The Old God had barely finished speaking when, solely within Xia De's vision, he saw a golden light engulf the Boy, Chad, in an instant.
“A blessing? Is this…?”
“Yes, that’s why this story could be passed down to your time, and thus gained power.”
Then, the Saint looked at Xia De:
“So what did you understand?”
Only then did Xia De realize that the Saint also considered him a “child,” and the question just now was directed at all four of them.
“Me? Yes, I understand…”
This kind of story analysis and reading comprehension was something Xia De was very familiar with. He had a lot to say, but in the end, he didn't talk about those complex adult matters. This was a story for children, and before him was the Old God, The Innocent Creator.
So Xia De gave the answer that resonated most deeply with him, his true thoughts after hearing this story in both worlds:
“There’s nothing to understand. I’m just thinking, if I could, I really want to save her.”
The three children looked at Xia De, agreeing with this sentiment:
“Yes, if we could, we must save her!”
Again, this uniform response. The current state of the three children was definitely not right.
The Saint smiled, not a polite smile, but a genuine, heartfelt one:
“You see, False Immortality suits you so well.”
It was at this moment that the door of the shop behind Xia De suddenly opened, revealing the endless white mist outside. An unseen force suddenly grabbed his shoulder, dragging him in the direction of the door.
Ten minutes were up.
The three children, still sitting on their high stools, excitedly waved goodbye to Xia De, while the young man behind the counter softly said:
“See you next time. Thank you for your story. Good night, and sweet dreams.”
“Outsider, you have returned to the present time.”
“Message from the Old God, Father of Infinite Trees:”
“Mission uncompleted.”
“time key; fifth epoch - 1068 - Innocent Creator, damaged 2/3.”
“Next activation time, need to wait one week.”
He flew backward out of the white mist door. Because he had prepared in advance, he only stumbled back two steps and didn't fall to the ground.
The orange cat, Mia, had already darted to the study door within three seconds, just as Xia De returned, and happily circled around him.
Xia De picked up the soft cat, and with his other hand, took out the key from his pocket. Now the wooden key felt like it would crumble with a mere squeeze.
He was still captivated by the story he had told. Since becoming an adult, it had been a long time since he had encountered fairy tales. Telling stories to the children of the past time tonight was, in fact, also telling them to himself.
After a long while, a smile appeared on his face:
“The story is over, what remains is power and growth. Although the mission was still not completed this time, compared to Divine Radiance, the children's wishes are obviously simpler. Allowing mortals to gain power, allowing children to grow in a short time, these might be achievable with the Knowledge of Saint Byron's.”
He muttered to himself, thinking again of the figure of the poor match girl in the illusion constructed by the Saint.
He looked down at his fingers, and a flame suddenly shot up, startling Mia. The animal's instinct made it want to stay away from the fire, but the cat's curiosity made it want to try to paw at it.
The spell 【Ignite】, originally in Xia De's hand, could only cause flammable objects to heat up and ignite upon contact, or ignite them by staring at them for a long time, but both required time to heat up. Simply by telling that story in the past, the spell's effect directly upgraded to producing a flame.
Furthermore, he felt that the power he gained from this was definitely more than what he currently possessed; he just hadn't fully understood it yet.
From the very source of time, he created this story. And because this story had been widely circulated across two epochs, it gained power, and he, in turn, gained this slight improvement in power. But the premise of all this was that the story he brought had to be circulated for a long time to become part of civilization. This kind of thing, unless there was help from a God again, would be almost impossible to repeat.
In his half a month in this world, he had also learned a lot about ancient literature, and among them, the most familiar was only this one. Presumably, even if he tried again in the future, it would be difficult to replicate today's situation.
But it didn't matter, because the most important thing today was that he saw hope of completing the Father of Infinite Trees' mission.
“The story of the match girl will probably make me think for many days.”
He sighed, came to the window, and held the cat to enjoy the night view of Saint Delan Square with the march moon.
“You seem very confident about the remaining two wishes?”
“Yes, if I don’t even have confidence in such things, how can I collect the remaining eleven drops of Divinity? Also, what do you think of this story?”
“Very good. Warmth in darkness, terror in light. A good story.”
After a simple wash, he went to bed. Because he had plans for Thursday, he woke up promptly at six in the morning, quickly made breakfast for himself and Mia, and then set off directly.
He found a hired carriage regardless of the cost and set off towards Feather Pen Street 211 in the morning mist. When he knocked on the door downstairs of Louisa's apartment building, it was exactly seven-thirty in the morning.
This time was just right for a visit. Any earlier, Louisa might be having breakfast; any later, Louisa might go out.
After a long while, the blonde Writer opened the door for Xia De. Being at home, the blonde girl was wearing a very ordinary white long dress.
Seeing that it was the Detective outside, she was a little surprised:
“Detective, visiting so early, has something happened?”
Xia De quickly shook his head:
“No, nothing. I just have some questions. I was engrossed in reading those books and encountered a big puzzle. I originally wanted to come over last night.”
This was no joke. After returning from the past time, he really intended to visit immediately, and even dreamed of Louisa last night.
“Coming to find me in the middle of the night? Detective, have you finally lost control from reading too much?”
Louisa eyed him suspiciously. Seeing that he had very faint dark circles under his eyes but otherwise looked normal, she led him towards the stairs.
Louisa certainly didn't rent the entire building. Feather Pen Street 211B was divided into three floors. The landlady and her two daughters lived on the first floor, the second floor was rented by three girls from a nearby women's college, and the third floor was Louisa's rented area.
In an apartment building where girls lived, men certainly couldn't be easily let in. So, when Xia De was invited in by Louisa, the plump landlady with a hairnet scrutinized him like a criminal for a long time.