CHAPTER 106: PROMOTION?

Early the next morning, Wayne asked Veryl to drive Kristen to school, personally opening the car door for his senior. He apologized for being a bad student and causing her trouble.

After last night’s tutoring session, he had extended an invitation to Kristen. The detective agency had finished renovations and was about to open, but they still needed a trustworthy accountant. When it came to money, they needed someone he knew.

Veronica and Vera recommended Kristen. If she was willing to be their accountant, she would be paid a monthly salary as well. And even without their recommendation, Wayne would still want her. What mattered was the tight relationship between the three girls. He didn’t want to separate them.

Equilateral triangles and isosceles triangles were both stable shapes. He needed all three of them!

When Kristen heard that Veronica and Vera had wanted her, she agreed readily. That was the kind of person she was—gentle, never refusing her friends’ requests. When conflicts arose, she would often put her friends first.

Before the car drove away, Wayne gave Veryl a look. The butler understood perfectly. During the drive, he would put in good words for Master Wayne. Honestly, Wayne was the optimal gentleman and the top choice for both romance and marriage!

After that, Wayne invited Vera to join him as he walked to the detective agency on Commercial Street. On the way, he bought a few newspapers and magazines, browsing recent news and gossip.

One article caught his eye: at the end of September, the Prime Minister of Windsor would travel to Prussia for a four-nation summit to sign agreements regarding Prussia’s recovery of lost territories.

Wayne didn’t judge. Although with twenty-twenty hindsight, it was undoubtedly a foolish move, they had to buy as much time as possible given the current situation. Making compromises was a desperate measure born out of a desperate time.

Noticing his grave expression, Vera peered at the newspaper. Such boring news. Not interesting at all.

Soon, he took note of another article in one of the magazines. It was important, more so than the four-nation summit.

What Exactly Are Stockings, and Why Is All of Londan Going Crazy for Them?

On the page, a larger photo featured female models wearing stockings, looking glamorous with their long, straight legs and complementary stockings, displaying the unusual allure of the combination. The smaller photo was taken on the street in the city. Women with less than perfect figures were wearing stockings to conceal their flaws, greatly improving their looks and making them seem dignified, elegant, and beautiful.

Even their faces seemed more stunning as a result.

Stockings had hit the market. As Wayne had expected, the product immediately took Londan by storm with rave reviews flooding in and their inventory immediately selling out. The production speed couldn’t keep up with the sales, and the price of the stockings steadily climbed with almost daily increases.

Long queues formed outside stores with mostly women, but also many men. Stockings became a hit product. According to word of mouth, outside of the rapidly rising price and the limited supply, there was no flaw whatsoever in stockings. At the same time, the brand selling stockings, Silvia Valentine, had succeeded in breaking into the city’s fashion circle.

The magazine also mentioned the designer of stockings. Although there wasn’t a photo, the name Wayne had become a woman’s best friend overnight. Men felt the same. After the initial misunderstandings, they came to realize just how well Wayne knew them.

What a genius!

Stockings as consumables were the invention of the generation. Just a little expensive!

“Tsk, it hasn’t been that long, and it’s already considered consumables? What are they all thinking? The depravity...” Wayne grumbled, refusing to associate himself with those perverts. He didn’t understand them at all. He had invented stockings only to help women confidently put on pretty skirts in summer, with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

Vera leaned in to look at the models in the magazine. She frowned and pursed her lips. “Photos are deceptive. The models have such long legs. Ordinary people won’t look the same after putting on stockings. This is consumer fraud.”

“Don’t say that. You’ve got long legs too. You’ll look great in stockings.” Wayne said what she wanted to hear without missing a beat.

“Tee-hee.”

As expected, Vera brightened up immediately and tried to drag Wayne to buy stockings on Commercial Street.

“No need for the trouble. I’ve got several pairs at home. You can just take them and try them on. If they don’t fit, I’ll have the factory send more.” Wayne approved of Vera’s eagerness.

“Oh? Why would you know the factory?”

“Look here.”

Wayne pointed at the designer’s name and then at himself.

Vera’s jaw dropped. “When did this happen? How come you never mentioned it? So you’re a fashion designer?”

“Keep it down. I don’t want too many people to know. I’m not someone who likes boasting. Like the movie thing last time. I didn’t mention that either, did I?” He didn’t miss the chance to reaffirm his image.

If not for his excessive ambition and the balancing act he was trying to maintain, plus the musclemen having intimidatingly huge muscles, he would’ve long eaten someone as eager as Vera up.

Vera nodded, her admiration for him reaching its peak at this moment.

A woman’s love for a man often involved admiration, which was why successful men could easily have a string of beautiful girlfriends. Sometimes they didn’t even have to use money power—their image alone was a great enough appeal.

