Chapter 3089: Angelina's Wisdom

After waking up in his own bedroom bed on Saturday morning and opening his eyes to look at the familiar ceiling, Xia De felt that it was actually quite nice to be home like this. No matter how good other places were, this was his own house in the end, and clearly, Little Mia thought so too.

In a good mood, he tended to the fireplace and, unusually for a Saturday morning, cooked breakfast himself: warm milk and goat milk, fried eggs, and bacon. When he went out to get the newspaper, he ran into his next-door neighbor, Mr. Shi Shi Misi, who happened to be getting his paper too. He hadn't seen Xia De in a long time and just assumed the young detective next door had been busy with cases all autumn.

The men stood at their doorsteps chatting for a few moments while holding their newspapers, after which Mr. Shi Shi Misi turned and instructed his servant to bring a jar of honey produced in the Archipelago Kingdom of Kelageli to Xia De.

This was a small gesture of goodwill between neighbors, a little gift to maintain neighborly relations. So, Xia De did not refuse, thinking to himself that when the maids baked bread at home, he could send some to Mr. and Mrs. Shi Shi Misi as well.

The news reported in the paper was nothing new, and Xia De only glanced at the reports on border conflicts. Along with the newspaper came a letter from Doctor Shi Nai De, who said he had some matters to attend to this afternoon and would postpone Saturday's meeting to Sunday afternoon.

"Is the Doctor rushing to crack that book he got from Professor Youke Wood's office?"

After breakfast, Xia De took Little Mia to Old John's pawnshop and the Black Raven Library to hunt for goods, after which he went to Cat Tail Alley to visit Professor Manning, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. At noon, he politely declined the old professor's invitation to stay for lunch and instead walked to the nearby Quill Street, wanting to see how Duo Luo Qian was doing.

"Did you just wake up?"

When he was welcomed into the third-floor apartment by Duo Luo Qian, who was wearing a nightgown, Xia De asked in surprise; it was already 11:30 in the morning.

"No, I haven't woken up yet; you woke me up. The Doctor said there's no meeting today, and I had planned to sleep until evening."

The girl, whose blonde hair looked messy because it hadn't been combed, said in a weak voice:

"We're having lunch together, right? Please give me five more minutes, I'll sleep a little longer and then go change clothes..."

Then she tilted her head and leaned against Xia De, falling straight asleep. Seeing this, Xia De moved Duo Luo Qian back to the bedroom and prepared lunch for her.

After turning the cat, who didn't want to leave and wanted to eat, into a toy, he prepared to tiptoe away when Duo Luo Qian, eyes closed, said again:

"Xia De, come to my place. The club where we often date, Angelina is here too."

Although Princess Lei Qianya had returned to Tuobeisike City the day after the great war ended due to her busy schedule, she was actually the most leisurely one now; after all, a princess didn't have to do everything herself.

When Xia De brought the cat to see her and Angelina, the two princesses were in the club room discussing the evening's events:

"Xia De, since you aren't having a meeting today, our cousin Janet is holding a wedding banquet tonight; would you like to come and play?"

The so-called "cousin" was Janet Kindel, the daughter of Queen Diana's younger brother, who was marrying the son of a local count. The scale of this wedding banquet was completely incomparable to the wedding at the Lakeview Manor of Lei Qianya's sister that Xia De attended last year. Although Xia De really wanted to accompany Lei Qianya and Angelina, he had other plans:

"Sorry, I was thinking of going to Saint Byrons tonight to discuss my course thesis with Shi Shi Misi Dannister."

Although Lei Qianya was regretful, she didn't demand that Xia De accompany her:

"Alright then, Angelina and I will leave after delivering Mother's congratulatory gift. But I'm telling you, although you returned to Tuobeisike to rest for a while, don't always stay cooped up at home with your cat."

She led Angelina and Xia De to sit at the dining table and then had her maid instruct the club's kitchen to serve the meal.

Angelina sat obediently beside her sister, originally thinking about how to mention the staff to Xia De before the Year-End Festival, but she didn't expect Xia De to take the initiative to bring it up:

"Lei Qianya, could I borrow your wisdom for a moment? If I wanted to bestow a new ability upon my 【Staff of Yggdrasil】, what kind of functions can you imagine it having?"

Long-haired Luweiya had said the staff could be imbued with one more new characteristic, and Xia De had not forgotten this. He took advantage of lunchtime to inform Lei Qianya of the staff's current functions, and Lei Qianya thought for a moment:

"I heard that Emilia's treehouse was sprouted by her own power. Since the staff can transform into a great tree, could it be made to grow into a treehouse? That way, if you ever find yourself needing to spend the night in the wild, you would at least have a place to shelter from the rain."

"Good idea. And if the staff is used to sprout a treehouse, the treehouse itself would surely possess a certain degree of supernatural power."

