socalfunplaces Chapter 202 Commission
Chapter 202 Commission
Chapter 202 Commission
"Wine bottle"—did he lose control of his territory and someone steal it? Lorne wondered to himself.
"Alright, young man," Kaspars Kanlinen interrupted his thoughts, his eyes, clouded by alcohol, fixed on him, "you still haven't answered my question. What exactly do you want with that damned Fussac barbarian?"
"I want to find him and do some—'that kind of' business." A meaningful smile appeared on Lorne's face. "Why?"
"You took over his 'special' businesses as well?"
Kaspass nodded noncommittally.
"Then talking to you is the same thing." With that, Lorne very tactfully pulled a one-pound note from his pocket and handed it over.
Kaspass took the money without hesitation, then looked Lorne up and down a few more times before saying, "You're much more agreeable than you seem. Come with me."
As he spoke, he led Lorne, with a limp, to the billiards room at the very back of the first floor.
After locking the door, Kaspass finally spoke, asking, "Tell me, what do you want?"
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lorne said, "Once, 'The Bottle' took me to a very special party. I want to—go again."
"reunion?"
"Yes." Lorne nodded. "The host of that gathering is called the Eye of Wisdom."
Upon hearing this, Kaspass's expression instantly turned serious. He pondered for a moment before saying, "I can take you to that party. But the earliest one isn't until tomorrow night."
"What else do I need to give in return?" Lorne asked sincerely.
"Clever." A hint of approval appeared on Kaspass's face. "You'll have to pay me another two pounds."
"Okay, I'll come again tomorrow."
Then Lorne considered his options and revealed his true purpose: "In addition, I need an assistant, or rather—a bodyguard."
Do you have any connections in this area?
"What I need isn't just any ordinary thug," Lorne added, "but rather—the kind with superhuman strength."
Kaspass rubbed his reddened nose, his gaze turning cold.
"Come with me." He turned around.
Lorne followed the limping figure away from "Grizzly Bar," then followed a small alleyway across half a block to the entrance of a larger-looking bar called "Braveman Bar."
"If you need to find me tomorrow, just come over here," Kaspass said. "This is my home turf."
He then arranged for Lorne to stay in a billiards room in the bar, saying, "Wait here for a moment. I'll go ask around for you."
However, I can't guarantee whether anyone will be willing to take on this task.
This person—and he knows more than one extraordinary person.
Lorne nodded: "Thank you for your help."
He waited there for about ten minutes before Kaspass returned and said in a deep voice, "He wants to see you first before making a decision."
Lorne said he understood. He followed behind Caspas, who was walking with some difficulty, as they headed up to the second floor of the bar.
Suddenly—Lorne's spiritual premonition began to stir.
There's something—not so good, but it feels somewhat familiar—around here.
However—it seems there's no malice towards me. Otherwise, my 'Calamity' perception would have already activated—Lorne thought rapidly to himself.
Kaspass suddenly stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary door. He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door with a peculiar rhythm. After receiving a voice of permission from inside, he led Lorne through the door and into a card room.
Inside the room, a dozen or so people were sitting around a huge card table, quietly playing poker.
Upon seeing the two men enter, a pale-faced young man in a white shirt and black vest slowly stood up. Everyone else at the card table stopped what they were doing, and the entire room fell silent.
Lorne activated "Spirit Vision" without making a sound.
His heart sank after just one glance.
There was only one living person in the entire room! Everyone else was dead!
There's no mistake, this is—a "living corpse"!
The Rose School!
Lorne remained outwardly calm, but subconsciously clenched his fists.
Playing cards with a bunch of corpses—that really does sound like the behavior of those lunatics.
The young man stepped forward, glanced at Lorne a few times, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Lorne immediately took a small step back, subtly displaying a "weakness" posture.
Meanwhile, Kaspas had already quietly left the card room and closed the door from the outside.
"Are you looking for help?" Marich asked.
"Yes." Lorne nodded, without showing much reaction.
"Why do you need help? And how much are you willing to pay for it?" Marich continued to ask.
