After lunch, Xia De gave the nun the vines containing spiritual toxins that he had obtained while searching for the 【Aiken Ola Knowledge Arrow】, so that the nun could further search for the "Pantanal Evil."
He didn't stay in Middelburg for too long, bidding farewell to the reluctant Helen and Grace at 2 PM to return home.
The carriage was prepared by Miss Swift, the Witch's apprentice, a flaxen-haired girl who braved the heavy snow to take Xia De to the entrance of the auction house, waving goodbye to him from the snow.
Flurries of snow fell on the young girl's hat and shoulders; Miss Swift, on bidding farewell, seemed to hesitate, biting her lip for a long time without speaking.
Seeing that the snow was getting heavy, Xia De told her to quickly go back.
At this, the young girl suddenly threw something at the carriage window, then turned and quickly walked towards the auction house entrance.
The coachman driving the carriage flicked the reins, and the wheels crunched through the snow with a muffled rustling sound.
The carriage drove into the falling snow, and Xia De picked up the object that had been thrown into the carriage.
Of course, it wasn't a steam bomb with its safety pulled, but a pebble rune stone.
Based on the faintly glowing branch-like runes on the smooth surface of the pebble, Xia De recognized it as the disguise rune stone Tifa had used by Schluch Lake.
One only needed to chant an incantation to activate the rune stone for disguise.
Due to the inducement of this rune stone, Miss Pa Wo, the Hexacle Vice President of the Truth Society, still firmly believed that the female companion, suspected to be a "Summoner," was an ugly woman, and the "Summoner's" pet was a dog.
"Oh, Miss Swift can actually make rune stones of this level now? This is truly remarkable!"
When Xia De danced after the battle at Schluch Lake, he heard Tifa, wearing a blue dress, say that this type of rune stone was an alchemical item unique to Witches, requiring at least PentaCircle to craft.
He hadn't shaken Miss Swift's hand just now, so he wasn't aware of the young girl's level change.
But from this rune stone, it seemed she had advanced from Fourth Circle to PentaCircle, and her Ring術士 level should have also risen to Hexacle.
"This unconfident Witch, has finally started to make progress."
Xia De sighed softly, then put the rune stone into his pocket.
"Then why did she throw this to you?"
"She" murmured softly, Xia De tilted his head, looking at the snowy scenery outside the window, pretending not to hear.
The fragment of the poem and Luvia's prophecy indicated that Jack the Thief would steal an item that the king had once touched tonight, in the Yodel Palace - Saint Delan Square area.
Luvia and the Church both believed that the place of theft was most likely Yodel Palace, and it so happened that Xia De had also received an invitation to attend the princesses' reading salon, so he would spend tonight with Leia, Princess Margaret, and Luvia at the Prophet Association.
After returning home in the afternoon, he first handled the "anti-theft" measures at home; even though Dorothy would be looking after Saint Delan Square Six tonight, Xia De still had to ensure everything was foolproof.
After the Writer finished dinner in the kitchen in the evening, Xia De repeatedly emphasized safety issues.
"Although the possibility of my home being robbed is very small, I still want to emphasize it again.
If you really encounter 【Jack the Thief】, your and Mia's safety is the most important."
Xia De solemnly pinched Mia's waist and handed the cat to Dorothy.
The cat, which had been curiously looking at the plate of scrambled eggs, let out a dissatisfied whimper when it was picked up.
Dorothy took off her apron, washed her hands, and then smilingly took the disobedient cat:
"Yes, yes, Mr. Detective, tonight I will not let your cat out of my sight, and if any stranger appears at home, I will immediately take it out of the house."
"That's it, and also, don't open the door at any time unless it's me knocking; if there are beggars, pretend not to hear them, there are no beggars in the nearby streets, King Larus III is soft-hearted and can't bear to see beggars; if a shadow appears outside the window, leave the window immediately; you have weapons on you, don't be soft-hearted when necessary; and..."
"Xia De, do you really want to tell me these things like an adult leaving home?"
The Writer asked, feigning dissatisfaction, and Xia De could only shut up, though he actually had many more precautions to tell Dorothy.
Looking askance at the living room, a roaring fire danced in the fireplace.
This afternoon, Leia had sent someone to help Xia De light the fireplace, and Xia De, who had just returned home, took the opportunity to learn and confirmed that he had mastered the technique of using the fireplace.
Dorothy brought all the dinner to the table, and after sitting down, she also informed Xia De of her plans for the evening.
She planned to hold the cat and read on the carpet in front of the fireplace tonight.
Although the living room of her apartment on Feather Pen Street had a fireplace, it was far less grand than Xia De's.
"Mia, you're going to stay with Dorothy tonight, don't run around."
Since Dorothy already thought Xia De was a bit verbose, Xia De then pointed at Mia and began to "lecture" her during dinner.
The orange and white kitten tilted its head, looked at him, then stretched its neck, squinted its eyes, wiggled its bottom slightly, and pushed its two furry front paws forward and back paws backward, performing a stretch.
