Stepping out of the house and onto the street was truly entering this world.
Compared to the City's hustle and bustle, Xia De, who walked into it, was as inconspicuous as a drop of water merging into the ocean.
He spoke little, simply walking towards his destination, the Bai Ling Niao Club.
He listened as he walked, learning about this world, this City, and everything around him.
To put it simply, this world was somewhat like the 19th-century during the Industrial Revolution in his past world, except that the steam industry here was more prosperous, seeming to advance along the path of steam without deviation.
While harmful black mist spewed from factory chimneys, various strange inventions were also created, and the economy soared with the development of productivity.
Just as Xia De had guessed, the City he was currently in was Tobesk City, the capital of the human northern kingdom of Delarion, a pearl of the northern continent, a gathering point of human civilization, and the essence nurtured by the era.
A big City naturally had to look like a big City; although limited by the constraints of the era, upon leaving the main streets and entering the alleys, one would inevitably encounter feces and trash heaps, but the appearance of the big City still imprinted itself on Xia De's eyes during his short hour-long journey.
Fortunately, the Bai Ling Niao Club was not far from the City center; if he had to cross the entire City, Xia De probably wouldn't reach it even by midnight.
The key point was that Xia De had no money to take a carriage.
Along the way, he also gained more information about this world from an observer's perspective.
The most important point was learning about the currency system; at least in the current kingdom, the common currency was divided into pounds, shillings, and pence, with 1 pound = 20 shillings, and 1 shilling = 12 pence.
Of course, this nomenclature was very similar to British currency; it wasn't just a coincidence, but rather Xia De translating the three different currency terms from the foreign language into familiar ones, as the conversion method of the values was indeed very similar.
The unfortunate truth was that the paper money with the number "10" that Xia De found was worth 10 pence.
At current purchasing power, this was not even enough for him to take a carriage from his doorstep to the club's entrance.
But if he economized, using 10 pence at a bakery about to close in the evening, competing with children and housewives from the slums for the cheapest breadcrumbs, it could at least ensure he wouldn't starve for three days.
“At least it's peacetime now.
Our country, Delarion, as one of the largest human kingdoms, has localized friction with the Carson Rick United Kingdom to the south, another powerful kingdom, but relatively speaking, this is an era of peace and development, an era of progress... My luck is still quite good.”
Xia De was very good at comforting himself.
This world was temporarily at peace; Delarion in the northern Old Continent and the Carson Rick United Kingdom occupying the south had almost divided the world.
Total war had ended decades ago, and although undercurrents still surged, it at least indicated peace.
Club culture seemed to be a unique culture of this era; Xia De learned from the investigation report that Mrs. Lasoya, the mistress under investigation, would frequent the Bai Ling Niao Club every Saturday and stay there for at least three hours.
Hamilton Detective's report speculated that this was the rendezvous point for Mrs. Lasoya and Lawrence, as whenever Mrs. Lasoya appeared at the club, Lawrence would also enter.
This was a private club with a membership system; Xia De had no entry permit, so after walking to the street corner and turning into Valente Pedestrian Street, he stopped to observe at the newspaper office across from the club, as recorded in the investigation report.
That was the newspaper office belonging to the Tobesk City Evening News, which was rumored to have royal shares.
Saturday was the busiest time for the newspaper office, as Saturday was the customary time for the King's speech and parliamentary reports.
A crowd would gather at the newspaper office entrance at this time, waiting for new information to be transmitted; professional journalists had, of course, already departed, and those remaining at the entrance were people waiting to try their luck.
Xia De's plan was to blend in; although it was already noon, the mistress Lasoya usually did not appear at the club in the morning.
So, if he was lucky, he would soon spot his target.
As long as he recorded The Lady's arrival and departure times, this report would be considered complete.
Completing this task so easily gave Xia De a sense of unreality.
But after all, Hamilton had almost completed everything, so this was actually one of the "legacies" left by the deceased gentleman.
Xia De held a pocket watch, one of Hamilton's legacies, in his hand; therefore, when he stood by the mailbox at the newspaper office entrance, pretending to wait for someone and looking around for a long time, he finally saw the target appear, and immediately compared her repeatedly with the black and white photograph clipped in the report.
He confirmed and recorded 1:23, which was the time the mistress Lasoya appeared.
The Lady was fashionably dressed; the lace trim on her skirt and the jewel hair ornament in her hair were clearly expensive.
She arrived directly at the club entrance by carriage, and even though the weather was gloomy, she still held a cloth parasol.
Her age was probably around thirty, her height was average but her figure was plump, and although the powder on her face was a bit thick, she was clearly a beauty.
Fearing being discovered, and knowing he had no tracking experience, Xia De immediately averted his gaze after confirming she was the target.
"Observe her ring."
"What?"
The woman's murmuring voice in his mind appeared again; although Xia De didn't know exactly what she was, he still shifted his gaze to Mrs. Lasoya.
