Chapter 1015: Preparations for the End of Term

"Actually... I've been wanting to find an item at the academy library."

Xia De hesitated for a moment, but still said it aloud.

The female sorceress showed a smile:

"Then speak up—what do you need?"

"A stone slab, about this big."

Xia De gestured with his hands:

"And the four corners have yellow corner-caps. I'm not sure if they're brass, gold, yellow jade, or some other material."

The first two were silver and red jade, so there's no reason the third would be blue or black.

"To be honest, this stone slab is related to time. I need to rely on this special item to complete an advancement of a certain wonder. Based on the materials I've found so far, that slab is very likely right here in Saint Byrons."

Xia De spoke truthfully, and Miss Dac Dac Nisi considered for a moment:

"I can check the library's asset ledger and archives. If I really can't find it, I can try looking through the records at the 【Hall of the Secret-Keeper】."

"Hall of the Secret-Keeper?"

Xia De raised an eyebrow, and the thirteen-ring female sorceress asked with a smile:

"Did I mention that? Well then, it's a special space similar to the 【Silver Moon Library】, and all three academies can utilize part of its power. Because of its nature of passing down knowledge and storing memories, past library administrators may have left information inside."

Xia De nodded, guessing in his heart that the special space corresponding to the ancient god 【Secret-Keeping Tutor】 was the 【Hall of the Secret-Keeper】.

The entrance to 【Dark Dungeon】 is controlled by the Liming Sect, so it's no surprise the three academies can utilize other spaces:

"Then thank you, Miss Dac Dac Nisi."

The female sorceress shook her head:

"This is just a small matter. Tomorrow someone will go pick up that mirror, so around next Wednesday at the earliest, I'll be able to get it and run the experiment. I'll come find you then."

"Alright, I'm free anytime."

If it's Wednesday, the matter with the demon should already be resolved.

"Then let us pray, hoping that Lakins Prichard's inspiration really is useful."

The female sorceress said somewhat languidly:

"Otherwise, I really don't know where I'd go to find another ring sorcerer who might meet the requirements."

Two matters making progress in a single night put Xia De in a rather good mood.

Because Miss Dac Dac Nisi said someone would come Saturday morning, he even got up especially early to wait for the pickup person to arrive. The knock came at seven in the morning. Xia De, who had been sitting in the dining room watching Dorothy cook, almost immediately stood up. And after opening the downstairs door, standing outside was a refined middle-aged man with a black felt hat and round-frame glasses, sporting a golden beard.

The carriage parked behind him was not a standard four-wheeled rental carriage; the color of the carriage body and shafts was very black, and the coachman sitting up high looked as if he came from the Far North.

The refined middle-aged man took off his black velvet gloves and shook hands with Xia De, his eyes curiously sizing him up:

"Mr. Xia De Hamilton?"

His Drarian was not very standard, carrying the accent of the northern tundra region.

"Yes."

Xia De reached out as well, and then learned that this was a nine-ring sorcerer.

"I'm Associate Professor Leon, specializing in academy library management."

He spoke right there at Xia De's doorstep, and then saw Xia De's surprised expression:

"Don't be so shocked. Miss Dac Dac Nisi said there's an important item she needs me to pick up."

"Oh, I just didn't expect Miss Dac Dac Nisi to send... yes, it's right here."

Xia De immediately stepped aside from the doorway, pointing at the large crate placed to one side:

"Did Miss Dac Dac Nisi mention that this is a dangerous good, requiring careful transport?"

"Yes, our librarian is very cautious."

Associate Professor Leon smiled and nodded. Xia De had never imagined that one day he would be discussing such matters at his own doorstep.

The middle-aged associate professor then had the coachman help, and the three of them together lifted that crate onto the carriage. He also gave Xia De a receipt bearing the school's stamp and his own signature, to prove the item had been transferred—this also served as his private proof of contact with the correspondence ring sorcerer.

