“Xia De, oh, I was wondering what you were doing here. I saw the newspaper. Congratulations! A knight's title is truly impressive; I thought it was just a medal.”
The doctor stood with Xia De by the corridor window, looking outside, somewhat curious about Xia De's attitude at the moment. He straightened the cuff of his black formal suit, which Xia De’s hand had wrinkled, and said loudly:
“As for why I’m here, do you remember Count Mopassan’s family? One of my most important patients recently.”
Xia De frowned suspiciously:
“The one with Gluttony?”
The doctor nodded triumphantly:
“Yes, the Countess and her daughter’s conditions have greatly improved after my psychological counseling and their private doctor’s medication. The Count’s family is attending this banquet tonight, so they specially invited me as a token of their gratitude.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of someone using a banquet invitation as a thank you. This is a charity banquet for donating pounds. That Count used this to thank you?”
Xia De asked suspiciously, and the doctor gave an awkward laugh. He wanted to explain, but seeing Xia De’s suspicious look, he thought for a moment and gave up lying. He scratched his nose and lowered his voice:
“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you, but I still hoped not to involve you, after all, this matter is too dangerous. Why else would I be here? I wasn’t invited; I took the initiative, using the opportunity of curing the Countess, to get an invitation from the Count. My goal is a plaster statue.”
“What plaster statue? Hmm? A plaster statue?”
Xia De suddenly remembered more things. He turned to look behind him, leaning closer to the doctor:
“Are you talking about those five...”
“Yes, it’s one of them.”
Last week, the doctor, through repeated dream-entering, finally pinpointed the final hiding place of the forged philosopher's stone. That precious liquid relic was poured into red glass in a special way, faking the eyes of a plaster statue, hidden in one of the five statues.
“One of them is here?”
“Yes, fundraising for the university is not just something Count Mopassan is doing. Among tonight’s auction items, the Mopassan family’s contribution only accounts for one-third; the remaining two-thirds were donated by others for auction. One of the statues was donated; the statue itself is just a craft item, well-made and adorned with gems and precious metals, with a starting bid of 60 pounds.”
The doctor explained, lowering his voice to caution:
“This has nothing to do with you, which is why I didn’t want to tell you just now.”
“But this banquet...”
Xia De vigilantly avoided directly stating that the banquet was a ritual for the descent of an evil god. Miss Jialinna had repeatedly warned that any Ring術士 and relic could appear at tonight's banquet, so after entering the mansion, under no circumstances should the matter of the evil god's descent be mentioned.
“Although it’s good, I have an urgent matter that I need your help with.”
Xia De cleared his thoughts, trying to keep his voice low and speaking quickly:
“Do you remember the client you introduced me to last time? Something went wrong with the commission, and I need his psychological diagnosis materials. That guy’s mind is not normal; he actually said he saw some Mermaid in the sewer. I originally planned to find you tomorrow, but I didn’t expect to run into you here. If it’s convenient, Doctor, could you go back now and bring me his information? No need to rush.”
He re-emphasized “no need to rush”:
“Just take your time getting it.”
As he spoke, he quickly winked at the doctor and then shook his head. Doctor Schneider’s luck might truly be bad; he actually managed to stumble into such a situation, but Xia De couldn’t let him stay here.
The doctor was stunned by Xia De’s words for a moment:
“Hmm? Oh, that information.”
He widened his eyes, then made a realization expression:
“I knew that commission wouldn’t be easy; you really did encounter a problem. It’s okay, I’ll go get it now... How about we go to the clinic together to get it? I can also introduce you to that gentleman’s situation.”
The doctor said, his eyes meeting Xia De’s, his pupils constantly shifting in his blue eyes. He understood there was danger here and wanted to leave with Xia De.
But Xia De shook his head:
“I still have some things to do here; I’ll go to the clinic to find you later. The matter is already handled; I’m still waiting for a carriage.”
“Waiting for a carriage... Are you sure you’re not coming with me?”
The doctor asked hesitantly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving soon too.”
Xia De said, and the doctor opened his mouth:
“Then... alright, I’ll go back first and organize the information you need. Xia De...”
“What?”
“If you need my help, just ask.”
“Don’t worry, the matter is already handled. I’m just here to help someone attend the auction.”
The doctor pursed his lips, said nothing more, waved to Xia De, and walked alone along the corridor towards the direction of the first-floor foyer.
Although this doctor's luck might truly be bad, at least this time, he escaped the misfortune that was about to happen here.
The Orthodox Church would not allow Priest Augustus to appear here, Miss Annette was waiting for Xia De in the distance, the doctor was leaving, Xia De would also leave immediately, and when he went to Miss Louisa to retrieve the youthful immortality leaf in the morning (Note), it was confirmed that she would stay at home all night.
