Buying Off

“Heh, looks like it's time for us to leave.”

Archbishop Trinlais and Knight Rick exchanged a smile, clearly knowing the visitor's identity. They both stood up. Rick first drew the sign of the cross of the Church of the Black Night over his chest, then extended both hands, grasping Lynch's tightly, and said earnestly, “I am truly sorry, Mr. Levive. My overconfidence brought about that subsequent trouble and nearly caused severe consequences. Fortunately, you lent a hand and repaired the damage I did to the church's reputation. Through your actions, you showed me what a true detective is. I learned a great deal from you and am deeply grateful. From now on, you are my lifelong friend. If you ever travel to Norin in the future, you must visit me at the church and give me a chance to welcome you.”

“It was my honor, my friend.”

Lynch didn't dislike this new friend; the knight had been very cooperative, making their collaboration quite pleasant. He offered a courteous nod with a smile and escorted the two downstairs.

As soon as he reached the ground floor, Lynch froze. He saw that Mrs. Maggie had already shown the new visitor into the ground-floor living room.

He actually recognized the visitor, though he was entirely unexpected.

The guest wore an exquisitely tailored suit, had a rigid expression, and wore a silver wig on his head, giving off an impression of a perpetual cold sneer.

It was Chairman Grant, Speaker of the Rhine City House of Commons.

Lynch's face darkened. They couldn't even be called acquaintances—they had only interacted publicly a few times. What was he doing here?

On the surface, they had only met face-to-face once and were practically strangers. But Lynch hadn't forgotten that just two days ago, he had confiscated the mystery relic from his factory and wiped out all the high-ranking personnel inside.

In truth, Lynch had no personal vendetta against him. Since everyone's stance was still unclear, Lynch had no desire to make enemies without cause, but this man's greed was simply too repulsive.

In Lynch's view, capitalists exploiting workers was one thing, but exploiting them to the point of treating human life like trash crossed the line. As a transmigrator who had lived in a society ruled by law, Lynch found such behavior completely unacceptable and instinctively loathed the man.

Of course, the other party might harbor similar feelings. Although theoretically he shouldn't know that Lynch was behind the disruption at the screw factory, Lynch hadn't intentionally hidden his involvement at the time; a brief investigation would reveal the truth. However, since Lynch had immediately latched onto the thighs of the Church of the Black Night and the Watchers, and had even subtly gained the Governor's favor, Chairman Grant had been forced to hold back for the time being.

Was he coming here today to seek revenge?

But judging by the attitude of the archbishop and Knight Rick, it probably wasn't a bad thing. Lynch pondered for a moment and decided not to pry further, bidding the two priests farewell as he saw them out of the apartment.

The entrance was quite lively, with several police carriages parked outside and a group of blue uniforms guarding the apartment tightly. This drew curiosity from many pedestrians passing through Charles Square. As expected of a powerful figure in the city government, he traveled with quite an entourage.

When Lynch returned to the ground-floor living room, Mrs. Maggie had already prepared tea for the Speaker. Thus, Lynch didn't bother inviting him upstairs to the second floor, choosing instead to make use of Mrs. Maggie's parlor.

“Please sit, Mr. Lynch Levive.”

Seeing Lynch return from ushering his guests out, Chairman Grant gestured to the adjacent sofa and said in a cool tone, “First of all, on behalf of City Hall, the House of Commons, and the entire city of Rhine, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Levive Detective Agency for your contributions to Rhine, Detective.”

“Hmm?” Lynch frowned slightly.

“In recognition of Detective Levive's patriotic zeal and outstanding performance, City Hall has decided to allocate fifty Lande pounds in operating funds to the Levive Detective Agency as encouragement.”

Saying this, Chairman Grant drew an envelope, pulled out a slip of paper printed with intricate patterns, and slid it across the coffee table toward Lynch.

Lynch's breath caught, and his heart contracted sharply.

Damn, fifty pounds! Were the people at City Hall out of their minds?

This was a truly enormous sum. One hundred pounds was enough to buy a nice small house on the outskirts of Rhine City, while the emerging middle class in Rhine earned only about fifty pounds in half a year. As for the poor in the King District, they might not make that much even in a year or two.

Right now, Lynch desperately needed a large sum of money, making him extra excited.

Officer Natalie had mentioned to him long ago that she would take him to a secret society where he could learn arcana. But with his total wealth hovering under ten pounds for years, going there would have been a waste of time, so the trip had been continually postponed.

Yet he was in no hurry to take the check. Lynch disliked taking things he shouldn't touch, so he merely looked cautiously at the check, then at Chairman Grant, asking with a half-smile, “Outstanding performance?”

“Regarding the treason case of Kent Jefferson, although the overall operation was planned jointly by multiple departments, as the primary executor, Detective Levive's contribution cannot be erased. All participating departments unanimously agreed that the city government should bestow a reward upon Detective Levive to commend your loyalty to Rhine.”

“There's a share for me too?”

“Of course. We all serve the kingdom and Rhine. Given your efforts, Detective, how could we set an example for others without commending you? Besides, if your achievements went unrewarded, the others wouldn't feel secure either.”

Only then did Lynch realize what was happening. Earlier, to prevent future trouble, he had pinned the treason charges firmly on Jefferson, distributing credit to half of the Rhine government, but had forgotten the unwritten rules of officialdom.

He hadn't carved out a share for himself.

Whomever was owed a cut had to receive it—that was the rule. Otherwise, it would pose a threat to everyone else who took a piece, leaving no one able to enjoy their cut in peace.

That old fox Trinlais had probably foreseen that City Hall would act like this, which was why he had been forced to raise the value of the church's reward on the spot; otherwise, if the city government's reward outshone theirs, it would bring shame upon the church.

But was it really necessary for the Speaker to come in person? He likely had another motive.

Calculating quickly in his mind, Lynch pressed his index finger onto the check and slid it over to himself. Tapping his finger on it, he nodded with a smile and said, “Serving Rhine is the duty of every law-abiding citizen. The gentlemen at City Hall are far too generous. I really shouldn't accept this money, but in order to set a proper example for others... sigh, I'll reluctantly besmirch my reputation.”

“Heh, Detective Levive is indeed an outstanding young talent of Rhine. His Excellency the Governor certainly has an eye for talent.”

“Thank you for the praise, Mr. Speaker. Now that the trivialities are handled, shall we move on to the real business?”

“Heh, it's hardly serious business. It's just that you have both brains and capability, Detective. On behalf of the Railway Engineering Preparatory Committee, I'd like to ask: would you be interested in joining our preparatory committee?”

“Hmm?”

“A monthly salary of ten pounds until the entire project concludes—and this is a massive endeavor spanning several decades. You won't need to do daily work during this time; you'll only need to step in and help solve problems whenever the project encounters trouble.”

Hiss, as expected, this is the main point. He's trying to buy me off directly. The terms were ridiculously alluring: it essentially meant living an upper-middle-class lifestyle for decades without having to do anything, provided he didn't impede the progress of the railway project.

He had to admit it was an extremely tempting offer, and Lynch was even slightly tempted. However, when he thought about his connection to the sewer ghouls...

“It seems you have some misunderstandings regarding our goals, Detective,” Chairman Grant said with a reserved smile. “How about I introduce you to a few friends and let them explain the complex web of relationships here, and then you can make your decision?”