Xia De agreed while letting the cat out. If he chose this characteristic, it would be equivalent to carrying a house with him everywhere from now on.

Even Ajielina thought her sister's idea was quite good, but since she had a "mission" on her mind, she asked in a low voice:

"May I offer an idea?"

"Of course."

Xia De then looked at the little princess, and Ajielina said embarrassedly:

"I heard that Emilia's Chosen power is incomplete because it is needed to suppress the time scars in the forest. Although she can borrow power at any time, it is ultimately different from the complete state. Since the World Tree seedling in the Wang Zuo Land cannot be moved, why not use other World Tree material to temporarily help Emilia supplement the part of her power that is missing?"

Lei Qianya frowned and said:

"Although I also want the Chosen of Time to become stronger, I do not want Xia De to lose that weapon."

Ajielina suddenly felt that she might truly be a genius:

"Sister, I mean, since Xia De said the new characteristic must be related to trees, trees don't just have trunks; they always have branches. The new characteristic could be: allowing the staff, which is based on a tree, to split off a brand-new branch—that is, an auxiliary staff—and then give that accessory to Emilia."

Ajielina couldn't think of a way for Xia De to give away the main body of the staff, but as long as the main body and the branch remained connected, she believed Emilia could likewise influence the main trunk through the branch... If that didn't work, then they could think of another way.

Ajielina's train of thought became increasingly clear:

"Although the accessory split from the 【Staff of Yggdrasil】 would certainly be far inferior to the little seedling in the Wang Zuo Land, having something is better than having nothing. The cost of doing this is that Xia De cannot add new power, but at least it helps Emilia supplement her power."

After speaking, she saw Lei Qianya looking at her with some surprise:

"Ajielina, did you just think of all this?"

Of course not. Ever since returning to Tobeisike, the little princess had been thinking day and night about how to complete this mission, to the point where even her reading time had been delayed. Originally, she only had a preliminary idea, and it was only after hearing Xia De mention "new characteristics" today that she completed the entire concept.

"Yes, sister, I am very smart too!"

Ajielina answered with a smile. Although Lei Qianya still believed that rather than making that elf more powerful, it would be better for Xia De to have the staff produce beneficial effects for himself, she never forced Xia De to make decisions, so in the end, she only asked:

"Xia De, what are your thoughts? A portable treehouse, or helping Emilia become stronger?"

Xia De did not make a decision immediately; he still needed to consult the opinion of the long-haired girl in his dreams.

In the afternoon, he went home to prepare the final papers for his various courses, which he could submit during the meeting tomorrow afternoon. In the evening, he put down his fountain pen and took Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya for a stroll to the Prophet Society to visit Luweiya.

The bad news was that Luweiya was still very busy and would likely have to work overtime tonight; the good news was that because she needed to work overtime, she planned to stay at No. 6 St. Deran Square, which was very close to the society.

As for visiting the St. Byrons Library after dinner, this was the first time Xia De had taken the initiative to go to the academy without an appointment. Dannister had already given him a set of eighth-year student robes and library access, but he still felt somewhat uneasy about such an "illegal intrusion":

"Wait a minute, I'm a school director with shares in the academy; what am I nervous about?"

He had originally wanted to take Little Mia with him, but the cat was already annoyed from being dragged around by Xia De all day, so it hid on top of the cabinet where the cat food was kept and refused to follow him. Xia De had no choice but to set off from the basement alone.

The process of passing through the 【Space Maze】 to the second basement level of the library went smoothly, and he encountered no trouble after walking out of the hidden passage and arriving in the library. Subsequently, using the note signed and stamped by Shi Shi Misi Dannister, Xia De successfully reached the ground level of the library.

Standing among the bookshelves, he looked up at the starmap twinkling on the ceiling, then determined his position via the orrery in the center of the arched dome, and walked toward the librarian's office.

Without an invitation, even knowing the direction, one could not actually find the clearing with the sofa and coffee table. However, the ring the sorceress had given Xia De at the end of last year, which represented her identity, could be considered an invitation, so Xia De soon arrived at the familiar place.

Along the way, he encountered some students reading books in the library, but no one paid him any mind. The number of students currently at St. Byrons was quite large, and it was perfectly normal for students of different years not to know each other.

As long as Xia De didn't say anything himself, no one would realize he was from outside the school.

As expected, Shi Shi Misi Dannister was not in her office. Xia De sat down on the sofa, but felt somewhat uneasy about what would happen if someone else came looking for Shi Shi Misi Dannister and saw him there.

So, not long after sitting down, he stood up again, thinking that even if someone came, he could explain that he was also there to see the librarian.

"It's also strange for me to just stand here. Should I leave a note with an agreed-upon meeting time and go back for now?"

He thought this, but then decided that since he was already here, he might as well wait a little longer. It was 6:53 PM on Saturday, and based on Xia De's understanding of Dannister, she should be back soon.