Chapter 3912: The Friday of Toussaint

Friday in Toussaint remained misty, and it was still drizzling.

This spring, there had been quite a bit of rain across the Old Continent; although it was still different from the extreme weather like last year's "Year Without a Summer" or the winter blizzards, judging by the current situation, it was still very necessary to take precautions against flood disasters.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Xia De, who lived in the city center of Toussaint.

At breakfast, Luvia's face was still a bit flushed; even though they could do anything at night, she was still a bit annoyed at Xia De's behavior during the day. Especially when Xia De picked up the glass to drink milk, the Miss Diviner looked as if she wanted to write "How can you hint at this again" on her face.

This instead made Xia De feel somewhat baffled, and he even suspected that the long-haired Luvia had not successfully blocked her own memories.

Thus, a pleasant day began in such a "family comedy." After breakfast, Xia De held an umbrella to see Luvia off to work. The rain outside was not very heavy, and she liked to walk with Xia De in this spring rain.

And when Xia De returned home, Galina was still at home and hadn't left:

"I already said that it's so close to Yodel Palace here, so it doesn't matter if you call me to wake up early. Xia De, you should go find Vigo, just let me stay at home by myself."

Tifa stood behind the sofa, smiling and winking at Xia De. Xia De then tossed the cat standing on his shoulder onto the back of the sofa and sat down beside Galina. Before, when Xia De met new witches, Galina had never shown similar emotions; clearly, Vigo Astley had made this usually confident witch have some uneasy thoughts.

Although Xia De dared not say that he could completely guess Galina's thoughts, having known each other for two years, he at least knew what he should do now:

"Tonight, I am going to attend a local banquet with Vigo. When I see her then, I will tell her my real name and let her know that the first witch I met was you, how about that?"

Galina pulled Xia De's hand and held it:

"I know what you are thinking, of course not! Let her be smug for a while longer; anyway, you didn't lie to her, so just get along with her in the current way. After a while when I'm free, I must give her a surprise. Xia De, I don't have a sense of crisis because of her, it's just..."

She thought for a moment:

"You seem to have never met such an active and proactive witch, right?"

"Yes, she is indeed a bit too proactive."

The Duchess nodded quickly:

"That's it, Megan and Audrey's speed is already fast enough. If Vigo is even faster, and I have been with you for so long before... wouldn't I become a clown?"

Only then did she express her truest thoughts, and Xia De hugged her:

"I thought you were worried about... this thought is really strange, this kind of inexplicable comparison is meaningless. Besides, I have only known her for two days."

"I also know it's meaningless, I just get unhappy when I think that Vigo might show off to me later that although she wasn't the first witch to know you, she was the one who made the move the fastest."

She pouted slightly at Xia De, and Xia De smiled and kissed her. This kiss lasted for a long time, and when Xia De let her go, the witch, whose eyes were a bit hazy, said:

"If only I could have been bolder and more direct back then, maybe I could have beaten Luvia to it."

Xia De sighed:

"But when I first met you, I had neither the power I have today nor the influence, and I had nothing to do with the Witch Council. The situation you and she faced is different. The difficulty of you and me knowing each other and finally getting together was much greater than that of other witches."

Xia De paused slightly, and he also recalled those previous stories:

"I am still thinking now, Galina, thank you for helping me so much when I was still weak, and for not doing anything strange to me because of my peculiarity."

"Don't say that... you're making me feel a bit embarrassed. Yes, the things we faced along the way were much more complicated than Vigo's now. Looking back, I am surprised that after we first met at the 'Lucky Southern Cross Club', so many stories happened."

Memories of the past welled up in her heart, so she stopped dwelling on Vigo's matter and instead felt a bit proud:

"Speaking of which, all the witches who come after should thank me. If I hadn't walked the path called 'Xia De Hamilton', how would they have the convenience of those who came later?"

Although this sounded a bit strange, the logic was correct.

Thus, a smile bloomed on Galina's face again, and she kissed Xia De's cheek:

"Let Vigo be smug for a while longer, hmph~ later call Vanessa, Sylvie, Sylvia, Megan and the others, I must let her know how wrong she is."

"Galina~"

"It won't be too excessive, don't worry. Oh, I only have things to do at nine in the morning, and it's seven-thirty now..."

