Waking up from a long sleep, when Xia De opened his eyes and saw the somewhat familiar ceiling, the time had changed from Wednesday night to seven o'clock on Thursday evening.
After twenty hours of long sleep, he was in good spirits. Under him was an unusually soft bed, with a purple quilt, and the light gauze hanging from the golden bedposts told Shade that this was not his home. He was wearing a silk pajamas he had never seen before, and the room was filled with a reassuring scent of incense, and the temperature was also exceptionally suitable:
"Ms. Carina's estate?"
"Meow~"
The familiar meow of a cat made Shade turn to the side, and Little Mia, who was curled up beside the pillow like a cat ball, stared at him with wide eyes. The cat brought its furry face close to Shade's face and rubbed it affectionately. When Shade sat up from the bed, it jumped onto his stomach again.
After drawing the curtains beside the bed, Shade stroked the cat and turned to look out the window. At seven o'clock in the evening, the sun had completely set. He was somewhat surprised to find that there was heavy snow outside the window. With the help of his dark vision, he saw that the vast wilderness outside the manor had been dyed silver-white, and even the outside of the windowsill was covered with snow.
“Is it snowing again?”
The heavy snow symbolized the complete arrival of winter. Xia De stared at the snow in a daze, having the illusion that he seemed to have slept for a season.
"Are you awake?"
The door was opened a crack, and the young brown-haired maid carefully stuck her head in. After getting Shad's affirmative answer, she turned on the gas in the room for him, then picked up her skirt and hurried to tell the owner of the manor the good news.
"The maid just now is called Wendy Marcus. She is sixteen years old. She became a ring mage this spring and is now a 1st ring mage."
Xia De recalled in his mind, looked down at the pajamas he was wearing, and was about to get out of bed when hurried footsteps appeared at the door.
The maid with long black hair pushed open the door. There was a hint of anxiety in her eyes, but when she saw Shade sitting up with the cat in his arms, she smiled in relief.
Tifa, who was wearing a black and white maid dress, said:
"Mr. Hamilton, you're awake."
She would only call Shad by his name when they were alone. The maids would come in from behind her, draw the curtains, help Shad choose clothes in the closet, or stand by with trays of food.
"Miss has gone to the parliament and will be back soon. Do you want to lie down for a while and eat dinner here, or wash up and get ready for dinner now? Miss will be back in twenty minutes."
Tifa asked.
"Good evening, Tifa. It's nice to see you right after waking up. Let's have dinner together. I'll be up soon."
Xia De said, hesitating for a moment:
"The Wise Pyroxene is now in..."
Tifa walked to the bedside, bent down slightly and opened the drawer of the bedside table. As Shade withdrew his gaze, she took out the wooden box in the drawer. The box contained gems and jewelry from the broken jewelry box, and lying on the top was the teardrop-shaped blue crystal:
"This belongs to you, of course, nominally speaking. Miss Church let me tell you that this box of jewels is a gift from her to you."
She said with a smile.
Xia De also laughed. This arrangement by the church could not only allow him to get the jewels back, but also explain the origin of the jewels, and even get Miss Carina to do him an extra favor. This was really the best arrangement.
Putting the cat rubbing against his arms on the quilt, Shade took the box of jewelry. After thinking for a while, he said to the maid:
"Pick one at random."
Tifa blinked her eyes, bent down slightly, and reached out to pick out a fingernail-sized pearl. She did not straighten up immediately, but gently kissed Shade on the side of her face, while the maids standing behind the head maid pretended not to see it.
A lot of things actually happened on Wednesday night. Because of the influence of the dice story collection, Shad only walked back to St. Teresa's Square from Silver Cross Avenue. But in fact, in order to contain the church, many ring wizards from illegal organizations, including Miss Pavo, the vice president of the Truth Society, fought with the ring wizard teams of the Orthodox Church in various regions of Tobesk. However, because they were in the city, the intensity of the battle was not strong.
While the dice story collection was unfolding in the core area of Tobesk, in the northern part of the city on Wednesday night, the cult organization The Unity of All Numbers encountered the humanoid sage-level (level 2) relic, the potion master Gagula who could also act as a secret keeper, and started the trial of "making the Abyss Sin Potion"; in the eastern part of the city on Wednesday night, Miss Pav of the Truth Society clashed with the ring wizard organization Jade Alchemy Association. After Mr. Sari Pirot, the thirteenth-ring wizard "Iron Right Hand" of the Church of Creation, arrived, the melee between the two sides caused a fire in the city, but fortunately it was extinguished in time.
On the Thursday afternoon when Shad woke up, the Church of the Orthodox God found the human body puzzle of the Secret Keeper-level relic in the ancient sewers of Tobesk according to the new poem fragments provided by the Zaras School of Spells.
