Chapter 3240: Competition and Bet

Xia De couldn't catch Professor Reinhardt's words for the first time. After all, he and that witch were really just friends:

"Then you and Elder Harald..."

"At that time, Elder Harald also asked me the same question. That was in the summer after my leg injury healed. When we went to the Time City together to handle things, it was a conversation on the road. I also gave the same answer as you at the time, yes, exactly the same. Now I have fully understood the Elder's attitude and complex mood toward me back then. Of course, I and you are still a bit different. Back then, I didn't have your confidence. I was six years older than Claire's mother, and at that time I had just become a lecturer with a very low salary. In the academy, I had no connections and it was very difficult to grab class hours, and the funds and projects for liberal arts majors were always difficult to apply for..."

He coughed, interrupting the memory of his embarrassment when he was young:

"It's as if fate has drawn a circle; while I was rejoicing in my own luck, I saw myself in the future becoming the person I once was. Of course, you and I are still somewhat different. Back then, I didn't have your confidence. I was six years older than Claire's mother, and at that time, I had just become a lecturer with a very low salary. I had no connections at the academy, and it was hard to even secure teaching hours. The funding and projects for liberal arts majors were always difficult to apply for..."

He coughed once, interrupting the recollection of his youthful predicament:

"Having lived on this island for so many years, I have, to some extent, begun to believe in fate. I won't meddle in the relationship between you and Claire; I am much more reasonable than my old father-in-law was twenty years ago. Ahem, don't repeat this to anyone; this is a private conversation between us."

In short, rely on yourself to investigate on the snow mountain. If you believe in fate, fate will also show you its secrets. But remember, fate is a double-edged sword. Everything has a price, and everything has meaning."

Professor Reinhardt's answer to Xia De was not just these ambiguous words. Before Xia De got up, he talked about the "ice and snow castle" mentioned by the forest ranger old Haman and told Xia De that besides old Haman, two other people had seen it in the past three hundred years, and the locations were all in the southeast of the snow mountain.

He circled the approximate location on the map, which was the starting point for Xia De to conduct a comprehensive investigation while completing the Fatum people's commission. But since the ice and snow castle was mentioned, Xia De couldn't help but think of Chloe.

Since he had already come into contact with the residual sound left by Chloe on the snow mountain, if the ice and snow castle really existed, Xia De still hoped that the castle was related to Chloe.

It was only two o'clock in the afternoon after chatting with Professor Reinhardt. When Xia De left the study and went downstairs, Mrs. Reinhardt was packing bags of bread, vegetables, and various foods, asking her daughter to take them to the Harpoon Inn to eat:

"Why don't you just live at home? Even if you live with your grandfather, why do you have to live in a hotel? Don't you have a home here?"

The witch couldn't answer directly, so she cast a pleading look at Xia De. Xia De smiled and took those packed foods from her, and then turned them into toys in front of Mrs. Reinhardt:

"I don't know what gifts are needed for visiting people locally, so I brought these worthless things."

This made Mrs. Reinhardt pleasantly surprised, and she said that if she could do this, she wouldn't have to drive "Little Larry" (the donkey at home) to the pier to transport goods in the future.

After leaving the Reinhardt house together, the two discussed and went up the mountain together to take out the magic sword that had been sealed of its soul and cut off from the "mother nest consciousness" in the small auditorium in the mountain. The luck was quite good, or rather, the sealing ritual imposed by Priest Ao Gu Si and Doctor Schneider seemed to have taken effect. The magic sword, which Xia De had hidden in the wall using "mud to stone", had not been taken away.

After Xia De took it out and waved it a few times, he felt that before the devil appeared, he could use this sword as his "main weapon" on Fatumunster Island.

"The ritual says there are a total of nine magic swords on the island. Now the Sun Church has one, you have one here, so the number of remaining magic swords is seven. This number of magic swords should be enough for that 【Sun Emblem】 to deal with."

Miss Reinhardt was optimistic about this, but Xia De thought of the giant snake that night:

"Provided that no new magic swords are produced."

The time was still early, so Xia De planned to go to the vicinity of the circle drawn by Professor Reinhardt in the southeast of the snow mountain with Miss Reinhardt to see if there really existed things like an "ice and snow castle". He himself didn't hold any hope, and his heart was planning to go there to take a look, and if there was no result, he would return to town directly. And Claire Reinhardt naturally wouldn't refuse to turn around with Xia De again.

And the owl Miss who followed all the way in the air certainly wouldn't like the low temperature of the snow mountain, and was also very happy that they didn't stay on the snow mountain for too long.

"Why don't we have a competition? Let's set off from here together and see who can reach the destination first."

