Chapter 2266: The Eve of the Exams

Xia De gripped the sword and once again tried to infuse his own spirit into it, so the angel's phantom appeared behind him once more, and this time Xia De clearly felt he could control the phantom behind him much more smoothly.

Although he didn't plan to hold this sword for long, using it briefly was still no problem.

Having finished asking the angel everything he came to ask, Xia De had intended to take his leave. But after a moment's hesitation, he asked again:

"Regarding 【Desire】..."

"That is your desire."

The angel still wore a smile:

"Your desire, you must face it yourself; no one can help you with this."

She once again gently touched the position over Xia De's left chest with the tip of the long staff in her hand; some golden sparks scattered outward from where they met, and Xia De felt his entire body become considerably "cleaner," but that was all.

"I have applied purification to you, but the facts prove that you have not been cursed, nor has that mermaid's power taken lodging within you. Everything is simply because of yourself."

"Yes, thank you for the reminder."

Stroking the well-behaved cat, Xia De bowed to say goodbye, but just as he turned to leave, he heard the angel behind him say softly:

"In the Moon Bay region, there does indeed exist one—the remains of the original angel."

Since he had to return the horse from the White Valley Vineyard, Xia De didn't toss the crystal shoes home, but instead retraced his steps back to the vineyard, and then returned home from the wine cellar.

The return trip took some time, and by the time Xia De walked out of the basement carrying little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya, the streetlamps on Saint Delan Square outside the house had already lit up.

The maids had dinner prepared at home; although Jia Lin Na and Princess Lei Lei Qianya didn't say anything proactively, when the two red-haired Cavendishes sat at the dining table and looked at Xia De walking in through the door, Xia De felt he had no reason not to sit down and eat at home.

"Meow~"

Besides, this cat wouldn't easily allow Xia De to leave like that.

At the dinner table, Princess Lei Lei Qianya and Miss Jia Lin Na, who hadn't gone out at all that day, were both very curious about what Xia De had been doing all day.

Xia De then explained the matter of the 【Angel's Right Arm】, the Light-Chaser, and that lake goddess. Of course, he completely didn't mention Priest Augustus.

"Another angel-tier?"

The balanced great witch was quite astonished:

"What's going on with Moon Bay? Are there too many angel-tier relics?"

"When we were at Green Lake, we didn't run into this many angel-tier relics either."

Princess Lei Lei Qianya chimed in, then used her fork to spear a piece of veal and bring it to Xia De's mouth.

Xia De swallowed that bite of beef before saying:

"Lucia said that the Chosen Ones' stories get more dangerous each time, so this is normal. At least so far, only a small number of the angel-tier relics that have appeared are hostile to us."

He wiped his mouth:

"Miss Elsa's ability to extinguish light shown today is also very interesting; it seems after the exams end, I still need to have a talk with Lucia."

"I have a question."

The ravishing duchess asked:

"You keep letting others put down what they're doing and go to their exams with peace of mind; how are your own preparations? Didn't Miss Daniste arrange for you to take the skip-grade exams?"

Xia De was currently still a fourth-year student at Saint Byron's, even a year below Amelia—of course, the elven Miss hadn't noticed this point.

In the summer exam week when he originally couldn't take the promotion exams, Miss Daniste had Xia De exceptionally take the four-to-five and five-to-six exams; if things went smoothly after finishing, Xia De would be a sixth-year correspondence student at Saint Byron's.

Although he was actually already a Seven Rings sorcerer.

"My preparations are fairly thorough; at the very least, I've memorized all the knowledge from the books."

Saying so, he picked up his wine glass; tonight's dinner was very sumptuous.

Miss Jia Lin Na and Princess Lei Lei Qianya exchanged a glance:

"If Saint Byron's exam content is merely reciting the knowledge from books, then Saint Byron's, which has been passed down for two epochs, is nothing more than that.

Xia De, we know Moon Bay is now in the last calm before the storm, and there are many things for you to do, but taking a couple of days off to review shouldn't be a problem, right? Today is Thursday; you still have Friday and Saturday to review."

Their point was to let Xia De rest a bit; as for reviewing, Xia De felt he had done quite well.

But this suggestion was actually not bad either; Xia De thought for a moment, looking at the cat eating with its head lowered:

"After dinner, I'll make another trip to Moon Bay. If there really isn't anything going on, I'll consider taking two days off to review."

Going to Moon Bay after dinner naturally meant there was something to do; little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya was left at home, and Xia De took advantage of the night to come to Belendel Manor again.

So late, the Misses at the manor had already eaten dinner, and Miss Belendel, who had gone out, had also returned.

