[WP] Chapter 4 The detective's commissioned task

[WP] Chapter 4: The detective's commissioned task

"Since I have a short-term goal, the current plan is to check the room in more detail, search for currency, find city maps, and search for books. Learn about the world through text, explore the background of the times and religious customs, and carefully adapt to this place. Do I have to stay for three months to help the detective complete that task? Make plans after understanding everything."

Shade summarized the current situation and accepted the fact that the detective was dead. The worst situation at present is not that there are mysteries in this world, but that there is no memory of the original owner, so there is no understanding of this world at all. Other than that, the current situation is pretty good.

Standing up, Shade walked in the direction of the bathroom.

The gas lamp in the bathroom has some problems. Even if it is adjusted to the maximum power, it can only emit a weak light.

Looking at the person in the mirror in this light, he has dull blond hair, dark brown eyes, and a face that is obviously of a Western race. He is about 20 years old, and his expression seems a little nervous. He is about 1.8 meters tall.

After all, he was a homeless man before, so his appearance is not particularly outstanding, but Shade's aesthetics, can be considered pretty good.

"This is me. Don't be scared by my new appearance in the future."

He carefully reminded himself in his heart but did not leave the mirror immediately. Instead, he looked around cautiously and called out in a low voice:

"Hello, hello, Are you still there?"

He tried to communicate with the whispering woman's voice again to determine what the other party was. But there was no result for a long time, so he could only accept the reality and give up temporarily.

The next step is to find currency. No food was found when searching the kitchen just now, and this body was hungry, so he needed to forget other troubles temporarily and get money to eat.

But the accident happened again. About half an hour later, Shade sat back on the sofa in the warm yellow light, with an expression of indescribable panic on his face.

He held a banknote with the number 10 in his hand. The banknote had many folds and stains and was smaller than the card in the diary. There was a portrait of a person on the number side, and on the back was the emblem of the royal family of the Kingdom of Delarian, where he was currently.

After searching the entire house, looking through all the books and documents, and emptying all the pockets in the closet, Shade only found this banknote that seemed to have slipped in accidentally in the gap behind the bookshelf.

"Could it be that the prices in this world are special, and this banknote can keep me alive for three months?"

Even if he used such a joking method to comfort himself, he knew it was impossible.

"This is bad."

He leaned back slightly, leaning against the back of the sofa, closed his eyes, and looked up at the white ceiling.

"Mr. Hamilton, where did you hide the money? I promised to stay; you won't leave me a penny."

Even though he felt terrified, he wanted to catch up with the carriage pulling the coffin, wake up the dead body in the coffin, and question him.

If you don't speak the language, you can survive if you are smarter; if you are physically disabled, as long as you live bravely, survival is not a problem. But without money, it is completely impossible.

Mr. Hamilton obviously didn't cook at home in the past, and there was not even a leaf of vegetables in the kitchen, so there would be no dead rats. He didn't know when Shade's body last ate, but he needed to eat now.

Considering the limits of human existence, Shade must find a way to find money immediately, or find a way to make money; otherwise, he may be forced to look for a restaurant on the map after sunset and then try his luck in the trash can in the alley outside the restaurant.

"No, it won't happen."

He looked at the only banknote in his hand with a very scary expression, his face as gloomy as the sky outside.

"Although I don't know the face value, it's at least money. There is also the card [Sun 3] in the diary, which can keep me alive. However, since I can't find money for the time being, I must consider long-term ways to make money."

The knowledge of the time traveler may be valuable, but it is not only troublesome but also dangerous to cash in knowledge in a strange place, not to mention that this world itself has a mysterious power.

He thought that this was a detective agency, and Mr. Hamilton seemed to have said before his death that he left some safer tasks so that Shade, who was "not very smart,"  could maintain his identity as a detective and keep the detective agency going.

Since the dead detective's coin has not been found for the time being, he must prepare for the worst and consider the means of making a living in the future.

"Speaking of this, Mr. Hamilton knew that Shade—the original Shade—was not very smart, so he must have left simple tasks to maintain the operation of the detective agency. So, maybe he has already solved those cases, and I just need to come to collect the money! Although there are mysteries in this world, at least the lives of ordinary people are mainstream."

Shade suddenly had an inspiration, got up and took the diary in the shadow from the bedside table in the master bedroom, and found the account book, memo, and work log as the detective's relics from the study. Although the money was not found just now, these things were found.

Detective Sparrow Hamilton is a very organized and rigorous person. Even though Shade has not studied accounting or business administration, he thinks that his detailed records of the operation of the agency are touching. Of course, it is mainly Shade who is moved, because the cases that have not been solved by the agency are very simple, and most of them have been completed.

