Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 646: Chapter 646: Legacy and Miss Black

Chapter 646: Chapter 646: Legacy and Miss Black

“Good morning, Tifa.”

Seeing the black-haired Miss Maid, Shard too showed a smile. Only after accepting the invitation to board the carriage did he realize there was no Miss Galina, but three other ladies were present.

One looked a bit younger and was also one of Miss Galina’s personal maids, but an ordinary person. The other two were female sorcerers from Miss Galina’s entourage, both from the Inner Ring. Since they all knew Shard and were aware of his relationship with Miss Galina, they nodded at him reservedly.

“Tifa, why are you here? Are you running an errand for Miss Galina?”

This was Shard’s question.

“The miss sent me to acquire an antique because it is very important, so it must be me who goes.”

Tifa said as the carriage continued to roll forward slowly:

“The Council has been searching for that antique for a long time, and only recently did we find its whereabouts. What about you? Shard, what brings you here? A detective’s commission?”

“No, no, not a commission. It’s about a stone figurine… You’re not here for that as well, are you?”

Miss Maid was slightly surprised but still smiled graciously:

“The first two had connections with you; it can’t be a coincidence. Hence, the miss believed that someday we would discover that the third is also connected to you. Look, you’re indeed here for this stone figurine. However, we cannot let you have it; the miss instructed me to bring it back.”

“I don’t want the stone figurine, I just want to take a look at it.”

“That’s fine, then the miss won’t have to find someone to translate specially. The emperors of the old times liked to write their Poem Chapters in even more ancient scripts, which has made the translation a big hassle.”

Shard had once told Miss Galina that he could understand most of the ancient script.

Since Tifa was there, there was no need for Shard to sneak in. The Duchess of Saradiel was formidable, and Tifa’s group had a genuine bill of sale. The now deceased Simir Pasolo had agreed to sell dozens of antiques, including that stone figurine, to Miss Galina. Therefore, it was fine for Shard to follow Tifa.

The carriage stopped in the middle of the street, and Shard got out first. He walked up the steps to knock on the apartment’s door, but just as he raised his hand, a quarrel erupted from inside.

It was a man’s roaring voice. Due to the fast speech and being behind the door, Shard could only make out words like “property.”

Although he couldn’t figure out what had happened, he still knocked on the door firmly a few times.

The quarreling ceased immediately, and after more than ten seconds, footsteps approached from inside, and then the door was opened. A somewhat tall maid in her thirties wearing an apron answered the door.

She looked down while asking Shard and Tifa, who was now getting off the carriage, the purpose of their visit, and from her tone, one could discern that she had just cried.

“What happened here?”

Out of curiosity, Shard still introduced himself first:

“I am the Hamilton Knight of Rejed, and this is Miss Servit and Miss Laila, personal maids of Miss Galina Cavendish, the Duchess of Saradiel.”

Tifa, who had already alighted from the carriage, nodded subtly, followed by the young maid. The two female sorcerers from the Inner Ring, probably there to prevent other contingencies, stayed in the carriage, waiting nearby.

“Greetings!”

The maid at the door immediately wiped her eyes with her sleeve:

“May I ask what brings you here?”

Tifa gestured for Shard to speak, and he cleared his throat:

“Through an intermediary, the Duchess had an agreement with Mr. Simir Pasolo, who was to sell a collection of antiques to Miss Galina.”

Shard produced the agreement, and after the maid examined it, she invited the three of them inside to talk.

There were two other people in the living room, one a man in his forties with gold-rimmed glasses who looked rather refined, and the other a woman near his age with thick makeup and a plump figure.

The maid introduced the new arrivals to those two and then introduced them to Shard and his companions. They were the children of the late Mr. Simir Pasolo, the older being Bic Pasolo, who was married, and the younger, by two years, was Jenny Pasolo, still unmarried.

Both Pasolos were well-dressed, seemingly maintaining at least the status of their original family.

Shard and the others took seats on the sofa, while Tifa and the other maid stood behind him.

“So, we’ve come to take the collection of antiques. Of course, we’ve brought the Gold Pounds stipulated in the contract as well.”

The box of money was currently being held by the maid.

“There are no issues with the contract, and we’d be honored to conduct a transaction with the Duchess of Saradiel, but…”

Bic Pasolo’s expression showed difficulty:

“Due to inheritance issues, none of my father’s possessions can be moved at the moment.”

“What does that mean? Excuse me, may I ask who the heir is? We can talk to him, money is not an issue.”

Shard said.

“The heir, of course, is my sister and me!”

Bic Pasolo’s voice suddenly rose, but then, realizing it was impolite, he promptly apologized.

“Oh?”

