Chapter 26: Effort Always Pays Off

Chapter 26: Effort Always Pays Off

At dusk, Klein had just returned from Saint Samuel Cathedral and was about to enter the second-floor dining room when Butler Walter came forward and bowed respectfully.

“Sir, the matter you asked me to investigate has been clarified.”

Klein did not question him in front of the surrounding footmen and maids. He nodded steadily.

“To the study.”

Walter followed him all the way to the third floor and watched as Richardson opened the study door and lit the gas wall lamps inside.

Klein walked unhurriedly behind the desk and sat down, looking toward his butler and waiting for him to speak.

Walter gestured for Richardson to stand guard outside, then drew closer to the desk and considered his words.

Only after the door had closed again did he say, “Ms. Wahana’s husband is a cloth merchant. He previously collaborated with someone and invested 1,000 pounds, but the other party absconded with that batch of goods. She has already asked Councilman Macht and Madam Liana for assistance, hoping they can urge the police department to solve the case as soon as possible. However, with matters like this, the police cannot guarantee they will definitely find the target.”

Klein picked up the black, round-bodied fountain pen on the desk and rubbed it lightly.

“For Ms. Wahana’s family, 1,000 pounds is no small amount.”

As far as he knew, a normal governess did not earn more than 150 pounds a year. If food and lodging were provided by the employer, the pay would be even less.

Although Wahana served the upper class and had multiple employers, her annual income would at most reach four or five hundred pounds. Moreover, a large part of that would need to be spent on her own clothing, posture, and appearance, lest her employers deem her insufficiently proper and unfit to teach etiquette.

“Yes. Her husband’s income among cloth merchants can only be considered middling. To him, 1,000 pounds is a fairly large investment,” Walter said tactfully.

To me as well… Klein sighed inwardly, then smiled.

“I’ve only just arrived in Backlund. I am not familiar with the police department.”

Walter immediately replied, “Sir, when I served Viscount Conrad, I came to know several members of the Backlund Senior Police Officers’ Association.”

Backlund Senior Police Officers’ Association? Those are all upper-level figures at Sivellaus Yard. A chief superintendent responsible for public security in a borough would not even be qualified to enter.

“Sivellaus Yard” referred to the Backlund Police Department, named after the street on which it was located.

As expected of a butler from a noble household… Klein sighed inwardly, then shook his head with a smile.

“There is no need for the moment. In this matter, Ms. Wahana has far too many people from whom she can seek help. Whether Councilman Macht or someone else, any of them has enough ability to make Sivellaus Yard take this case seriously.”

He paused, then said in a deliberately casual tone, “I have seen the bottom of this society. I understand its rules of survival. At times, the police may not be as useful as gang members or bounty hunters.

“Walter, go to the police department and obtain the corresponding information. Then go to the well-known bars in the Backlund Bridge area and the East Borough and post a bounty.

“Whether they find the corresponding criminals or recover the batch of cloth, I will give a reward of 200 pounds.

“Heh. I only hope those swindlers are still in Backlund.”

“A 200-pound reward?” Walter repeated the number and could not help looking at his employer, as if finding it hard to believe he was willing to spend so much on Wahana’s matter.

He opened his mouth as though wanting to remind him of something, but in the end, he said nothing. He merely replied seriously, “Very well, sir.”

“I will give you the money directly.” Klein slowly rose and took out his wallet.

As Walter received the thick stack of cash, he asked after some thought, “Should Ms. Wahana be informed?”

Klein smiled.

“There is no need.”

Walter nodded in dawning understanding and bowed.

“Your reputation for generosity and warm-heartedness will spread through this neighborhood.”

…

East Borough, Dharavi Street, inside a cramped yet lively tavern.

Xio, having carefully combed her short blond hair before going out, squeezed through an area filled with the smell of alcohol and sweat and arrived before the bar.

She bent her finger and knocked on the wood, saying to the bartender, “Any new commissions today?”

If it had been anyone else, asking directly without ordering a drink, the bartender would certainly have ignored them. But seeing that the person opposite him was Xio—a bounty hunter everyone preferred not to see drinking—he could only sigh.

“There’s a commission with a very generous bounty. Two hundred pounds.”

“Two hundred pounds?” Xio nearly thought she had misheard.

Aside from missions from Miss Audrey that had bounties at this level or even higher, she had never encountered a commission in the East Borough or the Backlund Bridge area that paid so much. Even the Azik Eggers mission that had once driven bounty hunters here wild had only offered 150 pounds.

For an ordinary bounty hunter, completing this commission would mean not having to work for an entire year.

To Xio, it was equally important. These past months, she had been helping the mysterious man wearing the golden mask, and she had initially learned that he belonged to MI9. Accumulated merit could be exchanged for the Interrogator potion formula.

Therefore, when working for him, she took very little pay. Most of her earnings had been converted into merit. Her own savings relied entirely on the advantages she gained in searching for and pursuing criminals after becoming a Sheriff.

Once I obtain the potion formula, I’ll still need money to buy the Beyonder ingredients. And I only have a little over 300 pounds right now… Fors is right. Money isn’t omnipotent, but it is important enough…

Thinking this, Xio looked at the bartender and asked cautiously, “What is the mission? Who posted it?”

“Find a few swindlers. They cheated someone out of cloth worth 1,000 pounds.” As the bartender spoke, he took out the information and handed it to Xio. “The commissioner looked like a butler. He called himself Walter and said he serves Mr. Dawn Dantes of Böklund Street. If you catch the swindlers or recover the cloth, you can go there to collect the bounty.”

