After a long silence, James let out a long breath.
"It was just a tire change... I didn't expect it would reveal so much information!"
Hitzfeld was right. As one of the best successors of the next generation of Lawrence, James also has his own pride.
A count, a famous detective, would definitely not dare to look down on the other person if the other person was a man who was at least 35 years old, the kind of "old man" who looked experienced and had a lot of experience.
But a girl...
A person who is only 19 years old, not even the age starting with 2, and can be described as a girl. Although those rumors have touted her as a god, it is certainly impossible for James to immediately treat her with respect.
This had nothing to do with being rude. He could swear that he had been very polite. If he were among his peers of similar status, and put them in his position at the time, they would not be able to be so polite.
Perhaps on the night of rejection they would resort to violence to disturb her.
Yet he still underestimated her.
With this ability... Even if she has nothing to do with Elsa's return to the continent, she deserves a noble title.
"The Larence family is indeed anxious to get some intelligence from the Earl, and this intelligence may be related to whether we can gain the upper hand in certain changes."
He no longer regarded the person opposite him as a beautiful girl, and even his tone changed, becoming a little more serious and solemn.
"It may be a little presumptuous to say this right away...but this is too important."
"Could you please tell me where Prince Wayne is now, Count?"
Chapter 9 Theft of Jewels
After saying this, James stared at the girl nervously, fearing that she would refuse to answer the question.
He was acting too anxious...
Hitzfeld had been observing him secretly, but James didn't know that many of his actions and words had revealed his strong personal style.
For example, he didn't trust other people - he didn't even bring a servant with him, and drove to Blackwood by himself. So it can be imagined that he must be a relatively confident and a little conceited guy.
And from the beginning of this conversation, from the moment the two of them sat down, in addition to constantly looking over here, he would always twist his neck intentionally or unintentionally while speaking, pretending to look around to ease the embarrassment.
That was also a manifestation of caution: he was actually confirming several times whether there were other people in the room. He knew very well that the content of this conversation was very important and if it got out, it might have an adverse impact on the Lawrence family. He must prevent this from happening.
He can achieve all this at his age. I heard that he has greatly improved the income of Lawrence's mining area in Trierred. So he can actually be said to be very capable.
How strange...I actually looked at him from this perspective, as if I had lived many, many years longer than him, and assumed that I was his elder in terms of experience...
"This is nothing to be surprised about." She whispered through the red and black wooden hairpin stuck behind her head, "Count the cases you have been through yourself. This young man has not even half as much experience as you..."
To shut up.
Hitzfeld raised his hand and flicked the wooden hairpin, asking someone not to disturb him.
"?" James looked at her actions with a puzzled expression. He didn't understand the look in the girl's eyes... He read a lot of inexplicable meanings from her eyes. He didn't know what it was, but it reminded him of Le Fay...his father.
"There's nothing hidden in this." Fortunately, the girl's next words made him feel relieved.
There is nothing that cannot be said... does that mean it can be said? It sounds like she is not going to reject it forcefully, which can be seen from the fact that she took the initiative to find me.
But her attitude is so ambiguous, so can I guess...she actually wants to exchange this information with me for something?
"Name your price." James took out a checkbook and a shiny black metal pen. "I don't have much authority, but I can still make the decision within 200 million... 200 million Sera gold coins. If it's more, you have to give me some time. I need to deal with some other property."
Hitzfeld was a little surprised: "Is this all the resources you have at your disposal?"
"It's quite a bit." James explained to her patiently, "This is working capital...Lawrence is a business after all. We don't need to accumulate wealth into numbers like most nobles. Many of us calculate it based on the discount of land, factories and other things."
Hitzfeld didn't believe him. The Chamber of Commerce Lord of Nanxinze could easily come up with millions of Sera. She didn't believe that a wealthy family of the size of Lawrence would not have a large sum of money hidden to deal with crises.
But her purpose is not money.
She really has no shortage of money... Not to mention that she now has nearly 20 Sera gold coins in her savings. If she doesn't buy various rare medicines for research, she will never be able to spend it all. For example, this time when Aisha returned, Alwin clearly gave her the authority.
The royal family promised to allocate a large territory there to the Imaar family, and the development costs within the territory would be borne by the royal family. All a certain pretty sheriff who likes to wear black stockings has to do is wait to collect taxes.
