Instead of searching for a hired carriage at the street corner, Miss Louisa led Shade through two streets before suddenly turning into an inconspicuous alleyway. After walking a short distance, she actually produced a key and unlocked the door to one of the houses in the alley.
"Shade, we can't have only one hiding spot, can we?"
She said to Shade with a smile as she pushed open the door
"I bet Annette, Father Augustus, and the doctor also have similar second hiding spots, which can also be used to store sensitive items that aren't frequently used."
This "safe house" was not rented; Miss Louisa had purchased it at a low price through family connections. Although the price was reasonable, the living conditions here were very poor. Miss Louisa didn't treat it as her own home, but merely as a temporary warehouse.
According to her, Shade was the second person to know of this location besides herself.
"Should I feel honored?"
After entering the low-ceilinged house, Shade asked while surveying the interior, which was furnished to look like an ordinary poor household. Miss Louisa had already entered a small basement located beneath the house via a trapdoor under the bed. Aside from the trapdoor, the basement had a very small opening that allowed one to crawl into the city's sewer system, though she would not use it lightly.
It wasn't because she feared the secret passage would be discovered, but because it was simply intolerably foul-smelling.
A muffled voice drifted up from the basement
"You not only told me your secrets but even lent me the priceless [Ever-Youth Leaf]; is there anything I cannot tell you? So far, aside from Lecia, Shade, you are the person I trust most."
As she spoke, she climbed out from under the trapdoor and handed Shade a very thick black robe and a mask
"The place we're going to might be dangerous; it's better that we remain cautious."
As she spoke, she put on a robe herself. To tuck her long golden hair into the hood, she struggled to tie it back.
As Miss Louisa adjusted her collar and prepared to pull up the hood, Shade noticed she had used a silver clip to secure the leaf, hanging it around her neck. Shade's leaf was clipped inside his pocket watch cover; although he had no use for the watch now, it served as a fine ornament.
Leaving Miss Louisa's safe house, they walked another block east before finding an available hired carriage at the intersection. The two of them, dressed in robes and hoods, looked quite strange, but the driver merely hesitated for a moment. After stating that he would not leave the city limits or go to remote areas, he let them board.
It seemed that those who dared to solicit business at night always possessed a certain level of worldly insight.
The carriage traveled for nearly an hour through the quiet night, arriving at the northern edge of the Tobesk city district. Subsequently, Miss Louisa led Shade along winding roads, passing through dense clusters of low shacks and simple two-story houses on the outskirts. Stepping through mud and smelling various strange odors, they continued moving further away from the city center.
There were no gas streetlamps here, and one could hardly see the light of many candles.
This was the village on the northern periphery of the city, a temporary residence for the massive influx of outsiders attracted by this City of Fog. In the early stages of this world's steam industrial revolution, only a few poor families had lived here temporarily; later, it gradually grew into a settlement of this scale, becoming a peculiar rural fringe attached to the city's outskirts.
However, this situation only occurred in the North City. This was not only because the North City was the lower district in the traditional sense, but also because the vast plains to the north were the best agricultural lands and pastures in the Tobesk region.
Labor was always needed here. The open plains of the north and the suburban villages nestled in the gaps of the city seemed to exist naturally for the sake of this prosperous steam metropolis.
Avoiding a drunkard vomiting against a mud wall, bypassing a boy urinating in front of his own door, and intimidating a black wolfhound that wanted to bark at strangers with a glare, Shade followed behind Miss Louisa, traversing a suburban village that seemed two centuries behind the city.
The village had no definite edge; the houses simply grew sparser, signifying that they were moving away from human habitation.
Further ahead was a small grove. In less than five minutes, they crossed the woodland along a forest path, after which a gravel road appeared. Walking a few hundred more steps along the path, they finally saw their destination: the cemetery located in the northern suburbs.
This was not part of the city's public cemetery. The public cemetery was jointly managed by the [Church of Nature and Malice] and the City Hall; Shade's superior, Mr. Anlos, had almost secured that leisurely post.
This place belonged to people who lived in or outside the city but lacked the qualifications to be buried in the public cemetery.
Although the plot prices at the Tobesk public cemetery were low, there were always people in this world who could not afford such a price. Consequently, some burial grounds appeared in the suburbs where the poor could be laid to rest; as for safety and environment, those were not things the poor could afford to consider.
The suburbs lacked the fog found in the city. The cemetery situated by the woods was very clear under the March light, and one could even say it looked somewhat mystical.
Miss Louisa slowed her pace, walking shoulder to shoulder with Shade, and whispered to him
"The person we are visiting is commonly known as Mr. Corps. He is the largest provider of corpse-type materials in the Tobesk region. However, this man is the gravedigger here, and his temperament is very eccentric. Regardless of whether they are regulars, any Ringmaster who enters the cemetery under his management after the sun sets will be treated quite unfriendlily, yet he only receives guests after sunset. So, stay behind me in a moment and do not use Silver Moon occult arts; I will handle any danger."
"Is he an illegal figure?"
Shade inquired in a low voice, the sound of his shoes stepping on dry twigs on the gravel path seeming to carry a great distance.
"Although this man's personality is a bit eccentric, he usually hides in the cemetery conducting his own research; none of the wanted posters from the Churches of the True Gods match him. Moreover, his unfriendliness toward nighttime visitors is mostly just warnings," the blonde girl replied.
"Then where do those corpse materials come from? Surely not..."
Shade pointed quietly ahead.
"At least they aren't dug up from this cemetery; no gravedigger would be foolish enough to steal corpses from his own jurisdiction. As for where they come from... Detective, I cannot answer that question."
She used "Detective" instead of "Shade" because the two of them had approached the cemetery.
Shade shut his mouth and silently followed behind Miss Louisa.
He understood that the source of corpse-type materials could not be legal in an era where order had been established. As for whether they were stolen, purchased, or obtained through other means, he could not guess, nor could he possibly figure it out, so he simply chose not to worry about it.
(End of Chapter)