Shade stared at the map, and the Duchess's hand continued to move:
"On the west coast of the Old World, in the eye of the storm. The ancient island people formed the Archipelago Kingdom - Kelagli around the eye of the storm. The tough folk customs, harsh living environment and living habits that are completely different from those on the mainland make these island people who make a living by fishing and piracy more eager for the wealth and civilization created by the Old World. In recent years, in order to maintain the waterway to the New World, we and Carsenrick have sent fleets to fight against the Archipelago Kingdom, but this did not make them surrender."
The so-called "eye of the storm" refers to a unique natural phenomenon or natural disaster on the ocean surface on the west coast of the Old World. Once the eye of the storm is formed, several large-scale ocean storms will hit the same area at the same time. The "eye of the storm" will only occur near the Kingdom of the Islands. The famous novel "The Adventure Guide to the Eye of the Storm" describes a story about a fleet going out to the archipelago for trade, encountering a storm, and the only surviving sailor adventuring and living alone in the archipelago.
The three forces that Miss Carina pointed out were only the biggest troubles at the moment. Delarion and Carsonrick were facing many other challenges. She gave Shad time to think. The chaotic situation could not be explained in just one or two sentences, but at least it made Shad realize that the coming of war might be easier than imagined, and the troubles facing Delarion were definitely not just Carsonrick.
While the two were talking, Director Anros knocked on the door and walked in:
"Duke, do you have something to talk to me about? Or is it about the Green Lake area..."
He immediately saw Xia De and swallowed the words he was about to say:
"Good afternoon, Knight."
He had no curiosity about how Shade had arrived at the Yodel Palace under strict guard and without being noticed by anyone, and just assumed that he had been here all along.
"Good afternoon, Director."
Xia De also nodded in response to his boss.
"Should I... step back for a moment?"
Seeing that Xia De and Miss Carina seemed to be discussing something, the ordinary-looking middle-aged man asked naturally. Miss Carina shook her head and pointed to the document on the coffee table:
"My informant in the Green Lake area brought this document out from the home of a local gang leader. Take a look, isn't it very similar to what you found on the body of the Carsonrick man who committed suicide last week?"
Director Anros hurried to check it out, and after just one glance, he nodded affirmatively:
"Yes, it should be the same code. Duke, may I ask which gang leader in the Green Lake area is the source of the information? Two-gun Rick? Smoking Victor? One-eyed Barry? Or Henry Vito of the Vito family?"
Among these, only the last name is normal.
"One-eyed Barry. But there were some minor incidents in Green Lake City yesterday. To be exact..."
Miss Carina glanced at Shade with her beautiful golden eyes:
"The church and the cultists started a war on the lake. One-eyed Barry was identified as a cultist and was most likely killed. Even if he was not killed on the spot, you can't contact him. Therefore, the source of this information cannot be known to anyone other than the three of us."
"Yes, Duke, I understand."
Director Anros nodded slightly:
"We haven't made much progress in cracking the ciphertext yet, but with this second copy, if we give us some time, we will definitely make some progress."
Miss Carina nodded, and Director Anros said goodbye and left.
When the door was closed, Xia De asked curiously:
"In fact, I have always been curious. Director Anros knows that you are a ring sorcerer?"
"What a strange question. Of course I know. Leicia's father, our King, trusts me so much to contact and even influence MI6. Isn't it because I am the strongest extraordinary person in the royal family?"
Carina Cavendish smiled at Shad:
"In a world with extraordinary beings, intelligence work is not that easy. Dak Anros is one of the few smart people. He knows what he should believe and what he should obey. To become the director of MI6, you need more than just the skills of an agent."
She tapped Shade's chest with her finger:
"For example, is the MI6 ace agent really an agent?"
Of course not, it’s just because he’s hooking up with the Duchess.
Shade had to go find Leicia next, so he didn't plan to stay in Yodel Palace for too long. But the witch obviously didn't want to let him go, and she gave a very suitable reason:
"Lecia and Diana will be back soon. Instead of going to look for them, you might as well wait for them here. I have tea and snacks... And I, isn't it better than you taking a carriage?"
So Shad stayed, but he didn't waste the afternoon in vain. The Duchess had a lot of documents waiting to be processed, so she gave some to Shad to help.
Of course, he couldn't make any judgments or decisions, but he could still do simple tasks such as signing and stamping, or discussing meeting schedules with Miss Carina.
As for meeting Leicia in the afternoon, it was already close to evening. When the maid brought the news that the queen had returned to the palace, Xia De was sitting on the side of the desk, holding a document on the regulations of the grain import and export conference, and talking to the witch about the domestic grain harvest in recent years.