That is a large area that includes the Port of Inian... As the closest trading port to Icarolina and Goli, the tax revenue alone is enough to make them exhausted. It is conservatively estimated that they can earn more than one million gold coins every year in the future, and this does not include the fact that they can continue to develop the territory in the future.
Hitzfeld is now very conscious of being a hostess. She does not consider herself an outsider at all. Na Xia's money is hers, so she will never be short of money in the future.
In this case, a few million gold coins were not worth mentioning. Not to mention that she had come here for other purposes, even if she came here for money, this amount of money was really too little.
It's a bit sad to think about it... The average price for a low-level coachman in Kuroki City to pull a car is only a few dozen becquerels, but I actually feel that millions of gold coins are not worth much.
We need to correct this unhealthy concept of money.
She was secretly alert.
But you can't be like Madeline...she fell into depravity after being inexplicably given the title of Prince Elsa.
"I have no want of money, sir."
"What do you want?" James stopped writing. "I also heard that you like painting? Then you must like all kinds of artworks... I also have some of these in my personal collection. If you are sure, I will have someone send them to you as soon as possible."
"No, I don't want any art either." Seeing his deliberately painful expression, Hitzfeld wanted to laugh, so she quickly interrupted his performance: "I want you to continue talking about the case."
"case?"
"That was your initial excuse, the theft of jewels in the capital."
"?" James was completely stunned. He was confused and bewildered.
Excuse...Yes, she knew it was an excuse, so why did she still need to investigate the matter?
From previous contacts, it can be seen that she does not like to be in contact with that circle. She is so close to the Shadow Lion Leader that she is not even afraid of Lawrence. She does not care about offending anyone at all.
So why is she so obsessed with this case?
Even Shadow Lion itself had no intention of conducting a thorough investigation, and didn't even call back any capable personnel... Could it be that there is something special about this case that I have overlooked?
But no matter how James guessed or associated, he could not figure out the truth of the matter.
After all, the crown has been lost for too long. A certain crow made a bet with the girl with great confidence that even the royal family themselves did not know what its specific function was.
He couldn't figure out the reason, but it seemed like he was the one taking advantage, and the situation was forced - the young countess was staring at him eagerly, and after thinking about it, James decided that it was okay to tell her.
"This happened on No. 1," he said. "It happened a few days before I left. When I heard about your appearance in Blackwood, I immediately thought of using this as an excuse, so I asked someone for more information."
"That's very good, please continue, James."
The corner of James' mouth twitched.
The feeling of being encouraged as a junior is getting stronger and stronger.
But he needed help after all, so he suppressed his weirdness and continued, "The first to break the news was the Ross Golden Crown."
"Ross's Golden Crown?"
"It is a luxury brand... It and other brands such as 'Cargayle Tailoring' and 'Baron of Dress' once belonged to a nobleman. But he committed serious crimes in certain... well, actually, in matters targeting you, Count. These brands have been integrated and changed hands, but they were not renamed because they wanted to preserve their popularity."
"Did they bleed this time too?"
"Yes, actually the item was lost in their showroom."
"How much was lost?"
"All of them—there were fifteen pieces on display that day, and they were all stolen."
"Among them." Hitzfeld tried to keep his tone calm when he said this. "I'm curious about what treasures they are."
"Three paintings, a musket, some jewelry..." James recalled.
"Oh yeah, there seems to be a crown too!"
'unlucky! '
There was another strange noise behind my head.
...You guys are just being clever and gave it a fancy package!
Reaching out and flicking the hair accessories again, Hitzfeld closed his eyes.
On the bright side, the royal family has many crowns in its collection, and this may not be the one I want...
"It's a very gorgeous crown," James said carefully. "It's made entirely of gold, inlaid with pearls and gems... I've never seen such a beautiful crown. This is actually very strange, because it seems that no king in history liked such luxurious things."
"..." Hitzfeld stopped talking.
"We speculated that it might be a trophy - from a war against a foreign enemy, but that specific time must have been a very long time ago. After all, you know, because of the gray fog, there hasn't been any internal conflict between countries here for a long time."
James had no idea what Hitzfeld wanted to know from this, so he spoke in great detail, telling almost everything he knew.
"It's just right if you're interested... I don't think this case is over yet. It's going to get bigger and bigger."
"What?" Hitzfeld looked up at him.
"Because the exhibition starts from No. 1," said James.
