Chapter 71: Rose Song Manor

Chapter 71: Rose Song Manor

Backlund, Queen Borough, in the outskirts leaning slightly northwest, more than an hour away by carriage, Rose Song Manor was built along the Tussock River. Its surroundings were scenic, and within the estate, flowers and trees flourished in abundance.

Strangely enough, Backlund’s urban district was cloudy and rainy year-round, with relatively little sunlight, yet in its outskirts, the cloud layers were often thin and the sunlight brilliant. Clearly not far apart, the two places presented completely different kinds of weather. Among them, the northwestern outskirts were the most obvious example, even being one of the rather famous grape-growing regions of the Northern Continent. Yet if one followed the Tussock River another fifty kilometers northwest from this area, the weather would again grow closer to that of Backlund’s urban district.

Similar circumstances had always puzzled meteorologists. They could not find a suitable theory to explain the cause. Klein, however, had a faint guess:

In the Fourth Epoch, this place had been the capital of the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire. The Blood Emperor, Alista, had also completely abandoned his humanity here, becoming a mad god. Therefore, for the weather and terrain to be permanently altered in a small region was entirely normal. Leonard Mitchell had once mentioned bits and pieces of this information during free exchange at the Tarot Gathering.

Furthermore, as a land with a long history and one of humanity’s earliest areas of activity, this “Land of Hope” buried who knew how many ancient ruins. All of them might very well exert some invisible influence on the weather.

The carriage entered Rose Song Manor, passed the fountain pool and small garden enclosed by the main building, and stopped outside the front entrance.

Klein had just stepped down from the carriage with Butler Walter when he saw Richardson, the manor steward, leading two rows of male and female servants as they stood by the doorway, waiting for their employer.

Compared with 160 Böklund Street, there were more servants here, though all of them belonged to the second class or below.

Looking at Richardson, whose clothes were crisp and whose appearance had been renewed, Klein smiled and nodded.

“You have done well.”

Without waiting for Richardson’s response, he removed his hat and, together with his cane, handed them to his personal valet Enuni while asking directly,

“Has the sitting room for the ladies to chat and play cards been prepared?”

“It has been prepared. We have placed poker cards, tarot cards, and several board games there. Common instruments such as the piano and violin have also been moved in,” Richardson answered fluently.

Klein passed through the main door and nodded lightly.

“And the gentlemen’s smoking room?”

“Like the ladies’ sitting room, it is on the second floor of the main building. The two rooms are separated by five other rooms.” Richardson gave the answer without needing any prompt from the manor’s servants, and without even having to think back.

For the sake of ensuring that the first hunting event hosted by his employer would have no problems, he had personally checked every minor matter. Although his body was exhausted, his mind was highly excited.

Klein asked a few more questions about dinner and the guest rooms and confirmed that everything had been properly arranged.

Before long, he welcomed the first guests to Rose Song Manor since its ownership had changed to Dantès:

Member of Parliament Macht and his family!

“This is much larger than my Elk Manor.” Macht removed his coat with a smile and handed it to a servant as he praised, “I have always heard that Rose Song’s self-brewed wine is outstanding, but I never had the chance to taste it. Today, my curiosity can finally be satisfied.”

“I hope it will not disappoint you,” Klein replied with a modest smile.

As a famous grape-growing region of the Northern Continent, this part of Backlund’s northwest outskirts produced excellent champagne, red wine, and white wine. However, most manors here belonged to nobles, and their self-brewed alcoholic drinks were basically not sold to the public. Therefore, almost no one on the market had heard of them. Only upper-class society, or those close to the circle, knew the situation.

Rose Song was one of the most representative manors in the area. Its self-brewed wines were widely praised within its circle, and red wines from special years had even been priced by collectors at more than a hundred pounds per bottle.

However, for Klein to have purchased such a manor for twenty thousand pounds, naturally he had also agreed to certain conditions: all wines from special years would be taken away by people sent by Duke Negan.

Member of Parliament Macht knew this quite well and did not expect to drink a collector-level famous wine. Hearing Klein’s words, he smiled.

“You can open a few more bottles and pour me a small glass of each, so that I may properly judge which remaining vintage is the most outstanding.”

As a member of high society, he truly had not tasted Rose Song Manor’s wine. The reason was simple: he was a New Party member of Parliament, while the previous Duke Negan had been a major sponsor of the Conservative Party.

“No problem.” Klein agreed immediately, his gaze naturally sweeping across Hazel’s face beside them.

Compared to July and August, this young lady was clearly much more cheerful. She no longer shrank away whenever she met strangers, nor did she refuse to attend dinners and balls, which had made those familiar with her believe she had fallen ill.

And all of this was thanks to Justice Audrey. When she met Dwayne Dantès at the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation, she had twice mentioned that she had recently seen Miss Hazel Macht.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with such an exchange. Hazel was someone both Audrey and Dantès knew, an intersection between their circles. It was perfectly normal to look for topics among mutual acquaintances when chatting. However, Klein understood Miss Justice’s hint. She was telling him that she had encountered Hazel twice at balls and banquets and had given her two follow-up treatments.

