P.S.: Other authors don't ask for monthly tickets; there's a certain beauty in quietly working on their drafts. If I don't ask for monthly tickets, though, it feels like a sign that I'm about to slack off, so... I'd better ask for them after all! (The book will probably go premium in May; April is still part of the public-release period.)
The group had not waited long before someone knocked on the door. Charlotte went to answer it and found a plump calico cat outside, carrying an enormous basket in its mouth. The fat calico set down the basket, meowed twice, and looked thoroughly smug.
Charlotte had kept cats back on Earth, so he expertly gave it a few gentle strokes. It purred, then leaped contentedly onto a nearby carriage and curled up for a nap.
Two carriages were parked in the small square outside Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58: one belonged to Anne, and the other to Vinnie Arsenault. Since moving into Number 58, this was the first time Charlotte had seen the place so lively.
That visit from the two evil gods did not count...
Surprised by the practicality of Cat Spirit Magic, he carried the basket into the room and brought it to the three young ladies.
Charlotte had seen Anne's Mechanical Beetle before, but it clearly could not purchase things. At most, it could notify servants outside and have them buy whatever was needed.
Vinnie Arsenault's Cat Spirit Magic, on the other hand, could directly command cats. It was indeed far more convenient than the Mechanical Beetle.
Charlotte even felt the urge to ask Vinnie Arsenault to teach him the magic.
Miss Vinnie Arsenault had excellent conversational skills. By now, the three girls had begun discussing a strange recent case.
Charlotte listened for a while and gained a rough understanding of the situation.
A series of disappearances had recently occurred in the Alcatraz District. They were not cases of lone individuals vanishing, either, but entire families. Seven households had already disappeared, totaling more than sixty people.
Everything in each household appeared normal. It was as though the family members had merely stepped out temporarily; their homes were undisturbed, with no signs of burglars breaking in. Yet those who vanished had never reappeared, leaving behind not the slightest clue.
In the Empire of Fars of this era, the City Patrol handled work that would have been done by police on Earth. However, their investigative methods were crude and wholly unprofessional, and their case-solving rate was not even three percent.
As a result, residents near the disappearances did not dare place any hope in the City Patrol. Instead, they offered hefty rewards to private detective agencies.
They were all afraid that they might be the next people to disappear, so the reward was exceptionally high.
Vinnie Arsenault very much wanted to claim the reward. She had steered the conversation toward the case because she hoped to draw on the wisdom of the other two ladies. Both Sylvie and Anne were highly educated women, rare in this era, but she was clearly disappointed this time.
The case was so mysterious that the two young ladies had no leads at all.
Charlotte listened for quite some time, but he had no ideas either.
Before transmigrating, he had been a high school math teacher, not a veteran detective. He had no desire to offer an opinion on such a disappearance case.
Anne Brittany suddenly cried out, "Oh no! I got so caught up in talking that it's already time for me to go home."
Vinnie Arsenault smiled slightly and said, "I came to pick up Sylvie and move her into the detective agency dormitory. I didn't expect us to talk for so long. We've truly disturbed Mr. Mecklen too much."
Charlotte hurriedly said, "Not at all. Spending such a wonderful afternoon with the three of you has brought me nothing but joy and delight."
Anne rose from her seat, took Charlotte's hand, and led him aside. "I came today to tell you some insider information."
Charlotte was slightly surprised. "What information?"
Anne lowered her voice. "Menilman has recently been implicated in a case. This case has wide-reaching consequences, so you need to be extra careful."
After saying that, she hurriedly bid him farewell.
It was indeed getting late. Miss Anne was often a well-behaved girl, except for... occasionally entering people's dreams in the middle of the night to scare them.
Sylvie went upstairs and packed up everything she had bought over the past few days. She somehow had two large suitcases. With Miss Vinnie's help, the former fiancée boarded the carriage and waved goodbye to Charlotte as well.
After watching the two carriages leave one after the other, Charlotte returned to Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58. While Sylvie had been there, he had always worried that trouble would arise, but now that he was alone again, he felt oddly empty.
Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58 was simply too large. Living there alone left it unbearably empty. Charlotte could not help thinking, Should I hire a cook? A few servants? Or perhaps keep a pet?
Although he had eaten some pastries with the young ladies, he was not full. After a brief hesitation, he went to the nearest restaurant to his home and ordered a set meal. After dinner, he remembered the Cat and Clover Coffee Shop he had visited before. The coffee in this era was slightly sour, but rich in flavor and still quite good. It was far better than the intensely flavored red tea, which tasted somewhat like pepper water mixed with chili, and it was also more suitable than Dongli Nation's flower tea for staying up late and keeping alert. He decided to buy a batch of coffee, both for his own daily drinking and to serve guests.
When Charlotte walked to the Cat and Clover Coffee Shop, he heard mewing. The cries were very young, and he soon saw the half-grown clever cat watching him warily while shielding three newborn kittens.
Remembering how he had mistaken the cat for being fat last time, Charlotte could not help smiling. "These kittens are very cute."
The coffee shop's owner was an older woman. Hearing the customer's praise, she smiled. "If you like them, sir, you may adopt one. There's no charge at all, as long as you treat these little things well."
Charlotte hesitated slightly, then crouched down to look at the three little ones. The half-grown clever cat seemed to sense that the man meant no harm and became less wary. She lay down lazily, and the three kittens struggled onto their mother's belly and began suckling.
Charlotte watched for a while and said, "I'd like a batch of coffee, a little of every kind. These three kittens are adorable. Please allow me to take all of them."
"However, they're too young to leave their mother. I'll have to trouble you to care for them a few more days. Here are twenty centimes, as food expenses for the little ones while they stay with you."
The coffee shop owner was pleasantly surprised. Her shop's income was not substantial, and raising one clever cat was already difficult, so she could not afford to keep the three kittens. Not only was Charlotte willing to adopt all three, but he had also paid boarding fees so they could remain a while longer. To the woman, this was simply wonderful news, and she quickly agreed.
Charlotte was very happy to have adopted the little ones. His limited experience with pets in his previous life had taught him that kittens could not leave their mother too early, or they would be hard to raise. Thus, despite how much he liked them, he did not take them away immediately and planned to wait until they were a month old.
Twenty centimes had purchasing power equivalent to nearly four hundred yuan, enough to feed the three little things for quite a long time. After all, even his former fiancée, Miss Sylvie Martin, earned only eighty-five centimes a week.
Because he had not bought much coffee, Charlotte did not ask the shop owner to deliver it. He casually carried it out himself.
Before you continue