Chapter 124: Bodyguards Come Calling

Chapter 124: Bodyguards Come Calling

Cherwood Borough, inside a house.

As soon as Xio opened the door and entered, she smelled the aroma of fried food. She could not help twitching her nose and looking toward the kitchen.

“Fors?”

“Who else could it be?” Fors poked her head out from the kitchen and asked with a smile.

Xio set down the newspaper in her hand and replied half in surprise, half muttering, “Do you still remember how long it has been since you last entered the kitchen? Uh, making toast in the morning does not count.”

Fors returned to the kitchen, leaving only her voice drifting out.

“I choose food from outside because it is better. But right now, none of the streets nearby have good fried chicken.

“I suddenly really wanted to eat this. Of all the foods that came from Intis, this is my favorite!”

Xio walked to the kitchen and leaned back against the doorframe, watching Fors busily prepare dinner. After weighing her words, she said, “I accepted a commission. One hundred pounds per day for three to five days, but I need to find one more helper.

“Were you not short of money before? Do you want to join?”

My financial situation has actually improved… However, a job worth fifty pounds a day is still quite decent. Save more while I can. There will be many places to spend money in the future…

While watching the iron pot filled with oil, Fors asked, “What kind of commission?”

She had already automatically calculated in her mind what payment she would receive.

Xio tidied her slightly messy blond hair and said, “Secretly protect a rich man named Dawn Dantes.”

“What happened to him? Will it be dangerous?” Fors asked cautiously.

Xio recalled the details and said, “It seems to be a business dispute. His competitor threatened him.

“It is not a dangerous matter. You know that powerful Beyonders in Backlund generally do not take such risks. It would be far too easy to expose themselves and draw the attention of the Nighthawks or Mandated Punishers.”

“Perhaps the other side is a lunatic. We cannot rule that possibility out.” As Fors refuted this, she naturally thought of the World, Gehrman Sparrow. This gentleman was exactly the kind of madman who dared do major things in Backlund!

She paused, then scooped out the fried chicken pieces and said, “Since you have already accepted the task, and I have nothing much to do recently, let us do it together.

“Fortunately, this is protection in secret. No one will discover that I am working as a bodyguard. Otherwise, I would not be able to attend those upper-class literary salons anymore. Heh-heh, actually, I could tell them that I am experiencing life and gathering material. My next novel will be about a female bodyguard and her male employer!”

Xio had long since become accustomed to Fors’s habit of letting her thoughts wander. She twitched her nose again and said, “After dinner, we will head over.”

…

At 160 Böklund Street, Klein set up a ritual inside the master bedroom washroom and entered above the gray fog.

He planned to handle some miscellaneous matters before the bodyguards hired by Butler Walter arrived, lest it be inconvenient to do so during the following few days.

Among these miscellaneous matters, the most important was confirming Creeping Hunger’s current condition.

After sitting down in the Fool’s seat, Klein made the human-skin glove fly over from the pile of miscellaneous objects.

After a round of divination and examination, he discovered that Creeping Hunger was extremely stubborn this time. Its negative effects showed no change whatsoever.

“Was it infected by Mr. A and refuses to stop praising the True Creator?”

The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched. He began thinking seriously about how to solve the problem.

Find another way to intimidate it? No, how can that be called intimidation? It should be called friendly communication while maintaining the initiative…

Klein lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table with a finger, silently muttering to himself:

“In any case, I need to write to Mr. Azik later. I can mention, while I am at it, that the seal on Creeping Hunger has failed.

“I can also carry some mushrooms with me. No, that will not work. Although that would stop Creeping Hunger from praising the True Creator, it would also make it unusable. Mm… I will ask Frank for a few of the original mutated mushrooms and see if they have any different effect…”

Having settled his plan, Klein tossed Azik’s copper whistle and the adventurer’s harmonica into the Door of Sacrifice and Bestowal. Then he returned to the real world, put away the items, and handled the ritual traces.

Leaving the washroom, Klein walked to the desk, took out letter paper and a fountain pen, and considered his words before writing:

“Dear Mr. Azik…

“It has been far too long since I last wrote to you. I wonder how you have been recently…

“…Due to certain changes, the seal you placed upon Creeping Hunger has already failed. Could you provide me with the corresponding method? I wish to seal it again…

“…Have you heard of a creature called a Spirit World Plunderer? What level does it belong to? What characteristics does it possess? In which regions is it commonly active?

“…I may make another trip to the Southern Continent in the near future. If I obtain new information concerning Death, I will write and inform you in time…”

Setting down the fountain pen, Klein read the letter twice, then folded it. Picking up the copper whistle, he brought it to his lips and blew.

Silently, bone after bone emerged from the floor, surging into midair like a fountain and forming a huge skeleton nearly four meters tall.

The skeleton lowered its head and looked down at Dawn Dantes for a second. Then it took the initiative to bend its back, lower its right arm, and spread open its palm.

This messenger is becoming more and more polite…

Klein nodded in satisfaction and handed the letter he had just written to the other party.