When Xia De saw her in the study, she was discussing with Miss Swift and Miss Elsa how to open the square metal box on the table.

"This does bear the Wood family crest. I consulted the shared Wood family documents; among the Ring sorcerers their family produced in the Sixth Epoch, only three are explicitly recorded—this box may be related to the second. Perhaps he also found and entered that ruin, and left this thing behind, waiting for a Ring sorcerer born among his descendants to seek it out."

The countess said, and seeing Xia De walk in, asked again:

"Xia De, do you still remember Marika Frost?"

"The she-wolf currently helping out in the kitchen?"

Xia De said casually; the flaxen-haired Miss greeted him, so Xia De sat on her side:

"Her husband's grandfather, wasn't he known as 'the Wood who isn't a Wood'? You also said that the golden dragon scale that should originally belong to your family appearing in Whisper Hills might be because that 'Wood who isn't a Wood' perceived something."

The witch nodded gently, pointing at the exquisite mechanism box on the tabletop:

"This thing isn't easy to open out of thin air; the Wood family has no clues about this box, but in those Frost family relics Lady Hou Jue Ancara took me to see, there was a strange oil painting with a pattern similar to this box. The three of us are discussing how to open it; Miss Swift really did learn things from Grandmother Cassandra."

The latter smiled at Xia De, and Xia De asked in confusion:

"Wouldn't using sorcery to pick the lock work? You should know I have a sorcery trick that's very effective. Or, I actually still have a 【Master Key】 in my hand, obtained from a demon at Green Lake."

"No, no, Xia De."

The blue-eyed dragon Miss said:

"Your sorcery and that relic can both pick locks, but we're not certain whether this box has countermeasures against such abnormal means of cracking it; if the contents inside are damaged, that would be terrible."

The witch extended her hand, pointing at the golden dragon scale, the black dragon scale, and the compass Lucia had made on the table:

"You see, there should be a dragon scale inside this box too. Even if the probability is small, we can't risk the dragon scale being damaged."

The three of them continued discussing how to open the box; Miss Swift had learned formal puzzle-solving methods for opening similar secret boxes from Grandmother Cassandra, Miss Elise tended to seek a key using clues gathered from the current investigation, while the Witch wanted to obtain a solution through divination.

In the end, they decided to use all three methods together; now that the box was in hand, opening it was merely a matter of time.

"You must be careful not to let the Light-Seekers sense this box again."

Xia De reminded them, and the Countess moved to his other side, hugging one of his hands quite intimately:

"Are you underestimating me? Shielding against divination and sensing is my strongest suit."

"Then what do you think about the Light-Seekers? Should we change our actions regarding the 【Order of Light-Worshippers】?"

This would be the first major operation by the 【Witch Council】 in this region since the Moonbay Incident, and also the first council activity led by Miss Belinda in so many years. Moreover, as it was also avenging herself, she took this matter very seriously.

"The plan remains unchanged; we will act once Miss Elise returns Sister Sister Daifulin and Xiwei from the New Continent. Although the Sister must return directly to the 【Spiritual Cultivation Order】 and cannot easily expose her close cooperative relationship with the Council, with so many Great Witches and Miss Elise, it is enough; it is just a pity that Audrey and Megan will not arrive until next week."

As she spoke, she waved her hand, summoning the maids to come and pour tea:

"Miss Elise said she departs tomorrow morning and can return with Xiwei and the others by Saturday evening; I plan to act on Sunday."

"I have an exam on Sunday."

Xia De reminded them:

"And it will likely last a whole day, so can we act Sunday evening?"

"No, no."

The blue-eyed girl sitting opposite on the sofa shook her head:

"Focus on your exam; you do not need to participate in this matter. Four Great Witches with council seats acting together, plus myself, constitutes a major operation sufficient to sweep any continent in the Fifth Era."

But that was the Fifth Era; back then, the minimum requirement for holding a seat was thirteen rings, and the Witches sitting at that round table included demigods, and if one was unlucky, even demigods might not secure a seat on the Council.

"Xia De, Grandmother also said we cannot rely on you for everything."

Miss Swift also spoke, her flaxen hair tied up and coiled at the back of her head:

"We do not need you to act, and the enemy we face this time is precisely countered by Miss Elise, is it not? Perhaps you should trust us; moreover, we are worthy of your trust."

"Do you really not need me?"

"If you are willing, you could lend us the 【Night Watchman】 and the 【Right Arm of the Angel】."

The Witch of Fate spoke; seeing them insist and having no bad premonition about this himself, Xia De could only nod:

"Both swords can be lent to you. But you must act Sunday afternoon, not morning; I will finish my exam in the afternoon and come immediately."