Chapter 176: A Cool Afternoon

"Mr. Hamilton, the results obtained from divination and prophecy are often vague and metaphorical. So, this might not mean that you can become a knight, but rather some other meaning. Besides, divination isn't always correct."

Mr. Stan admitted with regret, arms folded. Xia De didn't comment on this, but put on a thoughtful expression.

Thinking about what to have for dinner.

After the divination ended, he bid farewell to Mr. Stan and Mr. Mark, and left the Prophets Association. Normally payment was required after a divination, but both gentlemen insisted on not taking Xia De's money. Compared to his contributions to the Tobesk branch on the matter of Luo De Pai, two shillings meant nothing.

It was Mr. Mark who invited Xia De to visit the Association often. Besides regular Luo De Pai matches, the Association also frequently held card games with the many Luo De Pai enthusiast clubs in the city. Occasionally, they even held regular gatherings among divination enthusiasts. Mr. Mark hinted to Xia De that many fine Misses would be present.

Returning from the cool interior to the outdoors, the stuffy air woke the sleeping cat. The time was now two in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day.

Seeing nothing else to do, Xia De planned to go home and read to pass the remaining time of the day. Having it snow in the study was even more comfortable than the divination room at the Prophets Association.

Not long after leaving the Prophets Association, he was walking down Silver Cross Avenue holding the increasingly heat-stricken cat, when he unexpectedly saw a young Miss with long brown hair approaching—it was Yi Lu Na · Miss Miss Beiyasi.

She had no one else around her, moving about the area like an ordinary citizen. Upon meeting Xia De, she gave him a look, and Xia De sensibly refrained from greeting her.

So half an hour later, he once again welcomed the visiting Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi at home.

After being invited into the room by Xia De, Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi didn't sit down immediately, but after obtaining permission, walked into the kitchen of Room One on the second floor, and observed Yodel Palace from the kitchen window.

Due to the room's layout, this window was the best position for observing Yodel Palace.

"No problem."

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, then returned to the living room and sat down. Tilting her head, she glanced beside the coffee table, where snowflakes drifted down from the ceiling and fell into the water basin next to the coffee table.

Reaching out to catch some snowflakes, the cool, icy feeling delighted the young Miss immensely:

"Detective, what are you doing?"

"Cooling down the room."

Xia De said from the kitchen where he was preparing tea. Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi of course couldn't connect this to a maze lock, and assumed it was some small-scale snow-summoning wonder Xia De had mastered:

"You need to watch your expenditure. A One Ring sorcerer doesn't have much spirit. If you waste too much, what will you do if a dangerous situation arises?"

She advised in the tone of someone who had been through it.

"You're right, but the weather is really too hot... Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi, what were you doing just now? It shouldn't have been a coincidence, right?"

"Of course not, it's a mission from Blackstone Security Company."

Xia De had thought she would keep the mission information secret, but unexpectedly she said it directly next, as if complaining to Xia De:

"The royal family wants to hire a group of Ring sorcerers for a week of protection for Yodel Palace. I heard it has something to do with spies. The Church originally didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing—our cooperation with the royal family doesn't include acting as bodyguards for them. But it seems the King agreed to relax some religious management regulations, and promised that we only need to protect Yodel Palace, watching out for bold Ring sorcerers, ordinary people don't need attention, so we were assigned here. The job is to monitor the perimeter of Yodel Palace and look for suspicious individuals."

Although she said this, she sat on Xia De's sofa with no intention of leaving. Looking up at Xia De, her bangs falling to one side, she complained:

"Detective, do you know how painful it is to have to keep moving around outdoors in this weather? My shift is from one to four in the afternoon, which is the hottest time."

Saying this, she reached into the water basin again and grabbed a handful of snow, happily packed it into a snowball, and tried to use her freezing-cold hands to grab the cat. But the increasingly clever Mia cat nimbly jumped straight onto Xia De's lap.

Xia De was very interested in the Church's Ring sorcerers, so he continued to inquire:

"I don't know much about you all, so is this matter considered the royal family commissioning your Blackstone Security Company, or a mission given to you by the Church? This involves the issue of remuneration."

"Both, so besides the Church's contribution, there's also a large sum of remuneration. The captain and the others were overjoyed... I'm also very happy, and we don't even have to pay taxes."

Xia De felt envious inside, but didn't say it out loud.

As Miss Miss Beiyasi spoke, she looked around Xia De's living room, hesitated for a moment, then asked:

"Detective, can I stay here until four in the afternoon? I won't disturb you, rest assured about that."

"Oh? Isn't your work continuing?"

Xia De pointed in the direction of Yodel Palace. Although Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi was immature in her actions, he had always considered her to be a very responsible person.

"I'll move a chair, sit by that window, and what I see will be much more than what I see wandering around the street."

She pointed toward the kitchen.

"But staying here with me, once you spot suspicious figures near Yodel Palace, it seems you can't rush over there immediately... unless you jump straight out the window."

Xia De added, not wanting to drive her away, just worried about delaying things.

"That doesn't matter. The probability of an incident during the day is inherently low, so the main task is observation, not combat and arrest. Otherwise, a Two Ring sorcerer like me wouldn't be involved in the mission."

After saying that, she asked again somewhat embarrassedly:

"Can I stay here? Just for today. Tomorrow it's another squad's turn on duty, and the matter won't be under our jurisdiction."

Xia De thought for a moment, and it seemed there was no need to chase her away:

"No problem, but you're not allowed to force Mia to follow you."

He saw through Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi's attempt to catch Mia. The female sorcerer smiled embarrassedly, but probably hadn't given up on the idea of holding the orange cat.

"I promise not to touch your cat today. Sitting here is much better than being on the street. The temperature here is really nice."

She said happily, stood up to adjust her skirt, then adjusted the wrinkles at the collar of her ladies' shirt, and went to move the chair.

Originally still concerned that Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi's appearance would bring another accident, but until she left Saint Delan Square that evening, nothing happened.

The entire afternoon, Miss Miss Miss Beiyasi sat by the window, drinking tea while conscientiously observing the area around Yodel Palace. Xia De, meanwhile, took a book and sat on the sofa, chatting with her off and on. It was a slightly cool afternoon.