Xia De got off the carriage at the street corner. He was originally very interested in the parade, but because there were too many people, he gave up the idea of watching.
When he took out his key to open the door, he met his neighbors, the Smith couple, who were preparing to go out.
They had also been invited to the Yodel Palace banquet tonight and were now preparing to go out to pick up their custom-made formal wear.
“So, Mr. Smith was definitely not an ordinary secretary in the financial department before his retirement.”
Xia De judged.
Back home, he didn't see Mia running down from upstairs when he changed his shoes in the hallway.
Perhaps because the outside noise was too loud, the cat didn't hear the sound of the door opening on the first floor.
Therefore, when Xia De found the orange cat scratching the wall in the empty Room 2 on the second floor, the look of surprise on Mia's fluffy face was truly comical.
“Don't use the wall to sharpen your claws.”
Xia De warned softly, bending down to pick up Mia.
The soft cat meowed a few times, perhaps acting spoiled, and did not struggle out of Xia De's arms.
Miss Jialinna and Tifa appeared at two in the afternoon.
At that time, Xia De was in the study, looking through the second-year textbook's explanation of “Basic Ritual - Luminescence.” The warm badge on his chest informed him of the Witch's arrival a step before the doorbell downstairs.
Miss Jialinna would go to Yodel Palace to get ready and change clothes later, but she brought the formal wear prepared for Xia De for the banquet, and also planned to leave two maids to help Xia De style his hair and get dressed.
Of course, the most important thing was that Miss Aurora agreed to meet Xia De this afternoon at the Witch Council.
To prevent being discovered by other Witches, their meeting time was limited to a maximum of ten minutes.
Before Miss Jialinna stood at the end of the third-floor corridor, preparing to sing, she specifically reminded Xia De not to exceed the time limit.
“Do I have to sing in a corridor-like area every time I enter the Witch Council?”
Xia De, who still had some thoughts about the Witch Council, took the opportunity to inquire.
“It's not necessarily a corridor, but it must be a flat, straight space of a certain length.
There are no requirements for whether the surroundings are open or flat.”
Saying that, the Red-haired Duchess grabbed Xia De's hand:
“The appointed time has come, follow me.”
She softly began to sing, while Tifa smiled and followed behind them.
The maid, of course, also had the right to enter the Witch Council.
Miss Aurora didn't know what she was doing and appeared two minutes later than the appointed time.
Miss Jialinna seemed to want to complain, but because Xia De couldn't stay here too long, she let Xia De ask his question first.
Miss Hivi Aurora, whom he hadn't seen for over a week, didn't seem to have changed much.
She had probably already arrived in Carson Rick, and the style of her clothes had strong characteristics of the Southern Kingdom.
“inspiration - Light? You've already read ‘crazy light chaser’ for two months? Saint Byron's is really unoriginal, always using this book.”
Hearing Xia De's question, the Witch raised an eyebrow, resting one hand on the stone table and fiddling with her brown hair:
“Your talent is not bad.
Since you yourself believe that you can obtain that Ling Rune in at most a week, then at this last moment, you don't need to look for relics related to Light to experience power.
My suggestion is, Xia De, you should look for relics related to Darkness, and use Darkness to force yourself to understand Light more deeply.
Of course, contact with relics carries risks, which you must weigh yourself.”
Saying that, she glanced at Miss Jialinna, who waved her hand:
“Don't worry, I will protect him.”
“Darkness.”
Xia De nodded.
The Darkness Domain was an angel-level relic, too dangerous.
Fortunately, he had other options:
“Miss Jialinna, I wonder if that darkness box is still in your possession.”
He turned to ask Miss Jialinna, who was sitting at the round table.
The latter replied while using a small knife to trim her nails:
“It's still here, but I lent it out.
I think you can pick it up at my manor tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”
The darkness box was the relic that accidentally went out of control when Xia De first “met” Miss Jialinna at the Lucky Southern Cross Club.
Both of them had a deep impression of this item.
“Of course, while experiencing the power of Darkness, using negative emotions to pressure yourself will have a better effect.
My suggestion is that you go and experience forces like fear, immersing yourself in Darkness while deeply immersed in fear.”
Miss Aurora thought for a moment and then reminded him:
“The more fear, the more obvious the effect.
But I don't think you're a timid person, so you need to try multiple times to use this method to force yourself to touch the purest Light in your heart.
With this method, you might succeed in just a few days.”
Although a few days was not a long time relative to the time to obtain the Ling Rune, Xia De did not think Darkness would stay in the city peacefully.
So, Miss Aurora's method was indeed feasible, but Xia De needed to be faster.
Fortunately, he had a better idea.
Since ordinary fear was not effective, he would choose a stronger fear, which was Terror Castle.
The fear induced by the strange presence lurking in the corridor before entering the gambling room was the strongest fear Xia De had experienced to date.
