Luvia’s footsteps gradually faded, but Xia De, sitting in the room, didn't reach for his teacup. Instead, he lowered his head to observe Mia.
He hadn't forgotten that the night before last, this cat had absorbed some divine power on its own, without his spell removal, and reverted to its cat form. Luvia said there was nothing wrong with this cat, and Xia De also thought it was possible that he had unconsciously removed the Miracle from the cat while in a coma, but he was always cautious.
“Meow~”
Seeing Xia De remain still, the cat, lying down, looked up at him.
Xia De was certain that the cat he adopted was an ordinary cat, at least it had been in the past few days. What he was worried about now wasn't the cat removing its own spell, but rather that after absorbing a trace of divine power, this cat had become extraordinary.
Although there were no such examples in modern times, in ancient myths and legends, stories often appeared of mortals accepting the power of gods and thereby changing their own existence.
Even if those were just stories, they were not without reference. And aside from the spell removal reverting Mia to a cat, she had not shown any other special characteristics so far. Even when Xia De directly touched it, the woman in his mind could not perceive anything strange about this cat.
“If you are willing to talk to me, I’ll take you out for something good to eat this noon,” he suddenly whispered to the cat.
“Meow?”
The cat, which had already stood up, meowed in confusion, then rubbed its furry face with its right front paw, showing no intention of speaking human language.
So Xia De felt relieved. Although there were some doubts about it changing from a ragdoll to a cat, overall, it was still an ordinary pet kitten.
“Meow~”
Mia meowed, as if urging Xia De to prepare lunch soon. Xia De, on the other hand, thought that perhaps he could spend money to truly “possess” this cat from Mia Gold.
He swore that this thought was not premeditated, but had just appeared.
“Possessing someone else’s pet is not a righteous act,” the woman’s voice said with a laugh in his ear. Xia De also stood up.
“I never said I had to be a good person. And I didn't say I wouldn't pay. Let's wait until Miss Gold sends her next letter. She said she sends a letter once a month. Maybe next time I can sound her out.”
Xia De did not leave the Prophet Association immediately. Instead, he returned to the reception on the first floor and asked the receptionist if Mr. Cynthia Mark, the Vice President of the association, was present.
After waiting a few minutes, he saw Mr. Mark walk down the stairs, very warmly greeting Xia De:
“Oh, Mr. Hamilton, long time no see. Are you interested in the divination event I mentioned last time? Or are you looking for information about the rhode cards competition? Actually, before the Great City Player, there were quite a few amateur rhode cards competitions in the Tobesk area. The news of the founding · silver moon has already spread, and many people have mentioned to me that they want to invite the owner of that card to play cards.”
He warmly shook hands with Xia De. Xia De looked around and, while walking up the stairs with Mr. Mark, lowered his voice and whispered:
“Please hold the stair railing firmly before I speak.”
“What?”
Although he didn't understand, the middle-aged man still smiled and complied:
“You see, I’m holding it firmly. Is there any exciting news?”
“I want to authenticate a rhode cards, a very old rhode cards,” Xia De said. The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow.
“No problem. May I see which one it is first?”
Seeing no one on the stairs, Xia De concealed the card with his coat, took it out, and handed it to him.
The middle-aged man found Xia De's actions amusing, but still kept one hand on the stair railing, smiling as he looked down:
“It's not that I'm not humble, but I can bet that I recognize the card face of any publicly issued special rhode cards.”
“You definitely recognize this one, because—”
“Oh, my God!”
The middle-aged man, holding the stairs, gasped repeatedly. Xia De saw the astonished look on his face, which was pretty much what Xia De had expected.
The Outsider said with some melancholy:
“You definitely recognize this one, because the card face of genesis - balance is hanging on the first floor of the association. How long will this authentication take? I have other things to do this afternoon.”
Mr. Mark didn't react, staring blankly at the card in his hand. After a long while, he asked:
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“I said, I really like rhode cards,” Xia De joked, holding the cat.
He didn't waste too much time at the Prophet Association. The Old Priest appraisers who came here from the Ragson Duchy of the Carson Rick United Kingdom more than half a month ago hadn't left yet. They were to serve as appraisers in the Great City Player rhode cards competition a month and a half later. Therefore, if Xia De brought the card again tomorrow, he would know whether genesis - balance was real.
In fact, he knew very well that this card was definitely real.
After leaving the Prophet Association, the next stop was to find Priest Augustus.
Next week was the fourth week of the month, which not only meant exam week but also the approaching Holy Prayer Festival. In addition, the Dawn Church still had to deal with the aftermath of the divine descent incident, so even if the doctor had time to hold a study session this week, the Priest would probably not have time to attend.