After arranging rooms for the Macht family, Klein welcomed the second group of guests participating in the weekend hunt:

Major General Qonas Kilgor, and the friend he had said in advance he would bring.

Klein knew this friend, though the other party did not know Dwayne Dantès. He was the steam-powered vehicle tycoon, Framy Cage—the primary investor in the bicycle project, who had relied on a lawyer suspected to be a “Lawyer” to purchase another ten percent of shares from Sherlock Moriarty at a low price.

Since a “Lawyer” was involved, then it was understandable that he would be friends with a Baron of Corruption… Klein smiled as he walked forward and embraced Major General Qonas and Framy Cage in turn.

“Welcome.”

He then stepped back and said to Framy, who was one quarter Feysac, tall and fat, with very pale blue eyes,

“I heard your steam-powered vehicle is very famous. Why did you not drive it here?”

Before Framy could answer, the hardboiled-looking Qonas Kilgor had already laughed and said,

“No, you do not understand him. He would never let go of any chance to show off his steam-powered vehicle.

“But that vehicle was too heavy. On the way here, it sank into the mud and could not be pulled out. Fortunately, I never believed in his set of ideas and came by carriage, following behind. Otherwise, he would have had to finish the rest of the journey on foot.”

“The main problem is that our roads are too poor. They need to be renovated and rebuilt, just as steam trains require railways!” Framy retorted, then spread his hands toward Klein. “I originally wanted to seek some investment from you. Haha. We can talk about that later.”

In the past, you invested in us, and now you are looking for investment from me… Klein only then came to a deep realization: within the kingdom’s upper circles, he was already considered a rather famous wealthy man!

Donating more than ten thousand pounds’ worth of shares, purchasing an expensive manor, and establishing connections with the military—at a glance, he looked very rich.

But in reality, my current total assets are only around fifty to sixty thousand pounds, perhaps only one tenth of Miss Justice’s wealth… I wonder when I will become a millionaire with a net worth of one million pounds… As Klein mocked himself, he pondered briefly and said,

“It is fine. I am very interested in the combination of machinery and steam. When I have time, I can take a look at your steam-powered vehicle.”

“Wonderful.” Framy immediately smiled. “If I did not know that you had donated a large amount of wealth to the Church of Evernight, I would have thought you were a believer of Steam.”

After all, I once drew the triangular sacred emblem before my chest… Klein did not continue the previous topic, lest Qonas notice his intentions.

He pointed toward the staircase.

“Shall we go to the smoking room and try the cigars kept here?

“It was only after buying this manor that I learned it has a dedicated cigar storage room—constant temperature, constant humidity. But as you know, I can smoke, yet I do not love it.”

“Not bad. Are there Chieftains?” A smile surfaced on Qonas Kilgor’s face.

“Of course.” Klein gave an affirmative answer.

The main purpose of his actively hosting this hunting event was only one thing: to hunt this Deputy Director Major General of MI9. Therefore, in every aspect, he had considered the other party’s preferences.

However, Klein was not impatient enough to insist on making a move during this very hunt. He still lacked sufficient understanding of Qonas Kilgor, this gentleman who had hidden his demigod strength. He still needed, through repeated gatherings and hunts, to grasp the other party’s behavioral preferences, level of vigilance, and carried items.

As a Magician, Klein did not perform unprepared!

…

Cherwood Borough, inside a certain house.

Fors lowered the book in her hands and glanced at Xio, who was pacing back and forth in the sitting room. Unable to hold back, she asked,

“What are you troubled about?”

Xio glanced at her.

“I am troubled over whether I should immediately inform MI9 that Viscount Stratford has a close relationship with a strange woman, or hide it for now until further developments appear.”

“Why hide it?” Fors first asked back, then immediately answered herself. “Viscount Stratford is connected to your father’s death, but you usually have neither the chance nor the strength to confront him. You’re afraid of exposing yourself and affecting your mother and younger brother. And now, he may encounter an accident because of that strange woman and enter a comparatively easier-to-deal-with state. This is your chance. So you are hesitating, right?”

Xio fell silent for a moment.

“Yes.”

Fors closed the book and stared seriously into her friend’s eyes.

“Since you are hesitating, that means your heart already has an inclination.”

Xio slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

Fors gathered her slightly curled long hair, stood, and extended her right hand.

“I already know your decision. Mm, do you need help?”

Seeing Xio hesitate and not answer, she laughed softly.

“I am a Sequence 6 Beyonder, you know!”

Without waiting for Xio to speak, she looked around and added,

“If you are not at ease, we can also seek additional help.”

The implication of her words was that they could seek help from members of the Tarot Club.

Xio thought for a moment, then breathed out.

“For now, there is no need. The two of us can try first. Uh, let’s go out now and continue watching Viscount Stratford.”

“Now?” Fors was briefly stunned. “All right. But before that, I’ll use the crystal ball to perform an astrology divination and confirm the level of danger.”

After a period of busying herself, she held the pure crystal ball in one hand and said,

“There is a certain degree of danger.”