It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door. Charlotte opened it to find a calico cat carrying a large basket in its mouth. The cat put down the basket and meowed twice, with an air of pride.
Charlotte, who had experience with cats from his time on Earth, gently petted it, and the cat purred contentedly before jumping onto a nearby carriage to nap.
Outside the door at No. 58 Rue Élysée Jardin were two carriages: one belonging to Anne and the other to Vinnie Arseno. Since moving into No. 58, this was the first time it had been so lively.
Of course, the visit from the two evil gods didn't count...
Charlotte was impressed by the practicality of Vinnie's cat spirit magic as he brought the basket inside and offered it to the three ladies.
Charlotte had seen Anne's mechanical beetle, but it was clear that the beetle couldn't be used to buy things. It was only good for notifying servants outside, who would then make purchases.
Vinnie Arseno's cat spirit magic, which allowed her to directly command cats, was indeed much more convenient than the mechanical beetle.
Charlotte even felt a desire to learn this magic from Vinnie Arseno.
Miss Vinnie Arseno was a skilled conversationalist, and soon the three young women were discussing a strange recent case.
Charlotte listened for a while, picking up some details.
Recently, a series of disappearances had occurred in the Alcatraz District. Not just individuals, but entire families were vanishing. So far, seven families, totaling over sixty people, had disappeared without a trace.
Each household appeared normal, as if the family members had simply stepped out temporarily. There were no signs of burglary or any disturbances, but those who disappeared were never seen again, leaving no clues behind.
In this era, the Farse Empire used city patrols to perform police work, but their investigative methods were crude, with a dismal solve rate of less than three percent.
This led the residents near the disappearance sites to give up on the patrols and instead offer substantial rewards to private detective agencies.
They were all worried that they might be the next to disappear, so the rewards were set high.
Vinnie Arseno was eager to claim this reward and steered the conversation towards the case, hoping to tap into the wisdom of the two well-educated ladies, Sylvia and Anne. However, it was clear she was disappointed this time.
This mysterious case left the two young women completely stumped.
Charlotte, too, had no ideas after listening for a while.
Before crossing over, he had been a high school math teacher, not a seasoned detective, so he had no urge to comment on such a disappearance case.
Anne Brittany suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no! We've been chatting so much that I'm late to go home!"
Vinnie Arseno also smiled and said, "I was here to help Sylvia move into the detective agency's dormitory, but we've talked for so long that we've kept Mr. McLaren occupied."
Charlotte quickly replied, "It's no bother at all. Spending a delightful afternoon with three ladies has only brought me joy."
Anne got up from her seat, took Charlotte's hand, and pulled him aside, saying, "I came over today to share some insider information with you."
Charlotte was slightly surprised and asked, "What news?"
Anne lowered her voice and said, "Menilman has recently been implicated in a case, and this case has wide-reaching implications. You need to be very careful."
After sharing this, she quickly bid him farewell.
It was indeed getting late, and Miss Anne was usually quite a proper young lady, except for the occasional habit of visiting dreams at midnight to scare people.
Sylvia went upstairs, gathered the things she had bought in the past few days, which turned out to fill two large suitcases. With Miss Vinnie's help, the former fiancée boarded the carriage and waved goodbye to Charlotte.
Watching the two carriages leave one after the other, Charlotte returned to No. 58 Rue Élysée Jardin. Though he had always been wary of trouble while Sylvia was around, now that he was alone again, he felt a bit of emptiness.
No. 58 Rue Élysée Jardin was indeed too big. Living alone brought an indescribable sense of emptiness, and Charlotte couldn't help but wonder, "Should I hire a cook? A few servants? Or maybe get a pet?"
Though he had shared some pastries with the ladies, he hadn't eaten enough, so after a moment of hesitation, he headed to the nearest restaurant for a meal. After dinner, he remembered the Cat and Clover Café he had visited last time. Although the coffee of this era was slightly acidic, it had a rich flavor and made for a decent drink. It was much better than the heavily spiced tea that tasted like chili water and more suitable for staying awake at night than the floral tea from Dongli. He decided to buy some coffee, not just for his daily drink but also to serve to guests.
When Charlotte arrived at the Cat and Clover Café, he heard the mewing of kittens. He looked and saw the half-grown, agile cat eyeing him warily while guarding three newborn kittens.
Charlotte recalled seeing the cat before, thinking it was just fat, and couldn't help but smile, saying, "These kittens are adorable."
The café's owner, an elderly woman, smiled at the compliment and said, "If you like them, sir, you're welcome to adopt one. There's no fee at all, as long as you promise to take good care of them."
Charlotte hesitated for a moment before crouching down to observe the kittens. The half-grown cat seemed to sense that this man meant no harm and relaxed its guard, lazily lying down as the three kittens scrambled to nurse.
After watching for a while, Charlotte said, "I'd like to buy a batch of coffee, a variety of types. And these kittens are indeed adorable. Please allow me to take them all."
"But they're too young to leave their mother just yet. I'll trouble you to care for them a little longer. Here's twenty silver ding as a contribution to their care."
The café owner was pleasantly surprised. Her café wasn't very profitable, and taking care of one agile cat was already a burden, so she couldn't keep the three kittens. Not only was Charlotte willing to adopt all three, but he also offered to pay for their care, which was a great relief to her. She quickly agreed.
Having adopted the little ones, Charlotte felt quite happy. With some experience in pet ownership from his past life, he knew that kittens shouldn't be separated from their mother too early, or they might not survive. So, although he was fond of them, he didn't take them home immediately, planning to wait until they were a bit older.
Twenty silver ding had considerable purchasing power, equivalent to nearly four hundred yuan in modern terms, more than enough to care for the three little ones for a long time. To put it in perspective, Charlotte's former fiancée, Miss Sylvia Martin, earned a weekly salary of just eighty-five silver ding.
Since he didn't buy much coffee, Charlotte didn't ask the café owner to deliver it but carried it home himself.