Therefore, the five members of the group who had bad luck in the first Blood Feast were truly unrelated to the evil god's second Blood Feast.
The Black-haired maid’s handling of Event’s matter was a bit slower than Xia De expected. The meeting time he had agreed upon with Miss Annette and Miss Bei Ya Si was 8:30, but when Xia De received the signal that he could leave the mansion, it was already 8:10.
He and the Black-haired maid left in a carriage, only exhaling a sigh of relief when the mansion in the night could no longer be seen from the carriage window. The rain had completely stopped by then, but the damp smell in the air mixed with the rising fog, making the City smell somewhat unpleasant.
Xia De handed his fountain pen, the old storybook, and the remaining pounds to the Black-haired maid Tifa for safekeeping. The Black-haired maid then returned Xia De’s relic, his coat, and his ruby ring to him, and smiled as she showed him the white pebble Ring of Metamorphosis:
“The plan went smoothly. Although it took some time, all traces have been cleaned up.”
The metamorphosis ring lay quietly in the Black-haired maid's palm. This relic, the first Xia De had seen in this world, thus appeared before him again.
“Miss Jialinna’s matter is finished; now it’s my own business.”
He waved his hand, his expression very serious, but he had no intention of picking up the ring to examine it.
Listening to the clatter of hooves, the Black-haired maid asked curiously:
“Mr. Hamilton, don’t you want to borrow this ring? You should know its function; it’s like having an extra life.”
“Just give it directly to Miss Jialinna; I won’t touch it.”
Xia De shook his head. While the metamorphosis ring was powerful, it also had the effect of distorting the mind. He had divinity protecting him; instead of spending time using the ring, he might as well use divinity directly. After all, he would not flee tonight; he was determined to get the gift for himself from the god's gift box.
“Then I wish you a successful operation in advance.”
The Black-haired maid showed a regretful expression, then carefully placed the ring into a metal box, solemnly putting the metal box into a pocket of her elaborate long dress. She brought her legs together, folded her hands on her knees, and then whispered a reminder:
“Although Miss cannot directly help you deal with the Silver-Eyed One, if you need follow-up work, you can mention it to Miss at any time.”
Xia De looked at her in surprise, not expecting the Black-haired maid to proactively tell him this. The Black-haired maid showed a serene expression:
“You are worthy of Miss’s help.”
Xia De smiled:
“I’ve prepared very thoroughly; I don’t think there will be any problems. But if I truly need help, I will mention it. I just hope next time, Miss Jialinna doesn’t make me appear in such a dangerous situation.”
He played with the unused time key in his pocket:
“I’ve even made more than one contingency plan for the worst-case scenario. Tonight, I’m not worried about this.”
Xia De looked out the window:
“I’m worried about the god descent ritual.”
“We must trust the Orthodox Church.”
Coming from someone from the Witch Council, that sounded quite amusing.
“I just ran into Mr. Hogg Lundell, the Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, on the first floor. The Orthodox Church must also be worried about accidents, but I always have a strange feeling of unease. No, it’s not unease about what I’m about to do.”
He also had no reason to be uneasy about the relic; with a drop of divinity in hand, the Silver-Eyed One was practically a dead man.
“I’m worried that other things will happen tonight.”
“Intuition? I understand.”
The Black-haired maid nodded at Xia De, her brown eyes meeting his for a moment:
“I will inform Miss of your intuition later. If possible, I will persuade her to pay constant attention to what happens in that mansion tonight.”
“That’s really troubling you.”
Xia De said sheepishly, after all, it was just a feeling, with no evidence.
“It’s alright, it’s what I should do.”
She showed a slightly shy smile.
If he hadn't known her power, Xia De would have found it difficult to connect this elegant and graceful young Black-haired maid with a Ring術士.
The carriage did not take Xia De directly to the entrance of Knock Printing Plant, where the relic entrance was located; that would have been too foolish. Xia De's meeting point with the two ladies was at the White Swan Hotel, a street away from the printing plant.
Miss Annette had rented a room here in advance and had been investigating and divining the Knock Printing Plant in this vicinity for the past few days.
Yesterday, when they exchanged information at Xia De’s house, she had already explained the general way to enter the printing plant and the relic. And when Xia De met them by knocking three strong and two weak knocks, Miss Annette had new findings:
“Come quickly, Xia De.”
Outside the window was the heavy night after the rain, and almost all the gas lamps in the room were lit; there were even a few candles stuck on the floor.
The three of them stood together in front of the bed. The sheets and bedding were placed aside, and the bed board was covered with densely packed notes, document papers, and notebook pages. Miss Annette picked up one of them and handed it to Xia De; it was a circular emblem drawn with a pencil.