When Odis arrived on the first floor, he saw two groups of people facing off. One group was dressed in dark-colored clothes and was relatively well-dressed.
Mike, an old acquaintance, and "Detective Sherlock" stood opposite the group.
But they weren't the only ones confronting that group; there were also waiters, cooks, and thugs from the "Nanmu Dance Hall."
Although they had not received explicit orders to protect the reporter, they seemed to be subtly positioning themselves to shield Mike.
Mandy, on the other hand, was negotiating with the other party in a humble but not arrogant manner, warning them not to affect the dance hall's business.
The guests and women hid in the distance, and the band stopped playing. Everyone watched the standoff between the two groups.
"Gentlemen, what's going on here?" Odis asked, feigning surprise. "Why is no one dancing in the dance floor? Why has the band stopped playing?"
Upon seeing Odis, Mandy breathed a slight sigh of relief and introduced him to the group opposite her with a smile: "This is Mr. Gar."
The leader of the group was a man in his thirties with not-so-big eyes, who didn't look particularly fierce. His subordinate whispered an introduction of Mr. Garr to him.
The man managed a forced smile: "Mr. Garr, we've met before, at a ball hosted by nobles."
"I haven't been to a ball in a long time," Odis said. "If you're here to spend money, you're welcome. And since we've met before, I'll even give you two bottles of wine."
"But if you're here to cause trouble, I'm sorry, please leave immediately."
"We're here to find someone." The man pointed at Mike. "Please come with us, sir."
Odis said calmly, "He is also a guest here. I don't care where he is, but here, he can sit on the sofa if he wants, and he can stay here if he doesn't want to."
The waiters, cooks, and thugs, as if given a command, moved behind Odis and stood in front of Mike.
The man opposite, whose eyes were not large, who had just spoken to Odis, took a deep breath after seeing this and said, "What a disappointing answer. I will report this to Viscount Wade."
"Please go ahead."
With a gloomy face, the man waved his hand behind him, and most of his subordinates left the dance hall. The man then sat on a sofa not far away with a few of his men, clearly intending to keep a close watch on Mike.
Odis said to the orchestra, "Continue playing the music."
He then said to the waiters and cooks, "Go and get on with your work."
As the music started, applause suddenly erupted around the dance floor, starting sparsely and then spreading out in waves.
Odis smiled; this was applause for him and Mike.
At the same time, the applause made some of Viscount Veder's subordinates uneasy.
Soon, people started dancing on the dance floor again, and the dance hall returned to its previous lively atmosphere.
Odis gestured for Mike and Klein to sit down, then sat down beside them, cutting his cigar as he asked, "Are you here to spend money? Or do you want my protection?"
Klein said, "I hope you can provide protection."
Odis smiled: "Not bad at all."
Mike frowned and said, "I didn't expect that this Viscount Wade would be blinded by anger and actually try to take me away in front of so many people."
At this juncture, Viscount Veder's actions will only draw more attention to the matter.
"You haven't read today's evening paper yet, have you?" Odis asked, lighting a cigar with a lighter.
Mike suddenly realized what was going on: "Other newspapers couldn't withstand the pressure and started reporting on this too?"
Odis had just read the Ruen Evening Post at the pharmacy: "Yes, I believe that's what's irritating Viscount Wade."
The three listened to the soothing music and watched the lively dance floor; they remained quiet for a few seconds.
They were obviously not in the mood to appreciate the music at that moment, each lost in their own thoughts.
A few seconds later, Klein spoke first: "Viscount Wade will likely send people again, or use his connections to have the police or some other department take Mike away."
"Yes, that's what I think too." Odis took a puff of his cigar and said, "We can't wait any longer, or we'll be in a very passive position."
Hearing Mr. Garr refer to himself as "we" deeply moved Mike: "The truth can no longer be hidden. My purpose in reporting the truth under pressure has been achieved."
"Thank you both for your protection. I want to write a report about what happened today, so please let them take me away, otherwise..."
Odis raised his hand: "Things haven't come to that yet. What if Viscount Wade is tied up with something and doesn't have time to deal with this?"
Klein was slightly taken aback: "You...you're not going to send people to set fires again, are you?"
"Watch your wording. What do you mean by 'again'?" Odis said seriously. "The fire was caused by the aging gas pipeline. What does that have to do with me?"
Klein resisted the urge to twitch his lips.
"But that is a very good suggestion," Odis said. "If Viscount Wade is busy putting out fires tonight, he won't have time to arrest Mr. Mike."
Klein thought to himself: Hey, hey, hey, don't make baseless accusations, okay? How did it become my advice?
