time waits for no one. Sado and the others might act at any time. We need to act as quickly as possible to stop him. Let's set off after finishing this cup of hot tea to warm up."
With a hint of urgency, Kapak said this to Naifnis, who unexpectedly spoke after hearing his words.
"Hmm... I know you're here to find someone, but you've just arrived in Tivian. There's no need to be so rushed. You can completely rest for a day before starting to look for someone."
Naifnis said this to Kapak. In her opinion, it takes about ten days to travel from the New World to Prit by ship, so one could completely rest upon reaching the destination. However, Kapak didn't think so.
"Now is not the time to rest, Miss Thief. When I heard that today is your New Year, I felt something was wrong. Sado is specifically here to cause destruction and make your people feel pain. For him, New Year's is definitely the best time to strike, as wantonly and cruelly destroying a beautiful moment will surely cause a great deal of pain.
"Therefore, Sado should now be lurking somewhere in this city, preparing to strike and launch an attack.
"Sado might act today. What we need to do now is act immediately to find him and stop him."
Kapak said this to Naifnis with a serious expression. Listening to Kapak's words, Naifnis couldn't help but scratch her head.
'Act immediately?...This is a bit tight on time... It looks like I might not be able to properly celebrate the New Year this year...'
Naifnis thought this, already foreseeing that she might have a busy New Year.
...
South Tivian, Bishop Square.
In the evening, on the wide square, a huge wooden stage was being erected. The main structure of this wooden stage was already completed, and many workers were busy laying various decorations on it, making the final preparations for the evening party.
Although it was not yet time for the New Year's party to begin, a considerable number of citizens had already gathered in Bishop Square at this moment. They looked expectantly at the stage that was about to be completed, anticipating the performance tonight.
And because very important figures would be attending the upcoming party, guards serving the Royal Family had already begun to occupy vantage points on the rooftops around the square to set up defenses. Even before the party began, they were already monitoring the entire square area in the cold wind, watching for any suspicious signs.
And at the edge of the square, in an inconspicuous corner, a large tent was set up. The tent had the mark of the Shining Light Church and the words "Emergency Medical Station" written on it.
Inside this tent, there were several neatly arranged beds. In front of a small Holy Mother altar next to the tent, Vanya, dressed in a nun's habit, was kneeling on the ground, praying devoutly to the altar. Just as the cold wind from outside the tent blew in, she couldn't help but let out a big sneeze.
"Achoo!"
Taking out a tissue, Sister Vanya wiped her nose and then murmured.
"I didn't expect... this New Year I'm not praying in the Church, but instead being transferred to this place for medical emergency..."
"This is the first time I've had a New Year without praying in the Church..."