"She wouldn't lie about this. Are you sure no one has ever looked for No. 221 in all these years?"
"No."
"No messenger, either?"
"I've never even seen anyone step through that doorway, let alone a postman delivering mail."
"That's really strange..."
The tall man frowned in thought.
"It's not like there's no clue."
Alfred said suddenly.
"Do you remember those scrolls she left behind?"
"The most precious legacy of Dawson Literary Society...of course I remember it."
"At that time, she decided to quit the circle, but she didn't take all those things with her. Like everyone else, I thought she would donate them to the organization because of their friendship over the years, but I didn't expect that she would open a bookshelf in the Royal National Library."
"yes……"
The man sighed.
"Without the token, even His Majesty the King cannot touch them..."
"Wait, what you mean is this?"
"hey-hey."
Alfred sneered.
"If the statements of both sides don't match, then one of them must be lying."
"At least she knew and confirmed that Hitzfeld was coming to the capital."
"I don't believe she would let this child go on this trip in vain."
Chapter 30: The Royal National Library
After discussing the perfume formula with Mr. Coman, the owner of Bingbo Hotel, it was almost time for lunch.
Hitzfeld was helpless about this. In fact, she only chose the "most common one" among those perfumes - these were the lady's original words, and it was already explained that she could not provide all the formulas accurately, but Mr. Coman's enthusiasm still scared her a little.
Free accommodation and food. Register directly as a junior member of Bingbo Hotel and enjoy 20% discount on consumption within years from today...
Calculating that she would definitely spend a lot of money today, she hesitated for a while and decided to accept Coman's kindness.
Lunch was cheesy mashed potatoes with black pepper-baked pork chops and four slices of chilled tomatoes sprinkled with sugar.
The taste was great. It was the first time Hitzfeld felt that Western food could be so delicious.
After eating, she took the initiative to find Mr. Coman and asked if there was a suitable housekeeping company nearby.
"Yes, 'Parker Brothers Neighborhood Decorating Company' should meet your requirements."
"But this is a decoration company..." Hitzfeld was worried about the cost, "I just want to clean the house."
"Ah, they also take this kind of job." Mr. Coman said happily, "And no one has been there for a long time. Dust, spider webs, and even some large arthropods that would make a girl like you scream are all very troublesome. It's really hard to deal with without professionals."
"I won't mislead you on this point, Hitzfeld. You just did me a big favor... If you don't mind, you can let me help discuss this matter. You can listen in on the whole process. As long as you think the price is right, you can sign the contract."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Coleman."
Maybe this tactic is called going with the flow?
She didn't know, but the life wisdom she had gained told her that if her own abilities were really insufficient, then when she was suddenly trapped in an unfamiliar environment and was sure that it was not dangerous to her, there would be no harm in choosing to show trust in those close to her.
Well...it was "shown", not that she really trusted him.
There was a telephone installed in the hotel, and the Parker Brothers' people arrived soon. Coman found a large room to accommodate the two groups of people and tried his best to help the girl negotiate the deal.
"The total cost of cleaning + renovation + unclogging is 221 gori. I will waive 1 gori for you. You only need to pay 220 gori."
The other party smiled and placed a freshly printed contract and a pen in front of the girl.
Hitzfeld read the contract, unscrewed the pen and signed his name.
Before finishing the business, she sneaked out and asked around the shops, and the information she got was exactly the same as what Coman said.
Considering that it is a "haunted house" that no one has been willing to go in for nearly 40 years, this price is not expensive.
The contract was signed, and a large group of people from Parker Brothers immediately followed her across the street and upstairs to watch her open the heavy wooden door of 221 with a bunch of brass keys.
"It's amazing..." The leading man, named Patrick, whistled when he saw this scene.
"Everyone, including my parents, thought that no one would live here forever. It's my honor to be able to tinker with this place."
"I'm glad you think so." Hitzfeld smiled stiffly, opened the door in front of everyone, and revealed the scene inside the house.
Not only Patrick fell into a daze, but the others also opened their mouths wide and almost dropped the buckets they were carrying.
There is no other reason, it’s just too dirty and too messy.
The house is not small, it is a duplex structure with a small floor above. Below is a lobby similar to a coffee shop, with a stove, carpet, coffee table, tables, chairs, sofas and other furniture. There are also several rows of bookshelves near the window not far away.
But now, all of this was covered in gray spider silk. From the light coming in through the window, one could see at least dozens of fist-sized black-shelled spiders on it. The ground and spider webs were full of dead insects, bats, and mice.
...So that's why Hitzfeld doesn't think it's expensive anymore.
Fortunately, they didn't see the house before signing the contract, otherwise she estimated that they wouldn't be able to negotiate even 300 goli.
Patrick is a real guy.
Since the contract has come into effect, we have no choice but to accept it.
