Chapter 156: Far-Sighted Melissa

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six
Far-Sighted Melissa

And on top of that, I also paid one extra portion of merit for the Clown formula… This is all the sin I brought upon myself back when I tried to split the credit into two rounds…

Forget it. Recently, there has not been any good opportunity to say that I actually already know the Clown potion formula…

Klein drew in a breath and forced out a smile.

“I hope the examination goes smoothly.”

He agreed with both hands and feet with Dunn’s decision to send him back to continue guarding Chanis Gate. After all, he not only lacked professional ability in surveillance and investigation, but was also nowhere near the passing line in direct combat.

In shooting, compared with ordinary police officers, he could be considered decent. But every member of the team was a Beyonder whose physical qualities had been enhanced. Even if they were not expert marksmen, they were not far from it.

As for close combat, Klein had only just begun learning.

Put simply, even with Slumber Charms, Requiem Charms, and Dream Charms, he still belonged to the support-type Beyonders. Handling ordinary people was simple. Once he encountered others of his kind who specialized in combat, it would become quite dangerous.

Once I advance to Sequence 8 and become a Clown, skilled in technique-based fighting and possibly possessing a few minor spells, I should be able to complete ordinary supernatural missions alone…

Mm. If I can also successfully steal power from Sealed Artifact 3-0782 and make Sunflame Charms, that will be even more perfect. Defeating the strong while weak would not be impossible…

Klein thought with anticipation as he slowly walked back into Blackthorn Security Company.

By early the next morning, when he finished his duty and left Chanis Gate, the Nighthawk team’s monitoring of Hood Eugen at the asylum had still failed to obtain any useful clues. For now, they could only place hope in the internal investigation being conducted by their so-called informant.

After returning home, Klein quietly ate breakfast, went back to his bedroom, and slept in one breath until noon.

He woke naturally, washed briefly, and followed the fragrance of food toward the first floor.

“Melissa is preparing lunch?”

Klein looked toward Benson, who was reading the newspaper in the living room.

Benson lowered the paper and said, “Yes. She has a guest visiting today. I told her to chat with the guest and let me prepare lunch. As a result, she actually distrusted my cooking skills and dragged the guest into the kitchen with her. That is extremely impolite.”

Benson, you actually noticed so quickly that Melissa looks down on your cooking…

Holding back laughter, Klein walked toward the single-person sofa and asked casually, “Melissa’s guest?”

“Yes. You should know her. You met her at Selena’s birthday dinner—Elizabeth.”

Benson leaned back and continued comfortably reading the newspaper.

Not only at the birthday dinner… She actually did come to visit…

Klein’s expression stiffened slightly. He turned his body and glanced toward the kitchen door.

Just then, Melissa came out holding a plate, with Elizabeth following behind her in an apron of her own.

“Klein, you are awake? I was about to call you.”

Melissa, rather pleased, set the plate giving off the aroma of meat onto the dining table.

“This is Elizabeth. You know her.”

“Hello, Klein.”

Elizabeth, with her cute baby-fat cheeks, greeted him with a bright smile.

Klein responded warmly and politely.

Once the two had exchanged greetings, Melissa blinked and said with extreme seriousness, “Elizabeth will accompany us later to the Association for Helping Family Servants. Her family employs several servants and has plenty of experience in this area. She can provide us with some reference.

“Actually, we have already drafted our requirements for choosing a maid-of-all-work. Listen and see whether anything should be added.”

Melissa wiped her hands on her apron, took a piece of paper from the pocket of her house clothes, unfolded it, and began reading.

“1. Healthy.

“2. Hardworking and responsible.

“3. Good at cooking.

“4. Quiet, not noisy.

“5. Simple family background.

“6. Ordinary appearance.

“…”

Requirement after requirement was read aloud. Klein and Benson listened with their mouths half-open and their eyes blank. Neither had imagined that hiring a single maid-of-all-work could become so complicated.

“Melissa, were you not against hiring a maid-of-all-work before?” Klein asked instinctively when his sister finally stopped.

Melissa pressed her lips together and nodded solemnly.

“Yes. I was against it. But since my objection is ineffective, I believe we must do this properly. And if one wants to do something properly, one must prepare thoroughly beforehand. Mm, do either of you have anything to add?”

“No!” Klein and Benson shook their heads at the same time, making Elizabeth cover her mouth and giggle.

After lunch, the four of them took a trackless public carriage to the Tingen City Association for Helping Family Servants on Champagne Street.

In truth, this was quite similar to the housekeeping agencies Klein had known in his previous life, but it had a semi-charitable nature. On one hand, it registered the personal information and work needs of all kinds of servants, making it easier for employers to choose while also increasing employment opportunities for those receiving aid. On the other hand, it organized basic training to improve the work abilities of those people.

