Chapter 907: Simple Proof

Iluna seemed to have really just come to dance a dance with Xia De. When Xia De walked out of the hedge maze, the seventeen-year-old girl had already disappeared.

Xia De knew that she was likely around Schluch Lake, but he had no reason to go there at the risk of being discovered by the Church, so he gave up the idea of looking for Iluna.

The night was deep. Xia De did not stay in the courtyard, but returned to the manor, wanting to get his cat back from the lounge.

At this time, it was still snowing. Most of the guests had returned to the room to continue the lively dance, but the topic of the first snow this winter was still being discussed. The dance continued. Xia De walked along the edge of the hall, responding to people's greetings while walking forward, still recalling the dance just now in his heart.

Before reaching the corridor, he met Princess Margaret "aggressively" bringing her maid over. Xia De stopped and greeted respectfully. The princess was exactly looking for him:

"Yes, Mr. Hamilton, I admit, the question you raised, I cannot answer before the end of the banquet."

The princess wearing a silver crown said. She was breathing heavily. This was of course not because walking consumed a lot of physical strength, but because admitting this fact put a lot of pressure on her:

"Yes, I admit I couldn't think of it. I spent several hours locking myself in the room to think, and then discussed with people, and finally even went to ask your companion. But I still couldn't think of it. Yes, clearly it was just simple addition and subtraction, clearly the numbers involved did not exceed five, but I just couldn't think of it."

Although the tone remained calm, Xia De felt that the other party seemed somewhat insane. He understood this mood very well. When he was young, when the deadline was approaching and the simplest first sub-question of a problem with many points had not been solved, he would also be like this.

Needless to say, outsiders, as long as people in this world have taken exams, they have more or less had similar feelings.

"So, please inform me of the answer."

Margaret Anjou's light blue eyes looked at Xia De's eyes.

"This..."

Xia De hesitated for a moment, and for the sake of the other party's face, he put forward a new suggestion:

"This banquet can probably last for several hours. You can actually try to think about it again."

He took out his pocket watch pretentiously and took a look:

"There is still one hour until midnight. Why don't you wait until midnight and I will inform you of the answer. All you need is a small inspiration, perhaps you can talk to more people."

He was considering the other party's self-esteem. This sentence almost explicitly suggested that Princess Margaret go to her math teacher, Miss Sylvia, the Great Witch, to ask for the answer.

Princess Margaret clearly understood this kind of "hint." The corners of her mouth twitched, but she did not let Xia De leave:

"Knight, I originally wanted to enjoy the aristocratic banquet of the Delarian Kingdom, but I didn't expect to spend most of the banquet time solving a simple math problem. Yes, I don't know what you did in these few hours, but I really spent most of my energy on your problem."

Xia De spent these few hours looking at handwritten copies with two girls in the room, then went to the garden to play cards with Difa, then it was the Schluch Lake battle, and then danced in the banquet hall and the snowy garden. It could be considered colorful, without wasting any time.

Princess Margaret gasped:

"So, in order not to let me waste the whole night, please inform me of the answer now. I admit that I lost the guessing game. Yes, I admit defeat."

Seeing that she was so persistent, Xia De did not push back. He did not want to give the answer in the noisy banquet hall, but intended to let the princess bring her maid to the relatively quiet corridor. But Princess Margaret insisted on Xia De answering on the spot, and even had someone pull over a small blackboard with pulleys—this was a tool used by the manor warehouse to record entries when stocking up.

The question Xia De just raised had already spread among the guests of the Lakeside Manor. And then, just as Xia De expected, at least so far, the answer had not been explained perfectly.

Seeing that Xia De was willing to explain the "missing 1 penny" himself, people gathered around one after another. Not only Princess Margaret, but even that "Guide Moon" Mr. Riggins Pulia actually appeared.

Xia De intended to leave a deeper impression on himself to facilitate the collection of the other party's spirit light later, so after picking up the chalk, he intended to explain it clearly:

"Your Highness, you were really misled by the surface of the question. In this question, the three gentlemen spent a total of 27 pennies."

"Yes."

People holding wine glasses said one after another, also looking forward to what Xia De would say.

Princess Margaret nodded lightly. Xia De, holding the chalk, wrote "30" on the small blackboard, then drew a line to the lower right and wrote 27.

"Where did these 27 pennies go?"

He circled "27." Princess Margaret thought while saying:

"Of course, it was paid to Mrs. Madame Sangmei of the Three Cats Inn."

Up to now, Xia De's train of thought was exactly the same as hers. She realized that this was a thinking trap, but she couldn't jump out of it.

"No, no."

Xia De shook his head:

"Mrs. Madame Sangmei only received 25 pennies."

Xia De drew a diagonal line to the lower right of "27" and wrote "25."

The princess frowned slightly:

"Yes."

She felt that she seemed to understand some, but didn't understand.

