Chapter 2373: Gawder’s Letter

Chapter 2373: Chapter 2373: Gawder’s Letter

Shard was just about to speak out about his plans for the next "Day of the Red Butterfly," but Lecia interrupted him with a smile:

"Are you in a hurry? But this time, we can’t rush.

I’ve agreed with Dorothy, Grace, and Helen that since the matters in Moon Bay are coming to an end, we might need the ’Chosen of Space’s power. We can only perfectly integrate with Grace and Helen on the Day of the Red Butterfly, so next Wednesday’s ’Celebration Day’ is temporarily canceled. If you have any bad intentions, you’ll have to wait a while to realize them."

"Oh, don’t ask us how we communicate with Grace and Helen; it’s our secret."

"What bad intentions could I have?"

Shard asked.

"For instance..."

The golden-haired girl lightly bit her lip:

"Between a fish’s tail and a girl’s legs, don’t you prefer the latter? That reminds me, there’s important knowledge about this fairy tale I haven’t taught you yet. Shard, sit next to me, and I’ll tell you the magical power behind the Mermaid Princess’s pursuit of beautiful legs."

Before Shard could move, there was a knock at the door, impatiently:

"Lecia, I don’t mind you talking so loudly. But aren’t you supposed to be teaching? Could you not flirt during lesson time? Besides, are you intentionally letting me hear everything?"

Lecia covered her mouth and giggled, and understanding her, Shard thought she probably did it on purpose.

"If you don’t want to hear it, can’t you slip a Silence Charm through the door crack? Although Dorothy’s been feeling unwell lately, I have plenty of ways to have fun with Shard. I’m starting now, so don’t eavesdrop. Come, Shard, tell me how much you love us. Yes, in any way you choose."

"Lecia!"

And so it wasn’t until the early hours that night before Shard and the two ladies of the House of Cavendish retired to rest.

With the end of Saturday, Sunday arrived, and after three consecutive days of rain, Tobesk finally saw a sunny day, but the streets were still wet even in the morning.

"I feel even the newspapers are soggy."

Shard said at the breakfast table, with Mia beside him, and next to her, a letter sent from afar by Miss Gawder. Lecia was in a good mood, reading another copy of the "Tobesk Literary Newspaper." The Duchess, her face flushed, was about to drink porridge with a spoon, but seeing the sticky stuff, she immediately thought of last night’s events:

"Shard can be quite ungentlemanly at times."

Of course, when she complained like this internally, her face bore a smile.

Shard’s planned summer trip had to be suspended due to the severe pandemic spreading along the Eastern Old Continent Coast. The heir of the ancient family in his hometown, immersed in epidemic woes, worried Shard considerably.

Even though he’d spent considerable time in Moon Bay over the past month, he kept a watchful eye on the pandemic. Specifically speaking, under the cooperation between the Kingdom and the Church of the Five Gods, the strange pandemic that had been spreading rapidly since the month’s outset, even causing unease in the uninfected Tobesk, was now controlled.

To say "controlled" implies it hasn’t spread to more regions. Currently, within the quarantine zones on the Old Continent, checks on infected patients, corpse handling, patient treatment, and tracing of cases are ongoing.

For two consecutive weeks, the newspaper has consistently posted good news about pandemic control, confirmed by Lecia and Miss Galina—they say that this time, the newspaper’s contents are rare in their authenticity.

Miss Gawder’s letter that month also mentioned the pandemic’s spread had gradually improved in the town where her declining family resides.

Since Miss Gawder returned to her family, recruiting adventurers and craftsmen to renovate family properties, several affairs cropped up across the old house, estate, farm, bay, and wilderness since last year, causing the town to be well-prepared against dangers, thus minimizing losses from this pandemic.

Although the town still enforces curfew controls, its order has returned to normal, and townsfolk no longer gather to aid each other at church.

Within the lines of this letter, Shard distinctly felt Miss Gawder’s joy. She claimed that since the pandemic was nearing its end, she’d resume renovating and exploring the prosperous lands left by her ancestors. Though she had earlier described the peculiarity and abnormalities within those "ancestral lands," evidently, the treasure left by ancestors warranted such efforts.

"Look, how happy Shard is now? What kind of person will Mia’s master be?"

Miss Galina asked Lecia, who hadn’t "left" yet, and Her Highness the Princess glanced at Shard reading the letter:

"I’m not concerned with what kind of person she is, as long as she’s not a Cat Girl, then I won’t worry."

