Chapter 164: Capim’s Dinner

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-FourCapim’s Dinner

After putting down the dark-red round-bellied fountain pen, Klein picked up the paper on which he had written the divination statement and leaned back against his chair.

His lips moved as he softly recited, “The time of Capim’s dinner today,” over and over.

His words rippled layer upon layer through the silent, empty space above the gray fog. Klein’s eyes swiftly darkened, and his eyelids slowly drooped.

Inside a fragmented dream, he saw the spacious and elegant dining room. He saw porcelain tableware inlaid with gold. He saw caviar, roast chicken, stewed lamb, pan-fried beef eye, fried dragon-bone fish, cream soup, and other foods.

Following a certain order, and according to certain needs, the food was placed one after another before several diners. Among them were Capim, who was slightly plump; the middle-aged gentleman Heras, who wore a white wig; Katie, dressed only in a thin shirt; and Parker, whose face looked old and not at all intimidating.

From the end of the dining table, looking diagonally outward, one could see a gorgeously decorated glass window. Beyond it, clouds were sparse, and the red moon could faintly be seen hanging in midair.

Klein opened his eyes, marked the moon’s position from the dream, then swiftly calculated the corresponding approximate time according to his knowledge of astrology.

“Around 7:30 to 7:45… Considering that in several images, Capim and the others had already eaten half the meal, it can be moved fifteen minutes earlier. In that case, 7:30 is the better choice…” Klein silently muttered to himself, interpreting the revelation granted by dream divination.

Dinner at 7:30 was not especially uncommon. It was even mainstream in the Loen Kingdom and across the Northern Continent. Many members of the middle class, whether because of environmental issues or cheaper rent, lived in the suburbs and took short-distance steam trains to and from the city every day. By the time they returned home, it was often already past seven in the evening. Therefore, 7:30 to 8:00 became the normal dinner hour.

Back in Tingen, Klein had experienced something similar. But that had been because there had been no servants and no full-time housewife. The three siblings had returned home and still needed to busy themselves for a while before enjoying hot food; it had not been because work was far away.

This was why civilians and the poor often ate dinner between 7:30 and 8:00.

And because lunch and dinner were separated by too long an interval, afternoon tea—which had originally belonged to high society—gradually became popular among the middle class and common people.

After finishing the interpretation, Klein recalled the revelation he had just received and keenly noticed one problem:

Where are Capim’s wife and children?

They did not appear in the dining room… Could Capim be an extreme believer of the Lord of Storms, requiring women and children to eat in the sitting room? Or is there another reason? Or perhaps Capim has not married and has no children? But he is already middle-aged… Klein tried divining it, but failed to obtain an effective revelation, so he could only leave the matter be.

“7:30.”

He repeated the time once, then returned to the real world.

…

In the evening, Capim, who wore a formal bow tie even at home, narrowed his eyes and looked at the subordinate before him. He asked in a slow voice that still made people shudder:

“Fabian is dead?”

“Yes, Boss.” Even as Capim’s long-time accomplice, that subordinate felt rather afraid and uneasy.

“Odes, call me sir. Sir. In a few years, you will have to call me baronet.” Capim tugged at his bow tie and handled the thick cigar in a seemingly leisurely manner. “When did Fabian die? How did he die?”

“This afternoon, I sent him to the East Borough to handle something. He ended up clashing with the Zmanger gang and got stabbed in the neck…” Odes described it fearfully.

Capim roasted the cigar. His tone…