“Just now.”
“The woman who handed you something is a Ring術士.”
“Hmm.”
Xia De looked at the direction where the police disappeared, then at the paper bag, like one from a bakery, that had been forced into his hand.
“Are there any dangerous items in here?”
“There are no traces of elements or spirits. You can check what’s inside.”
Xia De thought for a moment, looked again at the direction where the young woman and the police had disappeared, then turned and walked into the alley from which the group had just run out.
Both sides of the alley were lined with two-story buildings, so the lighting in the alley was not very good. After confirming that there was no one else here, Xia De glanced into the heavy paper bag. It was full of books and documents.
“I didn’t expect to encounter something like this.”
Xia De was unwilling to get into any trouble in an unfamiliar City, and he had no curiosity about the paper bag that had been forced upon him. Since he had confirmed that the contents were not a relic or a bomb, he thought about spending some money to have the clothing store at the alley entrance temporarily hold the bag, so that The Lady could pick them up when she came looking for them later.
But upon closer inspection of the outside of the paper bag, he noticed a small blue ink mark on the upper right corner of the bag.
The mark was circular, with a circle of vines around the inner edge, and an ancient rune representing the meaning of “text” in the center of the mark.
The design was simple, but it made Xia De unconsciously frown.
“The Zaras Academy’s emblem?”
Zaras Academy, also known as Zaras School of Spellcraft, along with Saint Byron's Comprehensive College and Success Higher Medical College, are collectively known as the Three Great Arcane Academies of the sixth epoch. Saint Byron's excels in relic containment, Zaras Academy is proficient in Miracle and spellcraft development, while Success Higher Medical College has made significant achievements in potions and alchemy.
Not long ago, when he and the doctor broke into the residence of Leedweich Field’s officer’s mistress in Tobesk City, they had met a Letter-based Ring術士 from Zaras Academy. However, Xia De had not spoken to him, and he was not familiar with students from other Miracle Academies.
“Could the young woman just now be a Letter-based Ring術士 from Zaras Academy in Coldwater Port City?”
Thinking this, he looked down at the paper bag he was holding, hesitated for a moment, then reached in to flip through the documents, and pulled out one of them.
The Zaras Academy’s emblem was printed at the top, and the heading read 【Academy Bounty Order】. He quickly scanned the contents of the bounty order, which roughly stated that a sage-level relic, 【Mermaid’s Dream】, had appeared locally, and a bounty mission was being issued to Letter-based Ring術士 in Coldwater Port City and surrounding areas, hoping they could provide relevant clues to the Academy.
“If this bag of things wasn’t stolen by her, then she’s most likely truly a Letter-based Ring術士 from Zaras Academy.”
At this thought, Xia De hesitated again about whether to leave immediately.
He had no acquaintances in the local area. If he could find a Letter-based Ring術士 familiar with the local situation, it would certainly be of great help in searching for blood money, and even other currency-type relics.
The Three Great Academies do not require their students to be good people, but they absolutely cannot be bad people, which guarantees their basic character. However, Xia De still decided it would be better to be cautious when making contact with an unfamiliar Ring術士.
But before he could make up his mind, footsteps sounded again. The true owner of the paper bag, the young woman in the black and white gauze dress, actually walked into the alley from the entrance.
At this point, less than five minutes had passed since she handed the paper bag to Xia De.
“Sir, I’m truly sorry about earlier.”
Wearing black leather shoes, the young woman in her twenties stood there looking at Xia De. Her meticulously styled golden long hair fell behind her head (Note), and she wore a ruby earring in her right ear.
“Now, may I have my things back?”
She looked very pretty when she smiled. This was a very pretty young woman, with fair skin and an outstanding temperament, reminding Xia De of the noble young ladies he had seen at banquets at Lakeview Manor.
Neither her face, neck, nor hands showed any scars or blemishes. The black and white gauze dress she wore looked ordinary in style, but a closer look at the tailoring confirmed that it was a purely handmade custom dress.
Xia De couldn’t immediately find the right way to describe his feelings when he first saw her, but in any case, she must be a young woman of noble birth.
“Ring術士. The ruby earring is a very strong relic.”
“Oh?”
Xia De said softly, looking at the unfamiliar young woman.
“Were the police just now chasing you?”
She had returned a little too quickly.
“I just accidentally appeared where I shouldn’t have. Don’t worry, sir, I haven’t broken the law.”
She said with a smile. Seeing Xia De step forward to hand her the paper package, the unfamiliar young woman also took a step forward.
At close range, Xia De caught the scent of her perfume. Now, Outsider also knew many young women from different backgrounds and had a basic ability to identify perfumes. Xia De couldn’t judge the quality of the perfume the unfamiliar young woman was using, but he knew it must be very expensive.
“I’m truly sorry to have bothered you. Goodbye then.”
Seeing that Xia De didn’t want to say anything, the young woman with the ruby earring took the paper bag, nodded slightly, turned, and bid farewell. She walked a little slowly, but Xia De, who was deep in thought, didn’t notice this.
Watching her back, Xia De hesitated for a moment, then still called out to her.
“Excuse me, The Lady, I forgot to ask your name.”
The young woman immediately turned around.
“No, you’d best not know my name, or you’ll get into trouble. Sir, when striking up a conversation with an unfamiliar young woman, you must pay attention to whether the other party is a dangerous person.”
She said with a smile, as if advising an admirer she had just met to be wary of danger.
“You are very right.”
Xia De said, then softly asked.
“However, could you satisfy my curiosity? I noticed that this paper bag is full of books. A Lady like you, I wonder which school you attend?”
“Me? You looked at my books?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t tell you that, sir, it’s a secret.”
Thus, although there was still a possibility of misjudgment, Xia De basically confirmed that the other party was a Letter-based Ring術士 from Zaras Academy.
Based on the simple conversation, the other party was someone he could communicate with. And Xia De’s question had aroused the other party’s vigilance, which was exactly what Xia De wanted. He decided to continue probing, after all, he couldn’t always find Letter-based Ring術士 from the Three Great Arcane Academies anytime, anywhere.
“Sir, you didn’t go through my things, did you?”
The young woman asked with a frown.
“Of course not.”
“That’s good, because inside here is…”
She unexpectedly looked up and met Xia De’s eyes.
“Who are you?”