“It was stolen right after the first day of the exhibition… This is a provocation.”
"Although I left on the 3rd and didn't have time to know the follow-up news, I think if it's so easy to get the money, the thief will come back later."
Chapter 10: Caught in the act
James described all the information he knew to the girl, and then stared at her with even more eager eyes than before.
She won't go back on her word, will she? ... I have told her everything I know as requested. Although the information I get about solving this case is not enough to exchange for information about Tenet's whereabouts, she has hinted at it after all... She won't go back on her word, will she? Right?
After all, it is still within the scope of young people. Especially according to James's speculation, this matter is related to the next generation of royal family. He attaches great importance to it and cannot control his emotional fluctuations at all.
"I can only tell you that Prince Wayne is not on the Icarolin Continent right now." Hitzfeld said softly, "It is possible that he will not develop here in the future... I can't say more."
"Ah, that's enough." James narrowed his eyes and stood up politely. "That's enough... Earl, Lawrence will remember your generosity... Do you have anything else to do? I mean, how are you going to plan for the next few days?"
"Since I asked you about that case, the next step is naturally to go to the capital to investigate."
"But this case doesn't need to alarm someone like you." James couldn't help but reveal his curiosity.
Right? He knew that the other party had only been a noble for a short time, and some perspectives, or concepts of identity, had not been corrected in time. Many people have this common problem. They have just left their previous class and still regard themselves as ordinary people, always thinking about problems from the perspective of the people.
If Hitzfeld was like this, he would think it was normal, but the problem was that this case had nothing to do with the public. Those jewels were from the royal family and some great nobles, right?
She doesn't care about currying favor with this relationship, so why should she care so much about it?
James became suspicious... The contact so far was not enough for him to make a comprehensive evaluation of Hitzfeld, but judging from that analysis, the other party was at least not stupider than himself. She actually used Tenet's whereabouts to exchange for information on such a case... He must suspect that there was some unknown special value hidden in this case.
"It's very special." Seeing his confusion, Hitzfeld stood up and nodded without hiding it. "The reason I'm paying attention to this matter is actually because... one of the jewels may be related to the history of Hitzfeld Manor."
James was stunned for a moment, then finally realized.
The appointment of Count Hitzfeld was very abrupt for a 19-year-old girl, but it was just right for a family with a long history.
Since he was going to contact Hitzfeld, he must have done his homework beforehand. Therefore, he knew about the old manor outside the city. The text he read described the manor as "extremely mysterious" and "unknown origin"... There seemed to be a lot of detailed information recorded at the end, but for some reason, he, who always had a good memory, forgot all that information.
It was enough to dispel her concerns. If the other party had such a motive, it was completely understandable. He couldn't help but think about whether he should help her with this matter next.
After all, she was planning to intervene, which was good news for those nobles... Many of them were clamoring to recall high-level agents to investigate the matter thoroughly. No matter what she thought specifically, and whether some of the jewels were really heirlooms in her family, with the Lawrence family mediating, at least she would not be able to come into conflict with those people.
This would definitely be beneficial for her to enter this circle in the future. James judged her by her own experience and thought that she urgently needed this help. So he made an appointment with the girl to spend today for her to go back and prepare, and to catch the last train back to Wayne tomorrow night.
After going out, Daryl followed consciously.
This time she did not wear the cumbersome lady's long dress, but a brand hunting suit, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and long boots, with a noble rapier hanging around her waist that was more decorative than practical.
Only Hitzfeld knew that it was not a decoration. Maybe it was when it was first bought, but since Daryl borrowed the backyard workshop to rebuild it, this thing could easily cut a person's throat.
"So your highness plans to go to the royal city of Sara."
Daryl asked her as they got into the carriage.
Hitzfeld nodded, and she didn't say anything else, so she nodded and returned to silence.
That's what I like most about Hitzfeld. All you have to do is let Daryl know what you're going to do next, and she won't say anything or ask any questions, just focusing on keeping you safe.
Such a guard is quite cute... She suddenly had the urge to tease her more.
"Daryl."
"Your Highness?"
"You're the only one following me. You and Luo Xin are all separated. Don't you feel lonely? I mean, don't you miss your brothers?"
"No, because mechanical apostles don't have human emotions."
"I don't believe it. You act quite normal."
"That's because we are good at imitation and disguise." Daryl said, "We are certainly different from the lowest-level mechanical soldiers."