At this moment, the club's doorman was already greeting her; as the woman turned, Xia De clearly saw the ring.
It was very strange; the ring was not set with a gem or a diamond, but rather resembled a small pebble.
Of course, since he was observing from across the street, and pedestrians occasionally blocked his view, he wasn't sure if he had misseen.
Mrs. Lasoya quickly entered the club, not giving Xia De many opportunities to observe.
"What does that mean?"
"Why did you want me to notice that ring?"
He questioned the voice in his mind again, but the murmuring did not actively sound in response to his question.
This annoyed Xia De a little, but he knew he had to control his emotions; he was not a person who easily got angry.
"Sir, what time is it now?"
While he was thinking, he suddenly heard someone speaking beside him.
Xia De was startled, thinking that his action of standing by the mailbox and freely looking at the club entrance across the street was too obvious, but upon hearing the voice, he realized someone was asking for the time.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to bring my pocket watch."
The person explaining his abrupt inquiry was a middle-aged gentleman around forty, who looked quite refined and amiable.
He wore a black silk hat and a formal suit with a white shirt, as if he were attending a banquet.
His face was somewhat broad, he had a meticulously trimmed goatee on his chin, and his blue eyes were very appealing.
The middle-aged man smiled at Xia De; Xia De hesitated for a moment, then took out the pocket watch he had just put into his right jacket pocket.
"It's 1:30."
He said, also curious about why the middle-aged man was here; this attire didn't look at all like a reporter waiting for news, while Xia De's outfit, with his notebook tucked under his arm, did.
As if hearing Xia De's thoughts, the middle-aged gentleman smiled and said:
"Thank you for your time.
I have an appointment with the newspaper editor-in-chief; I didn't bring my pocket watch and thought I was going to be late, but it seems I'm just in time."
Saying this, he handed over his business card; Xia De politely accepted it and also handed over his own.
In reality, it was the deceased Hamilton's business card, with the Detective agency's address and scope of business, and the name simply read "Hamilton Detective," without a prefix.
Since Xia De had chosen "Hamilton" as his surname, he could, of course, use these business cards.
He was very glad that there was no household registration system here; he didn't even need to forge identity documents.
The middle-aged man was named Bill Schneider, and he ran a private Schneider Psychological Clinic.
Unlike Xia De's currently unstable profession, the Schneider Psychological Clinic was quite legitimate, and the income from the clinic was clearly much more than that of a Detective like Xia De, who was conducting his first investigation based on an inheritance.
The evidence was that Xia De's business card was shabbier than the Doctor's; the other party's business card was much better in terms of both paper and printing quality.
"You can find me here if you need anything."
Mr. Schneider said very kindly.
He pointed to the clinic's address on the business card, which was an address in the East District of Tobesk City:
"My scope of treatment is very broad."
He looked at Xia De; Xia De, in his inexplicable state, actually had a chilling illusion of being seen through by those blue eyes.
"Including schizophrenia."
The Psychologist said very kindly; he was very good at communicating with strangers.
"What?"
Xia De's heart skipped a beat, but before he could ask, Bill Schneider quickly changed the subject again:
"Speaking of which, Detective, have you ever considered adult education? Correspondence courses."
"Correspondence adult education?"
The topic changed too quickly, and Xia De couldn't keep up with the thought process:
"I don't plan to study psychology for now."
He took the other party for an enthusiastic graduate of some psychology specialized school.
And when Xia De declined, the Doctor didn't press the matter:
"Alright then, goodbye."
The Doctor nodded to the Detective, put the Detective's business card into his pocket, and then turned to walk towards the newspaper office's courtyard.
"Correspondence... Speaking of which, what did that Doctor Schneider mean by specifically mentioning schizophrenia?"
Xia De stood rooted to the spot, thinking silently, and then realized that the voice he heard in his head seemed very much like so-called "schizophrenia."
"You don't need to laugh in my head; I admit your laughter is very pleasant and charming; you are definitely not a product of my schizophrenia."
Xia De said to the voice in his head.
Although he was certain that his situation was due to contact with the mysterious, and definitely not schizophrenia, what he was unsure of was what this casually encountered Psychologist had seen.
"I just stepped out, and I actually encountered someone who might be involved with extraordinary powers.
Is my luck too bad?
Or is the density of extraordinary people in this world greater than I imagined?
Or perhaps, this Psychologist just mentioned it casually, and I'm overthinking?"
Xia De thought to himself, carefully putting away Doctor Schneider's business card.
No matter what, the current commission was the most important.
Since he knew the Psychologist's address, he could go anytime.
At least from their brief exchange just now, Doctor Schneider didn't seem to have any ill will.
But a brief exchange couldn't reveal true intentions, so Xia De still wanted to understand this world a bit more before having deeper interactions with people.