Chapter 2484

Among the cases handled at the end of the summer of 1854, the one that left the deepest impression on Xia De was the "10-Pound Luo Luo De Pai Theft Case."

Simply put, on the night before the Beaufort Auction House in the city was about to auction two precious Luo De cards, the auction house warehouse suffered a secret invasion, and the thief stole two special-rule Luo De cards valued at 380 pounds.

It was not just theft; before leaving, the thief left a total of 20 pounds in cash at the original place, which meant 10 pounds per card.

This kind of near-provocative behavior even received attention from His Majesty Larrus III of Yodel Palace, so it immediately received great attention from the City Hall and the Police Department.

Not only did Ridwich Field treat this as a special case, but they also spent a lot of money to hire detectives in the city to assist in the investigation, which of course included "Hamilton of Lei Jiede," who had repeatedly solved strange cases.

At that time, Xia De's 【Founding · Light】 happened to be undergoing appraisal at the Prophet Association. Although the probability was very small, Xia De, worried that his cards would also be targeted by the thief, decisively accepted the commission and actively carried out the investigation.

Thanks to the fact that the Beaufort Auction House in Tobesk was a local branch of the "Cassandra Auction House" (Chapter 589), Xia De used Grandma Cassandra's permission to directly connect with the inside of the auction house, and thus learned some things that the auction house found difficult to tell the police.

Subsequently, after a series of investigations and evidence collection, and having experienced a conflict with local gangsters in the middle, Xia De successfully captured the thief and the buyer who were preparing for a stolen goods transaction in a warehouse in the industrial zone of the west city two days after the incident.

Xia De had a deep impression of this matter because he witnessed the "Luo Luo De Pai Thief," but in fact, compared to the truly "strange cases" he had handled before, this matter was mediocre.

The total number of casualties in the whole thing was less than three, not even a fraction of a fraction of the casualties in the major case he solved that lasted for two centuries, involved three noble families, hundreds of nameless corpses, dozens of victims, and three generations of emotional disputes due to "ghost house investigation."

But people were quite interested in this case. The "Tobesk Morning News," "Terraril River News," and "Kingdom Morning News" introduced the case and Xia De's investigation process on the second page for two consecutive days—the front page was reserved for His Majesty the King.

Ridwich Field and the auction house therefore gave Xia De a large amount of remuneration and bonuses respectively. The Beaufort Auction House even wanted to give one of the two special-rule cards, 【Casenrick Specialty Food · King Gold Coin Chocolate】 and 【Classical Architecture · Yodel Palace Architectural Complex】, to Xia De.

However, Xia De refused, because he could see that the auction house was trying to "bribe" him because of the relationship between him and Grandma Cassandra. Therefore, he only took the cash reward he deserved and invited the writer lady to have a big meal at a restaurant that evening.

"The newspaper has already published the whole process of this case. It won't be easy if I want to adapt it again. But I still have questions, what exactly does the 20 pounds left by the thief mean?"

Dorothy asked curiously, and Xia De answered with a smile:

"After being arrested, the thief insisted that he did not commit 'theft,' but bought the two cards by force at a price of 10 pounds each. You know, the sentencing methods for these two crimes are completely different."

Of course, the police and judges didn't believe the nonsense about "buying by force" in the end. The daring thief knew the law but didn't know much.

Besides this kind of formal door-to-door commission, Xia De's friends would also introduce him to commissions found through private relationships.

For example, Rhesia found Xia De for her friend, Meris Lu Kasi, the granddaughter of Old Duke Lu Kasi, and commissioned Xia De to help investigate the identity information and family status of a handsome young man this noble lady recently met at the racecourse.

"Meris said she took a fancy to that young man. She doesn't know if the other party is interested in her, and she is also worried that the other party is deliberately approaching her. Go and help investigate, Xia De. I don't think everyone is as lucky as me to meet a suitable marriage partner all at once."

Investigating someone when you have a name and address is actually very simple. If Miss Lu Kasi didn't want her family to know, she could actually investigate through family connections.

However, this investigation did not involve Ringed Shushi, thieves, serial killers, or scammers. The handsome young groom really just worked at the Lemaire Racecourse.

It was just that after Xia De finished the investigation and wrote and submitted the investigation report, Miss Meris Lu Kasi only let Rhesia give Xia De a generous commission fee, but did nothing else afterward. Rhesia explained it this way:

"Oh, Meris met a marriage partner she was more satisfied with. It's the eldest son of Earl Sheldon. Mr. Sheldon Jr. gave her a very beautiful ruby necklace, which is said to be an antique from more than three hundred years ago."

