Chapter 2195: Hunting

Xia De held the bead up to the sunlight outside the window, feeling as if there were crimson flames inside, and also feeling as if there were eyes looking at himself. The cat standing on the windowsill also cast a very interested look:

"Doctor, are you sure it can achieve a one-hit kill?"

"Of course, um..."

The doctor didn't give a definite answer this time:

"No one has ever done this, and luck is also a decisive factor. Therefore, I can only tell you that even if it cannot achieve a one-hit kill, as long as it hits, the other party definitely won't be able to escape. I have the power of the Maze Demon; under heavy injury, it has no ability to leave my hands."

Xia De was satisfied with this answer:

"Then what about the plan? How to attract that thing out? Does it need suitable venue cooperation, or does it need specific scene stories?"

"This is the purpose of my coming today. You go to Moon Bay to prepare first. The space-moving relic from Old Man John's side will probably be sent over on the weekend, Sunday. I tend to Sunday. As soon as I arrive in Moon Bay, we will take action immediately. Still the same sentence: there is only one chance."

Xia De spent the whole Thursday morning discussing the plan and preparing with the doctor at home. However, Dr. Schneider didn't eat lunch at Xia De's place. He still had patients to receive in the afternoon and had to rush back. Even if he wanted to hunt demons, daily patients still had to be taken care of, so Bill Schneider was a demon hunter with very modern characteristics.

As for Xia De, he was too lazy to cook for himself or go out to find a restaurant, so he took the cat to Moon Bay again. When he rushed to the Beilindier Manor, it happened to be lunchtime. The witch's mother and sisters still hadn't returned here, so only Xia De, the Countess, and Emilia sat at the dining table.

Of course, Little Mia and the little unicorn were also here.

"Princess Margaret and the others arrive on Sunday."

Miss Beilindier first informed Xia De of this news. Xia De nodded, not surprised at all:

"Margaret is truly hardworking this year. From visiting Tobesk City between autumn and winter last year, almost everything needs her participation. However, I am quite curious, how do the people of Moon Bay view this princess?"

"Previously, they thought she was no different from other royal family members. But ever since those beautiful stockings appeared in the shops of Willandale, and our family's shops also started selling such goods, at least the noble ladies of Willandale have started to like this princess. Now this is a truly popular commodity; even if you have gold, you might not be able to buy it."

While she was speaking, a faint smile even appeared on her face.

"What stockings?"

The elf girl with pointed ears, who was eating fruit salad with a fork, raised her head curiously. So the Countess covered her mouth and laughed, then instructed her maid:

"Matilda, after lunch, have someone take two... a pair of unopened ones from the top drawer on the left side of the large wardrobe in my room and send them to Emilia's room. It can be considered a gift for her."

After speaking, she explained:

"It's a new product from the factory, using new craftsmanship. I think even in the city of St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy, there are no such commodities. After you go back, you can help promote it. Although the possibility is small, maybe there will be a chance to cooperate with you in the future."

Emilia nodded ignorantly, her heart full of curiosity. Xia De was not very willing to talk about the fabrics on girls' legs at the lunch table. He originally wanted to say that Tifa and the others were also setting off this evening, but then thought that he couldn't say these things yet:

"It just so happens that my friend is investigating the matter of blood-sucking species and there is no clue, and our other investigation directions are also unclear. I am thinking of dealing with Emilia's affairs in the next few days."

The elf girl looked at him at once, and the witch was a bit worried, and the smile just now disappeared:

"Are you sure you can handle it well?"

"Should be no problem."

Xia De touched the cat that was obediently squatting by his hand, and the latter also rubbed Xia De's hand very gently:

"Don't be so worried, I said no problem, it's no problem."

He didn't look into their eyes.

After lunch, the three of them went to the study together. Xia De asked Emilia to roll up her right sleeve, took out a small bottle of black solution that was as viscous as caviar from the morning, and brushed it on the elf's fair skin with a small brush.

During this period, Emilia kept laughing because she felt very itchy, but she stopped laughing after Xia De finished his work. After that layer of black solution was washed off, a tattoo pattern resembling a crow appeared on her right arm.

"What is this?"

She reached out and wanted to touch it, but was caught by Xia De's left hand:

"Don't touch it. This pattern will disappear in ten minutes. This is a curse. You guessed right, there are other bad luck curses on you. Now I make it manifest to confirm one last time that I didn't misidentify the source of the curse. If I guessed wrong, it would be embarrassing... If you touch this pattern, the source of the curse will discover it."

The witch on the side looked seriously at that "crow":

"It seems it is indeed that thing. I really

"Probably Sunday. I want to borrow the Bellinder Big Ben; I hope there won't be any idlers inside the clock tower when the time comes."