Of course, the item name on the receipt was "Corpse of an Ancient Mutated Unknown-Species Cannibal Rabbit (Class One Dangerous Good)."

"Almost forgot, there's also this."

As he spoke, Associate Professor Leon handed Xia De another piece of parchment. This was an academy bounty notice, issued by Associate Professor Leon, with the content being the purchase of "Corpse of an Ancient Mutated Unknown-Species Cannibal Rabbit (Class One Dangerous Good)." The bounty was issued last Monday, and the reward was two practical credits, with no other physical reward, but the stamp and signature were both complete.

"Congratulations, Mr. Hamilton—you've excellently completed my bounty."

The professor smiled and patted Xia De's shoulder, then took back the parchment he had just stuffed into his hand, and winked at him:

"You see, if you're putting on a show, you have to do the whole thing—now there are absolutely no oversights."

"Indeed very rigorous."

Xia De nodded, then politely invited:

"Would you like to come upstairs for a cup of hot tea? The temperature today is really low."

"Let's skip the tea—I still need to escort this to the next stop as soon as possible. Miss Dac Dac Nisi is in a terrible rush."

Associate Professor Leon waved at Xia De in farewell:

"By rights, professors like us on assignment aren't allowed to casually contact local correspondence students. This time it's an exception because of the bounty notice."

After boarding the carriage, he handed Xia De three strawberries packed in a paper bag:

"Consider it a meeting gift. I rarely come into contact with correspondence students either, but I have to admit..."

Before the carriage drove off, he looked up once more toward 6 Saint Delan Square:

"The students nowadays really are wealthy."

Waving goodbye to Xia De, the academy professor, who had come and gone in a hurry, thus departed from 6 Saint Delan Square.

"Where did these strawberries come from?"

When Xia De returned to the second floor, Dorothy had already brought breakfast to the table. The cat, looking especially soft and fluffy in winter, lay beside the plate, pressing its little paws beneath its body, staring wide-eyed at the food.

"A gift from the professor just now."

Dorothy didn't ask why a college professor would show up downstairs so early in the morning; she took the strawberries and examined them:

"It seems that professor is skilled in the powers of nature and plants. These strawberries have been treated with the high-ring wonder 【Nature's Fruit】.

Each one, when eaten, provides a minor healing effect and directly replenishes one-third of a low-ring sorcerer's spirit or one-fifth of a mid-ring sorcerer's spirit. However, consecutive use will severely diminish the effect, and like your 【Satiety Food】, they cannot be stored long-term."

Dorothy checked:

"These should keep for about 8 hours."

Today was Saturday, and the only thing on the agenda was the afternoon meeting at the doctor's, so there was no chance of intense combat requiring spirit replenishment. Xia De split the three strawberries between Dorothy and Leaving Xiao Xiao Miya.

The fruit was exceptionally sweet; eating fresh strawberries in winter made even the outlander feel that today would be a lucky day.

And spells and wonders that use fruit to gain strange powers are actually quite common. The ring sorcerers of the Church of Nature are quite skilled in this kind of power, and the ring sorcerers of the Pantanal Voodoo Society probably are too. Most of these are not basic abilities, and they have prerequisite learning conditions.

For example, the wonder "Berry Magic" that Dorothy has mastered requires not only the 【Fruit】 spirit rune, but also the spell "Food Preservation." And "Food Preservation" is a spell that alchemists like Father Priest Ao Gu Si must learn. So you see, the ring sorcerer system is quite wondrous, and Xia De's understanding of it is merely the tip of the iceberg.

After breakfast, Dorothy accompanied Xia De to the photo studio to pick up the photos they had taken together a few days earlier. This way, Xia De could take the photo of him holding Mia, slip it into an envelope, and mail it to Miss Gao De.

Dorothy looked happily at the photos of her and Xia De together, while Xia De checked the individual portraits. The photos were divided into three sets—one for Xia De, one for Princess Lei Lei Qianya, and one for Dorothy. Xia De planned to hang his individual portraits in the living room and bedroom, and place the photos with Dorothy in the study.

