When Xia De opened his eyes on Monday morning, the first thing he heard was the sound of rain hitting his bedroom window. His mind was still replaying last night's banquet, as if he could still smell the perfume from the girls' hair.
Perhaps because of the dances at the banquet, he had a strange dream last night.
The dream began with the mellow sound of a saxophone in the background, as he played rhode cards with someone whose face he couldn't see. Then Miss Bei Ya Si emerged from Xia De's cards, casually tossing his entire deck into the air. In a shower of cards falling like snow, she pulled him into a dance. But as they danced, the pretty, long-haired brown-haired girl suddenly turned into Mia.
Not Miss Mia Gaode, whom he hadn't met yet, but the lazy, timid Mia.
Xia De, realizing he was dancing with a giant cat, was severely startled in the dream. Then, due to the bizarre reality, he immediately realized he was in a dream.
And as soon as he realized this, he returned to the familiar field ridge in his dream, looking up at the huge silver moon disk above his head.
The experience in the dream was so vivid that he still had a headache after waking up.
He sat up from the bed, collected himself, and planned for a new day. The cat lying by the pillow was startled awake by Xia De's movement. The small cat darted up, looked around for a while, and then jumped onto the quilt.
With its front paws extended, its front body lowered, and its hind body raised, it stretched. Then it meowed at Xia De, pacing back and forth on the quilt, seemingly wanting Xia De to prepare breakfast as soon as possible:
"Good morning, Mia..."
Then he immediately remembered the strange dream from last night:
"You are indeed cutest when you maintain this size."
He sighed.
"Meow?"
The cat was rubbing its small head against Xia De's hand.
Summer itself is the rainy season in Tobesk City, a city of fog in the northern Old Continent, perennially affected by cold air blowing from the far north. Also, because there are no tall mountains blocking the path from the West Coast to Tobesk, warm air currents from the ocean can reach the inland areas unimpeded, where they converge with the northern cold currents above Tobesk, creating the local monsoon climate with abundant Summer rain.
After breakfast, Xia De read the newspaper for a while. Seeing that the drizzling rain outside showed no sign of stopping, he picked up Mia and went out with an umbrella.
This orange cat rarely goes out in the rain, maintaining a posture of being curled up in Xia De's arms throughout the entire journey.
It wasn't until Xia De knocked on the door on Feather Pen Street and was led into her apartment by Miss Louisa that the cat finally relaxed a little, looking around at the somewhat unfamiliar environment.
"Sir Knight, what brings you to me so early?"
Because it was raining today, Miss Louisa had no plans to go out. She was wearing casual clothes and entertained Xia De in the living room. Her first words were a tease. Xia De saw that the newspaper on the coffee table was open to the second page, which showed a photo of him at his knighting ceremony.
Limited by printing and photography technology, the photo was not very clear. As long as Xia De didn't wander around wearing that outfit, it would be virtually impossible for a stranger to recognize Xia De based solely on the newspaper photo.
And the King in the photo, as expected, looked even taller than Xia De.
"Do I need to congratulate you? Although the knight class disappeared centuries ago, and people no longer consider knights to be nobility, this still represents a significant step forward for you."
The blonde girl asked as she prepared tea for Xia De.
"It's me who needs to thank you, Miss Louisa. Miss Jialinna told me it was Princess Leixiya..."
"She was just thanking you for saving her mother."
Miss Louisa said, and then her eyes met with the cat Xia De was holding. The small orange cat immediately let out two soft meows, which is how animals intimidate enemies.
Xia De then got to the point:
"I didn't come specifically to thank you today. There's something I'd like to ask for your help with, and I'm truly embarrassed to ask."
He placed the cat he was holding on the armrest of the sofa. The orange cat meowed uneasily, wagging its tail to bat at Xia De's arm. Xia De looked at the cat and then said to Miss Louisa, who had already sat down opposite him:
"I'm going on a long trip today and I'm not sure when I'll be back. It might be immediately, or it might be a day or two."
Xia De was unsure if there was a cooldown for the teleportation of the Ancient God cracks of origin statue in the basement, but because of Red Moon Witch's divination, he believed that even if there was a usage interval for the statue, it wouldn't be too long.
"So, I was hoping you could temporarily help me take care of this cat. Of course, if you don't have time, it's fine. Priest Augustus said that the nuns at Dawn Church could also help look after it, but ultimately, you're more reliable."
As he spoke, he reached out and stroked Mia's head. The orange cat squatted there, squinting its eyes and accepting the petting.
"Temporarily take care of this cat? Of course, no problem."
