Thinking about the two hostile gods, Shade turned his eyes away from the paper in his hand and said to the maid Tifa:
"I happen to have a relic fishing rod in my hand."
"What a coincidence?"
The black-haired maid asked, then smiled peacefully and relaxedly:
"You are very lucky. However, in addition to these materials, there is one more thing that cannot be written on paper. I can only tell you verbally."
"Please go ahead."
Xia De looked at her curiously.
"As you probably know, mermaids and mermen are not the same species, but in the Shadow of Coldwater Harbor incident, the mermaid statue and the mermaid dream became part of the sea return ceremony."
Xia De was stunned, and then he realized the problem:
"why is that?"
"Merpents are the followers of the evil god, and mermaids are a free ocean race. In ancient times, the two fought a brutal war, which ended with the victory of the merpeople. They usurped the power of mermaids and even the history of the mermaid race to strengthen themselves."
Miss Tifa Servet spoke slowly, leaving Shade enough room to think:
"So, merfolk and real mermaids are actually enemies... but why are you telling me this specifically?"
The black-haired maid smiled.
Her eyebrows are thin and long, her eyes look big, and her milky skin makes her face flawless. Her black hair covers her forehead, sweeping across her thin eyebrows, and her smiling expression with her head tilted, even has a playful feel:
"Miss, I think this might be useful to you, but this is information that is not allowed to be passed on to outsiders in the parliament, so I can only tell it to you orally."
Xia De nodded, memorizing the other person's smile and the information in his head.
The maid continued:
"Besides that, Miss, I have something else to tell you."
"Please go ahead."
"Although I don't know how you got to Coldwater Harbor, or in other words, I don't know what connection you have with Coldwater Harbor..."
The smile on her face remained unchanged, and her black eyes, which made Xia De feel very friendly, blinked.
Shade was not surprised that the Duchess could guess this. He was so concerned about the affairs of Coldwater Port that he even took out the method of making the badge and asked to collect information about "Sea Return". This was already obvious to Miss Carina.
"... But be careful. Although the Sea Return Ritual is not a divine descent ritual, it is also not an ordinary level of danger. If it is equivalent to the relic getting out of control, the effect of the Sea Return Ritual can even be regarded as angelic level."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm going to do. Besides..."
He sat there and pointed to his forehead:
"But I'm still looking forward to Miss Carina's next kiss."
It wasn't that Xia De had any bad intentions, he just wanted to test what Miss Carina meant last night.
Tifa Servet's face turned slightly red, but the peaceful smile on her face did not change:
"Miss is also looking forward to it, Mr. Hamilton. Miss is looking forward to you giving her more surprises."
Coincidentally, the maid had not left yet, and Dorothy, who came to help Shad look after the cat again today, arrived.
She recognized Miss Carina's carriage in the square, and when she knocked on the door and saw the black-haired maid behind Shade preparing to leave, she said nothing. After the maid left, the blonde asked Shade jokingly:
"I told you before not to get too close to Carina, and look, you're still involved with her."
"It doesn't really matter. I asked Miss Carina to help collect some information about the Sea Return Ceremony, which can help Leicia."
Shad said.
Dorothy had long guessed that Miss Carina belonged to the "Witch Council". After all, it was she who told Shade the name "Handkerchief Lovers Association" in the beginning. Of course, it was just a guess before, and it was only recently confirmed by Shade.
"If that's the case... it's best not to mention this to Leicia."
She warned cautiously as she walked up the stairs.
"Why?"
The blonde shook her head.
"There are some things that Lecia doesn't want you to get involved in. The royal family is not a peaceful place. Hasn't the force that assassinated Queen Diana been found yet?"
The stranger nodded, looked at the cat waiting for him on the stairs, and thought about what his boss, Mr. Anros, had revealed last time.
Before going to Coldwater Harbor today, Shade first went to the Prophet's Association, and then he unexpectedly learned that the Demon Soul Stealer Bishop he had identified here yesterday was actually the real thing.
This was far beyond Xia De's expectations. He had never thought that he could win such a precious card from a stranger he met by chance in a small hotel in the slums.
Vice President Mark congratulated Shade and learned the origin of the card from Shade. Of course, the location was moved from Coldwater Harbor to Tobesk.
Mr. Mark liked this story very much and he smiled brightly:
"This is the most attractive part of Rhodes cards. People can never guess when their next card will appear. Look, Mr. Hamilton, you now have eight special cards in your hand. Do you want to spend your whole life collecting a whole deck of special Rhodes cards?"
He said expectantly:
"This is what the top Rhodes players pursue."
