The man was about the same height as Xia De, but his body under his clothes was very thin.
His head was slightly bowed, allowing his hat to cover his face, and from Xia De's angle, he couldn't see his appearance at all.
“Are there any traces of elements?”
“No.”
“Is he a Ring術士?”
“You need to get closer.”
Xia De put down the newspaper in his hand and made a gesture of looking across the street.
He took out the pocket watch that had been ruined by water in Coldwater Port from his pocket, glanced at it, then shook his head and sighed, as if complaining about the unpunctuality of the person he was waiting for.
Then he folded the newspaper in his hand and walked to the other side of the street.
He brushed past The Lady, Ms. Swann, who was wearing a red top.
She was only momentarily attracted by Xia De's appearance, but after a glance, she did not stop.
Xia De, on the other hand, walked straight towards the antique shop at the entrance of the alley, and the voice in his head gave the answer:
“Neither of them is a Ring術士.”
Ms. Swann had already left the peering range of the alley entrance, and by the moment Xia De turned into the alley from the antique shop's doorway, the peeper had also disappeared.
He quickened his steps to catch up.
The alley with the “Black Corner Alley” street sign was a rather narrow straight path, and there were no obstructions in the alley.
Xia De was only a few seconds late, yet there was already no one in the alley.
Since the other party was not a Ring術士, the only possibility was that he was hidden somewhere else in the alley.
On both sides of Black Corner Alley were identical three-story apartment buildings.
Moss covered the mottled walls everywhere, and the walls had long lost their original color.
The section of the wall near the alley entrance was covered with wanted posters and various flyers.
Clotheslines were strung between the buildings facing each other, and still-damp clothes swayed like dusty flags in the thin fog.
“I was only a few seconds late and the other party disappeared, which means he entered a building near the alley entrance.”
Xia De stood still, thinking:
“Moreover, when Ms. Swann appeared, I was always watching the alley entrance, but I didn't see the door of the closest house to the alley entrance open, which means the possible buildings are the two second closest to the alley entrance.”
Xia De looked at the houses on both sides:
“He always appears exactly when Ms. Swann appears, which means the building he is in can directly see the far end of the street...”
Neither of the two buildings second closest to the alley entrance had windows facing the street, but the attics of these houses were higher than nearby buildings, and Xia De noticed that the attic of the house on his left had a window, while the window of the attic on his right was completely boarded up.
“This one.”
Xia De smiled and turned to walk up the steps in front of the house on his left.
The stone steps were uneven, and the front door looked as if it had been splashed with excrement.
The hand he extended, ready to knock, stopped.
After a moment of consideration, he impolitely lightly kicked the door with his foot.
After a long while, he heard footsteps from behind the door, and a man's voice asked with extreme nervousness:
“Who is it, please?”
“Sir, I’m here to check the gas meter.”
The mechanical gas and steam meters in Saint Delan Square were outside the houses.
The gas company checked them once a month and sent the bill directly to the residents.
However, the gas meters in these old-style buildings were mostly inside the house, and Xia De had observed earlier that there was no meter box outside the door.
“Okay, why are you so early this time? It's only the beginning of the month.”
The door opened a crack, and Xia De immediately inserted his hand to prevent it from closing, then pulled hard to open the door completely.
Behind the door was the strange man dressed in black.
Only now he wasn't wearing a hat, so his face was exposed.
Xia De was startled when he saw that face.
The man’s entire face was swollen, red and white in patches, and his upper and lower eyelids were so swollen that they almost completely covered his eyes.
Besides his face, Xia De also saw his hands.
Similar to the skin on his face, they also looked terrible.
These should be marks left by scalding or burns; the man in front of him had probably suffered a very terrible accident.
“What do you want to do? Oh, you’re not here to check the gas meter!”
Seeing Xia De's attire, the man immediately panicked.
“Of course not, I have other matters, but I am definitely not a bad person.”
Xia De held the door frame with his left hand to prevent the person inside from closing the door, and extended his right hand in a handshake gesture:
“Good afternoon, sir.”
Although the other party's face and skin looked terrible, it wasn't a contagious disease, nor was it dirt, so Xia De didn't mind shaking his hand.
Xia De's gesture of extending his hand made the person inside feel a bit of goodwill.
He awkwardly extended his hand and shook Xia De's, then immediately withdrew it, but the moment of touch was enough for Xia De to draw a conclusion.
“He is indeed an ordinary person.”
“I'm here about Ms. Swann.”
Xia De held the door frame, intending to discuss the matter while standing at the doorway, and the man asked in confusion:
“I’m sorry, Ms. Swann is... Oh, so her last name is Swann! That’s really a nice name.”
