Chapter 29: Bakerland

Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bakerland

Early Tuesday morning, Klein woke naturally and prepared himself two slices of toast, a pat of butter, a portion of bacon, and a cup of coffee. He ate breakfast leisurely while reading the newspapers.

With the terrifying charm Words of Filth in his possession, he felt considerably more at ease. He was no longer as taut and tense as before.

Rustle. Klein finished flipping through the Backlund Post, picked up the Tussock Times, and on the second page saw a news item:

“At two o’clock this morning, an intense gunfight occurred in Redbrick Lane in the East Borough. According to the police, this may involve a clash between two gangs, one of which is the infamous Zmanger gang.”

The Zmanger gang… Redbrick Lane in the East Borough…

A thought suddenly rose in Klein’s mind. He left the dining table and fetched his map of Backlund.

With only a glance, he discovered that Redbrick Lane was not far from White Rum Street, and Ian Wright had once appeared at the telegraph office on White Rum Street.

Was Redbrick Lane Ian Wright’s hiding place? Was the fierce conflict between the military’s special department and Intis intelligence personnel? I wonder what the result was…

Klein speared the last piece of bacon with his fork, placed it in his mouth, and slowly chewed.

Only yesterday morning had he “told” both sides the situation he had divined, and that very night they had locked onto Ian’s location. Their efficiency truly could not be called low.

After drinking a mouthful of coffee, Klein set down the newspaper and sank into thought.

Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring with dinging, clanging echoes.

“Who is it?”

Klein wiped his mouth with a napkin and walked toward the door in puzzlement.

A new commission? These past few days, because of the Intis ambassador’s matter, I have been running around outside. I wonder how many commissions I missed, how many potential clients I lost… That is simply wasting my advertisement money… If this continues, my finances will become tight…

A whole string of thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind as he reached out and opened the door.

Two ladies stood outside. One was Madam Sammer, wearing morning dress and looking extremely formal. Her face was exquisitely made up, appearing even more lovely than at home, with no sign at all that she was already around thirty. The other wore a wide-brimmed hat with a fine black veil hanging down, and her dress was darker in color and rather full.

“Detective Moriarty, I have a friend who hopes to obtain your help.”

Stelyn Sammer held a gauze hat in one hand. Her blue eyes carried not the slightest smile.

“Please come in.”

Klein gestured toward the living room area. Taking advantage of the turn, he buttoned the top button of his shirt and straightened his black waistcoat.

Stelyn nodded lightly and said no more. She led the lady veiled in black into the room.

She was extremely familiar with the place. Without needing Klein’s reminder, she easily found the sofa and sat down.

Klein had intended to ask the question directly, but after thinking of Stelyn Sammer’s usual style, he smiled and asked instead, “Coffee, or black tea?”

In his eyes, Madam Sammer was a lady who pursued quality of life and needed a sense of superiority in every detail.

“No need,” the other lady said, removing the wide-brimmed hat with the fine black veil.

Her individual features were not bad, but once assembled together, they somehow disappointed the eye. In addition, her cheekbones were too high, making her appear somewhat older than her true age.

A little anger, a little sorrow, a little hesitation, a little fear…

Klein read the lady’s emotions.

This was not because he had suddenly acquired the abilities of a Spectator, but because the other party displayed them far too clearly.

“Yes. Neither coffee nor black tea can solve this matter.”

Stelyn imitated a posture she had seen in magazines, doing her best to sit with a little more elegance and bearing.

“This is Madam Mary Gale. She is a shareholder of Cowim Company.”

“Madam Gale, what would you like to entrust to me?” Klein asked, sitting on a single sofa, leaning slightly forward, both arms resting on his thighs.

“Do not call me Madam Gale. Just call me Mary.”

Mary Gale pressed her lips together.

“I hope you will follow my husband and confirm whether he has a mistress. Ideally, you can obtain substantive evidence.”

Because of the Church of the Evernight Goddess’s active promotion over many years, the Loen Kingdom was more progressive in marital law than countries such as Feysac, Intis, and Lenburg. The law stipulated that those who betrayed marriage had to pay a monetary price for it. In other words, they would stand at an absolute disadvantage during the division of property.

I heard that for other private detectives, at least four out of every ten commissions involve investigating affairs… I did not expect to encounter one myself…

Klein considered his words, then said, “Substantive evidence is not easy to obtain.”

“I will first lend you the newest portable camera,” Mary answered without hesitation. “As long as you can obtain evidence, I will pay you ten pounds. If you merely confirm whether or not he has a mistress, then you will only receive three pounds.”

You mean the so-called portable camera that is two-thirds the size of my head? Ten pounds. That price is not low…

Because Klein had recently been paying attention to entrepreneurship, he had also learned a little about the newest cameras.

After hesitating for two seconds, he said, “Very well.

“But you must provide detailed information about your husband, as well as his patterns of activity.”

“…No problem!”

Mary froze for one second, then answered as though she had gathered up every bit of strength in her body.

“Thank you for your help. I hope you will not tell anyone about this matter,” Stelyn reminded him from the side.

