Chapter 9

The alleyway was nothing more than a passageway between two houses, extremely narrow, so apart from garbage and filth, nothing else was piled up in the alley.

His heart was pounding wildly. Shad knew this decision was risky, but the voice in his head was right. To seek the extraordinary, one must accept the risks. Perhaps the channels through the psychologist and the church were safer, but he knew nothing about them, and for him, every path was a risk.

To gain, one must pay. He was willing to take the risk, a small risk.

"If there's any problem, I'll leave immediately."

Shad gripped his cane tightly and tiptoed forward, trying not to make a sound. At the end of the alley, there were some wooden crates, with wanted posters almost illegible from the text, seemingly for a serial killer who had fled to Tobask City.

The alley could turn left or right, leading directly into the slums of Tobask City's Lower District. Shad hid behind the wooden crates, peering through the gaps to see the direction the man had turned.

It was another alley, with only the young man wearing the pebble ring. He was standing in the middle of the alley, cautiously looking around. He even squinted at the sky for a long time before placing the black suitcase on the ground. Then, to Shad's surprise, he took off the pebble ring from his right index finger and kissed it carefully.

The young man seemed to murmur something, but Shad didn't hear clearly, as the wind and space muffled his hearing.

After kissing the ring, the young man appeared more relaxed.

He put the ring back on his right index finger, and immediately, thick smoke like a fire erupted from his clothes, quickly enveloping him entirely.

Shad heard a whisper, but it wasn't the elegant woman's voice in his head. This whisper was indistinct, like chewing or something cursing.

His head felt uncomfortable, as if he had spun in place several times and then tried to walk straight. The intense whispers grew louder, and for a moment, Shad thought he saw a malevolent spirit lunging at him.

Fortunately, the hallucination ended quickly, but as Shad gradually recovered, he still suspected his eyes were playing tricks on him. He saw the black smoke dissipate, and the person inside, wearing a white pebble ring, step out, lightly patting the hem of his skirt, then bending down to pick up the suitcase.

Madame Lassoya turned her head and looked around cautiously again, a smile on her lips. Confirming no one had seen this, she finally carried the suitcase to the other side of the alley.

Shad covered his mouth and leaned against the wall, hiding in the gap between the wooden crates and the wall, not daring to move for a long time.

Earlier, Shad had been puzzled about the church investigator's part-time job of distributing flyers, but now he understood. The other person might be, like the incompetent detective Shad, trying to monitor Madame Lassoya at the club entrance.

By the time Shad emerged from the alley again, the silver, yellow, and red moons were hanging in the sky together. The yellow moon was the brightest, with a slightly white hue. The night here was as peaceful as in the past world.

This street was quite secluded, so there were no streetlights. In the dim light, Shad didn't know what his expression was. After a long time, he took out his pocket watch. It was almost eight in the evening. He had stood in the wall crevice for two hours before daring to leave, not realizing his physical condition was so good.

"Relief food is out of the question."

He shook his head dejectedly, feeling extremely down. He walked along the street toward home. Even if he had to go hungry, at least he had a place to live, so the situation wasn't too bad.

The key now was that the lucrative commission to investigate the mistress seemed impossible to complete.

Clearly, Madame Lassoya had the ability to transform into a man using the ring, or the young man had the ability to transform into Madame Lassoya using the ring. Shad certainly couldn't report this information to the client, nor did he want to submit the dead detective's report. He would act as if nothing had happened.

Once the report was submitted, Mrs. Lawrence would inevitably inform Madame Lassoya about the detective's surveillance due to her conflict with Mr. Lawrence. Even if the report didn't reveal any secrets, Shad couldn't guarantee what Madame Lassoya would do.

"This world is more complicated than I imagined. Is Mr. Lawrence in love with a man or a woman?"

Perhaps Madame Lassoya was a good person, and transforming into a man wasn't harmful. But encountering such a situation within 24 hours of arriving in this world made Shad feel a sense of crisis.

"Maybe in this world, the extraordinary attracts the extraordinary."

He thought wearily, walking along the street. Worried about being robbed in the dark, harassed by drunkards, or encountering illegal transactions, Shad, who only had a cane and a fruit knife, didn't dare take shortcuts through the alleys to get home.

"Today was really unlucky."

He turned left at the street corner at Old John's Pawnshop, feeling even worse at the thought of sleeping in a house where someone had just died.

"Since there are the extraordinary, there might also be ghosts. Don't scare yourself. Wait, where did I turn just now?"

He stopped, tilted his head back, and saw the sign of "Old John's Pawnshop" and the shop's interior still lit by gas lamps.

"Alright, I didn't think of this move. It's not that unlucky. Things will get better."

He sighed slightly, pinched his pocket watch, and pushed open the pawnshop door.

