“Although this matter is over, I don’t think the Scarlet Cult’s failure was due to insufficient preparation,” Xia De suddenly said.
“Then why?” the witch asked, continuing her meal.
“They chose the wrong time. If it wasn’t during Darkness’s stay in Coldwater Port, and if it wasn’t after the Tobesk God Descending Incident, the Church and the Academy certainly wouldn’t have invested so much power to deal with them,” Xia De replied, using his dinner knife to separate the fish meat from the bones on his plate.
The witch thought for a moment: “But no matter what, this time the Church, representing a positive image, still won… just like in Tobesk. And that Summoner will be qualified to become a legendary figure in stories a thousand years from now… probably even printed on rhode cards.”
Compared to the fame that troubled him, Xia De was quite looking forward to the possibility of becoming a rhode card.
After dinner, neither Xia De nor Aurora went to the banquet. Driven by curiosity, Xia De eventually followed the witch to the beach behind the manor to see the Mermaids.
Aurora’s personal maids carried golden candelabras, following Xia De and the mistress of the manor through the garden to the beach. Then, under the Moonlight, the young girls took off their shoes and walked into the water, forming two vertical rows extending from the water to the shore.
Aurora led Xia De to stand at the end of the line of maids, watching the flickering candlelight extend deep into the sea. The sea breeze blew the maids’ dresses and long hair, and also caused the candle flames to drag short lines from the wicks towards the shore. This scene under the moon looked quite mystical.
The witch took off the small conch pendant hanging from her chest, bent down, and immersed her feet in the seawater. The pendant wriggled and grew larger. As the witch blew the conch, a long and ethereal conch sound spread from the shore to the seabed.
The sound made Xia De feel as if he heard the waves of the deep sea, and as if he felt the seawater soaking his skin. This was the same sound Xia De heard after Aurora jumped into the cave under the temple in pursuit of Darkness.
There are male Mermaids, but their numbers are very small. And due to the witch’s curse, Aurora is also more willing to be close to female Mermaid girls.
They are also highly intelligent creatures, but unless special potions, spells, Miracles, or even relics are used, individuals of the Mermaid race cannot transform their tails into pretty long legs like in stories.
Therefore, there are temporary residences specially built for them under the harbor behind Aurora Manor. And as Aurora blew the conch, the Mermaids on the seabed gradually moved to the surface of the water, then popped their heads up in the shallow sea.
They approached the shallows more and more, guided by the line of candlelight, but to avoid being beached, they could only swim at the end of the light. Aurora also took off her high heels and walked into the water. Xia De looked down at her feet entering the relatively clear seawater under the Moonlight, and then realized this was very impolite.
So Xia De also followed, walking into the shallow path between the two rows of maids.
Due to their racial culture and living habits, Mermaids are very timid, similar to Mia. At first, even with Aurora present, they were unwilling to approach Xia De, but after gradually trusting Xia De, they dared to swim to the shallows and greet him.
Most of them understood delarion common language, but they liked to converse with each other in their racial language. Xia De, of course, also understood this language, which was very similar to merman language, and heard the Mermaid girls praising his good looks, good scent, and the pretty Moonlight on his fingertips.
Aurora and the Mermaids all thought Xia De didn’t understand these words, but Xia De actually did, and in this situation, he couldn’t say he understood.
These creatures living in the water liked to use shells and seaweed as clothes, so as he got closer to them, Xia De even had to move the silver Moonlight on his fingertips to avoid seeing things he shouldn’t.
Although this was not Xia De’s first encounter with an Alien in this world, contact with an unfamiliar intelligent race still made him feel very novel.
Xia De’s main purpose in meeting the Mermaids, besides satisfying his curiosity, was also to inquire about matters related to desire. The intelligent Level 0 relic, whose appearance resembled a Mermaid, might not be a coincidence. Ancient alien races might have clues.
“In the past, the Mermaid race was a symbol of desire. Sailors rumored that they would use their singing to lead large ships into the eye of a storm, or astray from safe routes.”
Among the Mermaid race, there was no news about that relic. However, after Xia De briefly mentioned the symbolic representation of Mermaids in mysticism, Aurora offered some explanations.
“Perhaps desire’s Mermaid-like appearance is caused by this rumor. People’s thoughts and culture also influence desire, which claims to be born from desire.”
This was Xia De’s thought.
Although some Mermaid girls were indeed interested in Xia De, Xia De did not stay long in Coldwater Port. After seeing the Mermaids and discussing a few more things about the aftermath of the Coldwater Port Shadow with the witch, he bid farewell and left.
He didn’t go home immediately, but instead swam in the sea for a full hour, avoiding the Church’s patrol boats, and relying on the strong memory of the voice in his mind, he found the 【Soul Fishing Rod】 stuck in the seabed under Coldwater Port Bay. Only then did he swim to the cave under the cliff and return to his home through the hidden wall.
