Chapter Two: The Blonde Pigtails

Wayne remembered clearly that the detective agency's gate was tightly locked, and the lock was from the inside.

There were many urban legends in Lunden City, such as the subway station to hell, the headless rider wandering in the fog, the alley of cannibals, and the underground mausoleum, and so on.

These sensational urban legends were only shared with the citizens of Lunden City at night. During the day, the city belonged to the citizens, but at night, it belonged to them. Both sides coexisted peacefully, without interfering with each other. But if someone broke the rules and intruded on the other's territory, they would disappear overnight, never to be seen again.

The dockworkers vividly described these urban legends, as if they had seen them with their own eyes.

During these three months, Wayne had heard many urban legends. Because he hadn't seen them with his own eyes, he dismissed them, but since it was free, he decided to believe them.

He adapted to the local customs and always locked the door tightly when night fell, avoiding close encounters with urban legends.

Anyway, it was free, so he might as well believe a little.

Knock, knock, knock...

The knocking sound resounded again, much more urgent than before, as if Wayne would keep knocking if he didn't open the door.

Wayne didn't open the door. He silently picked up the pry bar nearby. The other party also stopped knocking and pushed the door open by themselves.

A black hooded robe covered the whole body, making it impossible to see the intruder's face. Under the light shining from above, the shadows of the black robe were distinct, adding to the pressure the intruder gave Wayne. Sweat formed on Wayne's palms as he tightly gripped the pry bar.

Wayne looked closely. Although he couldn't see the face under the hood, he could guess from the movements of the robe's chest that the intruder was a woman.

Doing business?

"You're the owner of this detective agency, right? I have some business to discuss with you."

"Can we talk tomorrow? We're closed now."

Although the woman's voice was pleasant to the ears, Wayne still refused her. The mysterious appearance indicated that she was someone with a story, and he didn't want to get involved with such people.

The intruder didn't say anything. She walked slowly to the desk, looking at the pile of potatoes on the table, chuckled lightly, and waved her hand, placing a stack of banknotes on the table.

The image of the queen's head on the banknotes deeply pierced Wayne's eyes. With at least fifty sheets of one hundred-value sovereigns, that was five thousand sovereigns, enough to work himself to death for two years.

Sovereigns were the legal currency of the Windsor Kingdom, and there were also copper coins called sovereign cents. Twelve sovereign cents could be exchanged for one sovereign, which was the so-called change.

Affected by the Great Depression and the shadow of war, the purchasing power of sovereigns continued to decline. But for Wayne, this was still a huge sum of money.

"Can we talk now?"

"Please have a seat."

Wayne sat behind the desk, with the pry bar placed across his legs. He instinctively felt that this thing wasn't useful against the other party, but he needed some psychological comfort. Having a handy tool gave him a little more confidence when speaking.

The woman was very satisfied with Wayne's business acumen. She sat calmly in the chair in front of the desk.

Wayne observed the intruder closely. Although he couldn't see the face under the hood, he could see the lower half of her face that the hood hadn't covered. Her lips were delicate, and her skin was as smooth and white as pearls, indicating a high-quality chin.

Judging from her appearance, Wayne guessed that she was not very old, probably between sixteen and eighteen years old, definitely not over twenty years old.

At this age, with this kind of beauty, breaking into a single man's home late at night meant either having some skill or having some skill.

Just judging by her generous gesture, she should be the latter.

The woman's silence made Wayne unsure. He put on an official smile to face the customer and politely said, "Have you eaten? Would you like some potatoes?"

"Red tea."

"Just a moment."

Wayne put away the five thousand sovereigns on the table and went to the kitchen to brew tea. God knew where the locals got the tea leaves from since there was no maritime trade in this world.

After a moment, Wayne sat down again. The woman clasped her hands around the edge of her hood, as if she wanted to reveal her true face. Wayne hurriedly interrupted.

"I understand the rules. I don't want to know what you look like. After tonight, neither of us will know each other, so please don't take off your hat." Wayne raised his hand to shield his eyes.

It was useless. The other party did as she pleased, not caring about his opinion at all.

The young woman had golden hair and blue eyes. Her facial features were well-proportioned, and her appearance was fashionable and elegant, with a high degree of plasticity. She could exude innocence and sweetness as well as a cold and imposing aura.

For example, now, with her golden hair tied up and a pair of cold and mysterious eyes, she picked up the tea cup, sniffed it under her nose, but didn't taste it, and placed it back in its original position.

What's wrong? Can't the boar eat fine bran?

Although the woman didn't say anything, Wayne still sensed a thick barrier called class difference. His carefully selected premium tea leaves seemed worthless in her eyes.

Well, it's a big deal, she's a big spender!

Due to habits developed in his past life, Wayne never complained to wealthy clients, at least not outwardly. He maintained a smile and said politely, "Miss, can you tell me what business you want to discuss?"

"I need a job, and you need an assistant."

"..."

Wayne was shocked. He pointed to his office. "As you can see, I'm running a small business, and I can't afford..."

"I'll pay to work. I'll give you a thousand sovereigns a month to apply for the position of assistant at the detective agency."

"..."

"If it's not possible, forget it."

"Welcome, Miss Assistant. You're hired by this detective agency."

Wayne nodded readily, adding the previous five thousand, making it a total of six thousand sovereigns.

Perhaps this made him seem shameless, but six thousand sovereigns and shame had no comparability. He hesitated for a second, all for the sake of tolerance for potatoes.

