The Old Witch sitting on the sofa slowly nodded to Xia De:
"Yes, there is indeed a Witch in Weilandale City. I cannot tell you which one. Have you already heard the rumors? Alright then, next week I'll talk to her and tell her to keep a low profile recently."
Xia De nodded, saying nothing more. He was just curious about what direction this steam-era civilization would take, now that the two major human kingdoms in the material world had obtained partial theoretical data and models of the 'Difference Engine'.
Xia De did not leave Middlesburg the entire day. After lunch, he went to the House of the Blind and the station black market to gather information. He didn't hear any valuable intelligence, but he did hear that after the earthquake, Sicar Mountain became more dangerous at night.
The Ring術士s living in this City already knew that the evil spirits here were growing stronger. And the Orthodox Church had been frequently entering and exiting the mountains recently, suggesting that the large ritual was about to begin.
After returning home in the evening, he carefully put away the 200 crowns, then went to find Dorothy, asking her to tell Leia that the suitcase had been delivered to its intended destination. As for the 1000 pounds promised by the princess of the southern kingdom, Xia De was not in a hurry to retrieve it from the address on the note. This was partly because the information shouldn't have reached Tobesk so quickly, and partly because Gray Headed Eagle still needed to maintain some composure.
He planned to retrieve it in a few weeks if he needed money.
Afterward, Xia De also wrote a letter to Jialinna, wanting to discuss the Witch in Weilandale City, the capital of the southern kingdom.
He wasn't very familiar with Grandma Cassandra yet, but he already trusted Jialinna considerably. The fact that the princess of Carson Rick possessed the power of a Witch was something Jialinna absolutely needed to know.
That night, Luvia, who was stargazing in Saint Delan Square, burst into Xia De's bedroom excitedly again at one in the morning.
Mia, who had already had one experience, immediately burrowed under the covers. This time, no matter what, she wouldn't be thrown into the wardrobe by Xia De again.
"Oh, Xia De, wake up, quickly, look what I've found!"
The purple-eyed girl held a hand-drawn star chart and a black and white photograph, standing by Xia De's bed, trying to wake him.
Mia poked her head out from under the covers, curiously eyeing the shaking photograph. Xia De, still groggy, yawned as he climbed out of his comfortable bed:
"Oh, Luvia, do you know it's one in the morning?"
But he still turned on the gas lamp by the bedside, took the hand-drawn star chart and the photograph of the star chart:
"I see… your drawing is very accurate? Yes, it's really good."
"No, it's a sign, the big guy is coming from the starry sky!"
Luvia seemed particularly excited, and this statement immediately made Xia De fully awake. He looked up in alarm:
"The matters in Middlesburg aren't even fully resolved yet, and now something else is coming from the starry sky? An unspeakable evil? An evil god preparing for a descent? Or an Ancient One existing in the void?"
"No, no, it's the Star Sea Whale!"
Luvia was exceptionally excited. Only the bedside gas lamp was on in the bedroom now. She stood in the shadow by the window, her purple eyes seemingly glowing:
"You mentioned it to me, didn't you drink the blood brew of this creature?"
Xia De, whose head was still a bit muddled, thought for a moment:
"Yes, Jialinna said that due to the excessive hunting by the fifth epoch Witch Emperors, that star creature, which used to appear in the material world once every 300 years, now only appears every 1200 years or so, and it used to appear individually, but now it appears in groups. The last time it appeared was..." (Chapter 569)
Because he was suddenly woken up, Xia De's memory was a bit blurry.
【common era Six Hundred years ago.】
She whispered with a smile in Xia De's ear.
"common era Six Hundred years ago."
He yawned and pulled the cat out from under the covers. He usually didn't allow the cat into the covers. Although Mia barely shed fur and had no strange smell, he still believed that pet cats should best not be in the covers.
"Yes, six hundred years after 1200 years, isn't that now? It's 1853!"
Luvia excitedly pointed upwards:
"Through observation, I can almost confirm that the Star Sea Whale will definitely appear in the night sky of the material world before the end of this autumn! There must be a best observation point. Oh, I must seize this once-in-1200-years opportunity!"
"Does the Academy know about this?"
Xia De said, suppressing the urge to yawn again.
"The Academy's astrolabe equipment is better, and the night sky in the far north is also much clearer than the City's night sky. Yes, the Academy should also be able to observe this sign tonight! This autumn's stargazing event might even use the observation of the Star Sea Whale as a high-scoring exam content!"
She bent down and hugged Xia De's head, kissed him, and said rapidly:
"I must get a high score, so I can take Professor Scar Ranch's 'Starry Sky and My Other Self' next spring!"
