Chapter 4156: The Hiding Place of the Dragon Egg

The treetops rustled. Xia De's expression was very solemn, and faint tree-like patterns had appeared on the floating moon egg. The preceding process wasn't actually important, because Emilia knew Xia De would certainly nod. What truly mattered was the final step:

"Helena Carter."

Emilia, looking somewhat solemn, asked the floating moon egg:

"Do you willingly sign this contract, pledging that in any time and any space, you shall become Xia De Shulen Hamilton's dragon maid?"

The egg, already turned golden, slowly spun in the air. Under the curious gazes of the little unicorns, the worried gaze of Dac Dac Nisi, and the somewhat tense gazes of Xia De and Emilia, the moon egg within the golden light turned translucent, letting everyone see the tiny curled-up life form inside.

"Wow~"

The moment Dac Dac Nisi covered her mouth with tears streaming down, a clear wail came from within the eggshell.

At that moment the moon egg shone beneath the great tree like a golden sun, and amid the drifting golden streamers of light, every living creature beneath the tree saw the shadow of an ink-black giant dragon flash past, its dark hide clearly marked with starry specks of light.

And after that ink-black giant dragon vanished, the shadow of a young lady who stood in a posture similar to Miss Miss Difa, Matilda, and Winnie also appeared within the golden light, but likewise flashed past in an instant.

Emilia's life ring, transformed into a dark-gold sapling, had temporarily borrowed the power of the World Tree sapling at "Wang Zuo," and the World Tree witnessed the fulfillment of this promise that spanned all of time.

On one side, a traveler from afar who had already come to regard this place as home; on the other, one who had sacrificed herself to protect the world, then been reborn through love and longing.

The moment Xia De raised his right hand high and let his fingertip touch that glowing moon egg, light burst forth from the point where the two met.

Many people living in this far-northern academy city, as if by unspoken agreement, looked up at this moment toward the direction of the unicorn habitat, and what they saw was a dazzling beam of light shooting up into the sky, until it vanished into the azure heavens.

A dragon maid signing a contract must herself possess the power of time; without the power of time, she would be swept into disordered time by time's own might.

Thus the contract and the one who signed it vanished together from beneath the tree. When the light faded and the little unicorns called out one after another, chattering about the marvel they had just witnessed, the moon egg was already gone from beneath the tree, leaving only Xia De alone, gazing up at the sky.

"She's gone."

Dac Dac Nisi finally buried her face and began to weep. She soon felt Xia De come to stand before her, so the administrator Miss hugged Xia De again and kept on crying.

Emilia withdrew her life ring and let out a sigh of relief. Although she hadn't needed to cast any spell, presiding over such a ceremony had placed enormous psychological pressure on her. Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly; the ritual was complete.

"Then, will Miss Carter suddenly appear, just like that version of me from the past who crossed through time, having actually been waiting for this day all along?"

She had reverted to her original appearance of a small elf with pointed ears, and she turned her head to look around, hoping to see the lady from her childhood memories walking toward her from afar.

But Helena Carter did not show herself at that moment, and Emilia was not disappointed:

"In that case, Miss Carter is most likely still in a state of slumber. Next, we need to find her... a treasure hunt across the academy! That has to be loads of fun~"

Emilia thought to herself, then began discussing with Ellie where they should go to look for that egg. Ellie claimed she had already memorized the egg's scent, and the little unicorn was quite confident she could find it.

"Teacher will come back, right?"

It took a good while before Dac Dac Nisi, her head still buried in Xia De's chest, asked again. Xia De nodded with great certainty:

"Actually, she should already be back; we just don't know where she is yet. I already have an idea, but I was thinking it's best not to let the 'now' and 'future' versions of her in the same time-space meet each other, so I didn't say anything before.

If things go smoothly, within a week we'll be able to find her again in Saint Byrons."

He reached out and wiped away Dac Dac Nisi's tears:

"I often say it: parting is for the sake of the next reunion. You've already waited this long; can you really not wait one final week? I promise you, Dac Dac Nisi, we'll find her again. I promise you."

Because no one knew what state the returned Miss Carter would be in, she was most likely hidden somewhere in the academy. She might be in human form, but there was also a small chance she was still in the shape of a moon egg.

The main force searching for her, who had returned from the Fifth Epoch, was actually not Xia De but Ellie. The unicorn Miss had once again verified her talent for finding things during the operation at the 【Leather Goods Hall】.

It's just that Ellie's search had already begun last week, and as of now there was still no result.

