If this trip went smoothly with no further complications, Xia De planned to spend the remaining daylight hours exploring the local area, then temporarily abandon his investigation in Coldwater Port City and focus on returning to Tobesk to find ways to quickly enhance his strength.
Although Miss Daniste’s divination suggested Xia De needed to travel far, divinations weren't always accurate, and he didn't need to waste too much time in an unfamiliar City.
As for being able to handle a commission in a distant port City, it was because Mr. Lemeier, a distant relative of Mrs. Lemeier who had passed away, had entrusted his will to a friend who lived locally.
This was certainly no coincidence; the deceased Mr. Lemeier was a sailor who traveled between the New World and the Old Continent, and Coldwater Port must have been his most frequent stop.
His friend should have a close connection to the identity of a sailor, and given their good relationship, good enough to help preserve a will, it was quite normal for the friend to be in Coldwater Port.
When leaving, Xia De did not forget to wear a hat to prevent anyone from recognizing him.
Of course, no one in this City would have seen Xia De in person, and even if someone recognized him from a newspaper photo, as long as he denied having visited Coldwater Port, it wouldn't cause any trouble.
As for the destination of this trip, although Xia De didn't have a photographic memory, he had a habit of carrying a notebook, and the notebook contained the information the client had provided when they visited that day.
Mr. Lemeier’s friend also lived in the Wharf Area, seemingly a minor civil servant of the local government.
Upon inquiring about the address when leaving the hotel, he learned that it was only about a half-hour walk away.
Xia De did not know the gentleman's name, but Mrs. Lemeier knew he resided at Mermaid Lane No. 5, Wharf Area, Coldwater Port City.
Judging by the naming convention, it should be a relatively good alley nearby.
Even within the same country, different Cities have different architectural styles.
The inland City of Fog and the West Coast port City had significant differences in architectural style.
Walking through the unfamiliar City with an umbrella, the journey that was originally half an hour took Xia De nearly an hour, as he stopped and started frequently.
He saw children laughing and running in the rain, laborers still moving goods on the wharf in the heavy rain, old nobles rushing down the road in carriages, and beggars huddled under shop awnings to shelter from the rain.
This City was thriving, and this City was decaying and dirty.
It was thousands of miles from Tobesk, yet Xia De's assessment of it was surprisingly consistent:
“A City playing two roles in an era of change will eventually move towards prosperity or decay in a larger transformation.”
In the Wharf Area, the drainage on the main roads was quite good for convenience of transportation, but once one entered the small alleys, mud and things Xia De didn't want to guess at almost covered the tops of his boots.
Mermaid Lane was on one side of the main road, and the fifth door after entering the alley was the destination.
It was a two-story building with peeling paint and moss growing along the edges of the street-facing wall.
The window next to the door had no curtains, revealing a withered flower in a pot on the windowsill, looking as though it had been dead for a long time.
Out of politeness, Xia De did not peek into someone else's house from the window, but instead walked up the steps under the eaves with his umbrella, gently knocked on the door, and waited patiently:
“I wonder how Mia is doing with Miss Louisa.”
Both Tobesk and Coldwater Port were raining today, but relatively speaking, the rain in this port City was heavier.
The wind blew through the City, bringing the unique scent of the ocean into his nostrils; people who lived here year-round would probably be very accustomed to this smell.
After all, there was no persistent heavy fog here like in Tobesk.
Soon, someone came to open the door; when it opened, Xia De saw a tall, thin, bearded middle-aged man:
“Excuse me, is Mr. Jonathan Lemmer here?”
Xia De skillfully used his surprise to express emotion, as he had assumed Mr. Lemeier’s friend would also be a rough sailor.
“Lemmer?”
The person who opened the door frowned, sizing up the young man holding an umbrella, and replied in a slightly accented voice:
“That’s my friend, sir. May I ask what you need him for?”
“We have some financial disputes; I’m here to settle accounts with him.”
“He owes you money?”
The middle-aged man immediately became wary, scrutinizing the unfamiliar young man.
“No, I owe him money,” Xia De said, and with the hand not holding the umbrella, he pulled out the rhode cards from his pocket and shook them.
“We met on a ship; I took their ship from Coldwater Port to the New World.
There was nothing to do on the ship, so everyone gathered to play cards.
I lost some money to Jonathan Lemmer, but I couldn't pay at the time.
He gave me this address and said I could just send the money here… That was two months ago, and I just returned to Coldwater Port from the New World.”
Xia De didn't know if the sailor liked playing cards, but as a sailor who spent years at sea, he definitely couldn't escape smoking, drinking, and rhode cards.
There weren't many interesting things in this era, and if you wanted to find some fun at sea, these were pretty much the only options.
“I am a trustworthy person, and I don’t owe much money anyway,” Xia De added, explaining the reason for his “integrity.”
“How much do you owe him?”
But the middle-aged man who opened the door remained wary.
“12 shillings and 7 pence.”
This amount was neither too much nor too little; if it were too little, it wouldn't be worth the time to repay, and if it were too much, it would arouse suspicion.
The middle-aged man then relaxed slightly, and seeing that it was still raining outside, he invited Xia De in to talk:
“Thank you for coming to repay the money, but… please come in first.”
The middle-aged man's name was Jason Delar, and he was the local dispatcher in charge of warehouse scheduling in the Wharf Area.
Although it sounded like an unremarkable position, it was still a civil service position in Coldwater Port City; even Xia De, who had no experience with similar professions, could understand that it was a lucrative job.
Mr. Delar hosted Xia De in the living room and informed him of the unfortunate news of Mr. Lemeier’s passing.
Xia De, who was already prepared, acted with great skill, showing “surprise.”
First, he lamented the impermanence of life, noting that the sailor had been healthy when they met a few months ago.
Upon hearing that he had died in a shipwreck, Xia De then appropriately pretended to pray for the souls of the innocent deceased—praying to the Mr. of Dawn.
To make the conversation seem more natural, Xia De also inquired about Mr. Delar’s relationship with the deceased Mr. Lemeier.
His client, Mrs. Lemeier, hadn't received much information from the lawyer, only knowing that the gentleman in Coldwater Port who held the will was a good friend of the sailor who unfortunately died in a shipwreck.
And Mr. Delar, when introducing himself, merely explained that he and Mr. Lemeier had become friends playing rhode cards at a pub, gradually becoming familiar, and had a friendship spanning several decades.
This explanation was quite similar to Xia De's and also seemed a bit peculiar.
But regardless, by now, Xia De was basically certain that Mrs. Lemeier’s acceptance of the inheritance was indeed true and not some kind of scam.
After all, even if it were a scam, the scammers wouldn't be so bored as to prepare such a realistic trap in a distant City.