Now That It's Come to This, Let's Eat First

The carriage stopped outside an elegant establishment.

"We're here." Leon was the first to jump out. "The food here is quite good. My treat."

Klein followed him out and looked up at the sign.

"Bonaparte Restaurant." Its storefront wasn't large, but the aromas wafting out were certainly enticing.

Klein knew of the restaurant on Howes Street. It specialized in authentic Intis cuisine.

It was a restaurant that often appeared in the newspapers, and a meal there supposedly cost one and a half pounds per person.

It was the kind of place he would never normally have dreamed of visiting.

"I thought you wouldn't be in the mood to eat after learning all this." Klein tried not to look too much like someone who had never seen the world.

"The mastermind won't stop scheming against you just because you're hungry."

"I don't suppose you're the kind of person who can't eat when he's nervous."

Klein watched Leon find a booth by the window and sit down. Leon picked up the menu and leafed through it as naturally as if he often ate such expensive food.

No, he probably did come often. After all, this was someone who had casually planned to spend 800 pounds on a house.

And on top of that, he had inherited a considerable fortune and earned twenty pounds a week!

In Tingen, that was enough to put him among the upper classes, and he was single, too.

Klein sat down opposite him. Seeing how "unconcerned" Leon still looked after learning the situation, he suddenly felt his earlier nervousness had been a little unnecessary.

Leon really did seem to have simply wanted to treat him to a meal.

Perhaps I could take him for all he's worth, Klein thought with delight.

"What would you like to drink?" Leon asked. "The Queen's Black Tea here is made from tea leaves grown on the Hall Family estate. Want to try it?"

"...Sure," Klein said.

"All right." Leon beckoned to the waiter. "Two servings each of Queen's Black Tea, pan-fried ribeye steak, red-braised Dagya beef short ribs, black truffles and porcini, Intis-style foie gras, and mushrooms fried in butter. For dessert, one serving each of ice cream topped with violet raspberry juice."

"Anything else?" Leon asked Klein in a friendly manner. After all, this was his first meal with a colleague since settling into this identity.

For a perceptive Beyonder like Klein, money was no longer the most important thing-but Leon believed he still needed to show his sincerity.

He didn't want to rely on unnecessary means to obtain information during their later operations. Even though he was confident in doing so, it had never been the key to solving the problem.

Unless he had intended to control everyone, he wouldn't have chosen to leave the Lands Between in the first place.

"No, that's enough! It's too much!" Klein was a little embarrassed.

It was far more than he had expected, and so many expensive dishes gave him a bad feeling.

The waiter took down the order and left. Leon pushed the menu aside, folded his hands on the table, and looked at Klein.

"All right, now we can get down to business."

Klein's nerves, which had only just begun to relax, tensed again.

Just as I thought. Fortunately, I haven't eaten his food yet, so I don't owe him anything.

If things go in a direction I don't expect, I absolutely won't eat a single bite. I'll turn around and leave!

Klein knew that once he decided to exchange information, the bet in which he was personally taking part had already been placed.

This wasn't like the times he usually hid behind the scenes. He needed to be as careful as possible.

No, no, no, Klein, you have your own advantages: Emperor Roselle's Diary, the information from the Tarot Club, the Roundtable Hold you just came into contact with, and Mr. Stars, whom you've met once.

So even if the other party appears to have more bargaining power, I must never show weakness in the exchange.

Klein tapped his fingers twice on his knee, as if weighing his words.

"You're very observant." He finally spoke, his voice remarkably steady. "But... to be precise, I wouldn't say I know anything. It might be more accurate to say I sensed something."

"Is there a difference?" Leon looked up at him.

Klein also raised his head, his brown eyes fixed directly on Leon. "Knowing means having evidence. Sensing is just... intuition, a Seer's intuition."

"Most of the information obtained through divination is metaphorical. When the disparity is too great, it becomes even more confusing."

