“It’s already the 10th day since Darkness left Coldwater Port.”
Xia De sighed as he read the newspaper on Friday morning, basking in the early sun, eating breakfast, and petting Mia, while trying to imagine the efforts Darkness, in his hidden identity, made to successfully reach Tobesk.
After breakfast, the construction team arrived on time to continue the renovation. Xia De locked the doors on the second floor, intending to organize his books in the basement, but unexpectedly, a visitor arrived.
It wasn't a client; it was Xia De’s friend, Captain Lades. He stood surprisingly in Saint Delan Square, looking up at the workers on the roof of No. 6, hesitating to enter.
Only when he saw Xia De through the first-floor window, carrying a stack of books and organizing a bookshelf, did he tap on the window, signaling that he wasn't sure if it was a good time to visit.
Captain Lades had two purposes for his visit this time. First, to inform Xia De that he would be taking a steam train to the front lines on the first weekend of next month. He had already received the notice, and the Captain was currently packing and saying goodbye to his friends in Tobesk.
He would once again go to the southern front, specifically Windy Path, located on the northern foothills of Sicar Mountain, to guard the border as a brave Royal Army Captain, demonstrating his loyalty and courage.
The Captain's second purpose for visiting was to deliver something Xia De hadn't found during his first visit to his rented apartment, but which had now been located.
The two spoke in the first-floor living room. Since the walls had just been painted, the furniture was still in the basement. Xia De found two chairs for them to sit on. Once the paint dried and the furniture was arranged, the stylish furniture Tifa helped select would make the living room appear more formal:
“It’s this. I found it in an old pile of clothes while packing a few days ago.”
The Captain handed Xia De a pendant, resembling amber, attached to a metal chain. He had won the gun of kindness and this ornament while gambling rhode cards with a stranger in a tavern at Windy Path. Since the gun of kindness was a relic, Xia De had once suspected the ornament was also a relic.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found this item last time, and Xia De had almost forgotten about it.
But regrettably, this amber pendant was not a relic. It contained no elements itself, and touching it revealed no engraved patterns on its surface.
In other words, it was just an ordinary item.
“If both were relics, I’d have to worry about Captain Lades’s safety.”
Though disappointed, it was reasonable. Xia De was not a Chosen One; he didn't have the luck to frequently encounter relics.
As Xia De had nothing planned for the day, Captain Lades invited him to visit the Retired Veterans Club in Tobesk’s west district. Although it was a retired veterans club, it wasn't a place where ordinary retired soldiers could come.
Captain Lades introduced Xia De to his friends, and Xia De, of course, was well-prepared with business cards to distribute.
Everyone had heard of “Hamilton of Leijiede” and warmly invited him to visit the club often when he had time.
Thus, Xia De spent the entire Friday at the club, listening to the officers recount interesting stories from the front lines and complain about their post-retirement treatment.
It was then that Xia De learned that Prince Sax, who had once stormed Yodel Palace with a gun, had actually been assigned a military position years ago.
However, he was in charge of the Delarion Kingdom's New World exploration and pioneering legions, and therefore was not in Delarion for many years, with his forces primarily stationed in the New World. Now that Prince Sax had been secretly arrested, the other naval and army commanders in the New World would likely quickly purge dissenters from the legions to demonstrate their loyalty to the King.
Coincidentally, Captain Lades’s friend, Colonel Dallas Hopes, had also been to the New World.
Xia De, very interested in that distant land, curiously asked him about the New World. Colonel Hopes sat on a red cushion, smoking a cigar, and looked up, squinting as he recalled his past:
“The New World and Old Continent are actually not that different; it just has more forests, more ruins, more mineral resources, and fewer humans. I’ve seen many magical creatures there. Can you imagine flying lizards?”
He showed off his experiences to his friends:
“However, the New World is also very dangerous. Some areas are absolutely forbidden to approach. Our superior officers would mark out unalterable routes on maps before we led teams out alone, and every long-distance expedition had to have a priest from the Orthodox Church accompanying us.”
“Was it to alleviate anxiety?”
Xia De asked.
“Probably.”
The Colonel took a puff from his cigar, then placed the Nor Mountain long cigar in his hand into a special metal cigar ashtray, letting it extinguish naturally. Cigars were not ordinary tobacco; a Nor Mountain long cigar like the one in the Colonel’s hand took at least two hours to smoke.
At the same time, smoking cigars also required special tools such as long wooden matches and metal cigar cutters; this was tobacco used only by the wealthy in high society.
“I’m actually a bit afraid of the New World. There are many, um, strange things there. I once led a team to explore the direction of a newly discovered gold mine vein in an area I can’t disclose. The young men recruited from Keldinan County were, like me, brave and persistent. But when we camped at night, we saw a… through a gap in the bushes.”
He tensed his face, unsure what to say, his complexion suddenly turning pale, so the others quickly used a small joke to divert the topic.
Xia De now understood the reason Ring術士 could not commit suicide, and his curiosity about Saint Byron's second Letter-based Ring術士 prohibition, which was not to go to the New World, grew stronger.
(Mia running...)
Thus came Saturday, another group meeting day. There was nothing much to say this week; Xia De was mainly inspecting his house. He hadn't informed the academy about obtaining the Ling Rune, thinking he would do so in a few weeks.
However, Professor Garcia sent another message. He was very satisfied with Xia De’s final paper for the “Closed Space” course and invited Xia De to continue with the advanced “Closed Space” class in the autumn to explore the mysteries of space.
It seemed Professor Garcia truly admired Xia De.
On Saturday evening, Xia De studied “crazy light chaser” with Dorothy. Since Xia De’s house was undergoing renovations, this lesson was held at Dorothy’s rented apartment.
Xia De heard from the Golden-haired girl that Leia would return to Tobesk next Tuesday. Because this was the princess’s return representing the royal family’s visit to Carson Rick, the Kingdom’s honor guard and a team organized by the City Hall would go to welcome her, so Xia De and Dorothy didn’t need to go to the station to pick her up.
“But, I haven’t seen Leia since last week? Don’t you two often swap bodies?”
Xia De asked curiously, holding his book.
“Unless necessary, we rarely disturb each other’s lives. As for when it’s necessary, it’s only when one of us is in danger, or Leia wants to wander around the city freely.”
Dorothy said, then asked Xia De:
“What? Do you miss Leia very much?”
“Of course… However, I’d rather see her in person than see her appear using your body.”
Xia De said, and the Golden-haired girl laughed:
“You don’t have to speak so cautiously; I don’t mind these things. All right, Xia De, break time’s over, let’s continue the lesson. ‘Kiss of the Tree’ ended due to an accident, and I don’t believe anything else can happen to ‘crazy light chaser’; that would make me feel very unaccomplished. Now, answer my question again, what is light?”
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Hmm… A bond?”
“What kind of strange understanding is that?”
Dorothy asked curiously.
So Xia De spent another half an hour, using a more localized narrative style, telling the story of an ancient hero who could transform into light and fight evil monsters.
This delayed the evening’s lesson, causing it to be nearly eleven at night when Dorothy prepared to go home. The very gentlemanly Outsider personally escorted her back to Feather Pen Street.
When they parted ways below the apartment on Feather Pen Street, Xia De received a kiss on the cheek as a gift. This time, he could be certain that it was Dorothy who kissed him.
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