Chapter 484

The warm yellow light illuminated Xia De's face and his whole body. At this moment, Xia De could even imagine that this light would illuminate this street, illuminate this city, and illuminate this world.

The arrival of night was the fear of all civilization, but the light of civilization dispelled this darkness:

"This is civilization, this is... light. The light of civilization..."

For a moment, steam appeared faintly behind him, and at the same time, the spirits and elements within his soul were moving frantically:

"No, it won't work!"

But the touch at this moment subsided just like that, and Xia De did not obtain the Enlightenment Spirit Rune because of it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes and exhaled, the light of the brilliant lamps was faintly reflected in his eyes.

Because he had seen more, understood more, and knew more, the outsider knew that 【Civilization】 was definitely not so simple. And precisely because he knew the weight of civilization, he could not obtain that heavy Spirit Rune just by the touch of this moment.

"The light of civilization is lit at this moment, but civilization is definitely not just the brightness of this moment."

Xia De closed his eyes again, trying to firmly imprint the tingling sensation of the moment just now into his memory.

He did not regret that he failed to condense the feeling of "light" and "civilization" into a Spirit Rune just now. If 【Civilization】 was used here, it would be a pity... he wanted more.

"Oh!"

Unexpectedly, he was bumped into by someone while his eyes were closed. Xia De was startled, completely breaking free from the illusion of seeing through the entire civilization at a glance just now.

He hurriedly reached out to check his wallet and personal belongings, but everything was there; the other party seemed to have really just bumped into him.

Standing at the alley entrance and looking toward the left side of Silver Cross Avenue, in the bustling crowd, he couldn't tell at all who had bumped into him just now.

Xia De wanted to ask the voice in his heart to let her confirm the clothing of the guy who bumped into him, but he found that a newspaper crumpled like trash had fallen at his feet.

"Was there something here just now?"

Thinking suspiciously, he picked up the newspaper on the ground. This was tonight's "Terraril River Evening News". The other parts of the evening news were normal, but on the edge of the second page, a series of numbers was written faintly with a pencil.

【This was dropped by the person who bumped into you just now.】

The voice in his ear sounded at the right time.

"Hmm? What does it mean?"

Xia De thought in surprise, looking around to find the person who dropped the newspaper:

"Could it be that the way to meet Lei Qianya has changed, and this is a new contact code? But there are only numbers, and it won't work without a codebook. Besides, it's just a meeting, why make it like a spy contact?"

Just as he was thinking, the light in front of him suddenly dimmed. It turned out that a four-wheeled carriage had stopped at the alley entrance, blocking the gas street lamp light from Silver Cross Avenue.

The driver, tightening the reins, lowered his hat and gestured to Xia De. Xia De saw the gorgeous falcon emblem on the carriage door on one side. Judging from the decoration on the outside of the emblem, this was the family crest of a certain Marquis; it seemed the carriage was borrowed by Lei Qianya.

Xia De immediately climbed into the carriage according to Dorothy's instructions, and the carriage drove forward again with almost no hesitation.

"Wait."

Xia De in the carriage sat down on the cushion under his buttocks, and frowned at the newspaper in his hand:

"If Lei Qianya's carriage arrived on time, then what is this newspaper... trash that was dropped? Did I overthink it?"

Xia De thought of the divination performed by President Stan not long ago:

"My outfit just now, wouldn't it be a coincidence that I was mistaken for someone else by the person who bumped into me?"

Xia De pursed his lips and folded the newspaper into his pocket. Regardless of whether this newspaper was trash or something else, this was not the theme of tonight.

Tonight is to welcome Lei Qianya back to Tobesk.

Along the way, there was no conversation between the driver and Xia De. After the carriage left Silver Cross Avenue, it first drove east, then turned south, and finally stopped at the entrance of Hummingbird Pedestrian Street at the edge of the University District and Tobesk's South District.

After the carriage stopped, Xia De got off the carriage quickly. But before he could thank the driver, the driver drove the carriage and turned back the way he came.

"Really professional."

Xia De whispered, looked around, and walked toward his left hand.

The "Red Flame Restaurant" mentioned by Dorothy was on Hummingbird Pedestrian Street. Xia De saw the sign as soon as he got off the carriage. But because she asked Xia De to walk around the neighborhood to kill time and wait until 7:40 to enter the restaurant, Xia De did not walk directly over, but walked on the pedestrian street with his hands in his pockets.

The nobles of Tobesk usually lived in the South City, and because it was close to the University District, the neighborhood was very prosperous. Now night had completely fallen, but the shops along the street had not yet closed.

Xia De looked left and right, spending fifteen minutes walking from one end of the pedestrian street to the other, most of which time he spent at a shop specializing in steam pipes, discussing some topics about pipe models with the shop owner.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Xia De tidied his clothes and then came to the entrance of the Red Flame Restaurant. This was a high-end restaurant, and there were welcoming waiters at the door.

