Chapter 304: Xio's Dance Lesson and Sharon
To attend the upcoming charity gala, Lorne came to a high-end clothing store.
As soon as he walked in, a waiter in a crisp uniform greeted him, his eyes habitually sweeping over Lorne's attire—a common black windbreaker, no top hat, looking completely out of place with the store's clientele, clearly not a wealthy figure.
"Sir, how can I help you?" The waiter forced a professional smile, his attitude not bad, but certainly not warm.
"I want to pick out a formal suit," Lorne stated his purpose directly.
"Alright, please follow me." The waiter led him to the ready-to-wear section, pointed to a row of hanging clothes, and casually took down a suit jacket with a distinct plaid pattern. "How about this one? Many fashionable young gentlemen like this style now."
"A bit... too flashy," Lorne said, frowning slightly as he looked at the garment.
Formal wear of this era was mostly serious, steady, and dark-toned. Although the design of this piece actually suited his modern aesthetic quite well.
The waiter smiled and said, "Sir, this is the current trend; you might as well try it on first."
Lorne took the clothes and went into the fitting room. Just then, the store owner came out from the back room. The waiter gave a brief report of the situation; the owner nodded, saying he did the right thing and told him to quickly dismiss this customer who didn't look very profitable.
Lorne emerged from the fitting room, looked in the mirror, and felt it was okay.
However, the owner felt this young man looked a bit familiar, as if—he had seen him in the newspapers recently.
"Alright, I'll take this one. I'll wear it out," Lorne was quite satisfied with himself in the mirror and decided not to fuss further.
"Certainly, sir. That will be 7 pounds and 10 suile," the waiter said.
Lorne took out his wallet and paid.
He straightened the collar of his new clothes and muttered to himself, "I'll just wear this to deal with those reporters."
"Reporters!" The owner keenly caught the word. He stepped quickly to Lorne's side and asked tentatively, "Sir, did you just say—reporters?"
"Yes," Lorne nodded.
"Have I—seen you in the newspaper?" the owner tried hard to remember.
"My name is James Scott."
"Ah! You are the east district hero!" The owner realized suddenly, his expression instantly becoming incredibly warm and respectful.
"You—you are going to wear the clothes you just bought to an interview with the media?"
Lorne nodded.
"Heavens!" the owner exclaimed.
Seeing the waiter still standing there blankly, the owner immediately turned and scolded him, "Eddie! You idiot! How could you bring Mr. Scott over here!"
He turned back, his face full of apologies, and said to Lorne, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Scott! Our store has never hosted someone as famous as you! Please throw away that garment from earlier! It's only fit to cover a trash can!"
With that, he pulled Lorne aside without a word, took a tape measure, and began measuring him personally.
"You need a set of casual wear for banquets, a matching vest, a formal suit for the opera—"
"—at least thirty sets!"
"Wait! Wait!" Lorne waved his hands hurriedly. "I only want one formal suit for the gala, at most—one more for formal events."
"Besides, you haven't told me how much I need to pay."
"Don't know how much to pay? Ah, no, you're being too polite, Mr. Scott!" The owner chuckled. "You don't need to settle the bill!"
He immediately looked at his assistant nearby and barked orders, "Take this down! Shorten the sleeves by an inch, and tighten the waist a bit more—"
"What about the ties! Hurry up and bring the latest styles here!"
Lorne, who had mysteriously gained a pile of clothes, was still a bit dazed as he walked out of the store.
Although he quickly understood the owner's true intentions, he still felt a bit unadjusted—
"It seems this is the benefit of being a celebrity."
"However, this formal wear isn't very comfortable."
"Very good, the movements are very standard."
With light steps and a swaying body, Xio looked up and praised sincerely, "Scott, it's hard to imagine you haven't learned this kind of dance before."
"In just a few hours, you've already become quite proficient."
A pleasant smile appeared on Xio's face.
She was in a good mood; she had originally worried that her height would affect the teaching, but now it seemed they cooperated quite harmoniously.
It seemed her figure wasn't as bad as she had previously imagined, and dancing with Scott was quite fitting.
"It's all thanks to Teacher Xio's good instruction." Lorne smiled. Honestly, to match Xio's height, he had to keep his knees slightly bent throughout, lowering his body just to barely dance with her. Fortunately, he—
With the "Robot" ability, doing these things wasn't too difficult.
Otherwise, Xio would have had to stand on her tiptoes to teach him.
As a gentleman, he felt he should consider his friend's self-esteem.
"Teacher Xio—" The title made Xio a bit shy. She looked up slightly and said seriously, "Scott, you must remember, dancing isn't just about dancing; there must be necessary conversation. You can't be like two puppets."
"When talking, you must be subtle. This is Loen, and the social style is relatively conservative."
"For example, if you want to praise a lady's attire, don't say 'your dress is very beautiful' directly. You can look at her overall gentle temperament and nonchalantly add: 'Your outfit today seems to have kneaded the autumn afternoon sunshine right into the fabric.'"
