Chapter 198: Abnormal Emotions

Of course, the Miracle 【Blade of Chaotic Time】 also has its shortcomings.

First, the Miracle itself does not increase attack power. If Xia De's first attack hits the target but cannot break the defense, then the second one will also not break the defense. Or, when facing an enemy extremely skilled at parrying, if the first attack is parried, then the second one within three seconds is highly likely to be parried as well.

Second, time endows the casting medium in hand with great power, so using the Miracle requires a specific weapon with the nature of a "sharp blade." Ordinary alchemical items would likely shatter after one use, and as for Relics, the only one Xia De can think of at the moment is the "cloth strip sword" in Miss Beiyasi's hand.

Only then did he realize that the sword seemed to have no blade and did not meet the Miracle's requirements.

【Relics】 that can serve as weapons are usually extremely precious, and Relics of the cold weapon type are even rarer. So, even if Xia De has several hundred pounds in his hand now, it is better to spend this money on purchasing Miracles or Curses.

Miracles and Curses that can create sharp blades are relatively not rare. Of course, "Silver Moon Slash" does not meet the conditions; it is not a Miracle that forms a weapon... and considering the pairing with "Blade of Chaotic Time," Xia De suddenly realized that 【Mage's Copy Paper】 might come in handy.

Next, he used the second leaf, also placing it before his right eye. This time, as the icy airflow passed into his brain, the Ring of Fate behind Xia De suddenly emerged automatically amidst the sound of bells and steam whistles, then began to spin rapidly.

As the gushing steam raised the room's temperature, a golden halo representing the Miracle Element appeared on the Ring of Fate. The entire process lasted at least five minutes. When the Ring of Fate's rotation slowed down, those golden halos gradually gathered on the surface of the ring and finally condensed into a golden Spirit Rune—【Echo】.

"Oh!"

The blonde girl holding the teacup exclaimed softly; such a scene was rarely seen. The cat Xia De placed on his lap curiously looked up at the Ring of Fate, those golden halos reflected in the cat's amber eyes. And the luster representing the Miracle seemed to have a trace truly engraved in the cat's eyes.

"Now, there is only the final 【Whisper】 left to reach four different Spirit Runes."

Xia De's expression was very excited; he casually placed the two leaves on the coffee table in front of him and picked up the orange cat that wanted to fiddle with the leaves.

Miss Louisa was also happy for Xia De:

"That is truly great. If you can get the opportunity to view the *Canon of Sublimation* this Saturday, then according to the current speed of almost one rune a week, you might be able to promote from First Ring to Second Ring within a month of your official employment. In the last few hundred years, there doesn't seem to have been such a speed."

"Then regarding 【Echo】, Miss Louisa, do you have any suggestions?"

Xia De asked for advice.

The writer considered for a moment:

"Just as the Doctor once said, a Ringed Shushi's energy is limited. Even if each ring has at least four runes, it is impossible to conduct detailed research on every single Spirit Rune. The usual practice is to determine one's own system as a Ringed Shushi, and for the remaining unrelated Spirit Runes, associate one Miracle with each. For example, my Fourth Ring focuses on the Match Girl as the key research object, while the Doctor focuses on the abilities of the mind and dreams."

Miss Louisa sized up the young detective:

"Xia De, if I were to give you advice, your core runes, whether 【Silver Moon】 or 【Space-Time】, have considerable potential. Even focused research on just one of them is enough to support your entire system."

She was right; 【Silver Moon】 alone had already shown extremely strong applications in attack, healing, illusion, and exorcism. And the 【Space-Time】 rune had even more infinite potential, so Xia De's system was actually easy to choose: just let 【Silver Moon】 and 【Space-Time】 advance side by side.

"That makes sense. In other words, just learn one corresponding Miracle for the 【Echo】 Spirit Rune?"

"Learning none, or learning two, is actually fine. The significance of learning one is to let you understand what kind of power you have mastered, while expanding outside your core system to prevent situations where you cannot deal with scenes that your proficient Miracles cannot handle."

The writer explained. Since she had said she would be Xia De's teacher, she would not hold anything back. Moreover, besides being able to incidentally research *The Little Match Girl*, Miss Louisa truly felt that teaching someone like Xia De would be very interesting.

Just like what happened today; ordinary Ringed Shushi would never imagine it in their entire lives.

After confirming the cat wouldn't move around, Xia De reached out and picked up the two leaves on the table. After thinking for a moment, he handed one to Miss Louisa.

The latter had anticipated what he wanted to do when he reached for the leaves, but to appear reserved, she said nothing. It wasn't until Xia De handed over that leaf that she wanted to put down her teacup and refuse, but Xia De beat her to it:

"Miss Louisa, can you help me keep this?"

"What?"

The blonde girl really hadn't expected him to say that.

"I think the effect of the 【Youth-Preserving Ye Zi】 probably cannot stack, so I can just carry one leaf myself."