Lorne pondered for a moment and said, "I can tell you the specifics of the mission first. After you assess the risks, give me a reasonable price."
Marich gestured for Lorne to continue.
"I've recently been targeted by some very powerful individuals. Therefore, I'd like to ask you to help me find out their true identities and their motives."
“Of course,” Lorne added, “considering the possibility that they might attack me. So, you can also choose to be my bodyguard to protect my safety until—I completely resolve this matter.”
"Do you have any information about the guys who are targeting you?" Marich asked.
"I don't know much. I only know that there are at least two of them. As for their strength—" Lorne looked Marich up and down and said, "their strength should be no less than yours."
"Uh—" Lorne's words froze Marich in his tracks. He fell into deep thought.
To be honest, the moment Lorne saw Marich, he knew that hiring him as his bodyguard was definitely not a good idea.
Hiring someone from the "Rose School" as a bodyguard? I must be crazy to even think of that!
Even if he's not one of the so-called "liberals," I've hardly seen any normal extraordinary individuals on this path, including that damned "Blood General"! They might be suitable as bloodthirsty assassins. But as bodyguards—
After waiting for almost a minute, Marich spoke again: "I need to—think about it some more. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."
"Okay." Lorne nodded and decisively chose to leave.
Before leaving, he casually glanced at an inconspicuous corner.
There must be something else in this room.
After Lorne left.
Marich slowly looked toward the corner of the room.
A graceful figure, dressed in a Gothic court gown and as exquisite as a doll, slowly emerged from the shadows. Her ethereal voice rang out:
"He seems to have noticed me."
A hint of surprise crossed Marich's face, then he said, "It seems he's not a simple character. And he has—"
Sharon nodded slightly: "Yes. He has the air of a 'liberal' type. But he himself doesn't seem like a libertine."
People—
=—=—
"How is it?"
Upon seeing Lorne emerge from the card room, Caspas, who was waiting outside, immediately stepped forward and asked.
"He needs to think about it some more and will give me an answer tomorrow," Lorne said truthfully without hiding anything.
Kaspass's brow furrowed instantly: "That guy Marich is the most terrifying person I know."
He's not even afraid of bullets. Even he hesitated for a whole day; it seems your request this time is indeed difficult.
I'm not afraid of bullets either—well, of course, that doesn't mean I can take bullets head-on. The "Monster" pathway doesn't have the ability to be made of steel—Lorne silently complained to himself.
He said to Kaspass, "I'll be back at this time tomorrow. Also, you could try asking around for me about some capable guys elsewhere. I'll pay you if you succeed."
After receiving an affirmative answer, Lorne quickly left the "Brave Man's Bar".
On his way back, he took out a coin and tossed it into the air.
The coin tumbled in the air and finally landed tails in his palm.
This indicates that he is not currently in any imminent danger.
After returning to No. 69 Rose Street.
Lorne sat in his room, took out his pendulum, and began to perform divination.
"Hiring Marich would be risky for me."
The pendulum in his hand began to slowly rotate clockwise. However, the rotation was very small and the speed was very slow.
There is some risk, but—quite low. This person is basically reliable.
"Meow~"
As he petted the purring orange cat in his arms, he said softly, "Laki, it seems you should be promoted too."
To be honest, he was initially reluctant to let Rachel take potions. After all, potions are inherently extremely risky. If this is true for humans, it's even more so for a cat.
But—he urgently needs to improve the overall strength of his surroundings. Obtaining a Sequence 5 recipe might be difficult, but a Sequence 8 recipe shouldn't be a problem.
"Laki, do you want a promotion?" Lorne asked softly, looking at the orange cat curled up in his arms.
"Meow!"
Upon hearing this, the previously listless Rachi immediately perked up! It raised its head and stared intently at Lorne with its bright amber eyes, looking impatient.
"Okay, okay, I got it," Lorne said with an awkward smile. "I'll ask around for you when I go to that party tomorrow."
After some time, Lorne took out some extraordinary materials he had prepared beforehand from his "portable space" and began to set up a ritual magic in the room that Edwina had once taught him to trace traces.
