After the pistol, Mr. Johnson continued to hand Xia De new items:
"Your gun license and bullets. Your monthly bullet quota is 50 rounds. Once you run out, you can come back next month to get more, but you must specify the use of the old bullets when getting new ones. Those damned guys selling guns on the black market caused a lot of trouble a while ago... Keep your gun license safe. If you lose it, go directly to Leedweich Field to replace it. It's already filed for you."
Xia De took the heavy box of bullets, which smelled strongly of oil, with one hand. This display of wrist strength made Mr. Johnson raise an eyebrow.
He continued to take things out of the cardboard box. This time, it was a page of paper:
"This is your enlistment consent form. You can sign any name you want; it's mainly for accounting purposes. Since MI6 is part of the Royal Army, you need to sign this."
So Xia De signed "Sherlock Holmes." It seemed that every organization he encountered was troubled by accounting.
Mr. Johnson reached for something one last time. This time, it was still a document:
"A statement of consent to have taxes withheld. This way, Six Divisions can directly help you pay taxes before issuing your salary."
Xia De looked at the burly middle-aged man with hesitation, feeling surprised for the first time since he arrived here:
"Excuse me... MI6 also pays taxes?"
Mr. Johnson scoffed:
"Of course! Reimbursements don't require taxes, but how could basic salary not be taxed? Only death and taxes are inevitable... Sign the same name as the one above, and don't misspell it. Last time, a guy wrote a very complicated name, and when he came back to re-sign the second time, he actually forgot what he had written."
He handed the fountain pen to Xia De. Xia De read it carefully before daring to sign. The dark blue ink stood out clearly on the printed document. The Outsider now understood the characteristics of this Steam Age. It turned out that "only death and taxes are inevitable" was not a saying unique to his homeland.
"Salaries are settled monthly. Come here at the beginning of each month to collect it, and come directly to me. The 20 pounds of monthly reimbursement requires receipts. Any kind of receipt will do, but the types cannot be singular. Oh, I also need to warn you, although agents may have expenses in various places for work, even if you can get receipts from rhode cards casinos and brothels, we will not accept them, no matter the amount."
Mr. Johnson said repeatedly, and from his expression, he had probably experienced such things.
"Do you accept donation receipts from the Church?"
Xia De raised an eyebrow.
"Of course we do. That's even better, it's convenient for accounting, but it must be a genuine receipt."
"No problem."
He nodded. It would be easy to get some donation receipts with Priest Augustus's identity. If that didn't work, it wouldn't be difficult to ask Miss Annette for some Prophet Association receipts.
He was gradually learning this routine as well.
"Although I don't know the reason for your recruitment, remember to write a report when you collect your salary each month. Also, you probably have a task specially arranged by the Chief, but you also need to pay attention to other matters in the City."
Mr. Johnson coughed. When he spoke of serious matters, his tone was solemn, and his expression and eyes became serious as well:
"Not long ago, a military Drak Type II integrated steam bomb exploded by the Terraril River. If you have any information regarding this, remember to report it. Not only the City Hall and the military, but even the Orthodox Church is investigating this matter."
Xia De, of course, knew about this matter, and was even very familiar with the lady who fought with the merman and detonated the bomb to shatter it:
"Was it something from the black market?"
He tried to ask.
"Of course not. This kind of steam bomb has not yet been mass-produced and is only used on a small scale within the Royal Guard."
Mr. Johnson scratched his hair:
"The higher-ups suspect there's an insider in the Royal Guard, who knows?"
Xia De didn't respond. At the time, Miss Louisa said she bought it from the black market. Now that he thought about it, it was highly likely that she got it from Princess Lecia Cavendish for self-defense.
"The Orthodox Church also has a bounty for this matter, and it's very high. The bounty was suddenly added on Saturday night, and I don't know what happened..."
Mr. Johnson mumbled. Xia De thought about the time; it was probably after he activated the Mystic Lock to counter the evil god's gaze. That is to say, the Orthodox Church indeed connected the merman incident on Friday with the Mystic Lock on Saturday.
But fortunately, the evil god's gaze affected divination, and coupled with his habit of carrying the dice of fate when he went out, as long as he didn't actively expose himself, no one would find him.
"I understand. Is there anything else I need to pay attention to?"
Xia De wanted to skip this topic.
"Something worth noting... there's also this. The bounty is very high."
Mr. Johnson pointed to the newspaper pressed under the empty box. It was the Tobesk Morning News, and most of the front page reported on the follow-up of the missing children cases in the City:
"This matter has attracted the attention of the higher-ups. The City Hall and MI6 have both offered very high bounties."
"Because too many children are missing?"
Mr. Johnson glanced at Xia De:
"Of course not, it's because a Viscount lost his child... Let's not talk about this. Just remember to pay attention to it. Finally, a very important matter. The day after tomorrow, around noon on Wednesday, Queen Diana will go to Tobesk Station to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. We received news not long ago that the Gray Gloves are planning an operation against a member of the Royal Family..."
Captain Lades had vaguely mentioned this point. Even citizens had heard about this matter, so MI6 would naturally know as well.
"...But later it was discovered that another organization was acting under the name of the Gray Gloves... We have some intelligence personnel, you know, spokespersons who are probably double agents or something, confirmed the situation. The Gray Gloves also don't want to cause a war between the two countries because of this."
He looked at Xia De, and seeing Xia De's understanding expression, he continued:
"Mr. Anlos suspects that a mysterious organization intends to target Queen Diana, so you can pay attention to information in that regard."
This matter had nothing to do with Xia De. He was just a salary thief who got paid without working, and had no intention of getting involved in political events.
Mr. Johnson was still speaking. He joked:
"Of course, there's no definite news yet, and it's not necessarily a conspiracy against the Queen. But if something really happens on Wednesday... our dear Chief Anlos will probably be assigned to work at the 'National Cemetery Management Association.' I heard that's a cushy job."
"In my hometown, this kind of assignment is usually called 'guarding the royal tombs.'"
As he smiled along with Mr. Johnson, Xia De also spoke to the woman in his mind, and received a light chuckle in response.
Thus, Xia De, who had dealt with the aftermath of a hidden foreign agent half a month ago, officially became a member of the Delarion Kingdom's intelligence organization, "MI6." Although he didn't work and only collected a salary, this identity would certainly be of great help in the future.
The job came from Miss Jialinna, the Great Witch of the Witch Council. As Xia De walked home holding his umbrella, he was still curious about what exactly the other party saw in him.
"If it was just rhode cards, she shouldn't be this good to me... Even if the other party truly doesn't care about these things, this help is a bit too much. Am I overthinking, or does she really have other motives?"
He looked at the rainy Cityscape of the Steam Age, pondering as he walked forward.
