Iluna and Luvia stayed in the Dark Dungeon for half an hour before coming out. At that time, Xia De was organizing his books in the study on the second floor, planning to practice potions and alchemy skills for his second year during the Great City Player event.
Neither of the girls was willing to tell Xia De what they had talked about with their “selves” in the Darkness, but both believed they had gained a lot.
Xia De originally intended for Luvia to stay overnight, but before he could subtly express his thoughts, Iluna stated that she wanted to leave with Luvia, as she had some questions to ask that were inconvenient for Xia De to hear.
“Then we’ll be going.”
The purple-eyed girl smiled and waved at Xia De. She could, of course, see Xia De’s intentions, but they still had to avoid Iluna:
“I need a good rest too, Xia De, good night.”
She lightly kissed Xia De’s cheek in front of Iluna.
“When did your relationship get so good?”
Iluna asked suspiciously, and Xia De shook his head:
“Speaking of which, I forgot to ask just now. Iluna, is your eye okay now?”
Xia De was referring to Iluna’s eye, which was condensed from divinity. If it weren’t for divinity, an eye that had been sacrificed to an Old God could never have recovered. In the final battle of the Darkness Domain, Iluna’s eye seemed to be on fire. Although this allowed her to see in the dark, Xia De was very worried about other problems with the eye.
“This eye is very good, even better than a normal eye.”
Iluna replied, tilted her head to look at Luvia, then walked up to Xia De and lightly kissed his cheek:
“Then good night, Xia De.”
She said softly, blushing, then smiled and pulled Luvia’s arm, leaving with her.
Xia De, with Mia, saw the two girls downstairs and watched them walk together towards the intersection of Saint Delan Square.
Finally, he looked up at the Moon in the sky again:
“You say, can I finally rest for a while?”
“Probably.”
“Meow~”
Mia squirmed in Xia De’s arms, purring softly with half-closed eyes.
“I’m asking the Moon.”
Moonlight shone on Xia De’s face. The sight of three moons hanging high in the night sky together was something that could never be seen in his hometown.
“Really?”
She chuckled, and her laughter was very reassuring.
(Mia running)
After the Darkness incident, Xia De believed his life had finally entered a period of peace for a while.
The next day was Monday, the second day of the harvest month. Xia De only remembered to open this week’s god's gift box after waking up in the morning.
He moved the god's gift box to the dining table on the second floor during breakfast. As soon as he opened the box and before he could reach in, Mia quickly darted inside.
Xia De’s hand “fought” with the cat in the box for at least ten seconds before he successfully pulled her out.
But when he lifted the cat out by the scruff of her neck, he found her tail hooked onto a string of something. Only when the entire cat was pulled out did he see that it was a string of dried sausages threaded together.
Because he didn’t like cooking himself, Xia De did indeed stock similar food at home, but Xia De could guarantee that he had absolutely not put dried sausages into the god's gift box. Using a creation of God for pure food was truly blasphemy.
“So, this is this week’s gift?”
Xia De thought, holding the string of small sausages. With a gentle swipe of his finger, silver Moonlight flickered, cutting two small thin slices from the sausage at the very end.
One slice was placed in front of Mia on the table, and he ate the other. It tasted quite good:
“However, is this a gift Mia received, or a gift I received?”
As soon as the thought fell, information about what needed to be done this week immediately appeared. Xia De needed to take his pet out for a walk at least twice, each time for no less than half an hour.
“Is this a requirement for me, or for Mia?”
Even without such a requirement, Xia De would still take the cat out for a walk. But for Mia, leaving the house was a thoroughly bad thing.
While eating breakfast, he read the newspaper for a while. The newspaper mentioned the news of Sachs Cavendish being convicted of treason. Although this could be considered big news, it only appeared on the third page of the Tobesk Morning News, and only in a small section of the lower half of the third page. It seemed the King also wanted this matter to end this way.
“Execution by firing squad, already carried out.”
Xia De sighed at the final outcome, not out of pity for the other party, as he didn’t even know what the other party looked like. He only sighed at the ruthlessness of the royal family, but on second thought, to maintain the stability of the kingdom, this approach was actually the correct one.
The daily life of an Outsider was actually quite boring. After breakfast, he originally wanted to trick Mia into going to the washroom for a bath, but this clever cat seemed to have seen through his intentions when Xia De went to the washroom early to prepare hot water.
When Xia De had prepared the hot water and was putting on gloves to catch the cat, Mia had already darted into the bedroom and hid on top of the wardrobe, refusing to come down.
