Chapter 845: Apprentice

The time for the representatives of the Anjou royal family to arrive in Tobesk was getting closer, and the residents of Tobesk could feel the importance the City Hall and the Kingdom attached to this matter. But this was temporarily unrelated to Xia De. After leaving the Divination Association, he bid farewell to the cat lazily sunbathing on the windowsill at home and went to Huntington City through the statue in the basement.

When he walked out of the wine cellar of the White River Valley Vineyard, the sun in the morning of the turn of autumn and winter was even a bit dazzling.

Raising his hand to place it above his eyes, he happened to see Mr. Bernhardt, standing in the courtyard of the small manor with his servants and coachman, directing workers to unload cargo from a flatbed cart:

"Good morning, Mr. Bernhardt."

"Good morning, Mr. Watson."

The two greeted each other familiarly. Xia De tightened the buttons of his warm black coat and walked over:

"Storing food for winter again?"

The middle-aged vampire hesitated for a moment, carefully shook his head, and stood with Xia De watching the workers unload the cargo:

"No, it's tobacco."

"Tobacco... hmm?"

Xia De was a bit surprised and lowered his voice:

"You also do tobacco business?"

Whether in Delarion or Kassenrik, the tobacco business was regulated by the Kingdom. Looking at the way they were unloading now, it didn't look like a legitimate business at all:

"You also have a way to smuggle? Is it to the New Continent, or to Delarion?"

Xia De wasn't particularly surprised. After all, Lei Qianya was also doing arms smuggling in Midhillburg.

"No, no, no. I'm not that bold."

Mr. Bernhardt lowered his voice slightly:

"Didn't we meet Princess Margaret yesterday and help solve the murder case? Her Highness had a very good impression of me. Last night, she sent someone to my manor and gave me a note. This is the Princess's cargo, shipped from Willondale. Let me store it at the White River Valley Vineyard first, and when the steam airship lands tomorrow, I will pull this batch of cargo over."

Xia De was stunned for a few seconds before understanding:

"Princess Margaret wants to smuggle..."

"How can royal matters be called smuggling?"

Mr. Bernhardt corrected:

"And the space on the airship is so large, it's empty anyway, so it's only right to put some valuable cargo. I don't think His Majesty would mind this point, but it's best not to be discovered by others. Of course, even if discovered, it can be said that this is a gift for Delarion."

Xia De showed a look of realization and then asked with great interest:

"That Princess won't let you do it for nothing, right?"

Mr. Bernhardt looked around and turned to Xia De, gesturing a number:

"This number."

Xia De converted it and raised an eyebrow:

"She really is generous."

"After all, excluding the tobacco tax, the cost of these goods isn't much, but you also know the retail price of tobacco."

This middle-aged noble who drank, smoked, and drank blood shook his head and sighed:

"The Kingdom's tax department is even more like a vampire than me."

It seems that people of different classes like to complain about tax issues, whether in Delarion or Kassenrik.

Today, Mr. Bernhardt was busy transporting cargo for Princess Margaret, so he wouldn't go into the city with Xia De. However, he had already organized the information about the local "Lady of the Lake" rumors and handed the file bag containing the information to Xia De:

"Actually, every few years, there are similar rumors. I heard a lot of them when I was a child. If you want to adventure, you can call me to go together. Winter is coming soon, and I don't have any urgent matters that must be done."

Mr. Bernhardt said.

This gentleman intended to let the carriage send Xia De to Huntington City, but Xia De chose a horse in the stable, wanting to ride through the countryside himself.

The sky in the countryside didn't have pollution smog due to steam factories. On the morning of the turn of autumn and winter, the weather was very good, and large clouds like cotton hung in the azure sky. Xia De, who could barely be considered able to ride a horse, moved forward along the country road, looking at the surrounding fields and vineyards.

Riding a horse was indeed colder than sitting in a carriage. After dealing with the matters in Huntington City, Xia De also had to consider the heating problem of No. 6 St. Theresa Square in winter.

Princess Margaret and the accompanying private doctor and servants were currently living in the Rothschild Mansion in the center of Huntington City, which was the royal family's property locally. However, when Miss Sylvia met Xia De at the Council last night, she didn't let him go to the Rothschild Mansion to meet, but gave him the address of the local "Owl Bookstore".

The Owl Bookstore was located in the middle of Malfoy Street in Huntington City. From the outside, it didn't have any special features. The window facing the street displayed popular novels 【The Secret of Sisyphus】, 【The Mad Knight and the Silly Princess】, and 【Storm Eye Adventure Guide】. Pushing open the bookstore door, what was seen first in the bell sound were 【Rhodes's Poetry Collection】 and 【Trogus's Selected Works】, which were serious literature instead.

