"You are in a good mood. What does that have to do with Margaret?"
Xia De still didn't understand, so the flaxen-haired girl said a little embarrassedly:
"I used to be unconfident. After all, among all the apprentices of the Great Witch, I was the last one to join and had the worst talent. But now, Margaret Anjou has appeared..."
She didn't continue to speak, to avoid insulting Her Royal Highness, and then she stood on tiptoe and kissed Shade:
"I can't help you directly like other ladies can. I can only do some logistical work in the city. Before I left, my mother-in-law told me that you can take anything from the local auction house as long as you need it. Shade, I wish you a smooth journey."
As he said this, he put his hands behind his back, said goodbye to Xia De in a very good mood, and walked downstairs.
Xia De felt that he might never be able to understand the thoughts of young girls.
After lunch, Margaret hurried to the manor and was disappointed to have missed the witches' "lunch party". However, she also had a private conversation with Shade.
Her Royal Highness the Princess seemed to be in a good mood today as well, and was not affected by being petrified a few days ago.
She also gave Shade something, but not a gem, but an invitation:
"Remember what I said? I need a banquet, a banquet to which most of the nobles and celebrities of this city are invited, at which I will make a public reconciliation with the Stonemasons Guild."
"The time is... tomorrow, Thursday night?"
Xia De asked hesitantly:
"Why are you in such a hurry? Besides, Stone Oxenfurt's businesses have just been investigated. It will take time to cash them out, right? What about the compensation with the Stonemasons Guild?"
"Plans can never keep up with changes."
Margaret shook her head and threw the newspaper on the coffee table in the study:
“William and I went to Stonemason Street in the Old Town to reconcile with the Stonemasons Guild, and the attack by the cultists has become front-page news throughout the kingdom in recent days.
Now the whole kingdom is praising and caring about us. I will take advantage of this situation to complete the negotiations with the Stonemasons Guild in one go, even if it is just a preliminary agreement. Although this will also give my brother credit, I will get more. Besides, he will have big troubles when he returns to Willendel because of his business with Oxenfurt. "
"Are you forcing the Stonemasons Association to agree to negotiate with you?"
"No, no, I wouldn't use the word force. I should say... just go with the flow. After all, I won't put forward any harsh conditions. When it comes to compensation, my bottom line is very high."
She gestured a number to Xia De:
"But compensation has never been the key. My father did not agree to a public apology and insisted that the Stonemasons Guild repair the mausoleum, which has not been repaired to this day. Therefore, there are some important things to discuss at the banquet. However, I am confident that I can solve this matter. Otherwise, how can I be a witch's apprentice?"
She smiled and winked at Shade:
"I'm sorry, I know you've been very busy lately, and the things you're busy with are far more important than my little matter. But on Thursday night, can you spare some time..."
"No problem. I won't do my work until Friday. It would be nice to relax at the party before starting the big thing."
Xia De asked again:
"Anyone else coming?"
"Except for Miss Carina who is unable to show up, I have invited everyone else and am still waiting for their response."
"Then we'll see you at the party, I hope everything goes well."
Xia De put away the invitation, and Margaret asked again:
"If the final peace talks don't go smoothly, I might offer the gold mine as a bargaining chip. It's the one you and Miss Benannis found when you went to the Temple of the Night."
"But we didn't find it at all... It doesn't matter, you can use it as a bargaining chip."
Shad said.
"I won't forget your share."
She smiled sweetly, looked towards the door of the study, and then hugged Xia De's neck intimately:
"Teacher Sylvia and Teacher Benanis are downstairs now... Knight, do you want to try something exciting?"
After saying that, she didn't even give Xia De a chance to answer and kissed him passionately.
This Wednesday, Shade was not without things to do. Before the final battle began, he only had one last thing to confirm, which was the rumor about the place where the demons were sealed that he got from the demon scholar Mr. Sean Asmon last night.
He himself was skeptical about this clue, but since he had the time and nothing more important to do, there was nothing wrong with going and taking a look.
Because everyone had their own things to do, Xia De did not invite anyone, but went alone. However, because Margaret "delayed" him for some time, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon when he left the city.
The location provided by Mr. Asmon was outside the city, not in the mountains to the east of the city, but to the west of the city, far away from the valley in the lower reaches of the Ailon River.
