Chapter 1227: Letters, Elves, and Keys

"Roast goose, vegetable salad, beef... it really looks nice. Except for the expensive spellcasting materials, this new spell of yours has almost no flaws." Luvia commented, putting Little Mia, who had smelled the scent of dinner, back into Xia De's arms.

So the two people and one cat sat around the bonfire and had dinner. After dinner, they simply cleaned the plates and pots and turned them into toys to put away, and Xia De said another matter with some hesitation:

"Actually... this morning, I received a letter from Miss Gao De." "Miss Gao De? Who is that?"

Luvia thought for a moment before remembering:

"Oh, Little Mia's owner. I remember you said that in the letter you sent last month, you mentioned formally adopting Little Mia..." "It was just a joke."

Xia De said slowly. He sat on a stone, let the cat lie on his lap, and took out the folded letter from his pocket: "Actually, I haven't opened it to see the contents yet."

The envelope was reflected red by the light of the bonfire.

"Aren't you always very decisive in doing things?"

Luvia took the letter, looked at the return address, and helped Xia De open it. She first took out the monthly customary "Mia's upbringing fee," then glanced at the contents of the two pages of letter paper, and only handed it to Xia De after reading it:

"That Miss Gao De's handwriting is really beautiful. Don't worry, the letter didn't mention your joke last time. However, is Miss Gao De in poor health? She said she was sick again."

"Sick again?"

Xia De went to look at the letter. Miss Gao De said in the letter that she was busy with family affairs, dealing with the family's manor, wharf, old house, farmland, etc., so she was exhausted again in winter. But fortunately, the many strange things surrounding that remote town had been suppressed by the Zhengshen Sect, so Miss Gao De could recruit people to deal with the property and trash left by her ancestors.

Her illness this time was not more serious than last autumn, and she told Xia De not to worry in the letter, not to worry about her affairs. She even mentioned some interesting things she encountered when dealing with family property, such as discovering some azure star-colored mineral crystals in a nearly abandoned farm, which the church people said might be meteorites; such as discovering some vessels that once contained human blood in a manor used for banquets and enjoyment not far from the family's old house, which the church was also investigating; such as discovering traces of suspicious creatures in the sewer under the old house she once mentioned; and even discovering some strange scales on the town wharf behind the old house, and people followed the scales to find a bay cave full of glowing coral...

"Do you think Miss Gao De could be a Chosen One?"

Xia De couldn't help but ask Luvia. Luvia looked at him suspiciously:

"You are already a bit paranoid. How could a Chosen One appear so easily?" "But every single thing Miss Gao De mentioned in the letter is suspicious."

He waved the letter and handed it to Mia again. The cat immediately stretched its neck to sniff it, then opened its mouth wide and "meowed~".

The cat squirmed in Xia De's arms, its four hooves upward revealing its snow-white soft belly. Xia De reached out to stroke it:

"I have made a decision. When spring comes, I must go to that town no matter what. Starting from Midhillburg, heading east to the east coast of the Old Continent, it only takes a day or two by train. Of course, I will set off after the affairs in Randall Valley City are over."

"Then I hope the gods protect that town."

Luvia said softly, holding a teacup. Xia De didn't hear what she meant but continued to look at the end of the letter: "Look, Miss Gao De said she is also preparing to send me some interesting things she found in the old house next month."

"What could it be?"

"Whatever it is, it's fine. Come to think of it, I even doubted whether that Miss Gao De really existed."

He smiled and folded the letter, planning to write a reply after returning home:

"But since I can receive mailed goods, Miss Gao De must exist."

"Why do you think Mia Gao De doesn't exist?"

Luvia asked again.

"After all, I have never met that lady, and among the four commissions left by Detective Sparrow, the other three all point to extremely dangerous follow-ups—"

Investigating the lover led me to the Blood of Mercury and witnessing the Blood Banquet in Tobesk; searching for a doctor to treat my eye ailment led me to clues about the 【Nightwatcher】, and I saw the demon seal and the witch's seal of the Boundary of Life and Death halfway up Mount Sikar; helping Miss White find her missing sister was even more extraordinary, as Grace and Helen appeared right before my eyes.

Under these circumstances, isn't it normal to suspect that Miss Gao De has a problem?"

Xia De said very seriously, while Luvia pointed out the loophole:

"Then why is it that the client has a problem, and not the commissioned object—that is, your cat has a problem?"

"Meow?"

Mia meowed softly, tilting its head to look at her.

"Mia has a problem? Mia certainly has a problem. As a cat, it is too cute..."

"Ahem."

"It is too smart and sensible, but on the weekend, when I identified its blood in Midhillburg, I found that it has an extremely thin bloodline of the 【Son of the Sun】, which explains all this very well. So, there might be a big secret about Miss Gao De, and her suspicious fallen family, maybe the ancestors of the family were obsessed with mysticism and accidentally discovered or summoned some ancient evil, and that evil is under the ground of her family's old house."

Xia De analyzed it solemnly.

"I thank you for your reasoning on behalf of Miss Gao De," Luvia said half-angrily and half-amusedly, "I think even if you want to take the cat as your own, there is no need to curse her like this, right?"

Xia De changed his tone:

"I wish Miss Gao De peace, I wish Miss Gao De's family a smooth path to revitalization, just like the Osenfort family... This spring, I will definitely visit that town in person, and then no matter what trouble there is, I can solve it for her... If I can't solve it, I can report it to the church after finding out the truth."

