Ed's comment that the name Black Forest Castle is "as good as its name" is actually a bit of a misnomer. He'd seen a castle in the truest sense of the word somewhere else—somewhere outside of Titan. At that time, he heard from the locals that it was a "complete" outdated and purely monumental architectural art created by a group of old nobles inherited from the era of earth civilization out of nostalgia and asked professional master craftsmen to create it with retro and realistic standards. He remembered the incomprehensible scale of the thing's work, the spiky top of the tower rushing up into the sky, and it prick his ass when he looked at it.

Compared to the truly amazing ones who weren't built to live in at all, Albert's Manor House is a blue-eyed baby playing rattle in the cradle. But for Ed, it didn't make much of a difference, and the baby could crush him to death with a piece of his fingernail removed.

He followed Eliqi, and together the two of them walked through the large double doors of the large room and into the antechamber. Ed casually glanced around as he walked, his face expressionless. His own house was not as large as two-thirds the size of the foyer in front of him. It felt like a small, multi-layered labyrinth, full of corridors, windows, statues, murals, art, and other decorative useless things, with checkerboard floors on the floor, and each door with one carved double door that would allow one to hold the giraffe's neck through.

On the surface, it didn't seem like anything special, but it took a moment for Ed to realize that something was wrong—he frequently turned his head back several times without being noticed by Eliki in front of him.

He didn't see anything. He didn't need to see anything.

Along the way, the two met a number of other people, most of them servants, but also some uniformed and sharp-eyed guys, presumably technical or security personnel such as bodyguards and private armed forces. Ed didn't care about this, and turned a blind eye to it.

Finally, Ed followed Eliki to the door of a large living room-style room with an outdoor terrace on the third floor. Eligi stopped here.

"The boss is waiting for you inside, Mr. Ed." She turned her head and whispered to Ed, her eyes clear, "You can see him when you go in." ”

“…… This time he won't stay in the study? Ed looked at Eliqi, and suddenly said something in surprise. Generally speaking, he wouldn't waste time talking nonsense with a character like Eliki who was not his goal, but looking at Eliqi's eyes as he looked at him, he temporarily changed his mind and consciously had an additional conversation with Eliqi with a very obvious subjective intention.

Eliki herself seemed to be a little unexpected, and a slight surprise appeared on her face. "Oh, that's right, Mr. Eddard. The boss doesn't always stay in the study. When he's not working on work, he likes to meet his clients in other, more comfortable places. ”

"Well, when you're not dealing with work." Ed nodded, blinking his eyes and tugging at the corners of his mouth, "I'm a little strange, what kind of work does he usually deal with?" ”

“……”

"Or does he really need to take care of something?" Ed bowed his head and leaned closer to Eliqi, "I always thought he just had to sit there and move his fingers and wait for someone to kneel at his feet and gild his leg hair." ”

Eliqi's face was a little red, and she didn't know why. However, she still remained calm, and did not dodge in the face of Ed's compelling direct gaze. "I'm sorry, Mr. Edd—that's not what you know. ”

Ed smiled, looked at Eliqi deeply, and shook his head slowly. "You can never know," he said, "you can never be sure...... Don't forget, I'm a man who makes a career out of finding the truth, and I'm a man who solves mysteries for a living. Maybe somebody will hire me to find out what you don't want others to know? ”

“…… I can only hope that day will never come. ”

Eliki lowered her head, her voice calm and hollow. She didn't look at Ed again, and just turned and walked away. Ed watched her back disappear around the corner of the aisle, and his expression didn't change in the end. Then he turned and pushed the door open and walked into the room.

Eliki was right, Albert was here, and Ed saw him at a glance. But he wasn't inside the room, but outside on a semicircular terrace that could accommodate a dozen couples sitting in pairs for a party tryst under the night sky. The size of the terrace is quite small and there is not much to furnish at all. In addition to some decorative flowers and plants, there are only two deck chairs, a small round table, a trolley food table, and a large parasol that can be used as a trampoline.

Albert was lying on top of one of the two chaise longues. From Ed's point of view, he could only see the top of his head, and the small smoke that kept drifting showed that he was smoking leisurely, and from time to time he reached for the small round table next to him and threw some fruit into his mouth. All the food on the round table was clearly from the cart on the other side. Albert seems to have treated this place as if it were a beach, but of course there was a vast expanse of soft scenery in front of him.

