The floor of the corridor was covered with a red carpet. The swaying group, led by a waiter waiting at the top of the second-floor stairs, walked straight into the second room on the left.
The room was quite spacious, and the gas lamps were turned up to their maximum power, illuminating everything inside with a brilliant, golden glow. Yet, having just left the chaotic environment downstairs, the normalcy of the current scene felt strangely distorted.
The interior of the room resembled an ordinary parlor, but a massive gambling table sat in the center.
The tabletop was wider, and there were more chairs. Against the wall stood a liquor cabinet, along with two women dressed in rather inappropriate attire and wearing heavy makeup. Neither the drunks nor the waiter acting as the dealer noticed Shade, who shouldn't have been there; the group simply moved into the new room to continue their previous indulgences.
Shade stood near a sofa, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, looking for a chance to slip out into the corridor.
He was contemplating whether he should use his "Ignite" ability to create a small distraction when he heard the drunk he had been supporting earlier speak to a man sitting on the sofa with his head down and a scar on the corner of his mouth
"Captain Lades, tell us again the story of how, when you were captured by those Southerners, you tried to commit suicide by shooting yourself in the head eight times just to remain loyal to the Kingdom!"
The drunk burst into loud laughter. Captain Lades, the subject of the mockery, kept his head down and said nothing, staring gloomily at his boots.
"Lades has only just been ransomed; let's not talk about that. Why not find a pistol and have him demonstrate it for us? Hahahaha~"
The man clutching three cards at the table turned back to add, and the room was instantly filled with a joyous atmosphere. Taking advantage of the group's laughter and their turn-taking to mock the "Eight-Shot Captain" who had just returned home after being captured, Shade successfully left the noisy room and returned to the corridor.
The soundproofing of the walls and doors was excellent; after walking a few steps, Shade could barely hear the uproarious laughter from inside the room. He walked along the wall; there was no one in the corridor, which actually favored his movements.
Although he didn't know where young Franklin was, according to the records of the previous detective, the Lucky Southern Cross Club had an emergency exit on the second floor that led directly outside, so Shade wasn't worried about being caught.
But as he thought this, he turned a corner and came face-to-face with a man wearing a uniform clearly different from the casino guards downstairs.
Shade held his head high and walked forward, not letting himself show any timidity. Even so, he was still stopped by the man
"Sorry, sir, please wait a moment. I don't think I've seen you before."
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Shade's shoulder. Although Shade had no experience in close-quarters combat, his instinctive dodge was unexpectedly successful. This made him realize once again that the enhancement provided by being an Extraordinary was comprehensive
"Yes, I was invited up; I just went to the washroom."
He explained.
"But isn't the washroom over there?"
The man pointed in the direction the detective had just come from, looking at him with suspicion
"You've got quite the reflexes."
"...The washroom over there is broken. The stuff those drunks threw up clogged the toilet. Oh, I really don't want to describe that scene to you."
Shade was quite proud of his own quick wit, but the man who stopped him still frowned
"Sir, you aren't a guest on the second floor, are you?"
Although it was a question, the tone was already one of certainty.
Shade gave an awkward smile; there was no point in continuing to quibble. Fortunately, he had no dangerous items on him, and he truly hadn't done anything wrong in this club
"Alright, I was just curious about the second floor. I followed some guests up when they came up earlier. I'll leave the club immediately; I understand."
Since the unexpected had happened, Shade didn't need to lock horns with gangsters running a casino over half a pound. He started to step back, but was stopped again by the man's next words
"Don't wander around in the future. Everyone above the second floor is a VIP. If you want to play here, you have to follow the rules. You don't have to leave; you can continue on the first floor... Wait, you aren't here looking for 'Poor Guy' Franklin, are you?"
He frowned.
"Well, yes."
Thinking about the current situation, Shade decided there was no need to lie; the other party seemed like a reasonable person for the moment
"If you're talking about the young man with the gray hat, sailor shirt, and freckled face with small eyes, yes, his father asked me to take him away."
"His father sent someone again? Come with me. Pay off the money he owes, and you can take him."
The man beckoned to Shade and led him along the corridor
"You should have said so on the first floor. For guys like this who owe gambling debts, we're always worried about how to find someone to pay them back."
The guys running the casino were unexpectedly reasonable.
"I didn't think... how much does he owe?"
Shade asked the crucial question. The accountant had promised that if his son owed money at the casino, the detective could pay it in advance and be reimbursed, but Shade himself didn't have much cash on hand.
"1 pound 6 shillings. Including interest and his room and board here for these days, two pounds, and you can take him."
The stakes on the first floor weren't actually that high. For young Franklin to lose that much in two days, he probably hadn't guessed a single win correctly. But that was none of Shade's business. Mr. Franklin could afford debts under 10 pounds, and Shade happened to have 2 pounds.
The man added
"Of course, since you're here on behalf of his father, then just like last time, if you're willing to give us 3 pounds 6 shillings, the casino can give you a 5-pound receipt to take to 'Poor Guy' Franklin's father..."
It took Shade several seconds to realize what the man meant. He had seen this kind of thing in his original world, but he was still stunned by the business acumen of the gangsters running a casino in this other world. He thought for a moment and shook his head
"Thank you for your kindness, but I'll pass this time. Long-term business is better."
He just felt some sympathy for Mr. Franklin, who was about to move his whole family, and felt he didn't need to make money that way. The man leading the way didn't mind; instead, he agreed with Shade's view
"That's true, long-term business. Anyway, 'Poor Guy' Franklin will be back."
Shade admitted he had some very sinister thoughts about the club's so-called "debt repayment," but in reality, young Franklin was just being forced to help wash dishes in the kitchen; he would be released once he had washed enough.
When the man led Shade into the kitchen, they happened to see a fat man in a chef's uniform punch the small-eyed young man to the ground. The thin-looking young Franklin fell onto a floor covered in Rhodes cards, and the blood from his loosened teeth splattered onto the surface of the cards.
At the end of the kitchen lay a bloody pig's head, and a steam pipe was spraying hot steam onto it; the fat chef seemed to have been processing it just moments ago.
"Stop hitting him, someone's here to ransom him," the man leading the way said lazily, first waving his hand to disperse the kitchen smell in front of his nose, then reaching out for Shade to pay. Shade stuffed the two pounds of banknotes he had prepared into the man's hand and pulled up young Franklin from the floor
"Your father asked me to—"
"Mr. Neet, he can't leave now. This damn kid tried to run away and even bit me," the chef said, exasperated, holding out his chubby hand to show the bloody tooth marks
"Give me half a pound, or he can't leave."
PS: Currently at 1K favorites. I'm getting a trial recommendation on Monday, though the web version isn't a particularly good spot. Qidian seems to have a PK mechanism; I hope it doesn't end after the first round.
Also, readers familiar with Xianyu should know that the author rarely writes useless plot points. All the stories so far are laying the groundwork for the first major climax of the early stage.