The skeletal messenger did not linger. It instantly disintegrated, falling toward the ground like a waterfall, quickly vanishing.

Klein secretly breathed out, withdrew his gaze, and continued writing—this time to Frank:

“…The dried mushrooms you gave me last time were quite good. Do you have any more?

“…As for the idea I mentioned before, do you think there is a possibility of carrying it out? If you encounter any difficulties during your research, you can write to me…”

After folding the letter, Klein picked up the adventurer’s harmonica and likewise blew softly.

He then saw Miss Messenger Reinette Tinekerr appear beside him. As always, she had no head on her neck, wore a complicated, gloomy dress, and held four beautiful blond-haired, red-eyed heads in her hands.

“Can you locate Frank Lee?” Klein asked with considerable confidence. After all, Miss Messenger was different from ordinary messengers. She was a spirit world creature at the demigod level.

Under normal circumstances, messengers could only locate the contractors and those who had used a summoning ritual. The latter had distance limitations. Once they left the ritual location too far behind, the messenger would be unable to find them.

The four heads in Reinette Tinekerr’s hands all turned at the same time, looking at Klein as they said one after another:

“Is…” “he…” “the…” “person…” “who…” “wants…” “to…” “plant…” “everything…” “in…” “the…” “soil?”

…What exactly did Frank do to leave Miss Messenger with such a deep impression… The last time I replied to his letter, she even said she hoped he was not dead…

Klein nodded solemnly.

“Yes.”

The four heads in Reinette Tinekerr’s hands spoke in succession:

“Can…” “locate…” “him…” “I…” “have…” “marked…” “him…”

Huh?

Klein listened with his mouth half-open, nearly forgetting his purpose.

Poor Frank—no, mighty Frank—to think he made Miss Messenger specially mark him… May the Goddess bless him…

Klein slowly breathed out and handed the letter in his hand to Reinette Tinekerr.

“Please deliver this to Frank.

“He will pay you in gold coins.”

One head in Reinette Tinekerr’s hand opened its mouth and bit the letter. Then she directly entered the spirit world and could no longer be observed.

After handling these miscellaneous matters, Klein left the copper whistle and harmonica on himself and went down to the second floor to enjoy dinner.

Halfway through his meal, Butler Walter entered from outside, moved close to Dawn Dantes’s ear, and said, “The bodyguards have arrived. It is Miss Xio from before and her friend. I will arrange for them to provide protection in secret.”

Miss Xio and her friend? It cannot be Miss Magician, can it…

For a moment, Klein did not know what to say. He could only give a light nod, indicating that he understood.

His spirituality had not actually sensed anyone “invading” the house, but that was normal. At present, it was not the deep night when everyone had fallen asleep. During that time, even the slightest abnormal movement was relatively obvious. Unless Klein had specifically left spiritual marks at key locations that would be noticed, or unless the people entering the house held considerable malice toward him, it would be very difficult to detect anything.

…

Inside another bedroom on the third floor, Xio and Fors each occupied one side of the curtains, looking through the glass toward the garden below.

“This is the home I dream of. When I have enough money, I will buy a house like this in a place with beautiful scenery. No—I will still choose Backlund. There is more good food here, and it is more convenient.” Fors spoke sincerely.

After saying this, she sighed inwardly.

Unfortunately, I have the full moon curse. I can only keep improving myself. Otherwise, last time, I would have kept one of the houses instead of the cash…

Xio followed her friend’s gaze and looked outside. In a low voice, she said, “When I was little, I lived in a place like this…”

Fors glanced at Xio. Not knowing what to say, she changed the subject.

“How should we provide protection?”

Xio withdrew her gaze and said, “When Mr. Dawn Dantes has no visitors and does not go out, we hide in the room and watch the surroundings, guarding against intruders…

“When a guest comes to visit, we enter the neighboring room, pay close attention to the movements, and are ready to Open the Door and rescue him at any time…

“If Mr. Dawn Dantes goes out, the butler will inform us in advance. I will hide under the carriage to protect him, while you find another carriage and follow…”

“Xio, you are becoming more and more professional!” Fors sincerely praised her, then laughed lightly. “I saw that Mr. Dawn Dantes’s portrait just now. If you had not said that this danger came from business competition, I might even suspect the problem came from romantic disputes…”

Before Fors had finished speaking, she suddenly saw a carriage stop outside the house’s main gate. Several police officers in black-and-white checkered uniforms stepped down one after another.

What is going on?

She looked toward her friend and discovered that Xio appeared just as puzzled.

…

Inside a small sitting room on the second floor, Klein met four police officers.

“Mr. Dawn Dantes, do you know Mr. Caron?”

Caron?

After brief recollection, Klein remembered that this was the gentleman who had sold him the Coim Company shares.

“I do. What happened to him?” Klein asked calmly.

The leading officer responded with acceptable courtesy:

“He committed suicide.

“In addition, he left behind a suicide note accusing you of forcing him to sell his shares, using various dishonorable methods to torment him and causing his mental state to become severely depressed.

“And his family has provided proof supporting the contents of his suicide note.”