Seeing Xia De take out the garter from his pocket, Leia showed no expression, while Angelina thought for a moment and said to Xia De very seriously:
"Sir Knight, this is for you, as thanks for saving me tonight."
"No, I don't need any thanks."
Xia De, of course, didn't want to accept it; it was useless for him to have it. But Leia unexpectedly told Xia De not to be so polite:
"Xia De, just take it. You might not know, but in the old days, noble women in high society would give garters to show their appreciation for a knight's bravery; and in modern times, noble women also use the same method to express their admiration and affection for a noble man's courage. This is a very romantic and upper-class gesture."
This was not a lie. The Outsider had seen similar records when learning about this world through books.
Although Xia De still didn't want to accept it, seeing her say that, he could only put the white garter into his pocket. Angelina seemed very happy and once again invited Xia De to her salon next time, saying that he must perform the card-throwing trick again.
Leia didn't seem to care at all.
After Chief Anlos arrived, the Chief of MI6 pretended not to notice that Xia De was in the same carriage as the two unmarried princesses. He asked Xia De to wait outside, while he and the two maids questioned the princesses inside the carriage.
Subsequently, Leia and Angelina didn't even have a chance to greet Xia De before returning to Yodel Palace under the protection of a group of guards.
Xia De stood with his superior, Chief Dak Anlos, watching the convoy depart.
"Xia De, you did very well this time. Otherwise, that gun would have caused us trouble. I knew someone was trafficking firearms, but I didn't expect them to even dare to sell service pistols."
Chief Anlos praised him. Xia De wanted to be modest, but the Chief lowered his voice, tilted his head, and whispered:
"But how did you get involved with the two princesses?"
"This..."
"Don't forget Miss Jialinna is also watching you. I don't know what your relationship with the two princesses is, but you must be careful and not get involved in too much politics."
Xia De looked at him in surprise, but Chief Anlos had an expression as if he hadn't said anything.
Through the previous incident of helping a woman find her lost child, Chief Anlos greatly admired Xia De's character. This hint was a statement he, as the Chief of MI6, should not have casually made.
"But speaking of which, how did you throw the rhode cards with such force? I only know that some bored old gamblers train this kind of skill."
Chief Anlos suddenly asked again, probably trying to change the subject.
"Well... I think since my main skill as an agent is with rhode cards, training some interesting techniques might be useful for the future... um, very useful."
"Playing rhode cards, using rhode cards to injure people, and also having charm for girls... you'll probably never become a qualified agent."
Chief Anlos sighed, as if regretting Xia De's future.
After telling Chief Anlos what he had experienced, Xia De returned home by carriage.
It was already eleven o'clock at night when he arrived home. In the empty house, only the cat ran downstairs to welcome Xia De.
Since Leia didn't come to Saint Delan Square, the four 1-shilling printing plates in the basement could only remain hidden there for now. As Xia De casually stuffed the garter into his desk drawer, he felt the newspaper with numbers on it in his pocket again.
The newspaper was picked up on Silver Cross Avenue, and Xia De suspected it was some kind of secret code for a rendezvous. But he only understood text, not codes, so he couldn't do anything with those numbers.
He simply put it on the bookshelf, and that was the end of all matters for the night.
Xia De put his hands behind his head, sat in the chair behind the desk, and looked up at the ceiling:
"Ivan Darkness, why haven't you come yet?"
(Mia running)
The attack on Princess Angelina Cavendish at the Opera House did not cause too much commotion in Tobesk City. Xia De did not even see any news about it in Sunday's newspaper the next day.
Early on Sunday morning, Dorothy rushed to visit. The Golden-haired girl, who had already learned about last night's events from Leia, complained to Xia De that all her careful preparations had gone to waste. After seeing Dorothy off, Xia De went to the Prophet Association to find Luvia.
He would be able to enter Terror Castle for the third time tonight to complete Mr. Riddle's life gamble, but Xia De still had no clue about the last four stories.
Unfortunately, Luvia also failed to obtain more information from the Association. It wasn't that the Association didn't have the information Xia De was looking for, but rather that the information about the Prophet who lived in the early fifth epoch was top secret within the Association.
Luvia applied in many ways but failed to persuade the Association to let her read the sealed documents. However, Luvia did get Xia De all the information about the Secret Keeper Level relic, the Life Gambling Table. If he couldn't win the gamble itself, and couldn't find a breakthrough point from the Old God, then he could only try to find a winning opportunity on that gambling table.
"Hmm?"
Looking at the size data of the Life Gambling Table, Xia De raised an eyebrow.
"What did you find?"
The purple-eyed girl asked curiously:
"I've read the data too. You can't use these characteristics at all."
"No, no, not characteristics, but dimensions. Look at this number."
Xia De placed the document paper in his hand on the table and pointed out the length and width of the twenty grooves:
"3.4681 inches long (approx. 8.8 m), 2.4841 inches wide (approx. 6.3 m). Luvia, doesn't this number feel familiar to you?"
"Familiar?"
Luvia still didn't understand.
"This is the size of a rhode cards."
Xia De said with certainty.
"Is it?"
