"But speaking of which, now that I've raised a cat, I need to go out and rent a room."
Roger looked at Bandit, already imagining the scene of the inn owner driving them—one person and one cat—out.
Pets were just one concern. Another was that even though he'd brought all the cash he could find at home before leaving, it was difficult to support the daily expenses of staying at an inn. In comparison, renting a room was a more economical choice.
Speaking of which, Klein should have just rented a house by now, right?
Roger suddenly had a thought. He took out a crystal pendulum from his bag and wrapped the coin he'd previously obtained from Klein around the other end of the pendulum chain.
Although he could directly divine Klein's location by tossing the coin, considering the coin only had two faces, its efficiency in indicating direction wasn't as good as the pendulum.
This current method was learned from Abraham family notes—a shortcut that could eliminate divination interference factors. In this connection relationship, the upper coin implied "premise," while the lower pendulum had "result" symbolic meaning.
Thus, this crystal pendulum established a mystical-level connection with Klein Moretti. Although he wasn't the only one who had held this coin, considering the diviner's—that is, Roger's—will, this divination result could still relatively accurately point to Klein himself.
Roger patted his trouser leg, and Bandit immediately understood, consciously climbing up his leg.
Outside the inn, the pendulum's pointer swung greatly toward the "west" direction. Roger didn't hesitate and headed west. At two crossroads, he corrected direction through the pendulum and finally came to a relatively quiet residential street.
Daffodil Street... right, no mistake. This is where the Moretti family later lived.
Roger looked at the street sign and secretly nodded. He walked quickly down Daffodil Street and soon found "Tingen City Housing Improvement Company."
Pushing the door open, Roger saw Klein and another man and woman standing inside the company, talking to a middle-aged man in a white shirt and black vest.
The middle-aged man was naturally a Tingen City Housing Improvement Company employee. The young man beside Klein was quite similar to him but appeared more mature, without Klein's faint scholarly air. The girl was around 16 years old, her features also quite similar to the two men beside her. From her clothing and demeanor, she looked like the thrifty, smart, and capable type.
These were exactly Klein's elder brother and sister, Benson and Melissa.
Hearing the door open, all four people looked toward the entrance and saw a young gentleman wearing a wide-brimmed hat, holding a silver-inlaid cane, and wearing a brown coat, but with a tabby cat that looked only about three months old perched on his shoulder.
The other three were fine, but Klein was obviously stunned upon seeing Roger.
"This handsome, kind gentleman—being able to see you again here is truly my honor."
Roger also feigned surprise and quickly walked forward to shake hands with Klein.
"Klein, it seems you've made quite a few new friends recently."
Benson smiled as he watched Klein and Roger greet each other, his tone quite relieved. Meanwhile, his younger brother was gently stroking Bandit on Roger's shoulder.
"Actually, we've only met once. This is from the Tingen City Stray Cat Protection Association's... um..."
Klein then realized he still didn't know Roger's name, and the latter immediately smiled and supplied: "Mertes Bonway."
Hearing this name, Klein's mouth corner obviously twitched, but he quickly returned to normal.
"...mm, Mr. Bonway. Formally meeting you, I'm Klein Moretti. This is my brother Benson and sister Melissa."
From their last meeting, Klein still had some suspicion about Roger's identity, but now seeing the kitten on his shoulder, he believed quite a bit more. After all, the man's clothing and conversation were quite proper—not like the street swindlers he commonly saw in the lower districts. Plus, he went out carrying a kitten, letting the cat's claws rest on his valuable coat. No matter how you looked at it, this was genuine cat-lover behavior.
"Very pleased to meet you both."
Roger greeted Benson and Melissa in turn, then looked at Klein again. "Mr. Moretti, is your family also here to rent a house?"
"Yes, you too?"
"Right. Where I'm living now is about to expire, and I'm somewhat tired of that area. I want to try somewhere else," Roger said casually.
Seeing the four finish their greetings, the middle-aged housing agent finally inserted himself into the conversation: "Everyone, my name is Scott. What kind of housing are you looking for?"
"Terraced houses."
Roger and Benson spoke simultaneously, then smiled at each other.
"Currently, we don't have many whole-rent terraced houses remaining. One at Daffodil Street No. 2, one in the North District, one in the East District—weekly rent varying from 12 to 16 soli. You can look at the specific introductions."
Speaking, Scott handed booklets to Benson and Roger respectively.
Roger quickly flipped through the booklet. He knew Klein's family would choose the Daffodil Street No. 2 house, and he didn't want to compete with them, so he turned directly to the North District house.
In Tingen City, the Nighthawks, Heart of Machinery, and Punishers each had their respective managed areas. The North District, West District, and Golden Sycamore District were all under Nighthawks' responsibility.
Considering he'd already connected with Klein, if he encountered any difficult problems later, he'd also have room for maneuvering.
The North District house was very similar to Daffodil Street No. 2—not only having a dining room, kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms, but also an underground storage room and two washrooms. This house was too large for Roger alone with one cat; it was completely unnecessary.
He shook his head. "Mr. Scott, I want to ask if there are houses that only rent one floor of terraced houses. I'd prefer the second floor, but first floor would be fine too."
Considering he liked cleanliness and needed a quiet environment to engage in "illegal mystical activities," Roger didn't want to squeeze with others in noisy buildings like those on Iron Cross Street where you had to share washrooms.
Co-renting one terraced house with someone could be considered the best choice.
"Of course. Very coincidentally, there's one right here on Daffodil Street. Daffodil Street No. 4, first floor, with underground storage room usage rights. You can take it for 7 soli per week."
Scott's answer exceeded Roger's expectations. He'd originally thought he'd have to go far away, but unexpectedly, he actually had the opportunity to be Klein's neighbor.
Could this be transmigrator convergence law?
Roger inwardly complained while using his fingers to gesture numbers, making a calculating appearance.
"1, 2, 3... 7 soli..."
When he counted to "7," his right hand's index finger, middle finger, and thumb pinched together, then he revealed a troubled expression.
Klein's expression had been quite relaxed originally, but when he inadvertently saw Roger use his fingers to gesture "7," his pupils immediately contracted in shock, his heart jolting.
Roger didn't care about this. He spoke to Scott: "Slightly expensive, but regardless, I want to look at the house first."
"No problem." Scott immediately agreed, then arranged for another employee to take Roger to see the house, while he himself took the Moretti three siblings to leave the company and walk toward Daffodil Street No. 2.