On Wednesday morning, Shad was woken up by the cat waiting for breakfast as usual. Yawning, he went downstairs to get milk and newspapers, and found the letter thrown on the foot mat.
The stamp with the view of Lake Tees on the envelope was very beautiful, and the return address was a small town on the east coast of the Old Road, on the shore of Lake Tees. This was a letter from Miss Mia San Gold:
"It's already the middle of the Frost Moon, and Miss Gode's letter has finally arrived! I thought she was having some problems."
Shade turned his eyes away from the letter and turned to Mia Cat, who was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.
"Here is a letter from your master, Miss Goddard."
"Meow~"
The cat licked its paw and didn't react.
Miss Gold's letter should have been sent at the beginning of each month, and the reason for the delay this time was also mentioned in the letter.
Unfortunately, the declining town had a plague that had been controlled last month. The church stationed in the town found some terrible signs and urgently asked for help from the church in the big city. Although the local residents did not know what had happened, Miss Gold had heard some unrealistic rumors.
Although her family had "fallen into decline", which was mentioned many times in the letter, it was still a prominent and ancient family in the town, so it was well-informed. According to Miss Gold, someone found some strange things in the harbor caves on the coast, and then the church's investigation team and the police from the big city found something related to the source of the plague in the town's ancient sewer system.
Miss Gold believed that the church had everything under control. Miss Gold herself had been recuperating from a cold throughout the autumn, and this incident had made her condition even worse.
But she still wrote to Tobesk personally, promising to pick up her pet cat Mia next spring.
This made Shad very worried. He was not only worried about Miss Mia Gold's physical condition, but also worried that little Mia would be separated from him.
But he couldn't take advantage of Miss Gold's serious illness to put forward conditions to buy Mia cat. Therefore, he replied very seriously, using three pages of letter paper to express his best wishes to Miss Gold and attached the latest life of Mia cat.
Because he was worried that the events in the remote coastal town were related to the ring wizard and the relics, Shade suggested that Miss Gold often visit the local church. Since the church had noticed the events in the town, there must be a ring wizard stationed in the church, which was much safer than the "gloomy, desolate and dilapidated" family mansion described by Miss Gold in the letter.
"In any case, I wish Miss Gold can recover her health during the winter."
Xia De expressed his heartfelt wishes, and then sealed the envelope with glue and wax. He patted the head of Xiaomia, who was squatting obediently beside him, and was actually a little worried about the arrival of next spring.
After breakfast, I finished writing the reply and planned to go out to mail the letter. However, when I said goodbye to the cat who didn't want to go out and opened the door, I saw my boss whom I hadn't seen for a long time, Mr. Dark Anros, the director of MI6, coming towards me.
This very ordinary-looking gentleman was wearing an inconspicuous black coat, with his hands in his pockets and a black hat on his head. Behind him, there was a very feminine-looking man.
"The eunuch attendant of the Yodel Palace."
Xia De understood immediately.
"Good morning, Mr. Hamilton."
Mr. Anros greeted and shook hands with Shade:
"Ready to go out?"
"Oh, nothing much. I was planning to send a letter to a client far away."
Shad patted the coat pocket where the envelope lay.
"Then go and mail the letter later. His Majesty has something to ask you in an hour."
As he spoke, Director Anlos introduced the royal attendant behind him, who only greeted Shade respectfully but did not say much. Although Shade knew about this meeting two weeks ago, he still pretended to be curious and asked Director Anlos about the purpose of meeting His Majesty the King.
But Director Anros, who had always been very friendly to Shade, did not give an answer this time. He frowned and shook his head, obviously not wanting to discuss these issues with Shade in front of the king's guards.
Saint Teresa Square is actually quite close to the Yodel Palace, just across the street, but the three of them still took a carriage. Because Director Anlos was to meet after Shade, before the strict body search, Shade temporarily handed over the two guns on his body and his clothes filled with various toys to Director Anlos for safekeeping.
Then, under the guidance of the guard in red coat and black pants, Shad set out from the waiting room and passed through the complicated, maze-like corridor on the third floor of the main building of Yodel Palace, and stopped in front of a door guarded by two armored guards holding spears, who seemed to have traveled from hundreds of years ago.
Shade couldn't go in right away because Larus III was still talking to someone in the study. The walls and the double metal door were very soundproof, so he couldn't hear anything standing outside.
But the Yodel Palace itself was not quiet. It was not only the residence of the royal family, but also the administrative and management center of the entire kingdom. When Shade came in from the first floor just now, he saw many faces that often appeared in newspapers. And what was very strange was that most of those people knew him, and when they greeted him, it was as if they had known Shade for a long time.
The original time for the summons was 10:30 a.m., but Xia De waited until almost 11 a.m. and still didn't see the door open. He wanted to chat with someone, but the eunuch servants in red and serious faces didn't look like good people to chat with. The guards at the door looked more like sculptures than living people, and they didn't seem like they would chat with Xia De about the recent weather.
"How unpunctual."
Xia De complained in his heart, but since he was receiving a very generous salary from others, it didn't matter if he waited a little longer. When he was bored and looked at the expensive paintings on the wall, he remembered that Director Anlos planned to give him a weekly salary increase in the fall. Xia De now received a major-level weekly salary and reimbursement allowance. Because he could not continue to be promoted, Director Anlos seemed to want to find another way to get him a Tobysk city subsidy - this is a housing subsidy for officers living in the core urban area of Tobysk.
If Xia De himself had not been "illiterate", he would even have received a degree subsidy.
I was thinking about my income and whether I should spend my savings as soon as possible or keep them for emergencies.
At this moment, a series of footsteps were heard from the other end of the corridor, and it was obvious that someone was coming.
Turning around, I saw that the person walking in front on the red carpet was a tall red-haired man, who looked to be in his thirties. Although he was a little fat, he was still pretty strong overall.
"I have said it many times that the appointment of personnel in the Pioneer Corps must be approved by the Senate. I know that father wants to train you two, but he absolutely cannot bypass the Senate!"
Behind him followed another young man with red hair, about 25 or 26 years old, thin and wearing glasses, frowning and looking worried:
"It will take at least a month to go through the parliamentary process, but now the mining of the purple gold mine in Area 28 of the New World is imminent. Carsenrick's spies have also discovered those open-pit mines, so we must start work as soon as possible."
Further back was the red-haired Leicia, who also frowned slightly, obviously having encountered something unhappy:
"Logistics is fine at the moment, but I need a report on the exact size of the mine before I can allocate new mining equipment. What are those vampires in the Ministry of Finance hiding? Are those civil servants too satisfied with their jobs? Also, why did the House of Representatives withhold my report on the shipyard project? I have even discussed the general plan with the Aurora family. Do you know how difficult Lady Xiwei Aurora is?"
The princesses and princes of Draerion, followed by their respective followers and servants, walked along the corridor to the door of the study while arguing.
When they saw Shad, they immediately stopped discussing. Leicia, who was walking at the end, smiled. Although she had met Shad using Dorothy's body on Saturday night four days ago, this time she was using her own body and in her own home. She wanted to greet Shad, but she could only wait for her brothers to speak first.
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