From Thursday, when he first arrived in Huntington City, to Sunday evening, when he was led by the resurrected wolf to a mysterious lake on the edge of the Great Swamp, Xia De only spent three days getting close to the truth of the legend.
But he couldn't spend all his time and energy in Huntington City; there were still many things waiting for him to deal with in Tobesk on Monday.
At 6:30 AM on Monday, when Xia De woke up on time, he felt as if a stone was pressing on his chest.
"Sleep paralysis?"
This era also had such a saying.
When he opened his eyes, he realized it wasn't sleep paralysis, but cat paralysis. Mia, waiting for breakfast, was standing on the quilt on Xia De's chest, staring at him intently.
"What do you think this cat is thinking?"
Xia De asked in his mind, smiling as he picked up the cat and sat up from the bed. With a slight movement of his finger, the curtains automatically drew open with a whoosh.
The voice by his ear chuckled:
"Probably dissatisfied with your lazy life."
"Lazy? To prevent the 'sloth' Ling Rune from affecting my mind and personality, I haven't even associated any Miracles with this Ling Rune. And this cat's laziness is stronger than any human I know."
The cat, held by the scruff of its neck, looked pitifully at Xia De, its big eyes showing a very human-like expression of grievance, its white whiskers trembling slightly, and its small nose twitching with its breathing, as if it wanted to write 'I want to eat' on its face.
A new week also meant that Xia De could take out new gifts from the god's gift box. When he went downstairs to get the newspaper and milk, he casually moved the metal box from the basement upstairs.
While reading the news in the newspaper about welcoming Princess Margaret Anjou's visit today at the dining table, he wondered what strange item would be taken out this week. But no matter how strange the weekly gifts were, Xia De was still happy to try. This kind of 'lottery' activity, where the outcome was completely unpredictable but might yield valuable items, was one of the few hobbies of an Outsider in this world. In fact, upon closer thought, he had developed many hobbies in this world, including but not limited to rhode cards and Mia.
This time, without even waiting to finish breakfast, Xia De, unable to suppress his curiosity, reached out and pushed open the lid of the gift box.
When he put his hand inside the box, he didn't touch an item immediately, which meant it wasn't a large item this time. He continued to grope downwards until he touched something with a cold metallic feel at the bottom of the box:
"Ordinary item."
Although he made such a judgment, Xia De's interest did not wane. He took the item out of the gift box and found it was a small silver box with crushed diamonds inlaid on its surface. The box had a shield-like appearance, and from its weight, luster, and feel, it was highly likely to be a pure silver jewelry box.
After opening the box, a beautiful emerald indeed lay in the red velvet lining. The gem was egg-shaped, and although it was only about half the size of a fingernail and not very valuable, its surface was polished with excellent layering. The sunlight streaming in from the window made the gem sparkle, making it an absolutely precious piece of jewelry.
"An emerald in a silver jewelry box, this is actually considered one item, the box and the gem are counted as one."
Xia De thought curiously, picking up the gem to examine it carefully. Mia, who was originally licking her goat milk with her head down, also stretched her small head over, widened her eyes, twitched her pink nose to sniff twice, and then immediately lost interest.
"The quality of the gem is very good, even a ritual with strict requirements for ritual materials would not refuse this level of jewelry."
He put the small emerald back into the silver shield-shaped box, thought for a moment, then flipped the box over to its back, extended his finger, and the Moonlight appeared from his fingertip:
"Gift from Hamilton of Thunder Jeed."
As he spelled, he used the Moonlight at his fingertip to engrave this line of text, a skill he knew even before he truly mastered the Moonlight Greatsword:
"I'm going to attend that princess's wedding on Tuesday. Giving this as a gift shouldn't be embarrassing."
He admired the letters he had engraved, but then he took a deep breath, dissatisfied, and erased the text with the Breath of Years:
"The handwriting is a bit too ugly."
In the end, he only engraved the first letter of his name to indicate his identity, which looked much more aesthetically pleasing.
As for the task corresponding to this piece of jewelry, it was to buy groceries alone twice this week, which was indeed very important for the children.
After confirming this week's gift, Xia De ate breakfast while reading the newspaper. After finishing breakfast, he went to read today's three letters.
One was from Priest Augustus. Dawn Church would distribute church gifts to core believers in early winter, reminding Xia De to pick them up. This year, they were giving a small bar of soap engraved with a holy emblem, an unframed church oil painting, and some seasonal vegetables.
Although these gifts were not valuable in the eyes of nobles, this tradition of giving seasonal gifts to core believers was quite important.