The female Diviner frowned slightly:
"You actually measured the size of a rhode cards? Let's not talk about that for now. rhode cards are one-to-one replicas of the all things are impermanent card, and the history of the all things are impermanent card should be longer than the Secret Keeper Level (Level 3) relic, the Life Gambling Table, which you referred to as the Unknowable Level (Level 0) relic, the Gambler's Table. Is the appearance of the Life Gambling Table related to the all things are impermanent card? Otherwise, there's no reason for the dimensions to be exactly the same."
"No, no, I don't really care about the relationship between the all things are impermanent card and the gambling table. What I mean is, Luvia, although I can't replace Mr. Riddle in the gamble, what do you think would happen if I put genesis - balance and founding · silver moon into the remaining grooves? Would that count as two cards?"
Luvia was stunned; she was truly surprised by this idea:
"That's right, the all things are impermanent card is the only special item you can currently bring into the past, but in that case, I don't know what would happen either. However, even if it's useful and allows you to gain an advantage in that gamble, you still need to find a way to fill the last two grooves, otherwise the gamble still cannot end."
"No, you're wrong again, it's one."
Xia De pointed to himself with his finger. Luvia retracted her surprised expression and nodded knowingly:
"Yes, one. Only one left. Xia De, what are you going to do?"
"Instead of taking risks, it's better to be conservative. When Ivan Darkness appears in Tobesk next week, we'll use his information to exchange for Mr. Riddle's data at the Association."
Xia De said, then carefully put away the information about the Life Gambling Table.
Thus, on this Sunday, Xia De did not use the time key from the fifth epoch, 1784. However, during the day, he went to Coldwater Port again to confirm the progress of collecting materials for the doctor.
But he did not forget to try to take out this week's gift from the god's gift box after the midnight bell rang on Sunday night.
This was Xia De's fifth time receiving a gift from the box, but he still didn't have the luck to get a relic. Under Mia's curious gaze, Xia De actually took out a pair of red high heels from the box this time. The color was vibrant, the style was also very good, and the upper was adorned with some crushed diamonds.
It's just that Xia De would rather have another screwdriver than a pair of high heels.
"Why would something like this appear?"
Xia De stared at the shoes in his hand, completely baffled. He finally concluded that this gift box should actually be renamed "Prank Box" to be more suitable. The Old God, Innocent Creator, might be better called Mr. Prankster.
This week's task was also easy. In the next seven days, Xia De needed to ensure that his nightly sleep exceeded eight hours for three of those days. And for a Detective who works from home, this was not a problem at all.
On Monday morning, a new client, long-awaited, arrived at Saint Delan Square. But this time it wasn't a big commission; an old lady named Midela, who had seen the Detective advertisement in the newspaper, commissioned Xia De to find her lost cat.
Old Mrs. Midela was a wealthy widow living alone, and she had a deep affection for the blue-gray short-haired kitten she kept at home. Although finding a cat across the city was somewhat difficult, Xia De readily accepted the commission for the high commission of 10 pounds.
For an ordinary Detective, 10 pounds was enough to sustain life for a long time. Therefore, the Detective is a profession that usually has no business, but can immediately make money when there is business. And Xia De's advertising in the newspaper did not attract too many clients, simply because the frequency of Detectives accepting commissions is really not high.
Xia De planned to carry out this commission by placing a lost cat notice in the newspaper and searching in the neighborhood where Old Mrs. Midela lived. But before he even left home that morning, Miss Jialinna arrived.
The Duchess had nothing specific to discuss with Xia De, she just told him that Ivan Darkness had reappeared yesterday. And this time, his location was a rural Town only an hour's drive from Tobesk.
This was yesterday's news, which meant that Ivan Darkness was now very likely already within the Tobesk area.
"Xia De, this time it wasn't the Council that discovered Ivan Darkness, but a priest of the Peace Church in the Town who detected the aura of a demon and, after investigation, discovered the second Chosen One wanted by the Church internally. Xia De, you can't imagine the current situation."
The Red-haired Duchess sat on Xia De's sofa, holding a teacup in her right hand:
"The Orthodox Church has basically confirmed that Ivan Darkness's destination is Tobesk. Although they deliberately blocked the news and didn't let Ivan Darkness's location information leak too much, in the next few days, many High-Ring Sorcerers of unknown identity will definitely appear in Tobesk. There are even rumors that the Blood Spirit School, having suffered betrayal, has also dispatched High-Ring Sorcerers to the Old Continent to deal with the traitor."
"So will the Council send new Duchesses here?"
Xia De asked curiously.
"Of course not. First, the Orthodox Church's attitude towards the Council is not very friendly; second, aren't I already here?"
Miss Jialinna pointed to herself:
"The matter of Ivan Darkness is my responsibility. After the Council evaluated this matter, they decided that after Ivan Darkness becomes the Chosen One, I should try my best to kill him with my own hands. This is not simple. Currently, there are two Thirteen Ring Sorcerers of the Church in Tobesk, while I am only Eleven Ring."
"The Council plans to make the Chosen One of Darkness disappear? I can understand that, but why do you have to kill him yourself?"
Xia De asked curiously.
"I can't tell you that."
The Duchess showed a slightly charming smile, wrapping a strand of red hair near her ear with her right index finger:
"Just like Tifa refused to tell me more details about your joint investigation last week."
Xia De looked up at the maid standing behind the sofa, who gave Xia De a slightly shy smile. It seemed she hadn't revealed that the two had encountered the "Servant of Secrets".