The Duchess chimed in with humor:

"Luviya once asked me casually if she’d be worried about a pretty witch threatening her status in Shard’s heart. But Luviya said only the appearance of a Cat Girl would cause her slight worry."

Of course, Shard heard the "slander" from Ms. Cavendish, but he didn’t respond since he was engrossed in his letter reading.

This time, Miss Gawder’s letter was visibly longer than before, so she used several more sheets of paper. Shard guessed that it was probably because she had nothing to do during the plague outbreak, hence she was willing to say more in her letters.

The first half of the letter introduced the local plague situation, the middle part was about future plans for town transformation and family rejuvenation. From the letters throughout the year, Shard had learned so much about that small town that he could almost draw a map of the town and its surroundings from memory.

As for the second half of this month’s letter, it was about Miss Gawder’s concern for her cat Mia. She once again requested Shard to send her a photo of Mia, thinking that by now, the cat that is a bit over a year old should have grown somewhat.

She also didn’t forget to thank Detective Shard Hamilton in her letter for consistently taking care of the cat and concluded with a statement that greatly surprised Shard.

"What?!"

He stood up abruptly from the table, attracting the attention of both the Duchess and Her Highness the Princess, and even the cat, who was licking sheep milk, looked at him quizzically.

"What happened? Did Miss Gawder say she has become a Cat Girl?"

Lecia asked with a smile, pulling Shard back down to his seat. It seemed she and Galina were still discussing the previous topic.

"Of course not. But Miss Gawder said that she is likely to come to Tobesk by the end of this month or the beginning of next month to attend to some business, and at that time, she would visit the Hamilton Detective Office."

As Shard spoke, he picked up the letter again, afraid he might have misread it.

Lecia asked curiously:

"Is she coming to take Mia?"

"The letter didn’t say. It only mentioned that she would come over. Now it’s the beginning of the month, leaving half a month to a month."

Shard muttered to himself, glancing at the cat that had no idea what was going on.

Galina then said with a laugh:

"Look at you, facing dangerous enemies before, you’ve never been this nervous. Relax, Shard, whether Miss Mia Gawder wants to take Mia away or not, I can help you keep Mia. You can use legal means by persuading her with Gold Pounds, or you can do it using means you’re quite capable of on your own.

In any case, what are you worried about? Isn’t this a great opportunity, finally allowing Mia to be completely yours as a pet cat?"

"Yes, you originally said you wanted to meet Miss Gawder yourself. Now she’s coming to see you, so what’s there to be dissatisfied about?"

Lecia also asked. Shard continued to focus on the letter, not wanting to be distracted by this now, as Miss Gawder’s arrival would be after the Moon Bay incident.

"Miss Gawder is actually quite easy to talk to; I could feel it from our correspondence over the past year."

Shard said slowly, then raised his head to ask:

"Miss Gawder said I should take a picture of Mia. Now that the cat is more than a year old, it wouldn’t do for her to look the same size as before. There should be some sort of Magic Potion to make Mia look larger, right?"

"Age Enhancer, barely considered a high-level magic potion. You could ask Megan to make it for you; Granny Cassandra can also make it."

Galina said, and then Lecia curiously asked:

"If there’s an Age Enhancer, is there a ’Youth Enhancer’? In Shard’s ’Immortality Magic’ are spells, secret techniques, and potions for maintaining youthful appearance, but no methods for reversing age."

"Isn’t the age you and Dorothy are at just right? Or do you want to become like Angelina and Emilia, who are seventeen or eighteen?"

The Red-Haired Witch laughed but still answered the question:

"Youth Illusions aren’t the answer you’re looking for. If it’s genuinely reversing physical age, there are indeed potions that can do that, but what meaning do such potions have?

Experiencing the illusion of returning to eighteen for a few hours or days, only to revert back to face reality again—this is merely like the moon in the water or the flower in the mirror. It’s better to face reality.

She casually poked at bacon with her fork:

"Ladies must face the fact that aging is inevitable, so we need to cherish each moment more... Of course, Lecia, if you’re after permanent youth, I suggest Shard quickly studies how to make time reverse."

"I see~."

Lecia glanced at Shard without bringing up the topic again.

At the breakfast table, Shard talked with the two Miss Cavendishes about the plague. Just as breakfast was near its end, Dorothy returned, lamenting that without Angelina, the dining table at Yordle Palace felt different.