Chapter 242: Bakerland

Early Tuesday morning, Klein woke up naturally and prepared two slices

of toast, a piece of butter, a serving of bacon, and a cup of coffee

before leisurely reading a newspaper while having breakfast.

With the terrifying Language of Foulness charm, he was much more at

ease. He was no longer as tense as he was before.

Klein finished flipping through the Backlund Bulletin, picked up the

Tussock Times, and saw a news article on the second page.

"At two o'clock this morning, there was a fierce gunfight at Red Brick

Alley in the East Borough. According to the police, it is suspected to

be a clash between two gangs, one of which is the notorious Zmanger

gang."

The Zmanger gang... Red Brick Alley in the East Borough... A

thought occurred to Klein as he left the dining table and found the map

of Backlund.

With just a glance, he noticed that Red Brick Alley wasn't far from

Bacardi Street. Furthermore, Ian Wright had previously appeared at the

telegraph office on Bacardi Street.

*Was Red Brick Alley where Ian Wright was hiding? Was the violent

conflict between the military's special department and the intelligence

staff of the Intis Republic? I wonder what the result will

be...* Klein picked up the last of the bacon, put it in his

mouth, and chewed it slowly.

He had "informed" both sides about the divination the previous morning

and they had already locked onto Ian's location that very night, which

implied quite a high level of efficiency.

After taking a sip of coffee, Klein put down the newspaper and fell into

deep thought.

Suddenly, he heard the tinkling of the doorbell.

"Who is it?" Klein wiped his mouth with a napkin and headed for the

door, puzzled.

*Could it be a new commission? For the past few days, I've been out and

about because of the Intis Ambassador. I wonder how many jobs and

potential clients I've lost... It's such a waste of my advertising

money... If this goes on, my finances will be stretched to the

limit...* Klein suddenly thought of something and opened the

door.

Standing outside were two ladies, one of them being Mrs. Sammer, who

wore a dressing gown. She had intricate makeup on her face, making her

look more beautiful than at home and nothing like she was in her

thirties. The other lady wore a wide-brimmed hat with a black tartan

veil, and a darker, more fluffy dress.

"Detective Moriarty, I have a friend who needs your help." Stelyn Sammer

held onto her veiled hat, but there was no hint of a smile in her blue

eyes.

"Please come in." Klein pointed to the living room, and while he was

turning around, he took the opportunity to fasten the top button of his

shirt and adjusted his black vest.

Stelyn nodded slightly and, without another word, led the black-veiled

lady into the room.

She knew the place very well, and without Klein's guidance, easily found

the sofa and took her seat.

Klein wanted to immediately start asking, but then thought about Stelyn

Sammer's style of doing things, so he asked with a smile, "Coffee or

tea?"

In his eyes, Mrs. Sammer was a lady who pursued a high quality of life

and tried to showed her superiority all the time.

"There's no need." The other lady took off her hat.

She had good features, but the combination was disappointing. In

addition, her cheekbones were too high, and she looked older than her

actual age.

*A little anger, a little sadness, a little hesitation, a little

fear...* Klein read the lady's emotions.

It wasn't that he suddenly possessed the abilities of a Spectator, but

that the lady's actions were just too obvious.

"Yes, neither coffee nor tea can solve the problem." Stelyn imitated a

position found in magazines, trying her best to appear classy. "This is

Mrs. Mary Gale, a shareholder of Coim Company."

"What would you like to entrust me with, Mrs. Gale?" Klein sat down on a

single-seater, leaning forward slightly and resting his arms on his

thighs.

"Don't call me Mrs. Gale. Just call me Mary." Mary Gale pursed her lips.

"I wish for you to tail my husband and confirm if he has a mistress.

It's best if you can obtain material evidence."

As a result of the Church of Evernight's active push for years, the Loen

Kingdom was more radical in its marriage laws than the other countries,

such as Feysac, Intis, and Lenburg. It stipulated that those who

committed adultery had to pay a financial price for it, which meant that

the adulterer would be at an absolute disadvantage during the division

of property.

*I've heard that at least four out of ten of the other private

detectives are investigating extramarital affairs... I didn't expect

that I would receive such a job too...* Klein said thoughtfully,

"Material evidence is not easy to obtain."

"I'll lend you the latest portable camera," Mary replied without any

hesitation. "As long as you have the evidence, I will pay you ten

pounds. If you only confirm that he has a mistress, you will only

receive three pounds."

*You mean the so-called portable camera that's about two-thirds the size

of my head? 10 pounds, this isn't a low price...* Mr. Klein has

been focusing on entrepreneurship and knew about the latest cameras.

He hesitated for two seconds before saying, "Alright."

"But you have to provide me with detailed information about your husband

and his regular activities."

"...No problem!" Mary paused for a second before gathering all her

strength to say it.

"Thank you for your help. I hope you won't tell anyone else about this,"

Stelyn reminded him.

