Perhaps all his luck was used up last night, because the Saturday evening lessons for Xia De and Dorothy were temporarily canceled.
Dorothy was called home by her father, Professor Louisa, to discuss the "hamilton detective story collection," which was Professor Louisa's recognition of her daughter's work.
Leia, on the other hand, couldn't meet Xia De without her father noticing, so Saturday was a day off.
The Princess could also use this time to think about how to help Xia De get the 【Sleep】 Ling Rune.
This time, Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Writer swore they would definitely help Xia De.
On Sunday morning, Xia De went to Tobesk Railway Station again to see off Captain Lades, who was heading to the border.
As an officer, the Captain didn't have to sit in the second-class carriage with the other soldiers going to the border.
On the platform, the Captain, dressed in a Royal Army uniform, held Xia De's hand amidst the bustling crowd and thanked him once again.
He thanked Xia De for saving him from his despair and for everything Xia De had done.
For Captain Lades, a middle-aged man, this railway station could be considered a crucial turning point in his life.
He had returned to Tobesk in despair after being captured, assisted Xia De in catching child traffickers outside the station, and was now setting off again from here.
He looked at his colleagues bidding farewell to their families, the station porters, and the crowds seeing people off, feeling quite emotional at that moment.
"But I still don't know where Windy Path is," Xia De asked.
The train whistle blew, indicating it was about to depart.
Citizens seeing off their relatives and friends at the station were making their final goodbyes to the departing soldiers.
The surroundings were very noisy, and Xia De also had a final handshake with the Captain.
"Windy Path" was the area where the Captain's unit was stationed, considered the true border line.
However, such a small place wouldn't be marked on a map, so Xia De only knew it was in the northern foothills of Sicar Mountain.
The Captain picked up his Black suitcase, preparing to enter the carriage.
The soldiers who had already boarded leaned out of the train windows, either waving or passionately kissing the pretty girls who came to see them off.
"Windy Path, ah, do you know the City of Middlesburg?" the Captain asked with a smile, his voice not very clear amidst the surrounding noise and whistles.
White steam mist billowed from beneath the steam locomotive, blurring Xia De's and the Captain's vision.
Xia De nodded: "Of course I do."
"Windy Path is not far from Middlesburg.
To be precise, we also take on some of the responsibilities of the Middlesburg City Defense Force."
He smiled and waved at Xia De.
With the harsh sounds of metal twisting, gears turning, and pistons pushing and pulling, the metal door closed, completely separating Xia De from Captain Lades.
The gushing steam made the platform, crowded with well-wishers, especially hot and humid.
Amidst farewells and blessings, amidst the huge roar and the departure bell, white steam gushed towards the misty sky.
The metal wheels began to move slowly and steadily, the connecting rods and potential energy driving the carriages to slowly move.
The rumbling sound grew louder and louder.
The whistle and the carriages receded together, and the wind swept past Xia De until there was nothing left on the tracks.
In the distance, one could still vaguely see white doves being released; that was the War and Peace Church sending off the soldiers, as the Peace Church was keen on such activities.
A few doves that hadn't flown far returned to the platform after the surrounding well-wishers gradually dispersed, pecking at food on the ground.
Xia De also put his hands in his pockets, ready to go home.
He planned to go to Coldwater Port in the afternoon to see if any coins had been acquired, and then visit Mr. Edmund, who guarded the lighthouse, to discuss legends from various parts of the Old Continent, preparing for the next drop of divinity.
"However, Captain Lades also went to Middlesburg," he thought to himself.
"Priest Augustus and Miss Black also went there... is this some kind of hint?"
Sunday afternoon at Coldwater Port yielded no results.
Acquiring currency relics was not simple, and while Mr. Edmund could provide all sorts of strange legends, there were simply too many, and Xia De couldn't tell which ones might be related to divinity.
However, this old gentleman from the Guiding Light Hermitage was very interested in the rumors of Miss Felianna appearing in the Tobesk area, and he pulled Xia De aside to inquire about related information:
"When I saw the letter from Old John, I even suspected he hadn't woken up yet," the old man said with a chuckle, looking at the distant sea view with Xia De at the top of the lighthouse.
The arrival of autumn seemed to have little impact on this ocean.
After the Coldwater Port Shadow Incident ended, although there were more merman attacks by the sea, the City itself became much more peaceful.
"When I went to buy ritual materials from Old John, he didn't ask me any related questions."
"You Letter-based Ring術士 from Tobesk will be suspected first by the Academy and the Church.
John just doesn't want to get into trouble.
However, Miss Mana Feilianna, a Witch from the fifth epoch, actually appeared in modern times.