Leon murmured an acknowledgment without interrupting and waited for him to continue.

Klein fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly gathering his thoughts.

"That night, when the Chanis Gate first made a sound, my spiritual intuition warned me. It wasn't like a warning of danger. It was a vaguer premonition, as if something was watching us, waiting for us to make a certain choice."

"And then the Clown appeared." Leon considered himself a good conversational partner.

"And then the Clown appeared." Klein nodded. "According to that letter, he could have left earlier, before the captain and the others arrived. But he didn't. He waited until we were all there, until Rozanne had fainted from fright, and when the captain and the others had just left, he came back."

"You think you were his target?"

"Maybe not just me." Klein shook his head, a serious look in his eyes.

"You too. That's what I wanted to tell you. We've both been targeted. My intuition tells me he wasn't so much waiting for a signal to retreat as waiting for an opportunity."

Just then, a door opened. The two stopped talking in silent agreement as a white tablecloth was spread over the square table before them.

The waiter brought over plate after plate of food.

The steak sizzled intoxicatingly on its iron plate, while the perfectly grilled accompaniments gave off a rich, roasted aroma.

Klein knew the mood was a little disjointed, but he hadn't eaten a bite since the previous night, and his stomach gave an undignified rumble.

The conversation is going more smoothly than I imagined. Maybe, probably... I can eat now, Klein thought, rather pathetically.

Leon, sitting across from him, was little better. Having lived for so many years in the Lands Between, a place where normal food didn't exist, he was hungry too.

"Now that it's come to this, let's eat first. It won't taste as good once it gets cold," Leon suggested, to both their satisfaction.

His knife and fork flying, Klein polished off the medium-rare steak in just a minute and a half, the flavor and juices of the meat lingering in his mouth.

Only after his hunger had eased did he realize how undignified his behavior had been.

He looked up and saw that Leon was eating even faster. Though his table manners were much better than Klein's, more than half the food in front of him had already vanished.

So Klein abandoned his pointless concern for dignity and continued his assault on the other dishes.

After an unknown amount of time, only empty plates remained on the table.

Klein let out a satisfied breath, scooped up some ice cream topped with violet raspberry juice, and put it in his mouth, narrowing his eyes in contentment.

"So those things you mentioned in front of the captain," Leon said, scooping up a spoonful of ice cream as he resumed their earlier conversation, "really were meant to warn the other members, just as I thought."

"You have a lot of faith in your divination."

Klein didn't deny it. A Seer ought to trust his own divination.

Leon was very satisfied with that answer. His new colleague was indeed a smart man.

After a moment's thought, he continued, "Let me guess. Before I'd shown any particular qualities, you suggested that Dunn recruit me. That means all you initially needed was a private detective, right?"

"So what can a private detective do? What do you want to investigate?"

"For example... the clues you obtained through divination?"

"That's... right." Klein wiped away nonexistent sweat. That was indeed what he had initially had in mind, but he hadn't expected Leon to guess it so quickly.

But on second thought, since they had already spoken openly, there was no harm in admitting it.

He nodded. "I do need a detective I can trust."

"To help me investigate which houses in Tingen City have chimneys that look like this, and establish who their landlords and current occupants are."

As he spoke, he took out a folded piece of paper. When he unfolded it, it showed a red chimney and its surroundings, with the colors marked.

It was a drawing Klein had made using the special properties of Above the Gray Fog and the method of praying to himself.

"Nice drawing," Leon remarked instinctively. After thinking for several seconds, he replied, "This commission isn't complicated, but it's tedious. It will take a long time and a lot of helpers."

"Excluding my working hours with the Nighthawks, it'll take about a week. I'll get back to you."

"I understand." Klein nodded slightly. "As for the price..."

"Since we're on the same side, I won't charge you anything for my own work. But if we need to hire extra help, I'll share the cost with you," Leon said generously. These were all minor matters.

That's exactly what I was waiting to hear! Klein was greatly encouraged.