[WP] Chapter 6 Correspondence Education

[WP] Chapter 6: Correspondence Education

Leaving the house and walking on the street is considered to have truly entered this world. Compared with the hustle and bustle of the city, Shade, who walked into it, was as inconspicuous as a drop of water merging into the sea.

He rarely spoke, just walking towards his destination, the "Lark Club." Walking and listening along the way, understanding this world, understanding this city, and understanding everything around.

To put it simply, this world is a bit like the steam revolution in the past world in the 19th century, but compared to the past world, the steam industry here is more prosperous, and it feels like going all the way along the road of steam without turning.

While the harmful black fog was spewing out from the chimneys of the factory, various strange inventions were also created, and the economy was taking off with the development of productivity.

Just as Shade guessed, the city he was in now was Tobesk, the capital of the human northern kingdom of Delarian. It was the pearl of the northern continent, the gathering point of human civilization, and the essence of the times.

A big city naturally has to look like a big city. Although it is limited by the shackles of the times and leaves the streets and enters the alleys, it is inevitable to encounter feces and garbage dumps, but the appearance of a big city still catches Shade's eyes during the short one-hour journey.

Fortunately, the "Lark Club" is not far from the city center. If it spans the entire city, Shade may not be able to reach it until midnight. The key point is that Shade has no money to take a carriage.

He also gained more information about this world from the perspective of an observer along the way. The most important point is to know the monetary system. At least in the current country, the common coins are divided into gold pounds, shillings, and pennies, of which 1 pound = 20 shillings and 1 shilling = 12 pence.

Of course, this name is very similar to British currency. It is not that it is similar, but that Shade translated the names of three different currencies from a foreign language to make them familiar. After all, the conversion method of numerical values is very similar.

The unfortunate fact is that the banknote with the number "10" that Shade found is worth 10 pence. With the current purchasing power, this is not even enough for him to take a carriage from his doorstep to the door of the club.

But if he saves money and uses 10 pence to go to the bakery that is about to close in the evening, competing with the children and housewives in the slums to buy the cheapest breadcrumbs, he can at least ensure that he will not starve to death within three days.

"At least it is a peaceful era now. The Kingdom of Delarian in our country, as one of the largest kingdoms of mankind, has some local friction with another powerful kingdom, the United Kingdom of Carsenrick in the south, but relatively speaking, this is an era of peace and development, an era of progress. Luck is pretty good."

Shade is very good at comforting himself.

This world is temporarily peaceful. The Kingdom of Delarian in the north of the old continent and the United Kingdom of Carsenrick in the south have almost divided the world. The total war ended decades ago. Although it is still undercurrent, it is at least peaceful on the surface.

Club culture seems to be a special culture of this era. Shade learned from the investigation report that the mistress under investigation, Mrs. Lasoya, would visit the "Lark Club" every weekend and stay there for at least three hours.

Detective Hamilton's report speculated that this was the place where Mrs. Lasoya and Mr. Lawrence had a tryst, because every time Mrs. Lasoya appeared in the club, Mr. Lawrence would enter.

This is a private club with membership. Shade did not have permission to enter, so after walking to the Valente Pedestrian Street at the intersection, he stopped and observed at the door of the newspaper opposite the club according to the records in the investigation report.

That was the newspaper owned by the "Tobesk City Evening News,"  and it was said that the royal family also had a stake. Saturday is the busiest time for the newspaper because Saturday is the time for the King's Speech and the Parliament's report.

A group of people will gather at the door of the newspaper at this time, waiting for new news to be delivered. The full-time reporters have already set off, and those who stay at the door of the newspaper are people waiting for luck.

Shade plans to blend in. Although it is already noon, the mistress Lasoya usually does not appear in the club in the morning. So if he is lucky, he will soon find the target.

As long as the time of the lady's appearance and departure is recorded, the report will be completed.

Sand felt unreal to complete this task so easily. But after all, Hamilton has almost completed everything, so this is one of the "legacies" left by the dead gentleman.

Shade held a pocket watch, one of Mr. Hamilton's legacies, in his hand. So when he stood by the mailbox at the door of the newspaper, pretending to wait for someone to look around for a long time, he finally saw the target appear and immediately compared it with the black and white photo in the report. Confirmed and recorded 1:23, which was the time when the mistress Lasoya appeared.

The lady was fashionable, and the lace decoration on the hem of her skirt and the gemstone hair ornaments on her hair were expensive. She took a carriage directly to the entrance of the club, and even though the weather was gloomy, she still held a cloth umbrella.

Looking at her age, she was about 30 years old, of average height but a plump figure. Although the powder on her face was a bit thick, she was also a beauty.

Because of the fear of being discovered, Shade also knew that he had no experience in tracking, so after confirming that it was the target, he immediately looked away.