However, now is not the time to argue about this. He reminded him, "I've heard that Viscount Veder has some influence in Backlund, and after all, he is a nobleman with a sound financial situation. There must be some powerful extraordinary individuals in his mansion."
Odis nodded: "You're right, but I remember that Viscount Wade just got a new mistress last year, and the viscount is quite infatuated with her."
"If her place catches fire, I believe the Viscount will be busy putting out the fire, comforting her, arranging new accommodations, and perhaps even staying there for the night."
"By the time he pays attention to us again, it will be tomorrow morning."
Mike opened his mouth and said, "This, this isn't quite right, is it?"
"Don't worry, no one will get hurt." Odis waved to Mandy, signaling her to immediately notify Enoch to send men to set fire.
Even if Viscount Vader is fond of a certain mistress, he wouldn't assign her an extraordinary bodyguard, so Enoch can handle this matter.
After Mandy sent her assistant to inform Enoch, Odis then had her use the intelligence network of the "Nanmu Ballroom" to inform the radical nobles that Viscount Wade was arresting journalist Mike.
Viscount Veder was a staunch conservative, and one of the more radical ones.
Judging from the reactions of the nobles today, it seems that the radicals want to use the Viscount Vedet incident to attack the conservatives, and Odis is happy to provide them with some material.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
The nobles certainly wouldn't care whether a reporter lived or died, but they could use it to attack Viscount Wiede for being narrow-minded. Among the nobles, this was a very harsh criticism and attack.
However, nobles generally acted very slowly. The so-called radicals referred to their radical ideas, not their radical methods.
According to the customs of the nobility, they would certainly make preparations and make contacts before launching an attack on the conservatives.
By then, Mike will probably already be buried.
So the most important thing now is to buy Mike a few more days.
Odis took a deep breath and then asked Mandy to compile a document about Viscount Vander.
At that moment, Klein suddenly said, "Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom."
After he left, Mike said, "This detective seems to have a sensitive stomach. He rushed to the restroom after accepting my case."
Odis smiled slightly: Because that is his divine kingdom, of course he should go and visit it often.
But then his smile vanished, for he had guessed why Klein had gone to the bathroom.
After thinking for a moment, Odis called over a waiter and asked him to arrange a spacious room for Mike and "Detective Sherlock".
So he took the opportunity to follow Mike and the waiter to the third floor, and then left under a pretext, returning to the room with the "teleportation array".
We've already stopped Viscount Wade's men, so Mike is safe for now. There's no need for him to stay by his side all the time.
After closing the door, Odis quickly removed her mask, took off her trench coat, and put it in the closet.
Just after dealing with Mr. Garr's equipment, I received a notification from Mr. Fool, instructing him to prepare the altar and perform the bestowal ceremony.
Odis quickly found two candles and drew the symbol representing Mr. Fool in the middle of the candles.
He also knew that Mr. Fool was in a hurry, so he quickly set up the altar and swiftly completed the prayer for the bestowal ceremony.
A phantom gate with mysterious patterns opened before them, and two "fruits of the flying tumbleweed tree" appeared on the altar.
After Odis put the extraordinary materials away in a box, she quickly put on her trench coat and mask, and hurried out to check on the room the waiter had arranged for Mike.
A short while later, Klein also came up from the first floor. Seeing the room, which was predominantly pink, he smiled helplessly.
Odis said to them, "Don't bring any girls to keep you company tonight. Be careful tonight, and if anything happens, go to Mandy."
After saying goodbye to Mike and Klein, he took Viscount Wade's information from Mandy and returned to the room with the "teleportation array".
With the "fruit of the Phyllanthus genus" in hand, Odis returned to the herbal shop, then spent some time in the front shop. After the busiest time had passed, he returned to his room in the backyard, lay down in his armchair, and looked at the documents that Mandy had compiled.
The information said that Viscount Veders enjoyed eating a snack called a crispy croissant in the morning. Odis thought for a moment, went to the counter in front, took some herbs, and prepared a small bottle of strong laxative.
Then return to the "Nanmu Ballroom" and ask the chef to come early the next morning to make a batch of exquisite, crispy croissants.
Then Odis approached Mandy and asked her to send someone to follow or find out where Viscount Wade was staying that night. The two of them then made a detailed plan.
When Odis returned to the herbalist's shop, it was almost midnight.
To prevent any emergencies from happening at the "Nanmu Ballroom" that night, Odis decided to stay at the herbalist's shop for the night.
Just as he was about to make the bed, his spirit suddenly seemed to sense something and looked at the wooden box containing the "fruit of the flying tumbleweed tree".