"Um, this..."

Then, because Miss Lu Kasi tirelessly showed off that antique ruby necklace to others at the gathering of noble ladies, it triggered a case against the Sheldon family for smuggling antiques on the "Kingdom's Prohibited Export Cultural Relics List." Consequently, under the investigation of MI6, the "special friendship" between Earl Sheldon and the intelligence department of the Casenrick Kingdom was discovered.

In short, this sensational noble scandal caused Miss Meris Lu Kasi to be grounded at home by the furious Old Duke, and the royal purge against Earl Sheldon's forces made the nobles at that time feel insecure.

All of the above were told to Xia De by Rhesia. Xia De didn't have much reaction to this; it didn't affect him.

It was just that when Galina invited him to the Lemaire Racecourse to watch horse racing again, he unexpectedly discovered that the young groom who knew nothing was preparing for a wedding with his childhood sweetheart from his hometown.

He sent the happy newlyweds a set of silver tableware at a reasonable price as a gift. Of course, the gift was bought with the commission fee from Miss Lu Kasi.

A peaceful life is really very comfortable. During Xia De's "vacation," when Yiluna visited No. 6 St. Deran Square every few days and used the "door" in the house, she also told Xia De about the church:

"【Nightfall Seal】 has been promoted, but you also know that knowledge has weight, and the church respects the 'God-Caller's' ownership of this knowledge, so currently, it is only letting some high-ring and mid-ring Shushi try to learn it.

It's just very strange. I remember when we were still in Moon Bay, almost 30% of the witch followers on the Glorious Messenger could learn this seal. But according to the statistics currently counted by the church, even with complete materials and suitable venues, the mastery rate of the seal among the church's Ringed Shushi is only about 3%, and most of these people are at least at the Ninth Ring level."

It was still afternoon, and Luweiya, who didn't need to be on duty on the weekend, was fiddling with her astrolabe in Room No. 1 on the third floor. Xia De and Yiluna were standing at the door of the room talking.

"Didn't Dorothy say that we used 'original text' written with special ink, so the effect is better?"

The purple-eyed girl asked, and Yiluna shook her head:

"This is probably just one of the reasons. And do you know? Among all the church Ringed Shushi who have mastered the 【Nightfall Seal】, none of them have mastered Qishu; they are all Zhushu. And I heard that the Academy is the same. Even Xia De's teacher, Miss Danister, learned Zhushu."

"If there were others who were Qishu, I would feel strange instead. After all, everyone doesn't even know how to address that 'God of Silver Moon'; they only roughly know that it is related to that ancient Sage of the Moon."

Luweiya answered with a smile, continuing to lubricate the screws of the astrolabe with her back to the two at the door.

Yiluna suddenly said:

"But I mastered Qishu."

This was something everyone had known for a long time, so Luweiya still didn't turn her head:

"That's because you trust Xia De very much, just like me, Dorothy, and Galina and the others."

The promotion of the 【Nightfall Seal】 meant that in the future, when confronting the "peculiar light" scattered throughout the world, the church finally had the conventional power to contend with those strange lights, and that kind of light was no longer completely impossible to contend with.

The Church of Peace therefore gave the "God-Caller" a special contribution medal, and on the last Friday before the end of the Month of Flowers, which was the 29th of the Month of Flowers, it was handed to Xia De through Yiluna.

Also arriving in Xia De's hands were two suitcases full of precious magic potions, alchemy materials, and three ancient texts that were delivered to Xia De only after being sealed.

This was the reward for the "God-Caller" besides seeking answers from the True Gods, to thank him for his contribution in the Battle of Moon Bay.

It was just that I don't know if the church's "Philosopher's Stone" reserves were not much or if they felt they couldn't always give "Philosopher's Stone," so there were no those precious red stones in this gift.

But other materials were also precious enough, among which there were many precious materials that could serve as core materials in the opening ceremony of the "Silver Moon Library." Moreover, in the lists of magic potions and alchemy items from Priest Augustus, Dr. Schneider, and Mr. Ptolemy Albert, many required Xia De to prepare materials himself. Now with these, Xia De could try to let them make some "interesting" things.

As for the three ancient texts delivered after being sealed, they were written on dragon skin, human skin, and golden sheepskin respectively. These three texts were originals, and the church hoped that the "God-Caller" could return them after reading. Xia De naturally agreed.

None of the three texts were relics, but their danger level was definitely no less than ordinary relics.

What was used to seal and store them were metal plates cast from refined gold. The front and back sides of the metal plates had corresponding church holy emblems and dense storage and usage instructions.