Liam slammed a pillow against Julien's head.
"Hey, you big bear, get up. It's nine!"
Julien opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Liam, who was already dressed and ready to go.
"Let me sleep a little longer..."
Liam raised an eyebrow.
"So that's how it is?"
After a brief silence, Liam suddenly said,
"Hey, look at me for a second..."
Julien turned his head toward Liam again and looked at him.
A metal barrel was pointed at his head.
Julien turned his head away.
The sound of the trigger being pulled came.
Julien immediately pressed his hand hard against the bed and shoved himself toward the end of it.
He looked at Liam's hand.
"Why are you pointing a revolver at me!?"
"Don't worry. It's empty..."
"Empty or not, do you know I could sue you right now?"
"No, seriously? Go ahead. Sue me."
Julien gave him a faint smile.
"You're not scared?"
"No..."
"Fine."
Julien took a deep breath and suddenly shouted,
"Somebody help! There's a man here who's trying to kill—"
Liam immediately covered Julien's mouth.
"Hey, shut up!"
Julien bit Liam's finger.
Liam pulled his hand away from Julien's mouth and grabbed him with his other hand, squeezing him.
Julien gave a victorious smirk.
"I think I heard someone say he wasn't scared."
"Just... shut... up."
"Oh no, did your finger hurt?"
"Shut uuuuup!"
A few minutes later, Julien put on his coat and stepped out of his room.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
Liam was looking at the map the woman had brought him the previous night.
"First, we're going to see the Earl."
Julien looked surprised.
"The Earl!? Why?"
"Having an introduction letter from a noble could speed up the investigation."
"True... But do you think he'll even write one for us?"
"For now, he needs me and you more than we need him."
"Although we do need him quite a bit too. If we solve this case successfully, we'll become pretty famous!"
"Good thing you said 'if we solve it successfully.'"
Liam cut the map out of the newspaper with a pair of scissors and slipped it into his pocket.
"Alright... Time to go."
Julien put on his shoes and opened the door.
"I can't exactly agree or disagree, but fine."
"You saw the revolver and got scared, didn't you? You suddenly became very obedient!"
"Thank you so much for giving me such a romantic wake-up call..."
Liam walked out the door, with Julien following behind him.
They began heading toward the noble district.
As they walked, Liam said,
"Don't worry. Your wife won't wake you up like this."
"Yeah... She wakes me up much better..."
Liam gave Julien a sideways glance.
"Has anyone ever told you the world would be a much nicer place if you stayed quiet?"
"Lots of people..."
"How interesting. Who?"
"Just you!!"
Julien burst out laughing.
Liam gave him a deeply disappointed look and continued walking.
They walked in silence for several minutes before Julien spoke.
"I have a question... When we get there, what are you going to say? 'I came here to take advantage of the Earl and get an introduction letter from him'?"
Liam exhaled.
"No, genius... We're going there under the pretext of taking the cursed portrait. Once we have the portrait, I'll bring up the introduction letter. Please, just stay quiet!"
Julien locked his hands behind his head and took longer strides.
"I can't promise that..."
"I know."
"Then my job just got easier."
"Please stay quiet when we get there."
"What do I get out of it?"
"One day where you can sleep as much as you want!"
Julien suddenly held out his hand toward Liam.
"Deal!!"
Liam laughed and shook Julien's hand.
"Deal!"
Half an hour later.
Liam stared at the portrait, which was covered with a cloth.
"Do you believe this actually works?"
The Earl answered,
"Yes. I didn't have any nightmares last night."
Liam gave a faint smile.
"We'd like to take this portrait with us for further investigation. Do you have any objections?"
The Earl looked at the portrait sadly.
"No... It's cursed, after all."
"You still have feelings for this portrait even though you know it's cursed?"
"It was simply valuable to me."
"Thank you for sharing your feelings about it with us!"
The Earl's Head Butler looked toward the portrait and clapped once.
Several servants picked up the portrait and carried it downstairs.
Liam glanced at the portrait.
Then he moved closer to the Earl and said,
"I'm truly sorry to ask this, but the portrait is too heavy for just my partner and me to carry."
The Earl listened to Liam, glanced at his Head Butler, and said,
"Send a few of these men with them to carry the portrait."
The Head Butler nodded and gestured for the servants to take the portrait down the hallway.
Liam turned toward Julien.
"Julien... Accompany the gentlemen home."
Julien immediately nodded and went downstairs with the others.
Liam and the Earl were left alone in the hallway.
A brief silence passed between them.
Liam broke the silence.
"And... I have one more request."
The Earl turned his attention back to Liam.
"What request?"
Liam lowered his head slightly before continuing.
"To continue the investigation, we may need access to the police archives or permission to enter certain factories, and..."
The Earl finished his sentence.
"You need my letter of introduction, correct?"
Liam raised his head and met the Earl's eyes.
The Earl smiled.
"I suspected that the curse on this portrait wasn't something simple..."
He pulled a letter from inside his coat and held it out to Liam.
"I wrote this in advance, just in case."
Liam gently took the letter from the Earl and bowed his head.
"Thank you, Your Lordship."
He raised his head.
The Earl blinked, then gave a small nod.
Liam took a few steps toward the stairs.
"Goodbye, Your Lordship."
He then hurried down the stairs.
The Earl smiled and murmured under his breath,
"Being young is a great blessing..."
He then headed toward his room.
Liam quickly left the Earl's mansion.
He approached one of the nearby carriages, opened the door, and said,
"East Goldfield Street."
The driver immediately set off.
Liam closed the carriage door, sat down, and placed his hat beside him.
One hour later.
Liam calmly stepped out of the carriage, adjusted his hat, and entered the street.
"I didn't think this entire cobblestone road leading out of the city was East Goldfield... It's ridiculously long."
He looked at the factories surrounding the street.
He walked slowly until he suddenly spotted the name of the factory the woman had mentioned.
He headed toward it.
A guard stood in front of the entrance and held out his hand.
Liam immediately pulled the letter of introduction from his coat pocket.
The guard glanced at the letter, then at Liam.
After a moment, he stepped aside.
A man wearing expensive clothes stood beside several others, talking to them.
Liam suddenly called out,
"Good day... Sirieu Ironworks' owner!"
The man and the workers around him turned toward Liam.
Liam removed his hat and placed it against his chest.
"I'm a private detective and a supernatural detective. Emilien Rochefort. You can call me..."
He placed his hat back on his head.
"Detective Emilien!!"