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Translators: Lancent, Sfile

Klein walked down Zouteland Street. He was enjoying the wet and warm breeze, and amidst the excitement, he suddenly realized a problem.

[I have only 3 pence of small change left. But it costs 4 pence to take a public carriage back to Iron Cross Street. However, taking out a 1-pound banknote and asking for changes is like using a hundred-yuan note to buy a cheap bottle of water. I wouldn’t want to do such a silly thing unless there is no other way.]

“Shall I take carriage for 3 kilometers at 3 pence and walk the rest of the journey?” One hand in pocket, Klein slowed down his pace to think of other ways.

“No !” He quickly denied the previous thought.

It would take quite a while to walk the rest of the journey. As he was carrying a “great fortune” of 12 pounds, it was also extremely unsafe!

Moreover, he had been concerned that the revolver would be confiscated by the Night Watchers. Therefore, he intentionally left it at home. If he really encountered some unknown dangers related to Welch’s death, he would have no resistance at all.

“Break them into small notes at a nearby bank? No, no way. The 0.5 percent commission is too expensive!” Klein silently shook his head. It was distressing alone to think of the potential cost!

The ideas were ruled out one by one, till Klein suddenly saw a clothing and hats shop in front.

[Right, isn’t the normal approach to buy reasonably priced items and collect the change?

[Tuxedo, shirt, vest, trousers, leather boots, and cane are all part of my budget as I’m going to buy them anyway!

[Well, it could be troublesome to find suitable clothes. Benson is more familiar in this area and he is more experienced in bargaining. Perhaps, I should consider waiting for him to come back…

[What about buying a cane first?

[That’s right! There is a saying that a cane is a gentleman’s best self-defense weapon. It is half as good as a crowbar. A gun in one hand and a cane in another is a civilized person’s way of fighting!]

After going through many options, Klein finally made up his mind. He turned his body and entered “”Vilker’s coat store”.

The layout of the clothing and hats shop was similar to clothes shops in the world before his transmigration. At the left wall was a row of tuxedos. In the middle were shirts, trousers, vests, and ties. On the right wall were pairs of leather shoes, and boots.

“How may I help you, sir?” A male salesclerk in a white shirt and red vest greeted him and asked politely.

In the Kingdom of Ruen, noble, rich, and powerful gentlemen liked to wear white shirts, black vests, black trousers and black tuxedos. The colors were extremely monotonous. Therefore, male servants, salesclerks, and waiters were required to dress colorfully, in order to distinguish themselves from the upper class.

On the contrary, ladies and misses dressed in multiple colors with glorious decorations, while the maids could only wear black and white.

To answer the salesclerk’s questions, Klein considered for a moment and said.

“I am looking for a cane. A cane that is heavy and hard.”

[The kind that can crack some heads!]

The salesclerk in red vest observed Klein for a moment. He led him into the shop and pointed at the row of canes at the corner.

“The gold-inlaid one is made of Ironheart wood. It’s heavy and hard. 11 sules and 7 pence. Do you want a try?”

[11 sules and 7 pence? This is a daylight robbery! So what if it is gold-inlaid?] Klein was shocked by the price.

However, his expression remained unchanged and he gently nodded.

“All right.”

The salesclerk in red vest took down the Ironheart wood cane and carefully handed it to Klein. He was afraid that Klein would drop and break the merchandise.

Right after Klein took the cane, he felt its heaviness. He tried to move it around and found that he could not use it smoothly.

“Too heavy.” Klein shook his head in relief.

[This is not an excuse!]

The sales clerk in red vest put back the Ironheart wood cane and pointed separately at the other three.

“This one is made up of walnut wood, by the most famous cane artisan Mr. Hayes, it costs 10 sules 3 pence… This one is made of agarwood, silver-inlaid, as hard as steel, costs 7 sules 6 pence… This one is made of white Burly tree core, it is also silver-inlaid, costs 7 sules and 10 pence…”

Klein tried them out one by one. He found that the weights of the cane were all suitable. Then, he bent his fingers and knocked on them to have a general understanding of each one’s hardness. Finally, he picked the cheapest one.

“I’ll take the agarwood one,” said Klein, pointing at the silver-inlaid cane in the red-vest salesclerk’s hand.

“All right, Sir. Please follow me to pay over there. If the cane is worn or smudged in the future, you can hand it over to us to maintain it for free.”

“Good day, Sir. This will be 7 sule and 6 pence.” The salesclerk behind the counter greeted with a smile.

Klein tried to maintain the dignity of a gentleman, but when he reached out his left hand with the 1 pound banknote, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Can it be cheaper?”

“Sir, this is a hand-crafted item. Our cost is very high.” The salesclerk in red vest answered, “Furthermore, the shop owner is not here today. We are not qualified to lower the price in his stead.”

The other salesclerk behind the counter added on.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Ok.” Klein passed the banknote over and took back the black cane with the silver-inlaid head from the salesclerk in the red vest.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The wind sounded heavy. It felt solid cutting through the air. Klein nodded with satisfaction.

He turned his eyes back to the front, preparing to see the banknotes and coins, but he noticed that the red vest clerk was far away. The cashier had also retracted to the corner, close to a double-barreled shotgun hanging on the wall.