If it was Xia De a month and a half ago, he would have rejected it immediately. But now he hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Well... maybe."
"See, I guessed it from the first time we met. You're going to be a good Rhodes player."
Perhaps because he witnessed a person who had nothing to do with Rhodes cards become a true enthusiast, Mr. Mark was in a very good mood.
After leaving the Prophet Association, Xia De went home to Lengshui Port. I don't know if it's the rainy season in Lengshui Port, or if the large-scale sea send-off has affected the climate, but it's still raining today.
When Xia De swam hard from the sea to the shore with the telescopic fishing rod on his back, it took him a full ten minutes longer than yesterday.
The heavy rain hitting his face was painful, and the ocean currents under the sea became extremely dangerous. If it weren't for the special upgrade method when he was promoted to the second ring, which strengthened Xia De's mortal body, he might have to fight against nature under the sea for a while.
At the alley at the pier, he found the four-wheeled carriage arranged by Lecia, and blankets and towels had already been prepared for Shade in the carriage.
But after taking a bath in the room specially arranged for him in Sofia's mansion, he found out that Leicia had gone to the city hall early in the morning and would probably be back at noon. She asked the servant to leave a letter for Shade, telling him to move around freely and if there was any emergency, he could ask the maid in the mansion to go to the city to find her.
But the main reason why Shad came to Coldwater Harbor was because of the curse on Leicia, otherwise he would not have to swim in the rain with a fishing rod on his back.
Seeing that the rain outside was getting heavier, Xia De had no intention of going into the city. So he restored the books that had been turned into toys in the room that Leixia arranged for him, thinking of spending the morning reading.
I had only been reading for half an hour when the pendant on my chest suddenly became hot.
It wasn't the slight heat that the black-haired maid had when she was around, but a rapid rise in temperature. This meant that there was a real witch within the range that the badge could detect.
"I knew this badge would be useful."
He thought about hiding himself in the closet, but soon realized that this room was safe and he didn't need to hide.
Xia De carefully walked to the window and pulled the curtains, then leaned against the wall, used his fingers to pry open the gap in the curtains and looked out.
The room that Leicia chose for Shade was located outside the manor courtyard, with a wide view and beautiful scenery. Shade peeked out and saw the convoy coming directly from the manor gate to the door of Sophia's mansion.
The servants helped Leisia get off the car, as well as a strange woman in her twenties. Compared to the princess's elaborate attire, the strange woman's attire was more gorgeous. Shade couldn't see her face clearly through the rain, but he knew in his heart that this was Miss Xiwei Aurora, the real twelve-ring sorcerer.
After seeing the target, Xia De immediately moved away from the window to avoid being discovered by the other party's overly sensitive senses.
He walked back and forth in the room, took the badge on his chest out from his clothes, and felt it getting hotter and hotter, which meant that the witch was getting closer.
But Leicia led him upstairs directly without passing through this corridor. As long as Xia De didn't show up in front of him, there wouldn't be any problem.
So he really didn't leave the room for the whole morning, and the maid from the manor brought him lunch. It was not until two o'clock in the afternoon that the motorcade drove the witch away in the rain. Shade held the badge on his chest at the window and was relieved when he confirmed that it was no longer vibrating.
Lecia was probably exhausted from communicating with such a woman, and it took her half an hour to let the servant lead Xia De to the study to see her.
Her Royal Highness the Princess had already changed her clothes, and when she saw Xia De walk into the room, she just greeted him lazily.
"I'm sorry, Shade, I really can't refuse this kind of social event. Miss Aurora is really a good negotiator."
She asked the maid to massage her shoulders from behind. Xia De sat on the other side of the desk, leaning sideways with his arm on the desk, looking out the window to prevent the convoy from suddenly coming back:
"What did you say? Oh, if it's confidential, don't tell me."
Leicia shook her head lazily:
"It's not a secret. I was invited to tonight's banquet a few days ago, and now they've invited me in person. In addition, the Aurora family wants to expand the shipyard in Coldwater Port and get involved in the business of large steamships. But as you know, this kind of ship can be used for military purposes with a little modification, and my father is very sensitive about this control. So Xiwei Aurora wants me to say a few words in front of my father, and she can give me... some benefits."
Lecia didn't mention what the specific benefits were, and Xia De didn't ask.
"The weather is really bad and it looks like a storm is coming."
As the maids walked on the carpet and pushed the dining cart to bring afternoon tea, the princess, wearing a silver crown, held her face with one hand and looked out the window with melancholy.
Xia De also looked out the window. Raindrops hit the French windows. Even he knew that the storm in Coldwater Port was coming.