When Shade walked out of the door, he didn't care whether Baron Hull followed him immediately. He walked along the corridor and found Miss Beas who had been waiting for a long time at the corner. The young girl with long brown hair asked expectantly:
"How about it?"
"No problem. Hide now, he's coming."
Shade said, and then complained:
"Conversations between nobles and merchants are really troublesome. They speak as if every word has three hidden meanings."
"Thank you for your hard work. Detective, what excuse did you use to lure Baron Hull out?"
Miss Beas inquired curiously, as if she were learning.
"There was no reason, I just winked at him. For a person like him, I don't believe he wasn't curious about the meaning of this look. He certainly didn't expect that he would be attacked in the Duke's house, so he must have been curious and followed. This is human nature."
Xia De explained briefly, then counted three numbers in his mind... Actually, he counted three twice, and the two of them really heard light footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor.
Miss Beatrice looked respectfully at the young detective.
What happened next was simple. For the first time, Shad witnessed the "interrogation techniques" of the era when steam and mystery coexisted.
First, when Baron Hull curiously turned the corner, Miss Bayard punched him in the face.
Afterwards, the two of them sneaked together and dragged the unconscious Baron Hull to the broom room on the third floor that Miss Beatrice had scouted in advance.
Finally, Miss Beas tied up the Baron with the ropes here, blocked his mouth with a rag, put him in the broom closet, and stuffed a pen and paper into his hand. After confirming that there was no light in the broom closet and that her appearance would not be exposed, she used a very rough method to wake him up.
A beautiful girl with long brown hair, dressed in a maid's outfit, held a sharp knife stolen from the salon against the baron's neck:
"I ask questions, you write answers. If you don't cooperate, you die."
She said in a mock vicious tone.
The baron's eyes widened, and after struggling for a while, he found that he was tied up, and he kept kicking his legs. But because he felt the cold threat on his neck, he had to be quiet. Because his mouth was blocked, he could only make a whimpering sound.
There was no light in the broom closet, and the Baron vaguely saw that there was another person here besides the woman who was talking.
But before asking for help, another person spoke:
"MI6, you know the consequences of not cooperating."
Shade said in a deliberately gruff voice, his voice very low.
Baron Hull's heart suddenly sank. He knew how cruel these people were. Then, he felt the knife on his neck tremble, almost cutting a wound. So he nodded immediately without hesitation.
In fact, the knife was shaking only because Miss Beatrice was amused by Shad's "lie". She didn't expect the young detective to be so bold.
And if he wasn't being interrogated now, Xia De really wanted to explain that at least this time, he really didn't lie at all.
Even the Ringwitch Organization cannot create gold pounds out of thin air. Although the extraordinary and the mysterious are different from ordinary people, in this era where steam and mystery coexist, they also need to make money to support themselves. After all, we are all mortals.
So, Shad wants to be a detective, Dr. Schneider will not give up the clinic, Father Augustus receives subsidies from the church, Miss Annat works in the Prophet Association, and Miss Louisa racks her brains to write an article.
The organization of the mystics must have a relatively legal source of funds to support the operation of the organization. Not to mention that most of the formal members of the organization are ring wizards, so they need more funds to meet the needs of the ring wizards.
The Church of the True God has no need to worry about funding thanks to the support of its huge number of believers; the three major academies of magic have related industries all over the world, both overt and covert; not to mention the Prophet Association, which not only monopolizes the formal divination industry, but also controls the right to issue Rhodes cards, which is considered by Dr. Schneider to be an industry of "directly printing gold pounds."
Even for a secretive organization like the Witch Council, its members seemed to be either wealthy or noble, so there was no need to worry about the source of funds.
And it was obvious that an organization like Mercury's Blood, which targeted a certain "relic", could not make money on its own.
Most cults and illegal organizations have huge sources of funds behind them, and obtaining funds from nobles or big businessmen is the most common way.
Miss Bei Yasi, who was born in the Orthodox Church, popularized this common sense to Shade. After all, the rich dare not touch the mystery easily, but they covet the power brought by the mystery, so the Ring Warlock Organization can always find its sponsors.
Baron Hull has been one of Mercury Blood's sponsors since thirteen years ago. Mercury Blood gets gold pounds from him, and the baron regularly gets some "magic potions" that ordinary people can use from Mercury Blood, in order to gain health, a longer life, and... ... stronger abilities for men.