Although too much information has been lost, making it impossible for us to explore the mysteries of the fifth epoch's extraordinary system, could people from the previous epoch actually travel to future events?"
The old man stroked his chin, while Xia De held the Mia he had painstakingly brought to the seaside for some fresh air.
"Did the Witch find a way to reverse the relic 【time key】?" Mr. Edmund asked suspiciously.
"Do you think this is related to the time key?" Xia De smiled.
"Yes, that is also the current mainstream view.
What is the relationship between whispering chapters, Felianna, and the time key?" Mr. Edmund said, and in some ways, this view was actually not wrong.
After returning home from Coldwater Port, Xia De didn't go out again.
Instead, he waited until midnight to activate the new key for the fifth epoch year 3014.
Although the key's waiting time actually ended on Saturday evening, Xia De still decided to wait until midnight.
This was not only to pursue a sense of ritual but also to complete the key's task and conveniently retrieve the daily gift from the gift box.
After all, even if most of those gifts were useless, drawing gifts itself was one of the few pleasures of an Outsider in this era.
"You Friday night," he added, amidst the laughter in his ear.
On the grandfather clock in the corner of the living room, the three hands simultaneously moved towards the top.
The second-floor living room of Saint Delan Square Six was lit.
Xia De, sitting on the sofa with a book, put down his potionology textbook, which disturbed Mia, who was sleeping on the sofa, leaning against his leg.
And when the sleepy-eyed Mia stood up, Xia De had already taken the key, freely given by Miss Jialinna, and arrived at the bedroom door:
"Will I meet Miss Felianna this time?" he thought before chanting the spell.
"So what do you think?"
"Probably not that lucky, right?"
Xia De held the key to the keyhole, silently reciting three numbers in his heart.
The grandfather clock in the corner struck the first chime of midnight.
"May the World Tree protect me in time."
Because he was unsure of the location of this adventure, Xia De still didn't plan to bring the useless Mia.
If this was still a dangerous place like Terror Castle, he worried that the Mia would be frightened to death as soon as he stepped out of the white mist.
"Meow~"
The small Mia lay on the sofa, actually having no intention of following Xia De out of the house.
She stared wide-eyed as Xia De inserted the key into the keyhole and then entered the white mist behind the door.
Mia yawned and wriggled on the sofa, looking for a more comfortable spot.
She had seen Xia De enter that strange white mist door many times, so she wasn't curious.
She was only curious why Xia De always looked so worried every time he returned from that door.
Mia never worried.
"Outsider, you have stepped into the Time Corridor."
"Message from the Old God, Father of Infinite Trees:", "fifth epoch 3014 Spring, East Continent, Night Manor."
"Event: The Vampire God's Wine Party."
"Duration: Thirty minutes (1/3)."
"After South Continent - Hope Town, West Continent - Thousand Tree Forest, North Continent - Terror Castle, I've finally reached the East Continent."
Xia De in the white mist was not surprised by this, but he still frowned, because that "God of Vampires" seemed to have another very well-known name:
"Will I meet an acquaintance—I mean, an acquainted god—this time?"
"You have gained additional information."
"The figure of the Father of Infinite Trees watches over you."
"The Old God of Time gives you a test."
"Attend the wine party of Vampire Duke Loyaer with mortals until the party ends."
"The Father of Infinite Trees will give you a reward: Miracle - Silent Moonlight, a piece of true information - Elf."
"Time and space are inseparable, which I can still understand, but for the Old God of Time to give me a Moonlight Miracle, isn't that a bit too exaggerated?
Also, this time the goal is to participate in the god's wine party and have it end.
If the wine party doesn't end before the three thirty-minute periods are over, does that mean my task fails?"
Xia De thought to himself, and he had no particular thoughts about "true information," treating it merely as expanding his Knowledge.
The most crucial information in the above was "Vampire Duke Loyaer."
Xia De's first spell in a strict sense, 【Blood Echo】, was obtained by touching a statue of this Old God.
Therefore, after selling the information about the statue to Miss Jialinna, Xia De had also searched for information about this deity, so he was not as ignorant as in previous times.
Vampire Duke Loyaer was also known as "Abnormal - Patron of Vampires" or "God of Vampires."
This was an evil god, and there was clear evidence that this deity had never left, even up to the time of the Outsider's existence in the sixth epoch.
However, unlike the 【Blood Feast Lord】, who was also an evil god, this God of Vampires was not as evil.
This was somewhat similar to the difference between a "serial killer" and an "ordinary murderer."
Although this analogy was not entirely appropriate, at least even if one were to truly encounter "Vampire Duke Loyaer" in the material world, death was not guaranteed.
