Chapter 2040: The Dragon and the Legend

The blue-eyed girl was still smiling as she looked at him:

"Since you are so persistent, I can indeed share some stories. But it's getting late today, and I still have some things to do."

She thought for a moment and took off the anchor-shaped silver ornament used for decoration on her hat. But it was not a pure silver ornament; it looked like it was just plated with a layer of silver:

"This ornament was cast from ship debris salvaged together with the two boards back then. It's not worth much, but please accept it, and don't set your sights on these two boards again."

She seemed to guess that Xia De would not give up easily:

"Please don't refuse; just take it as a token for our next meeting. Next time, I will tell you some stories about that shipwreck; that will be very interesting."

The silver anchor ornament entered Xia De's hand; it was an ordinary item, very exquisite, but also truly not worth much.

He wanted to thank her, but the girl had already waved and turned to leave. Xia De wanted to chase after her, but the badge on his chest was already heating up. He was unwilling to involve this strange girl in the witch's affairs, so he had to watch her back as she walked up the stairs.

And Miss Illustrious happened to brush past the Great Witch of Fate on the stairs leading to the first floor. The latter even glanced at her, and Miss Illustrious nodded politely to her.

"Good morning, Mr. Watson. Were you talking to that girl just now?"

The witch still had two maids behind her, and the dark red birthmark between her eyebrows, after clever makeup, appeared unclear at this time. Xia De explained casually:

"Discussing the exhibits with her; Randal Valley doesn't have a ship museum."

"Moon Bay is the wealthiest city on the West Coast; the spring of the City of Spring may be beautiful, but in other aspects, it really cannot compare to here."

She was proud of her hometown, and subsequently did not dwell on the topic of the girl just now, looking left and right to confirm there was no one nearby:

"I communicated with Vanessa last night, and she also said that Xiwei also knows about you."

"My lady, you don't need to probe like this; currently, only Miss Benanise and Miss Sylvia know about me."

He corrected:

"I have only heard of Miss Aurora, and I am not familiar with her."

Miss Bella Belindell nodded:

"Then let's talk about business. Vanessa promised me that during your stay in Moon Bay, you would help me do some things. This is the letter Vanessa gave you."

Xia De opened the letter, the contents of which he already knew, and pretended to frown as he read it carefully:

"Since that's the case... that's no problem. Miss Belindell, I hope we cooperate smoothly for the next two months. But I also hope that you will fulfill your promise and help find the whereabouts of the 【Diamond of Hope】."

"But I can only send a small number of people to help you. Recently... this is not a good place to talk; let's change places. Since we have established preliminary trust, you shouldn't mind coming with me now, right?"

She suggested, her eyes quickly sweeping across Xia De's face, and for some reason, the more she looked, the more satisfied she felt.

Xia De naturally would not refuse:

"Of course, Miss Benanise told me to fully trust you, but please also keep my identity confidential."

"But before that, I want to confirm one thing."

The witch's golden eyes looked at him:

"Although you admitted it yesterday, are you really..."

Xia De then stretched out his wrist again, and Miss Belindell reached out and grabbed that wrist. After several seconds, she looked at her palm with the same incredulity as yesterday:

"Although it was confirmed yesterday, this is really... many incredible things have happened in recent years, but your appearance is the most surprising to me. But why is this? There must be a reason... The carriage is parked in the alley next to the museum, Mr. Watson. You take that carriage, and we will set off a little later; don't let people see us appear together."

Xia De nodded and walked toward the stairs alone.

Not until his figure disappeared at the top of the stairs did the witch take out her divination cards and cut them with great speed:

"The girl just now must have something to do with him. I want to see who she really is. John Watson, is it? Don't think that just because I can't divine your situation, I really have no other way."

The two maids looked at their master in silence; she seemed to have gotten competitive with the man just now. This time, the cards turned over were a normal spread, but the spread was not easy to interpret:

"Shipwreck?"

The witch frowned and thought for a while, but couldn't figure out what identity this card could represent.

The Belindell family had many local industries, among which the Belindell Manor in the city center was the Belindell family's original and most important property.

Although the land and property of "Number 6 St. Deran Square" held by Xia De were very valuable, that house was probably not even one-tenth of the total value of Belindell Manor. After all, the area of this manor itself exceeded the entire St. Deran Square, which was unimaginable in the city center of Moon Bay, where land was equally expensive.

