Chapter 1241: Chapter 1241: The Man Who Always Wins
"I’ve also heard the story of Mr. Osenfort restoring the family’s glory. He is truly remarkable. A friend of mine from Draleon inherited the fortune of her fallen family, but unfortunately, she wasn’t as lucky."
This refers to Miss Gawder. At the beginning of the year, when Shard wrote back, he playfully suggested, "I’ll just keep Mia here in the future," and is still waiting for the lady’s reply.
The woman in the black and red gown presented a gentle smile:
"Things will get better, everything will get better."
Feeling the conversation was a bit awkward, she initiated a new topic on her own:
"If you visit not in winter, you can see the flowerbeds I’ve planted in the courtyard. In the garden behind the mansion, I’ve hired a gardener to take care of the flowers, and they bloom beautifully every spring."
Thus, Shard engaged in a talk with the lady about the estate, learning that Lady Osenfort rarely accompanies Mr. Osenfort to the city due to her poor health.
Currently, the Osenfort family doesn’t consist of many members; only the couple and some servants have resided here. Lady Osenfort didn’t directly mention it, but Shard could sense that the master seems to seldom return, spending four or five days a week in the city overnight.
Especially in the current winter season, the dock outside the estate cannot be used, preventing some private businesses, resulting in Mr. Osenfort returning even less often. Shard was lucky today; without a prior appointment, he came directly and generally wouldn’t have met Mr. Osenfort.
Of course, this melancholic woman showed no intent to complain about her husband. In truth, her emotions seemed somewhat detached; when discussing these matters, there was little lamentation, and as Shard talked about his experiences across the Old Continent, she only displayed a faint smile.
Shard couldn’t discern whether this was the restraint of a homely wife or if the woman indeed had some emotional deficiency.
Naturally, Shard didn’t probe into too personal matters while the husband wasn’t home, as he could see that the woman before him was a traditional homely noble lady. Among the girls around him, none resembled Haila Osenfort, so he lacked experience in conversing with such women.
Fortunately, this somewhat meaningless talk ended after half an hour. Mr. Osenfort’s return allowed the homely woman to finally pause her idle chat with Shard, and the master’s appearance upon returning was quite unusual.
He didn’t return by carriage but rode back just like Shard. He wasn’t alone; five or six men on horseback accompanied him.
More precisely, they seemed to be horse racing, and as a group entered the estate, Shard keenly heard the sound of hooves. Following Lady Osenfort’s gesture, he got up and walked to the window, witnessing a group of men brandishing whips, laughing loudly as they galloped into the estate amidst the snow.
This scene hardly portrayed a role like a successful businessman.
"He’s always like this."
The pale-faced, black-haired woman stood up to go downstairs to greet her husband:
"Thank you again for returning the ring, Mr. Watson."
"It’s nothing... I won’t mention this to others."
He knew what the woman was concerned about.
Haila Osenfort nodded, slightly turning her head towards the closed door, then turning back to Shard, extending her fingers as if writing in the air, and then turned to leave.
"Hmm... What did she write?"
But Shard had no ability to recognize "air letters."
["Don’t befriend my husband, he’s not a good person. Don’t visit this estate again."]
"She" whispered in Shard’s ear, and he turned to look out the window, eyeing the group of men gathered in the courtyard, loudly discussing horse racing results:
"Strange businessman, strange woman, strange estate, what story... lies here?"
Lady Osenfort didn’t venture into the snowy courtyard but waited at the mansion’s door for a while until Mr. Osenfort chose to enter the building himself, while his "friends" each led their horses to the stables behind the house.
Mr. Osenfort soon learned of Shard’s arrival, seemingly delighted to meet the waiting Shard in the second-floor lounge.
The purpose of Shard’s visit to "return the ring" had been achieved, but he had to stay a while pretending to discuss the Roder Card.
Upon meeting, he feigned enthusiasm, shaking hands briefly with Mr. Osenfort, once again confirming that this tall middle-aged man bore no elements of traces.
Lady Osenfort didn’t appear again, but the tea was still served by the maid beside the estate’s mistress. After resuming his seat, Shard distinctly sensed a faint smell of blood on the man opposite, but he didn’t rashly use the Arcane Technique, instead enthusiastically discussing Roder Card topics.
It was apparent that Mr. Osenfort was equally interested in Shard, as they discussed new card decks, renowned card players from Randall Valley City, and even mentioned Mr. Antonio, the scriptwriter Shard had met at the Prophet’s Society.
Before they knew it, it was four in the afternoon, and Mr. Osenfort tried to invite Shard to stay for dinner but was refused by Shard:
"I’ve made plans with a girl for an evening outing in a secluded place."
