Chapter 1618

Mr. Green put down the pen in his hand and looked Xia De up and down from behind the counter, unable to believe the fact:

"This is truly remarkable. That lady usually doesn't give men the time of day; it seems you really do have extraordinary qualities... Yes, there is a way to contact her; she is a regular customer of ours. If you have business with her, you can leave her a letter. This lady sends someone to deliver letters every day to tell you about the progress of the keys she is looking for, and at that time, you can have the messenger take your letter back."

Both he and his sister, Ms. Helena Green, were very respectful toward Megan. The information revealed at this moment showed that their relationship with Megan was even closer than Xia De had imagined.

【Haven't you already started to guess that they are the two remaining ordinary people of the sixth generation, the grandchildren of the third generation's youngest daughter, Maria Edwards?】

"She" whispered gently, and Xia De nodded:

"Alright, I'll write the letter now."

Xia De borrowed paper and a pen and mentioned the water ghost, the grave robber, and the matter of Rotten-Eye Barry in the letter. Since Heaven Island Pharmaceuticals had considerable local influence, he could naturally borrow the power of the witch's followers to scout for clues.

As for the owner of that fountain pen, the mysterious person of unknown identity, Drout Giles, Xia De still needed to inquire through other channels.

In fact, the process of learning Drout Giles's identity was far simpler than Xia De had thought. That was the next day, which was Saturday morning. Xia De originally did not intend to come to the Green Lake area today; after all, there was still a very important "booty-sharing meeting" in the afternoon.

But early in the morning, Lei Qianya sent a letter hoping that Xia De would go to Mika Blast Furnace City to confirm some details of today's negotiations, so after breakfast, Xia De entered the basement.

After coming out from the back door of the inn, he gave the boy in the trash can a few pieces of bread as usual. Afterward, he left that trash alley, thinking about asking the innkeeper before leaving whether Megan's messenger had arrived yet.

But the witch's messenger hadn't come yet; instead, another letter was delivered:

"Mr. Watson, it's a coincidence that you've come. This is a letter sent from Mika Blast Furnace City. I was just wondering whether to keep it at the counter or send it directly to your room."

Ms. Helena Green said with a smile to Xia De, who was walking down from upstairs—after talking with Mr. Solon Green last night, Xia De had pretended to return to his room to rest.

"Mika Blast Furnace City?"

Xia De only had one acquaintance over there for the time being. He opened the letter, and sure enough, it was sent by Professor Boulanger. This professor of geology and folklore had promised on Thursday at the fishing village tavern to help Xia De find the owner of the fountain pen in Willowdale City, but Xia De hadn't expected results so quickly.

In two days, letters might not even be able to reach the capital from the City of Glass.

He sat down at the table and unfolded the letter. The professor first exchanged pleasantries and then talked about Drout Giles:

【I asked local colleagues about this name and subsequently learned that Drout Giles had come here three years ago. He is a lecturer at the Willowdale Saint Fabri Academy, serving in the history department. I have already written to Willowdale to investigate whether he is still teaching at Saint Fabri Academy; there should be results by about next week.】

"A history lecturer?"

History and folklore in this world were both quite "dangerous" disciplines.

Professor Boulanger also thanked Xia De at the end of the letter for introducing Captain Lades to him. With a professional bodyguard, their group's activities within the Delarion territory on the north shore of Green Lake were indeed much smoother than before.

The professor had been conducting research and surveys in Green Lake City for some time recently; if he was lucky, Xia De might even run into the professor's group.

Clues regarding Drout Giles stopped abruptly here for the time being; subsequent matters would depend on Professor Boulanger's investigation. Of course, Xia De did not place all his hopes on the professor. He also planned to visit the very busy Duchess tomorrow and have her entrust Miss Sylvia in the Willowdale City to conduct an investigation as well during the council meeting. Although Margaret's influence might not be able to penetrate the interior of the academic circle like Professor Boulanger, at least searching for people on a large scale was still very convenient.

Because he had to go back for a meeting in the afternoon, Xia De did not waste too much time in Green Lake City. After getting on the carriage, he headed straight for the border checkpoint. A small episode occurred while crossing the border; at that time, Xia De had just bid farewell to the carriage driver and presented the special pass given to him by Captain Lades to the soldiers in the border camp.

The soldier immediately led Xia De to an exit that didn't require queuing for registration, and then they heard someone complaining loudly:

"Why can he skip the line?"

Xia De turned to look at the queue; the speaker was a young man who looked about the same age as the Outsider's current body. He stared wide-eyed at Xia De:

"We are all citizens of Delarion; this is unfair!"