Miss Louisa thought for a moment, nodded, and said casually:
"It's not a big deal, but you should also come back as soon as possible. Although I know you probably won't tell me your destination, you might encounter danger, right?"
"Of course, there's danger in doing anything."
As he spoke, Xia De took out a yellow envelope and placed it on the coffee table:
"The envelope contains the fee for taking care of Mia. Don't refuse; I was originally paid by the client to take care of her."
Miss Louisa didn't care about the money. She looked at the Detective, who was sighing at the cat:
"Xia De, if there's really any danger, remember to come to me for help."
"Of course. I'll be back as soon as possible. Don't worry about me."
He reluctantly stroked Mia's head again, then stood up, preparing to leave. The orange cat sensed that Xia De was about to leave and immediately pawed at his clothes, wanting to be held.
But this time, Xia De didn't pick up the cat:
"Mia, I'll be back very soon. Can you stay here for a while?"
Mia certainly couldn't understand human speech, but it probably understood that Xia De wasn't planning to take it with him. When Xia De left Miss Louisa's apartment, the orange cat was held in the blonde Writer's arms, looking pitifully at Xia De as he walked away under his umbrella.
"Meow~"
That mournful cry could even be heard far away through the sound of the rain. Miss Louisa laughed as she held the orange cat, while Xia De turned back for another look under his umbrella, waved to the person and cat, and then truly left.
After finding someone to temporarily look after Mia, Xia De officially began his travel plans. Because he didn't know where he would end up, for safety, he first needed to organize his relics and select suitable ones to carry with him.
The Count's Left Eye and The Other Face were definitely to be left at home, while the gun of kindness, the 【pirate's blood money】, and the dice of destiny were to be carried. As for the paper that could contact the academy, Xia De thought about it and decided to carry it with him just in case.
Besides the above items, the bag of unused frog legs and the brooch with the Sun God's holy emblem were also very important. As for the rhode cards, Xia De considered it and decided to also carry the cards.
All of these items were packed in a suitcase. In addition, he also prepared an extra umbrella, a very sturdy hemp rope, and several sharp table knives, matches, candles, and a whole piece of smoked meat.
Seeing that the box was not yet full, he stuffed in some warm clothes, then felt relieved.
After preparing, the time had already reached ten in the morning. He locked the downstairs door from the inside, then passed through the small door behind the stairs to enter the basement.
His Destiny Ring appeared, making the hidden wall disappear. After entering the circular hidden snow area, he took out the white stone crystal from a small box placed by the wall.
Taking deep breaths to compose himself, he then approached the two-headed man's statue and reached out to touch the statue:
"May the cracks of origin bless me in infinite Space Labyrinth."
A thick white fog immediately surged, enveloping Xia De. He once again entered the world enveloped in white fog, and then, as he wished, heard a whispering voice by his ear:
"Outsider, you have stepped into the 'Space Labyrinth'."
"A message from the Ancient God 'Guide of the White Robe':"
"Existing Space Labyrinth Waypoints: 1."
"Sacrifice this white stone crystal."
Without hesitation, Xia De immediately held the white crystal upwards in his hand. As soon as he finished speaking, it silently disappeared from Xia De's hand, as if it had merged into the thick fog.
And with the disappearance of the white stone crystal, on the path before him, there was still only one wooden sign representing "Saint Delan Square."
"New information has been obtained. New Space Labyrinth Waypoints can be searched. Please choose a direction."
"direction?"
Xia De stood in the fog and thought for a moment:
"Can I only choose a direction? Can I choose a distance?"
"Information from this space: You can only vaguely specify a direction, and then this place can connect to a random statue of another Ancient God 'cracks of origin'."
He wasn't worried about encountering other statue users, but he was worried about something else:
"The academy forbids Ring術士 from setting foot on the New World. What if I accidentally end up in the New World?"
"The closer the next randomly linked Ancient God statue is, the higher the probability. The possibility of you ending up at the bottom of the sea is greater than the possibility of you entering the New World."
"Alright then, West."
Xia De said casually. In fact, East, West, North, and South made no difference to him; all he wanted was to see what kind of effect this place could actually have.
"Ancient God - Guide of the White Robe Statue, has accepted your sacrifice."
"Randomly linking Space Labyrinth Waypoints."
"Link successful. Existing Space Labyrinth Waypoints: 2."
A new sign suddenly appeared on the path in the white fog. It was still that dilapidated appearance, as if ravaged by centuries of time, and the arrow on the sign pointed to the West.
Xia De quickly walked over, carrying his suitcase, and waited there for a moment to confirm that nothing else appeared. Only then did he reach out and touch the new sign.
"The Guide will point the direction for you."
The surrounding white fog dissipated.