He said with embarrassment, and Mr. Osenfort displayed a smile of understanding. Shard rose to bid farewell but was stopped by him:
"Mr. Watson, I heard from the butler you rode here?"
"Oh, yes. I need to apologize for visiting without prior appointment."
The general etiquette of the time was that if a guest came riding a horse or in a private carriage, the host must cover the horse’s fodder. As the host bears extra costs, this kind of visit needs prior arrangements, and Shard’s unscheduled arrival was considered quite impolite, so he apologized at that moment.
Mr. Osenfort casually shook his head, stood up with crossed arms, and asked:
"Mr. Watson, are you good at riding? My butler praised the horse you rode."
"I wouldn’t say good, just a beginner’s hobby."
"No matter, no matter. Before you leave, would you like to have a race with me? We’d run around the nearby paths. I can offer some stakes for the dull winter relaxation; my friends can guide the way, so no need to worry about missing the route."
Now it’s four ten; there’s no rush, and Shard had plenty of time to catch up with Iluna for dinner. However, he remained cautious of the man before him, and rashly refusing seemed odd, so he pretended to hesitate briefly before agreeing:
"Horse racing is certainly interesting, but there’s no need for stakes; it’s merely a game between friends."
"That won’t do. How can a competition lack stakes?"
Mr. Osenfort chuckled, proving to be far more normal than the emotionally detached Lady Osenfort:
"Then let’s proceed now. Oh, this is really exciting."
The two of them entered the courtyard, and Mr. Osenfort instructed Shard to wait at the mansion entrance, while he went alone to the garden behind the house. Shortly afterward, Mr. Osenfort’s friends screamed and rushed out of the estate on horseback, acting as human signposts at the junctions, while Mr. Osenfort himself and the old butler each led a horse over, the butler leading the one Shard had borrowed from Miss Lathis.
Mr. Osenfort briefly explained the approximate route to Shard, and after mounting up at the estate entrance, the old butler pointed a revolver at the sky.
Bang~
As the gunshot echoed beneath the snowy sky, a raven fell from the distance, and Mr. Osenfort and Shard rode out shoulder-to-shoulder.
The race’s course was roughly a loop around the vicinity, crossing the bridges over Elon River on the way. The nearby wooden bridge could bear the horses’ weight, but it wasn’t particularly wide; if a horse dashed across the bridge center, another horse must follow behind unless taught to fly.
Consequently, traversing two bridge sections became the race’s key points. However, for Shard, recognizing Mr. Osenfort’s friends at each junction wasn’t an easy task either.
Mr. Osenfort was undeniably a professional rider in essence, displaying a sense of coordination and power incomparable to those at the racecourse. He trained in the wild and woodland. He started leading ahead, but as curves appeared, the gap didn’t widen because Shard’s horse was superior.
The horse loaned by Miss Lathis was likely the mount of herself or Miss Benanis, and while Mr. Osenfort’s horse wasn’t inferior, it couldn’t match Shard’s.
When crossing the bridge for the first time, Mr. Osenfort was ahead of Shard by at least five horse lengths. But when they burst out from the wooded path again, Shard was already closely following him.
The latter part of the course was easier, with more curves, which was more suitable for the horse Shard was riding to sprint.
By the time they could vaguely see the walls of the estate, Shard had already overtaken Mr. Osenfort, but the latter somehow managed to catch up in the end. When they finally returned to the manor gate, it was impossible to tell to the naked eye who had arrived first.
[It was you, the skull of the horse you were riding is bigger.]
"It’s quite interesting, Mr. Osenfort, you’re really good."
Shard jumped off the horse, and Mr. Osenfort also dismounted.
"If we swapped mounts, I think I’d lose badly."
He said exaggeratedly, taking off his gloves and shaking hands with Mr. Osenfort again:
"Let’s call this one a draw, I really can’t tell who returned here first."
Mr. Osenfort shook his hand with Shard’s, the former shaking his head:
"I never accept a draw, to me a draw is a loss. You’ve won again, Mr. Watson, it feels quite nice."
Saying this, he waved to the old butler standing nearby, who handed him a bronze shield-shaped medal:
"This is probably some antique, it’s yours now, Mr. Watson. I hope we get to race again next time."
"Oh, yes, you are indeed generous. I hope we’ll race again next time."
He glanced at the shield-shaped metal medal, unable to determine which era’s antique it belonged to. The resulting "prize" meant acknowledging his victory, just like in card games, "she" once again reminded Shard that he encountered a very slight Misfortune Curse, which also barely affected Shard this time:
"Then I’ll leave first, and the next visit, I’ll make an appointment in advance."
So Mr. Osenfort and the friends who had gradually returned went back to the manor, and Shard rode away alone in the snow.
[Look back at the house.]
