Chapter 936: The Stolen Dorothy

Stepping into slippers, Xia De went downstairs to fetch the milk and newspaper, taking the opportunity to move the "God's Gift Box" from the basement to the upper floor. This week's gift was a thick, brown wool scarf, perfect for the current season. As for this week's task, it was "No task."

When Xia De received this information from "Her," he thought he had misheard, but he soon learned why:

【The Innocent Creator believes that children sometimes need a rest.】

"That deity is truly respectable."

Xia De muttered softly, putting the scarf away to wear when it started snowing. Just as he was "wrestling" with the cat lying on the scarf for ownership, a knock sounded at the door downstairs:

"Could it be a client?"

But when Xia De opened the door, he saw Dorothy with her head bowed. The blonde girl looked somewhat haggard, as if she had come here after only a simple wash.

"Come in quickly. Oh, Dorothy, don't you have a key? Why knock?"

Xia De let Dorothy in:

"Why are you here so early? Have you had breakfast? If not, eat first before we talk. I can share Little Mia's goat milk with you; I secretly tasted it last time, and it's quite good."

"Meow?"

The cat high up on the stairs watched Xia De's back.

"No, there's something I need to tell you. I've been robbed."

Dorothy stood in the foyer and said. Xia De was stunned:

"Robbed? Oh, it wouldn't be... judging by your look, it must be that relic, 【Master Thief Jack】, right? My Dorothy, don't be sad. Losing things is normal. Just yesterday, I heard that even the station of the Orthodox Church's Ring Mage squad had things stolen. After all, that is a Sage-level relic."

He took Dorothy's hand:

"Let's go upstairs first. What did you lose? Is it very valuable? It wouldn't be a relic too, would it?"

Xia De comforted her:

"The Church also lost a Secret Keeper-level relic. That relic is so arrogant; it will get into trouble sooner or later. A certain lady's Sunlight Gun is ready to fire, and God will also curse such shameless thieves."

"I didn't lose anything valuable. It was your things that were stolen."

Dorothy, being pulled by Xia De, said with her head bowed.

"My things?"

Xia De blinked, unable to recall what it could be for a moment.

"Letters. The letters you got from Professor Manning. I finished organizing the contents for you yesterday and put them on the desk. When I woke up this morning, I found the study window had been opened somehow, and two of those letters were missing."

She looked up at Xia De with some worry, only to see Xia De looking relieved:

"Dorothy, you really scared me. Coming here so early, I thought something major had happened. I think I understand why Doctor Shi Nai De doesn't want to see me in the early morning. It's just a few letters, it doesn't matter. I will apologize to Professor Manning; I'm sure the Professor won't mind too much."

The lively cat led the way, and Xia De held the blonde girl's hand as they continued upstairs.

"Is it really okay?"

Dorothy asked softly with concern.

"It's okay. However, do you remember the specific contents of those two letters? The relic 【Master Thief Jack】 wouldn't steal things without value. Since it only took those two letters, it means the clues I'm looking for regarding Professor De Le Ke of Huntington are in those two letters."

The blonde girl nodded:

"I helped you summarize the contents of every letter and recorded the suspicious points. Although I can't restore all the details of those two letters, I remember the general content."

"That's good. Thank you for your hard work, Dorothy."

Xia De kissed the blonde girl's cheek, and her mood seemed to improve.

【Do you really not care that those two letters were stolen?】

As they entered the second-floor room, "She" asked softly.

"How could I not care? It actually dared to steal from Dorothy!"

Xia De smiled and brought the prepared breakfast to the dining table, but Dorothy asked Xia De to sit down, saying she would do these things.

"I am very angry right now~"

Especially saying this in his heart, the anger became even more intense. Dorothy was still preparing breakfast in the kitchen and wouldn't notice Xia De's psychological changes, but the cat beside Xia De tilted its head to look at him, then let out a low "Meow~". This cat magically sensed Xia De's emotions; it seemed that domestic pets all had this strange ability.

【Note: Having absorbed the divinity of the Old God "Raging Storm," your personality is also being influenced by the divinity in the short term.】

"She" said softly.

"I understand, but this anger is definitely not just because the divinity is affecting me. It actually dared to steal from Dorothy..."

The blonde girl tied her apron, turned on the gas, and lit the somewhat rusty gas stove with a match, clearly thinking that the breakfast Xia De made wasn't enough for two people and one cat.

Xia De watched the blonde girl's figure:

"Sometimes, appropriate anger helps maintain clarity and motivation. I will definitely take revenge!"

Although two important letters were lost, Dorothy had already organized the contents of all the letters and summarized them with excellent writing.

Specifically, judging from the letters between Professor Manning in Tobesk and Professor De Le Ke in Huntington, Professor De Le Ke was a person with considerable "ambition" and drive. His research had a very strong sense of purpose, and he was full of awe for those unknown and ancient histories, while always wanting to know more.

Professor Manning had warned Professor De Le Ke many times that some knowledge was not something they could explore at will, but Professor De Le Ke's replies were quite perfunctory.