Xia De had already taken the cluster of tail feathers given by the unicorn last week to Old John, entrusting him to make them into a hairband, but he hadn't brought it today. Luvia still remembered this, and even thought about showing it off to Dorothy after returning to Tobesk. She chatted with Xia De, and Mia, who had finished dinner, was very energetic, running around in the snow, but never left Xia De's sight.

When the sun completely set and the time reached 7:03, a highly penetrating "Ang~" sound came from the creek forest covered with snow, which was the call of that little beast.

Sure enough, after a while, the little beast emitting pure white light appeared from the forest carrying the beautiful blonde elf. The elf sat sideways on the back of the unicorn, wearing a hood to cover herself, but her hair still appeared from the edge of the hood. This scene was like a fairy tale really coming before their eyes.

The elf girl Emilia jumped off the unicorn outside the camp and entered the camp with the little beast. The firelight illuminated them, and Xia De, holding the cat that ran back, saw the little beast at once. When the latter came to Xia De's side affectionately and rubbed against him, Mia broke free from Xia De's arms and jumped onto the unicorn's head.

"Meow?"

The cat and the beast played together—at least that's what Xia De felt, after all, he didn't see the larger unicorn bullying Little Mia. The elf girl sat down by the bonfire with Xia De and Luvia, and Xia De reached into his pocket and took out a handbag that definitely couldn't fit in his pocket:

"They are all fresh materials, you can count them."

The blonde elf nodded somewhat cautiously, and then handed the information she got from the library about "Randall Valley" and "Crazy Earth" to Xia De. Besides that information, she even gave Xia De a Time Key:

"I heard you are a time investigator, this is a gift for you. The corresponding time point is about the mid-Fifth Era, around 3000. I didn't mark the time carefully, but the error will not exceed 50 years."

She was even worried that Xia De wouldn't accept it: "Thank you for helping to take care of it."

They all looked

at the cat and the unicorn. At this time, they were in the shadow of the firelight, Little Mia was still standing on the unicorn's head, and the pure white little beast looked timid as if it was a bit scared. It seemed that they were getting along very well, and the powerful unicorn did not bully the weak cat.

"And for a Ring Mage without a time spirit rune, the 【Time Key】 is useless if kept in hand."

"A Time Key around 3000 of the Fifth Era?"

The first trip to the Thousand Tree Forest where he met Miss Feilian and Miss Olandon was in 3002 of the Fifth Era; and the second trip to the Silent Valley-Gadis Library where he met Miss Olandon, Miss Samuel, and Miss Delage was in 3024.

Although even if he arrived near those time points, he might not necessarily meet the ladies he was familiar with, using this kind of key would undoubtedly greatly increase the probability of meeting old friends.

The elf girl was very satisfied with the materials Xia De prepared. After the two sides traded goods and money, Emilia Siamnod mentioned that she had not yet found the "hidden space" Xia De mentioned.

It would be abnormal if she could find it in such a short time, so Xia De didn't care. However, the two sides agreed that the elf girl would report the investigation progress to Xia De once a week, and Xia De would teach her brand-new ancient elf characters each time.

The trading location was not set here, but at the Abundant Earth Hotel in the city:

"I eat there every time I come to Randall Valley."

She said embarrassedly, obviously she also had sufficient disguise methods.

This time Xia De also prepared a long poem written in ancient elf language as a reward for the transaction. The blonde elf girl held the book and read and copied it carefully by the bonfire, Xia De added firewood to the bonfire, and Luvia smiled and stroked the unicorn lying beside Xia De.

The white little beast didn't look very happy, of course, this was not because it was stroked by Luvia, but because there was a cat lying on its back resting.

The bonfire burned and made a crackling sound, and for a while, no one spoke. But suddenly, the little beast took the initiative to stand up, and when the cat was also standing on the unicorn's back, the little beast turned to look into the forest, which was also the direction of the city, and then made a loud "Ang~" sound.

The golden unicorn horn glowed slightly, as if a gentle wind had blown over everyone present. Everyone looked into the dark forest, but there was clearly nothing there.

"It's okay, it's okay."

The elf girl hurriedly comforted the unicorn, and after it hesitated and lay down again, she explained to Xia De and Luvia:

"There is a very evil thing hidden in this city. The perception of humans and elves is not enough to discover it when the other party does not take the initiative to release power, but the unicorn is very sensitive to its power. Liana can occasionally perceive it, and every time it is this reaction..."

"Liana" was the name the elf girl gave to this unicorn.

"You must also be very careful when acting in this city, the other party is probably some kind of very ancient existence."

This reminded Xia De of the time at the "St. Perry Cemetery," when the old nun warned before disappearing that this city not only had guardians but also existed some kind of evil power. Now that he thought about it, that should be the peculiar power the unicorn vaguely perceived just now. And thinking of "evil power," Xia De couldn't help but think of that eccentric Mr. Stone Osenfort again, who claimed to hold clues to 【Origin·Earth】.

Xia De's intuition had always been accurate. Once such an association was generated, it meant there was a need for investigation. However, he planned to go to the Stonemason Society tomorrow to explore the local legends. As for Stone Osenfort and the evil entrenched in this City of Spring, it would be in time to ask Doctor Schneider on Saturday.

--Continue to view ===== CHAPTER 1228 =====