After returning to the room with the balcony, Fors looked at Xio who had her back against the wall and whispered, "Guess what I saw?
"That male servant, Dantès's valet is actually a believer of Death! He was dancing a spirit dance and praying!"
Xio widened her eyes before relaxing her expression.
"When it comes to Mr. Dantès, that's the least of his concerns.
"Yeah, that valet named Richardson is clearly of Southern Continent heritage. Perhaps he was born there, so it's not surprising that he worships Death."
Fors replied with a smile, "I know. I just find it interesting. Aren't there a little too many people with secrets around Dwayne Dantès?
"I won't be surprised if I were to discover one day that all the living beings in this building except him, including the housekeeper, maids, gardeners, carriage drivers, earthworms, bugs, and rats are related to mystery and Beyonders. I would be able to easily accept that reality."
Xio rolled her eyes.
"If that were the case, Mr. Dwayne Dantès definitely wouldn't be a simple person. Having Beyonders and supernatural creatures around him means that he might be the spawn of an evil god or a Grounded Angel."
Without waiting for Fors to expand the scope of the conversation, Xio asked, "Didn't you say that you had a strange dream involving treasure? Why aren't you curious or considering what it symbolizes? That perhaps it might actually exist?
Fors chuckled.
"Such a dream often implies trouble and danger. I'll consider it again if I have a chance of encountering that symbol."
Although she said that, her true thoughts were:
There's quite a bit of a problem with that dream. Who knows if there's a ploy behind it. I'll consult Mr. Hanged Man, Ma'am Hermit, uh—and Mr. World at the Tarot Gathering next week before deciding what to do. They are experienced and powerful Beyonders. Perhaps they have had similar experiences.
"You've matured." Xio nodded, and exerting strength in her back, she bounced off the wall and walked to the spot where Fors had been sleeping before.
"Mature?" Fors scoffed and leaned in towards her friend. She straightened her back and looked down at her friend's hair.
Without waiting for Xio to become enraged, she sighed.
"You're the one who matured.
"I still remember this time last year. You did things based on instinct, arbitrating with your fist. From time to time, you would commit mistakes without realizing it and become lost. You're much better now."
Xio was stunned as she lay down and covered herself with the thin silk blanket. With her back facing Fors, she grumbled, "The main reason why I got lost was because of you being a burden by my side."
Fors chortled and nodded in thought.
"That's a characteristic of an Apprentice. It has nothing to do with me. Get it!?"
Seeing Xio on the floor, she walked to the wall adjacent to the master bedroom and seriously started being a bodyguard.
As the night slowly passed, the sky gradually lit up. Klein got up to have breakfast and received visits from two batches of policemen and a batch of reporters. They were here for further investigations regarding Cuarón's suicide case, while another was to obtain more details regarding Member of Parliament Macht's assault.
With Walter's help, Dwayne Dantès met them and quickly handled the matters.
In the afternoon, Macht suddenly visited and urged Klein, "Join me at the club for a game of tennis."
He was a member of a few clubs, but there was only one club that overlapped with Dwayne Dantès: East Balam Military Veterans Mess!
This is to confirm the arms deal? Klein managed to read between the lines and immediately got Richardson to get his coat, top hat, and cane. He rode on his carriage and headed to the sandy-yellow unique building at Hillston Borough with the member of parliament.
They entered the club and used the same room as before. Klein once again met the long-faced army colonel from the Ministry of Defence, Calvin.
After habitually exchanging pleasantries for a few minutes, Calvin finally focused on the main topic at hand. He looked at Dwayne Dantès and said with a chuckle, "I heard from Macht that you can have 20,000 pounds available?"
"Although it will make me tight on funds, it's true that I can," Klein replied with a smile.
Calvin nodded in satisfaction and said after some pondering, "There won't be any need for 20,000 pounds for now. The batch of firearms, explosives, and small number of cannons reserved for you is in a particular warehouse in East Balam. There's not that much, enough to equip about three to four thousand people. Based on the price of decommissioning them, it will cost 10,000 pounds at most. Of course, you will have to give me 15,000 pounds."
He didn't mince his words in any way, as though this was common in the Loen military.
"No problem," Klein said and nodded calmly.
Calvin immediately chuckled.
"Excellent. Macht has a keen eye for people. A person who wants to do such business absolutely mustn't be stingy.
"That batch of firearms is worth at least 20,000 pounds in West Balam. If you can find a suitable buyer and fully showcase your experience in the area, it's entirely possible to sell them for 30,000 pounds or even more. By the way, the transportation fees and escort fees will be borne by you. We will only send two or three personnel to assist you."
As expected, there will be monitors... Klein listened in silence, believing that it was time that he urged Admiral of Stars and Danitz to quickly provide him with information on West Balam.
He pondered for a moment and said, "Roughly when will it begin?"
"That batch of firearms will take another two weeks before being placed in the corresponding warehouse. When it happens after that period is up to you. Hmm, you don't have to pay it in full at once. You can first pay 8,000 to 10,000 pounds and pay the rest when everything is settled." Calvin wore an expression as though things were highly negotiable.
