The gas lamp in the house was bright, Mia the cat under the lamp was pretty, and Xia De in the living room was also surprised.
Even when Mia stretched her head to sniff the metal plates, Xia De didn't stop her.
Two intaglio plates and two relief plates, the design of the one-shilling banknote was exceptionally exquisite and realistic. Touching it with his fingers, he couldn't feel the roughness of the metal at all, giving it a unique feel of civilization and steam industry.
"Hmm."
Xia De felt a burning sensation and an itchy back in the middle of the night, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead:
"This couldn't be..."
Looking at the sides of the metal plates again, all four were clearly engraved with the letters "Delarion Kingdom Mint · Top Secret," and below the letters was the Cavendish Family crest.
"Hmm."
Xia De put down the four silver-gray metal plates in his hand, then covered his face and rubbed it hard twice:
"Delarion Kingdom Mint, these are the master plates for printing banknotes, right?"
Since god's gift box gives gifts by replicating existing items, even if Xia De's guess was correct, there wouldn't be news of important items missing from the mint or a nationwide manhunt for criminals.
Xia De carefully examined the items in his hand under the lamp again, and then basically confirmed that these were indeed the standard master plates for the 1850 edition of the shilling banknote. However, keeping these things in hand was a considerable trouble.
"Although I really want more pounds, to directly give me printing plates and let me print them myself..."
Not to mention that Xia De wasn't poor enough to take such a big risk to make counterfeit money, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't know the material of the banknote paper.
"So, these things are completely unsellable. Should I use them to prop up a table leg if I keep them at home?"
Xia De thought hesitantly, then pulled out the cat, which had jumped into god's gift box at some point and was lying there.
He looked at the four metal plates on the sofa:
"It's too much of a pity to destroy them, and this is a gift from God, so it would be impolite to destroy them rashly. So, why not give them to someone else? I can't keep this. Even if it's not discovered, thinking about it all day would be uncomfortable. Leia will be back in Tobesk soon. Giving this to her as a gift for her return from travel should be a surprise. But are banknote printing master plates a suitable gift for a girl?"
He didn't consider Miss Jialinna, who would definitely pay a high price for these things, because Xia De was genuinely worried that the witch would cause trouble with these banknote printing master plates.
Xia De believed that Miss Jialinna was that kind of person.
Having thought of a way to deal with these tricky "gifts," Xia De put god's gift box and the four printing plates back behind the basement wall, then carried the cat through the dark staircase back to the second floor.
The Outsider liked the sound of his shoes on the stairs, as it reminded him that the large house beneath his feet was entirely his own.
"Hmm, Leia will probably like it."
But in any case, Xia De did not intend to tell anyone that he had obtained these things, not even Dorothy. After all, these four printing plates were, in a sense, more dangerous than relics. Once they spread and fell into the hands of someone who truly understood their use, they would cause great trouble for this country, and Xia De's peaceful life would cease to exist.
"However, the requirement for this gift is quite simple."
Last week was helping others wash clothes, and this week was feeding stray cats outdoors twice within a week. This was not complicated for Xia De; he had cat food at home, and a City like Tobesk was not short of stray cats.
"But I still have to avoid Mia."
If the increasingly smart cat discovered that Xia De was taking her food to feed outside cats, she would probably faint from anger.
"In short, this is another quite magical Monday."
This was the last thing Xia De thought of before turning on the gas lamp at his desk, uncapping his fountain pen, moving the cat off the paper in front of him, and starting to write his investigator report.
(Dorothy is rushing her manuscript.)
When he woke up on Monday morning, the sky outside was foggy, and he couldn't tell if the weather was good or if it was going to rain.
The fountain pen on the desk reflected an even fainter light in the weak morning glow, and the pen's owner stretched, ready to start a new week.
The report submitted to the Academy last night had already received a reply. Professor Garcia seemed to have been startled by the first key, so he stayed up late waiting for Xia De to submit the report. He processed all the follow-ups to this investigation mission overnight and gave his approval for this investigation report.
Because the report was written in a conventional manner, and Xia De didn't write about encountering God, the professor awarded Xia De 5 practical credits according to a normal Poet Grade key. 3 credits were the basic reward for the investigation, and 2 credits were for the information Xia De provided about Terror Castle and the life of Mr. Riddle.
The History Academy would conduct a more in-depth investigation into Mr. Riddle and Terror Castle later. Professor Garcia thought that Xia De's activities were not just this one, so even if he didn't encounter danger, based on the attitude of supplementing missing history, this matter could not go uninvestigated.