Although Miss Beatrice didn't say anything when she saw this information on the paper, it was clear from her snort that there must be something wrong with those so-called "magic potions".
Baron Hull was not a man of strong will who would ignore threats to his life. He was just an ordinary wealthy nobleman, so he easily told Miss Beatrice everything she wanted to know.
This took a long time, during which Shade left the broom room early to return to the salon in order not to arouse suspicion. Baron Hull came back half an hour later, looking dazed, as if he had just woken up. It seemed that the memory-erasing relic was really useful.
But since Miss Bei Yasi already knows his identity, he might be taken away by the sorceress of the Church of the Sun to exchange for merit someday. Letting him go now is just to prevent disturbing the blood of mercury.
During the rest of the evening in the salon, Chad did not see Miss Beaas again. He did not like this kind of social activity very much, so when he saw that the time was almost up, he took the initiative to find the old prince to say goodbye.
Duke Lucas expressed regret for this and invited Shade to play Rhodes cards again when he had time:
"Remember to bring Founding Silver Moon with you. I will defeat it one day."
This kind attitude towards Shade must be due to the Rhodes card, but Miss Carina's reason should also be important. Therefore, this once again made Shade understand how important it is to have a noble backer with a high status in this world.
He had come here in a carriage, but he would have to go back by himself. He had gained so much tonight that he didn't plan to save money on renting a carriage. So he walked along the street to the intersection where the four-wheeled carriages often stopped.
Duke Lucas's residence was located in an area with relatively dense gas street lamps. Shade walked under the light and silently thought about the gains and losses of the night. He was very happy that he did not encounter any accidents on this weekend night when he was invited to play cards.
Then, a pair of hands reached out from the alley nearby, covered Xia De's mouth directly, and pulled him into the alley where the street lights could not illuminate:
“Oh~”
He made a strange cry, and the light of the silver moon in his hand appeared, but then immediately went out:
"Oh, Miss Beas, what do you want to do?"
The hands let go of him, turned around, and saw that it was indeed the young sorceress of the Church of the Sun.
The young girl was still wearing a heavy maid dress, with her hands together in front of her body, which was a very standard maid standing posture.
Iluna Beyath stood in the shadows, looking at Shade with a smile:
"Good evening, Detective. I just ran back to put the trainer's memory eraser stick back to where it belongs. I'm here to reward you. You helped me again tonight, and I won't treat my friends unfairly."
"Actually, you can come to my place tomorrow to find me. Also, why don't you change into a new set of clothes? This outfit will attract a lot of attention when you're outside."
Shade pointed this out, standing in the shadows of the alley with Miss Bayas.
"I don't want to owe a friend anything. As for the clothes, when I paid to replace the original maid's shift, the clothes were also bought together. It seems that she wants to make a profit from me... I have to return to my place to change these clothes. Detective, thank you for your help tonight. How much do you want for this reward?"
As she spoke, she took out her wallet. This kind of uniform has pockets, after all, maids usually carry a lot of things.
"We can discuss the compensation later. I'm curious, what did you ask?"
Shade was not present during the second half of the "interrogation", and that information might help Dr. Schneider find the fake Philosopher's Stone.
"You can't tell me that. The information is related to the Ringwitch. I can't easily involve you, detective. Curiosity will kill the curious cat and the person."
Miss Beas kindly refused Shade's question and shook her wallet:
"How much do you want, Detective? I'm not rich, but I have some money... I'm not fabulous."
The tone of the last sentence was very familiar to Xia De, as he often spoke like this in this world.
As she spoke, she held her wallet and looked at Xia De. Xia De blinked, and he realized that the other party really regarded him as a friend:
"Should I tell her that I am..."
Suddenly, I became alert, and Miss Beas turned her head to look at the alley entrance almost right after Shade. A man stood under the streetlight at the alley entrance. The gaslight was originally warm, but as he stood there, the light became cold and dim, like a tombstone standing under the light.
"Detective, stand back."
Miss Beatrice immediately stopped Shad behind her and took a few steps forward with a serious expression.
The man under the street light raised his head, and his pale face reminded Xia De of a corpse.
"A ring warlock or a humanoid relic?"
He asked in his heart, and the whispering sound in his ear immediately sounded:
The ringmaster, sensing the whispering elements, is using the power of the relic.