They met at the entrance of the Dawn Church. Priest Augustus looked much more haggard but was still as energetic as ever:
“Xia De, good afternoon. I’m relieved to see you’re alright. What happened Thursday night was truly terrifying. I wanted to send a letter to ask if you were safe, but I was worried that Leedweich Field would inspect recent letters in the City. May God bless everyone!”
The Old Priest carefully drew a holy emblem on his chest, making a gesture of prayer. He was a very kind man. Xia De thought for a moment, reached into his pocket, grabbed about 10 pounds in banknotes, and handed them to the Priest:
“Please donate this to the Church for me, as my contribution to the Holy Prayer Festival. If there are any other festival souvenirs, don’t forget to save one for me. I plan to display it at home.”
When throwing money from the window that morning, Xia De certainly wasn't foolish enough not to save some for himself and the doctor. They each got 50 pounds. Xia De felt that after what happened on Thursday, he might need some luck recently, which was why he suddenly thought of donating.
“No problem, I’ll save a souvenir for you. However, Bishop Ou seems to want you to participate in the event as a believer representative on Holy Prayer Day. Are you interested?” the Priest asked while counting the money Xia De had handed over.
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Tell me when you have a specific time. If I have time, I will definitely come, Priest—”
“What is it? What do you want to ask?” the Old Priest asked curiously.
“About the God on Thursday—”
“Unspeakable, unspeakable.”
The Priest quickly shook his head:
“That’s not something mortals should know, so don’t ask any more questions. Fortunately, none of us got involved. I originally thought that with Bill’s bad luck, he would definitely be connected to this matter. Luckily, he only knew the divine descent body chosen by the Cultists, and was not directly invited to that gathering.”
“Hmm.”
Xia De thought for a moment, noticing the cat's tail touching his chin. When he reached to stroke the cat on his shoulder, he still decided not to refute Priest Augustus's idea.
“Also, did things go smoothly this morning? I’ve already heard that the Police Chief of Leedweich Field was shot dead in his lover’s home,” the Old Priest inquired again.
“Of course, it went smoothly, but doing this again after Thursday will definitely attract the attention of the Church, so we need to be more discreet in the next few days.”
“It’s good that you understand. Although the people you killed were bad people, and what you did wasn’t bad, you must be careful with your words and actions, constantly evaluate your methods, and never let the darkness in your heart consume you.”
Priest Augustus always liked to view people as creatures who would make the worst choices, so he would always think of the worst aspects of human nature when encountering anything. This was not directed at Xia De; his behavior was directed at everyone. Miss Louisa had mentioned that this was related to the Priest’s life experiences; he had spent years listening to the confessions of believers in the Church and had witnessed and heard far too many things.
Afterward, Xia De also entrusted the Priest to help him find information about the Old God yaobian gate, and Priest Augustus naturally agreed.
Just then, a middle-aged man who looked as haggard as Priest Augustus walked over and started chatting with the Priest, seemingly wanting to inquire if there would be finger-sized wooden puppets as souvenirs for the Holy Prayer Festival. Seeing that Priest Augustus was busy, Xia De bid farewell and left.
The final destination was Feather Pen Street in the University District. When the carriage stopped downstairs at Miss Louisa’s rented apartment building, Xia De realized it was just lunch time. And when he saw the golden-haired Writer on the third floor, after several days apart and so many events, Xia De found himself greatly missing the girl in front of him.
“What’s with that look?”
Miss Louisa motioned for Xia De to sit down. Seeing him place Mia on the sofa, the small cat sniffed around with its nose, and she joked again:
“You happen to come here at twelve o’clock. Are you perhaps hoping to have lunch with me?”
“Haven’t you eaten either? That’s perfect, let’s go out to eat. This morning, the doctor and I made some money. This time, it’s my treat.”
“I’m increasingly suspicious that you specifically came at this time just to have a meal with me.”
The golden-haired girl’s smile deepened, but judging by her action of getting up to change clothes, she seemed to have accepted Xia De’s invitation.
While going out to eat, Xia De told Miss Louisa the news of his promotion to the Second Ring. Miss Louisa was, of course, happy about this. Afterward, they cautiously discussed the divine descent on Thursday night.
She was sleeping that night, so she directly fell unconscious in the blood mist after the divine descent. By the time she woke up the next day, everything was already over, so she knew almost nothing about what happened that night.
After learning more detailed information from Xia De, she couldn't stop exclaiming how terrifying such an event was to occur in the City where she lived. Then, changing the subject, Dorothy Louisa asked Xia De, who was feeding the cat.
Mia, the orange cat, sat obediently on an extra chair provided by the restaurant, looking up with squinted eyes, accepting the bread Xia De tore and offered.
“Xia De, is it convenient now to take out the two youth everlasting leaves and let me see them?”
“Why?”
“I want to judge whether this matter is related to you based on the consumption of the leaves,” Miss Louisa said.