"It doesn't want to listen to your nagging either."
Dorothy said with a smile, feeding the cat a small piece of egg.
Mia sniffed it warily, and only bit down after seeing Xia De nod.
Because of this piece of egg, when Dorothy picked up the cat after dinner, with its four little paws pointing upwards and its snowy white belly exposed, it surprisingly didn't resist.
Leia's reading salon at the Prophet Association was scheduled to start at 7 PM tonight and end around 9 to 9:30 PM.
Xia De began to pack his clothes after dinner, and only after Dorothy helped him straighten his tie did he confirm he could leave.
The Golden-haired girl, dressed in home clothes and holding a lazy cat, saw Xia De downstairs.
As Xia De changed his shoes, he emphasized again:
"Because 【Jack the Thief】 gets stronger when facing strength, I didn't take 【Night Watchman】 to the Prophet Association.
Dorothy, I put that sword by..."
"By the fireplace, with the poker, right where I can reach it."
Dorothy repeated, Xia De opened his mouth, not knowing what to say, so the Golden-haired girl extended her arms and hugged Xia De:
"Give my regards to Leia, and I wish you all a pleasant evening."
Dorothy opened the door for him, handed him the "hamilton detective story collection" that Xia De intended to bring to the salon—Xia De certainly couldn't bring his "The Queen and Her Lovers" from home—and then pushed Xia De into the howling evening wind outside the door.
The winter night wind cut into the skin like a knife.
It was the 27th day of the frost descent month, and deep winter had already arrived.
At 6:30 PM, the sun had completely set, and the streetlights on Saint Delan Square were just coming on.
Xia De, standing in the halo of the dim yellow lights, turned to look at his own doorway.
Dorothy, holding the cat with one hand, waved goodbye to Xia De from the lit doorway, the wind blowing into the hall making her hair beside her ears sway.
Xia De also slowly waved goodbye, but his intuition told him that something was likely to happen again tonight.
Saint Delan Square and Silver Cross Avenue were only separated by one street, so Xia De could walk there.
As he turned into Silver Cross Avenue, he noticed that the gas lamps on Silver Cross Avenue were exceptionally bright tonight.
In the fog, the evenly distributed halos of light completely illuminated the entire street, a sight not seen before.
This appearance was not due to Leia's reading salon, but because the Church also clearly believed that Jack the Thief's target tonight was Yodel Palace.
As Xia De stepped onto Silver Cross Avenue, he saw more dense patrols than usual patrolling the streets; what used to be two-person police patrols were now small teams of four.
Occasionally, one or two Ring術士 could even be seen mixed among the ordinary police officers.
As 【Jack the Thief】 gets stronger when facing strength, the Church was very cautious about security arrangements before his actual appearance.
"Oh, the light of civilization!"
He walked along, looking at the streetlights, and then recalled the arrow he hadn't been able to shoot yesterday afternoon.
Although that was twenty-four hours ago, Xia De had a premonition that as long as he couldn't fully shoot that arrow, the uncomfortable feeling in his heart, as if being scratched by hundreds of thousands of Mia, would continue to bother him.
Thinking of this, Xia De waited for a moment, but "she" did not correct him that last time Xia De thought it was "tens of thousands," which disappointed Xia De greatly.
But he immediately heard "her" gentle laughter, and his mood instantly improved a lot, even the moon, covered by thin fog, seemed to become rounder.
Tonight's event was called a "reading salon," but it was actually an event initiated by King Larus III to strengthen the relationship between the royal families of Carson Rick and Delarion.
Leia had also attended similar salons when she visited Weilandale City this summer.
Therefore, among the invited guests, the entourage of Princess Margaret's visiting delegation and the Carson Rick Writers and cultural critics residing in Tobesk combined accounted for one-third of the total number.
Of course, Sir Prisha, who possessed the core Ling Rune of "Guiding Moon" and was on Xia De's mind, would also be present, as he was a very famous Poet in Carson Rick.
As for the Delarion side, besides Leia, the sixteen-year-old Princess Angelina and the nineteen-year-old Prince Nasser would also attend.
According to the custom of nobles in the Tobesk region, reading salons generally did not invite too many people.
The invited guests would use affected yet elegant and beautiful language to discuss books, literature, academia, fashion, and sometimes even gossip and rhode cards.
Leia's reading salon this time invited a total of 34 guests, which could be considered a relatively large-scale salon.
When Xia De arrived at the entrance of the Prophet Association, guests were already arriving one after another.
The ground floor hall of the Prophet Association, which was closed at night, had a dim, hazy lighting that made people feel disoriented.
As the hostess of the salon, Leia arrived at the Prophet Association earlier than anyone else.
Following Xia De's suggestion, she chose a second-floor room that offered a view of Yodel Palace.
When Xia De reached the room at the end of the red-carpeted corridor, Leia was already at the room's entrance with her younger brother and sister, welcoming the arriving guests.
