Under the setting sun in the evening, Xio Derecha was wearing a cloak and standing in an alley near the Tussock River in the Backlund Bridge Borough area, looking towards the alley entrance from time to time.
She was so busy with various tasks recently that she almost wanted to take a vacation and hide in a warm home to have a good rest.
But even Fors has recently begun to actively prepare for the publication of a novel. How can I have the nerve to take a break when I urge others not to be lazy all day long... Xiu feels a little ashamed of his thoughts.
Moreover, she had recently obtained Beyonder Characteristic with "Interrogator" from Fors. The only difference was the formula of Potion. If she got Auxiliary Materials, she could be promoted to Sequence 7, which made her desire to accumulate merit even higher.
Snap, snap.
Muffled footsteps came from the alley. Xio looked up and saw a tall man wearing a black windbreaker and Golden Mask on his face walking slowly.
"Routine report."
Before the other party could speak, Xio spoke in advance, took out a document bag under his cloak and handed it over.
Golden Mask The man took it, opened the bag skillfully, quickly looked through the documents inside, nodded and said:
"The investigation into the East Borough incident is over. The church people have judged that Mr. A and 'Nightingale of Despair' have escaped Backlund. You should stop distributing their wanted notices, or you will be retaliated by Aurora Order."
"Are you worried about me?"
Xio looked at the MI9 liaison officer who was much taller than him with great momentum.
"I'm worried that the body of a peripheral member who works hard will appear in the Tussock River one day, or even float to Pritz Harbor." Golden Mask sneered, then slightly bent over and approached Xio, and said, "Is there any Are you interested in joining 'MI9' directly and becoming a formal member? You can continue to maintain your current identity and be responsible for the East Borough you are familiar with. What you do is not much different from what you do now, but you will have additional subsidies and merits."
Unexpectedly, he would ask such a question. Xio was stunned and opened her mouth not knowing how to answer.
"Forget it, I'm just asking casually, you don't need to make a decision immediately."
Golden Mask seemed to just ask casually, and changed the topic before she could answer:
"After you complete the new mission, you should be able to get the formula of 'Interrogator'."
Seeing the undisguised excitement in Xio's green eyes under his cloak, Golden Mask laughed again and continued:
"Pay attention to the people Palace Guard Captain Viscount Stratford comes into contact with. Don't let anyone go. Write a report and give it to me. The more detailed the better."
Stratford!
There was an explosion in Xio's head, and all kinds of thoughts that were dusty in his memory came out one after another.
He was his predecessor Palace Guard Captain, his father's deputy!
Trying his best to control his expression and tone, Xiu pretended to be confused and asked:
"Did he commit something, or did he mess with someone he shouldn't have messed with?"
"Do you think someone like me can know that? I'm just a person who distributes tasks. The report you give me will be handed over to my superior after I finish the statistics, and my superior will hand it over to his superior..."
The masked man muttered a few words. Seeing that Xiu was in a daze, he added thoughtfully:
"You are not the only one involved in this matter. Just monitor it for a period of time when you have free time. As long as you write a report every week, you will get merit. This is a good job. I left it to you specially.
"In addition, please consider your proposal to join us. If you become a regular employee, with your previous contribution, you can directly get the formula of Potion."
After that, he exited the alley with slow steps just like when he came in, and quickly disappeared from Xio's sight.
But Xio no longer had the mind to care about him. All she could think about was Viscount Stratford, her father, and...
The night that destroyed her family seven years ago.
Night, North Borough Böklund Street No. 160, Dunn Dantès Residence.
Carriages passed by the door, stopped briefly, and after dropping off the guests, they were guided by servants to the parking spaces on the side of the garden. The guests dressed in costumes, with smiles on their faces, walked along the garden walk to the main entrance of the main house, admiring the well-kept garden.
The flowers and plants are not expensive, but they are sorted and maintained by dedicated personnel. This kind of detail is very rare for a foreign businessman who has only been in Backlund for a month.
"Good evening, Bishop Your Excellency, who is this?"
Accompanied by personal Male Servant, Klein stood at the door to greet visitors who were either familiar or unfamiliar. Seeing Bishop Electra wearing a clerical robe and walking from the garden with a female companion, he quickly stepped forward to say hello, and then turned his attention to the girl behind him who seemed to have just grown up.
I remember that the guest list listed the bishop and his wife. Could it be that it was written incorrectly and it was his daughter?
Seeing the confusion on Klein's face, and remembering what he had experienced when he visited the doctor that day, Elektra coughed slightly in embarrassment and introduced:
"My wife, she loves fun and will attend every dance whenever she can."
It turned out to be really his wife, who looked younger than Angel... Klein kept marveling in his heart, but with a perfect smile on his face, he exchanged a few words with the bishop and his wife, and sent the two into the Entrance Hall.
Mrs. Mary, Councilor Macht family, Major Stuart, Professor Momont... Klein received guests one after another, communicating with each other in familiar words, but his eyes looked at the main entrance of the garden from time to time, as if he was waiting for someone.
Until a four-wheeled carriage stopped steadily at the door, the noble Miss slowly stepped out of the carriage with the help of the personal maid.
She is tall and tall, with smooth black hair draped over her shoulders. Her eyes sparkle in the light like Purple Gem. The low-cut dress just exposes the arc of her collarbone. The dark red gemstone necklace is located exactly at the intersection of the collarbone, embellishing her fair skin and the lines of her neck.
Taking a deep breath, Klein took the initiative to come forward, bent down and made a Gentlemen salute, and said with a smile:
"Good evening, Miss Theresa, I hope tonight's dance will make you feel as passionate about Backlund as Trier."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Angel raised her eyebrows, making her somewhat light eyebrows more vivid.
