Chapter 2308

During the visit to "Heart Orphanage," Xia De and the two vampires expressed different opinions about the orphanage, but generally, they were positive comments.

Xia De originally didn't intend to continue donating money here, but thought about donating the money won in the afternoon to the church. But after the visit was over, when Mrs. Resa invited the three to have tea in the dining room, Xia De indicated that he wanted to make an additional donation:

"As individuals, the impact we can have on the world is really too small, so we must do what we can."

"You are truly generous. Please allow me to thank you on behalf of the children."

The four chatted very happily, but just when the atmosphere was harmonious, someone quite impolitely broke into the dining room where the children were eating without knocking.

Mrs. Resa was just about to reprimand the other party, but when she turned her head and saw that the person who entered aggressively was the founder of the orphanage, the kind and beautiful widow of the wealthy merchant, Mrs. Jude, she immediately shut her mouth:

"Madam, good afternoon. These three gentlemen are here to visit and donate to the orphanage."

She said somewhat at a loss, clearly seeing that Mrs. Jude, who usually didn't lose her temper here, was clearly in the wrong state at this time.

And the plump noblewoman looked at the three of them, her nostrils flaring a few times, but in the end, she didn't speak her mind immediately:

"Kind gentlemen, good afternoon... Resa, you go out first, I will talk to these three gentlemen."

"Yes, Madam."

The fat woman wearing an apron looked worriedly at the three people she felt were very friendly, and then got up and left. And when the door closed again and the candlelight on the table illuminated the faces of the four people, Mrs. Jude, who had dropped a silence spell, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then exploded:

"Viscount Bernhardt, what is the meaning of this? Bringing your friends and Ptolemy to secretly investigate me, is that it?"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Jude. We didn't come secretly. In fact, the business cards I handed out just now were my own, otherwise you wouldn't have known that it was us who came."

Mr. Bernhardt said, and all three stood up from the table:

"We just came to tell you the progress of the investigation. Do you want to sit down and listen? It's very inconvenient to talk while standing."

The angry woman pointed at him and said:

"I warn you, Bernhardt, and your friend from the North, this orphanage is my property. Next time if you dare to come here without notice, I have the right to drive you away! I have never, ever allowed any of my kind or Ring Mages to come here!"

After speaking, she looked fiercely at the coroner again:

"Ptolemy, what is the meaning of this? Do you think we are familiar enough that you can come here directly?"

Mr. Albert pursed his lips and shook his head, signaling Xia De to speak quickly, and Xia De also received the meaning of this look:

"Madam, calm down. Since we are already here, why don't we talk about the situation of that 'threatening letter' first? From the current state, this matter involves a relic that may be of Angel or Sage level."

The three explained to her what happened to Marquis Morson in the morning, but Mrs. Jude did not calm down after hearing it:

"Then you go and solve this matter, isn't that what you promised? Why come to me?"

"It's like this, Madam."

Mr. Albert continued:

"May I ask you about your schedule every night this week, starting from today."

Even though Mr. Albert spoke very politely, and he also wanted to know when Mrs. Jude would go to the barn at night, he did not expect the woman to slap the table in a rage:

"Viscount Bernhardt, Ptolemy, what is the meaning of this?"

"I wanted to say..."

"You leave now, leave here now!"

She turned and pointed to the door:

"If you want to get clues from me, then ask me in the city. You three, leave here now! I don't want to see the faces of you three here again! Go!"

She opened the door directly, so Xia De, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert looked at each other. The latter two signaled to Xia De, who was good at talking, so Xia De wanted to speak again, but Mrs. Jude left the room directly. By the time they chased out, she was nowhere to be seen.

Mrs. Jude was definitely still in the orphanage, but given her attitude, the three didn't ask for trouble and finally left together.

"It seems she intends to suck blood here recently."

Leaving the orphanage, the three walked side by side on the road back to the city. There were no carriages here, and if they wanted to take a carriage, they had to at least enter the city.

It was Mr. Bernhardt who spoke, playing with his black top hat as he walked:

"I found that the people of my kind in Moon Bay are particularly stubborn."

The coroner in a robe glanced at him; he was also "one of my kind in Moon Bay":

"Just now, apart from knowing that the children are doing quite well, we seem to have gained no clues at all."

"It's already enough."