Wayne patted her head, and she instinctively hooked her arm around his, whispering, “Wayne, who do you think would look better in stockings? Kristen or Veronica? Both their legs are quite long.”

You aren’t asking about stockings, are you?

He raised an eyebrow. He was making too much progress with her, and the girl was about to go for a direct move. Not good. He had to slow things down.

After a moment of consideration, he met Vera’s eyes and said, “Why mention only Kristen and Veronica? I’d include you, too. Is that okay?”

“Yeah.”

Vera lowered her head to avert his gaze, feeling butterflies in her chest.

“I’d say Kristen.”

“???”

Veronica couldn’t believe it. Her head snapped up. “Then why include me?”

“Veronica loses to Kristen because she rarely wears skirts, which means she won’t be wearing stockings. It’s not her fault, so I don’t want her to come last.” He gave a sound reasoning.

(눈‸눈)

The twist came so suddenly and quickly that the butterflies got smashed. She threw his arm away and stalked ahead, fuming, but she made sure not to walk too fast so that Wayne would come to console her.

However, he didn’t.

***

Second floor of Wayne’s Detective Agency.

Vera sat on the sofa with her arms crossed, puffing up her cheeks and muttering under her breath. Wayne made himself a cup of coffee, observing the impressive crowd before the Dawn Detective Agency by the window.

Nothing could beat free services, but it wasn’t a big problem. The two detective agencies targeted different markets. The Dawn Detective Agency specialized in helping the weak and downtrodden seek justice, while Wayne’s agency focused on exploiting wealthy people. They weren’t rivals.

Halfway through his coffee, he heard Veronica coming in uninvited. She was carrying several letters she got from the mailbox. Wayne had been staring at Vera as she bounced her way upstairs and forgot to check it.

Veronica handed him the letters and noticed Vera sulking on the sofa. She couldn’t believe it. In her memory, Vera had always been optimistic and cheerful, rarely ever unhappy. What happened? Did she get jumped on at night by the pervert?

Veronica approached her, and within two sentences, Vera managed to anger her. She retaliated and pinned Vera to the sofa.

It was their daily routine. Wayne had gotten used to it.

He watched the two besties wrestling and grinding against each other as he opened and checked the letters.

First was a job application letter from Detective Wesley, whom Wayne met back in Enrod. The detective circle wasn’t small, but it wasn’t that large, either. Wesley received word and sent a letter to apply for a job as promised, attaching a business card.

The second letter was also from an acquaintance, Kael Poirot. He had learned the address to Wayne’s agency through the White Glove Society and sent his card, hoping to arrange a meal with Wayne.

He had decent impressions of both detectives. Wesley was a competent professional and a courageous investigator who could add prestige to the detective agency. Kael, on the other hand, was unconventional but had no character issues. His definition of beauty, especially, was a great trait Wayne appreciated. He would even treat Kael as a brother, let alone a friend.

The third letter came from the White Glove Society. Wayne had completed the commission on Dragon Heart Island, and they sent him the final payment in a check—fifty thousand sillings in total.

“The client is dead. Where would the final payment come from? The old Two-Face is keeping up the pretense even after the situation became awkward for him. He’s a formidable opponent.”

Wayne put away the check and opened the letter to browse through it.

[Respected Detective Wayne, congratulations on passing the assessment and successfully activating your member rank at the society. Based on the unexpected events on Dragon Heart Island, the society has reassessed the difficulty of the case, so your member rank has been upgraded to Blue. Your current rank comes with many benefits, including waiving membership fees, internal publications...]

The letter was long, containing a variety of information, such as an explanation of the member ranks.

Ranks went from light to dark colors: white, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black. White was the trial rank and could be revoked by the society at any time, while black was the highest level, representing the peak standard for detectives at the organization.

“It’s the White Glove Society, but the highest rank is Black? If you haven’t put Yellow second, I’d almost think this is the color coding for equipment ranks.”

Wayne put away the letter from the White Glove Society and opened the remaining envelopes. There were the feedback forms for newspapers and magazines, as well as promotional letters, nothing important.

He knew little about the White Glove Society, only that it was an organization monopolizing Londan’s detective industry with powerful members. A church mage like Kael wasn’t particularly rare.

Low-ranking detectives handled the simple cases. Since the clients were either rich or noble, they paid quite handsomely most of the time. One case’s payment could usually sustain a detective for three years. It was a premium organization many would beg to join.

By Wayne’s analysis, the high-ranking detectives would receive mysterious commissions that were incredibly complicated, involving individuals beyond what ordinary detectives could imagine. Following the line of reasoning, the White Glove Society’s top dog wouldn’t be Auston, but the Tulip Families, or the Windsor royal family behind them.

