Chapter 130: A Kind Reminder

Chapter 130: A Kind Reminder

Returning to the half-open room with the large balcony, Fors looked at Xio, who had her back to the wall. Lowering her voice, she said, “Guess what I saw?

“That valet—Dantes’s personal valet—is actually a believer of Death! He was just dancing a spirit dance and praying!”

Xio’s eyes suddenly widened, then her expression relaxed.

“For Mr. Dantes, that is only a problem ranked far toward the back.

“Uh, that valet named Richardson clearly has Southern Continent ancestry. Perhaps he was born there, so it is not especially surprising for him to secretly worship Death.”

Fors answered with a smile, “I know. I just think this is very interesting. Are there not far too many people with secrets hidden around Dawn Dantes, this rich gentleman?

“If one day we discovered that, inside this house, every living being except him—including the housekeeper, maids, gardeners, coachmen, earthworms, insects, and rats—was connected to mystery and the Beyonder, I feel I would not be too surprised. I could accept that fact quite easily.”

Xio rolled her eyes at her friend again.

“If that were truly the case, then Mr. Dawn Dantes would not be simple either. If everyone around him were Beyonders and supernatural creatures, it could only mean he is perhaps the child of some evil god, or an angel walking the earth.”

Without waiting for Fors’s topic to scatter any further, Xio changed the subject and asked, “Did you not say you had a very strange dream involving treasure? Why are you not curious at all? Why are you not considering what it symbolizes, or whether it might truly exist?”

Fors chuckled.

“Dreams like that often mean huge trouble and many dangers. If I encounter that symbol in the future, I will think about it then.”

That was what she said aloud, but her true thought was:

There is no small problem with that dream. Who knows whether there is some conspiracy involved? Better wait until next week’s Tarot Gathering and ask Mr. Hanged Man, Madam Hermit, uh, and Mr. World for advice before deciding what to do. They are all experienced and powerful Beyonders. Perhaps they have similar experiences.

“You have matured quite a bit,” Xio said with a faint nod. Her back exerted force, and she pushed herself away from the wall, walking toward the spot where Fors had just slept.

“Matured?” Fors scoffed, moving closer to her friend and straightening her back to “look down” at the top of Xio’s head.

Before Xio could get angry, Fors sighed again.

“You are the one who has truly matured.

“I still remember this time last year. You handled things by intuition, arbitrated with your fists, occasionally made muddled mistakes, and got lost. Now you are much better.”

Xio froze. Lying down on her side, she wrapped the thin silk blanket around herself, turned her back to Fors, and muttered, “The main reason I got lost was that you were there dragging me down.”

Fors laughed dryly twice, then nodded thoughtfully.

“That is an inherent trait of the Apprentice pathway. It has nothing to do with me personally. Mm!”

Seeing that Xio had already lain down, she walked to the wall beside the master bedroom and seriously began acting as a bodyguard.

The night retreated little by little, and the sky gradually brightened. Klein got up, had breakfast, and received two successive waves of police officers and a group of reporters. Some came to further investigate Caron’s suicide case, while others wanted to learn more details about the attack on Councilman Macht.

Under Butler Walter’s arrangements, Dawn Dantes met them one after another and quickly handled these matters.

When afternoon arrived, Councilman Macht suddenly came visiting. With a slight urgency, he said to Klein, “Come with me to the club for a tennis match.”

He belonged to several clubs, but only one intersected with Dawn Dantes:

The East Balam Veterans Club!

Is this about finalizing that arms deal?

Klein understood the hidden meaning in the other man’s words. He immediately had his personal valet Richardson fetch his coat, top hat, and cane, then took his own carriage and followed the councilman all the way to Hillston Borough, to that distinctive sandy-yellow building.

After entering the club, Klein was once again brought to the same room as before, where he met Calvin, the long-faced army colonel from the Ministry of Defense.

After the customary few minutes of pleasantries, Calvin finally moved to the main topic. Looking at Dawn Dantes, he chuckled and said, “I heard from Macht that you can take out twenty thousand pounds in one go?”

“Although that would be rather difficult, I indeed can,” Klein replied with upturned lips.

Calvin nodded in satisfaction and said thoughtfully, “We will not need twenty thousand pounds for the time being. The batch of firearms, ammunition, and small quantity of cannons prepared for you will be placed inside a warehouse somewhere in East Balam. The quantity is relatively modest—only enough to arm three or four thousand people. Calculated according to scrapped prices, it would at most be ten thousand pounds. Of course, you will need to give me fifteen thousand pounds.”

He made no attempt to conceal this at all, as though it were already the normal state inside the Loen military.

“No problem,” Klein said with a calm nod.

Calvin immediately laughed.

“Very good. Macht has a good eye. If one wants to succeed in this business, one absolutely cannot be stingy.

“That batch of arms is worth at least twenty thousand pounds in West Balam. If you can find the right buyer and put your experience there to use, you can definitely sell it for thirty thousand pounds or even more. Oh, and the transportation and storage costs along the way will be your responsibility. We will only send two or three people to assist you.”

As expected, there will be supervisors…

Klein listened calmly, feeling that he needed to urge Admiral of Stars and Danitz to provide West Balam intelligence as soon as possible.

After a moment’s consideration, he asked, “When will it roughly begin?”