So Xia De could only postpone his plan, thinking that next time he must launch a surprise attack on Mia.
But the hot water couldn’t be wasted, so he spent the entire morning washing clothes at home. Looking at the recent weather, summer had ended, and he could start preparing his autumn clothes.
“Perhaps I really should find some servants who can cook and clean at home. If I can’t afford full-time servants, at least I can find those who charge by the hour.”
This was Xia De’s thought as he sat on a small stool, scrubbing clothes in the basin under the sunlight on the balcony. Although tiring, he still enjoyed this leisurely time:
“One should not belittle one’s own achievements, but also not be overly arrogant. Yet, I, an Outsider, who can face gods and slay demons, still have to wash my own clothes. This must be wrong.”
He thought to himself, glancing at Mia, who was squatting beside him. Only after confirming that Xia De had used up the hot water in the washroom did she jump down from the wardrobe.
“This cat is lazy and gluttonous. It would be great if she could help with the laundry.”
The voice beside his ear chuckled, and Xia De couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head, amused by his own thoughts.
“Meow~”
In the early autumn sunlight, the cat’s fur seemed to glow. She licked her paws, then stared with wide eyes, curiously watching the colorful Bubbles in the basin under the sunlight.
Xia De truly loved this kind of life.
After washing the clothes, he left around eleven o’clock to head to the MI6 stronghold, which was the “City Waste Treatment Management Center” in Tobesk West District.
That gray small building, located between the snuff shop and the shoemaker’s shop specializing in rain boots, was hidden within the bustling steam City. If one didn’t know in advance that it was a stronghold, ordinary people would hardly be interested in looking at this small building even if they passed by.
Xia De originally came to Mr. Giles Johnson of the Equipment Management Department to collect this month’s salary, but after knocking on the door, he found that there were other people inside the Equipment Management Department.
It wasn’t other agents, but Xia De’s superior, Chief Anlos.
“Look who it is, Knight Hamilton.”
This very ordinary-looking gentleman enthusiastically shook Xia De’s hand, and seeing Xia De holding an envelope with receipts, he knew what he was there for.
After having Mr. Johnson handle Xia De’s salary, reimbursements, and bullet quota, Chief Anlos motioned for Xia De to follow him.
The two walked between the shelves inside the Equipment Management Department, and Mr. Anlos said with a smile:
“I was just thinking of going to your place later, but I didn’t expect such a coincidence to run into you here.”
His demeanor almost screamed “I have a mission for you.”
“May I ask what it is?”
Xia De asked cautiously.
Although Miss Jialinna had said that Xia De didn’t need to do anything when he first joined, if there was a real need, Xia De would not refuse a mission arranged by MI6. Presumably, Chief Anlos would not give him anything particularly difficult to do.
“Mr. Hamilton, I remember you are a rhode cards master, so did you participate in the Great City Player event that opens this Friday, the sixth day of the Flourishing Flower Month?”
Mr. Anlos asked, and Xia De nodded:
“Of course.”
“That’s excellent.”
Chief Anlos was clearly asking a rhetorical question. It was no longer news among local rhode cards players that the holder of the Founding series cards would participate in this competition. Even if he wasn’t the Chief of MI6, he would have known about such a thing by simply asking around.
“It’s like this, Xia De Hamilton, Six Divisions has a small mission that requires an agent who can participate in this competition to complete. Do you know the Sett Duchy?”
Xia De thought for a moment, and with the help of his memory and “her” prompting in his ear, he asked hesitantly:
“The small country located in southeastern Delarion, between Delarion and Carson Rick? If I remember correctly, this country split from Delarion three hundred years ago. At that time, Sett Duke Cavendish was allowed to establish a duchy. Initially, the duchy and the kingdom had unified tax and military ties, and in recent centuries, its independence has grown, but nominally it is still under Delarion’s jurisdiction.”
“Yes, Six Divisions suspects that the Sett Duchy has connections with Carson Rick that we don’t know about. Due to the duchy’s special location, we cannot allow it to completely side with Carson Rick, nor can we allow them to have a closer relationship, as this poses a huge threat to border security. Knight, please look at this photo.”
Mr. Anlos handed Xia De a black and white photo of a handsome man who looked to be in his thirties.
“Virgil Cameron, officially he has no government position, but secretly he is the current Sett Duke’s lover. He holds a significant position in the duchy’s court due to his looks and flattery.”
“The current Duke is female?”
Xia De asked curiously.
“No, Duke Alexis Cavendish is male.”
Mr. Anlos glanced at Xia De and put away the photo.