“The royal family’s reach is great, controlling every aspect of society. Even the churches have to follow the rules like all other walks of life here...” Wayne muttered. He contacted Wesley and Kael with the numbers on their business cards.

Wesley could come to work at the agency and would introduce a couple of reliable fellow detectives to him. The Wayne Detective Agency would officially open on the first of September.

As for Kael... he wasn’t picking up. Perhaps he had overexerted himself the night before and was still asleep.

“Wayne, Mother wants you home for dinner tonight. She has something to discuss with you.” Veronica stopped roughhousing with Vera. She had successfully cheered up her sulking friend with her fists.

“About what?”

***

“About your appointment at the church.”

At the Lando Estate, after the family finished dinner, Silvia took her student to the study. Out of her respect for Wayne’s devotion and talent, she believed an office job to be a waste of time for him, and he didn’t need the salary a job would offer. Thus, she hadn’t put him on the roster.

But things changed.

It involved personnel changes at the Church of Nature and the redistribution of power when dividing the pie. The main winners were Silvia and Flora. It was hard to explain in a few words the new problem her authority faced after the reshuffle.

Due to the Darkness Knight’s active interference, the Church of Nature’s Windsor branch suffered heavy losses. The elites gathered in Londan from various regions were almost completely wiped out. Headquarters ordered Silvia to clean up the mess as quickly as possible, revitalizing the church’s presence in not only Londan, but the entire Windsor.

Within the Life Alliance, the Church of Sun and Church of Moonlight weren’t that influential in Londan, and the once dominant Church of Heavenly Father only had one archbishop stationed here. The Church of Nature alone succeeded in establishing a branch. The power struggles involved were extremely complicated.

The headquarters allowed Silvia to summon helpers from Franc. No matter what, they had to maintain their foothold, or the Church of Nature would have lost not only the elites but also years of investment.

The Windsor royal family had asked for quite a payment!

That gave Flora an excellent chance to increase her influence quickly. She had brought many trusted subordinates, each of them capable in their own way. Silvia couldn’t stop that, so her only option was to have her people claim the good positions first.

She didn’t have many trusted subordinates. She could count all of them on two hands, in fact. In all of Londan, the ones she trusted the most had to be Wayne and Veronica.

“I already have plans for Veronica. As for you, I’ll register you in Cambrook County as an archdeacon. The county is close to Londan, only a two-hour drive from home.”

“Don’t worry. Someone else will handle the daily affairs. You’re just registered for the job, essentially to give you a title. You don’t have to stay in Cambrook County.”

What? So a jobless vagrant like me just got promoted without doing anything?

Free salary plus the right to exploit people. Excellent!

“Of course, Master. You may make the arrangements as you see fit. I don’t mind.”

Wayne didn’t turn her down. His master was short-handed, or she wouldn’t have involved her precious student.

“But there’s the Darkness Knight in Londan,” he asked curiously. “With so many people sent away, what if the knight attacks?”

“Priestess Flora and I will stay at the head office in Londan,” Silvia said simply. Ordinary Gold-rank mages weren’t qualified to face the Darkness Knight anyway. Leaving them here was useless. Better to supply help to other locations and alleviate the problems stemming from a lack of leadership at the major bases.

“Also, though you don’t need to stay in Cambrook County, you have to visit at least twice monthly.”

“No problem.”

Wayne nodded. He would go right away. He felt uneasy carrying the antique silver coin with him as if the bandit Planck would come and rob him at any moment. A business trip would be a perfect excuse for him to stay away for a few days. Besides, he knew the Cambrook County. It was known for the many college girls there.

Then Silvia explained the rankings for the church’s officials to him: from errand runner to first-level deacon, then archdeacon, priest, High Reverend, and finally the Oracle High Reverend, who would be transferred back to headquarters. It was the advancement track for an administrative role.

The situation at headquarters was more complicated. In addition to the Oracle High Reverend, there were also High Prophet and Holy Maiden or Anointed One under the Pope.

Wayne didn’t pay close attention. He had no plans of going down the administrative track, but he was very invested in seeing his master become the Pope for the Holy Maiden he would get to know as a result.

“Work hard and earn more merit. It’ll be useful in the future.” Silvia gave him a meaningful look.

Bet you didn’t expect to be a candidate for Anointed One.

“Master, what can merits be used for?”

“Exchanging for magic. The higher your position, the more magic you can learn, divine arts included.” Silvia gave him a tempting reason. She knew that her student cared nothing about worldly affairs and only wanted to pursue magic.

Wayne perked up. “Such as?”

“Too many to count. Like Life Magic!”