Hearing that the person they were waiting for had finally returned, Miss Carina asked Tifa to call over Resia, who had just returned to Yodel Palace. The puzzled princess had just entered the door when she was greeted by Shade's warm embrace:
"Aunt Carina, I have something to ask... Oh, Shad, what's going on?"
She was hugged tightly by Shade, and she felt more and more confused. She looked over Shade's shoulder at the witch, who just gave her a smile.
So, Her Royal Highness the Princess asked with some uneasiness:
"Hmm... Is it still related to what happened last Saturday?"
"No, no, that thing is in the past. Why are you still thinking about it? I don't have anything to do today. I just want to give you a hug."
He said with a smile, and then said goodbye to the girls in the room:
"My purpose has been achieved. I will leave now. Little Mia is still with Dorothy. She has woken up from her nap."
"So, you waited for me here for an entire afternoon just to give Leicia a hug?"
The witch asked doubtfully while sitting behind the table, and Shade nodded:
“It’s important, isn’t it?”
As he said this, he walked to the window, waved goodbye, then turned into a silver cat and jumped out of the window.
Leicia watched Shade's figure disappear, still not understanding what had happened.
Miss Carina asked:
"Speaking of which, what happened between you last Saturday? Judging from the situation when you brought Ajelina to my place on Sunday morning, you made the wrong decision and made Shad angry? It's hard for me to imagine that a good-tempered person like Shad would get angry, especially towards the girls around him."
She looked at Tifa who was pouring tea, and the black-haired maid agreed:
"I never thought that a detective would be angry with the people around him."
Leisia pursed her lips and sat on the sofa, then took the teacup and held it in her hands:
"That incident is in the past, and I promised Shad that I would never do it again."
"You've given in to this, which means it's a really troublesome mistake."
The witch sat down next to her:
"If you can, tell me what it is. Maybe you need my advice. Although we had conflicts before, now..."
(Little Mia is running...)
Because he had to go to Dorothy's place to pick up Little Mia, Shad originally planned to have dinner with the writer. But unfortunately, Dorothy had to go home to visit her parents today, so Shad just took the cat and left.
When I got home, the dim sunset was already reflecting off the window glass. Since Luvia still had to install and debug her stargazing equipment, it was okay to have dinner with her.
It was only when Xia De went to the Prophet's Association to wait for her to get off work that he learned that the association was organizing a collective dinner for local fortune-tellers above the middle ring today. When the purple-eyed girl talked to Xia De about this in the empty corridor of the association, she mentioned that this seemed to be related to the thirteenth ring fortune-teller in Green Lake, but she didn't know what it was specifically about.
Since Luvia was having dinner at the association, Shad could only go to eat alone with the cat who was already anxious for dinner. There were many options for eating by himself. Although his cooking skills were not as good as those of the girls around him, he could still cook for himself.
After saying hello to the association's Vice President Mark, I walked towards the first floor of the association while wondering whether I should go to the north of the city to visit the downtown vegetable market.
Just as I was carrying Mia back to Silver Cross Avenue, and before I had time to admire the street scene of Silver Cross Avenue under the dim sunset, I saw a familiar figure walking along the street:
"Yin Luna!"
Xia De waved to the 17-year-old girl. Yin Luna, who was wearing a white women's shirt with a black skirt and a black hat with flowers on her head, looked up at him and smiled:
"Oh, good afternoon. Are you here to see Luvia as well? How about we have dinner with her? I have some new information and the prop I prepared for you."
She was referring to the alchemical item needed for the final adventure of Shade's "Seven Days Tour", but she was very vague about it because it was on the street. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and the adventure of the time key will also come to an end.
"The association is having a dinner party, and Luvia can't leave."
Xia De shook his head, and then naturally extended the invitation:
"I was just thinking about what to eat. Yin Luna, let's go have dinner together."
"Meow!"
The cat squatting on my shoulder made an impatient sound. This cat had a very regular eating schedule, so if it missed the eating schedule, it would get in a bad mood.
"Of course, but why do you look so happy? Did anything good happen to you today?"
The two walked side by side along the street.
Shade thought for a moment:
"Well... this is hard to explain. But can I give you a hug later?"
He turned to ask Yin Luna. The dim sunset in the western sky reflected red on Xia De's face and Yin Luna's profile. The short-tube women's lace-up cloth boots kicked the stone in front of him. The stone bounced to the middle of the road and was run over by the wheels of the carriage. The cat's dissatisfied expression and Xia De's face formed a somewhat funny picture in the field of vision. The 17-year-old girl was happy in her heart, but she still had to pretend that she was calm:
"sure."
She spoke normally and continued to look forward, but her eyes were secretly glancing at the man beside her. In her heart, she was blaming herself for agreeing too impatiently.