Chapter 2538: Unexpected Joy

"Friendship Oak" is a gift given by the hermits of the 【Forest Hermit Group】 to friends. Anyone can take it to get in touch with the hermits. Xia De, of course, did not have this; it was taken out by Miss Dannis Te, so he avoided this question:

"I want you to take a look at this."

Saying this, he took a wooden holy emblem from his pocket, on which was the symbol of a white oak. This was the holy emblem of the Old God 【White Holy Tree】, which Xia De had discovered in the hidden space under the tree hole, and the other item was an elf-style lantern.

"Holy emblem?!"

Mr. Van Buren, who had been curious about the origin of the two, was stunned, and then looked at Xia De in surprise:

"This is Mr. Oak's holy emblem! May I ask where you got this?"

"Taking a walk in the forest a few days ago, I discovered it in a tree hole in the forest."

This was not a lie:

"Returning the item to its owner, this should belong to you."

Saying this, he handed the holy emblem to the hermit across the table, and the latter was even more surprised. After reacting, he hurriedly wiped his hands on his robe, and then respectfully took the holy emblem. He checked the holy emblem briefly, and then held it and prayed softly.

Accompanied by the sentence "Holy wood is always here, luck is always here" being chanted, the holy emblem emitted a faint light. This made even the red-haired girl beside Xia De look at Xia De in surprise. This holy emblem was not an ordinary badge for prayer; at least two divine spells had been enchanted on it.

"Mr. John Watson, you are our friend."

The hermit stood up holding the holy emblem and said respectfully. Xia De shook his head with a smile:

"Please don't be so polite. I have a friend who is a friend of yours, and I am also very honored to be a friend of the hermits. Please sit down, let's continue talking. Actually, besides returning this holy emblem, we also want to seek help."

Saying this, he smiled at Miss Dannis Te beside him, and the latter tapped Xia De's leg with her left hand under the table, telling him not to be so proud.

Xia De did not immediately say the matter of "time travel". The 【Forest Hermit Group】 lived in Vista Woodland; they might have known about the time anomaly locally long ago, and might even have come into contact with or used the power of the tree hole.

Before coming, Xia De and Miss Dannis Te had discussed that they could not directly expose their purpose to the hermit group:

"My companion and I just came from out of town. Originally, we just wanted to participate in the Moon Dance Festival concert, but we encountered some bad things locally. May I ask, is there an illegal ring-warlock group entrenched in Vista City for a long time?"

He asked this, and the hermit Mr. Bell Van Buren shook his head immediately:

"Vista City is a small city; at least there is no large-scale illegal ring-warlock group in the city area. It is just because of those ancient ruins in the forest that large and small foreign ring-warlock groups come here every year to try to excavate ancient secrets, but there is indeed no one entrenched here for a long time."

After all, Vista City was too close to the royal capital Willondale, and the church would not allow organizations like 【Dragon Feast Cult】 or 【Mercury Blood】 to exist.

"May I ask what you encountered? Although our number is small, we still have some influence locally and can help solve troublesome things."

Xia De shook his head:

"The trouble has already been solved by me, but it is the lady beside me who was frightened. The three people we encountered all used the power of time. I think this is not something that an ordinary ring-warlock organization can cultivate."

The hermit frowned and was about to say something, but saw the tavern owner bringing the lunch Xia De ordered.

Xia De meant to chat while eating, but this Mr. Bell Van Buren refused these foods.

It was only after the tavern owner left that he continued:

"I don't know what you encountered either. I can bring this news back and see if others know anything. Although our number is small, the news is still quite well-informed."

Miss Dannis Te beside him tapped Xia De twice with her fingers painted with red nail polish; this was the agreed-upon meaning of "not lying".

That is to say, the 【Forest Hermit Group】 had not yet realized the arrival of the 【Tree Hole Society】.

"Besides this small trouble, there is another thing I need to ask for advice."

Xia De asked again embarrassedly:

"Since the hermit group has been active in this area all year round, if we want to find a ring-warlock from a hundred years ago, can you provide information?"

"I can go back and look for information. May I ask who you are looking for..."

He asked curiously, so Xia De said:

"Astrologer Euclid. He was active in Creekwood Town a hundred years ago, but I don't know the specific time of his visit and the length of his stay."

Mr. Van Buren then took out a notebook from his robe and wrote down the name:

"Is the other party a member of the 【Divination Association】?"