Thinking about it this way, 6 Saint Delan Square was starting to feel more and more like home.

The afternoon was this Saturday's study session. Father Priest Ao Gu Si and Luvia both happened to be unable to attend due to other matters. Father Priest Ao Gu Si had been called away by Bishop Owen to help with something, while Luvia had been called to participate in divination training at the Prophets' Association—Xia De learned this when he went to tell her about Sir Pulischa at noon.

Even Dorothy couldn't make it with Xia De. On Saturday morning, she went to her apartment to check her mail and found a letter from the Steam Bird Daily, summoning her to discuss the reprinting of the first volume of The Hamilton Detective Stories.

So, that afternoon at the doctor's clinic, there were only Xia De and Doctor Shi Nai De. The doctor wasn't too surprised:

"By year's end, everyone has a lot on their plate. It's only the eighth day of the Slumber Month now; in half a month, things will really get busy."

Though he said that, at least for now the doctor looked like he had plenty of time. Since no one else was here today, he discussed the demon's progress with Xia De.

"Probably tomorrow."

The doctor said in a relaxed tone:

"He wasn't able to leave the Tobesk area."

"No problem."

Xia De nodded and asked:

"Doctor, how are your end-of-term exams coming along? Although the demon matter is important, the exams should be more important."

"Everything should be fine except for 'Ether Mechanics,' but I still have a term paper I haven't submitted."

The doctor shrugged. He had been stuck in the fifth ring for over two years now, and he had actually completed most of his fifth-year coursework long ago.

After chatting with the doctor for a while about the scholarship evaluation after the end-of-term exams, Xia De also got a catalog of wonders and spells from the academy. Having not purchased new wonders or spells in a long time, Xia De spent a total of 69 pounds to select the spell "Flash Mark" and "Feather Fall."

The former can release a permanent mark on the surface of an object, visible only to oneself and ring sorcerers five rings higher, used to mark one's own belongings; the casting material is any kind of dust. The latter's casting material is feathers, and it allows one's body to experience air resistance like a feather when falling, thereby reducing fall damage.

The conditions for advancing a grade include the number of spells and wonders one has mastered. Xia De, who planned to skip grades, therefore needed the number of abilities for two grades. His number of wonders barely met the standard, and his spells also barely met it. But those spells from The Pink Book—he really didn't want to speak them aloud, so he just picked some basic spells to fill the quota.

After all, "Living Rope Trick," "Local Hardening," "Status Conversion Spell: Pain and Pleasure," "Summon Burning Lamp Wax," "Hair Loss Spell," "Desire Mark," and "Suffocating Gaze" don't look like much individually, but if they all appeared on the same ring sorcerer, it would certainly raise suspicion.

Advancing too quickly meant Xia De hadn't had time to study and explore too many wonders and spells. He planned to wait until he advanced to the mid-ring to properly learn a few useful wonders. But if that was the case, his current savings of over ten thousand pounds probably wouldn't be enough.

Although only two people attended that afternoon's study session, it still lasted until half past four. After saying goodbye to Doctor Shi Nai De, Xia De took the cat to the Steam Bird Daily newspaper office to find Dorothy, where they ran into a devoted reader of the young lady writer. To answer the enthusiastic readers' questions, they lingered at the office for over another hour.

During that time, the cat kept by the newspaper office to guard the warehouse and prevent mice from gnawing on documents suddenly darted at Xia De, triggering a fierce reaction from Leaving Xiao Xiao Miya. The two cats scrambled around the editorial department, nearly causing a "disaster." But the laughing editor-in-chief, Mr. Calvin Sen, didn't mind at all, and even praised Xia De's cat for looking very spirited.

The pleasant Saturday was coming to an end, which also meant a new time key would be opened tomorrow morning. After the adventure in the Fifth Epoch 5177 with the eight witches, Xia De was Actually Quite the Era looking forward to what kind of story and what kind of people he would encounter next.