This request was almost impossible for others, but for Bella Bellinder, it couldn't be simpler:

"No problem. A few days ago, when I divined the weather, I discovered that from Saturday afternoon until Monday, Moon Bay will be in bad weather with gale-force winds and heavy rain. We can use this as a reason to temporarily close the clock tower to the public... Can I not be present then?"

Xia De glanced at her and shook his head gently:

"It's better if you aren't."

The Great Witch of Fate merely pursed her red lips and did not argue with Xia De about this matter:

"Very well, but you must at least take the things I have prepared for you. Ever since I heard you mention this last time, I have also made some preparations."

Xia De then smiled and nodded, while Emilia asked:

"It's something even more dangerous than the heretics in Toby Julian, right... The expression you had when you came to the Academy in the middle of the night last time to ask me to take you to that passage was just about this serious."

He had wanted to say "sorry" or "thank you" again, but in the end, he only said:

"I will listen to everything you say. What preparations do I need to make in advance? Does Little Liana need to follow me then?"

"Ang~"

The pure white little beast gently rubbed its horn against the back of Emilia's hand; this was the unicorn's way of expressing a blessing.

"It will follow you then. As for these next few days, you don't need to make too many preparations; just keep your mood stable."

Emilia nodded. In her fifty-plus years of elven life, this was the first time she felt that she had been so unmotivated in the past and that she was incapable of doing anything. She looked down at the crow "tattoo" on her arm, watching the color of the pattern grow increasingly faint.

In a daze, she actually saw the crow blink at her. At that moment, she felt an inexplicable numbness spreading along her arm, about to rush toward her heart. But at the same time, seeing that Xia De had ignored it for a long time, Little Mia used Emilia's shoulder as a springboard and leaped from the back of the little unicorn into Xia De's arms.

The cat's little paws pressing on her shoulder didn't hurt at all, and that hallucinatory numbness in her heart also vanished. Emilia looked suspiciously at the "crow" on her arm, which had become even paler, but she found no further abnormalities.

"Could you give me some of your hair?"

Xia De asked Emilia again. The somewhat distracted elf girl looked up at him in surprise:

"What? Oh, I mean, of course you can."

"What a simple girl; such an important thing as hair shouldn't be given away so casually."

The witch on the side laughed, but Emilia still firmly twisted her hair and pulled out three strands. She handed the hair to Xia De, then watched as Xia De took out a white steel ring that looked as if it were made from factory steel parts.

The outer surface of the ring was quite smooth, with no marks at all, but the inner surface had a circle of extremely fine wavy grooves. Xia De embedded Emilia's hair into the grooves, then put the ring on his left hand and turned it twice to ensure the hair wouldn't slip out:

"I will wear this ring for these few days, Emilia. When things are over on the weekend, I will return the hair to you. Miss Bellinder is right; hair is not something that can be given to others easily."

"But you are not 'others'."

She said in a low voice. Xia De smiled, while the witch continued to look at Xia De with a strange expression, highly suspicious of what kind of relationship these two actually had. She decided that when Miss Bernice and Miss Sylvia arrived on Sunday, she would focus on questioning them. The elf before her was still a minor according to ancient elven traditions, and she could not allow Xia De to make a mistake.

Having temporarily arranged Emilia's affairs, the Countess also spoke of her own:

"I have almost determined the location of the two people from the 【Light-Worshipping Seminar】 who attacked us in the Whispering Hills a few weeks ago. However, we won't act now; we will wait until our helpers arrive from out of town before acting together. The other side has a 13th-Ring sorcerer, I am very clear on that."

She was truly steady in her actions:

"As for that black dragon scale we found deep in the sewers, I have made new research progress. Come with me."

She took Xia De to the basement. Emilia knew there were some things she wasn't suited to know, so she didn't follow. She was very curious about what the witch and Xia De were discussing during lunch, so she took the little unicorn, which clearly still wanted to wander around the manor, and returned to her room.

As it happened, Miss Matilda had just arrived with that piece of fabric, so she gave it directly to Emilia.

This was a truly high-end item; the fabric was packed in a long, slender cardboard box, which was printed with the advertising slogan "Making Girls More Beautiful" and a trademark.

Emilia opened it curiously and saw white fabric:

"Oh, is this silk? Oh! So thin? Oh, it's so light."

After taking the fabric out and unfolding it, she finally realized what kind of clothing this was. Her fair little face turned red instantly, though fortunately, only the smiling Miss Matilda was there:

"Go to the full-length mirror and try it on."

Emilia asked in a low voice:

"This... is very expensive, right?"

"It doesn't matter; this was also a gift from someone else to the young lady."

She didn't say that this was a thank-you gift and hush money for helping to "take care of" Xia De. So, after Emilia put it on, she looked in the mirror for a long while with a flushed face:

"Humans are truly amazing."

She said softly, very satisfied with this gift, and even thought about how to return the favor. The blonde maid looked at the beautiful elf in the mirror and reminded her with a pursed-lip smile:

"It's not that humans are amazing; it's that civilization is amazing."