Seeing Xia De walking over with a rose, he immediately greeted him:

"Are you Mr. Hamilton?"

He asked in a low voice.

"Yes."

Xia De also lowered his voice. The middle-aged waiter in uniform nodded, then led Xia De from the first floor to the second floor, pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, and bowed to make a gesture of invitation. After Xia De entered the room, he carefully closed the door again.

But Lei Qianya Cavendish was not in the room; there were three maids in the room. Xia De had not seen two of them, and the oldest middle-aged maid was Ms. Hulse, whom Xia De had seen at the Sophia Mansion in Coldwater Port; she was a person trusted by Lei Qianya.

"Mr. Hamilton."

Seeing Xia De enter the room, Ms. Hulse hurriedly walked over and whispered:

"Sorry, Her Highness encountered some things and might be able to come in a while."

"It's okay, is it a troublesome matter? Do you need my help?"

Xia De asked.

"The matter of Yodel Palace."

She hesitated for a moment:

"His Majesty and His Highness Rendall Cavendish are arguing because of the New World Kingdom's advance army, so Her Highness cannot leave for the time being."

"Oh, then don't worry, this matter is important."

Xia De said quite understandingly.

The New World Advance Army was the New World expedition organized by the Delarion Kingdom, responsible for mapping, prospecting for minerals, cooperating with scholars and the church to explore some ancient ruins, and establishing semi-permanent settlements in the coastal areas of the New World to maintain order for adventurers.

This was one of the most important military operations of the kingdom. Some people believed that the progress of Delarion and Casenrick in developing the New World would determine the overall order of the Old Continent for the next five hundred years.

So Xia De had dinner alone. After he finished eating, Lei Qianya still hadn't arrived, only sending someone to deliver a letter saying that it would take some more time.

Therefore, Xia De could only go to the opera house with the three maids and wait in the booth while listening to the opera. Lei Qianya knew that Xia De could not appreciate the art of opera, so she specially chose "The Son of Light", which had a strong story. The story told of ancient heroes who inherited light, overcame fear and darkness, and passed on courage and knowledge.

This was a relatively typical old-style knight opera.

Xia De had little interest in opera, and even the gorgeously dressed female actors on stage did not arouse much interest in him. Instead, the story's exploration of "light" made him think deeply for a long time.

"The Mad Light-Chaser" had been read for two months, and Xia De already had a premonition that the Spirit Rune related to it was about to be born. Maybe it would be the next moment, maybe it would take a few more days, but it wouldn't wait too long.

"What exactly is light?"

This was the content of Xia De's thinking. Unless he was lucky enough to directly obtain the 【Light】 Spirit Rune, otherwise, if it was a concept-derived Spirit Rune, his understanding would affect the specific meaning of the Spirit Rune.

"Darkness nemesis, bond, light of civilization, justice... oh, and moonlight, this one must not be forgotten."

When going to the washroom halfway, Xia De was still thinking about this matter. Leaving the washroom and listening to the singing sound weakened by the soundproof wall, he walked toward the booth. When passing through the corridor paved with red carpets and hung with portraits of famous singers, a maid Miss walked toward him.

Because the styles of formal maid dresses were roughly the same, Xia De, who didn't know much about women's clothes, felt that her attire was the same as Lei Qianya's maids.

And the maid was indeed looking for him:

"Mr. Hamilton, Her Highness sent me to find you."

"Lei Qianya is here?"

Xia De was happy in his heart, but on the surface, he was still calm:

"Okay, let's go back."

So the maid led the way in front, but as they walked, Xia De felt something was wrong; his booth just now didn't seem to be in this direction:

"Oh, I see, need to be cautious, so changed the place."

Thinking in his heart, he was indeed led by the maid Miss, who spoke in a very low voice, to the door of the booth on the third floor.

After knocking on the door, he immediately received a response allowing him to enter.

So Xia De tidied his collar and then walked in.

He saw the red-haired girl as soon as he entered, and just wanted to say hello when he realized the person was wrong. It was indeed a princess, and it was indeed a Cavendish. But it was not Lei Qianya Cavendish, but Angelina Cavendish.

The sixteen-year-old princess observed the surprised expression on Xia De's face and put down the bone folding fan in her hand:

"Mr. Hamilton, you seem very surprised to see me."

Angelina Cavendish, wearing a blue fluffy long dress, touched her face to confirm there was nothing on it:

"My maid said just now that she saw you, so I asked them to find you. After meeting at the Prophet Society last time, I have been looking forward to you being able to attend my salon, but I haven't received your letter. Good evening, Hamilton of Lei Jiede."