It was as if the arrival of exam week meant that nothing else happened in the following week.
The descent of the Old God upon Tobesk seemed to be a turning point; various incidents occurred frequently before that point, but after the Old God was defeated by a deity summoned by the “Summoner” (as rumored by the local Ring術士s), it was as if all evil in this City had vanished.
Of course, that was impossible; it was merely Xia De’s illusion. The brief period of peace was purely because he had barely left his home recently.
Iluna temporarily left Tobesk on Monday to go to the Sun Church’s Holy See to be questioned about matters concerning the whispering chapters. It wasn’t just questioning; there seemed to be some reward as well, but she wouldn't know until she returned next week. Luvia was busy divining the next The Chosen and had no time to bother Xia De. Miss Louisa and Psychologist Schneider were both troubled by exam week; the former’s ancient texts were a big problem, and the latter’s Aether Mechanics almost gave the professional Psychologist a mental illness. Priest Augustus was entangled with both exam week and Holy Prayer Festival preparations; he was the busiest person that week.
As for Miss Jialinna, whether she was recovering from injuries or doing something else, she also didn't contact Xia De this week.
Coupled with bad luck, for five full days from Monday to Friday, no clients came to the door, so Xia De spent a relatively leisurely period of time since coming to this world.
Daily reading at home, organizing Sparrow Detective’s old documents, and living with Mia made Xia De, who had been busy for a while, feel instantly relaxed.
The appraisal of Founding - Balance went smoothly on Sunday, and on Monday, Xia De tried to actively contact Miss Daniste using the page of the poetry manuscript he possessed. Based on the list obtained from the past, he wanted Miss Daniste to look for some information about the Old God “yaobian gate” in the College Library.
He didn't know if Miss Mana Feilianna, when establishing Saint Byron's Comprehensive College, left information for future Ring術士s, but from Miss Daniste’s reaction, it was highly probable that she did not.
Just like the first time travel adventure, where almost no trace of Xia De was left except for that story, even if the second time travel left a trace, it was likely just a small ripple. Traveling through the time key would not trigger a time paradox; even if Xia De’s travel process was different from others, it would not allow him to arbitrarily use repeated travels to influence the past.
Thinking this way, even if the Old God Father of Infinite Trees departed, His power truly existed in all continuous timelines of the material world.
The information provided by Miss Daniste arrived via the poetry manuscript page on Tuesday evening, but Xia De did not choose to use the time key of common era 3002 for the second time on Thursday night.
On one hand, he didn't want to be distracted before Saturday's exam. After all, exams weren't just about memorizing textbooks and filling in blanks; even if the “other me” in his head had a photographic memory, he still needed to prepare himself. On the other hand, the first opportunity for the fifth epoch 3002 key had already been “wasted.” Before determining what problem the ritual to contact the Old God “yaobian gate” encountered, Xia De wanted to prepare seriously before facing it again.
This was not only because he was worried about failing the task and not getting the reward given by the Old God. It was also because Miss Felianna helped him last week, and Xia De also wanted to do his best to reciprocate.
Therefore, he did not use the key at the time it was supposed to be used. Xia De planned to spend Sunday after the exam carefully organizing the information he obtained from Red Moon Witch, Priest Augustus, Luvia, and Miss Bei Ya Si, and then initiate the second travel to 3002 at midnight on Sunday night after the exam.
Of course, this entire week was not only used to prepare for written exams. Xia De had already submitted his application to advance to the second year in Summer through the Psychologist to the College. The news from the College was that he should first complete all compulsory subjects, and there was no need to rush practical credits. Whether the application was approved would be announced on the day of the exam.
So, on Tuesday afternoon, Xia De spent half a pound in tuition and 7 shillings for materials to learn the complete method of making “Alchemical Item - Ever-burning Candle” from Old John. This was the most complex alchemical item covered in "Introduction to Elementary Alchemy." If one only relied on the book to learn, they could also learn to make it, but it certainly wouldn't be learned in half a day.
Actually, choosing a simpler alchemical item as a final assignment was also an option, but Xia De also wanted to achieve a higher grade evaluation, which is why he chose the Ever-burning Candle.
There were no problems with the making of alchemical items, and similarly, no problems with the preparation of magical potions. On Wednesday morning, Xia De visited Priest Augustus as agreed. Because he arrived early, he even managed to get a few small biscuits as communion before meeting Bishop Owen.
The Holy Prayer Festival was scheduled for Tuesday after exam week, which was the thirtieth day of the thunder moon. Not having it before Saturday's exam truly relieved Priest Augustus, who had been under tremendous pressure recently.