After riding for a certain distance, "she" suddenly reminded him. Shard turned his head while on the horse, then squinted slightly, relying on his excellent vision, seeing Lady Osenfort watching him from the second window on the left side of the third floor of the manor house. Since this lady’s skin was quite pale, Shard instinctively thought it was another evil spirit, then realized.
He waved goodbye to the window and then left normally:
"I will surely return. Although I haven’t detected anything unusual, I’m almost certain something is definitely off with Osenfort. However, there’s no connection here with The Chosen and the Crazy Earth, so I don’t need to focus my main energy here... Entrust Margaret to let her intelligence department check the background of the Osenfort family and Mr. Osenfort’s rise to prosperity. Remember to remind me, I must instruct Margaret not to let her people directly contact the target, just a peripheral investigation will do."
[Why does it feel like there’s a problem here? Your Sixth Sense?]
"Pretty much, although there’s no reaction of elements, there are many ways to hide them. Besides——"
He looked back again at the manor gradually hidden among the woods:
"I have seen rumors that the Osenfort estate was abandoned outside the family for seventy or eighty years. Almost every owner of the estate encountered misfortune as long as they lived here. If this is just a coincidence, then Mrs. Osenfort’s strange demeanor..."
He pinched the mithril metal block in his pocket, sensing no reaction:
"No matter what, the most important thing today is the adventure tonight."
Shard timed it well; when he returned to the city, it was less than five o’clock. Therefore, he returned the horse to Miss Lathis, borrowed paper and pen to write a letter to Margaret, asking Miss Lathis to deliver it on his behalf, and then went back to his own home.
It was obvious that Iluna was taking tonight’s action seriously, as Shard found her lightly made-up when he opened the door in the evening... This probably wouldn’t help in a fight.
Although Iluna said she would treat for dinner tonight, Shard still insisted on paying. When they finished eating, it was dark, but it was not yet time to set off. Shard thought for a moment and asked Iluna:
"Do you still remember the black market of Circle Sorcerers our group knew about I mentioned before? An independently run pawnshop by an old man. He once said he didn’t want to be too involved with the True God Church, so I told you about other places. Just happened to have time now, want to come with me to take a look?"
"He wasn’t unwilling to..."
"At that time, I wasn’t particularly familiar with Old Man John, now I even know what organization he’s from, it’s fine, come with me. Oh, you can say your name, but let’s not mention The Chosen."
Iluna hugged the well-fed Mia who didn’t want to move, while Shard searched his home for the pile of "junk" he retrieved from the bottom of the Randall Valley City, and the two went together to Old John’s Pawnshop.
This time when they pushed the door open and entered, there were still customers in the shop, a stranger Three Ring Sorcerer. Shard and Iluna politely did not approach the counter and instead looked at the stacked piles of miscellaneous goods around the shop.
It wasn’t until the previous customer finished the transaction that Shard led Iluna over:
"Good evening, Old John."
"Good evening, Detective, this is..."
"A guest I brought, a Church Ring Sorcerer from the Sun Church, and my friend."
After saying this, he seriously added another sentence:
"Yes, a very good friend. You said you didn’t want to engage with Church Ring Sorcerers, but..."
"It’s okay, since it’s a friend of yours, then they can be trusted."
Old John scrutinized Iluna, and after frowning slightly, evidently recognized her.
"Miss Iluna Beath. This is Old John. He sells and recycles relics, excluding limb-type relics, and can custom-make some useful alchemical items. Besides being very good at haggling, there’s no downside."
"Being good at haggling is an asset."
The old man emphasized, shifting his gaze from Iluna’s face. To have The Chosen come to the shop to buy things was, of course, good. Of course, he didn’t want to point out Iluna’s identity:
"Detective, you do make a wide range of friends... what brings you here today? Have you finally saved enough money and decided to custom make that alchemical longbow priced in five digits of Gold Pounds?"
"No, no, I’ve come to sell things this time."
Saying this, he lifted the woven bag at his feet onto the counter, opening it to reveal the contents within.
"Why are there ores? Let me see, rings, earrings, coins... Did you rob a jewelry store? There’s even change. Is this stuff legitimately acquired? If it’s stolen goods, then the price will be lower."
The old man arranged the coins and rings on the counter while picking them out, asking.
"Found them."
"They’re all things in the Carsonrick style, no idea where you picked them up."
He took out his identification equipment from under the counter and then handed Iluna a booklet, which was the inventory list of the shop.
Although the items Shard brought this time were varied, Old John took less than half an hour to classify and appraise them all. He offered a total price of 1,463 pounds. The large gold ore was hard for Old John to price because he had never directly purchased ore before. They finally agreed to leave the ore there for the time being, and if someone was willing to buy it, they would contact Shard separately to discuss the price.