He shook the emerald leaf in his hand, the cat's eyes watching, looking as if it wanted to pounce and swat at it. And it was precisely while shaking it that Xia De discovered that when the leaf was backlit, the veins on the surface actually connected into a string of vine-like text, the meaning of which was:

【Tree of Longevity, Person of Longevity.】

"Since carrying one is enough, wouldn't hiding the other one be a waste?"

He asked.

"But you could take it to exchange for pounds."

Miss Louisa took the leaf from Xia De's hand, the expression on her face somewhat embarrassed.

"I just bought a new Key of Time from Old John, and now I'm going to sell the 【Youth-Preserving Ye Zi】. Although the probability is very small, it is inevitable that he might associate it with something."

There is no record of what the mission reward after opening the 【Key of Time】 will be. But ever since the conversation about "civilization" last week, Xia De had always thought that Old John was a very magical old gentleman, so he might possibly know this.

"Moreover, I am not particularly short of money now, so this leaf will be kept by you for me for the time being. When I need it, I will naturally take it back."

Miss Louisa looked at Xia De, her face slightly flushed, but she didn't return the leaf to him:

"This looks like I took advantage of you."

"This is nothing; it's not like I gave it to you."

Xia De shook his head indifferently. Since he intended to follow Miss Louisa to improve in the Enlightenment Element, then slightly narrowing the relationship between the two sides was of course a good thing. What's more, just as he said, this was a loan, not a gift; he hadn't lost anything.

"Alright then, I will... keep it for you first. Whenever you need it, come find me anytime. This Saturday, I think I should teach you some very practical things; I am not someone who takes advantage of others... Have you earned money again recently?"

The blonde girl asked curiously, her right thumb and index finger rubbing the stem of the leaf.

"Of course, I got 300 pounds this morning, and there will be rewards for me later once the missing children are found... Oh, Miss Louisa, you probably don't know about yesterday's events yet. Have you read the newspaper? The progress of the serial child abduction case, and the assassination of Wang Hou Diana..."

Xia De recounted his magical experience yesterday in detail, and finally sighed that the 【Twenty-Sided Dice of Fate】 was indeed not something that could be used easily. The first time he used it, he saw an Evil God directly; the second time he used it, he was shot in the back:

"I never dare to manipulate fate casually again."

Words that couldn't be said on the street yesterday could be spoken freely in front of Miss Louisa today.

"You saved M... Wang Hou Diana?"

The title she wanted to blurt out was definitely not this one. Xia De looked at her suspiciously, but didn't expect Miss Louisa to suddenly stand up, as if she wanted to give him a hug, but soon sat down again, her emotions completely out of control for a moment:

"So it was you."

When Xia De handed her the 【Youth-Preserving Ye Zi】 just now, she hadn't been this excited. The writer put down the leaf in her hand, her face flushed red, but she had an expression of not knowing what to say.

It took a long time for her to return to normal:

"If Racia were in Tobesk, it would be great. With her there, plus your superior and Miss Galina, maybe they could have gotten you a better reward directly. It's a pity that she only finished her visit to Casenrick and took a ship back to the country this week, and she still has to stay in Coldwater Port for a while."

She bit her lip, looking at Xia De with a hesitant expression:

"Detective, let me thank you on behalf of Racia first. I think she will definitely not pursue the matter of those papers with 【Match Girl】 written on them being burned anymore."

Looking at the performance of the blonde girl in front of him, Xia De suddenly had a strange premonition:

"The relationship between Miss Louisa and that Princess Racia Cavendish is definitely not just as simple as friends."

【Then what could it be?】

She whispered in his ear, while Miss Louisa opposite was still constantly expressing gratitude on behalf of that distant princess:

"Not clear for now, but definitely not ordinary friends."

To express her gratitude, Miss Louisa treated Xia De and the cat to lunch. It wasn't at a restaurant outside, but cooked by the single girl living alone. She believed that only in this way could she show her gratitude.

Xia De didn't understand whether she was thanking him for the leaf or the Wang Hou Diana matter.

Although she hadn't prepared in advance, relying only on the food at home, Miss Louisa made a very good lunch. Although the Outsider was still not used to the dietary habits of this world that resembled the Victorian era, he had to admit that Miss Louisa's cooking level was quite good.

The cat thought so too.

After lunch, Miss Louisa still wanted to talk to Xia De about yesterday's events. But Priest Augustus had an appointment to meet Xia De at the Dawn Cathedral, and Xia De didn't want to break his promise, so he could only say goodbye after lunch.

Miss Louisa sent Xia De downstairs. When she waved goodbye to him at the door, the blonde hair of the beautiful girl with a smile on her face seemed to be shining in the midsummer sun.

Under the street trees, the sunlight passed through the branches and leaves, leaving mottled shadows on the ground. The shadows shook with the breeze, and the branches and leaves made a rustling sound.

Although the mist was hazy, the midsummer of Tobesk had arrived. ===== CHAPTER 199 =====