Bishop Owen wanted to confirm if Xia De could attend the event next Tuesday. The Church intended to arrange a lecture for “Hamilton of Leijiede,” using his experiences to proclaim the universal love of Mr. Dawn.
Xia De, of course, would not refuse. The jovial Old Bishop then hinted that there would definitely be an appearance fee for this lecture.
Besides the Holy Prayer Festival, the three even discussed the events that occurred on Thursday night in the Tobesk Diocese from the perspective of ordinary people. Although there were two Ring術士s present, they both pretended to be completely unaware of the so-called Old God, focusing instead on the poisoning incident.
“Actually, I used to drink the milk from the Silver Parrot delivery company. But not long ago, I just happened to forget to renew my subscription, so I narrowly escaped. This once again proves that Mr. Dawn truly protects his believers.”
Xia De commented on his experience this way, then solemnly made the sign of the Holy Light on his chest.
His performance greatly impressed Bishop Owen, who was very pleased with this new believer:
“Mr. Hamilton, do you no longer have a fixed way to order milk now? It’s alright, then from now on, I’ll have the rural worker who delivers milk to the church also deliver a portion to you.”
“Actually, I also ordered goat milk.”
“It’s alright, I’ll have it delivered for you too. Please rest assured, the milk ordered by the church is absolutely safe.”
Although this “absolute” phrasing made Xia De worried, Priest Augustus reassured him when leading Xia De out of the church later:
“The children of the church will have no problem drinking milk. If the Church can’t even guarantee this much, then we might as well donate the church to other churches—this analogy seems a bit problematic, just pretend I didn’t say anything. Moreover, now in the entire Tobesk region, even if you search carefully, it’s hard to find problematic milk. Xia De, do you know, since last Thursday, all milk delivery companies in the City have undergone strict inspections and rectifications.”
From this perspective, what the Cultists did in the thunder moon of Summer in common era 1853 directly led to the City not having any milk safety incidents for decades, which should be considered a pleasant surprise.
Xia De was not a member of the Church, so he could only hear fragments of information about the aftermath of the divine descent from Priest Augustus. The Cultists who believed in the Blood Feast Lord were truly rounded up, and except for a few members of the cult who were not in the local area, the entire cult organization could almost be considered completely eradicated.
And the Silver-Eyed One of Mercury Blood was killed on Thursday night. When the Church dealt with the Cultists, they also eradicated the already loose illegal organization.
However, Mercury Blood was not completely uprooted, because some members of the organization themselves believed that assisting Cultists in summoning an Old God was a foolish idea.
Therefore, before the divine descent ritual on Thursday night, a group of people left Tobesk in advance. According to the Church's investigation, the split Mercury Blood had more than ten Ring術士s. They planned to go to the Old Continent West Coast, then sail to the New World. The Blood Spirit School welcomed their joining.
Of course, the news most closely related to Xia De was that the title “The Masked Man Under the Silver Moon” became history; his new code name is now “Summoner,” which clearly explains what he did.
The Church was tight-lipped about the news of the “Summoner.” The news circulating in the local black market was only speculation that the other party was a Thirteen Ring Sorcerer and could summon the power of the departed Old God.
But no one dared to discuss this matter too much; people in this world have an innate reverence for gods. However, the Church did not give up searching for the person who truly saved Tobesk, even releasing news that they wanted to award him a medal.
Divination and more methods were used to try and find that Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, but unfortunately, the results they eventually obtained were even more ridiculous than the people of Coldwater Port City believing Xia De was a “terrifying merman from the deep sea.”
“The Church now believes that the Thirteenth Ring male Sorcerer, the Summoner, is a natural professor proficient in free combat and criminology, hidden in the University District of Tobesk City, and lives with a retired, limping Psychologist.”
This was the news Xia De heard from Priest Augustus; heaven knows how such an absurd piece of information was obtained.
In addition to the Church, Saint Byron's in the far north was also investigating the truth of Thursday night. The practical credit reward on the College bounty order was even enough for Xia De to advance from first year to second year ten times.
The Psychologist wrote to inform the four members of the group on Monday to write down their experiences from Thursday night and send them to him. Although the Church would share information, the College wanted to know more details about that night, and the local Ring術士 group naturally became the most important first-hand source of information. Xia De, of course, knew all the theoretical details, but he didn't dare to write too much, so while reviewing, he wrote some irrelevant details and vaguely brushed off the matter.
And so, after a week of stable time and hard study, Xia De finally ushered in the Saturday exam.
