"The theoretical knowledge you've acquired is sufficient. By integrating these two books with practical experience, you can be considered a beginner. Today's task is to officially start going through these two books. You can also take them home to read. I've covered everything I can orally in these books, so come to me with questions after you've finished reading," the elder explained methodically.
Galon nodded and began to carefully read from the beginning.
Time passed quickly, and over two hours later, Galon let out a long sigh, noted the page he'd reached, and gently closed the book.
"Today is the Carnival Festival, and I need to join my family for the celebration. It's almost 3 pm now; I have to go," Galon mentioned.
"Take the books and hurry on then. I have to meet some old friends soon, so don't hold me up," the elder glanced at the book and waved his hand impatiently, as if eager for Galon to leave.
Galon smiled, picked up the two books, and said, "Then, I'll be going now. See you tomorrow."
"Mhm, get going! Watching you dawdle is irritating!" the elder didn't look up, "Remember to write down any questions you have for tomorrow."
"Got it."
Galon stepped out of the shop, took one last look at the elder with a smile, and thought to himself, "Pretending to meet friends when you're all alone during the festival. If you had friends, they would have visited you by now. Such a stubborn old man."
Walking down the street, Galon observed the remnants of the festival – scattered flower petals, paper flowers, pigeon feathers, and squashed pastries.
Before Galon could go far, he saw Goryth standing by a white car at the entrance to Pennington Street, her expression stern, as if waiting for him. Galon quickened his pace.
"What's the matter?"
"Tarry Mercury has come. He's asked my company to appraise something!" Goryth whispered, "Let's talk in the car."
Galon frowned at the mention of Tarry Mercury seeking Goryth's assistance. They both got into the car, closed the door, and rolled up the windows, muffling the outside carnival noises.
Goryth then pulled out a photograph and handed it to Galon.
"Tarry Mercury unexpectedly visited this morning, bringing this for appraisal."
Galon took the photograph and was startled to see the copper cross medal he had left at Silver Veil Castle.
"It's this..." He closely examined the medal in the photo, a close-up black and white image that was very clear.
"Hasn't Tarry Mercury already thoroughly investigated Silver Veil Castle? Does he not know the origin of this medal?" he asked softly.
"Of course he does. But what the great detective wants to investigate is not the documented origins of such items," Goryth looked seriously, "but the history of this medal before it ended up at Silver Veil Castle!"
"Before?!" Galon was shocked, recalling the bizarre events he had encountered at the castle, how he had almost broken both arms, and the humiliating escape.
"It seems... they've encountered the same troubles as I did..." He looked out the window at the passing parade, a group of children in knight's armor waving balloons and feathers.
Galon closed his eyes and then opened them again, a new seriousness and resolve evident in his gaze.
"Where is the great detective now?"
"At our company."
"Let's go see him," Galon said firmly. He murmured to himself, "Perhaps with the help of this detective, I can clarify what happened at Silver Veil Castle last time..."
He had a feeling that Silver Veil Castle might just be the beginning of everything.
"Alright." Goryth started the car and slowly drove through the crowd.
In a small room of a street-facing building.
"Ha-ha-ha... Mr. Tarry Mercury, long time no see," Galon laughed heartily, giving Tarry Mercury a big hug.
"Indeed, it has been a while," Tarry Mercury smiled happily, "Mr. Kelly, I hope that Golden Ring fellow didn't trouble you afterward. I had people looking for you everywhere, to no avail. It's a wonder we meet here again. Fate is indeed curious."
The detective was still holding his pipe, dressed in a black trench coat.
By his side stood a beautiful woman in a white dress and a feathered round hat, her hands clasped gracefully at her abdomen, exuding an air of dignified elegance.
"And this is?"
"This is my wife, Marian," Mercury introduced.
"Delighted to meet you, dear Mrs. Mercury," Galon smiled and nodded.
"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Kelly," Marian responded with a gentle and elegant smile.
They settled down on the couches.
After sitting, Galon carefully brought out a photograph, the one of the copper cross medal.
"Mr. Mercury, I happen to be a specialist appraiser for the Manleyton Company. This item you wanted appraised just passed through my hands. When I heard it was your item, I took it upon myself to come over personally. It's been a month or two since our last encounter; how time flies."