Those are 180,000 small pieces of human skin. The fragments of the poem point out that this puzzle is also related to the ancient god's secret-keeping mentor, who can also be regarded as a kind of secret-keeper.
In short, during the day when Shad was unconscious, the story of Tobesk City did not stop without him. While waiting for Miss Carina to return from the Witch Council, Tifa told Shad these things.
When the slightly tired witch came to the restaurant to have dinner with Shad, Shad finally knew what happened around the story of Jack the Thief and the Dice after he fell into a coma.
"The church has confirmed that you were only involved by accident, and they are very confident that you are just an ordinary person. With Yin Luna's cooperation, they found nothing in their physical examination. I have to admit, Xia De, even I couldn't have done better than you in this matter. You and Yin Luna played a good double role. I think from now on, the church will never suspect that you are a ring wizard unless you take the initiative to reveal your identity."
The maids pushed the dining cart into the restaurant, and the Duchess, who had been busy all day, joked. Her tiredness did not reduce her usual gorgeous appearance. On the contrary, her lazy demeanor made the red-haired Duchess even more charming.
She chuckled and said:
"In the end, I was the one who brought you here. Although Yin Luna helped you avoid some unnecessary inspections, she couldn't take the initiative to suggest sending you to St. Teresa's Square No. 6. Xia De, you should thank me. I also fed your cat for you... Although Yin Luna was a little unhappy, as soon as Tifa showed up, your cat ran to her side."
In fact, it was Tifa who fed the cat, but the black-haired maid stood behind the Duchess with a smile on her face, and did not point this out.
"How do you explain why so many people suddenly fainted at Resia's literary salon?"
Xia De, who was eating his appetizer, was very concerned about this. Outside the window, there were snowflakes falling. Being able to enjoy delicious food in a warm room on such a cold winter night would make anyone feel good.
Although there were only two people dining, there were quite a few maids serving them. In the past, the outsider would feel that the Duchess was sometimes too extravagant, but when he saw the Witch Emperor Violet, who always brought a team of beautiful maids with her when she went out on adventures in 5177 of the Fifth Epoch, he felt that the great witches of the Sixth Epoch were so frugal.
"You don't have to worry about this. The gas pipeline of the Prophet Association leaked, causing mild gas poisoning. Except for a certain unlucky gentleman, the others were only unconscious for a short time before being rescued. The church took away everyone's timekeeping tools before waking them up, and made them stay in the Prophet Association for a long time after they woke up, so they couldn't find out that there was something wrong with the time.
So who is that unfortunate gentleman, Shad?"
Carina Cavendish was smiling happily, holding a goblet in her right hand, and her carefree smile made her beautiful face even more brilliant.
"I think it's probably me."
He laughed himself after saying this:
"So what I should know is that I was unfortunately poisoned by gas and was taken to you for treatment?"
The baked snails have been brought to the front. The cat, lying on the table to show that he will not move, does not move his body, but turns his head like a pulley towards the steaming plate.
"Yes, and this is also related to the conflict between me and Leicia. You met with misfortune in her salon, which made our relationship even more strained. It is common knowledge that she and I don't get along, so everyone believes this."
Miss Carina put down her wine glass and picked up her silver knife:
"Gas poisoning, there are several such accidents every year, but this time it happened in the Prophet Association. The church has already discussed it, and the Prophet Association will be responsible, but except for you, no one else has suffered any fatal injuries. They estimate that you will wake up late tonight or tomorrow morning, and there will be no sequelae. The Prophet Association asked me to tell you that you should go to the Dawn Church tomorrow morning, and the Dawn Church will be responsible for helping you negotiate with the Prophet Association to discuss the compensation issue this time. Of course, we also have to discuss this..."
The witch said, her golden eyes looking at the box in Shade's hand:
"Keep this Wise Man's Pyroxene for yourself. I don't know why you want to expose it, but you must have your own ideas. The church told me to tell you that this box of gems is a gift from me to you. The blue crystal is the most expensive, more expensive than all the others combined. They told me to emphasize this point in front of you and never give it to anyone else."
"And why did you give me this box of jewels?"
Xia De asked curiously, and the witch thought for a moment:
"The church didn't say this, so let me think of the reason myself. Let me think..."
The white and slender fingers snapped in an unladylike manner, and she smiled and waved to Tifa, and the maid brought a cup of water. After the witch rinsed her mouth, she looked at Shade with a little smile in her eyes.
The beautiful lady in the red and white dress waved to Shad again. Shad leaned over suspiciously, so the red-haired witch pressed the back of his head with one hand and kissed him under Tifa's gaze.
"This is your reward for this."
Carina Cavendish carefully wiped her lips with a napkin. The gas lamp illuminated her golden eyes, which were filled with a slightly charming smile.