Ed never knew what was going on in the heads of these rich men, and to be honest he didn't want to know. He walked through the living room, through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, onto the stone floor of the terrace, and onto the other chaise longue next to Albert.

He glanced at Albert, then unceremoniously took off his coat, threw it aside, and lay down in the chaise longue, stretching lazily.

"Well done, detective," Albert snorted unhappily as he took a bite of his thick, long cigar. He still wore the hedroid-like sunglasses on his face, covering his eyes, so that Ed didn't know where he was looking, "You're welcome, think of this as your home." Just treat me like your servant. ”

"Maybe I can give you a promotion," Ed said, with his hands behind his head, "maybe you can be a butler...... Or a maid or something. ”

"How do you calculate your salary? Let me do more, pay me more. ”

"You can ask Eliki to help you figure it out and mediate with me. I think she may have more experience than you do. ”

"Uh-huh." The corners of Albert's mouth twitched, "So, you're real with her?" ”

"What?"

"Come on—in the words you once said, 'Don't do this with me.'" Don't think that the scene you and her at the door no one noticed. Your noses are about to come together. ”

After Albert finished speaking, Ed, who had been lying with his eyes closed, opened his eyes suddenly. Then he closed it again.

"Oh my God." He said dryly, "Is there a corner in this house that can accommodate privacy?" ”

"Yes. Of course. Albert also spoke dryly, still lying motionless, "Do you want me to draw you a map?" ”

"I'm here for something else."

"Ah, yes. That's right. ”

Albert sat up from his recliner. Flicked the sleeves of his shirt, picked up his coat from the side, dug it in his inner pocket, and then threw the things he took out casually on the small round table in front of the two.

Ed sat up as well, tilted his gaze, and took the things from the round table. A new box of "Storm Cloud".

"How long has it been since the last box?" Albert asked, seemingly casually.

"I just finished smoking last night." Ed said, as he simply pulled out one from the cigarette case he had just arrived and put it in his mouth. He stroked his left breast with his hand, but then he paused. He didn't touch anything. He gave it away last night.

No, no, it's not sent, it's robbed, it's been snatched away by unreasonable.

"What a coincidence, huh." Albert looked at Ed and threw his firebolt over, "You're such a shameless fellow. ”

"I was just told last night." Ed catches Albert's lighter and lights himself a cigarette, "Taken by more than one person." ”

"Do you like that? Or is it annoying? ”

"I don't feel anything, boss. I don't feel anything. ”

Albert laughed, not loud, but very cheerful, not the kind of fake smile that someone like him could easily pretend to be and often pretended to be, but the kind of smile that really contained something real in it. "Maybe that's why I like you, detective. You're so lovable. ”

"I don't think there's anything to be happy about being liked by men."

"You'll have happy times. I'll let you have it. ”

“……”

Ed put down the lighter in his hand and turned his head to look at Albert as he bit the cigarette holder. The man didn't look at him, but kept staring at the lake in the distance, at the plank trestle on the shore of the lake, at the white rowboat by the trestle.

It was a light-hearted and meaningless conversation, but Ed was almost sweating from his forehead. He began to wonder if he was in a bit of a hurry.

"I'm sorry, detective." Albert suddenly spoke calmly, without warning, "Forgive me for the sour water that makes people laugh off their big teeth." Of course, you can try to ...... with Eliki Well, what do the young guys call this kind of thing? ”

"It doesn't matter what you call it." Ed squinted at Albert, "You don't need to know. We can't talk about that. ”

"If you're worried about me, then you don't have to. Although Eliki works for me, I have no right to interfere with her freedom in this regard. Not to mention you. ”

"Are you serious, Albert?"

"In some ways, yes."

“…… What the hell are you working on? Suddenly, Ed asked sharply.

Albert's neck moved, and his gaze finally moved away from the lake in the distance to Ed, who was nearby. He pursed the corners of his mouth, his fingers pinching the same cigar as Ed's, and his black sunglasses reflected Ed's face. He smiled quietly.

"Nothing, detective." He whispered, "Nothing. ”