Xio rapidly flipped through the information. Corresponding images swiftly formed in her mind, and she instinctively had a direction for the search.

“I’ll take this commission,” she immediately said, looking up.

The bartender shrugged.

“It’s not just you. Every bounty hunter who has come by has taken this commission.

“And they had other ideas too.”

“What ideas?” Xio asked curiously.

The bartender gave a dry laugh.

“They said Mr. Dawn Dantes is so generous that if he still needs bodyguards, they could recommend themselves.

“But later they gave up on the idea, because working as a bodyguard isn’t as free as being a bounty hunter. Even drinking has to wait until a day off.”

That isn’t a problem for me. But I can only work as a bounty hunter…

Xio nodded, hopped down from the high stool in front of the bar, and wasted no time walking toward the door.

…

The next day, after lunch, Klein prepared to stroll through his garden to aid digestion.

At that moment, Butler Walter entered from outside and quietly followed behind him, waiting until no one else was nearby.

“Sir, two matters,” he said respectfully.

“Two matters?” Klein was slightly surprised. He had thought there would only be one.

Walter nodded.

“Yes. The first concerns the ten percent stake in the Backlund Bicycle Company. Someone has already offered 10,000 pounds.

“Sir, do you wish to continue bidding?”

Raised it by 1,000 pounds? Not bad at all!

Klein pretended to think with some difficulty before saying, “I have only just arrived in Backlund. In many matters, I must exercise restraint.

“Let it be. Let it be…”

“Very well, sir.” Walter turned to the second matter. “The swindlers who deceived Ms. Wahana’s husband of his cloth have been caught. The bounty hunter has arrived nearby and requests payment.”

“So quickly?” Klein turned his head in astonishment and looked at his butler.

If he had taken action himself, he could indeed resolve it within the day, since he could use dowsing to find people. The problem was that the overwhelming majority of bounty hunters were not Seers.

Mm. Perhaps she is a Beyonder skilled at tracking and locating people…

Klein made an initial judgment inwardly.

Walter confirmed, “Yes. Much faster than I expected.

“According to the bounty hunter, she traced backward from the channels used to sell the stolen goods, and that was how she found the swindlers.”

The stolen-goods channels confessed that easily? It seems they accepted an education delivered by fists…

Klein nodded lightly.

“What is that bounty hunter’s name? She seems quite capable…”

“She calls herself Xio,” Walter answered truthfully.

No way…

Klein almost staggered, but fortunately, he possessed the Clown’s extraordinary sense of balance.

As if deep in thought, he calmed the waves in his heart and said after some consideration, “Leave that bounty hunter’s contact information. Perhaps there will be opportunities to ask for her help in the future.”

“Yes, sir,” Walter said, not finding Dawn Dantes’s instruction strange. A qualified member of high society would always maintain some unofficial channels.

Klein did not continue the topic of Xio. He gave an “Mm” and asked, “How much was recovered?”

“The cash on the swindlers and the unsold cloth together total roughly 850 pounds,” Walter answered, clearly having anticipated his employer’s question and made an evaluation in advance.

“Good.” Klein nodded. “After paying that bounty hunter, assist her in sending the swindlers and the stolen goods to the nearest police station.”

…

North Borough Police Station.

Wahana and her husband, Bacchus, looked at the senior inspector opposite them and asked in delighted voices:

“It’s been recovered?”

“They caught them?”

The senior inspector smiled in reply. “Yes.”

He explained how much cash and cloth remained. Hearing this, Wahana and Bacchus both let out a breath of relief.

They could still bear a loss of 150 pounds. Moreover, the remaining cloth still had room for appreciation and profit. Overall, their loss was not too severe.

They thanked the officer repeatedly, until someone came to invite Bacchus to identify the stolen goods and the criminals.

Wahana sat there, not losing her poise. She smiled at the senior inspector in front of her.

“Your efficiency exceeded my imagination. I am very curious. How did you find those swindlers?”

Knowing that this beautiful and elegant lady knew a member of the House of Commons and would sooner or later learn the truth, the senior inspector did not conceal it.

“It was actually completed by a bounty hunter. She started with the channels used to sell the stolen goods and quickly caught the people.”

“You also issued a bounty?” Wahana seemed to understand the matter.

The senior inspector shook his head.

“We did not have time to do so. Someone else posted the bounty. Two hundred pounds.”

“Two hundred pounds?” Wahana asked in surprise.

This was no small sum. It even exceeded her husband’s expected profit from the business.

Seeing the officer give an affirmative answer, Wahana could not help asking, “Who posted the bounty?”

“The bounty hunter did not say, but the person accompanying her was a gentleman dressed like a butler.” The senior inspector briefly described Walter’s appearance.

Wahana vaguely guessed who it was. Her body leaned back slightly, and she unconsciously murmured, “Two hundred pounds…”

…

That afternoon, at Councilman Macht’s home, Wahana, who had come to teach the family’s daughter etiquette, first thanked Madam Liana for her help.

With dark-green hair, Liana spoke a few modest words, then asked, “Wahana, I hear you are also serving as Mr. Dawn Dantes’s etiquette teacher. What sort of person is he?”

Wahana considered it carefully, then said, “A true gentleman. Warm-hearted, generous, kind, cultivated, graceful, and knowledgeable.”

Liana listened and nodded slightly. Then she turned to the proud young lady beside her and gave a soft laugh.

“What a pity. He is too old. Otherwise, he would be an excellent candidate for a match.

“Mm. I intend to invite him to attend the ball this weekend.”