A moment later, accompanied by a faint flash, two sketches appeared before Lorne's eyes.
Is this what those two dangerous individuals who broke into my room looked like?
Lorne carefully examined the portraits of the man and woman in the sketch.
The portrait is somewhat rough, but some features are still discernible.
A young man and a very beautiful woman.
They shouldn't be from the "Rose School." If they were those lunatics, this room of mine would probably have been completely destroyed by them long ago—I'll try to do another divination later.
But—it's strange, why do I feel like I've seen these two people before?
Is it someone I knew before? Lorne felt a little doubtful.
With too little information, it's impossible to divine the other party's identity.
Perhaps I could hire a detective to conduct a simple investigation—Lorne thought to himself.
=====
After much deliberation, Lorne decided to go see his landlady. Although he didn't want to cause her any more trouble, the situation was unusual.
As a capable Extraordinary being, Mrs. Griffin also possesses a great deal of information that ordinary people cannot access.
But after learning of Lorne's purpose, she simply told him not to worry too much. With her around, he was absolutely safe, at least in this house.
"Little Lorne, you don't believe in my abilities?"
"No—but I can't stay cooped up here forever," Lorne said.
"this--"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Griffin could only sigh.
In the end, she gave Lorne the addresses of several gatherings of extraordinary individuals, and also enthusiastically recommended a few private detectives in Backlund who had a decent reputation.
Through this conversation, Lorne even learned that there was actually a so-called "Detective Guild" in Backlund—
Although he was somewhat curious about it, he had no intention of going there.
Guilds are places that are crowded and noisy, which is not suitable for him in his current situation where he needs to keep a low profile.
The next morning, Lorne arrived in Hillston, Backlund, in a horse-drawn carriage and stopped in front of a house that looked rather dark and had a somewhat somber atmosphere.
He was received by someone who resembled an assistant.
He then met a middle-aged man named Essinger Stanton in the living room. Essinger's temples were already graying and he was holding a dark brown pipe.
He heard from Mrs. Griffin that this was one of Backlund's most famous detectives.
Although he hadn't activated "Spiritual Vision," Lorne could still sense a faint spiritual fluctuation emanating from the other person. This indicated that the other person was most likely also an extraordinary individual.
Being an extraordinary detective isn't necessarily a bad thing. It at least means that the other party is likely willing to take on some special missions that involve danger.
Dressed in a well-fitting white shirt and black vest, Eisinger brought his pipe to his lips and took a deep, blissful drag before slowly exhaling a cloud of white smoke.
"The consultation fee is £1 for half an hour."
"I'm not here for advice," Lorne shook his head and said, "I have a request. I've heard you're a true detective. I think you should be able to help me resolve this."
"A commission?" Isengard's gaze fell on Lorne, signaling him to continue.
"My residence was illegally broken into some time ago. This is—a sketch of those people." Lorne took out the two sketches drawn using ritual magic from his pocket and handed them over. At the same time, he also handed him several photos he had taken of the traces at the scene.
He then gave a brief overview of the current situation.
He didn't explicitly talk about the extraordinary individuals, but only mentioned them vaguely in some key places.
If he's really that good, he should be able to deduce the corresponding situation, Lorne thought.
"I would like to ask you to help me investigate their true identities. At the very least, to find the whereabouts of one of them."
"Of course, safety is the top priority."
Hearing Lorne's words, Isengard frowned slightly. Clearly, based on his experience, he had already guessed that this case was definitely related to Extraordinary Beings.
He pondered for a moment before speaking:
"Based on your description, there should be one person in the other team who is a professional bounty hunter, or—also a detective," Isengard deduced.
"Very efficient," Lorne nodded without saying anything.
After a moment's thought, Egger continued, "I can take this commission. But my fee is 1000 pounds."
He looked at Lorne and continued, "Don't think it's expensive. You should be well aware of just how big the risks are."
Lorne asked, "How long will it take you?"
Eisinger put down his pipe and said, "It will take at least a week."
"Can."