This was Mr. Franklin’s third visit to commission a job. The content of the commission was the same as before: to forcibly remove young Franklin, who was addicted to Tarot cards, from that illegal night-operating club.
Mr. Franklin had reached his limit. He planned to sell his property and quit his job in the near future, abandoning the thirty years of hard work he and his wife had put into this northern capital city. He intended to leave the rich and prosperous Tobesk, move his entire family to the west of the kingdom, to the city of Aethelgard, known as the "City of Arts." Mr. Franklin’s older brother had lived in that city for many years and could introduce the family to new jobs.
Of course, more importantly, he wanted to keep young Franklin away from those rotten friends, away from Tarot cards and gambling tables.
"After you bring him back this time, I will lock him directly in the house. Until we finish moving next month, when I will take him straight onto the steam train. So, Detective Hamilton, can you bring my son out of that club?"
The client confirmed.
This task only required Shade to set off immediately, enter the club, and persuade young Mr. Franklin to leave with him. Therefore, the accountant’s offer was 13 shillings and 3 pence, which was a little over half a pound. For an accountant with an annual income of about 70 pounds, this was roughly half a week's salary.
This commission fee included the club’s entrance ticket and an extra subsidy for working at night. Although compared to the commission for finding Miss Mia, this business wasn't even worth "half a cat," Shade considered it and was willing to accept the job.
He had recently seen the Franklin family’s affairs in the previous detective’s commission records, which documented the process of the detective persuading young Franklin to leave with him.
"A very simple task, there won't be any mistakes."
Leaving the orange cat at home and worrying that Miss Mia might be scared, Shade even endured the pain of not turning off the gas lamp before heading out. Mr. Franklin went home to wait for news, while Shade, due to the long distance, chose to take a carriage to his destination.
The fare for rental carriages in Tobesk followed different rules depending on the passenger's boarding point and destination. Within the city center, centered on Yodel Palace, the fare was 1 shilling for a distance of 2 miles within a 4-mile radius, and 5 pence for every mile thereafter. If one left the central urban area for a long-distance trip, the cost per mile would be slightly cheaper.
Shade’s destination this time was in the Lower City, which was the North City. Including the extra tip that needed to be paid to the driver for night travel, he paid a total of 3 shillings when he got off at the dim alley entrance.
Fortunately, the Franklin family also lived in the North City, so there would be no need to take a carriage after finding young Franklin.
At the same time, the expensive cost of the rental carriage made Shade realize the wealth gap in this complex and prosperous steam age, as well as how many challenges he, as someone from the bottom of society, would have to face.
The city night was quiet, but Shade, who had become a Ring-bearer, felt a terrifying sensation from the silent long night, like staring into an abyss. The secrets and unknowns hidden within Tobesk, the largest city in the north, and the mysteries in the shadows of alleys and corners of apartments were certainly not few, but fortunately, Shade did not encounter any of them tonight.
"This world... is more dangerous than I imagined."
The club, named "Lucky Southern Cross," had its main entrance on Glass Mountain Avenue. But if one wanted to enter the club's casino, one had to enter through the back door in the alley.
Following the records left by the previous detective, Shade entered the alley and circled halfway through the darkness before seeing the silver-gray, rusty iron door. During this, a stray cat suddenly darted out from the top of the wall, startling the detective and making him annoyed at his own "timidity."
After carefully knocking on the iron door three times in succession and waiting for a full half-minute, a tall man with a thick beard, wearing a black overcoat and leather boots, opened the door from the inside with a vigilant look.
"This is no place for a young man."
He glanced at the young detective and reached out to push him, but unexpectedly, he didn't budge him. Even as just a First-Ring Ring-bearer, his physical fitness had been greatly enhanced.
"Are the rules here this barbaric?"
Shade displayed a Tarot card—the Silver Moon 13, one of the deck he had picked up on the roof of the pet boarding center that morning—and then said
"I’m here to see Mr. Rod, for some matters on the table."