The maids consciously withdrew from the second floor, allowing the masters to whisper some secrets. They admired Xia De; after all, he always seemed to be able to say the most suitable words.

Galina's small anxiety was successfully relieved under Xia De's comfort. Of course, she was not unconfident, but she always believed that she should do the best, so she had such a performance after discovering potential hidden dangers.

Xia De believed that this was also Galina's charm. That kind of witch who was always very dignified and imposing, in his view, would not be easy to get along with.

In short, after seeing off Galina and her party, Xia De officially began today's itinerary. However, before heading to Arcadia, he still went to the Witch Tower at the peak of the snowy mountain first, but unfortunately, Margaret still hadn't replied, and Xia De could only wait patiently.

Little Mia still didn't plan to go out today, and Xia De played with it for a while before leaving home. After passing through the dusty Blue Ink Library, he came to the alley behind the library. The City of Scholars was still sunny today.

After boarding the carriage on Green Vine Street, he headed to the "Finch Gear Workshop" located in the smoky Outer City. Mr. Xavier Finch had a steam factory here, and that "Finch Gear Workshop" was on the southeast side of the factory. It looked like a small shop, but the backyard of the small shop was directly connected to that factory.

Mr. Finch's identity was an inventor, and this workshop located in the Outer City mainly sold the wonderful mechanical creations he invented.

Business in such a shop in a place where the poor gathered like the Outer City naturally wouldn't be very good. Xia De felt that Mr. Finch probably didn't count on this shop to make money for himself; he was purely satisfying his personal hobbies.

Due to terrain and climate reasons, Xia De felt that the air quality in the Outer City was even worse than in Toussaint. When in the carriage, the coachman reminded Xia De not to open the carriage window once he left the Lower City, and after getting off the carriage, pedestrians on the road were all covering their mouths with handkerchiefs and walking in a hurry.

"The current season and the turn of autumn and winter every year are when the local air is at its worst."

The coachman said when giving Xia De change. In fact, this rule was common in most cities on the Old Continent.

The area of Mr. Finch's shop was not large, and other shops on the same street mostly did business in metal parts and steam engine accessories.

Mr. Finch was not there when Xia De entered the shop, but the apprentice working in the shop went to the backyard to find the old gentleman after hearing Xia De's intention. Xia De observed the goods in the shop while waiting. There were all kinds of wonderful machines here, and he couldn't even find similar products in his hometown.

But the similarity of most machines was that they actually looked useless.

For example, the "Stamp Licking Dog Head Device," which was a simulated dog head model installed on an exquisite wooden base, with a micro water pump and sponge system hidden inside. One only needed to place the stamp in front of the dog head and press the button, and the dog head would extend a "tongue" made of sponge material to moisten the stamp.

Judging from the product introduction, the invention of this machine was not to save people's saliva, but to "avoid ladies coming into contact with stamps touched by postmen."

But in Xia De's view, using this thing was more troublesome than using one's tongue to lick a stamp, and the workload of cleaning the sponge was probably far greater than licking the stamp directly. As for letting a servant clean the sponge, it would be better to let the servant stick the stamp if they had that time. Considering factors such as mechanical failure rate, it would be better to treat this simulated dog head as a simple decorative statue.

"Mr. Watson, good morning. I guessed you would come today."

While Xia De was thinking, old Mr. Finch walked in from the backyard of the shop. The old man was full of energy, and although his face was old, he looked like a very healthy person at a glance:

"Are you interested in my inventions?"

Xia De moved his gaze away from the dog head statue:

"I just feel it's very interesting. I don't send letters very often, so I don't need such a wonderful device for the time being."

And old Mr. Finch was also very self-aware:

"You can actually say directly that this thing is useless, I can understand."

He explained:

"Invention and creation can never let people know whether a product can benefit civilization when it stays at the design drawing stage. Some things, even if they have been manufactured for a hundred years, can only be evaluated as garbage, but they happen to be discovered for their use in the one hundred and first year."

Xia De nodded:

"Makes sense... but has anyone really bought this device?"

"Of course, the local post office once bought two, so that people who go to the post office to send letters don't have to waste saliva. People were very curious about this machine, so the frequency of use was very high at the beginning, and the failure frequency became high as a result, so the post office phased it out."

Old Mr. Finch didn't feel any regret when talking about the past:

"But I believe that even the most useless invention will eventually find its true use one day. Let it stand here quietly for now."