This description was completely different from the Professor De Le Ke with the broken leg that Xia De knew. The Professor De Le Ke he knew was clearly a person who lived a life of few desires, like a plant.

Dorothy's notebook also recorded the general contents of the two missing letters.

Those were letters Professor De Le Ke sent to Professor Manning, inquiring about the visiting scholar program between the two schools for the next year. This was not an official school letter, but an exchange of opinions and greetings between two highly respected professors. Among Professor Manning's letters, these two letters didn't attract Dorothy's attention at first; like Xia De, she was more concerned about the academic discussions between the two professors.

And according to the information Dorothy recorded, in both letters, Professor De Le Ke described his health problems. But he wasn't sick; instead, he praised his body as being very healthy, even mentioning that he raced and stayed up late with the young people at school.

If viewed from a normal perspective, there was no problem with this letter, but if one assumed there was a problem, then Professor De Le Ke's "good health" looked quite problematic.

The tone Professor De Le Ke used in those two letters was quite enthusiastic and positive, even overly so. He seemed to have encountered something extremely good, and he excitedly envisioned the follow-up to his research, even planning to lead a team himself to participate in the archaeological excavation in the southern forests of Kaisenrike. He claimed in the letter, "I have mastered my body's potential, and I can work for another 20 years."

Considering Professor De Le Ke's age at the time, this was quite an achievement.

Two days before the second of the two letters reached Professor Manning, which was the third day after the letter was sent by Professor De Le Ke, Professor De Le Ke set off to visit the "Goddess of the Lake" and encountered an accident. Therefore, Xia De had reason to believe that some unknown phenomenon had affected the Professor, making him "very healthy." But then the Professor realized that this health was not right and posed a fatal threat, which was why he set off for the Lake of Cherub.

The three clues obtained from Professor De Le Ke, besides the letters, included a diary and books. In the diary, Professor De Le Ke claimed that "double vision appeared before my eyes," and on the books, there were strange characters written: 【Knowledge is Power】.

The former might be linked to Professor De Le Ke's "good health," and the investigation into the latter led Xia De to discover that those strange characters originated from the Fourth Era; beyond that, there were no clues.

"From this obscure information, it can basically be inferred that the 'Goddess of the Lake' not only erased the Professor's memory but even erased other traces as well."

While eating breakfast, Xia De said to Dorothy. The blonde girl still felt sorry for losing the important letters. Hearing Xia De's words, she nodded:

"Yes, so did that old professor come into contact with some relic, or was he targeted by something even more terrifying?"

"Both are possible."

Xia De stroked Little Mia beside him:

"I also entrusted a friend in Huntington to investigate the incident that happened in the city back then through the Church. If I can find the incident involving Professor De Le Ke and compare it with the clues currently in hand, I should be able to know the truth about what the Professor encountered back then."

In this way, it meant that the second of the four trials of the Goddess of the Lake was completed. But Xia De knew that things wouldn't be that simple; perhaps the trouble from back then hadn't been completely resolved, and the true intention of the "Goddess of the Lake's" trial was to let Xia De resolve that matter.

After breakfast, Dorothy said goodbye to Xia De and urged him that if he found a way to capture the relic that stole the letters, he must call her to help. The blonde girl really felt very guilty about this.

Considering the possibility that his own home could also be robbed, Xia De confirmed that the valuables in his home had been moved to the basement before taking Little Mia out.

Today, the steam capital Tobesk was still shrouded in thick fog. After leaving the house, Xia De turned directly toward Silver Cross Avenue. When he arrived at the entrance of the Diviner Society, the Society had already opened.

Xia De noticed that the Society's sign had been changed to a new one, and the bulletin board had also been changed to a new style. This shouldn't just be because Princess Margaret was going to participate in a reading salon here, but also because the Diviner Society had more gold pounds than they knew how to spend... Luo De cards were truly a very profitable business.

As usual, using fortune-telling for the cat as an excuse, he met Lu Lu Weiya during her working hours.

The staff of the Diviner Society were already used to Xia De's method. Seeing him holding a cat, they went directly to notify Lu Lu Weiya, who was on the second floor.

When Lu Lu Weiya opened the door to the fortune-telling room, Xia De was "wrestling" with Mia using his right hand, which was to say, playing with the cat. The purple-eyed girl sat down with a smile:

"You really can find fun at any time. Oh, I just met Vice President Make. He heard you were here and asked me to inquire if you are participating in the Diviner Society's Luo De card tournament at the end of this year? If you are, I can help you register now."

By the end of the year, whether it was official institutions or steam factories, whether it was noble clubs or large organizations like the Diviner Society, they would all hold some activities to commemorate the year that was about to end. It could be the year-end summary given to His Majesty the Emperor by the Parliament, the meager rewards given to workers by factory owners, or gifts given to members by high-end clubs.

But for the Diviner Society, the best way to celebrate was to hold a Luo De card tournament, which was also an annual tradition.

"Register first. If I have time, I will participate."

Xia De skipped the topic of Luo De cards:

"There is something I want you to help with."

He placed the remaining two coins—【Coin of Wisdom】 and 【Dandelion Coin】—on the table:

"Help me divine something." ===== CHAPTER 937 =====