As agreed, after successfully receiving the inheritance, Mrs. Lemeier needed to pay Xia De 5 pounds in cash as remuneration. This was one-tenth of Mrs. Lemeier's inheritance, and it was by no means a small sum even for the middle-aged woman she was now.
Of course, she didn't regret it when it was time to pay. On one hand, she was indeed a kind woman; on the other hand, being in a narrow room, the somewhat undernourished middle-aged woman wouldn't want to anger the young and strong Detective.
But as she was about to hand the money to Xia De, he waved his hand, refusing:
"I don't think the commission necessarily has to be paid in cash. I want these books."
He pointed to the pile of old books placed with the old clothes:
"These old books are very interesting. How about you give me the books to offset part of the commission? Of course, Mrs. Lemeier, if you're worried that I won't give you a fair price when appraising them, you can also find someone to appraise these old books."
"No need, Detective, I trust you. Please take whatever you like."
The Lawyer had already said that those few old books were worthless, so the middle-aged woman didn't suspect Xia De's actions.
He reached out and pulled the box containing the old books in front of him, then found those old books and notebooks and piled them together. Mrs. Lemeier didn't pay attention to the notebooks; perhaps in the eyes of this mostly illiterate woman, notebooks and books were the same thing.
"A total of 7 books, most of which are adventure novels, and a few are nautical logs and diaries. For appraisal, one shilling each?"
Although Mrs. Lemeier had never bought books, she knew the price wasn't very high, but definitely not low. The middle-aged woman probably took this as Xia De looking out for her, and said with some embarrassment:
"No problem, Detective."
So Xia De obtained the diaries that recorded the crew's secrets, and received more than 4 pounds in remuneration. In return, he gave the middle-aged woman the address of Old John's Pawnshop. There were many items in the inheritance that were difficult to find a suitable use for, and Old John just happened to like such miscellaneous things, so selling them to him was perfect.
Xia De got the deceased Ring術士's diaries for seven shillings, which was a bargain for him. So before leaving, he also reminded Mrs. Lemeier that since she had suddenly acquired so much money, her family should move to a safer place:
"Many of your neighbors saw Lawyer Laurel and me visit today. You'd best fabricate a plausible reason for our visit. How about the news of your missing husband's death?"
Xia De suggested, but the dull-witted woman didn't know how to respond.
"In any case, with this money, please move out of this place as soon as possible. Most importantly, never let anyone know that you've received this money, not even your children."
In fact, since Mrs. Lemeier was able to survive with two children, she should already know these basic things. Although Xia De knew he was overstepping, he always felt uncomfortable not saying it.
"Also, you know my address. If you need any help in the future, you can always come to me. I offer discounts to old customers, and my Detective agency has expanded its business recently. I wish you a pleasant life."
Having benefited from the other party this time, if Mrs. Lemeier truly needed help with anything else, he would certainly not be stingy with his time.
Leaving the attic and coming downstairs, after bidding farewell to the suddenly wealthy middle-aged woman, Xia De stood beneath the building with walls covered in graffiti and looked up at the house, which rarely saw the sun due to the surrounding buildings.
Having suddenly acquired this considerable sum of money, the Lemeier family's life would surely change, and the future of the two children would probably also change. But what their story would be like after this was beyond Xia De's imagination.
Perhaps half a year, a year, or two years later, he would accidentally think of this commission one day while playing with his cat, or see the record of this commission while organizing documents, and then find a way to locate the Lemeier family to see how their lives were doing.
But at least for now, Xia De was more concerned with his own affairs. Having finished this commission, tonight, he would re-enter the year 3002.
The task corresponding to the time key for the common era year 3002 was "Help mortals complete the God-summoning ritual - contact the Old God yaobian gate." Although it sounded easier than the 1068 key's "Witness the Old God's last wish," Xia De secretly believed that The Innocent Creator could actually fulfill the children's three wishes. It was only when he, this "child of the future," appeared that it, with a "seeking fun" mentality, made him do it.
This idea sounded ridiculous, but based on Xia De's brief experience with that Old God, his guess was very likely correct.
And this time, the task was to help three witches whose ritual had encountered trouble, genuine trouble. Therefore, even though contact with the deity would only occur at the end of this task, the difficulty of the task was no less than the first time.
To date, Xia De had obtained information about the Old God "yaobian gate" from various sources. The era when this Old God appeared was untraceable, with the earliest documented mention of the Old God's name originating from the third epoch. Similar to The Innocent Creator, the Old God yaobian gate also belonged to a very low-key deity, with an extremely rare number of believers, and even no definite evidence proving that believers formed a cult.
According to the Orthodox Church's data, the Old God yaobian gate possessed the powers of time and space. The most important event related to it was its appearance in the material world as a Saint at the end of the fourth epoch or early fifth epoch, preventing the land changes in the material world caused by the out-of-control Angel-level (Level 1) relic 【Fragmented Old World Map】. That great catastrophe directly led to the formation of the five main continents of the fifth epoch and impacted the civilization of an entire epoch.