Shard looked at him dubiously:

“If it’s you, then why… Is there not a specific will?”

“There is, but in the will, father left most of the estate to her!”

Jenny Pasolo suppressed her anger and pointed to the maid who had opened the door for the three of them. Holding the tea tray and intending to come over, she saw that she was being mentioned and stood there not knowing what to do, her face flushed red without knowing what to say.

Shard then understood what had caused the roar he heard before knocking.

“Hmm… This maid must have taken care of Mr. Pasolo for quite some time, hadn’t she?”

“Ten years.”

The maid, still wearing her apron, said softly.

“You two don’t visit Mr. Simir Pasolo often, do you?”

Shard asked again, recalling what Luviya had mentioned earlier.

The bespectacled Bill Pasolo didn’t deny it:

“We don’t live in Tobesk, and we only visit our father during the summer and winter. Both Jenny and I are grateful to Lina for taking care of our father for such a long time. If father left part of his estate to her, we wouldn’t oppose it. But, but…”

He began to struggle with his anger again:

“In his will, father left about eighty percent of his estate to her!”

After saying this, he apologized again for the volume of his voice.

“I see, so you haven’t clarified the ownership of these assets, hence the antiques can’t be handed over for the time being?”

Shard summarized, and both the Pasolos and the maid known as “Lina” nodded in agreement.

“Jenny and I are in negotiations with Lina, hoping to properly handle the distribution of the inheritance. If we can’t reach an agreement, we will resolve it through legal means, the inheritance laws of the Draleon Kingdom may be able to help us.”

However, in Shard’s view, since there was a will, it was certainly the maid Lina who had the legal advantage. But the issue was, if it really came down to a legal battle, an ordinary maid without power or influence would have a difficult time defeating the two upper-middle-class Pasolos.

Shard had no interest in getting involved in other people’s family matters, but he was more anxious about not wanting to waste too much time here:

“If there’s a will, things should be done according to it.”

He said simply, and seeing Tifa behind him nodding cautiously, he added:

“If the three of you need a lawyer, Miss Galina will not be stingy in helping to ensure justice.”

The maid Lina looked gratefully at Shard, while the Pasolo siblings’ expressions turned somewhat sour:

“Mr. Hamilton, you mean…”

“The will should be followed as written. May I ask where the will is? To whom did Mr. Simir Pasolo leave these antiques?”

“No no, it’s not right that he left me so much money, I just took care of him for a while.”

The maid said softly, and seeing that there was still room for negotiation, Bic Pasolo and Jenny Pasolo immediately tried to smooth things over, promising that they could hand over the antiques today.

After all, no matter who ended up with the estate, it belonged to the three people present. As long as all three agreed to liquidate the antiques as part of the division of the estate, then the trade contract could be fulfilled.

It seemed that Mr. Bill Pasolo was indeed worried about Miss Galina hiring a lawyer for the maid.

The rest of the matter was simple—Mr. Simir Pasolo’s collection of antiques was undisturbed since his death and were all on the third floor in the collection room. The five went upstairs together to check and inventory the items listed.

But to Shard’s surprise, all of the antiques were there except for the stone figurine with the fragment of the poem chapter missing.

“That little stone figurine seems to have been buried with Mr. Pasolo as a funerary object.”

The maid took a while to remember before revealing this:

“It was a decision made by Mr. Pasolo before he died; he chose six antiques to be buried with him.”

This was also known to Bic Pasolo and Jenny Pasolo—they were aware of the funerary items, and there was a list, so there was no chance of fraud.

Shard then quietly asked Tifa for her opinion before saying:

“If that’s the case, it’s truly a pity, but since it is so, Miss Galina will just have one less item for her collection.”

They proceeded to transfer the antiques listed for camouflage on the third floor before leaving. Before departing, Shard made another request:

“I would like to talk to Miss Lina alone, to ask about Miss Black who lives on this street.”

He introduced himself as a detective, and so the Pasolos temporarily excused themselves.

Shard and Tifa spoke with the maid in the living room, but this time it was Tifa who spoke:

“Even though Knight Hamilton intimidated them, once we leave, that will is likely still not going to be recognized.”

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

The thirty-something maid nodded in embarrassment:

“It’s alright. I know it’s difficult for them to accept this, and I am willing to give up some of the inheritance, but I cannot completely relinquish this legacy.”

“If you need help, you can write to me. I can assist you.”

Tifa continued, with Shard nodding in agreement:

“Aside from this matter, the reason I wanted to talk to you alone was indeed to inquire about Miss Black. Since both of you live on the same street, do you know her?”

“Yes, Mr. Pasolo and I are probably the people most familiar with her on this street. What would you like to know?”