After walking out of the small auditorium, the girl in a good mood suggested with a smile.

"Is it a competition of speed going down the mountain? Of course, I can,"

Xia De thought about it and didn't refuse, but Miss Reinhardt said again:

"Since it's a competition, there must be a bet. If I win, you stay and have dinner with us tonight, how about that?"

The owl standing on the roof of the small auditorium rolled its eyes very humanly and decided to write this sentence down, which could be used in the future when shaping a very active girl.

"What if I win?"

Xia De asked, and the platinum-haired girl said with a smile:

"Then I allow you to call me by my name directly in the future."

The owl Miss shook her wings and flew up directly. Xia De looked at it circling nearby out of the corner of his eye, and the witch said before Xia De answered:

"Just kidding. If you win, I can take you to an important banquet next week."

"Banquet? In the Time City?"

"Yes, Grand Duke Lagson has confirmed that the meeting to mediate the relationship between Karsenrik and Delarian will be held on Fatumunster Island, not on the coast. Among the representatives of Karsenrik, there is a Hou Jue's wife who was my classmate in university, so I also received an invitation to the welcome banquet next week."

Xia De just didn't expect that the Hou Jue's wife was also studying mineralogy:

"This banquet sounds very interesting, then are there any rules for the competition?"

"No rules, any means can be used. Then I'll set off first, see you in a while."

She said and jumped, turning into a golden stream of light and flying down the mountain. Xia De sighed, then jumped into the air and turned into a cat. So the owl swooped down like a hunting eagle, grabbed the cat Xia De in the air, carried him, and flew down the mountain.

Of course, Miss Feilian changed the color of the owl's fur in the snow mountain to prevent being discovered. The round-faced owl now was snow-white:

"Claire is really a silly girl. I originally wanted to see how you captured her, but now it seems she is drilling into your backpack herself."

The owl Miss evaluated like this, and Xia De cat felt very guilty about this:

"I feel it's better to tell her the truth quickly."

"How can that be? Vanessa and Miss Feilian can play, and I can play too—Xia De, close your mouth and be careful of drinking the wind, I'm going to accelerate."

The 12th-level transformation master glowed in the air until she turned into a unicorn carrying a cat, and carried him like a ray of light rushing down the mountain. That great witch of the sun was very strong, but in terms of speed, she absolutely couldn't defeat this 12th-level unicorn.

"Ang~"

A ray of white light seemed to appear in the forest at the foot of the mountain, and that light was because of the appearance of the "unicorn".

This "competition" finally ended with the victory of Xia De, who had a mount. After the two met in the forest, Miss Reinhardt wasn't disappointed and didn't even ask Xia De what means he used:

"If you lose, you lose. The specific time for the banquet hasn't been notified yet. I'll tell you when it's confirmed next week. Let's go now. I'm not familiar with the forest nearby, but it doesn't look like an ice and snow castle exists here."

"Strong space perception" didn't find any spatial abnormalities here. The two walking through the cedar forest were more like taking a walk together than looking for something.

The rugged mountain forest covered by white snow was completely different from the Vista forest. Watching the sun sink toward the west between walking, it suddenly gave Xia De an indescribable sense of melancholy.

While exploring in the forest, they talked about the "fragment of the poem". Combined with the first snakeskin, the text found on the snakeskin of the Fatum people five hundred years ago, and this fragment, it was not difficult to see that the story of "fate" was a story of fighting for the position of "protagonist", and obtaining that snakeskin was the first step to entering the story.

Speaking of this, Miss Reinhardt felt that she had wasted that snakeskin:

"Although we are not completely unable to become the Chosen One, the Speaker said that the situation of a great witch becoming the Chosen One is very, very low, almost equivalent to everyone else dying before it's our turn... If I had known, I should have let you or Stella try. You look so special, and Stella also has her own unique talent, but I am just a 'minor supporting role'."

She was indeed still angry about this matter. Xia De shook his head with a smile, carefully avoiding the tree branches that were dropping crystal clear snow:

"The story of fate has just begun, anything is possible, so don't say such things. But are there always so many strange things on the island where you live? I have encountered almost enough things to investigate to fill a notebook in the week I have been on this island."

"I didn't feel it was very strange when I was a child. My hometown in my memory has always been peaceful and safe. I think it should be that the material world as a whole has not been peaceful in the past two years."

She said softly, and then suddenly asked:

"Is it my illusion? What is that in front?"

Xia De, who had turned his head and was talking to her, looked forward. In the extremely far position of the cedar forest, a group of blurry white light almost blended into the background of the forest:

"I saw it too, wait, is this what the old forest ranger saw? Did we really bump into it all of a sudden?"

"Don't say so much, chase it and see."