Its operating costs came partly from charitable organizations and partly from additional payments by employers. By relying on centralization, scale, convenience, and organization, it had quickly forced individual agencies either to join or to change professions.

After entering the Association, Klein and the others immediately received warm attention. A young woman in a light-yellow ruffled dress led them to the sofa area and asked with a smile, “How may I help you?”

“We need to hire a maid-of-all-work.”

At times like this, Benson was pushed forward by his younger brother and sister.

“Do you have specific requirements?” the young woman asked with practiced ease.

Benson seriously recalled the comparison between his own cooking and Klein’s, then said with great sincerity, “Good at cooking.”

“Good at cooking?” The young woman frowned faintly. “To be frank, among maids-of-all-work, there is no one especially good at cooking. Perhaps you should hire a cook instead? If you need a female cook, our Association has quite a few.”

“There are no maids-of-all-work who are good at cooking?”

Seeing the very first requirement they had drafted encounter a setback, Melissa could not help cutting in with a question.

The young woman nodded and answered with certainty.

“Maids-of-all-work are either daughters of bottom-level laborers or girls from the countryside. The cooking skills they can access are quite poor to begin with. Even after the Association’s simple training, they can at most guarantee that the food is cooked and clean. They cannot be called good at cooking.”

As she explained, she smiled.

“Of course, some maids-of-all-work do possess a certain talent in this area. After working in an employer’s household for two or three years, they might grow into excellent cooks.”

Melissa fell silent. She glanced at Klein, then at Benson.

So there is a chance I might have to cook for another two or three years?

Klein suddenly understood his sister’s hidden thoughts and nearly laughed.

Benson swallowed under the gazes of his younger brother and sister. He took out the sheet of paper from his pocket and began reading the requirements one by one.

The young woman listened blankly for quite a while before finally responding.

“I—I will first go screen the files and recommend several maids-of-all-work who meet your requirements. You do not need to decide immediately. You can select two to four candidates, and I will bring them to your home for a trial. Then you may decide whom to hire. Of course, this will require you to pay the Association a little extra, and the ingredients must also be prepared by you.”

“All right.”

Benson folded the paper and nodded politely.

The young woman stood, walked a few steps toward the inner office, then turned back with an awkward smile.

“Could you give me that sheet of paper? I am afraid I might miss some of your requirements…”

“No problem.”

Benson answered while trying to suppress his laughter.

After some time, the young woman in the light-yellow dress returned with a stack of files and handed them to Benson for selection.

These files listed the maids-of-all-work’s real names, years of birth, family situations, facial descriptions, physical condition, past experience, traits, and expected wages.

Taking advantage of Benson and Melissa seriously looking through the files, Elizabeth leaned closer to Klein and asked quietly, “Do you not have any requirements?”

“I do, but they are not specific enough,” Klein replied perfunctorily.

Elizabeth became even more interested.

“How would you choose?”

Klein chuckled softly and pointed toward the spirit pendulum hidden inside his left sleeve cuff.

“Of course, I would write the corresponding statements, eliminate them one by one, and divine which one is most suitable to become our maid-of-all-work.”

“…”

Elizabeth froze. More than ten seconds later, she nodded with slight bewilderment.

“The simplest method is also the most effective… I actually forgot that you are…”

She did not finish, because Melissa had keenly noticed the two of them whispering and cast her gaze over.

Looking deeply at her friend and her elder brother, Melissa revealed an expression as though she were thinking.

Hey, little sister, do not misunderstand! We are merely having an ordinary conversation…

Klein coughed twice, proactively took a portion of the files, and began flipping through them at random.

Before long, they settled on three candidates. The wages ranged from four soli eight pence to five soli two pence per week.

Benson did not try to push down the wages of the maids-of-all-work. Instead, he seriously discussed the additional fee owed to the Association with the young woman.

After a round of friendly negotiation, he successfully reduced the fee from two weeks of the maid’s wages to one week’s wages, though they still needed to pay an additional one soli for the Association carriage that would bring the candidates to their home for the trial.

Once the matter was settled, Elizabeth took her leave, while the three Moretti siblings boarded a public carriage back to Daffodil Street.

All along the way, Klein felt deeply uncomfortable under Melissa’s examining gaze. The moment he entered the house, he wanted to head straight upstairs.

“Klein,” Melissa called out, stopping him. In a solemn tone that clearly came after repeated thought, she said, “If you want to become engaged to Elizabeth, you need to work even harder. Her father is an import-export merchant, and her mother is the daughter of a baronet—that is, the daughter of what people commonly call a lord…”

Wait, engagement?

When did that happen?

Klein stared at his sister in bewilderment.

How far ahead has she started worrying?