"Looking for Miss White's runaway sister, tracking Mr. Lawrence's mistress, looking for the missing orange cat Mia, and inquiring about a doctor who can treat eye diseases. They all seem simple and not very dangerous. Oh, Mr. Hamilton has already dealt with most of them. If I want to stay and run this place, two or three weeks to completely solve one thing is enough for the operation here."

Shade concluded while flipping through Mr. Hamilton's handwritten report. But now he doesn't need to run the detective agency for a long time but just get a sum of money to maintain his short-term livelihood.

Comparing the remaining difficulty, payment method, and amount of the four things, Shade decided to solve the commission of "tracking Mr. Lawrence's mistress" first.

From the case report, Detective Hamilton has been tracking for several months, but he stopped tracking recently because of poor health. The current report can be handed over to the employer to settle the remaining payment. But Mr. Hamilton left a note in the report, taking into account that Shade didn't know many words, and all of them were simple words.

The note said that if he was interested in completing this commission, it would be best to submit a recent record so that the reward would probably be higher and the employer would not be suspicious.

In other words, Shade only needed to track once more to complete the commission. Although this was not a perfect completion, it at least met the requirements of the employer, Mr. Lawrence's wife, and was enough to get the remaining amount of the commission marked as "1 pound 7 shillings,"  which was 1 pound 4 shillings.

From the tone of the detective's notes, this was a considerable reward.

In addition to the reward, the reason for choosing this commission was that Detective Hamilton had handled many commissions to help his wife catch his mistress. It was the simplest commission and would not go wrong at the final handover. Sparrow Hamilton was not a famous detective, but he was very good at handling extramarital affair investigations.

Shade didn't want to stay in this scary house where someone had just died and drink cold water and eat paper to fill his stomach, so he prepared to start the investigation and try to submit the report to his employer before dusk.

"No problem, first pass this commission, get the first sum of money, then slowly explore the secrets of the dead detective, figure out the source of the voice in my head, and everything will be fine!"

He encouraged himself in his heart, first found the city map, and based on the report of Detective Hamilton's relics and the calendar on the wall, he deduced the possible location of the mistress named "Mrs. Lasoya." These are all simple tasks, and the most difficult step is to find the current location in the "Tobesk City Map.".

There are many annotations on the Tobesk City Map of the agency, which were left by the previous detective and even marked the location of the tavern where he often used to inquire about information and the black market where "sensitive items" were traded.

However, the original detective did not have the habit of marking his home on the map. Fortunately, when Shade was looking for information, he found a past tracking record with the route of the operation, so he determined that the location of this apartment was No. 6, St. Teresa Square, in the center of Tobesk.

"Thanks to Detective Sparrow Hamilton for his detailed record. This is a house next to the square in the city center, huh? How much should such a house cost?"

Shade said in surprise. At the same time, he found a palace complex called "Yodele Palace" just two streets away from St. Teresa Square.

And from the wrinkled newspaper, the second page between the news on the front page, "The third round of steam pipeline renovation in the whole city," and the third page, "Investigation report on the collapse of the ancient tower on Mount Karas," mentioned that "Yodele Palace" was the residence of the royal family of the Kingdom of Delarian.

Shade, who had no house in the original world, suddenly felt his heart beat faster, and the panic and tension were even dispersed by a moment of surprise.

He looked at the document in his hand and muttered to himself:

"That is to say, I am now in the capital city of one of the two major kingdoms in the world, the Kingdom of Delarian, and it is an apartment next to the city center square. I have such a house, and I still have to worry about starving to death."

The depressed mood from just now suddenly relaxed, but the house could not be converted into cash immediately, and Shade did not intend to give up Mr. Hamilton's three-month commission. At least he had a foothold and would consider it again.

But at least a very sincere smile appeared on his face, replacing the nervous expression. With a house in this location in hand, there is no need to worry about the smile on his face gradually disappearing in the future. Shade realized that he had even turned over the will just now, but he did not turn over the title deed or house deed.

"Is this apartment rented?"

The more he thought about it, the more possible it was. If he could afford a house in this location, why would he need to open a detective agency? The rent would be enough to support himself. Even if the detective's original business was not just for making money, judging from the interior decoration, this house does not look like it belongs to Detective Hamilton himself.

"That is to say, I will most likely have to pay an unknown amount of rent every month."

Shade came to this conclusion incredulously and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall of the living room again.

It is now the Sunshine Month of 1853, which is the third Saturday of June. If he has to pay rent, he will likely have to pay at the beginning of each month.

"This world also has a December system, and the dates of each month are very similar to the past. Otherwise, I'd better run away, pack my clothes, pull my suitcase, carry a bucket, and run away, and start my journey in this mysterious world as a tramp. Not only will I have no income here, but Mr. Hamilton may have left me with debts that I don't know about."

(End of this chapter)