"This..."

Xia De just wanted to speak, but the soldier pointing the way for him spoke up:

"Sir, don't pay him any mind. Just now he saw many noble carriages crossing the border directly and didn't dare to say anything. Seeing that your attire doesn't look like a rich and powerful noble, and you have no companions by your side, he dared to speak up."

After the bearded soldier finished speaking, other patrol soldiers who had heard the noise had already come over to handle the matter. Two of them dragged the young man who had spoken out of the queue and then dragged him to the other side of the camp.

During this time, others in the queue said nothing. Xia De also just watched this scene, and then left with the soldier.

Traveling from the border checkpoint to Mika Blast Furnace City still involved taking a carriage that held seven or eight people. By the time Xia De arrived in the downtown area of the City of Glass, it was already nearly ten o'clock in the morning.

When entering the city, he even encountered a parade passing by. Perhaps because Xia De had the appearance of a Delarion, when he stood in place watching the parade pass, someone even waved their fist at him from afar.

Of course, Xia De would not be angry because of this; he regarded this as a symbol of the carriage of history slowly driving by. As for what the outcome of this matter would actually be, he actually didn't care at all. The Outsider didn't have a strong sense of belonging to any country; he just hoped that even if they started fighting, it wouldn't cause too much collateral damage.

The negotiation venue in the City of Glass was also at the City Hall, but unlike Green Lake City, the City Hall of the more economically prosperous Mika Blast Furnace City had a more imposing appearance. In fact, it could even be said to be a bit too imposing; in the square in front of the City Hall stood a pure glass statue of King Louis III—this was the first king who unified the southern territories and established the United Kingdom. And behind that statue, which was protected by a display case, the top end of the thirteen steps was a City Hall portico supported by marble columns, where the area was even large enough to park two carriages side by side.

The main body of the City Hall was divided into five floors, and on the top floor in the center of the building, there was a spire-style attic like a tower structure for storing copper bells. The building as a whole was imposing and luxurious; compared to a City Hall, it looked more like an opera house or a bank. And this appearance also well illustrated how developed the industry and commerce of the City of Glass were.

After all, only sufficient tax revenue could support a government department building of this scale.

The City Hall building occupied a large area, but because of this, it also undertook more functions. During the meeting, the City Hall of the City of Glass only closed a small portion of the area, while other parts operated normally.

Xia De didn't have time to wait until the meeting adjourned at noon to inquire for clues, so after looking at the building from the square, he turned and walked toward the alley on the side.

He didn't have the architectural blueprints of the City Hall, but fortunately, MI6 did. When Xia De inquired about local information, he had obtained these materials from Miss Galina.

Entering it without being discovered was not difficult; various methods including the sewers could be used. Xia De finally chose to enter the courtyard with a carriage by lying under the carriage at the back door of the City Hall's backyard. Afterward, he lowered his hat brim to enter the interior of the building and went directly from the first floor to the fourth floor via a side staircase that was not often used.

When approaching the fourth floor, he felt the elemental reaction of a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, which meant that the church had sent people here to protect the safety of the participants. But this didn't stump Xia De either; he closed his eyes to sense heartbeats and learned that the unknown Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi was sitting on a chair against the wall in the corridor on the side of the staircase, so he changed into clothes for attending formal occasions and waited patiently for more than ten minutes. When someone else went upstairs, Xia De pretended to be very familiar and waved enthusiastically:

"Good noon, why did you just arrive?"

While the other person showed a confused expression, Xia De patted the other person's shoulder:

"Puppetry."

The miracle took effect immediately, and the stranger's actions were completely controlled by Xia De. Xia De whispered an apology to him, and then entered the corridor on the fourth floor where multiple meetings were being held while talking to him.

The two walked along the corridor to the restroom at the end. Xia De let the person he was manipulating sleep for a while, and then in the restroom, he faced the mirror and tidied up his attire before walking out very normally:

"Easy enough... Lei Qianya wants me to see what the results are today regarding the arms export trade negotiations in Conference Room 404."

He was wearing shiny leather shoes, a crisp suit, and a black tie. He held a notebook with a black leather cover in his hand and had a golden fountain pen inserted in his chest, so even though there were others in the corridor, no one doubted his identity.

He looked at the room number and arrived at the door of that conference room. The door of the conference room was closed, and because the soundproofing was very good, even Xia De couldn't hear what was being said inside. But after closing his eyes, he was very sure that there was no doorkeeper inside. According to the arrangement of heartbeats, about ten people were sitting on both sides of a long table, one person stood up and was probably speaking, and besides that, more than twenty people were sitting by the wall.