Leaving the City involved multiple interrogations, and entering was no easier. Additionally, because the Church was meticulously searching every street in the entire City, the closest route home was impassable. The carriage took a long detour before returning to Saint Delan Square with Xia De and the Black-haired maid in the quiet night.
The gaslight illuminated the deserted Square. It was already dark, with only a flock of pigeons resting in the Square, probably wondering why no one had fed them today.
Miss Tifa Servett did not leave the carriage; Xia De went upstairs to retrieve the fang.
The gaslight shades at home probably needed cleaning; the light on the stairs was dim, but for an Outsider, it was the light of home.
After ascending the stairs, he saw that Miss Bei Ya Si had already arrived:
“Oh, Xia De! Good evening!”
She sat on the sofa, holding a teacup, happily waving and greeting Xia De. A bottle of red wine was also on the coffee table in front of her. Xia De had not woken up when she left, so she was naturally very happy to see him safe and sound now.
“Good evening.”
Xia De, back home, was also very happy. He picked up the orange cat that ran over, then told Miss Bei Ya Si and Luvia, who was standing by the window watching the carriage below, about the Vampire's tooth. Only then did he take the relic, held the cat, and turned to go downstairs.
Back in the carriage, the Black-haired maid merely glanced at the fang Xia De had placed in a paper bag, then set it aside, completely trusting Xia De's credibility.
Xia De, eager to go home, wanted to say goodbye but was stopped by the Black-haired maid.
She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and blinked at Xia De:
“Mr. Hamilton, I would like to thank you again on behalf of The Lady.”
“What do you mean by 'no thanks'?”
Xia De looked at the Black-haired maid, not understanding the abrupt remark's intent.
The latter seemed a little embarrassed:
“As a servant, I am not really qualified to say these things. The Council has always coveted the secrets held by the Blood Spirit School. You probably can't imagine the value of that Vampire corpse and this fang. The Lady is not feeling well today, so I wanted to express my gratitude to you. Mr. Hamilton, you did very well.”
“Don't thank me, Miss Servett. Miss Jialinna and I have discussed this before; it's a fair trade between us.”
Xia De said, once again catching the scent of the Black-haired maid's perfume.
“Perhaps it's more than just a trade, Mr. Hamilton. After this incident, The Lady will likely consider you a close acquaintance. You have demonstrated that value.”
“Then I am honored?”
He didn't know how to respond, so he could only say that.
The Black-haired maid, close by, showed a gentle smile:
“Actually, I also admire people like you. You seem out of place in this world, yet so real sitting in front of me. If I weren't intentionally following The Lady to become a Sorceress, I would probably want to give you a kiss right now. Mr. Hamilton, people like you are actually very rare.”
“Is that so? So you're saying I'm a good person?”
Xia De asked hesitantly. The Black-haired maid hesitated, made a gesture of leaning forward, but ultimately pulled back:
“Good people never live long. I actually hope you are not a purely good person.”
“Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person.”
“Well then, goodbye, Mr. Hamilton. Oh, don't forget this.”
She handed Xia De the old handwritten book, “Complete Collection of Delarion Ancient Fairy Tales,” which Xia De had obtained from the auction:
“This book has been with me these past few days. I must admit, you have excellent taste.”
“Goodbye, Miss Servett. Actually, I've always been curious, what scent of perfume do you use? It really smells wonderful.”
Xia De knew the question was impolite, but he asked it anyway. The Black-haired maid was a little surprised but then smiled:
“You can smell it, can you? Very few people can smell this perfume. It was blended by The Lady according to an ancient magical potion recipe circulating in the Council. Although it's perfume, the production process is that of a magical potion.”
“Does the magical potion have a name?”
Xia De was very curious. The Black-haired maid hesitated before answering:
“The Sorceress's Scent.”
Even the Duchess, without preparation, could hardly produce 1200 pounds in cash at once, especially since Miss Jialinna hadn't anticipated Xia De being able to provide a Vampire's corpse.
Therefore, Miss Jialinna gave Xia De a bank draft, which could be cashed directly at the Delarion Kingdom Bank.
When Xia De returned upstairs with the cooing cat, the two ladies were also very satisfied with the large influx of money. The three of them decided to split the 1200 pounds, though not equally. Since Xia De defeated the Vampire, he would take 500 pounds, and the two ladies would each receive 350 pounds. Xia De would go to the bank to withdraw the money.
After discussing the Vampire's fang, they began to prepare dinner. Because the curfew was still in effect, they couldn't eat out even with the large sum of money.
Fortunately, both single young women knew how to cook. The three of them enjoyed dinner together, and of course, no one forgot the adorable Mia.
Their relationship was very special; they were not friends, nor were they lovers for now. In the words of the purple-eyed Diviner, fate had already linked the three of them together. Just like an adventurer's party in ancient stories, or like friends experiencing magical adventures in a fairy tale:
“Luvia, Diviners really love to use terms like 'fate'.”
