Today's luck was quite good. When the man and the cat arrived at the Prophet Association, Miss Annette was there, and they met in a private divination room on the second floor of the association.
This room didn't need to worry about eavesdropping. After all, divination usually involved privacy, so the soundproofing was excellent.
"Detective, I assume you came specifically to see me, and it's not simply 'to divine when a pet cat can return to its owner'."
Luvia Annett, even when at the association, wore her own clothes, with only an ouroboros symbol pinned to her chest to indicate her identity. As for the divination content about the cat, Xia De had simply thought of it on the way.
"Meow~"
Mia lay on Xia De's lap, her eyes wide as she looked at the unfamiliar room. Compared to outdoors, this cat preferred indoors.
"I came to find you the day before yesterday, but you weren't here. I ran into your President."
Xia De continued, and Miss Annette was very interested in this topic, wanting to know what Xia De had divined, but Xia De only briefly mentioned it, quickly moving on to what he really wanted to say:
"Can you introduce me to Miss Bei Ya Si a bit faster? If your side of things isn't completed soon, I'm practically going to become her best friend. I'm very worried now that the day she finds out about our objective, she'll get angry and just punch me."
"You ran into her again recently?"
"It wasn't me who ran into her; she ran into me. First, on Sunday night four days ago, I went to play rhode cards again."
Miss Annette looked at him suspiciously. Xia De skipped over the rhode cards process and recounted the Yin Corpse relic and the four questions.
"At that time, our relationship was already considered friendship. Then, on Tuesday two days ago, I came here to find you, and on the way home, I saw her again. She went to Saint Delan Square Six to escape the heat, and she gave me this when she left."
He took out the brooch that could be used for a one-time Sunlight Gun. Miss Annette held it in her hand, examining it, and couldn't help but exclaim in wonder:
"Although I've always known that The Chosen's powers are extremely strong, I didn't expect her to be able to create something like this even before fully acquiring all her powers."
"The problem isn't that right now. The problem is, Miss Annette, if things aren't progressing smoothly on your end, wouldn't it be better if I introduced you to Miss Bei Ya Si, and then revealed the matter of The Chosen?"
He suggested that this way, there would be no deception from Xia De's side, but rather Miss Annette concealing something from Miss Bei Ya Si.
She did hesitate for a moment at Xia De's suggestion, but still shook her head:
"Sorry, Xia De, it still needs to be my plan. I paid a price to perform a divination to find the best way to gain her trust, and the method the divination told me was for me to execute the plan."
"Alright then."
Xia De said helplessly, not insisting:
"I have a clue about the Silver-Eyed One's location. The source of the information cannot be disclosed, but it is absolutely reliable. He is hiding in an underground ruin that contains the sage-level relic, god's gift box. I'll mark the location of the ruin on the map for you later. The location was obtained by Doctor Schneider, and this involved an adventure on a rainy Monday night. If you're interested, I can tell you about it."
"You found it? Oh, Xia De, is your life always so rich and colorful?"
The female Diviner was a little surprised, then said:
"It was clearly me who came to you for cooperation, but now it has turned into you helping me. Xia De, I won't say too many words of thanks; there will always be a day when you can receive a gift from me."
Miss Annette had not been idle these past few days either. She was planning to perform a costly divination. Originally, she wanted to divine the Silver-Eyed One's location to further approach Miss Bei Ya Si. Although she had now directly obtained the answer, the divination still needed to be performed, and its content was the final condition for Miss Bei Ya Si to truly become The Chosen.
Becoming The Chosen requires three conditions: the understanding of Balance can only come from Miss Bei Ya Si herself; clues about items containing the power of an ancient god have already been obtained from Old John, and Miss Annette said she would inform Xia De as soon as she obtained them. Only the last condition, completing a specific ritual, remains unclear.
The purple-eyed female Diviner still hadn't told Xia De what price she needed to pay to perform such precise divination. But divination, which involves the great prophecy of witches, would likely require a significant price.
But according to her, the divination could probably be performed this weekend. Afterwards, she would introduce Xia De to Miss Bei Ya Si, and then let Miss Bei Ya Si become the true Chosen, completing all the content of the first section of whispering chapters.
The plan was good; it sounded like it could be completed this week. Xia De really hoped there would be no accidents, but everyone understood that the possibility of no accidents was almost nonexistent.
After discussing Miss Bei Ya Si's matter, Xia De grasped Mia's waist and lifted her with both hands. The lazy cat knew Xia De wouldn't harm her, so she didn't resist.
"Miss Annette, there's actually one more thing. I'd like you to help me divine about Mia. No, not to divine when she can return to Miss Mia Gold, I want to know if she is a normal cat."
