“Wait, selling the relic in this manner to ordinary people certainly lowers the chance of being found by the Church, but isn't the risk too great?”
Miss Louisa put down her teacup, voicing the question in Xia De's mind.
The doctor explained:
“The forged philosopher's stone has a special nature; its danger lies in active contact. Therefore, theoretically, it is safest for an unsuspecting ordinary person to guard it. After all, this is not a true philosopher's stone; it doesn't have strange effects like absorbing matter to strengthen itself or granting animals higher wisdom... Back to the main topic, I found the locations of those five statues. The bad news is that the owners of all five statues are very troublesome.”
He sighed:
“Two are dukes, one is the royal steward, one is the police chief of Leedweich Field, and the last one is not a noble, but he gave the statue to Prince Mogus Cavendish. Although these are all ordinary people, the difficulty of sneaking up on them is no less than directly confronting a Ring術士.”
This was indeed troublesome, and no one else could help. Even if Xia De knew Miss Jialinna, he couldn't get all five statues, but he and Miss Louisa both promised to help the doctor think of a way.
The doctor probably thought they were comforting him, as he didn't take it to heart. The middle-aged doctor now felt much like a long-distance runner who, at the very end, finds a mountain blocking the finish line.
His luck was indeed very bad.
Besides these matters, the five people also shared their learning experiences from the week. Priest Augustus had recently been studying the divine arts of the Dawn Church. Although he was not a Church Ring術士, learning divine arts only required faith, so the Priest theoretically should be able to learn them.
Miss Annette had been very busy recently, so she had made no progress in her studies. Doctor Schneider continued to complain about his Aether Mechanics, Miss Louisa shared the spell 【Bubble Head Charm】 and claimed she learned it from a book, and Xia De shared that he had obtained two Ling Runes.
He tried to state this matter as calmly as possible, though even he found it incredible when he spoke it.
“What? You obtained two Ling Runes in one week?”
This news surprised the three people other than Miss Louisa, with Miss Annette being the most surprised, as she knew Xia De had been busy all week:
“Oh, Xia De, where on earth did you find the time to engrave Ling Runes?”
The Diviner couldn't figure it out.
“Not one week, to be precise, it was two weeks. The rune related to the match girl was obtained by Xia De last Saturday night with my help.”
Miss Louisa helped explain.
Xia De was about to nod when he heard the Old Priest, who was wiping his pipe with a damp cloth, suddenly ask:
“Speaking of which, Louisa, when did you start calling Xia De by his first name directly?”
“Isn’t Luvia the same? Besides, I plan to teach Xia De in the future to improve in Enlightenment Element. Judging from the acquisition of this rune, Xia De has a great talent for Enlightenment Element.”
Miss Louisa took the opportunity to state this matter. Miss Annette leaned back on the sofa and clicked her tongue, then smiled and looked at Xia De:
“Your destiny lines are intertwined.”
This was probably some kind of metaphor, but unfortunately, Xia De didn't understand it. And Miss Louisa, who did understand, immediately blushed:
“That metaphor is truly excessive.”
“What do you mean?”
Xia De tilted his head and asked the doctor, and then Doctor Schneider was “warned” by the female Writer with a fierce look.
The doctor and the Priest both smiled:
“I don't know either.”
Xia De nodded understandingly; he now understood that this was a metaphor about love.
At exactly four o'clock in the afternoon, just as everyone was discussing more uses for the forged philosopher's stone, the poetry manuscript pages on the coffee table suddenly glowed. Then a short message arrived: Xia De's application to view the codex of sublime was approved, and the Library administrator, Miss Daniste, wanted to see Xia De. The message's signature was still from the Student Management Office.
“Miss Daniste?”
The doctor looked at the letters suspiciously:
“Why would it be this lady?”
He wanted to look up and ask Xia De some questions, but Xia De pointed to the poetry manuscript pages, and another short message appeared. Priest Augustus read it aloud:
“Given the special circumstances, this meeting will not use a ritual. Ring術士 Mr. Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun needs to go to Saint Byron's to meet Miss Daniste in person.”
“Hmm?”
“What?”
“Go to Saint Byron's?”
“What's going on today?”
Even Xia De, who knew about this in advance, was very surprised. He had thought it would be a ritual projection to the college, but more importantly, there was another matter:
“If I take the train now, can I reach the college within two months? Oh, who can help me look after Mia?”
“Don't be silly, the college must have a way.”
Miss Louisa said. The excited doctor still wanted to say something, but was immediately stopped by Priest Augustus raising his hand, because more content appeared on the page:
“Given that Mr. Hamilton possesses the 【Time-Space】 core rune, this spatial transfer will be conducted via the Angel-level (Level 1) relic 【Tattered Old World Map】 collected by the college. Mr. Schneider, Miss Annette, Miss Louisa, and Mr. Augustus, please keep the secret about this relic. Mr. Hamilton, please remain standing, away from the poetry manuscript pages, do not carry any relics (alchemy items are fine), and hold the positioning item (to be delivered in 30 seconds).”
“Angel-level?”
Priest Augustus glanced at Xia De, then he and the other four immediately left the sofa by the coffee table and stood by the wall of the room.
“What are you doing?”
Xia De watched their swift actions, not understanding what they meant.
“Spatial movement using a relic can very likely affect the surroundings.”
Miss Annette explained, frowning and seemingly deep in thought.
“Xia De, remember to tell us what Saint Byron's is like when you come back.”
The doctor said to Xia De, still very excited. He was the one among the five most looking forward to going to the college.
“Hold your breath for a moment. During the spatial transfer, absolutely do not take deep breaths!”
The Old Priest earnestly cautioned, but this sentence seemed to indicate that he had experienced similar things.
“Oh, among us, Xia De is actually the first to go to the college!”
Miss Louisa excitedly looked at the poetry manuscript page.
A white light flashed again, and a small box was teleported over.
Xia De immediately got up and opened it, then saw a smooth, egg-sized crystal inside, which looked very familiar:
“The positioning item is a white stone crystal?”
Unlike the one Xia De had, the surface of this one was engraved with dense text. With just a quick glance, Xia De saw at least 3 different languages, and a hurried deciphering revealed that it was actually a detailed description of the precise location of Saint Byron's Comprehensive College.