"What are you looking at?"
When Shad came up from downstairs with goat milk, newspapers and letters, Dorothy, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, asked curiously. The girl, who looked very good, was wearing an apron and preparing fried eggs and bacon for Shad and Mia. Her cooking skills were quite good.
"Princess Margaret's letter told me that she would help me investigate the descendants of the Edwards family in Willendell, but it would take time. In addition, there is a secret mission for the ace agent Grey Eagle."
After Margaret finished her visit to Tobesk, Shad told Lecia about Detective Sparrow in accordance with the agreement with her. This completely ended Detective Sparrow's identity as the "Grey Eagle" and allowed Shad to complete the last thing for him.
Of course, Shad did not give up his identity as "Grey Eagle". All future tasks would be the tasks of Shad, the "Grey Eagle II" appointed by Margaret herself, and this would not damage the reputation of Detective Sparrow.
"The mission of the Grey Eagle? Oh, I remember now. The princess contacted the Grey Eagle's superior through you and completely mastered your intelligence network. So she wrote to you to inform you of the mission, and there is no need to use cumbersome intelligence transmission methods... What do you need to do this time?"
Dorothy asked, her back turned to Shad.
"Let me see... I seriously injured Count Lewis, yes, the Count who came to Tobesk on behalf of Carsenrick to discuss the preliminary matters of the negotiations."
Shade raised an eyebrow as he spoke.
"Trading the Count's severe injury in Tobesk for a favorable negotiating position?"
Dorothy smiled, and turning around with her plate in her hand, she saw that Shard was looking at her, and she said:
"Weren't you going to teach that 'lecherous pig of Willendell' a lesson?"
"But will this harm the interests of Resia and Karina?"
"It's okay. You don't have to worry about it. Rather, if Tobesk is in a weak position in the early negotiations, it will be beneficial to them."
Shade frowned slightly. Dorothy's tone at this moment was very similar to that of Leicia, but her soul was Dorothy:
"By the way, is Leicia planning to celebrate the Red Butterfly Day on the day the competition ends?"
He suddenly asked. The writer put the plate on the table, a little shy about the sudden change of topic:
"Really? Why are you asking this so early in the morning?"
"Of course I'm looking forward to that day. I prefer the three of us rather than the two of us. Yes, it's not fun to be with just two of us. I prefer the three of us, so neither you nor Leicia can be absent."
Xia De emphasized, hoping to remind the girl in front of him that it was the right thing for her to stay true to herself. But after Xia De said this, he thought about what he had just said and immediately felt something was wrong.
His words really worked, and the mixed feeling of Resia and Dorothy disappeared like ice and snow melting. However, this also made the writer look at him with her lips bitten, obviously misunderstanding what Shade meant:
"Are you complaining that we can't always accompany you?"
"No, no, I mean..."
"Don't tell this to Leicia. She's always felt guilty for not being able to accompany you more often."
The blonde girl gently sat down next to Shade, and looked at Shade with her emerald green eyes like gemstones:
"I don't know what you're worried about, but we're always with you."
Maybe you don't need to be too anxious about their problems.
"But we can't leave it to the last minute, can we?"
According to the schedule, today's competition is "archery". Because different bows have different effects, the organizer provides weapons for all "knights" to ensure the fairness of the competition, so Shade only needs to bring his own mount.
About a mile west of the manor where the banquet was held last night, the historic "Edward III Arena" was the venue for this competition. Because it was outside the city and considering the convenience of transportation, the competition started at 9:30 in the morning, so Shade was not in a hurry to set off immediately at 7 o'clock in the morning.
Dorothy will follow Shad these days and record the latest news during the game as the material for Hamilton Detective Stories. When she and Shad had breakfast together, Shad petted the cat while reading the newspaper and commented on the news of the game with a smile:
"My name was mentioned in the news. The newspaper said that if I couldn't get into the top three, I would be unworthy of the reputation of 'Hamilton of Rejade'. Well, people here actually dared to discuss my relationship with Leicia. However, in the eyes of the public, Leicia is really a serious and old-fashioned princess. They all think that I swore by her, which was the wishful thinking of 'Playboy Hamilton'."
Dorothy smiled.
"There are only 36 applicants this year, which is a little less than in previous years. Among them, there are no more than five opponents who can really pose a threat to you. The one you need to pay most attention to is last year's champion, Sir Hulls from Coldwater Harbor. He has a ship that trades with the New World and likes to go on adventures at sea. He once led his sailors to defeat the Pirate King in the Eye of the Storm."
"Sir Hulls?"