Emilia, however, had once raised a possibility:

"Dorothy proposed a theory in the 'Hamilton Detective Story Collection': the best way to hide a leaf is to place it in the forest.

So if Miss Carter has already returned, could she have long ago disguised herself as a student and been attending classes at the academy? Perhaps she's already been a student here for many, many years, just waiting for 1855 to arrive... Oh, what a terrifying story."

Although Dac Dac Nisi thought this unlikely, she still prepared to have the academy's student affairs office comb through the identities of enrolled students.

And on this Monday morning, after the "moon egg" had been sent away, Xia De also put forward the idea he had harbored for some time:

"Miss Felianna's puppet, before it stopped being active, said that if she really wanted to hide something, she definitely wouldn't hide it in some very secret place. I think Miss Felianna must have also considered how we would search, and she might have hidden Miss Carter in a place we would definitely be able to reach, but where other people would most likely fail to find her."

Dac Dac Nisi, leaning against Xia De's chest, looked up at him:

"Is there such a place in the academy?"

Xia De nodded very certainly:

"Of course. The entrance to the 【Spatial Maze】."

Emilia had a sudden realization:

"Xia De said that before we discovered that entrance, the last witch to discover it lived in the Fifth Epoch!"

Xia De recalled what had happened back then:

"Perhaps Miss Felianna left us some clues there. Remember? When we first opened that hidden space, there was a huge stack of original manuscripts of novels written by Fifth Epoch witches inside (Chapter 3117). I think that novel was called... 'The Harem Life of Saint Byrons.'

Dac Dac Nisi, didn't you take that manuscript away, wanting the academy to use it to study the atmosphere of the academy's early days? Did that manuscript mention anything about treasure, giant dragons, or riddles?"

Finding the entrance had been a year ago. Upon hearing Xia De's question, Dac Dac Nisi thought for a moment, then immediately shook her head:

"Those novel manuscripts were handed off to the other professors... I'll go ask them about it right now. Maybe there really are clues."

After entrusting Emilia to stay with Xia De, she actually left from there directly. It was clear she was truly anxious.

The moment Dac Dac Nisi left, the fluffy little unicorns immediately crowded around Xia De, and little Mia began meowing again. Emilia watched Xia De interacting with those cute little unicorns, and the pointed-eared little elf felt things wouldn't be that simple:

"Xia De, will that novel manuscript really contain clues?"

"I'm only guessing. There are actually other investigative directions. If Miss Carter is truly sleeping or hiding somewhere, then the clues related to her must be tied to a very ancient site or object within the academy.

This reminds me of something from before. Emilia, I remember Dac Dac Nisi mentioning that the academy's oldest tree isn't your Moon Creek clan's sacred tree, but the 'Dragon Blood Tree' in the academy's central courtyard (Chapter 3969). Now, would you mind taking me to see that tree?"

"I'll take you there!"

Ellie immediately raised her hand and said so. Emilia didn't want to go back to class right now either, and was of course happy to take Xia De for a walk:

"Sure, but there will probably be other students in the central courtyard, so you'll need to disguise your face. Speaking of which, ever since I can remember, I've often passed by that tree, but over all these years I've never really taken a good look at it."

Emilia planned to take Xia De through a teleportation gate to the central courtyard of the academy castle. Although everyone could fly, the academy's teaching district prohibited students from flying during class.

Seeing that Xia De wanted to leave, the fluffy little unicorns immediately crowded around him again. Even though Xia De couldn't understand what the unicorns' "Neigh~" actually meant, he could guess they wanted him to ride on their backs so they could carry him to the location of the teleportation array.

"Honestly, where's your usual reserve?"

Emilia complained from the side, but the little unicorns she was so close with paid no attention to her complaints at all. In the end, Xia De could not resist everyone's enthusiasm and chose the most enthusiastic of the little unicorns.

It was the largest of the bunch in stature, but when it wobbled and lifted off the ground carrying Xia De and little Mia, Emilia said again:

"Xia De, you and little Mia need to sit more steadily. This child is the third youngest of all those little unicorns just now."

Xia De immediately felt a pang of guilt, as if he were employing child labor. He wanted to leap down from the little unicorn's back, but was stopped by Emilia:

"You have to consider the little unicorn's self-esteem. You chose her, but then gave up on her because she flies unsteadily — that would cause this child a great sense of frustration."

Emilia looked very professional, so Xia De cautiously asked for advice again:

"In the Academy, is there anything like a 'Juvenile Unicorn Protection Act'?"