Other guests arrived later, but Klein still personally accompanied Angel into the lobby on the first floor, and then returned to the door to continue receiving others. This special move made the arriving guests look at Angel without leaving a trace, including Bishop Electra, who was chatting quietly with his wife.
With a smile on his face, he raised his red wine glass to Angel like a blessing.
After a simple speech, tonight's dance party officially started. Klein came to the dance floor on the first floor and walked towards Angel amidst the cheerful Intis style dance music played by the band.
In formal dance occasions, there are not many choices for partners for the opening dance, especially for the host of the party who leads the dance. Married people can choose their own spouses, and unmarried people can go with relatives of the opposite sex, or choose their favorite partner.
Of course, Dwayne Dantès came to Backlund alone and had not yet revealed his interest in a specific woman. His butler originally planned to invite a beautiful social butterfly to relieve his master's embarrassment and not to let potential Mistress misunderstand that Dantès already had his heart.
But this proposal was rejected by Klein, because he already had it... wait?
Seeing Angel next to him, there was a young man in military uniform with so many medals on his chest that Klein's smiling expression was a little stiff.
He quickened his pace and quickly came to the side of the two of them. He glanced at the major who was said to have made many military achievements in the Southern Continent. He bent slightly, stretched out his right hand, palm upward, and made an invitation gesture to Angel:
"Miss Theresa, would you be honored to invite you to dance with me?"
Stuart, who had arrived early but was a step too late, opened his mouth slightly and quietly lowered his raised right hand.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of getting to know Angel, he had already come close to her at the beginning of the dance and exchanged a few words. He was about to invite Miss, whom he had fallen in love with the first time he saw her, to dance with him, but he was unexpectedly cut off by Dwayne Dantès. He felt a little dissatisfied, but rationally did not show it.
After all, this is the party held by the other party... He breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the food on his lips with a smile and agreed to the other party's invitation. Together they came to the center of the dance floor and danced to the music. He could only turn around regretfully and walked towards Miss, who was standing alone and uninvited.
"Miss Hazel, I..."
"Sorry, I can't dance."
Before he could finish his words, the indifferent Miss, who had long dark green hair tied into a single ponytail and wore a slightly conservative dress with a string of shiny necklaces hanging on his chest, rejected him. He even took a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray next to him, completely giving up Stuart's thoughts.
Leaving Mr. Major standing stunned, Hazel sipped champagne and walked to the other side of the hall. He stood next to a pregnant woman who hesitantly picked up the ice cream and tasted it in small sips. He kept looking at Dantès and Teresa in the middle of the dance floor.
The last time she held a dance party at her home, she noticed these two people. They had just arrived at Backlund not long ago, and they seemed to be trying to expand their social circle. They also had many secrets hidden in them and their experiences were very interesting.
At least it is much more interesting than those Rich Merchant who only rely on money to decorate themselves and the nobles whose power comes from the previous generation... She stroked the expensive necklace on her chest that she wore specially today, and her eyes gradually stopped at the Miss in the center of the dance floor. She always felt that she was walking with unfamiliar Dance Step more dazzlingly than last time, as if exuding infinite charm.
"That Miss behind you is looking at you again... Did you say something to irritate her last time? She dressed up specially this time, but she didn't accept anyone else's invitation."
Klein held Angel's waist with one hand and squeezed her slender palm with the other. With a faint smile on his lips, he whispered.
Loen Although the ballroom dance of the upper class originated from Intis, it incorporates its own unique implicitness. In addition to the necessary contact of hands, the physical distance is determined by the familiarity of the two dancers and their impression of each other. It can be as far as half an arm's distance, or as close as close to a tight fit. Of course, the latter generally does not appear in public dance parties.
At this time, his body almost overlapped with Angel, leaving only the shortest distance required for social etiquette.
"Perhaps she wants to invite you, a mature man who has rich adventure experiences in the Southern Continent and can arouse the curiosity of her boudoir Miss, but she is suffering from the fact that you already have a crush on her."
Angel joked, taking advantage of Dance Step and Klein to change directions and looked at Hazel on the edge of the dance floor. The latter was holding a champagne glass and looking here blankly, his dark brown eyes a little absent-minded.
She couldn't really be looking at me... Angel felt a little bad, and turned half a circle with Klein in tacit agreement, pretending not to see it.
"The actions of others are not based on Observer's will."
Klein suddenly thought of a sentence he had read in philosophy class these days, and modified it slightly to make a good-natured joke about Angel's ostrich behavior.
"Emperor Roselle?"
"No, Lulmi."
Coincidentally, before the teacher pointed out my Error, I thought it was Emperor Roselle who said this. For more than a hundred years, everyone has been accustomed to pushing unknown words and unclear philosophical thoughts to this emperor, and a time traveler like me is more likely to make similar Error... Klein smiled secretly and hugged Angel closer.
Perhaps the smile on Klein's face was too obvious. Angel used three-thirds of his strength to step on his instep at the moment when the rhythm of the dance music changed.
"..."
Klein opened his mouth, and finally held back the scream that came out of his mouth, but his expression changed again and again, and finally stayed on a forced smile.
As Gentlemen, he could not express his dissatisfaction, and the little Error on Ms. Dance Step could be forgiven... Klein muttered secretly, looking at the people around the dance floor who glanced around the dance floor from time to time, as if waiting for the end of the dance, and suddenly had a "punishment" method in his heart.
As the host of the dance, he cannot be absent from the first three dances, and he is not ready to let Angel leave before the third dance ends.