Chapter 862: Kind Warning
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."