Hearing this, Klein immediately sighed, "I'm a person who upholds

confidentiality, and I often get into trouble for that."

In the lobby of Earl Wolf's house, men and women were dancing amid

violin tunes.

Audrey was carrying a glass of pale gold champagne when she

"accidentally" bumped into the Intis Republic ambassador to Loen,

Bakerland Jean Madan.

"You're the most beautiful young lady I've ever met." Bakerland, with

his thin face and slight stubble, pecked Audrey's white-gauzed glove

with a kiss according to propriety customs. His eyes looked passionate

and bold.

Audrey rolled her eyes and said with a chuckle, "Is this the way people

from Intis talk?"

"Yes, we are never stingy with praise for beautiful things." Bakerland

chuckled. "If it wasn't for the style of the Loen Kingdom, I might have

called you my angel."

Old pervert... Audrey maintained her graceful smile and said,

"The people of Loen and Intis are indeed different."

"Heh, that makes me think of a joke. Please allow me to be

presumptuous." Bakerland squinted his eyes and said, "After a good time

with a beautiful girl, most Loen men would say, 'Oh, dear, I'd like a

cigarette', but most Intis men would say..."

He deliberately paused, and Audrey tilted her head, trying her best to

keep her nausea in check while looking puzzled.

"What would they say?"

"Most of the Intis men would say, 'Oh, baby, I have to return now and

can't be discovered by my wife.'" Bakerland raised his glass and

laughed.

"...People who can laugh at themselves always have an additional charm

to them." Audrey smiled politely.

Her beautiful, clear, dark green eyes suddenly turned to look behind

Ambassador Bakerland.

"I'm sorry, a friend is looking for me."

"It's a pleasure talking to you." Bakerland bowed and moved aside.

Audrey moved forward gracefully and didn't look back again.

Just as she was considering who she should find as the object of her

excuse, a young gentleman approached her and, lowering his voice, warned

her, "Audrey, don't be fooled by that Ambassador Bakerland, he's a dirty

old man! I don't know how many women he's tricked into bed.

*Bakerland is lustful? This is in line with my observations... This is a

weakness...* Audrey smiled without hiding her disgust.

"Kance, do you have a misconception about me? Goddess, how could I be

bewitched by that Ambassador Bakerland? His cologne makes me want to

vomit; his words are so foul, and his taste is like a male peacock."

Kance was Viscount Leerhsen's youngest son, and their family was on

fairly good terms with the Hall family.

According to Audrey, Kance had entered MI9 after graduating from Tingen

University and had become quite enigmatic.

Her original plan had been to have a chat with Ambassador Backlund, and

observe him up close before using the pretext of exasperation to get

more information from Kance and his other friends from the intelligence

community to learn more about him. To her surprise, she didn't need to

seek out Kance Leerhsen since he came over and started the corresponding

conversation on his own accord.

"Your feelings are correct." Kance gave a sincere smile. He surveyed his

surroundings and whispered, "Besides, Bakerland is a very dangerous

fellow."

"How dangerous?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Have you heard of Beyonders? I know that you've always been interested

in such matters," Kance said with some deliberation.

Audrey gently nodded.

"I know quite a bit, most of it being told to me by Glaint."

Kance took a glance at Bakerland, who was chatting with an affluent

lady, and said with a serious expression, "He's Intis's intelligence

head in our Kingdom. He's done numerous atrocities, but we haven't been

able to gather any evidence of his crimes. He's a Sequence 6, a

Conspirer."

He didn't go into details with an outsider like Audrey, nor did he

mention that Conspirer was part of the Hunter pathway.

However, Audrey was already aware of this. She feigned naivety and

sighed.

"He's really amazing!"

"He has an assistant in the shadows, one that has perhaps reached

Sequence 5. In addition to that, all of the Intis intelligence agents in

the Kingdom are under his management. Many of them are Beyonders.

Unfortunately, we only know a few of them..." Kance added in passing.

"Don't be too happy if Bakerland praises you either. It's not what he

truly thinks. He just wants to use this opportunity to gather more

information."

I don't like what you're saying... Audrey looked up at the

ornate chandelier and thought for a few seconds.

"Is Bakerland very smart? You haven't managed to get any incriminating

evidence..."

"He truly is good at scheming, but he also has a lot of problems. He

likes to chase after women and loves the feeling of romance. He takes

risks and is quite radical. If it wasn't for his identity as an

ambassador preventing us from taking action easily, he would've been

captured long ago." Kance stroked his chin and said, "However, he'll be

replaced very soon. Very soon."

"Why?" Audrey asked in surprise.

"My dear beautiful lady, this isn't something you should know." Kance

adhered to the principle of confidentiality.

When the ball was almost over, Audrey, who had gathered quite a bit of

information, found Viscount Glaint and asked him to help her contact Xio

and Fors.