Two weeks later. That will be closer to the end of the month. I'll definitely have to wait until the party of the Snake of Fate's birth before leaving... I'm still waiting for his placenta blood... Klein's thoughts raced as he said, "I'll need to carry out some preparatory work. I'll probably head to the Southern Continent in early July."
Calvin Macht exchanged looks with Macht and gently rubbed his palms.
"No problem."
...
Outside the East Balam Military Veterans Mess, Xio and Fors hid themselves on the roof of a nearby building, monitoring the people that were coming and going.
Xio knew that there were many Beyonders in the club, so she didn't dare get Fors to sneak her in to provide protection to Dwayne Dantès at a close distance. All they did was wait outside.
"Thankfully, this is Backlund. Even though there's no smog this season, there will be no lack of clouds. The sun wouldn't be too strong; otherwise, my skin would definitely turn red," Fors mumbled as she hid herself in the shadows.
Xio was about to say something when she saw a carriage drive into the back door of the club. It was entirely brown in color and had a trademark coat of arms. It was made of flowers and rings.
Viscount Stratford's carriage... Xio silently mumbled as she hurriedly widened her eyes and focused. She then saw a familiar figure who was a stranger to her get off the carriage. Surrounded by bodyguards, the figure entered the East Balam Military Veterans Mess.
"What's wrong?" Fors noticed her friend's abnormality.
Xio didn't conceal the matter as she frankly said, "I saw Viscount Stratford. He also came to this club."
"That captain of the royal guards?" Fors asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Xio nodded heavily.
Fors turned agape, hoping to say something, but she was at a loss as to what to say. All she could do was look around, pretending to monitor for anything that was amiss.
After a while, she saw Dwayne Dantès walk out.
...
160 Böklund Street received another guest in the afternoon.
This time, it was the largest shareholder of the Coim Company, Ma'am Mary.
"I'm very sorry that my request embroiled you in such trouble. I never expected Baron Syndras to do something like that. Poor Cuarón. He was planning on bringing his family to Winter County for the summer," Mary Schott apologized with hints of anger.
Klein replied calmly, "I agree with your views on Cuarón. He was really unfortunate.
"However, this matter probably wasn't done by Baron Syndras. It might be a trap that's targeting him."
Mary nodded heavily.
"I've heard of the theory. It's said that the police department is planning to hire a skilled forensic pathologist to dissect the corpse to search for any missing clues."
Her final sentence was automatically replaced by Klein as "the police department is planning to hire a skilled Spirit Medium from the Church of Evernight to examine the corpse to search for any missing clues."
I wonder what will be discovered... Klein raised his right hand and tapped his chest four times in a clockwise fashion.
"May the Goddess give Cuarón peace and that the true murderer behind his death will suffer punishment."
Mary responded in the same way before saying, "In order to prevent you from being affected by this matter, I plan on purchasing the shares from you ahead of time. I'll add an additional 1,000 pounds above the highest price to date.
"You don't have to worry about my funds. I've recently been busy borrowing money from the banks."
Klein sighed and replied, "I'm very grateful for your kind intentions, but any advance transferring of the shares will need to be done with the Church. I've already donated it to them. I plan on using the income I receive to establish a bursary foundation that targets the poor."
This was the first time Mary was hearing of such news. She was momentarily stunned and speechless.
After ten seconds, she exhaled and said, "Your character, generosity, and wisdom truly impresses me."
As she said that, she looked at Dwayne Dantès with an additional look of admiration.
Klein humbly diverted the compliment to the Goddess before pausing. He then asked with a stern expression, "Ma'am Mary, I have a question that I hope you can answer.
"When you decided to clash with Baron Syndras to protect your control over the Coim Company, was it purely by your own will, or a result of persuasion by others?"
Mary frowned and frankly replied, "All the persuasion that was directed at me was to ask me to give up."
Klein immediately fell silent as he didn't discuss the matter further. He casually mentioned Member of Parliament Macht's assault before sending the lady out of 160 Böklund Street.
After dinner, Walter came to the half-opened room with the balcony and said to his employer on the reclining chair, "Sir, the two bounty hunters have been dismissed. It cost a total of 300 pounds for three days, excluding the food provided."
They're finally gone... Klein immediately relaxed as he nodded, acknowledging his butler's reply.
Following that, he eagerly entered the master bedroom, planning on taking out the mushrooms sent to him from Frank Lee and bringing them up above the gray fog to communicate with Creeping Hunger.
When he came to the desk with the hidden mushrooms, he saw a letter held down by an ink bottle.
Klein picked it up in puzzlement and tore it open. He quickly scanned it as his expression turned odd.
"Dear Mr. Dantès, we are the bodyguards you hired. In the past few days, we discovered certain matters that we feel obligated to inform you. Therefore, we entered your bedroom to leave this letter while you were having dinner."