As for Xia De himself, his most important task today was not to investigate the life of Mr. Riddle, but to buy himself some new furniture.
After all, this house was going to be renovated starting this week.
Xia De had already contacted the Dawn Church, and they would help connect the stairs from the second to the third floor during this period, as the Church had originally promised. The workers who would inspect the specific damage on the third floor and carry out construction would probably arrive at Saint Delan Square No. 6 with the Church's people after ten o'clock in the morning.
Before they arrived, Xia De went out to buy himself some furniture. He wasn't looking for high-quality, high-end handmade furniture; in fact, if he didn't have some savings, he would have planned to go to Old John's for some cheap goods.
Just as Xia De had changed his clothes and was wondering whether to take the lazy cat with him, he felt the badge on his chest warm slightly:
"Oh? My badge is warm. There must be a witch nearby."
Before he could even look, the door downstairs was knocked, and outside was Miss Tifa Servett, who had arrived by carriage.
Seeing Xia De, who had opened the door, dressed as if he was about to go out, the Black-haired maid who had gotten out of the carriage hesitantly asked:
"Mr. Hamilton, have I disturbed your plans?"
"Of course not."
Xia De quickly shook his head and invited her in:
"I was just going out to buy some furniture."
While going upstairs with Miss Servite, Xia De briefly introduced the upcoming construction in the house. Miss Servite nodded, indicating that she understood. As for her purpose in coming here, Miss Jialinna wanted to know from Xia De what had happened at the Prophet Association last Friday afternoon.
"What happened at the Prophet Association? Oh, it was about the princess being injured."
If it weren't for the generous reward Princess Angelina gave afterward, which was truly impressive, Xia De would have even forgotten about this matter:
"Is there a problem with this? I don't think my investigation results would be wrong."
Although puzzled, he still recounted in detail what had happened that day. During this time, the Black-haired maid said nothing, and only after he finished did she whisper:
"Do you know the identity of the 'culprit' 'discovered by the cat'?"
"I don't know."
"It's Prince Sax's lover."
Xia De recalled the age of the girl who was wearing a blue dress at the time and couldn't help but frown. Princess Angelina was currently sixteen, and most of her friends were also of similar age. Even though he knew that this world and this era were different from his homeland, Xia De still couldn't help but feel ill will towards the prince who had brought a weapon into Yodel Palace:
"So, what exactly is going on?"
"A naive girl was deceived by someone with ulterior motives and committed a ridiculous crime to save her lover."
Tifa said, wanting to explain further, but Xia De already understood completely:
"In such a political storm, those who don't understand anything but still get involved are the easiest to be used as pawns."
"You seem to understand a lot."
The maid smiled and asked, and Xia De immediately shook his head:
"No, no, I don't understand anything, and don't tell me anything else. I don't want to know anything."
The smile on her face grew even brighter:
"You really do understand. Well, please don't explain. I will tell the Young Lady your description."
Saying that, she stood up, and Xia De also stood up, preparing to see her downstairs, but the maid looked around and asked again:
"Mr. Hamilton, how much furniture do you need? Please make a list, and it can be delivered to you this afternoon."
"No, no, how can I..."
"There's a lot of spare furniture in the manor; keeping it in the basement just takes up space. Besides, a small house like yours doesn't need much furniture. Even if I don't mention it, the Young Lady would prepare furniture for you if she heard about it. Although I shouldn't presume to judge your relationship with the Young Lady, even with pretty ladies, the Young Lady rarely actively kisses them on the forehead."
Xia De was actually more curious if Miss Jialinna had ever kissed the forehead of this pretty maid in front of him, but he controlled his question well. As for the furniture, he thought for a moment and didn't refuse anymore:
"Please thank Miss Jialinna on my behalf, and of course, thank you too. As for the furniture I need..."
He was thinking about the exact quantity, and the Black-haired maid suggested:
"How about you take me around the house? I'll confirm the room sizes and your preferred decorative style, and I'll prepare the furniture for you."
Sometimes, Xia De truly envied Miss Jialinna for having such a professional maid.
The maid's unexpected visit saved Xia De the time of going to the timber market in the Lower City to look at furniture. After seeing her off, seeing that there was still some time before ten o'clock, Xia De took the cat to visit Priest Augustus at the Dawn Church.
The Priest's "Angel Potion" was not yet finished, but he knew that Xia De wanted the Church's construction team to help connect the stairs today, so he asked:
"Speaking of which, do you need a supervisor?"
"Supervisor?"
Xia De didn't understand the meaning of the word for a moment.