"Yes, I never expected Mr. Kelly to be involved with Manleyton Company's work," Tarry Mercury smiled and nodded, "But I wonder, Mr. Kelly, have you managed to determine the origins of this item?"
Galon frowned and fell silent, as if pondering something.
The others waited quietly for him to speak.
After a few minutes, Galon slowly said, "To be honest, this item might be a relic from a grand empire that existed over a thousand years ago on the current federation's territory."
"A thousand-year-old relic?!" both Mercuries exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, a thousand years ago, there was an ancient empire called Natama that existed in what is now the federation's land. There's very little information left about this empire. I only speculated based on the style of the medal that it belonged to that era, but I'm unable to provide any specifics," Galon sighed. This wasn't his own identification but that of another appraiser at the Manleyton Company, which he was now relaying as fact.
"I see..." both Mercuries seemed taken aback.
"However..." Galon hesitated, "There's something else I might mention, though I'm not sure if I should."
Tarry Mercury's eyes narrowed, urging, "Please, Mr. Kelly, feel free to speak. We share a bond of adversity; there's no need for reservations."
Encouraged by his earnest gaze, Galon decided to speak his mind.
"Then, whether you believe it or not, I'll share another piece of appraisal with you," he paused, "No, perhaps it's not so much an appraisal as a special feeling of mine." He glanced at them, "I believe this medal might be a cursed antique."
"A cursed antique?!" Tarry Mercury gasped, then quickly realized, "I should have known... I should have known..."
Marian looked worriedly at her husband as he reacted to Galon's revelation.
"Yes, a cursed antique," Galon confirmed, "I have an unusual affinity for such items. If it's a cursed antique, I'm confident in my ability to identify it.
It's just... I wonder if Mr. Mercury could let me see the medal in person. Before I could get to it, the other appraisers returned it to you, and I haven't had the chance to handle it myself."
"That won't be a problem," Tarry Mercury responded immediately, pulling out a small black box from his coat.
Galon opened the box to find the purple-red medal lying quietly on black velvet – the very medal he had left at Silver Veil Castle.
Carefully placing the box on the coffee table, Galon picked up the medal. As soon as he touched it, he was startled by the sensation.
The latent energy within the medal felt even more immense than before. A bone-chilling cold seeped from the medal into Galon's body. Holding the medal felt akin to clutching a block of ice. It now contained a tenth of the Black Disc's potential energy – at least double what it had been initially.
"Could it be?!" Galon's heart skipped a beat as he considered a possibility. Looking directly at Tarry Mercury, he asked gravely, "Mr. Mercury, please answer me one question. Before you acquired this medal, did someone suffer misfortune because of it?"
"How did you know?!" Tarry Mercury's eyes widened as he suddenly stood up, his breathing becoming rapid.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Marian quickly steadied her husband and forced him to sit down again, "Let's hear Mr. Kelly out first."
After taking a deep breath, Tarry Mercury apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kelly. That was rude of me."
"No problem. Call me Kelly. We're friends now, right?" Galon nodded.
"Alright then, Kelly. Can you tell me how you knew someone had suffered because of this?" Although Tarry Mercury sat down, his gaze remained intently on Galon's eyes, "It's very important to me!"
"Was it a friend or relative of yours who suffered?" Galon didn't wait for an answer and continued, "I'm sorry, but it's my talent. I can actually identify the status of cursed antiques. Perhaps it's due to my passion for them, but it's a hard-to-explain feeling."
"A feeling, huh? Well, your feeling is indeed very accurate. It must be because of your interest that you're such an expert on cursed antiques. Right now, I need your help," Tarry Mercury said earnestly, "Do you know how to remove the curse from such antiques? My friend White Hawk's son has suffered because of it!"
"Suffered? What happened?" Galon asked gravely.
He owed Tarry Mercury a favor because of the Black Disc, but considered the debt repaid after saving someone previously. Although he wasn't too fond of Mercury's daughter, he still held a positive attitude towards Mercury himself. After all, the Black Disc had brought him tremendous help, and he was constantly growing stronger because of it.