The Kingdom of Ruen had a semi-regulatory policy on firearms. If you wanted to hold a gun, you would need to apply for an “all weapons usage certificate” or a “hunting license”. But no matter which one it was, you could not own a burst rifle, a steam high-pressure gun, a six barrel machine guns, or other controlled firearms.

An “all weapons usage certificate” could buy and store any kind of civilian firearms at will, but it was extremely troublesome to obtain. Even a businessman with a certain social status might not pass the requirements. A “hunting license” was relatively easier. It was even approved for the farmers in the suburbs. However, this kind of license was limited to the use of hunting rifles and there was a limitation on the number of guns. Many people with some assets would apply for one, in order to protect themselves in a critical situation, such as now…

… Klein looked at the two salesclerks whose guard was fully on. He twitched his mouth and forced an awkward smile.

“Not bad. This cane is very suitable for waving. I’m very satisfied.”

Seeing that he did not have the intention to assault, the salesclerk behind the counter relaxed his expression. He returned the banknotes and copper coins with two hands.

Klein took the notes and had a look. There were two 5-sule notes, one 5-pence coin, and a 1-penny coin. He subconsciously nodded in his mind.

After two seconds, he ignored the clerk’s gaze and unfolded the four banknotes against the bright light to confirm that the security pattern and the watermark were correct.

After doing all this, Klein kept the banknotes and coins separately. He took the cane, put on the hat, and walked out of the “Vilker’s coat store” like a gentleman. Then he boarded a trackless luxury public carriage. After a transfer and a total of 6 pence, he returned to the apartment smoothly.

Closed the door, Klein recounted the 11 pounds 12 sule worth of banknotes three times before putting them into the desk drawer. Then he retrieved the bronze revolver with the wooden pistol grip.

Dang! Dang!

Five brass-colored bullets fell on the desk. Klein stuffed the silver “demon hunting bullets” with complex patterns and dark sacred emblems into the revolver.

Similar to before, he had only inserted five bullets, leaving a space for preventing accidental discharge. The rest were stored in a small iron box together with the five normal bullets that he had just taken out.

Snapped!

The pistol closed and Klein felt a sense of security.

He happily put the revolver into the armpit of the armpit, firmly buckled, and then practiced the action of unbuttoning the gun over and over again. After the arms were sore, he rested for a while and continued until the sky was dark and the sounds of tenants appeared in the aisle.

Zz… Klein sighed and put the revolver back into his armpit holster.

It was not until this time that he changed out his formal attire and vest, put on a daily brown coat, and did some arm relaxation exercise.

Tud. Tud. Tud. The footsteps came close to the door. A key was inserted into the keyhole and then came the twisting sounds.

Melissa, who had soft and dark hair, pushed opened the door and her nose twitched slightly. Her eyes quickly swept over the stove that was not lit at all and the anticipation in her eyes suddenly faded a little.

“Klein, let me cook the ingredients left over from last night. Benson might be back tomorrow.” Melissa turned to look at her brother.

Klein put his hands in his pockets and leaned his thighs against the edge of the desk. He smiled.

“No. Let’s go out to eat.”

“Go out to eat?” Melissa was surprised.

“What about the Silver Crown Restaurant on Daffodil Street?”

“But, but…” Melissa was still confused about the suggestion.

Klein grinned.

“To celebrate that I found a job.”

“You’ve found a job?” Melissa’s voice became louder, “But, but isn’t Tengon University’s interview taking place tomorrow?”

“It is another job,” Klein smiled and took the stack of paper money out of the drawer. “They have also paid four weeks of salary in advance.”

Melissa gazed at those pound and sule notes. Her eyes were wide open and she asked in surprise.

“My Goddess… You… they… you. What kind of job did you get?”

[Well…] Klein’s expression froze for a second, he deliberated a little and explained.

“It is a security company dedicated to find, collect, and protect ancient artifacts and documents. They need a professional consultant. The contract is 5 years, with 3 pounds every week.”

“…Was that what you were worrying about last night?” Melissa stayed silent for a while and said.

Klein nodded.

“Yes. It is more respectable to be a teacher at Tengon University. But I like this job more.”

“…In fact, it is also very good.” Melissa showed an encouraging smile. She asked half questioning and half out of curiosity. “Why did they prepay a full four-weeks of salary?”

“Because we need to move to a new home. We need more rooms, and we need our own washroom.” Klein

He felt that his smile was impeccable, it was just short of one sentence “is this a surprise?”.

Melissa paused for a moment. Suddenly, she flustered and seemed to have lost her composure slightly.

“Klein, we are living really well. Yes, I do occasionally complain that I don’t have my own bathroom, but it is just habitual. Do you remember Jenny? She used to live next door to us. Ever since her father was injured, he lost his job and they had to move to the lower street. A family of five is now living in one room, with three sleeping in a high bed, two sleeping on the ground, and they still want to sublet the remaining space to others….”

“In comparison to her family, we are very lucky. Please don’t waste your salary on this matter anymore. Additionally, I like Mrs. Smyrin’s bakery very much.”

[Mellisa, your reaction is not the same as my script…] Klein was stunned.

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