Chapter 1775: Washing the Cat and the Council's Reward*

After leaving the dilapidated house outside the village, Xia De didn't rush back to the city to the north, but crossed the border and went to the City of Glass. When crossing the border, he found that the border area seemed to be building new defensive fortifications, but Xia De didn't meet Captain Rads, so he didn't go to understand it. As for the reason for going to the City of Glass, it was to inform the Princess about the Grey Glove mole in the circus that Ring Ring Mage Li Te had asked him to investigate.

Of course, Ring Ring Mage Li Te was still busy, so she wasn't there that morning, so Miss Sylvia still received Xia De and had lunch with him.

During lunch, the shouting of the parade outside the manor could still be heard even with the windows closed. Xia De put down the knife he was using to cut the steak, looked up, and asked the young Great Witch:

"Miss Sylvia, from your perspective, how do you hope this negotiation will end?"

The black-haired witch sitting at the head of the long dining table elegantly wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and then frowned in thought:

"From my personal perspective, peace would make it easier for my business to expand. But from the Council's perspective, in times of war, witches can better hide their identities and develop their own forces. So, it doesn't matter to me."

She knew what Xia De was thinking:

"The negotiations are currently in a stalemate, don't think too much. However, the issue of the 'Black Sun Forest' border in eastern Pantanal, which has been discussed for the past two weeks, has already caused quite a dispute within the Kingdom of Karsenrik. According to the 1205 agreement, that place actually belongs to the Kingdom of Karsenrik, but Delarian does not recognize that agreement."

When the 1205 agreement was signed, the situation in the north and south was completely different from now. That was an ancient agreement from 600 years ago.

"What does Ring Ring Mage Li Te say about this?"

"The pro-war faction in the country is inciting the Council to pass a military budget expansion bill, and Ring Ring Mage Li Te's father is under great pressure."

The witch shook her head and stopped expressing opinions on this. After all, whether it was peace or war, for these witches who didn't fear hot weapons at all and could easily wipe out an entire army, it only meant a change in lifestyle.

After having lunch with Miss Sylvia, Xia De informed her of the news he heard in the morning, and then returned home.

However, upon returning home, he remembered the plan from a few days ago, so he pretended to take little Mia, who had already had lunch, to eat again, making the cat mistakenly believe that Xia De had foolishly forgotten the number of times it had eaten, and then took the opportunity to grab little Mia and bring it into the washroom.

Spring had reached its best time, and it was time to wash the cat again.

Little Mia, who never liked taking baths, was indeed very angry because of Xia De's actions. When Xia De immersed it in warm water, the cat struggled desperately, splashing water all over Xia De, as if it would sink if Xia De let go. And when Xia De really let go, the cat, not immediately realizing it, was still flapping its little paws on its own, struggling in the bathtub.

However, no matter how Xia De looked at it, it looked like it was enjoying itself.

"Meow?"

The cat looked up and saw Xia De standing up looking at it, his hands already withdrawn, immediately darted upward wanting to escape, and then was pressed back by Xia De. Twenty minutes later, when Xia De wiped little Mia's body dry with a towel, it was still angry at Xia De, immediately darted out to dodge Xia De's hand, looking like it didn't intend to pay attention to Xia De before dinner.

However, Xia De was going to a banquet at the Green Lake Hotel tonight. He originally planned to leave some cat food for little Mia as dinner, but seeing it so angry, he couldn't bear to leave the cat alone at home:

"I'm going to eat something good tonight, do you want to come along?"

So little Mia temporarily forgave the rude outsider, and then happily entered the basement with Xia De.

It was still early, only 4:00 PM. When Xia De entered the Green Lake Hotel through the front door with little Mia, who had just taken a bath and thus became even more likable, on his shoulder, Mr. Suo Lun Green and Miss Hai Lun Na Green were both busy preparing for tonight's banquet.

There was a fairly large room on the east side of the second floor of the Green Lake Hotel that could be used for birthday banquets or receptions for guests. It was rarely used, but tonight the family banquet would be held there.

The siblings were arranging for servants to clean up, wipe the tableware, and urging the chef to prepare the ingredients in advance. Seeing them so busy, Xia De didn't disturb them, but went to the third floor and knocked on the doctor's door.

It was a pity the doctor wasn't there. Xia De saw that there was still some time before the banquet started, and he knew that Miss Jia Lin Na was having a meeting in the City of Glass, so he could only go find Ao Dai Li and Mei Gen.

Fortunately, the Great Witch of "Wisdom and Knowledge" was still on her cruise ship. When Xia De saw her in the laboratory on the bottom floor of the cruise ship, she was in a good mood and showed Xia De a test tube filled with glowing colored potion:

"Look, this is the potion configured using the mushroom samples you provided, combined with the assistance of that holy grail. Because the mushroom samples are limited, only this much can be configured now, but the effect is quite good. Dropping it into the eyes can reproduce the effect you mentioned of seeing spatial cracks."

