Chapter 24

Leaving the doctor's psychological clinic, it was already sunset outside. The hazy city bathed in the sunset gave Xade a sense of unreality as he walked down the street.

Just half a day ago, he was still an ordinary person, but now he could ignite a piece of paper with his mind.

"It's not much different, really."

Upon careful reflection, he realized that he had gained everything without much effort, which seemed too fortunate.

"But according to the doctor, besides the required credits from studies, I need to complete the college's practical tasks each year to earn practical credits, or I'll be held back even if I advance to the second ring."

Life seemed to be on track, making the outsider who was considering welfare assistance yesterday feel a bit unreal. His plans could now be updated. With his newfound power, he could continue working at the detective agency.

Xade had already decided to complete the three-month task left by the previous detective, of course, provided that he completed at least one formal commission to see if he was suitable for the job.

To save money, he walked home, but to celebrate, he had dinner at a restaurant.

By the time he got home, it was already seven in the evening. After studying the doctor's notes, he learned that both mystic arts and incantations were taught in regular college courses. However, corresponding to the spirit runes, each person had different explorations, which could lead to personal mystic arts. These could be exchanged or kept for personal study.

It seemed that instead of researching mystic arts on his own, he should wait for the textbooks and start with some ordinary mystic arts. But Xade couldn't resist his curiosity and spent the entire night exploring the spirit runes.

Thought influences matter, and the mind interferes with reality. By the time he went to bed, he couldn't activate the "Time and Space" power at all. Xade could only make his fingertips emit a faint silver light, which was the mystic art of the "Silver Moon" rune.

The light was very serene, and gazing at it made Xade feel at ease.

"It's not very useful, but at least it can save some gas. Speaking of which, do I need to pay the water, gas, and steam bills for this house myself?"

With these gloomy thoughts, he fell asleep in fatigue.

Outside the window, the night sky was high, and the full moon had passed its brightest phase, but the silver moon still shone upon him.

Although the doctor and the young lady writer believed that the impact of becoming a ring mage was not easily ignored, the detective was supposed to rest in bed for three days.

But Xade, who woke up at six thirty the next morning, felt no difference from the previous day.

He lay in bed for a while, pondering the relationship between the world and life, and then his thoughts were pulled to a more practical level by his dire financial situation.

Only then did he extend his fingers to his face and see the faint silver light at his fingertips. He stared at the light for a long time, then let out a sigh of relief. The thought of his empty wallet improved his mood, and he didn't even consider the gas bill he had thought about before going to bed.

He got up, washed up, and waited for the newspaper and milk at the door at around seven. He hadn't seen the newspaper yesterday because he woke up too early, but he had already seen the "Tobask City Morning News" and the "Kingdom Morning News" on the doormat when he got home last night.

Of course, starting next month, he would have to pay for the newspaper himself.

After drinking two bottles of milk, he put the empty bottles in the milk box at the door and went out for breakfast. Although Dr. Schneider advised Xade to rest for three days, he felt no abnormalities and believed it was a characteristic of the strong soul of an outsider.

So, he planned to try the commission left by the previous detective today.

If the commission didn't go well, he would consider pawning the detective's legacy to pay off his debts.

He didn't plan to get involved in Mr. Lawrence's mistress investigation for the time being. He would wait three days and ask the doctor and others about the pebble ring before making a decision.

Among the remaining three commissions, finding Miss White's missing sister and inquiring about a doctor who could treat eye diseases were still challenging, so today's task was to find a lost orange cat for Miss Mia San Gold.

In fact, the previous detective, Hamilton, had already found the cat but didn't hand it over to give Xade an easy task. So Xade just needed to pick it up and return it to the client.

After having breakfast at a restaurant near St. Doreen Square, he rolled up the newspaper and walked east along Charles Avenue. He waited at the next intersection, watching the crowd preparing for work in the morning mist on Monday.

He then turned left into the narrow Purple Iris Alley, glancing at the overgrown weeds in the corner due to the arrival of summer, and carefully avoided the barefoot children running around. According to the detective's notes, he stopped at the building with "Peter the Good's Pet Shop" hanging on it.

He could already smell the fermented animal feces, but just as he was about to knock, the pet shop door opened on its own. A young woman with brown long hair walked out, holding a red lady's handbag.

She was also surprised to see Xade, then politely nodded and walked east along Purple Iris Alley.

Xade's gaze followed her, watching the brown-haired girl merge into the crowd at the alley entrance.

"Her"

This was certainly not love at first sight. The moment he saw her, Xade suddenly had a strange feeling.

"It was as if the light around her suddenly dimmed, and a spotlight shone on her, making her the star of the stage."

"That's a member of the Sun Church, young man. You'd better not have any unnecessary ideas."

Only then did he notice the middle-aged man with a red nose standing at the pet shop door, looking at Xade, who had turned around.

The middle-aged man's smell of fermented animal feces mixed with food was even stronger. He wore a blue work jumpsuit, an unrecognizable outer coat, and muddy black boots.

"Is there something you need?"

The middle-aged man asked.

"Hello, I'm from Hamilton Detective Agency. I've come to pick up the cat."

Xade reined in his momentary strange feeling and looked at the note in the previous detective's notebook:

"An orange cat, about half a year old, with a pure white tail, orange spots on the left front leg, and the other legs pure white. Its name is Mia."

He described the characteristics of the orange cat, and to his surprise, the man inside suddenly changed his expression.

"You're not going to tell me the cat is missing, are you?"

Xade's face also changed, and he pressed against the door frame, asking in a low voice. The previous detective had paid for the cat to be boarded here, and the client, described as a "generous lady," had offered two pounds and three shillings to find the cat, even allowing for reasonable expenses during the search.

The offer was extremely unreasonable, but it also indicated the cat owner's urgency. For such a high reward, if it weren't for the fact that "Peter the Good's Pet Shop" was closed on weekends, Xade's first choice would not have been Mr. Lawrence's mistress.