Wayne enthusiastically reached out his hand, but the other party didn't take it. He withdrew his hand and shook it himself, not feeling embarrassed at all. "Can I have your resume and ID... Oh, I can make one myself. I'm Wayne, the owner and chief detective of this detective agency. What should I call you?"

"Veronica."

Veronica gave a name that might be true or false, and then told a story that might be true or false. She came from a foreign country and had loved detective novels since she was a child, aspiring to be a great detective.

She wouldn't stay at Wayne Detective Agency for too long, nor would she cause trouble for Wayne. As long as the latter asked fewer questions, she would have endless sovereigns during her employment.

It was a perfunctory lie, lacking sincerity, but it was enough.

Wayne nodded. At this point, it was clear that Veronica had other motives, but what exactly they were was unknown. He only knew that she wasn't here for him.

He had nothing, no value to exploit.

"During my employment, I'll stay at the detective agency. Do you have empty rooms here? I need two. I'll pay the rent separately. Is that okay?"

"No, you can move in with your bags at any time."

Wayne sighed repeatedly. As the ancient saying goes, when you meet a good person, start a family; when you meet a noble person, start a career; when you meet a rich woman, start a family and a career. He didn't believe it before, but now he understood. He had never met a rich woman before.

Money paved the way for success. Wayne had forgotten Veronica's other motives and only thought about money and beauty. Girls with money and beauty had double righteousness. Veronica was definitely not a spy assassin sent by an enemy country. She had traveled thousands of miles to a foreign land just to fulfill her childhood dream of being a detective.

Great, unlike Wayne, who had many dreams in his childhood, but now only had one.

To afford a house.

"The first floor is the office area, the second floor is my bedroom, archive room, studio, warehouse, and bathroom. If you don't mind, there are partitioned rooms on the third floor that no one usually uses. They can be cleaned up and moved into tomorrow."

"I'll move in tonight."

Veronica looked towards the stairs and took out a stack of sovereigns from her wallet, handing them to Wayne one by one. "Your bedroom belongs to me, and the entire second floor will be rented by me. Give you an hour to move your things downstairs."

"Half an hour will do."

"Also, my luggage is outside."

"I'll go move it."

The landlady's daughter wouldn't let a good opportunity slip by. Veronica's money was enough for Wayne to redecorate the detective agency. He couldn't find a reason to refuse.

But when he arrived at the gate of the detective agency, he was stunned by the scene before him.

The two gates were wide open, trembling against the dark background.

A tall man, two meters in height, stood in front of the gate, guarding three large black boxes. He was big and muscular, with rugged features and thick body hair on his arms.

In the Lunden, where winter had not yet left, the man wore only a pair of white shorts and a sleeveless vest. Even from a distance, Wayne could feel the heat radiating from the man's strong physique.

He seemed like a reasonable practical guy.

Seeing Wayne, the man smiled slightly and extended his hand to him. "William, let's be friends."

"Hello, I'm Wayne."

The man had a fierce look on his face, but surprisingly, he was very polite. Wayne handed over his hand, feeling the heat in William's palm, which sent a chill down his spine.

This chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to his coccyx, stopping there and not continuing to hit the crown of his head.

No wonder he always felt something was wrong. Wayne suddenly noticed that William had blonde hair tied into two pigtails, and the sleeveless vest was a blue and white striped sailor shirt.

Almost died, he didn't let go, and he kept smiling!

William's smile was particularly creepy as he tried to give his new friend a warm hug. Wayne struggled desperately, unable to resist the other's terrifying strength. In his line of sight, the blue and white stripes approached closer and closer, with many curly golden threads on top.

Chest hair, the symbol of masculine hormones.

"Meow~~~"

A cat's meow interrupted William and saved Wayne from imminent danger. It was a black cat with golden eyes, curled up on the black box, its oily fur blending into the night, and it was as if it disappeared when it closed its eyes.

Hearing the cat's meow, William decisively released Wayne and picked up the black cat. "Monica, raise it high."

Wayne: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

That was close. He almost got crushed by chest muscles!

Raising the black cat high, the two-meter-tall man bounced and jumped, the scene was too beautiful, directly dispelling Wayne's beautiful fantasy of blonde pigtails.

Noble lady, muscular guy, black cat, forgive his bluntness, but he couldn't understand this combination.

Well, he couldn't say that. A noble lady eloped with a black cat pet, accompanied by a muscular butler and bodyguard, it immediately made sense.

"William, what are you doing? Put Monica down quickly."

Veronica came out of the office and saw the situation. She immediately started to struggle with William. Under Wayne's speechless gaze, the gay man and the muscular man couldn't match the woman's strength and were easily defeated by Veronica, who took the black cat away effortlessly.

Holding the black cat in her arms, Veronica stared fiercely at William. "Your room is on the second floor. Quickly move your luggage upstairs with Wayne. From now on, you'll live in his room."

Isn't this inappropriate?

Wayne shivered and secretly vowed to move all the bed sheets, blankets, and clothes out of the bedroom, leaving not a single piece of fabric that smelled like him.

To his surprise, William also looked unhappy. "Isn't this inappropriate? I don't want to..."

"Shut up, it's decided."

"What about Monica?"

"Monica will live with me on the third floor."

Veronica said matter-of-factly, "A cat and a lady live in the same room. Smelly men are not allowed."

"Tsk, no good intentions."