On a morning with very good weather, the bookstore had an atmosphere that made people sleepy, just like a dull summer classroom. There weren't many people here. After entering the door, Xia De walked directly to the counter and knocked on the wooden counter top, letting the young man who seemed to be dozing off, wearing a white shirt and a brown vest, wake up a little.

Xia De asked softly in Kassenrik language that was not very proficient:

"I want to find a book."

"What book?"

The young man behind the counter, who looked at least seventeen or eighteen years old, asked while yawning. His face had acne marks left after the acne disappeared, as dense as freckles.

"【Theory of Large Numbers】."

"Oh, please come this way."

The young man lifted the counter cover and then opened the door behind him that was almost integrated with the wall.

Xia De nodded and was about to walk in when he asked again:

"Do you have 【Hamilton Detective Story Collection】 here?"

The young man hesitated and looked at Xia De suspiciously:

"Is this sentence in the code?"

"No, I really want to find this book."

"Oh, so that's it. But sorry, that foreign novel seems to be still being translated. If you want to read it, you can go to the Delarion merchant firm to ask. Now there is only the Delarion language version."

Xia De thought he could find a pirated book here.

Behind the Owl Library was a building like a large club, which was the black market for Ringed Sorcerers in Huntington City.

Miss Sylvia was already waiting for Xia De here. When the waiter led Xia De in, this lady was holding a teacup and flipping through the book in her hand. That book was exactly the 【Hamilton Detective Story Collection】 Xia De had just mentioned.

"Good morning, Knight."

This Great Witch, whose age was even younger than the Outsider's body, raised the book in her hand toward Xia De; she was wearing a black dress today. Her black hair actually did not quite match the black dress, and furthermore, people of this era were superstitious that black brought disaster, so this was the first time Xia De had seen this style of dress.

"That's a book written by a friend of mine."

Xia De said, pulled out a chair and sat opposite the witch. The witch waved to the young girl standing to the side, and the latter walked over to pour tea for Xia De. This was also her follower, but her level was lower than Xia De's.

"Yes, otherwise it's impossible to describe you in such detail. Miss Galina Cavendish really found an impressive follower."

"No, I am not Miss Galina's follower."

Xia De corrected and thanked the girl who poured the tea:

"Can only be considered... partners."

"Yes, I understand. Your status is equal."

The witch said, fully understanding the meaning in Xia De's words:

"However, your friend said in the book that you are very good at mathematics?"

"It's alright."

Xia De nodded reservedly. When Dorothy was shaping the story characters, she borrowed a lot from his image. She asked Xia De if he was good at art or had unique hobbies, and Xia De said he was good at mathematics.

Dorothy didn't ask how good Xia De was, just said happily that mathematics was indeed a good match for a shrewd detective.

"Can you give an answer to this question?"

The witch pushed the notebook at hand to Xia De. Xia De tilted his head and took a look, finding that she had specifically used Delarion language:

"Multivariate equations? Now the entrance examination for Delarion Higher Academy is also higher than this difficulty. I don't think it's necessary to ask me with this kind of question, right? And, does this have anything to do with space power?"

Because he considered going to the university in Tobesk and getting an honorary degree through donations to get rid of the cultural level of "Sparrow Detective Tutor", Xia De knew this information.

"It has nothing to do with space power, but I am very curious about your mathematics level."

Miss Sylvia smiled and turned to the next page, letting Xia De continue to look.

The next page was some pencil sketches, with dense letters written next to them:

"Solid geometry? My lady, although I am not very good at this, you have already selected the coordinate system and reference point. I think the difficulty of solving this is not great."

He picked up the notebook and drew a few auxiliary lines roughly. Having been in this world for half a year, these skills were not unfamiliar to him.

"Very good."

The witch nodded again and finally turned to the last page:

"Look at this, I think this might be a bit difficult."

Xia De continued to look and found that the things written in fancy letters on the notebook were very familiar:

"Morse expansion?" (Chapter 201)

In the outsider's hometown, this is actually called Taylor expansion.

"Do you know this?"

The young Great Witch was truly surprised this time. Xia De nodded:

"In the summer, I participated in several academic lectures and reports held in the university district of Tobesk. I didn't expect you to understand this too."

Miss Sylvia looked at him carefully:

"You are much smarter than the girls of the Anjou family. I have always believed that learning mathematics well can make a Ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi's way of thinking more rational, logical, and organized. Moreover, basic mathematics and geometry have always been inseparable from ritual studies."

She put away her notebook:

"Mr. Hamilton, you are very good. Now I can ask this question—are you interested in being my apprentice?" ===== CHAPTER 846 =====