Hearing this, Klein immediately sighed.

“I am a person with very strong principles of confidentiality. Often, I get into trouble precisely because of that.”

…

Inside Earl Wolfe’s ballroom, pairs of ladies and gentlemen danced to a melody drawn from violins.

Audrey held a glass of pale-golden champagne and “happened” to encounter the Intis Republic’s ambassador to Loen, Bakerland Jean Madan.

“You are the most beautiful young lady I have ever seen.”

Bakerland, whose face was lean and still bore traces of stubble, ceremonially kissed the back of Audrey’s white gauze glove. His gaze was passionate and bold.

Audrey’s eyes shifted lightly, and she laughed softly.

“Is this the speaking style of Intis?”

“Yes. Toward beautiful things, we are never stingy with praise.”

Bakerland chuckled.

“If not for consideration of the Loen Kingdom’s customs, perhaps I would call you my angel.”

Old lecher…

Audrey maintained an elegant smile.

“Loenese and Intisians are indeed rather different.”

“Heh. That reminds me of a joke. Please forgive my boldness.”

Bakerland winked.

“After spending a wonderful moment with a beautiful lady, most Loen men will say, ‘Oh, my dear, I would like to smoke a cigarette.’ As for most Intis men, they will say…”

He deliberately paused. Audrey tilted her head slightly, enduring disgust while pretending to be ignorant.

“What would they say?”

“Most Intis men would say, ‘Oh, baby, I must go back now. I cannot let my wife find out.’”

Bakerland raised his glass and laughed.

“…Those who can laugh at themselves always possess a certain additional charm,” Audrey replied with a polite, shallow smile.

Her beautiful, crystalline emerald eyes suddenly looked behind Ambassador Bakerland.

“My apologies. A friend is looking for me.”

“Speaking with you has been a pleasure.”

Bakerland bowed slightly and stepped aside.

Audrey moved forward with elegant steps and did not look back once.

Just as she was considering whom to use as the object of the excuse she had just invented, a young gentleman approached and lowered his voice.

“Audrey, do not be deceived by Ambassador Bakerland. He is an old libertine! Who knows how many ladies he has coaxed into bed.”

Bakerland is greedy for beauty? That matches the result of my observation… This is a weakness…

Audrey turned her gaze and smiled, not concealing her dislike at all.

“Cons, what misunderstanding do you have about me? Goddess, how could I be deceived by Ambassador Bakerland? The perfume he uses is so stimulating it nearly makes me want to vomit. His words are filthy, and his taste is like a male peacock’s.”

Cons was the youngest son of Viscount Leerson. Their family had a rather good relationship with the Hall family.

From what Audrey knew, after Cons graduated from Tingen University, he had joined MI9 and become rather secretive.

Her original plan had been to chat with Ambassador Bakerland for a while and observe him up close. Then, using anger at his behavior as an excuse, she would ask Cons and other friends who had stepped into the intelligence world for more information. Who would have known that without her needing to search, Cons Leerson had come over on his own and taken the initiative to start the related topic.

“Your feeling is not wrong.”

Cons revealed a sincere smile, looked around, and said in a low voice, “Moreover, Bakerland is an extremely dangerous fellow.”

“How dangerous?” Audrey asked with well-matched curiosity.

“Have you heard of Beyonders? I know you have always been very interested in that field,” Cons said after weighing his words.

Audrey nodded lightly.

“I understand quite a bit. Most of it was told to me by Glaint.”

Cons glanced toward Bakerland, who was chatting idly with a noblewoman, and his expression turned grave.

“He is Intis’s intelligence chief within the Kingdom. He has done many bad things, but we have never managed to obtain useful evidence. He himself is Sequence 6, a Conspirer.”

He did not speak too specifically to Audrey, whom he considered an outsider, and did not mention that Conspirer belonged to the Hunter pathway.

However, Audrey already knew this. She deliberately sighed in a naive tone.

“He is truly impressive!”

“Behind the scenes, he also has an assistant who may have reached Sequence 5. In addition, all Intis intelligence personnel within the Kingdom fall under his management. Among them are quite a few Beyonders. Unfortunately, we currently know only a handful…”

Cons mentioned it briefly, then added, “Even if Bakerland praises you, do not be happy. Those are not his real thoughts. He only wants to use them to obtain more information.”

I do not like that sentence quite as much…

Audrey glanced upward at the magnificent chandelier and considered for several seconds.

“Is Bakerland very clever? You have never managed to obtain evidence against him…”

“He is indeed good at plotting conspiracies, but he also has quite a few flaws. He likes pursuing ladies. He likes romantic feelings. He takes risks and acts rather aggressively. If not for his status as ambassador, which prevents many of our operations from being carried out, he would have been arrested long ago.”

Cons curled his lip.

“However, he will soon be replaced. Very soon.”

“Why?” Audrey asked in surprise.

“My dear beautiful young lady, that is not something you ought to know.”

Cons held firmly to the principle of confidentiality.

When the ball neared its end, Audrey, having gathered a considerable amount of information, found Viscount Glaint and asked him to help contact Xio and Fors.