Chapter 435

Although surprised by the Princess's active cooperation, he still carried the cat to Angelina Cavendish, bent down, and placed the cat, which was being held by the back of its neck, in front of her hand.

Little Mia did not have the habit of biting people, so she had no intention of opening her mouth to bite the beautiful hand extended before her. Adhering to the principle of sniffing everything she encountered to judge if it was food, she truly performed a light sniffing action. The cat was slightly curled up now, and coupled with her outstanding appearance, this look was truly very attractive.

The sixteen-year-old young Princess actually used her uninjured hand to touch it, but was directly rejected by the cat's paw. This not only did not make Angelina angry, but instead made her and the surrounding girls laugh.

"Very good, it seems Her Highness the Princess has no issues, then the next one."

Xia De was very satisfied with Little Mia's obedience.

With the Princess being the first to try being sniffed by the cat, the other noble girls also laughingly let Xia De bring the cat to sniff their hands. Xia De would emphasize every time that his cat absolutely, absolutely would not miss anyone with a special scent on their hands, but in reality, Xia De didn't care at all what Mia would sniff, but instead carefully observed everyone's expressions.

When the progress of the cat sniffing hands had reached two-thirds, Xia De finally discovered that the girl who had been sitting on the sofa without saying a word, wearing a blue long dress adorned with lace trim, was quietly rubbing her hands on her dress.

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but..."

When it was her turn, Xia De brought the cat before her, bent down, and put the cat down:

"Madam, please extend your hand."

The silent tea-colored-haired girl clearly did not want to extend her hand, but now that everyone was looking at her, she could only hesitantly extend her hands, but half of her palms were hidden in the beautifully patterned sleeves.

Mia's height was lowered by Xia De, but she was already tired of the hand-sniffing action.

"Meow~"

The cat actually cried out... because Xia De's left hand had quietly patted its tail.

"Oh?"

The detective frowned, as if he had encountered some difficult trouble. And his exclamation was also caught by the noble ladies watching.

Xia De looked cautiously at the girl in front of him, his probing eyes examining her attire. The girl in the tulle dress looked timidly at him, and then asked cautiously:

"May I ask, Detective, why you suddenly stopped."

"This..."

Xia De put on a troubled look, because he didn't know at all if he had found the right person.

But he knew someone who knew the answer, so his eyes aimed at President Sitan who had already walked back. The middle-aged man, with a slightly thin build, a high bridge of the nose, and eyes deeply sunken into their sockets, stood to one side looking at Xia De with quite some surprise, a faint smile on his face.

Xia De knew he had found the right person.

"Madam, may I ask, what have you had on your hands?"

He asked softly, picked up the cat and placed it back on his shoulder, then gently stroked its little head. A look of terror flashed across the girl's face in front of him; she hadn't undergone any special training, and all her feelings were expressed on her face.

So Xia De cautiously said nothing, but looked at Princess Angelina Cavendish. The sixteen-year-old Princess looked sternly at the girl in front of Xia De, and the latter's lips moved:

"Angeli..."

She lowered her head.

Now the girls who had just been laughing and watching Xia De carry the cat to sniff everyone's hands also stopped talking, and the originally lively atmosphere suddenly quieted down.

Xia De glanced at President Sitan again, and seeing that he didn't speak, he knew he had truly found the right person. So he held the cat in his arms and stroked it, as a thank you for its small help, and only then bowed slightly to Angelina Cavendish:

"Then Your Highness, I think this investigation commission can be considered finished."

"Hamilton of Lei Jiede, you did very well."

The red-haired girl said softly, and her expression at this moment made her look more like Lexia.

The Princess stood up, preparing to leave, with two maids following on the left and right of the girl who had been "discovered by the cat," and the Princess's other friends closed their mouths and followed behind.

"The reward for the investigation will be given to you later."

Saying this, she walked out the door. Xia De looked at President Sitan, who was also standing to one side; the middle-aged man made a gesture of silence and followed the crowd behind Xia De.

The group returned from the second floor to the first floor, and from the first-floor foyer to the outside. The time was already approaching dusk, and the sky was gradually darkening. Three carriages drove from afar and stopped in turn in front of the Diviner Society. The girls boarded the carriages one by one and then drove toward the direction of Yodel Palace.

Whether they were going to Yodel Palace, and what would happen to the girl who was caught, had nothing to do with Xia De.

He and President Sitan stood together in front of the Diviner Society, watching the motorcade leave.

The diviner asked Xia De softly:

"Do you feel a bit confused?"

"Indeed, even if one wanted to hurt others, one shouldn't use such a trivial method. If it was an accident, then why not apologize immediately."

Xia De was the only one who couldn't figure out this point.

