299
The carriage stopped outside the East Borough. Carrying his walking stick and wearing his top hat, Klein entered the slums through a relatively less rundown neighborhood.
This time, he had not contacted Maria. He had even performed a divination about her beforehand, confirming that Miss Maria would not appear in this neighborhood.
After all, the commission had been completed, and the Ernst Foundation was suspected of colluding with the Aurora Order. As an idle detective, he had no reason to visit the East Borough so frequently.
Besides, he had already decided to keep his distance from Hidden Organizations.
After walking for a while, he saw two familiar figures emerge from a fairly tidy apartment building ahead.
They were both girls, one seventeen or eighteen, the other fifteen or sixteen. They were Freya and Daisy, the daughters of Liv the washerwoman. Daisy spotted Klein too and immediately broke into a radiant smile.
"Good afternoon, Detective Moriarty!"
Klein nodded with a smile and asked, somewhat surprised, "Daisy, didn't you go to the Public Elementary School?"
Following appeals from journalists such as Mike Joseph, along with the efforts of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Backlund City Government had used Capim's properties to establish a charitable fund specifically to help women and families who had suffered because of him.
Klein felt a little regretful that they had not chosen to provide funding to the Ernst Foundation, but it was, after all, a Hidden Organization in disguise. It was understandable that an Orthodox Church would make such a decision.
He had indirectly asked Old Kohler about Miss Maria's attitude, and Old Kohler had answered quite naturally:
"Miss Maria is very happy."
"She doesn't feel that they're slighting her?"
"Why would she?"
Old Kohler had looked a little surprised, then smiled naturally at