[Observe her ring.]

"What?"

The woman's whispering voice appeared again in his mind. Although Shade didn't know what she was specifically, he still turned his attention to Mrs. Lasoya.

At this time, the doorman of the club was already greeting, and when the woman turned around, Shade saw the ring. It was strange that the ring was inlaid with neither gemstones nor diamonds, but rather a small pebble.

Of course, since he was observing from across the street, pedestrians on the street would occasionally block his view, so he was not sure whether he had made a mistake. Mrs. Lasoya also quickly entered the club and did not give Shade many opportunities to observe.

"What do you mean? Why do you want me to pay attention to the ring?"

He asked the voice in his mind again, but the murmur did not take the initiative to sound because of his question. This made Shade a little annoyed, but he knew to control his emotions. He was not the kind of person who gets angry easily.

"Sir, what time is it now?"

While thinking about something, he suddenly heard someone talking next to him. Shade was startled, thinking that he was standing by the mailbox and looking at the door of the club on the other side of the street too conspicuously, but he realized that someone was asking the time when he heard the voice.

"Sorry, I forgot to bring my pocket watch."

The one who explained his rash inquiry was a middle-aged gentleman in his forties who looked quite elegant and easy-going. He wore a black silk hat, formal clothes, and a white shirt as if he were going to a banquet. His face was a bit wide, with a tuft of exquisite mustache on his chin, and his blue eyes were very attractive.

The middle-aged man smiled at Shade, and Shade hesitated for a moment and took out the pocket watch he had just put into the right pocket of his jacket.

"One thirty."

He said and was a little curious about why the middle-aged man was there. This outfit didn't look like a reporter waiting for news at all. Shade's outfit with a notebook was more like that.

As if he heard Shade's thoughts, the middle-aged gentleman smiled and said:

"Thank you for your time. I have an appointment with the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. I didn't bring my pocket watch, and I thought I would be late. Now it seems just right."

He handed over his business card, and Shade politely took it and handed over his business card as well. It was the business card of the deceased Mr. Hamilton, which had the address and business scope of the detective agency, and the name was only "Detective Hamilton" without a prefix.

Since Shade chose "Hamilton" as his last name, he could of course use these business cards. He was very happy that there was no household registration system here at all, and he didn't even need to forge identity documents.

The middle-aged man was named Bill Schneider, and he ran a private psychological clinic. Unlike Shade's current unstable career, Schneider's psychological clinic was quite formal, and the income of the psychological clinic was more than that of a detective like Shade, who relied on inheritance to conduct his first investigation. The evidence was that Shade's business card was a bit shabby than the doctor's business card, and the other party's business card was much better in terms of paper and printing level.

"If you have any questions, you can come here to find me."

Mr. Schneider said very kindly, pointing to the clinic address on the business card, which was the address in the eastern district of Tobesk:

"My treatment range is very wide."

He looked at Shade, who had a creepy illusion that he was being seen through those blue eyes.

"Including schizophrenia."

The psychiatrist said very kindly that he was very good at communicating with strangers.

"What?"

Shade's heart jumped, but before he asked, Mr. Bill Schneider quickly changed the subject:

"Speaking of which, Mr. Detective, have you ever considered taking correspondence adult education?"

"Correspondence adult education?"

The topic changed too quickly, and Shade didn't keep up with the train of thought:

"I don't plan to study psychology for the time being."

He thought the other party was an enthusiastic graduate of a psychology college.

But Shade refused, and the doctor did not pester him.

"Well, see you later."

The doctor nodded to the detective, put the detective's business card into his pocket, and then turned to walk towards the courtyard of the newspaper office.

"Correspondence. Speaking of which, what did Dr. Schneider mean by mentioning schizophrenia?"

Shade stood there and thought silently, and then realized that the voice he heard in his head seemed very similar to the so-called "schizophrenia.".

"You don't have to laugh in my head. I admit that your laughter is very nice and charming. You are not the product of my schizophrenia."

Shade said to the voice in his head.

Although he was sure that his situation was a case of contact with the mysterious, and it was not schizophrenia. But he was not sure what this psychologist he met by chance saw.

"I just went out and I met someone who might have supernatural powers. Is my luck too bad? Or is the density of supernatural people in this world greater than I thought? Or maybe the psychiatrist just mentioned it casually, and I thought too much?"

Shade thought to himself and carefully put away Dr. Schneider's business card. In any case, the commission is the most important thing at the moment. Since I know the address of the psychiatrist, I can go there anytime.

At least from the brief communication just now, Dr. Schneider doesn't seem to have any hostility. But the real thoughts can't be seen from the brief communication. Shade still wants to understand this world a little bit before communicating with people in depth.

(End of this chapter)