In the end, he didn't pawn the pocket watch but the cane. The pocket watch was an important daily tool, and the cane was dispensable. More importantly, the pocket watch's value was low, and the shop owner, who called himself John Jones, only offered 10 shillings, citing many scratches on the surface, possibly from being kept with a keychain.

However, he was willing to offer 1 pound and 12 shillings for the cane.

"Do you know anything? This is the heartwood of a natural spruce from the Delado Mountains. Look at the grain, look at the craftsmanship. If you can provide information about the craftsman who made it, I might offer more."

The old man seemed to be complaining that Shad didn't know the value. After confirming Shad wanted to pawn the cane, he reminded him that if he didn't redeem it within half a month, the cane would belong to the pawnshop.

Shad knew the cane's value was definitely more than 1 pound and 12 shillings. But he wasn't in the mood to haggle and just took two 1-pound notes, signed the contract, and left.

According to the prices, this money was enough for Shad to live comfortably for two weeks. If he saved, it could last him a month and a half, including possible rent. This money was even enough to dig up Spillor Hamilton, place an obituary in the newspaper's GG section, and hold a modest funeral for the detective.

Of course, he didn't have that idea for now.

"But solving the short-term food and shelter problem, what should I do about the extraordinary and the mysterious?"

He had dinner at a restaurant near the pawnshop, enjoying the taste of soup with a steak, then walked home.

When he returned to 6 St. Teresa Square, it was almost ten at night.

After checking that the hair he had left in place was still there, he entered the room. He carefully turned the gas lamp in the living room wall, gradually revealing the light, then threw himself onto the sofa, exhausted. From the open door of the master bedroom, he could see the bed where Spillor Hamilton had lain.

Shad was determined to soon come into contact with the extraordinary, rather than living in ignorance. Although he hadn't encountered any immediate danger, this world was not simple, and Shad didn't want to wait until he was in danger to find a solution.

He currently had three methods to help him contact the extraordinary.

First was Mr. Bill Schneider, the psychologist who gave Shad his business card; second were the five orthodox churches in the city, visiting which might yield results; and third was Madame Lassoya herself, who must know about the extraordinary, and contacting her was also a method.

Each had its pros and cons, but ultimately, Shad's understanding of this world was too limited, and he had no channels to gain more knowledge. Before leaving today, he had checked the map, and this city had no public libraries to provide free knowledge.

There were some private libraries in the city, but one had to be introduced by an acquaintance and pay a significant fee to become a member, which Shad clearly couldn't afford.

He could only rely on the materials left by Spillor Hamilton, but this gentleman had no habit of collecting books and was clearly just an ordinary person.

Investigating the cause of Spillor Hamilton's death might lead to the extraordinary, but this was undoubtedly a dangerous approach, and Shad's rationality rejected it.

"Can you give me some advice?"

He patted his head but only heard the woman's light laughter. It was the voice in his head that helped him complete the entire investigation of Mr. Lawrence's mistress. Otherwise, he couldn't have discovered the secret of the ring on his own.

He hoped the voice would give another hint but received no response.

"Ultimately, one must rely on oneself."

He whispered to himself, tilting his head to look out the window at the night sky with the three moons. It was so magnificent, so mysterious, so captivating. Especially the silver moon, which always made his depressed mood better when he gazed at it.

"No matter what, I can't wait. Although I haven't encountered any danger yet, since I have the initial intention to live as a detective, I must have the ability to protect myself and understand how complex this world is. Otherwise, I will end up like Detective Spillor Hamilton."

With money in his pocket, he put aside the idea of continuing other investigations and shifted his main goal to contacting the extraordinary.

"Church, psychologist, Madame Lassoya"

He didn't have a good impression of the last option because her appearance today seemed to overlap with the church and police investigations, making him instinctively think she wasn't a good person. He was somewhat interested in the first option, as he understood that the orthodox churches in this world were relatively open.

But that was just his understanding, and he couldn't make plans based on such a simple idea. He wasn't a believer in any god and had never been to a church as a homeless person. Whether the church's openness applied to someone like him was uncertain.

"Maybe I can investigate for a few more days. I don't have to worry about starving for now, and pawning some inheritance can support me for a long time. As long as the rent collector doesn't appear, I have plenty of time to investigate. Focusing on these three options, I can find the most suitable one."

With this thought, he fell asleep in the bedroom of the original Shad in the apartment, spending his first night in the new world.

In a daze, he seemed to hear the woman's laughter in his head again. The laughter made Shad unexpectedly calm, and he had a very relaxing dream, sitting on a field ridge and gazing at the silver moon on the horizon.

Unexpected events always disrupt existing plans, and Shad's three-choice plan was disrupted the next morning.