Chapter 1007: Days of Waiting for the Demon

Although the demon had now concealed his tracks, no one could say for certain how many "Victor Boxes" he had sold in Tobesk. For the sake of the city's peaceful life, in addition to slaying Victor Victor Fanni, Xia De and the doctor also needed to notify the church to recover the boxes that had already been sold.

This matter could be handled by Yi Lu Na; that morning, Luvia had said she would tell Yi Lu Na, who had plenty of experience reporting all manner of illegal criminal activities.

Of course, there was no need to worry about the church defeating the demon first. Only those who had personally received the trial from the "Secret Keeper" could complete the trial. So the church could not obtain the Brilliant Stone by defeating the demon, and Xia De likewise could not rely on the "Abyss Cardinal Sin Elixir" and the "Human Jigsaw" to obtain the Brilliant Stone.

After last week's series of adventures, this week's life seemed to have calmed down. At least this Wednesday, not much happened.

Xia De did not receive any message from Doctor Shi Nai De, nor did he go to ask the doctor, because the doctor was most likely even more anxious than he was, afraid that the demon would simply leave Tobesk.

However, that afternoon at four o'clock, Xia De received news from Dorothy that Princess Margaret had finished her diplomatic activities and had already returned to the Canary Manor where she was staying.

So before dinner, Xia De visited the Canary Manor in the South District of Tobesk, and as a friend of Princess Margaret, was granted entry to the manor and given the chance to speak with the princess alone.

As for the pretext, of course it was the one agreed upon last time: the enthusiastic Princess Margaret teaching Xia De the Carsonrick language.

The real reason Xia De had come to visit was, on the one hand, to ask whether the princess had been troubled by the demon, and on the other hand, to deliver to her the alchemical item made by Doctor Shi Nai De for warding off demons.

"This black cloth strip, tie it around your arm and it will take effect."

Xia De briefly explained the item's function in the study. The princess, who had pale golden long hair, was quite surprised that Xia De had produced a finished product so quickly.

She still wanted to talk more with Xia De—about the demon, about this city, the northern steam capital, which was indeed very novel for Margaret Anjou, who had long resided in Verlindel. Xia De also knew that if he merely stayed in the study for five minutes and then left, it would arouse suspicion, so he stayed and chatted with the princess about local interesting stories, mentioning the secrets of the local ring sorcerers he had heard from Doctor Shi Nai De.

Princess Margaret was very glad that someone could take the initiative to discuss this with her. If it weren't for the inconvenience of having Xia De stay for dinner, she would even have wanted him to talk a while longer. But at half past five in the afternoon, Xia De was already thinking about going home for dinner; Dorothy and Mia were both waiting for him.

So he bade farewell to Princess Margaret, and under the servant's guidance, left the study and walked toward the staircase leading downstairs.

Just as he went down the stairs, Xia De realized the badge on his chest was heating up. Sure enough, at the second-floor landing, beneath a landscape painting of the Terrareal River, he ran into Miss Sylvia, who was coming up the stairs.

The witch glanced sideways at Xia De and did not greet him. Xia De gave a slight nod, then followed the servant toward the first floor.

Miss Sylvia continued upward and found Princess Margaret, who had not yet left, in the study:

"Just now I saw a man, seemed to be... Hamilton? I remember he had asked me for advice on a mathematics paper."

The witch said teasingly, sitting down in the chair Xia De had just occupied. Princess Margaret immediately stood up from behind the desk:

"Mr. Hamilton came to consult me on Carsonrick, and gave me a book."

She said somewhat nervously.

"A book?"

Miss Sylvia raised an eyebrow:

"I didn't know you were that familiar with that knight."

In fact, she knew.

"We just talked a bit more in public..."

The princess carefully offered an explanation, glancing at the book now sitting on the desk, titled "Tracing the Urban History of Tobesk."

"Is this book very rare? You specially asked him to find it?"

Miss Sylvia asked again. The princess pressed her lips together, somewhat regretting not having immediately put away what Xia De had given her. Now that black cloth strip was clutched in her hand; she did not believe she could hide it from her own teacher:

"Teacher, actually he is..."

"A ring sorcerer, a correspondence ring sorcerer from hereabouts, yes? If I couldn't even guess that, how could I be your teacher?"

The young Great Witch asked with a smile, but in fact Xia De's identity was something Xia De himself had said in Huntington City, not something she had guessed.

An expression of shame immediately appeared on the princess's face. Miss Sylvia shook her head:

"Socializing with correspondence students from out of town is perfectly normal. Don't worry, I'll act as though I knew nothing today. But what did that knight give you?"

Only then did the princess take out that black cloth strip. The fabric was extremely light, and felt unusually cold. When encountering a demon, tying it to the right arm could briefly drive the demon away.

"It seems your new friend is quite capable."

Miss Sylvia remarked. Princess Margaret clutched that strip, lost in thought.

Although no news of the demon was obtained this Wednesday, by Thursday, Doctor Shi Nai De had someone deliver a letter to Xia De.

