Chapter 826: The Waiting at Yodel Palace

On Wednesday morning, Xia De was awakened as usual by the cat waiting for breakfast. When he went downstairs to fetch the milk and newspapers, he discovered a letter left on the doormat.

The stamp featuring the scenery of Lake Tiss on the envelope was quite beautiful, and the return address was a small town by the lake on the east coast of the Old Continent. This was a letter from Miss Mia San Gao De.

"It's already the middle of the Frost-Falling Month, and Miss Gao De's letter has finally arrived! I thought she had encountered some kind of trouble."

Xia De shifted his gaze from the letter and turned to the cat waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

"Look, a letter from your owner, Miss Gao De."

"Meow~"

The cat licked its paw and showed no particular reaction.

Miss Gao De's letter should have arrived at the beginning of the month; the reason for this delay was mentioned in the letter.

Very unfortunately, the gradually decaying town had experienced an epidemic last month that had already been brought under control. The church stationed in the town had discovered some terrifying signs and urgently requested reinforcements from the churches in larger cities. Although the local residents did not know exactly what had happened, Miss Gao De had already heard some unrealistic rumors.

Her family, although "already in decline"—a point mentioned many times in the letter—remained a prominent ancient family in the town, so they were well-informed. According to Miss Gao De, some strange things had been discovered in the coastal harbor caves. Afterward, the church's investigation team and police from the big city discovered things related to the source of the epidemic in the town's ancient sewer system.

Miss Gao De believed that the church had brought everything under control. As for Miss Gao De herself, she had been nursing a cold throughout the autumn, and this incident had only worsened her condition.

Yet, she still wrote to Tobesk personally, promising to come and pick up her pet cat, Mia, next spring.

This made Xia De very worried, not only about Miss Gao De's health but also about the possibility of being separated from little Mia.

However, he could not take advantage of Miss Gao De's illness to propose terms for buying little Mia. Therefore, he wrote a very earnest reply, using three pages of stationery to express his well-wishes for Miss Gao De, and attached the recent status of Mia the cat.

Because he was worried that the events in the remote coastal town might involve Ringed Shushi and relics, Xia De suggested that Miss Gao De could visit the local church frequently. Since the church had already taken notice of the town's affairs, there must be Ringed Shushi stationed at the church, which would be much safer than the "gloomy, terrifying, desolate, and decaying" family estate Miss Gao De described in her letter.

"Regardless, I wish Miss Gao De a recovery of her health during the winter."

Xia De expressed his sincere wishes and then sealed the envelope with glue and wax. He patted the head of little Mia, who was squatting obediently to the side, feeling a strange sense of worry about the arrival of next spring.

After breakfast and finishing the reply, he intended to go out to mail the letter. But just as he said goodbye to the cat—which was unwilling to go out—and opened the door, he saw his long-absent superior, Director Dac Anluosi of the Military Intelligence Agency, walking toward him.

This very ordinary-looking gentleman was wearing a black coat that didn't attract attention, with his hands in his pockets and a black top hat on his head. Behind him followed a man with a very effeminate appearance.

"A eunuch attendant from Yodel Palace."

Xia De understood immediately.

"Good morning, Mr. Hamilton."

Director Anluosi greeted him and shook Xia De's hand.

"Are you planning to go out?"

"Oh, nothing much, I was just planning to mail a letter to a client far away."

Xia De patted the coat pocket containing the envelope.

"Then go mail the letter later. His Majesty wants to see you in an hour."

Saying this, Director Anluosi introduced the royal attendant behind him. The latter greeted Xia De respectfully but did not say much. Although Xia De had known about this meeting two weeks ago, he still pretended to be curious and probed Director Anluosi about the purpose of the meeting with the King.

But Director Anluosi, who had always been friendly to Xia De, did not give an answer this time. He frowned and shook his head, clearly not wanting to discuss these issues in front of the King's guard.

St. Deran Square was actually quite close to Yodel Palace, just separated by one street, but the three of them still took a carriage. Because Director Anluosi's meeting was scheduled after Xia De's, Xia De handed over his two guns and the clothes filled with various toys to Director Anluosi for safekeeping after a very strict body search.

Afterward, led by the attendant wearing a red coat and black trousers, Xia De set off from the waiting room, passed through the labyrinthine third-floor corridor of the main Yodel Palace building, and stopped in front of a door guarded by two armored guards holding long spears, who looked as if they had traveled from several hundred years ago.

Xia De could not enter immediately because Laruisi III was still talking to someone in the study. The soundproofing of the walls and the double metal doors was excellent; standing outside, he could hear nothing.

However, Yodel Palace itself was not quiet. This place was not only the residence of the royal family but also the administrative and management center of the entire kingdom. When Xia De entered from the first floor just now, he had seen many faces that frequently appeared in the newspapers. And very strangely, most of those people also recognized him, greeting him as if they had known him for a long time.

The original scheduled time for the summons was 10:30 AM, but Xia De waited until nearly 11:00 AM without seeing the door open. He wanted to chat with someone, but the stern-faced eunuch attendant in red did not look like a good conversationalist, and the guards at the door, who looked more like statues than living people, were even less likely to chat with Xia De about the recent weather.

"How unpunctual."

Xia De complained in his heart, but since he was receiving a rather generous salary from them, waiting a while didn't matter. Just as he was bored and examining the expensive oil paintings on the wall, he remembered that Director Anluosi had planned to give him a raise in his weekly salary in the autumn. Xia De was currently receiving a weekly salary and expense allowance at the Major level. Because he could not be promoted continuously, Director Anluosi seemed to want to find another way to get him a Tobesk city allowance—this was a housing allowance for officers living in the core urban area of Tobesk.

If it weren't for the fact that Xia De himself was "illiterate," he could even have received an academic degree allowance.

Thinking about his income, he wondered whether he should spend his savings as quickly as possible or keep them for a rainy day.

At this moment, a series of footsteps came from the other end of the corridor; clearly, someone was walking over.

Turning around, the person walking in front on the red carpet was a tall man with red hair, looking to be in his thirties. Although his physique was a bit stout, overall he was still robust.

"I have said many times, personnel appointments for the Expeditionary Legion need to be passed by the Parliament. I know Father has the heart to train you two, but you absolutely cannot bypass the Parliament!"

Following behind him was another young man with red hair, twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a small build and glasses, wearing a worried expression.

"The parliamentary process takes at least a month, but the mining of the purple gold ore in Area 28 of the New Continent is now imminent. The spies from Karsenrik have also discovered those open-pit mines; we must start work as soon as possible."

Further behind was Lei Qianya with red hair, who was also frowning, clearly having encountered something unpleasant.

"Logistics are fine for now, but I need a report on the specific scale of that large mine before I can allocate new mining equipment. What exactly are those vampires in the Ministry of Finance hiding? Are those civil servants too satisfied with their rice bowls? And why was my shipyard project report held back by the Parliament again? I have even discussed the general plan with Lady Feilian of the Aofuluola family. Do you know how difficult that Lady Feilian is to deal with?"

The princes and princesses of Delariang, followed by their respective attendants and servants, argued as they walked to the door of the study.

When they saw Xia De, they immediately stopped their discussion. Lei Qianya, who was walking at the end, showed a smile. Although she had met Xia De using Dorothy's body on the Saturday night four days ago, this time she was using her own body, and she was in her own home. She wanted to greet Xia De but could only wait for her older brothers to speak first.