The second letter was from Dorothy. On Tuesday afternoon, which was tomorrow afternoon, the wedding of Mona Cavendish and Randolph Iceberg would be held at the Peace Church in this City. Xia De, at Leia's request, invited Dorothy as his female companion, and Dorothy wrote to inform Xia De of the time to meet her tomorrow.
As for the third letter, it bore the lowest denomination stamp, and the sender's address was a street in the north of the City, without a more specific house number. Xia De recognized the color of the ink and knew this was a communication from Gray Gloves.
"Has it finally arrived?"
The expired revealing potion he got from Priest Augustus last time hadn't been used up. After drenching the letter paper, which said "Same as before," with the potion, dense numbers immediately appeared.
He found "The Queen and Her Lovers," "The Silver Knight," and "Remains of the Western Front" from the study to decrypt the code, obtaining a complete letter.
The content was not much, and it was indeed about Princess Margaret Anjou. The letter requested Gray Headed Eagle to secretly protect the princess's safety during her visit, but under no circumstances should he reveal his identity.
After the news of transmitting "Difference Engine" data during the Great City Player period, Gray Headed Eagle should have fallen silent, 'bottoming out' again to await awakening. Less than three months later, he received orders again, which likely resulted from internal struggles within Gray Gloves and considerations by the Royal Family.
Although the order told Gray Headed Eagle not to reveal his identity, it gave him a special password that could be used to reveal his identity to Princess Margaret alone at a critical moment.
This mission did not have too many specific requirements; instead, it emphasized multiple times that Gray Headed Eagle should not appear easily. It seemed that no matter what, the important figures of Carson Rick implicitly agreed that Gray Headed Eagle's value was extremely high, and Gray Headed Eagle must never be sacrificed unless absolutely necessary.
"The political struggle within Carson Rick is not simple either."
Although Xia De had long resided in Delarion and could even only be considered "Gray Headed Eagle II," he could still hear thunder in this letter.
In fact, even without this letter, he would protect Princess Margaret. On one hand, MI6 absolutely could not allow anything to happen to the princess within Delarion; on the other hand, this was also a way to repay the deceased Sparrow Detective.
Although he intended to try his luck in Huntington again today, due to the missions from MI6 and Gray Gloves, Xia De had to join the crowd to welcome Princess Margaret and her entourage. For this, he had already agreed with Miss Jialinna to go with her, which would save time queuing for entry.
Although they would depart from Huntington City by steam airship, that airship would not land directly in the City, but rather in Walsh Town, eight miles (about 12.9 km) east of Tobesk City, outside the urban area. The visiting delegation would then take a special train to Tobesk Railway Station.
The train journey was actually less than half an hour, so the exact arrival time depended on when the airship could land safely. Fortunately, in recent days, Tobesk City and its surrounding areas had not experienced excessively strong rain or snow, so there was no need to worry about delays in the airship's arrival due to weather.
Tobesk Railway Station is located in the northern part of the City, while Miss Jialinna's manor is located in the southern suburbs. Therefore, around eight o'clock, the Great Witch arrived at Saint Delan Square Six with her maids, intending to wait there for news of the train's exact arrival time.
The reason for not waiting at Yodel Palace was that for the upcoming meeting between Larus III and the Southern Princess, as well as the special lunch and dinner prepared for the visiting delegation, the palace was very busy at the moment.
According to diplomatic protocol and general rules, when members of the Anjou Royal Family visit, they need to be personally welcomed by members of the Cavendish Royal Family. If the visit is by a Duke with real power and a fief, a Queen, or even a King, Larus III needs to personally welcome them. However, this time it was only a Princess, so according to custom, Queen Diana would lead the Crown Prince (not her biological son) and several princesses to the railway station to welcome her.
At this time, the group preparing to depart from Yodel Palace should also be waiting for news. Only after the people from Yodel Palace depart will Miss Jialinna's motorcade meet up with them:
"Although I am also a member of the Cavendish Family, whether I should appear on such an occasion has actually been considered many times by my nephew. After all, for a Duke with real power like me to welcome that Princess of the Anjou Family, the protocol seems a bit too high."
The Red-haired Witch, sitting on the sofa, said, looking quite spirited early in the morning:
"Later it was decided that I should still participate. MI6 received some news that this princess's visit is not merely a simple visit; she brought a letter from the current King of Carson Rick United Kingdom, 'Lion Ryan.' The other party seems interested in negotiating on the Balance of military personnel. So, to show goodwill, my nephew wrote to ask me to go to Tobesk Railway Station today as well."
"If he hadn't written, would you have gone?"
Xia De asked curiously. Tifa was directing the maids to prepare hot tea; they didn't know how long they would have to wait.
"Of course I would go. As a fellow council member, if I didn't go to welcome Sylvia's arrival in Tobesk, what would the other Witches of the council think of me?"