The letter mentioned that the doctor had already found Victor Victor Fanni's trail, but still needed one to two more days to search and pinpoint him, and asked Xia De to be ready to depart at any time.

"Since the doctor has found the other's trail, that demon most likely can't escape."

Xia De was quite optimistic about this.

So on the following snowy Thursday, he still chose to stay home and read with Dorothy.

In the morning, it was the Young Lady writer's own soul that was present; her back, as she stood by the window holding a book and watching the snowfall, was exceptionally moving.

After lunch, Xia De went again to the Canary Manor where Princess Margaret was staying to check on her. On the way "learning a foreign language," he once again unexpectedly ran into Miss Sylvia. However, the young Great Witch still did not speak to Xia De; only after Xia De finished his half-hour-plus casual chat with Princess Margaret did she quietly call him over to ask whether he had recently learned any new spatial-type Miracles.

This witch wanted to teach Xia De some interesting abilities, but her level was too high—Xia De would need to reach the Middle Ring at the earliest before he could study under her.

When he returned home at two in the afternoon, the one waiting at home to greet Xia De was Princess Lei Lei Qianya's soul:

"Anyway, this afternoon's work is just sitting in on a report; letting Dorothy cover for me is no big deal."

The golden-haired Miss patted the snow off Xia De's shoulders in the entry hall. Then, half in jest, she asked:

"How does it feel, living together with a pretty girl?"

It was plain to see she was still somewhat envious of Dorothy. The princess wanted everything; on this point she and Xia De had much in common.

However, when the snow stopped in the evening, Xia De's neighbor, old Sir Fleming of 23 St. Delan Square, commissioned Xia De to help him find his lost pet dog.

Xia De had taken on many commissions to find cats, but this was his first time finding a dog. He had expected it would take two or three days, but to his own surprise, on the way back from dinner out with Dorothy—who had switched back again—he spotted a dog that looked almost exactly like the one in the photo, standing on the street barking at a few stray dogs.

"Little Taka!"

Xia De called out the name of that black-and-white spotted dog, and it indeed turned its head to look at him. Then the pet dog, together with one black and one yellow stray dog, all started barking wildly at Xia De.

Dorothy, wrapped in a red scarf, covered her mouth and laughed softly. Mia, who was being held by her, had been squinting her eyes with her head tucked behind the lower edge of the scarf, enjoying the leisurely time after dinner. Now, annoyed by the continuous barking, she poked her head out from behind Dorothy's scarf, saw that the source of the sound was merely dogs, and let out a "Meow~". ωω

That sound held no intimidation whatsoever as far as Xia De was concerned, but it startled all three dogs into turning tail and running.

This led Xia De to chase them for two blocks before he caught up with the pet dog "Little Taka," who was leaking urine as it ran. The dog ran so frantically that it crashed headfirst into a snowdrift and was forced to stop.

And when Xia De reunited with Dorothy, who was holding the cat, the pet dog once again put on a playing-dead act. It wasn't until they reached St. Delan Square and Xia De knocked on old Sir Fleming's door that the dog darted swiftly into the house; it seemed it wouldn't dare come out again anytime soon.

"That money was really easy to earn."

As he took out his key and opened his own door, Xia De said to Dorothy. The Young Lady writer also smiled:

"This is mainly thanks to luck, and also because old Lord Fleming is very wealthy."

"What does that lord do?"

Xia De did not know his neighbors very well, but Dorothy did:

"Knights and non-hereditary barons can both be called 'Sir.' Sir Fleming was the steward of Yodel Palace when my grandfather was still alive. Yes, no need to ask; I know most royal stewards already held noble titles, but his son was involved in that political incident over twenty years ago, and the family's noble title was stripped. However, Sir Fleming was loyal, so he still retains the status of a life baron."

In just a few words, she touched upon the kingdom's political conspiracies and highlighted the rich life story behind that old lord:

"But why does no one call me 'Sir'?"

Xia De asked curiously as he pushed open the door and returned home with Dorothy.

"Because you are the only knight in the last century to be ennobled for martial merit, so people prefer to address you directly by that title."

Dorothy said with a smile; Princess Lei Lei Qianya also liked to address Xia De directly as "Knight."

The generations of young ladies who grew up reading knightly novels held an unimaginable fondness for such a title. The fact that the "scandal" between Xia De and Miss Jia Lin Na spread so quickly and widely was also greatly related to the two titles "Duchess" and "Young Knight."

Another small thing happened on Thursday evening. At eight o'clock, Xia De was in the study helping Dorothy translate ancient documents from the Fifth Era that she might encounter in her year-end exams, while thinking that if Doctor Shi Nai De still had no news by tomorrow, he would go for a stroll in Cold Water Port and Midhill Fort. Meanwhile, Dorothy was in the kitchen washing the apples and pears that Princess Lei Lei Qianya had sent over in the afternoon.

Suddenly, Mia let out a "Meow," and only then did Xia De notice something glowing in the drawer. Upon opening it, he found that the poetry manuscript pages had transmitted a new message.

Miss Daniste, the librarian of Saint Byron, wished to see him in twenty minutes; Xia De needed to prepare for the projection ceremony in advance.