"Meow?"
The cat squirmed in Xia De's hands, but it wasn't struggling, just enjoying the sensation.
"Why would you think that?"
Miss Annette put down her teacup and reached out, wanting to hold the small orange cat. But the cat's paw swatted her hand away. Miss Annette was a little surprised, looking at Xia De with an amused expression.
Xia De was a little worried:
"She's been acting smarter and smarter recently. This might be my illusion, but it doesn't rule out that there's really a problem. Can you divine it? A simple divination would be fine."
"Of course, no problem. Although I haven't divined for pets before, I think it's fine."
This time, Miss Annette used a more traditional card divination. Since the cat couldn't choose cards, she had Xia De hold the cat's paw to help choose. A total of three cards were chosen. After looking at them, Annette shook her head:
"No problem, your cat is indeed a cat. At least, that's what I think."
"Meow~"
Mia's paw broke free from Xia De's hand, and she let out a dissatisfied meow at him.
"That's good then."
Xia De sighed with relief, then asked again:
"So when can she return to her owner? Just give me any answer, after all, this is my reason for coming to the association to find you."
"Do you want her to leave you?"
The Diviner asked, holding her teacup, with a smile in her purple eyes. Xia De thought for a moment and decisively shook his head:
"If possible, of course, I want Mia to stay with me always. But this is someone else's cat after all..."
"Alright then, my answer is, she will be with you forever."
Miss Annette was truly understanding.
After leaving the Prophet Association, Xia De walked to Feather Pen Avenue. By the time he arrived at the apartment Miss Louisa rented, it was already eleven in the morning. Pedestrians on the street were in groups of two or three, seemingly students from the nearby university.
This reminded Xia De that the academic report mentioned in the newspaper he saw at Captain Rades's house last week seemed to be on Friday, which was tomorrow. Coincidentally, he had no plans for Friday, so he could consider attending as an auditor to understand the development of materialistic physics in the Steam Age, where real mysticism existed.
Since he hadn't sent a letter in advance to visit, Xia De was still a little worried that Miss Louisa wasn't home. But the landlady who opened the door, after seeing Xia De's face, immediately turned around and shouted upstairs, which indicated that the blonde girl was home.
Xia De was still received in the living room, but unlike Doctor Schneider who assumed something had happened again upon seeing Xia De, Miss Louisa, upon seeing the young Detective, thought he had come to ask for advice.
"Yes, I've come to ask for advice."
After getting the cat under control, Xia De took out the two leaves. Miss Louisa was the only one who knew his secret of time travel, which was why he specifically came to consult her.
He briefly explained the situation, without mentioning the witch or Sublimation Words, hoping Miss Louisa could offer some help on how to use the two leaves. He had originally just tried his luck, but Miss Louisa looked at the two leaves and immediately gave an answer:
"I know how to use this."
She sat lazily on the red single sofa, holding her teacup.
"Hm?"
"Xia De, have you never heard of the fairy tale 'Kiss of the Tree'?"
The blonde Writer asked.
"No."
He shook his head decisively. Although the character setting of "awakening from blind ignorance" didn't give him the original owner's past memories, it also gave him a reason for not being familiar with common knowledge.
"This is also a very famous fairy tale. I still remember when I was a child, my mother often held me at night and told me these stories under the gas lamp."
A smile appeared on Miss Louisa's lips, but she quickly emerged from her memories and began to tell Xia De that slightly melancholic story:
"The answer you seek is in this story. Please listen patiently:
This is a story of friendship between an ancient tree and a maiden from olden times. Princess Tavel, betrayed by her parents and lover, was exiled to the terrifying Black Forest, and finally, deep within the forest, she encountered a peculiar giant tree.
When she was hungry, the giant tree gave her fruit;
When she was thirsty, the giant tree gave her dew;
When she felt lonely, the wind played music among the treetops;
When she was tired, the treehouse hidden among the branches gave her safety and warmth.
So the maiden stayed with the tree for a long time, singing to it under the tree in her leisure, or leaning against it to tell her own stories. Days passed, and no one ever saw the Princess again. And one day, her cruel parents wanted to find her.
But people only found a mummified corpse hidden inside the hollow trunk of the giant tree deep in the forest. They were together forever."
Miss Louisa's voice was very pleasant, and she put her emotions into her storytelling. She was very satisfied with her performance. After a slight pause, giving Xia De time to savor it, she asked with some anticipation:
"How was the story?"
Xia De's first reaction was that this story certainly wasn't one he brought from his hometown. But he couldn't say that, so he could only say his second reaction:
"Um... wouldn't children be scared listening to stories like this?"
