Backlund, in the northwest suburbs of Queens Borough, is a place that takes more than an hour to reach by horse-drawn carriage. The Megro Manor is built on the Tussock River, surrounded by beautiful scenery and lush with flowers and trees.
Strangely enough, the city of Backlund is often overcast and rainy with little sunshine, but its outskirts are always sunny with thin clouds. Despite being close to each other, they present two completely different weather conditions. This is most evident in the northwestern suburbs, which are even one of the most famous grape-growing areas in the Northern Continent. And if you go about 50 kilometers northwest along the Tussock River from this area, the weather will be closer to that of the city of Backlund.
Similar situations have puzzled meteorologists, who have been unable to find a suitable theory to explain the cause. Klein, however, has a vague idea:
In the Fourth Age, this was the capital of the " Tudor-Trunsoest " United Empire. It was here that the " Blood Emperor " Alista completely abandoned his humanity and became a mad god. Therefore, it is normal for the weather and terrain to be permanently and slightly altered. Leonard Mitchell mentioned this information briefly during a free exchange at the Tarot Club.
Moreover, as a region with a long history and the earliest human activity, this " Land of Hope " contains countless ancient ruins, which may have a certain intangible impact on the weather.
The carriage entered the Megro Manor, passed the fountain pool and small gardens surrounded by the main house, and stopped outside the main gate.
As Klein stepped off the carriage with his butler Walter, he saw Richardson, the manor steward, standing by the door with two rows of male and female servants, waiting for their employer.
There were more servants here than at 160 Böklund Street, but they were all of second class or lower.
Klein glanced at Richardson, whose clothes were neatly pressed and whose appearance was refreshed, and nodded with a smile:
"Well done."
Before Richardson could respond, he removed his hat and handed it, along with his cane, to his personal valet Enuni, and asked directly:
"Is the living room ready for the ladies to chat and play cards?"
"It's all set. We've placed playing cards, tarot cards, and some board games, and common musical instruments like the piano and violin have also been moved in," Richardson replied smoothly.
Klein walked through the door and nodded slightly:
"Where is the men's smoking room?"
"Like the ladies, they're all on the second floor of the main building, five rooms apart." Richardson gave the answer without needing the servants in the manor to remind him, or even thinking back.
To ensure the success of his employer's first hunting expedition, he oversaw every single detail, remaining physically exhausted but mentally energized.
Klein inquired about dinner and the room arrangements, confirming that everything was in order.
Not long after, he welcomed the first guests from the Megro Manor after it was renamed Dantès:
The Macht family, including MP!
"This is much bigger than my Elk Manor," Macht said with a smile, taking off his coat and handing it to a servant. "I've always heard that Megro's homemade wines are excellent, but I've never had the chance to taste them. Today I can finally satisfy my curiosity."
"I hope I won't disappoint you," Klein said modestly with a smile.
As a renowned grape-growing region in the Northern Continent, the Champagne, red wine, and white wine produced in the northwestern suburbs of Backlund are of excellent quality. However, most of the estates here belong to the nobility, and their homemade wines are generally not sold to the public. Therefore, they are almost unknown in the market, and only people in high society or those close to this circle know about them.
Megro is one of the most representative estates in the area, and its wines are widely praised in the local circle. Some vintage red wines have even been offered by collectors for hundreds of pounds a bottle.
However, Klein was able to buy such a manor for 20,000 gold pounds, which naturally came with some conditions: all the wines from special vintages would be taken away by people sent by the Duke Negan.
Congressman Macht was well aware of this and had no expectation of drinking collector's edition wines. Upon hearing this, he smiled and said:
"You can open a few more bottles of wine and pour me a small glass of each so I can properly evaluate which of the remaining vintages is the best."
As a member of high society, he had indeed never tasted wine from the Megro Manor, for the simple reason that he was a New Party MP, while the Duke Negan was a major Conservative Party donor.
"No problem." Klein immediately agreed, his gaze sweeping over Hibbert's face beside him.
Compared to July and August, the girl was noticeably more cheerful. She no longer became timid and withdrawn when encountering strangers, and even refused to participate in banquets and dances, leading those who knew her to believe that she was ill.
This was all thanks to " Justice " Audrey, who mentioned twice, during her meeting with Dawn Dantès at the " Loen Charity Bursary Foundation," that she had recently met Miss Hibbert Macht.
At first glance, there seemed to be no problem with this exchange, because Hibbert was someone that both Audrey and Dantès knew, someone whose social circles overlapped. It was perfectly normal for them to look for topics to talk about when chatting with someone like a friend. However, Klein understood Miss Justice's Psychological Suggestion and realized that she was referring to the fact that she had met Hibbert twice at balls and banquets and had received follow-up treatments on both occasions.