After obtaining the girl's consent, they found a water tank, adjusted the nozzle pressure to a moderate level, and quickly washed away the tangled spider webs.
"Don't spray where there are unknown objects," Hitzfeld commanded from behind. "Don't spray the bookshelf either. You can spray anywhere else."
The girl stepped on a black-shelled spider that crawled to her feet and killed it. She lifted her foot and felt the sticky sole of her shoe, which was very uncomfortable.
This spider has a local nickname called "scavenger".
Although it is large and poisonous, its venom has little effect on large animals like humans.
They are also very timid and will run away when they see people. They specialize in eating stray poisonous insects and mice, so many people will choose to release them even if they catch them.
But this time, perhaps because his employer was a young woman, Patrick led his men to carry out an inhumane mass extermination of these giant bugs.
They use a spray with a little pressure to wash them down, pile them in the corner, and then sprinkle special insecticide powder to create a corner full of insect corpses that will give people nightmares in the middle of the night.
After dealing with the bugs and the leftover corpses, the progress became faster.
Clean the floor.
Wipe down walls and ceilings.
Dip a roller in the magic liquid and roll it over the wood. The originally gray surface will immediately be painted with beautiful wood grain.
After all, there is strength in numbers. Before dark, the house had been cleaned to more than 90%.
The hall is cleared.
The bedroom is cleaned.
The kitchen is cleaned up.
The bathroom is cleaned.
All that was left were some dusty books and a sofa that was difficult to clean.
There were also small items like lampstands and pen holders... The workers didn't dare to touch these and left them for the girl to deal with herself.
"Let's move the sofa."
Patrick wiped the sweat off his face.
"Wash it, dry it... I'll have it delivered to you by this time tomorrow at the latest. It will be as comfortable as a new one!"
"Thank you, Patrick."
"It's an honor to say it all."
Patrick's face was covered in dust, but he was smiling happily.
“Being able to handle a haunted house will be my qualification, and I can show off to them when I go back… tell them to take a nap, hahahaha—”
When it got dark, the workers loaded the sofas onto a truck and drove away.
Hitzfeld dragged the box to the window and looked down through the clean glass. The layout and details of the entire intersection were clearly visible.
The location of this house is really great.
It would be nice to live here forever if I had the chance...
For some unknown reason, she came up with this idea.
Putting the box down, she walked to the wall and pulled the rope.
The orange light bulbs appear in the darkness, and the warm light shines on the wood-grain floor and walls, bringing a touch of extra warmth.
The water and electricity bills have been paid, also with the help of Mr. Coman.
Fortunately, the outstanding fees were not much, and the penalty for 40 years of delay was less than 60 riels.
"60, plus the cleaning fee, it's almost 300..."
The girl smiled bitterly.
She thought 400 goli was a huge sum of money, but she didn't expect the consumption level in the royal capital to be so terrible.
It's not just because it costs a lot of money to clean the house. Think about what Xia Yibing said, it would cost 28 gori to take a taxi for 14 stops. Even if this didn't happen, 400 gori wouldn't last long.
"Let me think...how should I stay tonight?"
She paced around the house, wondering whether to sleep on the floor or on a bed.
There was only one bedroom here. The mattress had long been eaten by bugs and mice and thrown away as garbage. Only the hard bed board and a few pieces of furniture were left.
"Let's sleep on the floor in the hall..."
The girl took out a cloth blanket from the box and spread it on the clean wooden floor, her movements very seriously.
…As if she really needed them.
After finishing all this, Hitzfeld went out to buy something to eat. When he came back, he rolled up his sleeves, picked up a wet rag and wiped all the books.
The quality of the books is good. They must have been sprayed with something to prevent insects, and they have been generally well preserved over the years.
She thought that since she couldn't sleep anyway, she could just read these books to get through the night.
Halfway through cleaning, she found a note while flipping through a book.
"'Bookshelf Opening Rental Agreement'."
She could vaguely make out the characters.
"'Dated December 1943, 12.'"
"'Vienport...Royal National Library'."
Chapter 31: Credentials of Dawson Literary Society
The next day, Hitzfeld came to Coman to thank him.
"You mean you'd like to give me a portion of this perfume?"
Coman's expression can be described as surprise.
"To repay your help." Hitzfeld smiled.
The owner of such a big store, when he met a girl who looked a little poor, was not arrogant or deceitful, but was dedicated to helping her... Although the perfume given by his wife was the main inducement, it at least proved that he was not a bad person.
A real bad guy is capable of doing things like robbery and robbery, which further contrasts with Coman's nobleness.
Even if his purpose in doing this was to obtain some of the perfume, at least his methods were upright.
Just treat it as a deal.
Anyway, judging from the lady's attitude towards this bottle of perfume...it is really not worth mentioning compared to the other small bottles.
After distributing some of the perfume, Hitzfeld then told her another purpose for coming here.
