Director Anros heard some inside information about what happened in the reading salon. He knew it was related to the church and those mysterious events, so he just stroked his nose and said nothing.
"Speaking of which, does this count as a work-related injury?"
Xia De said jokingly, and then his expression became a little more serious:
"I found out that the princess sometimes sneaks out. I originally thought that she wanted to meet with a mysterious person, such as the so-called 'Grey Eagle', but in the end I found that the princess seemed to just want to stroll around the city."
"We also know that the princess sometimes goes out alone, and the people in the Carsenrick delegation are helpless about this. But she wants to see the city, and we can't blame her. We can only try our best to ensure her safety. But I don't think the princess will contact the Grey Eagle personally. She can just arrange someone around her to do this."
Director Anros sat on the sofa and analyzed:
"You have been doing very well recently, and His Majesty has also heard about your contact with this princess in social occasions. Regardless of whether she comes with other purposes, we just need to ensure that there are people of ours around her in any occasion."
As he spoke, he took out a card and handed it to Xia De:
"Continue working next week. On Friday, His Highness will visit the Delarian III National Mechanical Institute in the university district and attend lectures from morning to evening. This is the entry and exit permit for the National Mechanical Institute. You will go with him that day. There will be a lot of people there. Pay attention to see if anyone suspicious contacts His Highness. Try to contact the princess directly. We all know that you have a good relationship with her. If possible, I hope you can stay with His Highness the whole time."
"OK."
Xia De took the pass, and Director Anlos stood up. He was also very busy and didn't have time to stay with Xia De for long:
"After the delegation leaves, His Majesty will reward the meritorious officials, and there will also be rewards within the Sixth Department. I won't contact you often recently, and you should not contact the Sixth Department recently..."
This is why he came in person:
"Recently our agents are not just fighting the Gray Gloves. There are quite a few strange guys in the city. Your mission is just to observe and report. Don't worry about other things. The Sixth Division is quite professional."
He waved goodbye to Xia De, opened the door and left.
Xia De put away the pass, carried Mia back to the second floor, and before the girls could ask any questions, he said:
"My boss is here."
"boss?"
Princess Margaret, who was sitting on the sofa and talking to Goldilocks, was curious:
"Do independent detectives also have superiors? Is it the so-called detective guild?"
"Oh, Your Highness, although my profession is very respectable in Miss Louisa's book, detectives don't always get jobs."
Xia De sat down on the short sofa on the side. The orange cat missed his breakfast and ran to the dining room again:
"I haven't received any commissions in the winter after the snow, but I have a lot of work in late autumn. I can't always sit at home waiting for commissions, so sometimes I will cooperate with the Redwich field. Oh, the Redwich field is..."
"Yes I know."
Princess Margaret nodded, and Dorothy smiled and helped Shad explain. She knew what Shad wanted to say half-truthfully:
"Detectives like Shad sometimes have to work closely with the police, accept official commissions and assist in investigations, so he called the police chief he contacted his 'superior'."
"At least Redwich was very generous in paying the venue, but not generous in reimbursement."
Shade said, tilting his head and watching Mia finish off her leftovers in the restaurant:
"Where were we talking about just now? Yes, there is no need to meet with Sir Prisha alone for the time being. However, I am very interested in the ancient Prisha family. I have heard of ancient families that have passed down the power of ring sorcerers from generation to generation, but I thought those families were attached to the three major colleges."
In fact, Miss Aurora's family is an exception.
"Not every generation of the Prisha family can awaken a ring sorcerer, and the rumors about the ancient family are just legends. The nobles always like to brag about their family's history. I am sure that, at least in the past few hundred years, no special people have appeared in their family."
Princess Margaret said, borrowing paper and pen from Shade, and drew the family crest of the Prisha family:
"The thorn patterns around it are the merits they added after they pledged allegiance to my ancestors. The main body of the emblem is a family crest that has been preserved from ancient times and is related to the surname itself."