"This matter is very complicated... although the Society is very close to Yodel Palace, we shouldn't discuss too much about what happened there."

President Sitan sighed slightly:

"Politics has always been the most troublesome thing."

The sunset glow passed through the thin mist, reddening the sky of Tobesk. The two men stood together on the bustling Silver Cross Avenue, standing together at the entrance of the Diviner Society where people came and went.

Carriages passed in front of them, the wheels crushing the road surface and making a rhythmic sound. The metal pipes clinging to the walls reflected light under the sunset glow, making the street appear exceptionally bright. They looked together at Yodel Palace under the fiery red sunset. Further away, where the mist was hazy, was the steam-era streetscape of the northern pearl, Tobesk City.

The setting sun made the cat fur of Mia on his shoulder look like it was glowing. The cat opened its mouth and yawned, not knowing if it was hungry or sleepy, but suddenly it became interested in a small bird flying overhead.

That flying bird swept across Silver Cross Avenue, flew over the skyline of the city, which was as dense as a grid, flew over the chimneys spewing black smoke, flew over the heads of workers carrying sacks and barefoot, flew over the heads of gentlemen in decent attire, and flew over the thousands of households in Tobesk.

August was about to reach the middle, the hottest days of the year were about to end, and autumn was coming soon.

(Yiluna is praying...)

When Luweiya, who had returned to the Society, saw Xia De in the divination room on the second floor, Xia De was facing the window, using the setting sun outside the window to count a stack of 1-shilling banknotes in his hand, while Little Mia crouched beside him, watching his hands count the banknotes skillfully without blinking.

Luweiya even saw afterimages appearing on Xia De's hands; he was truly very skilled at counting banknotes.

"What are you doing? Even if you want to show that you are rich, at least you should count 1-pound banknotes, right?"

The purple-eyed diviner said curiously, turned on the gas lamp on the wall, put her handbag on the table, and then pulled out a chair and sat opposite Xia De. But neither Xia De nor the cat looked up at her; the man and the cat were focused on those banknotes.

"Wait a moment... Alright, good afternoon, Luweiya, you are still as beautiful as ever. This was given to me by your President, Mr. Sitan; it is the fee for the investigation commission. This is 10 pounds, two hundred notes in total; the Society is truly generous. But it's all small change; I've been counting for quite a while."

Xia De smiled, put the money into an envelope on the side, covered it with a handkerchief, and threw it into the pocket in front of his chest. Little Mia was also very happy, with her neck raised on the side; this cat understood the meaning of "coins."

"The Society's Luo De card appraisal business brings in a large amount of small change. So if there is an opportunity, the cashiers are more inclined to spend that small change that is difficult to keep."

Luweiya understood this quite well. Seeing Xia De put the money away, she didn't ask what had happened just now, but asked nervously:

"I have heard that the matter in Coldwater Port ended completely yesterday morning, but the Dac Nisi you mentioned..."

"He got away."

Xia De answered lightly, and the purple-eyed girl showed an expression of "as expected":

"Look, Xia De, the first candidate for the Chosen One still has some skills."

"I used rhetoric to get a twelve-ring female sorceress to catch him, but Dac Nisi was still able to run away. The only thing that caused effective damage to him was the 【Sunlight Spear】 I threw using Yiluna's alchemical item. I think he will probably nurse his wounds on the way to Tobesk."

Avoiding the details of Xiwei Aurora's identity and the relationship between Dorothy and Lexia, Xia De briefly described his experience in Coldwater Port. He even mentioned the level 0 relic 【Desire】 he encountered and showed Luweiya the 【Chain of Great Sin】 extracted from that piece of flesh and blood.

As expected, Luweiya was quite worried about Xia De. She had never heard of anyone daring to eat a part of a level 0 relic. She took Xia De's hand to check him, but just like Xia De's own feeling, except that his desire had increased a little, everything he gained was beneficial.

"The gift bestowed by fate..."

"... has long been marked with a price in the dark."

Xia De caught Luweiya's words. She used the language of the Fifth Era, which Xia De happened to have learned some of in his textbooks:

"It was the 【Blood Spirit School】 that gave the price; it was that 【Puppeteer's Notes】 that guided me to the dark room behind the damp small church and helped me gain power."

"But why do I feel that even without that relic, you could still gain power?"

Luweiya was a little distressed:

"The things that have happened to you are absolutely not normal. Think carefully, Xia De, in the two months since we have known you, how many things have you experienced?"

"But aren't the accidents I experienced all related to the Chosen One? In Tobesk it was because of Yiluna, in Coldwater Port it was because of Ivan Dac Nisi, and this is not my bad luck."

Xia De looked at this quite openly.