“The arms will be placed in the corresponding warehouse in two weeks. After that, when it starts will be up to you. Mm, you do not need to pay the full amount directly. Pay eight to ten thousand pounds first, then settle the balance after the matter ends.” Calvin acted as if he were very easy to talk to.

Two weeks later is close to the end of the month. I will definitely have to attend the Snake of Fate’s birth banquet before leaving… I am still waiting for His umbilical cord blood…

Klein’s thoughts shifted, and he said, “I need to do some preparatory work first. I should go to the Southern Continent in early July.”

Calvin and Councilman Macht exchanged glances, then lightly clapped his hands.

“No problem.”

…

Outside the East Balam Veterans Club, Xio and Fors hid on the roof of a nearby building, watching the comings and goings below.

Xio knew very well that there were no few Beyonders inside this club, so she had not dared to let Fors bring her inside to provide close-range protection for Dawn Dantes. They could only wait outside.

“Thankfully, this is Backlund. Even in this season, when there is not much fog, there is no lack of clouds, and the sun is not too fierce. Otherwise, my skin would definitely be burned red again.” Fors huddled in the shadows and casually muttered.

Xio was just about to speak when she suddenly saw a carriage reach the club’s rear entrance. Its body was brown and bore a distinctive coat of arms whose main elements were a flower and a ring.

Viscount Stratford’s carriage…

Xio silently muttered. She hurriedly widened her eyes and focused her attention. She then saw that familiar yet unfamiliar figure step down from the carriage and enter the East Balam Veterans Club, surrounded by several bodyguards.

“What is it?” Fors noticed her friend’s abnormality.

Xio did not hide anything and answered frankly, “I saw Viscount Stratford. He came to this club too.”

“That Chamberlain?” Fors asked, slightly astonished.

“Mm.” Xio nodded heavily.

Fors opened her mouth, wanting to say something, yet she had no idea what to say. She could only look around, pretending to monitor for abnormalities.

After some time, they saw Dawn Dantes walk out.

…

That afternoon, another visitor arrived at 160 Böklund Street.

This time, it was Madam Mary, a major shareholder of Coim Company.

“I am very sorry. My request drew you into this trouble. I never expected Baron Syndras to actually do such a thing. Poor Caron. He was planning to take his family to Winter County for the summer.” Mary Short spoke with apology and anger.

Klein answered very calmly, “I agree with your view on Caron. He was truly unfortunate.

“However, this matter may not have been Baron Syndras’s doing. It may very well be a trap aimed at him.”

Madam Mary nodded solemnly.

“I have heard of this speculation. It is said that the police department is planning to invite a skilled medical examiner to dissect the body and search for overlooked clues.”

In Klein’s ears, the latter half of her sentence was automatically replaced with: “The police department is planning to invite a skilled Spirit Medium from the Evernight Church to examine the corpse and search for overlooked clues.”

I wonder what they will discover…

Klein raised his right hand and tapped four points clockwise over his chest.

“May the Goddess bless Caron’s rest. The true culprit who killed him will surely be punished.”

Madam Mary responded with the same ritual gesture, then said, “In order to stop this matter from affecting you further, I plan to buy back the shares in your hands early, and on top of the current highest price, I will add an additional premium of one thousand pounds.

“You do not need to worry about my funds. Recently, the matter I have been busy with is borrowing money from the bank.”

Klein sighed and laughed.

“I am very grateful for your kindness. But if you wish to discuss the early transfer of those shares, you will have to go to the Church. I have already donated them, intending to establish an educational assistance fund for the poor with the income they can be exchanged for.”

This was the first time Madam Mary had heard of this news. For a moment, she was rather stunned and could not speak.

Only after more than ten full seconds did she quietly exhale.

“Your character, your generosity, and your wisdom all leave me with great admiration.”

As she spoke, her gaze toward Dawn Dantes gained several degrees of appreciation.

Klein modestly attributed the credit to the Goddess. Then he paused, his expression turning serious as he asked, “Madam Mary, I have one question I hope you can answer.

“When you decided to oppose Baron Syndras and preserve control over Coim Company, was it purely due to your inner feelings, or were you persuaded by someone?”

Madam Mary frowned faintly and answered frankly, “All the persuasion I received was telling me to give up.”

Klein immediately fell silent. He no longer discussed this topic. After chatting for a while about the attack on Councilman Macht, he escorted the lady opposite him out of 160 Böklund Street.

After dinner, his butler Walter came to the half-open room with the large balcony and said to his employer, who sat in the easy chair, “Sir, the two bounty hunters have already been sent away. The total cost for three days was three hundred pounds, not including the food provided.”

Finally gone…

Klein abruptly relaxed and nodded to acknowledge the butler’s report.

Then he impatiently entered the master bedroom, preparing to take out the mushrooms Frank Lee had sent, bring them above the gray fog, and communicate with Creeping Hunger.

When he arrived before the desk where the mushrooms were hidden, he saw a letter pressed beneath an ink bottle.

Somewhat puzzled, Klein picked it up, opened it, and quickly scanned through it. His expression immediately became rather strange.

“Mr. Dantes, we are the bodyguards you hired. Over the past few days, we have discovered certain matters and believe it necessary to inform you. Therefore, while you were having dinner, we entered your bedroom and left this letter.”