After settling the Macht family into their rooms, Klein welcomed the second group of guests who were participating in the weekend hunting trip:
Major General Qonas Kilgor told him in advance that he would be bringing a friend along.
Klein knew this friend, but the other party didn't know Dawn Dantès, the Steam- powered vehicle tycoon Franky Cagg, the main investor in the bicycle project, who, with the help of a Lawyer who appeared to be a " Lawyer," bought an extra 10% of the shares from Sherlock Moriarty at a low price.
Since it's related to " Lawyer," then being friends with " The Earl of the Fallen " makes sense... Klein smiled and stepped forward, embracing Major General Qonas and Franky Cagg.
Welcome.
He then stepped back and said to Flamie, who was one-quarter Feysac blood, tall and fat, with very light blue eyes:
"I heard your Steam- powered vehicles are quite famous, why didn't you drive one over?"
Before Flamie could answer, the tough-looking Qonas Kilgor had already spoken with a smile:
"No, you don't know him. He won't miss any opportunity to showcase his Steam- powered vehicle."
"However, the cart was too heavy and got stuck in the mud on the way here. Luckily, I never believed his tricks and rode in a horse-drawn carriage behind him. Otherwise, he would have had to walk the rest of the way."
"The main problem is that our roads are in terrible condition. They need renovation, they need to be rebuilt, just like Steam trains need tracks!" Flamie retorted, shrugging at Klein. "I was hoping to get some investment from you, haha, we'll see later."
You used to invest in us, but now you're asking me to invest... Klein suddenly realized something: he was quite a wealthy man in the upper echelons of the kingdom!
He donated shares worth over £10,000, bought an expensive estate, and established connections with the military—he's obviously very wealthy!
In reality, my total assets are only fifty or sixty thousand gold pounds, probably only one-tenth of Miss Justice's wealth... I wonder when I'll become a millionaire... Klein chuckled to himself, then pondered for a moment:
"That's alright. I'm very interested in the combination of mechanics and Steam. I can take a look at your Steam- powered vehicle sometime."
"Excellent," Flamie exclaimed with a smile. "If I didn't know you had donated a great deal of wealth to the Church of Evernight, I would have thought you were a follower of Steam."
After all, he had once drawn a triangular emblem on his chest... Klein didn't continue the previous topic, lest Qonas discover his intentions.
He pointed to the stairwell and said:
"How about trying the cigars in the smoking room?"
"It wasn't until I bought this estate that I learned it had specially built rooms for storing cigars, with constant temperature and humidity. However, as you know, I can smoke, but I don't like it."
"Good, is there a ' Chieftain '?" Qonas Kilgor asked with a smile.
"Of course," Klein replied affirmatively.
His main purpose in actively organizing hunting activities was to hunt down this major general deputy director of Military Intelligence Section 9, so he took the other party's preferences into account in every aspect.
However, Klein was not in a hurry to make a move during this hunt, because he did not yet know enough about Qonas Kilgor, the man who had hidden his Demigod strength. He still needed to learn about the other party's behavior preferences, level of vigilance, and personal belongings through repeated gatherings and hunts.
As a " Magician," Klein never performs without preparation!
Inside a house in the Cherwood Borough.
Fors put down her book, glanced at Hugh pacing back and forth in the living room, and couldn't help but ask:
What are you worried about?
Xiu glanced at her and said:
"I'm torn Military Intelligence Section 9 about Viscount Stratford's close relationship with a strange woman, or keeping it a secret until things develop further."
"Why hide it?" Fors asked rhetorically at first, then answered herself, " Viscount Stratford is involved in your father's death, but you usually don't have the opportunity or the power to confront him, fearing that exposure would affect your mother and brother. Now, however, he may be in a more favorable position because of that strange woman's accident. This is your chance, so you hesitated, didn't you?"
Hugh paused for a moment and then said:
"Yes."
Fors closed his book, stared into his friend's eyes, and said earnestly:
"Since you're hesitating, it means you already have a preference in mind."
Hugh slowly nodded and said:
"Yes."
Fors smoothed her slightly wavy long hair, stood up, and extended her right hand, saying:
"I already know your decision. Um, do you need any help?"
Seeing that Xiu hesitated and did not answer, she chuckled and said:
"I'm Sequence 6 Beyonder!"
Before Xiu could speak, she glanced around again:
"If you're still worried, we can seek additional assistance."
She was implying that she wanted to ask members of the Tarot Club for help.
After thinking for a moment, he sighed and said:
"Not for now. Let's just try it out ourselves. Uh, let's head out now and continue monitoring Viscount Stratford."
"Now?" Fors hesitated for a moment. "Alright, but before that, I'll do an Astrology reading with the crystal ball to check the level of danger."
After a flurry of activity, she held the pure crystal ball in one hand and said:
"There is some danger."
P. S.: Requesting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Monday!