Xia De also said, kicking the stone in front of him and watching it roll forward:

"She was less angry just now and more panicked. It's like a child who has done something wrong, using shouting to cover up their true thoughts."

"Your metaphor is strange, but I agree with your conjecture."

Mr. Bernhardt also nodded. The coroner had been very calm today:

"And it's highly likely to be tonight, otherwise she wouldn't have rushed to drive us away so hurriedly... Didn't Mrs. Resa, who led us to the restaurant, mention that today is the twice-a-month extra meal day for Heart Orphanage?"

He suddenly said to Xia De and Mr. Albert, and Mr. Albert moved his gaze away from the crows taking off in the farmland by the road:

"Yes, extra meal day. Oh, so that's how it is... Mr. Watson, what's the plan?"

"Let's separate first and prepare separately. It's past four o'clock now, how about we meet at St. George's Stone Bridge in two hours?"

Xia De said, and the other two nodded:

"No problem, but we have to hurry. If we are lucky tonight, there will really be a tough battle to fight."

There was no one around, and the three took off into the air. Red butterflies and scarlet bats flew toward the distant city together. Only a squirrel holding a pinecone on a tree saw this scene, but it clearly couldn't understand what was happening.

When Xia De stepped into the Belindel mansion, the sunset glow had already appeared in the western sky.

Xia De first greeted Angelina and Amelia, who were holding a pile of paper bags filled with herbs, in the foyer, and touched the little unicorn that was also holding a paper bag in its mouth. Then he picked up little Mia on the stairs. After arriving on the second floor, he greeted Tifa and Miss Matilda, who were talking in low voices and walking to the left in the corridor. The two maids saw his back as he continued to go upstairs and could see his exhaustion.

Finally, Xia De met Luvia and Miss Belindel in the study on the third floor. Miss Aurora and Miss Ilithyia were not there; the witch and the blue dragon girl had gone to the seaside to investigate the offshore waters.

"Xia De, you came back just in time, we are about to have dinner."

The countess with a red birthmark between her eyebrows said with a smile. Xia De shook his head and sat down beside Luvia:

"I'll be leaving in a while, so I won't have dinner. Let's talk about business first, about the relic you divined yesterday."

Placing the soft cat on his lap, Xia De carefully recounted his experiences of the day. And after he finished speaking, the purple-eyed girl said with some concern:

"How come you didn't even eat lunch?"

"That's not the point. My vampire friend has already deduced what that relic is. I came back to ask for your opinions, after all, you are the professional diviners."

The diviner ladies showed smiles, and the countess's golden eyes looked at Xia De:

"Your friend's deduction should be correct. Judging from the current performance, it is indeed that relic: the Sage-level relic 【Richard's Notebook】. The relic is named after the name 'Richard' written on the title page of the notebook."

"The characteristics of this relic are relatively simple. Anyone who opens it and tries to write any text in the notebook will be completely controlled by this relic and will try to use the power of the notebook to punish those 'unrighteous people.' The power of the notebook is also relatively simple: write down the name of someone whose appearance you know, and the corresponding person will die an unnatural death.

If you describe the cause of death in detail, they will likely die because of it; if you do not describe the specific cause of death, they will all die of a heart attack."

Luvia also added. They had already made some guesses before this, and the clues Xia De brought back today just confirmed this speculation:

"A standard destiny-type relic. Some people even call it the 'Justice Notebook' or 'Death Note,' but in fact, this notebook has nothing to do with that ancient god of death."

Miss Belindel continued, the two of them cooperating quite tacitly:

"But this notebook's judgment on 'whether it is justice or not' is quite strange. Most character flaws are considered unrighteous. As more names are written in the notebook, the frequency of its killings will become faster and faster, and the means of killing will become more and more extreme. You can understand that in the later stages, basically everyone will end up in that notebook.

And the only way to stop this relic is to kill the current controller of the notebook. After all, without a controller, the notebook itself cannot write."

"But you must also be careful."

Luvia said:

"For that notebook, in the absence of a holder, even a drop of blood dripping on it will be judged as 'writing'."

Xia De nodded, feeling relieved that Mr. Albert's guess was confirmed. As long as he knew what it was, it would be much easier to handle:

"So it is indeed paranoid justice? Then according to what you said, does the notebook actually have self-awareness?"