"These two are my friends."
Lyn said as he walked into the living room, suddenly seeing Lex. He was stunned for a full two seconds before he laughed and said to Cromwell, "Tell me, am I seeing things, or why else would I see a good friend here?"
Cromwell's expression was cold, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned as he said, "You're not seeing things."
"I knew it." Lyn laughed heartily, completely unlike a reserved Loenese. He hugged Lex tightly and whispered, "Thank you, my friend. I'm already an Arbiter."
"Also, I've already cashed out your stocks for you. Including the principal, it's a total of 15,000 pounds."
Lex's mood at this moment was like drinking honey, sweet to his core. 15,000 pounds! Lyn had almost doubled his money. Even in Backlund, this asset was enough to be considered a rich man!
"This is truly the best news I've heard recently."
Lex responded with a smile and released his grip, allowing Lyn to step back a few paces.
Next, the lawyer introduced the two friends he had brought to the Arbiter and Lex.
"This is Talim Dumont, he is an equestrian instructor for a noble; this is the famous surgeon, Aaron Ceres."
Lyn added, "They are also my friends, and also my important clients."
Lex observed the two gentlemen.
Talim had short, curly brown hair, a smile on his lips, and lively eyes. He seemed like a talkative person.
Doctor Aaron was tall and thin, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a cold expression. He didn't seem like the type to easily get along with people.
It seemed these two also had some investments with Lyn.
Otherwise, the lawyer wouldn't call them 'clients'.
Cromwell brought three more cups of coffee before asking, "Why did you come?"
"I need to see you about something."
Lyn treated this place like his own home, warmly inviting the equestrian instructor and the doctor to sit down, then said, "To be precise, Talim's friend seems to have run into some trouble."
"I remember you said you just finished a commission recently, so I brought them over to see if you could help."
Cromwell said coldly, "I have a new commission, but it won't be finished in a day or two, so… you can tell me the details."
"Then, Talim, why don't you tell us?" The lawyer looked at the equestrian instructor.
Scratching his curly hair, Talim said with some hesitation, "I have a friend whose situation hasn't been quite right recently."
Usually, 'I have a friend' is equivalent to 'myself'. Could this equestrian instructor have something difficult to say that he had to express it this way?
Lex let his thoughts wander freely. As an observer, he remained silent, listening with a smile.
"He is a painter, excelling in portraiture. He often painted for nobles, for those ladies and Young Misses."
"But not long ago, he fell into a slump due to a lack of creative inspiration. So I suggested he could go to the East District, observe the people there, and create some themes closer to life, closer to reality."
Talim chuckled bitterly at this point: "He accepted my advice and has been frequenting the East District recently. Just two days ago, I saw him. I almost didn't recognize him; he looked like a homeless person."
"But his eyes were shining. He told me he had found a wonderful model. She was a girl, fifteen or sixteen years old. He described her purity, simplicity, and diligence to me."
"He told me that this girl was a laundress who had been doing this job since she was very young, but she never gave up studying. He saw light in this girl. Every day he was in the East District, observing the girl and using her as material for his creations."
Lex and Cromwell exchanged glances, and the Arbiter spread his hands, saying, "You mean this painter fell in love with this laundress and thus got into some kind of trouble?"
"No, if only it were that simple."
Talim took out a few rolled-up drawing papers: "These are the sketches he showed me when I saw him the day before yesterday. I was shocked…"
The equestrian instructor unrolled the papers, revealing a drawing of a girl with delicate features, but dark circles around her eyes, looking somewhat malnourished. She was washing clothes, and there was nothing strange about it.
The other drawings also depicted this girl, including a bust, a profile, and a full-body portrait.
And in every single one, the girl in the painting had no expression on her face, like a walking corpse.
Yet, even so, Lex didn't find it strange, and Cromwell directly expressed his confusion: "Excuse me, I don't see anything strange?"
Doctor Aaron, who had been silent, then said coldly, "She's not wearing shoes, and then, look at her right big toe."
Prompted by him, Lex looked closely and indeed, in every drawing, the girl inside was not wearing shoes. Moreover, on the girl's right big toe, there was something hanging that looked like a tag.
"That's a corpse identification tag," Doctor Aaron explained concisely.
Suddenly, Lex felt the temperature in the room drop a few degrees.
This really felt like listening to a ghost story…
Talim nodded and said, "After I saw him, I went to the Crag club. Aaron and I are both members there. Aaron accidentally saw these drawings and pointed out that what was hanging on the girl's foot might be a corpse identification tag."
"I was terrified. The next day, I took these sketches to the Police Station in the East District. I inquired about some information there, and it turned out I really did find something: the girl in the painting was named Jinni, and just last week, she was brutally murdered."
"Yes, she was also a victim of that terrifying serial murder case from a while ago."
"But now, now my friend sees her, and is even painting her…"
Cromwell frowned and said, "Then how do you hope I can help?"
"Find my friend, find Palliston and bring him back, keep him away from danger." Talim said with some self-reproach, "If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have gone to such a dangerous place, wouldn't have encountered such a bizarre thing. I thought about asking the police for help, but I'm worried they'd send me to a madhouse."
"Also, my status doesn't allow me to do such outrageous things; it would affect my image and harm my income."
The Arbiter said with some surprise, "Mr. Palliston, did he not tell you where in the East District he was creating?"
Talim shook his head and said, "I didn't ask, and he didn't say. That's why I feel so guilty."
"Alright, I can help investigate. But the East District isn't a small place. If there are no clues, finding your friend might take some time." Cromwell glanced at Lyn, then spread his hands, indicating that he also didn't have any good ideas.
The equestrian instructor sighed softly, "I haven't seen him in two days. I'm worried something might happen to him. Please find him as soon as possible. I'll pay you 5 pounds, no, 10 pounds."
The Arbiter patiently explained, "Mr. Talim, this isn't about money."
At this moment, they heard a light cough.
Then they saw Lex lean forward slightly: "I have a way."