It was actually not far from the city. After reaching the edge of the city, we entered the village near the city. We walked along the country road towards the village cemetery. After passing the cemetery, we continued walking for less than ten minutes and saw a large lake in the distance with a thin mist.
This lake is called the "Netherlands Lake". Although its area is far smaller than Lake Eldron upstream of the Elrond River, it is still very important for inland shipping.
On the east bank of the lake stood a watchtower that was built in an unknown era. It was an important commanding height during the war years, but now it generally serves as a lighthouse. And Shade's destination was the old watchtower.
I thought I could just take a quick walk and end this short trip, but when I passed the small village, I found many wheel tracks on the muddy country road. When I passed the cemetery, I talked to the old gravekeeper who was repairing the cemetery and learned that a carriage from the Dawn Church passed by here in the morning.
When Shad saw the watchtower from afar, he indeed discovered traces of the church's ring sorcerers using reconnaissance magic nearby.
I was a little surprised at first, but then I thought, since even an ordinary person like Mr. Sean Asmon could find clues here, the Orthodox Church, which has completely confirmed the existence of demons in the local area, would naturally be able to find them as well.
Fortunately, just like Shade, the church obviously didn't care much about the clues here. Therefore, judging from the villagers' descriptions and nearby traces, the local Dawn Church should have only sent a full team of ring warlocks to investigate.
This team of ring wizards arrived in the morning, so when Shad appeared near the watchtower in the evening, their search mission should have been almost over and there was no gain.
Otherwise, these people wouldn't be the only ones here.
Shade had no plans to meet with the church's ring warlock, so after making sure that there was someone inside the tower, he decided to take a walk in the nearby woods.
"But if the devil was really suppressed under this tower, why didn't it bring down the tower when it broke free from the seal?"
Xia De thought suspiciously, standing by the lake and looking at the brilliant sunset, and "she" asked gently:
Why must the tower collapse
"I know a story from my hometown: a giant white snake that was proficient in human transformation broke free from the sealed tower and brought the tower down."
Another fairy tale
Xia De immediately denied it:
“This is not a fairy tale, this is a very adult story.
Do you know? In that story, a doctor who runs a hospital actually made the white snake pregnant... ... Tsk, this story should be more suitable for Mr. Leman and Professor Manning... ... I wonder if Professor Manning can help me publish that article... ... Mr. Erfurt, who gave me that article, has passed away, but he left me his pocket watch. Although I can do whatever I want with it, I still have to send it to his fiancée in Willendel City when I have time... ... I don't know how the tiger is doing, is it starving to death now... ... "
His thoughts were wandering endlessly.
As the dim setting sun cast the entire thawing surface of Lake Netherlands into a brilliant golden color, the team of ring sorcerers in the tower finally left the watchtower in a carriage.
Xia De watched them leave and waited for a while. After making sure that they would not come back, he finally walked towards the tower.
Although it is now used as a lighthouse, there is not even a tower keeper in winter. The door under the tower was locked by the team when they left, but an ordinary lock would not be difficult for Shade.
However, this watchtower is too small, much smaller than the old lighthouse guarded by Mr. Edmund in Coldwater Port City, which Shad often visited, the city lighthouse in Tobesk City where he performed the "time perception enhancement ceremony" with the help of the doctor, and the lighthouse on the island in the middle of Pantanal Lake where the decisive battle took place last year.
The tower has no basement and is divided into four floors. Except for the first floor which is a dirt floor, the other three floors are all made of wooden planks. Because the area is small, each floor is connected to each other by a simple wooden vertical ladder, which makes climbing up and down quite troublesome.
Xia De did not lazy to turn into a butterfly and fly up, but climbed from the bottom to the top. He saw the traces of the church checking this place in various ways, and also saw the torn quilts and other daily necessities left by the tower keeper who left in early winter.
When we got to the top floor, there was only the tall brazier in the center. The brazier was still warm, probably because the church's ring sorcerers wanted to try and see if lighting the brazier would yield any different findings.
"I knew it, a complete waste of time."
Xia De muttered to himself, standing at the top of the watchtower, his hands in his pockets, looking at the scenery of the lake.
Far away from the city, it was really peaceful here, as if the disaster in the Randall River Valley had not yet affected it. The setting sun turned the cracked ice into a golden color, and the evening wind blew through the woodlands along the lakeshore, making the forest emit a very rhythmic natural sound.