On his somewhat terrifying face, a look of sudden realization could vaguely be seen.
Xia De’s mouth twitched.
He already understood that this matter had nothing to do with the supernatural; it was indeed impossible to continuously encounter relics.
But since the matter was clear, he didn’t mind wasting a few minutes to wrap things up:
“Sir, for the past few weeks, you’ve been peeking at her at the alley entrance every noon.
Ms. Swann is very worried, so she sought help from a security company, and then the security company found me, a Detective.
May I ask, what exactly do you want to do?”
The man’s face immediately flushed, though, due to his skin condition, it was hard to tell.
He stammered:
“Hello, Detective. I just... wanted to see her. You know, with my appearance, it’s impossible... I just wanted to take a look... I didn’t do anything bad, I just...”
His voice gradually lowered, and Xia De waited for a while before saying:
“I’m just here to investigate this matter, and my conversation with you will be relayed exactly as it is to the client.
She might change jobs...”
“No! I won’t peek at her anymore, please don’t disturb her life.”
The man suddenly became agitated:
“Don’t let me affect her life!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have the authority to make decisions for others.
This is a commission, and I must honestly submit the investigation results to the client.”
Xia De shrugged.
He didn't know whether the man in front of him would always quietly peek from the side, or suddenly want to do something one day.
Therefore, Xia De certainly wouldn't pretend he found nothing, believing in love or other such reasons.
Fortunately, it wasn't up to him to judge whether the man in front of him was good or bad, because he was only there to investigate the matter clearly:
“Sir, every decision we make will irreversibly affect the people around us.
From the moment you decided to watch her at the alley entrance every noon, the impact on her had already begun.
I won’t comment on your intentions for doing this; I just hope you understand.”
Xia De paused, carefully choosing his words:
“Never be consumed by the darkness within you.
When you peer out from the shadows, perhaps you think it’s admiration, but when that admiration ferments further, what will be the final outcome?”
To put it bluntly, Xia De was warning the other party to behave.
But he didn't know whether the other party was good or bad, so he didn't want to hurt anyone's self-esteem, which is why he expressed himself in a very subtle way.
“The darkness of the human heart, you should know better than I do.
Even if you believe you are a good person, can you be sure that when a certain idea takes shape, will the tiny seed of darkness consume your heart in the future?”
Xia De shook his head, deciding to add more forceful persuasive methods beyond just words.
So he lifted his clothes slightly, allowing the man inside the door to see the gun at his waist, and the latter recoiled a small step in terror:
“What do you want to do?”
“Don’t worry, I just want to show you how pretty my revolver is.
Oh, sir, if you have feelings for The Lady, you could actually find an opportunity to give her a letter, but absolutely do not express your affection using this method.”
“But she will refuse me, with my appearance...”
The man whispered, he was a local from Tobesk, with a heavy accent:
“...She will because of my appearance...”
“If she refuses you, then please stay away from her.
Isn’t that normal?”
Xia De said, letting go of the door and preparing to leave, he waved his hand:
“I already know your identity.
If you try to do anything to Ms. Swann, the police will come here to visit you immediately.”
“No, I won’t, I won’t bother her anymore...”
The man said softly, lowering his head.
Xia De nodded, sighed, and turned to leave Black Corner Alley.
He wasn't sighing for this matter, but for himself; the second matter indeed turned out to be a waste of time.
“But at least it was interesting enough.”
“You think so?”
Not getting a reply from the voice in his ear, Xia De thought for a moment:
“It was indeed quite interesting.”
The Outsider liked to witness different stories, even if they were just ordinary people's stories.
Returning to Lewis Street, Xia De first found a restaurant to have his lunch, and then decided to take a carriage to the tax bureau in the North District of Tobesk to handle his taxes.
The North District Tax Bureau’s jurisdiction included Saint Delan Square, and Swan Castle Street, where the office department was located, was also where Black Stone Security Company was located.
Xia De needed to tell Iluna about what had just happened so that Black Stone Security Company could notify the client, Ms. Swann.
If Xia De's actions today really led to other consequences, he would feel guilty.
“Only death and taxes are inevitable.”
In this complex steam era, death is governed by deities and natural laws, while taxation is naturally governed by the City Hall tax department.
The entire City of Tobesk has three tax bureaus, distributed in three directions of the City, and these three tax bureaus are jointly responsible to the City Hall finance department.
Tax evasion is almost impossible; even if this world is more backward than Xia De's hometown, legitimate Detective agencies must have a license, and with a license, someone will come to check taxes.