Volume 1 – Chapter 1.3
He opened the door. The room was clean and tidy. It seemed that the old man had ordered people to clean up.
The room was no different from the rest of the gold fingers' downstairs, except for a table and not so wet, it was also no different from the cells in the prison.
Fabian took off his coat and laid it on the table. He lay down on the bed.
Maybe it was because he had beer, maybe it was because he was a little excited today, Fabian was not sleepy at all. He lay on the bed, thinking about what the old man had just told him.
Fabian knew that the Boss must have planned a big operation, and the actions that Eckert had personally carried out were always profitable.
Perhaps, there would be enough funds to maintain the current nest. Maybe the split could be slowed down.
In fact, Fabian could roughly guess what Eckert had been doing from the man that the old man asked him to find.
It happened several times during his "golden finger years".
Eckert must want the new face to pretend to be the son of a man who had just died, for inheriting the fortune.
When Fabian thought about how the new face could enjoy so many things that he might never be able to enjoy while playing the successor, he truly envied. He could only imagine the joy of it.
However, if he was asked to act as such a character, he would definitely say no.
Although those new faces had enjoyed a spicy meal in the days of being the successors, when everything had ended, they bacame trash, extremely harmful trash.
Although the Boss didn't really like killing people, but this was the simplest method and he used it frequently.
Even if the new faces escaped this fate, the Boss would throw them far away.
The obedient ones would receive a small sum of money to maintain a livelihood.
The disobedient ones were either exterminated or sold to foreign black market merchants as slaves.
It was said the new faces that trained by Eckert were quite rare commodities for those merchants.
Fabian fell into sleep when pondering.
When he woke up the next day, the sun had risen high.
He put on his coat and went downstairs, last night's welcome food was piled up to cook a stew.
Such things were usually rare for the golden fingers.
But Fabian was not in the mood.
He stuffed his stomach and walked out of the nest.
As for finding a new face, he was already quite skilled. He found most of his golden fingers from the slums.
However, according to the old man's request, it was very difficult for finding such a new face in the slums.
With long years of hungry life, the children from the slums always had a terrible feeling of life.
Like Fabian himself, they trusted nothing.
Eckert needed a clean new face, and a little pretty.
Finding such a person was not difficult for Fabian.
There were many child labors in the city. Most of them were children who came here to make a living. They would be fortunate enough to find a job and feed themselvs.
Most of them stayed in South Port.
It was because South Port was the most prosperous town in the area, and also the largest pier in the south.
There were lots of shops and restaurants.
For those who were good-looking and smart, It was easy to become waitor in a restaurant, or find a place after a shop counter.
Working in a restaurant could fill the stomach. If you did well, even got tips sometimes.
Working in a shop was even more fortunate.
The skilled clerk was only a short distance away from the shopkeeper's position.
They would probably be able to ascend to the position of vice shopkeeper in over a decade.
These people could be called the lucky ones in the unfortunate children. They were full of longing and yearning for life, so it should be able to find Eckert's new face in them.
Thinking about this, Fabian decided to leave for South Port.
South Port was not far from Leila, but still 70 kilometers away. Getting there would be a long journey，so luggages and enough money were definitely necessary.
However, for Fabian, a golden-finger, he would never need any of that.
Fabian walked out of the city gate,and strolled along the road. He was waiting for the stagecoach to South Port.
South Port was a large dock, so thousands of stagecoaches went there every day.
As long as moved fast and climbed onto the luggage rack quietly, the hitch-hiker would never be discovered. The luggage rack was on the rear of the stagecoach, filled with luggages ,so it could easily block the cabman's sight.
And then, the hitch-hiker could have a relaxing journey.
Anyway, it was really a busy route from Leila to South Port.
Shortly soon, Fabian heard the sound of wheels rolling on the road, and the orderly sound of horse.
Fabian ducked behind a large tree on the roadside.
The cabmen really disliked these young boys who wandered around the road alone.
Because all the cabmen knew well that those boys probably meant to take a ride.
So the cabmen would much like to pay as much attention as they can.
Fabian knew how the trick worked. He hid behind a tree,and waited for the coach passing by.
When the coach brushed past the tree, Fabian quickly jumped onto the coach.
Fabian enjoyed the running of the coach.
The trees moving fast behind him, the strong wind greeting him , and the bumpy road making several jolts.
To be honest, Fabian would really want to shout out if the cabman could not be awakened.
Fabian had thought of getting himself a stagecoach.
If running the gold route which started from Thethnburg to South Port, Fabian would be able to earn four or five silver coins a day，excepting the cost. That meant one thousand and eight hundred silver coins a year, equivalent to 180 gold coins. Five or six years' earning would cover the expense of the coach.
If well maintained, the coach could be serving for about ten years.
Whenever imagining himself to earn nearly 200 gold coins every year, Fabian could not stop exciting.
But he did know it was just his own wishful thinking. He could not afford a stagecoach since it cost seven or eight hundred gold coins.
Fabian had never tried to pursue his own preys.
It was quite stupid. Fabian knew that the old man could figure out everything burglary in the street, and even how much money had been lost.
It might be possible to get one or two gold coins, but no more.
Fabian had witnessed so many times that the old man dealt with those unruly gold fingers. The least serious punishment was to cut off their fingers.
As for those who dared to resist or even run away, the river bottom，at the eastern Leila，would be their graves.
No one could hide from the old man, nor the hunting order from the Boss.
The Boss had a guy who drived everyone feared.
When mentioned Keller, even the reckless guy like Fabian couldn't help trembling.