Chương 16: 15. The girl dreaming, the young man cleaning the gun
Yang Miers only thought that Charles had run into an acquaintance; he never imagined that the young man brushing past him was the very nemesis he most wanted to kill, without equal.
As Charles passed by Yang Miers, he secretly slipped the magic beetle given to him by Anne into the other's pocket.
A few minutes later, the two met again.
Anne's pretty face was slightly flushed as she spoke softly, "Thank you, Mr. Charles."
Charles smiled faintly and replied, "It was nothing, and I also wanted to do something for the reputation of Mrs. Yang Miers."
This sentence was genuinely heartfelt because the lady's reputation was closely linked to Charles's own. If her reputation remained immaculate, his would be as solid as a rock.
If Mrs. Yang Miers's reputation were ruined, Charles's would collapse like a mountain.
There was no one in the world who wished more fervently for the lady's reputation to remain pure and spotless than Charles.
Yang Miers was not wandering around; he waited quietly in a guest room until the auction began before entering the venue.
Anne and Charles hid in a corner of the auction hall, pretending not to know each other, but both kept an eye on Yang Miers, wanting to know what he was really up to.
Soon, the renowned Duchess Mesunu made her proud entrance.
She was not very old, just past thirty, and well-maintained, dazzlingly beautiful. Except for being rather tall, even surpassing ordinary men, she was almost the ideal woman in a man's heart.
Following the Duchess Mesunu's opening remarks, the first auction item was quickly brought to the stage.
It was a magic longsword, with a starting bid of one hundred eighty Aegeus, far exceeding the entirety of Charles's fortune.
The magic longsword was highly coveted; after several rounds of bidding, it surpassed three hundred Aegeus and was finally taken by a wealthy bidder for three hundred seventy Aegeus.
The starting bid for the second item also exceeded all of Charles's assets, so he lost interest in the auction and went to the long table on the side of the hall providing food and drinks, grabbing a few pastries to fill his stomach.
He had not eaten breakfast that morning and was a bit hungry.
There was no custom of breakfast in the Fars Empire; they adhered to a standard two-meal system with only lunch and dinner. A few nobles had the habit of afternoon tea and midnight snacks, which Charles was not used to.
He often bought breakfast for himself, even though the only thing available in the morning was leftover bread from the previous night.
After filling his belly, Charles took a glass of wine, drained it in one gulp, and returned satisfied to his corner.
The auction had by then reached its seventh item.
This item was said to be an ancient painting depicting the true appearance of the Evil God from overseas.
When Duchess Mesunu introduced it, she mentioned, intentionally or not, that at least twelve bizarre murders and over two hundred twenty lives were related to this magic item.
This did not prevent the ancient painting from being fervently sought after, and it still fetched an exceptionally high price.
What surprised both Charles and Anne was that Yang Miers had actually joined the bidding and in the fourth round, he won the item for five hundred seven Aegeus.
After securing the ancient painting, Yang Miers left in a hurry, clearly with a specific goal in mind.
Anne gave Charles a signal, and the two of them left the magic item auction, one after another.
This auction had been an eye-opener for Charles, broadening his horizons. Though he had to leave early, he didn't feel much regret, as none of the items here was affordable for a Clerk Chief from the prison.
Charles left the auction house, and Anne, who had left a step ahead, was already waiting for him in the carriage.
As Charles boarded the carriage, Anne instructed the coachman to set off immediately.
Without time for pleasantries with Charles, Anne closed her eyes, muttering to herself, occasionally raising her voice to direct the coachman.
Unfamiliar with the dream system's supernatural power, Charles, with nothing to do, began to consider whether he should check out the house if he had time in the afternoon.
Occasionally peeking out through the carriage's curtain, Charles slightly recognized the road; as they sped along, his recognition grew stronger, and he involuntarily cried out in his mind, "This is the road to Lady Yang Miers's house."
He didn't dare to mention this to Anne because such familiarity was hardly respectable.
As the carriage stopped in front of a very stylish residence, many familiar memories flooded Charles's mind.
Among them was how to engage in passionate activities with a young lady in this stylish residence, activities that would be censored on the internet in later generations.
Even writing them in novels was not allowed.
Charles felt somewhat ashamed, although he could attribute those youthful, frivolous escapades to his predecessor; he still had to bear the karma and tread carefully on thin ice, cautious in overcoming all challenges.
In a soft voice, Anne said, "I need to take a short nap, it would trouble Mr. Charles to guard me for half an hour."
Her pretty face blushed as she said this.
In any era, a young girl expressing the need to take a nap, asking for a strange man to stay and guard her, implied a certain affection.
Although both knew this was a necessity for the dream technique, unrelated to romance, a subtle romantic atmosphere quietly emerged.
With a light smile, Charles said, "Miss Anne, rest assured."
After thanking him, Anne clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she entered the bliss of deep sleep.
With nothing better to do, Charles pulled out the newly purchased Magnum Hand Shuttle and began to carefully wipe it with a cloth.
The rapier was inconvenient to carry and too conspicuous, so Charles did not wear it. Besides, a handgun was far more practical as a weapon for self-defense than a rapier.
Though the second-hand handgun was well maintained, its body showed significant dirt. Charles, a man with a bit of OCD, had been wanting to give it a thorough cleaning.
Charles polished the handgun until it shone like new and checked the bullets once more, filling the magazine to its capacity of eighteen rounds, with two extra ones to spare.
As soon as the safety was off, this 80% new handgun was ready to fire at any moment.
The quiet carriage parked by the street, the dreaming girl, the young man cleaning his gun.
This formed a very striking scene.
Charles stowed the freshly cleaned handgun into the holster inside his coat and suddenly felt an alert within him. He quickly activated the Eye of Insight, and a sphere with a radius of fifteen steps centered on him popped open.
He saw the grand residence of the Yang Miers family emitting rolling black smoke and was stunned.
Annie, lost in deep sleep, showed a pained expression, groaning continuously but unable to awaken.
Without hesitation, Charles leaped out of the carriage and dashed straight toward the Yang Miers family's mansion; as he burst into the courtyard, it felt as though he had entered another world.
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