Xia De recalled that he had indeed seen this person at the banquet last night:
"He seems to be the oldest contestant in this competition. I remember he was... 37 years old? I am really looking forward to what kind of surprises a knight of this age can bring me."
Xia De was even a little excited.
Since it was Monday, Shade did not forget to pick up the gifts for the week before leaving the house. Although he had no hope of taking out anything useful, he just took the process of "picking up gifts" as fun. But when Shade actually took out the small bag of high-end cat food from the gift box, he was still shocked:
“Why cat food?”
"Meow!"
The excited cat rushed over, probably thinking that Shade was carrying the bag of cat food to give it a snack.
"No, no, you just ate, you can't eat now!"
Shad held the cat with one hand and took great pains to let Mia know that breakfast was over, and then hid the new bag of cat food to prevent Mia from finding it.
With the advent of the steam age, the emergence of the urban middle class gave rise to industries related to urban pets. The cat food that Shade prepared for Mia was actually healthier and richer in nutrients than the three meals a day of most lower-class civilians.
The money for cat food was taken from the 10 pounds that Miss Gold sent with her letter every month, but even if Shad chose the most expensive cat food, there would still be a large surplus of "Mia's feeding fee" every month. Therefore, he only chose the most expensive cat food when buying cat food, and the cat was obviously very satisfied with this cat food.
As for this week's task, it was to take good care of his cat. Compared with the previous weekly tasks, the description of this week's task was obviously much more vague. Although he knew that the god who protected children would not make things difficult for him, Shade still thought that he had to be better to Mia this week.
Although he thought he had been good enough to the cat in the past, since it was a mission...
"What's wrong?"
At this time, Shad and Dorothy had already arrived at the first floor hallway and were ready to go out. Shad took out the key from the biscuit box in the shoe cabinet at the door and was bending down to pick up the cat to take it with him - after all, he would probably not be at home all day today, but suddenly his movements paused.
The blonde girl asked Xia De curiously, and Xia De said hesitantly:
"I learned from Miss Gold that Mia was born last spring. Do you think her birthday will be this week?"
He felt the softest part of his heart was touched, and the cat in his arms looked at him curiously with its big amber eyes.
Dorothy said curiously:
"Why would you think so? But it is possible. Tomorrow is the first of the next month, and Miss Gold will mention this matter in her monthly letter to you."
"Maybe I should prepare Mia a nice dinner to celebrate."
Shad said, patting Mia's little head with a smile, and then walked out of the house with Dorothy.
So, how do you celebrate your birthday
she asked as Shad locked the door with his key.
"I consider my birthday the day I woke up from my blindness and stupidity, which was in the summer."
Shad answered in his mind, but as he and Dorothy climbed into the carriage, he remembered that this body had most likely fallen from the tower in the spring of the previous year, which was a year ago.
Although today's competition is just archery, the content of the competition is not just standing in an open field and shooting at fixed targets. The competition is divided into morning and afternoon. In the morning, it is standing posture shooting at fixed targets and moving targets, and in the afternoon, it is horseback archery.
Because the race lasted for four days, temporary tents were set up outside the Edward III Arena for the contestants to rest and use. These were not single-person tents that could only sleep one person, but large tents that could serve as camps during the march.
It was only half past eight in the morning when Shad arrived from Carina Manor on horseback with Dorothy, but the renovated arena was already crowded with people.
Local villagers and merchants in the city spontaneously set up a temporary market outside the arena. Spectators who came to watch the game and servants of the participating "knights" could buy all kinds of necessary items from the market.
Colorful flags were flying everywhere in the bustling market. In the early spring sunshine, the tailors' loud hawking and the clinking of glasses in the tavern were heard in the hustle and bustle. The smoke from the water boiler beside the barber and the smoke from the incense burner behind the merchant selling inferior spices drifted into the sky. The men playing Rhodes at the table whispered excitedly. The old gentleman in the carriage looked out the window, staring at the blacksmith who was bare-chested and building a stove with his apprentice, and complained in a low voice about the vulgarity of the lower class.
Of course, Shad didn't just bring Dorothy to the competition, because he had to take care of the horses, clean the tents, and wear armor, so Miss Carina sent a team of twelve maids to help Shad.
The Duchess herself had to deal with the negotiations with Carson Rick in the city next month, so she was sorry that she could not come to accompany them. Therefore, she specially sent her personal maid Tifa to lead the maids. However, Resia, who temporarily exchanged souls with Dorothy and planned to send blessings to Shade before the game started, thought that Miss Carina was stupid to send Tifa.