Xia De, dripping wet, returned to the first floor from the basement. Although he had only been away for a day, Xia De breathed in the scent of his home and truly missed his house immensely.
Perhaps the sound of his footsteps startled someone upstairs. Before Xia De could approach the stairs and turn on the gas lamp in the hall, he heard quick, loud footsteps coming from upstairs and getting closer.
“Xia De!”
First, Mia darted over, but it wasn’t her speaking. The Golden-haired girl behind the cat almost directly rushed over.
She spread her arms, completely disregarding that Xia De was soaking wet, and hugged him. Before he could react, she kissed his lips.
“Woo~”
Xia De made such a sound with his nose. The cat waiting for him to pick her up supported her body on her two short legs, her front paws clinging to Xia De’s trouser leg. She waited for a long time without seeing Xia De bend down, so she returned to all fours, looked up discontentedly, and then her amber eyes showed a curious expression.
The duration of this kiss, even with Xia De’s Time Perception Miracle, was immeasurable. He felt it was very fast, but also incredibly long.
When Dorothy finally let him go, he gasped for air, looking at the girl in front of him in astonishment: “Wait, are you Dorothy, or Leia?”
“Does that question matter?” The Golden-haired girl wiped her mouth with a blush. Xia De noticed she had light makeup on, and even specifically applied lipstick.
“Of course it matters, I at least need to know who… whose soul I’m kissing.”
She laughed, her emerald eyes looking at Xia De up close: “Then you can just imagine that both of us are kissing you at the same time. Xia De, thank you for saving Leticia Cavendish, and the princess didn’t even have time to say goodbye to you. This kiss is thanks, and also an apology… And, in the future, you should do less of those dangerous things.”
“At the same time? You can think of it that way?” Xia De asked back in surprise.
Dorothy didn’t care what Xia De thought. As she spoke, she forcefully hugged Xia De, wanting to kiss him again, but Xia De pushed her away. He looked seriously at the Golden-haired girl in his arms:
“Before that, you need to know one more thing. That relic belonging to the two of us, 【Drowned Merman’s Scale】, was destroyed by me.”
Dorothy looked at Xia De in astonishment: “Now? At a time like this? Xia De Hamilton, you’re actually going to tell me this?”
“I want to compensate you for your loss.”
“You… then take this as compensation.”
Then she kissed him again, the force with which she held the back of his head was so strong that Xia De even thought his lips would be broken.
The first floor of Saint Delan Square Six had no gas lamps, only the light from the gas streetlights outside the window, which made them stand in the square block of light extending from the window onto the floor, stretching their embracing shadows onto the wall.
A carriage passed by outside the window, making a rhythmic sound as it rolled over the pavement. For a moment as it passed the window, the shadows on the wall swayed. The Moonlight was beautiful, but Mia meowed discontentedly. She had been waiting for a long time, and Xia De still hadn't come to pick her up.
The girl’s kiss, which lasted for an unknown duration, finally ended. She looked at Xia De with a slight blush, and Xia De looked back at her. Although Xia De, still affected by the 【desire flesh】, thought of more things, he still had his sanity, so he transformed the chaotic thoughts arising from this kiss into reality.
The two talked until ten o’clock that night. They talked about Xia De’s experiences in Coldwater Port, about Xia De using the power of a Thirteen Ring Sorcerer again, which he had used at Lakeview Manor, and even about Xia De having just seen Mermaids.
Dorothy laughed, complaining that Xia De still smelled of fish even after showering, then jokingly called him “the Coldwater Port Mermaid Angler.”
And even when he saw the Golden-haired girl off in a carriage at the intersection of Saint Delan Square, Xia De was still unsure whether the person he had been talking to tonight was Dorothy Louisa or Leticia Cavendish. Although she had touched her ear, that might have been a disguise.
“Outsider, I’m somewhat surprised you didn’t keep her overnight at home.”
“Why should I?” Xia De said, hands in his pockets, standing under the dim streetlights, watching the carriage drive towards the University District.
“Given her mood tonight, if you had invited her, she wouldn’t have refused.”
“When did you start commenting on my life?” Xia De said with a smile, turning to walk through the quiet square towards his front door, kicking a pebble at his feet. Mia, the orange cat, peeked out from behind the half-open door, worried about Xia De going out at night, but she didn’t dare run into the Darkness herself.
“I know if I invited her, she might stay,” he said in his mind.
“Then why not?”
“You also said it was because of her mood tonight. I wouldn’t be that kind of person.”
“Then I understand.” She chuckled in his ear.
Xia De also smiled, walked through the door, and grasped the doorknob from the inside, intending to close the door. But then he suddenly turned around, poked his head out, and looked up at the moon above Saint Delan Square.
Tonight’s silver moon was so bright.