Because Miss Felianna attempted the God-summoning ritual in the fifth epoch, Xia De originally thought the Academy Library would have more information about this deity, and even related event records left by Miss Felianna. However, the information Miss Daniste gave Xia De was no more than what the Church had.
Even if Miss Felianna's matter was considered a secret by the Academy and not to be leaked casually, the scarcity of information on the Old God yaobian gate was still unusual. The Academy had no need to conceal matters concerning this deity. The current situation was as if Miss Felianna's God-summoning never happened, which is why Saint Byron's had so little information.
Xia De couldn't help but feel a little worried; there were probably other unexpected events in the year 3002.
However, the information Luvia found from the Prophet Association was unexpectedly rich. Unlike the five Great Orthodox Churches and Three Great Arcane Academies that appeared only in the fifth epoch, the Prophet Association, like the Blood Spirit School, was an ancient organization that had experienced several epochs.
Some of the books listed in Miss Felianna's booklist were found in the Association. Luvia even found an old book describing a "space" deity in the Tobesk branch's database.
But that book belonged to the Association's secret files and could not be taken out of the Library. So Luvia could only transcribe the content Xia De needed. The information was not long, only half a page, roughly explaining the role of the Old God yaobian gate's holy emblem in mystical rituals, and explaining that this deity not only had power over time and space, but it even had power over nature.
Although the scope of a deity's divine duties doesn't indicate their power, judging from the information at hand, the ritual to contact the Old God yaobian gate would definitely not be simple.
After leaving Mrs. Lemeier's house, Xia De spent the rest of the day organizing this information. But after dinner in the evening, an unexpected guest came to visit.
It was Captain Lades. This was the first time Xia De had seen the Captain again since the commendation ceremony two weeks ago. He had now received a notice from the Delarion Royal Army, confirming that he would return to Windy Path on the front lines in late August or September.
The Captain's visit this time, besides wanting to invite Xia De for a drink before he left, was also to inform Xia De that he had moved to a different place of residence.
Having had his honor restored and shame washed away, Captain Lades, with the rank of officer, rented a decent apartment in Tobesk West District with the help of friends, planning to spend the rest of the summer in Tobesk there.
"A person's fate is truly unpredictable. The ups and downs I've experienced this year are more complex than my entire life before. Hamilton Detective, sometimes I wonder how fate truly views ordinary mortals like us."
"Captain, are you contemplating philosophy?"
Xia De asked with a smile. Unlike the first time he met the Captain at the club, Captain Lades's mental state had changed greatly. He had completely emerged from the moniker of "Eight-Gun Captain" and was about to face a brand new life.
"No, this should be theology."
Captain Lades shook his head:
"Detective, want to play rhode cards? No betting, just a couple of rounds. I know you're good at rhode cards."
"Not tonight."
Xia De shook his head regretfully:
"I still have to go out later. There's an important commission tonight, and the client is a respectable and extraordinary big shot. Captain, let's play cards together next time we have a chance."
"Alright then, in that case, I'll take my leave. Oh, did you hear about what happened last week? Later, even the Police Chief of Leedweich Field was broken into and killed in his house. The curfew has ended, but it's still best not to wander around the city at night. If your client's identity is truly extraordinary, then just disregard what I said. I heard Miss Jialinna..."
He closed his mouth, not daring to say more, presumably having heard the rumors circulating.
Xia De went downstairs to see off the Captain, watching him walk away from Saint Delan Square. As he held the door, he thought that among the ordinary people he had encountered who had come into contact with relics, either their lives were greatly affected, like Professor Manning and Captain Lades, or they faced life-threatening danger, like the little girl's family and the group of people who touched the Mermaid statue.
This world was truly very unfriendly to ordinary people, especially to ordinary people with bad luck.
"When I first came to this world, being able to immediately meet Doctor Schneider, this shouldn't be the Doctor's luck, but my luck."
He sighed, adjusted his mood, closed the door, and returned to the study, once again sorting through the information he had found about the Old God. After eleven o'clock at night, he played with Mia for a while and planned to give the cat a bath when he had time.
The past was very dangerous, so he wouldn't bring Mia this time. After the midnight bell chimed, Xia De stood in front of his bedroom door, carrying a briefcase filled with documents, and inserted the key, which already showed signs of wear, into the keyhole:
"May the World Tree protect me in infinite time."
Click~ With a sound, the lock turned, and Xia De pulled open the door. Familiar white mist drifted out from behind the door like silk floss. Xia De reached out to try and catch it, but the white mist was not a tangible substance that could be grasped:
"Mia, wait for me for three seconds."
The cat, familiar with Xia De entering such doors every now and then, was no longer curious about the current situation. It lay lazily on the sofa and meowed ~ in response, resting its head on its two small paws, with narrowed eyes as if feigning sleep.
But in reality, the cat could still see Xia De. It watched Xia De walk into the door, then obediently waited for his return.