He then offered three one-penny coins as an entrance fee.
"I thought you were... here for the first time?"
The bearded man glanced at the card, confirming the code was correct.
"I have an acquaintance who introduced me."
Shade replied in a low voice. The bearded man looked him over again before stepping aside, letting Shade enter the back corridor of the club, which was illuminated by dim yellow gas lamps.
The detective immediately turned up the collar of his trench coat to cover half his face, looked vigilantly left and right in the alley, and then walked in.
"Although this is an illegal casino, there's no need for that..."
The bearded man muttered behind Shade.
The corridor was quite dim, and the air was filled with a disgusting smell of sweat, alcohol, and tobacco. After walking less than ten steps inside, doors appeared on both sides of the corridor. All the doors were left ajar, allowing the harsh light from the rooms to shine into the corridor, where one could hear chaotic shouting and the sound of hands slapping tables.
Shade did not enter any of the rooms. He cautiously walked straight ahead and quietly used [Echo of Blood] to check his surroundings. He didn't find any overly obvious bloodstains, which meant that at least there were no more serious illegal activities going on here.
"Although it's not a combat-type spell, it's inexplicably useful."
The corridor led to the brighter east hall of the club. Dozens of wide, four-legged wooden tables covered with tablecloths were placed in the hall. Decent-looking gentlemen, drunks who had just left the tavern, and workers who had finished their night shifts—all kinds of people crowded around the tables, waving banknotes in their hands around the still somewhat dim tabletops, excitedly watching the gambling games.
The Lucky Southern Cross Club was divided into three floors; only guests with sufficient status could go to the casino upstairs. Young Franklin was clearly only able to hang around on the first floor. Last time, Detective Sparrow Hamilton had found the young man lying in the corner, dead drunk, in the east hall.
Because there were so many people, and Shade had only heard Mr. Franklin describe young Franklin’s clothing and appearance, he did not find the young man immediately.
Holding a 1-shilling note in his hand, he soon blended into the crowded hall. He kept stopping at different tables, observing whether there was anyone he was looking for, but he would never throw his banknote onto the gambling table. The cost of the carriage ride already made his heart ache; Mr. Franklin would not reimburse unnecessary expenses during the detective process.
In half an hour, he had seen almost the entire east hall, but he hadn't found his target. Instead, while pretending to study the bets at a table, he heard the gamblers chatting about an interesting thing that had happened here an hour ago.
A young man with small eyes, wearing a gray hat, a sailor’s shirt, and a face full of freckles, had been taken to the second floor to be forced to "repay his debts" because he owed too much money at the gambling table.
Shade didn't know the meaning of "repay his debts," but he figured it wasn't a good thing. He knew he had found traces of young Franklin, and the young man’s situation was quite bad.
Entering the second floor of the club required showing at least 10 pounds in cash, and also required an introduction from an acquaintance. Shade had no money and no acquaintances, but he had to go to the second floor. Now was not the time to give up; after all, it was his first official commission.
After waiting for a while, fortunately, not long after, a group of dozens of drunks stumbled out of a room on one side of the corridor and headed toward the second floor together.
"A good opportunity!"
Shade dodged to the side with a few people near the stairs, but as the drunks passed by, he immediately supported one of them who was slightly behind, enduring the smell of alcohol on him, and blended into the crowd. The detective finally arrived on the second floor.
"Sure enough, there is never an easy time to make money."
Compared to the noisy environment of the first floor, the second floor was significantly quieter, and the decor was more elegant. Even at night, this was still a drinking club rather than a casino.
PS: Speaking of which, the five-person Ring-bearer group now has three professions revealed: Detective (Shade), Psychologist (Bill Schneider), and Writer/Journalist (Dorothy Louisa). You can guess the professions of the remaining two. A hint: they are also professions that are prone to causing trouble, which will make the subsequent stories more interesting (laughs).