There were not a few members of the Belindell family; besides Countess Bella Belindell, many others held important government positions locally, and there were even more city councilors with the surname "Belindell." But nowadays, only this Great Witch of Fate, her widowed mother, and several unmarried sisters lived in this manor. Xia De did not have the honor of meeting them; he was taken directly to the study on the second floor of the manor after getting off the carriage.

Xia De, who was used to the luxurious manors of Tobesk nobles, was not surprised by the solemnity and majesty of the ancient manor. After the witch, who arrived a little later, also sat on the sofa, the two began to talk about business.

"John Watson."

The seated witch said Xia De's current name, watching him sit opposite her. Xia De also moved his gaze away from the oil painting of the Dragon Quest on the wall and looked at this witch with a dark red birthmark between her eyebrows.

"Mr. Watson, you have probably noticed that I don't have fewer girls under my command than your opera troupe. Borrowing you from Vanessa this time is not just because some things are inconvenient for the girls to handle."

The maids brought tea and then quickly exited the room. Because the daylight was dim, the lights were still on in the study even though it was morning:

"I need reliable sorcerers who are clearly unrelated to the Belindell family to deal with some upcoming matters."

"Solving the Hawthorne family and the Eddington family? I heard that the three of you have been fighting each other."

Xia De asked, and the witch shook her head:

"A very interesting joke, but at least the direction is good; it is indeed related to the seven glorious families of Moon Bay. However, before talking about business, I want to ask you about your impression of the whole city first. Mr. Watson, Vanessa said you have only been here for a week or two, so what do you think of the Moon Bay area?"

Xia De thought for a moment:

"Just about the same as what I learned from others before I came here. Wealthy and prosperous, but also with undercurrents. I only operate in the lower city, know friends who live in the lower city, have seen the life of the common people, have fought with gangs, and have also come into contact with members of the Hawthorne family because of certain things."

The witch smiled and did not ask what feud Xia De had with Hawthorne.

"I have even had a brief encounter with an organization in the lower city called Eternal Light, and I can see those contradictions. But on the whole, these contradictions are not sharp enough to erupt immediately; economic development is enough to cover up most problems. In fact, in my opinion, you manage this city quite well."

This was definitely not intentional flattery of the witch, but the truth. A perfect social form is difficult to achieve in the eyes of an outsider; given the current level of productivity, the situation in the Moon Bay area is indeed quite good, and the wealth here is not just staying in newspaper propaganda.

"Development is enough to cover up problems... It seems you also have some level. Yes, although there are undercurrents, Moon Bay is generally quite good. This is our city, and the seven families that check and balance each other have a tacit understanding to protect Moon Bay together."

She picked up the teacup, her beautiful golden eyes continuing to size up Xia De:

"So I asked you to come, not to solve the contradictions of the seven families or social contradictions. The matter I want to talk about involves prophecies and legends; yes, very ancient prophecies and legends. You seem to have heard a prophecy from the sorcerers you came into contact with in the Hawthorne family?"

"When wealth piles up into sin, the ancient dragon will return here and purify the land of Moon Bay with light."

He repeated, and the witch corrected:

"This prophecy has many versions; the second half also has sayings like 'burn Moon Bay with fire' and 'bury everything in the roar of destruction.' In short, no matter which version, it all predicts that Moon Bay will face a major disaster related to dragons."

"But this is just a prophecy. There are more unfulfilled prophecies from the Prophecy Association than there are hairs on my pet cat's tail."

The witch smiled and thought of the special ability the man in front of her possessed because of raising a cat:

"That's why I think the Prophecy Association is unreliable. But you are right, prophecies are not always reliable, it's just that someone has confirmed that this ancient prophecy has credibility."

"Who confirmed it?"

So the witch pointed to herself:

"Myself. Besides me, after my teacher passed away, I also discovered some content in her notes, but my teacher did not complete this work in her later years, so she never mentioned it to me while she was alive... But I believe in my teacher's level and my own. Perhaps we have a misunderstanding of that ancient prophecy; it may not necessarily be the destruction of the city, but it will definitely be a major event that changes the fate of this city. I was originally convinced that the time pointed to by the prophecy was within the last ten years, and the world, which has become increasingly strange since last year, has made me even more certain of my thoughts."

"Do you mean the incredible things that have happened one after another around the world, and that Moon Bay will also fall into danger like those cities or regions?" ===== CHAPTER 2041 =====