"So, 27 pennies, Mrs. Madame Sangmei took 25 pennies, and the little boy deducted 2 pennies."

"27" drew a diagonal line to the lower left and wrote "2." Princess Margaret opened her mouth slightly, and the surrounding people also discussed in low voices. They also saw the clues.

"So..."

Xia De drew a diagonal line to the lower left under the initial "30" and wrote "3":

"You shouldn't add 2 to 27, because 2 pennies are already included in the 27 pennies. You should add 3 pennies to 27 pennies. Spending 27 pennies, the three gentlemen kept 3 pennies, a total of 30 pennies."

He said simply, already missing his cat. Leaving little Mia with Miss Galina, Xia De was always worried that the witch would be unfavorable to his cat:

"Yes, that's it."

He nodded lightly, finally wrote "25+2+3=30" under the blackboard, and then placed the chalk in the small groove below. Just wanting to clap his hands, the servant immediately gave a wet towel.

Xia De looked at the small blackboard again. It was really making a mountain out of a molehill to move a blackboard to solve such a problem.

"Mr. Hamilton, very spectacular!"

"Hamilton of Lei Jiede, really not bad!"

The crowd applauded, which made Xia De somewhat embarrassed. This kind of elementary school math problem was nothing to him at all, and he felt he didn't deserve the applause.

"That's it."

Princess Margaret bit her lip and looked at the blackboard. After thinking it through, she felt that this problem was so simple.

"This is actually just a thinking trap, using the question surface to mislead the solver, and has nothing to do with wisdom."

Xia De defended the princess who failed to give the answer, but Princess Margaret shook her head:

"I fell into the trap, I admit I lost this guessing game."

"In questions of wisdom, where is there any winning or losing? I just happened to have read more books."

Xia De sighed softly. The princess let out a long breath and looked at him with strange eyes:

"I probably know now what kind of student the teacher wants to find. If you were not male..."

She took out the personal handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Xia De:

"Knight, I admit your wisdom. During the few weeks I stay in Tobesk, I hope there will still be a chance to discuss math problems with you."

She almost forcefully stuffed the handkerchief into Xia De's hand:

"Princess Princess Lei Qianya invited me to attend a reading salon next week, I hope you can also be present. In addition, if you have time, you can visit the manor where I am staying at any time. Hamilton, I admit your wisdom, but next time I will not lose."

Taking a deep breath, she turned and left with her maids. The people chatting around were very interested in this scene, but because the topic might be very sensitive, they discussed it in low voices after dispersing.

Xia De could already guess what news would appear in tomorrow's gossip newspaper. He could even guess that there would be more outrageous rumors circulating among the citizens in a few weeks.

【Outsider, at the banquet, you successfully proved your wisdom.】

"So simple? It turned out to be just a brain teaser? What was this for again? Margaret Anjou is the Chosen One?"

【Because this topic will spread from the banquet and become a story known to most people in the city within a few weeks.】

Xia De patted his forehead with his right hand:

"Ha~ proving my wisdom, it turned out that a brain teaser that can make me famous is enough? If I had known this, why would I have been so troublesome?"

He stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket, put it together with the two gauze scarves just now. Afterward, after politely saying goodbye to the people by the blackboard, he prepared to go upstairs from the stairs to find little Mia.

But on the stairs, he met someone waiting for him again:

"Well done, Xia De."

Mr. Dark Anluosi, the director of the Military Intelligence Agency, stood at the top of the stairs, holding a glass cup in his hand.

Xia De hurriedly looked around, and Mr. Anluosi walked down with a smile and patted his shoulder:

"No need to be so nervous, this is a wedding banquet, it is possible for you to meet anyone. You performed very well, Xia De, I didn't expect that just a banquet, you could establish such a successful relationship with Margaret Anjou."

"I am not..."

"No need to explain, you are indeed very excellent. When that lady introduced you to me in the summer, I thought you were just holding a position and taking a salary. Very good, keep working hard, that lady and His Majesty both value you very much."

At the moment when the two crossed on the stairs, a small envelope bulging with money slipped from Director Anluosi's hand and fell into Xia De's palm:

"The gem expenses you applied for reimbursement have been approved, enjoy this night well, and don't be too distressed because of the mission. Margaret Anjou will stay in Tobesk for a long time, and we will have many opportunities in the future."

After saying this, he continued to walk down, never looking back.

Xia De continued to walk up, put the envelope containing 280 pounds into his pocket, and then patted his pocket:

"Did I feel distressed because of the mission tonight?"

He climbed the steps, turned to look downstairs, and could no longer see Director Anluosi's figure:

"Future... next time, should I use the excuse of learning a foreign language to contact Princess Margaret?"

---Author's Note---

ps: The inter-comments are restored. It's a pity that the comments from the previous two days are still not displayed.

7017k ===== CHAPTER 908 =====