Seeing Alfred look over, Klein smiled and nodded slightly.
"I suddenly sense danger," he said.
With that, he calmly turned and walked toward the carriage Haggis had pointed to.
"Danger..." Alfred repeated the word softly, looking around warily but finding nothing strange.
He slowed his pace, constantly alert to his surroundings, and returned with extreme caution to the three-story building not far away.
Pagani glanced at the solemn Alfred and asked with slight confusion:
"Did something happen?"
He was quite a distance from the arms deal site and hadn't been able to hear the conversation clearly.
Alfred went to the window, looking down at the horse team that had finished loading the weapons and was about to leave. He spoke deliberately:
"Dwayne Dantès suddenly left, saying he had a premonition of danger."
"Danger?" Pagani didn't take it lightly. He looked around warily, but even after Mesenyes's men had left the area, vanishing into the darkness, he sensed nothing wrong.
Then he laughed:
"Haha, Alfred, you're too sensitive. I think it's simply that Dwayne Dantès is timid and doesn't want to stay here long."
Alfred withdrew his gaze and frowned slightly:
"Perhaps."
…………
Back at the rented hotel, Klein had the "Winner" Enzo, who had turned into a young mixed-blood man, open the suitcase in his hand, taking out the gold bars and coins one by one to count them clearly.
The total value here was 30,000 Loen gold pounds!
"Good thing I agreed with Miss Messenger beforehand on gold equivalent to 10,000 Loen gold coins, so no need to exchange..." Klein said, leisurely sitting in a rocking chair, drinking a sweet-and-sour, refreshing "Guadar" beverage while "supervising" the puppet's work.
Once Enzo finished sorting the goods, Klein took out the adventurer's harmonica, brought it to his lips, and blew.
Reinette Tinekker, holding four heads with golden hair and red eyes, stepped out from the void as if she had been nearby all along.
Her eight eyes simultaneously turned to look at the pile of gold coins and bars that had been set aside.
After a few seconds, the four heads held by Reinette Tinekker spoke in turn:
"Good...""From now on...""Tasks...""Cost more..."
...Where's the logic in that? I paid the reward so promptly and quickly, so why should future tasks cost more? Klein was stunned for a second, then sat up straight and asked:
"What?"
The four golden-haired, red-eyed heads of Reinette Tinekker nodded seriously:
"The pricing...""Of the task...""Depends on...""Your ability...""To make money..."
"Is that so..." Klein opened his mouth but found himself unable to refute it. After all, such matters are decided unilaterally by the helper. Moreover, with his advancement to Sequence 4 and becoming a demigod, the tasks that would require Miss Messenger's help would likely become increasingly difficult and dangerous, so a price increase seemed only reasonable.
After Reinette Tinekker swallowed the pile of gold coins and bars and disappeared from the room, Klein collected his thoughts and began to calculate his current assets:
"Expenses have been heavy lately. I still have 17,275 pounds in banknotes and 65 gold coins... The gold bars here are worth 25,000 pounds... A total of over 40,000 pounds, which is not a small amount for the entire Loen Kingdom; I could even buy a manor and land... The arms trade is really profitable..."
— Reinette Tinekker needed the gold coins first, so only the gold bars remained.
Standing up, Klein moved the gold bars to the Gray Fog, then walked to the window and looked northward.
The matters here were tentatively concluded. Next, he would return to Backlund.
After staring at the horizon for a while, Klein sighed silently:
"Backlund..."
…………
North District, Backlund Technical University.
Audrey was walking through the campus with several staff members of the "Loen Charitable Education Fund."
She wore a simple light-green dress with a white unadorned belt. Her golden hair was gathered under a slightly playful gauze hat with ribbons and flowers. She had no accessories other than a silver bracelet on her left wrist, and she looked no different from an ordinary female student of moderate family means.