She shook the test tube:

"I plan to wait until all the witches arrive, then use this potion to enter Green Lake together to find the entrance to the other island. The information provided by the Speaker is really effective; it's very difficult for us to find this kind of mushroom on our own."

She described to Xia De the process of making this potion and the peculiarity of that holy grail, then patted her forehead and took out a white envelope from the drawer under the laboratory table and handed it to Xia De:

"Look, I actually forgot the important thing. Fortunately, Mei Gen reminded me. This is your investigation reward. Once the tasks on that task list are completed, the Council has rewards. The mushroom task was listed under my name, so I helped you get the reward."

Although this mushroom was magical, because the investigation itself was quite simple and didn't even involve ring-warlocks, the reward given by the Council wasn't generous. It couldn't possibly be a relic inside the envelope. After Xia De opened it, he saw a lock of golden long hair tied with a red ribbon.

He was slightly surprised, and after touching the hair, he immediately understood, and then was even more surprised:

"This wouldn't be..."

"Yes, the hair of the Speaker of the Time Great Witch—Isabella. Jia Lin Na and the others should have told you that a Great Witch's hair is an excellent substitute material for spellcasting. As the most outstanding 13th-ring witch of this generation, the Speaker's hair is even more valuable."

Ao Dai Li said with a smile:

"However, hair is a very sensitive item. You must guarantee to me that you will only use it as ritual material and not for purposes like curses."

"Yes, I guarantee it by little Mia."

"Meow?"

Xia De patted the cat's little head, and the cat lost interest in the hair.

Then Ao Dai Li added:

"Also guarantee that it won't be used for other suspicious purposes."

"Of course, I guarantee it by my soul. What are you referring to?"

Seeing Xia De looking at her in confusion, the brown-haired girl shook her head with a smile:

"It's better if you don't understand. Speaking of which, do you want to take a sniff while the scent hasn't dissipated? The Speaker's perfume smells very good; even I can't guess how she improved the original formula."

"Take a sniff? Ao Dai Li, why would you think I would do such a thing?"

Xia De put the hair back into the envelope and then solemnly put it into his pocket. He touched the cat on his shoulder that was looking around:

"You see, even the greedy little Mia has no interest in the hair, so how could I possibly have any interest?"

The witch just smiled happily, and Xia De didn't know what she was thinking.

There were still two hours before the family banquet in the evening. Because it wasn't a formal banquet, there was no need to prepare clothing specifically. And the Edward family members, who had almost never met, didn't have the possibility of comparing their lives with each other, so just wait until the time came and go directly to the Green Lake Hotel.

Xia De took advantage of the time and told Ao Dai Li the information he heard from Mr. Green in the morning. Ao Dai Li and Mei Gen also knew how important this information was. After Xia De finished telling the family's love and hate and the stories of each generation, and repeated Mr. Green's overall evaluation of the family, the witch, feeling a bit melancholy, invited Xia De to go out for a walk to dispel the frustration in her heart.

On the witch's task list, there happened to be a task in the Green Lake City area on the upper reaches of the Duin River, so Ao Dai Li took Xia De, intending to handle it.

The description of this task was simpler than "The Earl and the Mushrooms" and "The Dark Moon Circus." Specifically, on the banks of the Duin River on a cloudy day, there was a probability of seeing a door that shouldn't exist on the west bank of the river.

This description was very similar to "non-existent streets" and "non-existent shops" in urban legends. For example, the "Church of the Forgotten" was a famous "non-existent church" in the local area.

However, according to the preliminary investigation by Ao Dai Li and Mei Gen, although Green Lake City also had similar legendary stories, there were no rumors of "doors" appearing by the river. Therefore, it could basically be concluded that this was another temporary accident caused by the unstable space of the central island of Green Lake.

As for whether it was a relic, the means of a certain ring-warlock, or other situations, that was unknown.

Besides the necessity of it being a cloudy day, there was no other fixed pattern for the appearance of the door. Ao Dai Li, who had conducted a preliminary investigation on this task, only had an idea after configuring the "Seven-Colored Mushroom Potion." Of course, more importantly, after listening to the family story, she wanted to go out for a walk with Xia De.

"Simply put, according to the information obtained by the Speaker, the door is not non-existent when it doesn't appear, but is in a state of being unobservable."

Walking with Xia De on the riverside promenade on a cloudy day, while brushing past gas street lamps, Mei Gen shook the small bottle in her hand, which contained a small amount of diluted "Seven-Colored Mushroom Potion."

ps: "The Swimming Cat"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1776 =====