After speaking, the purple-eyed girl turned and left the bedroom. The sound indicated she had returned to the third floor. Only Xia De remained, sitting on the bed with the cat, one person and one cat looking at each other.
"What just happened?"
He asked Mia.
"Meow~"
The soft cat in his arms rubbed against Xia De's pajamas, then narrowed its eyes as if it had fallen asleep again.
(Mia running...)
"Why do you look like you haven't woken up yet?"
On Thursday morning, Jialinna, sitting on the sofa, asked Xia De teasingly. Xia De shook his head:
"Had a strange dream. I was running on the sea, then chased by a giant killer whale."
"And then you killed that whale?"
"No, an even larger Mia suddenly jumped out of the sun and then snatched that whale out of the sea with one bite."
Suddenly, laughter came from beside them. Xia De and Jialinna both looked over and found that the young maid who had brought the teacups had accidentally let out a laugh.
This maid was named Vera Torian, one of Jialinna's personal maids. Xia De had seen her many times.
"Control your emotions, don't embarrass me outside."
Jialinna said, and then Tifa led the young maid who had accidentally laughed to the kitchen for a lecture.
"I'm a bit too good to them, so these girls can sometimes be a bit unruly."
The Red-haired Witch said to Xia De, then picked up her teacup:
"But you wrote to me, you shouldn't just want to see my personal maids, right?"
"Of course not. It's like this: I met a Sorceress with Witch power in Mi Fort, but she's not one of Grandma Cassandra's people; she's a princess of Carson Rick."
"Oh? Are you sure, a princess of Carson Rick, appeared in Mi Fort?"
Jialinna focused on this point.
"She was still in Mi Fort yesterday morning. I think even if she was fast, it would be impossible for her to return to the capital, Weilandale City, immediately today. A little investigation will confirm this."
"That's quite interesting. She actually developed a princess of Carson Rick into her follower."
Jialinna laughed. She wasn't as surprised as Xia De was yesterday.
"So, there really is a Great Witch in Weilandale City?"
"Yes, there is indeed. I won't say which one."
"Then, are there even Ring術士s in the Carson Rick royal family?"
"Of course there are. Since you know Leia, you should know that the Delarion royal family, which is our Cavendish, is connected to Zaras Academy, and therefore sends talented family members to the Academy to study. So, as a human kingdom on par with Delarion, does the Carson Rick royal family really have no connection to the mysterious world at all? Even if not to contend with Delarion, the Anjou Family must be wary of the Five Gods Church."
"Which Academy is the Anjou Family connected to? Saint Byron's, where I study? Or Success Higher Medical College, which specializes in magic potions and alchemy?"
"It's the latter. But I can't be sure whether the princess you met was trained by a Witch or by Cerces. That's quite interesting; I think it's necessary to investigate."
Jialinna narrowed her eyes, wondering what new scheme she was concocting. Although that southern kingdom princess was a follower of another Great Witch of the council, Jialinna didn't mind using these matters to gain some benefits for herself. After all, her fief, Saladill County, was located in the southwestern part of the Kingdom and also shared a border with the Carson Rick United Kingdom.
"The Delarion royal family is connected to Zaras Academy, and the Carson Rick royal family is connected to Cerces?"
Xia De was still pondering this matter.
"Yes, although the Three Great Arcane Academies are all on the fringes of human civilization, they also have their own industries within civilized society, and their association with the royal families also takes this into consideration."
"But in this epoch, there are only two largest human kingdoms. Zaras and Cerces each connect with one, so what about Saint Byron's?"
"Saint Byron's doesn't need to, because they themselves are very powerful."
"Why?"
"Because what Saint Byron's excels at is containing relics."
Jialinna said simply:
"The most top-tier Great Witches of the fifth epoch could themselves contend with 0-level relics, and even converse casually with Saints, but the Thirteen Ring Sorcerers of the sixth epoch cannot. This is the reason."
Jialinna had other matters today, so she left after a brief chat with Xia De.
Xia De also had things to do. He left Mia to guard the house, prepared her lunch, and then set off for Middlesburg.
Today was Thursday. After the murder case at Middlesburg Mechanical College was solved last week, Captain Lades invited Xia De to meet him at the Red Water Camp on Windy Path, taking advantage of his day off today. Old friends could chat with each other or go hunting together.
Of course, if Sicar Mountain wasn't foggy in the afternoon, Xia De also planned to look for that Demon Hunter's sword.
So, after walking out of the ruined tower, passing through the mountain forest, and entering the main road leading into the mountains, Xia De did not choose to go down towards Mi Fort City. Instead, he continued uphill along the mountain road.
Windy Path is one of the most important passages for hiking across the Sicar Mountain border, and Red Water Camp, where Captain Lades is stationed, is the largest military camp beside Windy Path.