In heraldry, those family crests that seem quite complex and gorgeous in the eyes of ordinary people actually have extremely rich meanings. Although Shade knew about the noble crests of Delarion, he didn't know much about the nobles of Carsenrick. Fortunately, Dorothy had the knowledge of Resia, and in the education that the princess received, noble heraldry was a required basic course. She looked at the pattern drawn by Princess Margaret with great interest, and then pretended to be curious and said:
"When I was organizing my writing materials, I learned about the ancient noble heraldry in the southern part of Carsenrick. These blue ribbons are folded in three parts, and decorated with a golden cross, which is a typical 'sacred' meaning. Has the family of Sir Prisha ever produced a person above the level of a regional archbishop in the Five Gods Church?"
“I don’t quite understand that.”
Princess Margaret shook her head:
"I haven't heard that the knight's family has any connection with the church. Besides, we, the ring sorcerers who graduated from the three major academies, are also very reluctant to have any connection with the church."
Xia De was also observing the family emblem, but before he could express his opinion, the bell rang again downstairs:
"Oh, what's going on today? Did everyone choose today to visit me?"
He picked up the cat that came running over when he heard the bell, walked to the living room window and looked down:
"I don't recognize this cab, it's a very common one in the city. Who is it this time?"
"Xia De, take your guest to the second floor to talk. His Highness and I will hide there for a while."
Dorothy pointed to Room 2, and Shad nodded. Then she went straight to the wall by the fireplace, opened the door that was almost one with the wall, and then turned and motioned for the princess to follow.
Princess Margaret followed Dorothy to another room, and in her heart she was actually wondering about the relationship between Dorothy Louisa and Shade. Just now she thought that the blonde writer came here so early because the group had something to discuss. But now it seems that this is not the case. After all, this blonde writer seems to be too familiar with this house.
On the other side, Xia De had already come downstairs with Xiaomia. After opening the door, he saw a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman whom Xia De had never seen before, who was paying the fare to the driver outside.
He had beautiful brown hair and a very fine mustache. He was wearing a black leather coat and a fox fur scarf around his neck. The wallet in his left hand was made of crocodile leather, and the yellow metal decoration on the cane in his right hand was real gold.
He paid a lot of tips, and the driver, holding the banknotes and coins, took off his hat and bowed with great force.
The middle-aged gentleman stuffed his wallet into the pocket of his large leather jacket, turned around and saw that the door had been opened. He blinked:
"Detective Shad Hamilton?"
"Yes, it's me. May I ask who you are..."
The man took off his black leather gloves and held out his hand to Shade:
"Boris Cameron, Baron."
He grabbed Shade's hand and shook it, with a smile from the bottom of his heart on his face:
"Detective Hamilton, I've heard of you for a long time. I have a case that I want you to handle. Do you have time now?"
"Commission?"
Although Baron Cameron's enthusiasm was unexpected, Shade nodded:
"Come in."
He made room at the door, and the baron in leather boots rubbed his shoes on the doormat, just like Director Anros, and then followed Shad to the second floor.
Dorothy had already put away the teacups, so Shad prepared the tea again. Meanwhile, Baron Cameron sat on the sofa and looked at the attire in Room 1 on the second floor with great interest. He was very polite and just looked around without trying to touch anything.
After Xia De brought the black tea, the handsome middle-aged gentleman started talking about his own affairs:
"Detective, this didn't happen to me. It happened to my brother, Jimmy Cameron. Although we were from the same family, he didn't inherit the family title. When our father died, the factory was given to him."
The baron explained his family background. This is a common way of dividing property:
"Little Jimmy... I don't like to complain about my brother, but he obviously has no talent for business. He doesn't often go to the factory, but instead hangs around the city. I often go to underground casinos or those illegal clubs to pick him out. He is really a headache. But Jimmy is not a so-called bad person, he just... has no skills and is greedy for pleasure. I have a good relationship with him."
The baron sighed, took out a black-and-white photo from his jacket pocket and handed it to Shade. The photo was a single photo, and the man in the photo looked very similar to Baron Cameron, but it was also clear that they were not the same person. The baron looked to be in his forties, and the man in the photo looked to be in his thirties, and was obviously much fatter than the baron.
"Please rest assured, my brother is not missing. It was just last week that he found me mysteriously and told me that he bought a magical item."
Shade looked up at the Baron:
"Magical? That's an interesting word."
"Yes, that is a..."
Baron Cameron showed an embarrassed expression. He felt quite embarrassed when he said this:
"A box that can make copies of banknotes."