Although the darkness box could not be brought into the past, Xia De could completely break into the corridor and confront that strange thing just before leaving the fifth epoch in 1784.
Even fleeing with his back to it could induce fear, so confronting it directly would likely have a stronger effect.
As long as he controlled the time, before encountering real danger, he would be sent back to the sixth epoch by the Father of Infinite Trees, and then immediately chant the incantation to make the darkness box lose control.
This way, he could almost guarantee that he would immediately obtain the Enlightenment Ling Rune related to Light.
But this raised another problem: there was only one last chance in the fifth epoch of 1784.
If the gambling game could not be effectively resolved this time, then the mission of this time key would fail.
Thinking of this, Xia De remembered his conversation with Luvia not long ago:
“The contents of the last four slots: two all things are impermanent cards replace two, another experience replaces one, and now only one is missing.
Moreover, inserting the all things are impermanent card into the slot, I don't know what will happen.”
Therefore, to obtain the Ling Rune related to Light, the real problem Xia De needed to solve was to obtain the last segment of the fifth epoch Prophet, Mr. Riddle's life experience.
Seeing Xia De deep in thought, the Witches knew he already had an idea.
Miss Aurora waved her fingers in the air, and the light trails at her fingertips left the words “Darkness” and “Light” in the air.
“Of course, giving you this advice is also because Light and Darkness are inherently one; they are opposite yet unified.”
“I understand; the doctrine of the Dawn Church says the same.
However, you all seem to be able to leave light trails in the air—that kind of Miracle.”
Since he had already clarified his own matters, Xia De could easily make a joke.
“Don't underestimate this Miracle; you need to carefully control your light, which requires a lot of talent.
I don't know if you noticed, but when the Summoner split the giant Mermaid corpse in Coldwater Port, he used a similar Miracle.”
She probably mistook Moonlight Slash for another Miracle.
So Miss Jialinna took Xia De and left the Witch Council to prevent him from being discovered by other Witches.
Xia De, somewhat unwilling to give up, still asked Miss Jialinna about Slitch Riddell.
But as Luvia said, apart from the Prophet Association, other organizations would not record this ordinary man from the fifth epoch at all.
“Although I can break into the Darkness Domain without Light, to make things more convenient, I still need it.
Should I abandon the mission of the third time key for Light? Or should I carry that door-shaped pendant with me and only enter the past when absolutely necessary?”
Comparing the importance of the time key and the second Chosen One in his mind, after Miss Jialinna left, Xia De, with the help of the two maids, began to prepare his attire for the evening banquet.
Although in his opinion, having a formal suit and combing his hair would suffice, Miss Jialinna clearly did not think so.
Thus, as evening approached, Xia De thanked and saw off the two maids downstairs at his home.
After bidding farewell to Mia, who insisted on staying home and not going out, he first went to Old John's antique shop and retrieved the silver-white ring inlaid with three diamond-like crystals.
Xia De lowered his head to examine the very pretty silver ring.
Old John teased him about his current attire, which was like “going to seduce an ignorant noble lady,” and then curiously asked Xia De what was inside the gift box tied with ribbons that he was holding.
Queen Diana's birthday was the front-page headline of all newspapers today, and Old John guessed that Xia De was going to Yodel Palace, so he was very curious about his gift.
“Old man, you can open and check it, but you have to make sure you can tie it back up.”
Xia De said, then remembered the scene where he had asked Miss Jialinna's maids to help wrap the gift not long ago.
“Detective, don't look down on me too much.
I guarantee I'll tie it better than it was before.
I rely on my skill in packaging goods to sell them, but what kind of gift would a stingy fellow like you give?”
Old John looked genuinely curious.
After getting permission, he carefully pulled open the ribbon.
After opening the box, wrinkles appeared on his forehead in surprise:
“Oh, this is truly a big pearl!
I've seen many, but one this round is truly rare.”
“This cost a fortune; I had a friend get it from Coldwater Port.”
Xia De whispered, slipping the silver ring onto his finger; it fit perfectly.
Ordinary Ring術士 could only target one objective with Mind Blast at a time, but Xia De, with Divine Radiance, could target up to three objectives.
When casting, he would point the finger wearing the ring at the target's head, or the equivalent part.
The closer the distance, the more obvious the effect of Mind Blast.
If the target's mind was exceptionally fragile, and Xia De directly pressed his finger against their forehead, the Miracle could very likely shatter their head.
“You're really generous.
Such a large pearl, you could probably trade it for a practical Poet Grade relic, and someone might even be willing to trade.”
Old John exclaimed in wonder.
“This should be considered an investment, so it's not wasting money.”
Xia De corrected him.
Old John nodded, quite agreeing with that statement.
However, when he found tools to re-package the gift box, he started teasing Xia De again:
“I have to warn you, Detective, unlike that Duchess, Queen Diana is married.”
Xia De ignored him.
