Chapter 66: The Ringed Shushi Squad Passing By

The black-haired maid hurried from the manor entrance along the gravel path of the courtyard toward the imposing three-story mansion. If Xia De remembered correctly, this was the maid who handed him the relic 【Vampire Ring】 on behalf of "that lady" on the third floor of the Lucky Southern Cross Club.

"'That lady' is also here?"

Xia De stood by the long table, looking up at the manor mansion not far away, and could only see a few young girls in evening gowns chatting with each other on the balcony of the second floor.

One of the girls holding a glass wine cup, who had long red hair, noticed Xia De's gaze and even pointed out Xia De's direction to her friends.

He saw the girls on the second-floor balcony all looking toward here. Although he didn't want to cause trouble, Xia De still nodded slightly to show his respect, and then left this position as if nothing had happened.

"Seeing so many hair colors at once, this is really a novel experience."

He thought to himself when he came to the courtyard behind the manor.

Xia De didn't know how large the Lake View Manor was, but even without counting the racetrack connected to the manor and the nearby farms, the area here exceeded the outsider's imagination.

Behind the mansion was a garden, which was divided into different parts. And walking toward the back, the manor was directly connected to Lake Shi Lu He. There were even small piers and pleasure boats by the lake. Xia De had already seen young men and women boating on the lake with candles.

He didn't get too close to the lake, not because he didn't want to appreciate the beauty of March suspended on the blue waves in the night sky, but purely because it was too cold by the lake.

And the garden itself was enough for Xia De to gain some experience. It was just that he didn't know if this was some kind of convention; there were always young lovers drilling into the depths of the garden. Although they wouldn't do indecent things, just whispering to each other on the bench, it still made Xia De, who was walking around, very embarrassed.

He walked around purely to gain some knowledge and better adapt to life in this world. He intentionally looked for things to do to pass the time, but the business cards he brought were left with only a few in his hand. Those were prepared for Baron La Wen De's friends, so there was no need to distribute them anymore.

So he thought of finding a place to sit down. Seeing that there were already many gentlemen and girls walking in the flower bushes in the garden maze, he left this area, thinking of going to rest under the tulip flower statue over there.

But before he had walked a few steps, he saw a team appear from the small path surrounded by flowers on the side of the manor. That was the side door of the manor garden connecting to the racetrack. They walked in hurriedly under the guidance of an old man dressed as an old butler carrying a kerosene lamp.

That was a dozen or so church personnel with serious expressions, wearing uniform black coats. The reason for judging that these were church members was that Priest Ao Gu Si had mentioned the dress and weapon-carrying requirements when a Ringed Shushi squad of the church appeared not long ago.

Although Xia De didn't see the church's holy emblem, so he couldn't judge which True God Church these people belonged to, they were undoubtedly very dangerous.

Thinking in his heart, he naturally turned to another direction on the small path in front of the garden and passed by the team.

At the same time as passing by, the voices in his brain reminded him that the elements of "Miracle," "Enlightenment," and "Whispers" appeared, which once again confirmed Xia De's guess about their identities.

"However, if every Ringed Shushi passing by a True God Church squad could have such an obvious reminder, then what secret actions do they have... It wouldn't be that only you can do it, right? The lady who claims to be another me."

【Do you need me to repeat it again?】

"This is because my soul is sensitive."

Xia De said in his heart, and then heard the pleasant laughter of the woman again.

In the team of more than ten people, the leader was a middle-aged man who was about the same height as Xia De but as strong as if he could kill a Xia De and an orange cat Mia with one punch. Most of the team members behind him were male. Among the two women, one looked to be around thirty, with her lips painted purple; the other was probably not yet eighteen, with brown long hair. Even Xia De could see that she seemed a bit nervous compared to the others.

"Is this the first time on a mission with the team... how is she a bit familiar? Oh, that's right, the day I went to Purple Iris Lane to pick up Little Mia, I met her, and I had a strange feeling at the time (Note)."

Xia De thought in his heart, not turning his head to look at the group of people. The voice in his head spoke, of course not teasing Xia De for paying attention to a strange girl:

【Outsider, you have seen fate.】

"Hmm? Have I seen it? When did I see it?"

He thought in his head in confusion, but his footsteps didn't stop and he continued to move forward, fearing that he would be treated as a bad person by the Ringed Shushi squad of the True God Church.

"But thinking about it carefully, what am I nervous about? I don't seem to have done anything bad, what am I afraid of... I am a good person."

His footsteps slowed down, but he still didn't turn his head.

【This is hard to explain. Meeting her multiple times has made you discover the uniqueness of the strange girl. Even if I don't say it, you should have felt her difference.】

The voice whispered.

"Can you express it in a meaning I can understand?"

Xia De asked back, while his eyes pretended to be curious about the blue-winged butterfly in the flower bush ahead.

He thought he wouldn't get an answer, but unexpectedly, the woman's voice was understanding this time:

【The chosen person of fate has appeared here, which seems to indicate that something big is about to happen.】

"'That lady' is present, and the True God Church squad has also appeared... it is indeed a bit wrong. Then, do I need to leave?"

He asked in his heart, but didn't get an answer again.

Xia De knew he had to make up his own mind and couldn't rely on the woman's voice that claimed "I am you."

But after thinking about it, he didn't leave. This was of course not because of the reward of at least half a pound and the unreimbursed travel expenses, but because leaving abruptly would be very eye-catching, and he made up his mind not to approach any dangerous places and not to take the initiative to contact trouble.

"It's so big here, as long as I don't walk around and don't deliberately seek danger, could danger still implicate me with a True God Church Ringed Shushi squad present?"

He thought in his heart and returned to the long table full of food again.

Even if strange men gathered together, they could talk because of common topics. Xia De, who wanted to finish his midnight snack early, was also unknowingly drawn into the discussion about the "feasibility of immigration to the New Continent."

The New Continent, discovered by people fifty years ago during the Age of Discovery, was vast and rich in products, and the hidden places were filled with strange ancient civilization ruins and even tombs.

But so far, no traces of any living indigenous people had ever been found in the New Continent. Therefore, scholars from the Delarion Kingdom in the north of the Old Continent and the Karsenrick United Kingdom in the south unanimously believed that this was not normal and that the population could not be easily migrated there. Because of this reason, there had been no large-scale official colonization actions between the two continents so far. There were only numerous military pioneer legions, adventurers, and ambitious people who carried their families and friends to board that rich land.

The official kingdom was also considering this issue. The Age of Discovery had been over fifty years, and the first generation of adventurers who set foot on the New Continent had all grown old. Some even spent their whole lives in the New Continent, but nothing went wrong. So, whether official population migration could be carried out had become a hot topic in the last ten years.

The men by the long table at the Lake View Manor banquet, wearing decent formal suits and blowing the cool night breeze of early summer, conducted a fierce and unsubstantial debate on this issue. The novel viewpoints made Xia De nod frequently, and he knew that no matter which era it was, people always liked this kind of conversation. ===== CHAPTER 67 =====