Xia De said at the dinner table. Red wine glasses were in front of all three of them. Miss Bei Ya Si had brought it when she returned that evening to celebrate their victory.
The brown-haired Sorceress raised an eyebrow at Xia De's choice of address.
Last night, Miss Bei Ya Si bravely rushed to the third floor. Although her actions had minimal impact on the evil god, her status as The Chosen was exposed to the Church as a result.
During the day today, Miss Bei Ya Si was questioned by the Church. Following the plan Miss Annette had already devised, she answered many questions about her power awakening. But just like Miss Jialinna's attitude, awakened Chosen were not important; what mattered were those Chosen who had not yet awakened.
There were thirteen Chosen in total. Regardless of what the final door truly meant, it was important to recruit as many Chosen as possible into their own faction.
Therefore, apart from the Sun Church giving Miss Bei Ya Si full attention, other Churches were more concerned about the method of The Chosen's awakening.
Next, Miss Bei Ya Si might briefly visit the Sun Church Papacy, but she would still remain in the Tobesk Diocese afterward, continuing her current life. After all, no matter how special a Chosen she was, she was currently only a Second-Circle Arcanist.
“I'm a Third-Circle Arcanist now. During the day, the church opened up a batch of books to me, and then I advanced.”
Miss Bei Ya Si said with a smile. This meant that Xia De, being a Second-Circle Arcanist, was still the lowest level.
And besides those books, according to Miss Bei Ya Si, the Papacy also had other rewards and training plans in preparation. As long as she didn't die, she would definitely be able to advance to the Thirteenth Ring. The young woman had high investment value.
After dinner, the three returned to the living room and continued their discussion on the sofa.
The conversation finally turned to the white-robed god from last night. Miss Bei Ya Si asked the same question as Miss Annette:
“Xia De, I only care about one thing; everything else is completely irrelevant. Are you human?”
“Absolutely human.”
Xia De nodded firmly, and the young woman was relieved. Compared to the curious female Diviner, Miss Bei Ya Si didn't care about much else. Knowing that Xia De was human, and that the Mystic Lock and the summoning of the god were all related to him, was already enough.
Of course, Xia De still hadn't told anyone that both the god and the saint were actually him, and that he wasn't just a vessel. The “time key” was used to explain everything. As for his true uniqueness, he wouldn't tell anyone until the day he became a god.
“But no matter what, Xia De, you saved everyone.”
Miss Bei Ya Si said. Under the gaslight in the living room, her smile was truly beautiful.
“But my deeds will be known to no one.”
He felt a slight regret about this; otherwise, even if everyone in the City gave him one shilling, he wouldn't lack money for decades.
After discussing last night's events, they finally moved on to dividing the spoils from the ruins. The letters and books could be shared, but the relics could not be cut.
Originally, six relics were recovered from the ruins, but the demonic eye was taken by the evil god, leaving only five. Now that the fang was sold to Miss Jialinna, only four remained.
“No, there are indeed five. Look at this.”
Xia De took out the ring box. The ladies recognized the pebble-shaped ring inside but all showed expressions of disdain; they had no desire to turn into men:
“You went to the charity banquet before entering the ruins just for this? Since The Lady gave it to you, then you keep it.”
Luvia had guessed that Jialinna Cavendish was a Sorceress, but Miss Bei Ya Si knew nothing about it. She seemed somewhat worried, not about the ring's origin, but about Xia De, so she kept reminding him:
“Xia De, don't use this casually unless absolutely necessary. I don't want my companion to turn into some genderless being.”
“Of course, I'll sell it after a while, once things calm down.”
The ring's face resembled a pebble, but the band was still metal. Under the gaslight, the metal band seemed to glow. This strange aura attracted the cat, which had been lying on the coffee table.
“Meow~”
Mia stood up and looked at Xia De. Under the gaze of the three, she wagged her tail and went to the ring. First, she sniffed it with her head down, and after confirming it wasn't edible, she curled her tail, actually letting the ring sit on the tip of her tail.
“Huh?”
Xia De was startled and tried to pick her up, but Mia easily dodged him.
“Meow~”
The orange cat wagged its tail and jumped onto the sofa to lie down. It curled into a cat ball, letting its tail dangle in front of it. Looking at the ring on its tail, it seemed very interested; this cat had found a new toy.
The metamorphosis ring could automatically adjust to different finger sizes, and it even fit the cat's tail. But since a cat couldn't recite incantations, there was no need to worry about the ring taking effect. However, the ring couldn't be left with Mia for too long, as the whisper element of the relic would affect intelligent life.
But occasionally taking it out for the cat to play with was fine.
Grabbing Mia, Xia De took the ring off her tail and put it back into the ring box.
“Does the relic metamorphosis ring have any effect on animals?”
Miss Bei Ya Si, seeing this, quietly asked the Diviner beside her. The latter shook his head:
“There is no record of that in the data, as this ring has never encountered an animal that could recite incantations.”