Xia De shook his head:

"Definitely not. I have already investigated this point. I have a handwritten letter he left in another place. As far as I know, he came to Creekwood Town at that time, it seems, to find the legendary 'Time Tree Hole'."

This was just nonsense. He and Miss Dannis Te didn't know what the astrologer came locally for back then. Mentioning the astrologer was just to use him as a springboard to reasonably detour to new topics.

But speaking of this, he deliberately frowned, and nodded to the eighteen-year-old girl beside him, who then explained on his behalf:

"Traces of 'Time Tree Hole' have appeared in many ancient stories. It is said that this is a passage left by an ancient god in the material world to connect different time points.

Of course, we didn't come for this rumor, but that astrologer had a Sage-level relic that is very important to me. That relic is related to the moon, and we suspect that the relic is in Creekwood Town."

This was talking about 【Source of Chaos】, it was just that Miss Dannis Te couldn't be sure whether that Mr. Euclid went to Tobesk first or came to Creekwood Town first.

She said while carefully observing the hermit's expression, but the latter just listened to her seriously:

"You returned the holy emblem, so you are our friends. I will let the hermit group help you investigate later. There haven't been many Sage-level relics locally. A few well-known relics are all related to music. As for the time tree hole... I have only heard similar rumors, and have always thought it was just a legend."

He thought carefully:

"There probably isn't much news about this in the city now, but in the era of Creekwood Town, there were indeed rumors of 'time travel' circulating locally. That era was before I was born, and the relevant records we have are only folk stories and rural legends.

However, Astrologer Euclid... can you wait here for an hour or two? I remember hearing this name somewhere, I will go back and look for some information."

Xia De nodded in surprise. Mentioning the name "Euclid" was originally just to cover up the real purpose. He didn't expect that there would really be clues:

"Of course. Then my companion and I will wait for you here for lunch, see you in a while."

The hermit took away the holy emblem. After confirming that he pushed the door and left the tavern, Miss Dannis Te asked Xia De:

"Is this the confidence you said you had to communicate with them without using the Academy background? Where did you get that holy emblem? If I didn't see it wrong, that is not an ordinary holy emblem."

"Yes, the miracle element is not weak, probably attached with one or two divine spells, but I don't know how to use it."

The two sat on the same side of the table, Xia De against the wall and Miss Dannis Te against the aisle. Originally it was because they wanted to talk to the hermit across the table, but now the hermit was gone, and Miss Dannis Te didn't intend to move to the opposite side to sit.

"However, that holy emblem was indeed picked up by me in the forest. This is the truth."

He emphasized, and the eighteen-year-old female warlock then asked with a smile:

"Is this the only truth just now?"

While asking, she watched Xia De tear the bread and sprinkle it into the mushroom soup:

"The things you said just now seem to be true when you think about them carefully, but they don't feel right when combined. If I didn't know the details, even if I went to divine the truth, I probably wouldn't get the answer I wanted.

So, is this the technique you usually use when conducting investigations and tracking in various places?"

"At least it's effective."

Xia De did not go to argue about truth or falsehood, pushed the mushroom soup with soaked bread to Miss Dannis Te, and then continued to tear bread for himself:

"Euclid, Euclid, didn't expect there to be clues. However, did that hermit lie just now?"

"No, but his expression was clearly wrong when you mentioned 'Time Tree Hole'. He definitely knows something related to this."

The female warlock, who was very good at distinguishing whether others were lying, said, and reached out to Xia De:

"Salt."

Xia De took out the salt shaker from his pocket and handed it to her:

"【Forest Hermit Group】 is entrenched in Vista Woodland, and they have also existed since the Creekwood Town era. Since ordinary people in the town have the possibility of using the power of the tree hole, then the largest ring-warlock group locally cannot know nothing. 【Forest Hermit Group】 may know about the tree hole, and may even control the tree hole.

Do you want some caviar? This is royal-supplied caviar. It will be delicious if you spread it on bread."

The eighteen-year-old girl nodded, and then told Xia De that the green leaf decoration on the roast meat plate was rosemary and sage, which were very common spices. While talking, she even helped Xia De cut the meat, and told Xia De the technique of using sage for seasoning with some pride.

This kind of girlish expression cannot be seen on the adult Miss Dannis Te. The reversal of age brought her more than just a youthful appearance.

And when Xia De carefully reminded her about the change in mentality, the red-haired girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then smiled at Xia De:

"Actually, I feel it myself, but there is nothing bad about it, is there?" ===== CHAPTER 2539 =====