"It has to be described like that—"
What a hassle, so many rules just to say something—Lorne complained inwardly.
Again practicing for half an hour, the two stopped to rest.
"By the way, Scott, do you always live in the factory?" Xio asked curiously after taking a sip of black tea.
"No, not really." Lorne shook his head slightly. "In most cases, I stay in hotels. It's just that there's been too much work lately, so I'm temporarily living in the office."
"Hotels—" Xio found it a bit strange. "Don't you have your own house in Backlund? Why do you always stay in hotels?"
"I don't." Lorne shook his head. "I'm not a Backlund local. When I first arrived, the housing prices here were a bit more than I could afford, so I've been staying in hotels." He told a half-truth.
At least for the identity of Scott, it was the truth. Mrs. Griffin's house was Lorne Disenk's residence.
"Actually, renting a house is also quite cost-effective. But since coming to Backlund, I've been tied up with affairs and haven't had the chance."
"That will be very troublesome. If those gentlemen or bishops want to visit you, you can't possibly have them come to a factory in the East Borough," Xio said.
Her words made sense, and Lorne nodded.
"Yes, I plan to buy a house after this busy period."
"Recently, housing prices in Backlund have dropped quite a bit."
After Xio left, Lorne continued practicing the dance steps alone, holding the air.
"What a hassle—" he muttered.
"Your movements are very strange—" a slightly ethereal voice suddenly came from the side.
Lorne's movements froze. He looked up slightly and saw Sharon, wearing a black Gothic palace-style long dress, had appeared silently in the corner of the room at some point, floating there quietly.
"Teacher Sharon, couldn't you give a heads-up beforehand?"
"Next time, I will knock on the window." Sharon's tone was as cold as ever.
I'm telling you to use the front door—Lorne complained in his mind.
"When you dance, there's no need to intentionally lower your body," Sharon commented.
"Lower my body? Uh—" Lorne repeated his previous movement and then realized.
Fine—he had kept the habit from dancing with Xio just now.
He turned to Sharon and asked, "Has Teacher Sharon come today for something specific?"
"The matter you entrusted to me before has been completed." She took a slip of paper out of the void and handed it to Lorne.
"Just show this to the harbor administrator."
"Great." Lorne took the slip with a smile.
With this, his plan to transport arms to the Captain and the others could officially begin.
The Captain had already agreed to the arms smuggling plan and was very interested in the formula for the "Cataclysmic Interrer" potion. However, she didn't intend to accept the gift directly, stating she could pay for it.
Although short on money, Lorne rejected her proposal for direct payment, suggesting instead that in the first few batches of arms deals, the Captain's commission percentage be appropriately reduced, allowing his side to take a bit more profit as a form of indirect compensation.
His plan was to use the opportunity of supplying the Southern Continent colonial army to transport some unregistered arms using legal export certificates. When the cargo ship stopped at a sea port for replenishment, the Captain and her crew would take the unregistered arms away.
The key was the customs inspection, but now with the slip provided by Sharon, he didn't have to worry.
Sharon's channels were quite extensive—
"If only I had a shipping company or a few cargo ships under my own name," Lorne lamented. "That way, delivering goods to the Captain wouldn't be so roundabout; it would be much more convenient."
"Captain?" Sharon keenly caught the word, a hint of scrutiny flashing in her deep blue eyes. "Who is... the Captain?"
"The Captain is..." Lorne felt a bit uneasy under her gaze, but explained, "A mysticism teacher and a friend of mine, a very learned lady I met at sea."
"Teacher... friend..."
"And a lady..."
Sharon's gaze lingered on Lorne's face for a few seconds, as if savoring those words.
The atmosphere was inexplicably awkward and cold.
Temperance... must maintain Temperance... she told herself in her heart, temporarily burying the questions about the "Captain" deep inside.
"Kaspars also helped with this matter." Sharon changed the subject, her tone returning to its usual coldness. "He left Backlund urgently yesterday; it's said you warned him to leave."
"I saw that his recent fortune wasn't very good, so I gave him a warning," Lorne explained.
"That was the right decision." Sharon agreed. "If the people from the Indulgence Faction followed the clues here, they would likely take their anger out on him, venting their frustration on him."
"Although he seems like a stubborn old man, he's quite good at listening to advice." Lorne chuckled.
"By the way," he suddenly remembered something, looked at Sharon, and asked, "You said my dance posture was wrong. How about—teaching me while you're at it? Teacher Sharon~"
Sharon didn't speak, just stared straight at Lorne with those exquisite deep blue eyes. After a few seconds, she spoke slowly, her voice devoid of any emotion: "You should let Teacher Xio continue teaching you. I am not responsible for dance instruction."
As soon as she finished speaking, her figure quickly became transparent again, as if melting into the shadows.
Teacher Xio—Lorne was slightly stunned.
Wait, she was here just now? And she's been watching all this time?