Charlotte was slightly surprised and said, “Miss Anne! Why are you here so early? I was just about to take care of some personal business. Your carriage is over there—thank you for lending it to me.”

Anne nodded to another coachman on the carriage, and that coachman jumped down to drive away the carriage that had been parked here since last night.

She said to Charlotte, “Where are you going? I’ll give you a ride.”

Charlotte greatly envied the lifestyle of having a carriage for transportation. Riding in a carriage was much more comfortable than walking, especially on rainy days—traveling on foot was simply a disaster.

He could afford to buy a carriage, but keeping one required a courtyard, the horses needed a stable, and he’d have to hire a coachman.

All the expenses that came with a carriage were too much for a first-class clerk of the forty-first rank, and even a first-class clerk of the thirty-seventh rank couldn’t afford it. This was a lifestyle with a clear class divide.

He said, “A friend asked me to sell a magical item for them.”

Anne’s eyes lit up and she said, “I happen to know of a magical item auction.”

Charlotte was also quietly pleased. He didn’t have many connections, so if he wanted to sell something, he could only go to a second-hand shop, and those shops usually didn’t offer good prices.

Magical item auctions could often fetch several times higher prices.

These gatherings were for high-end individuals; the organizers were usually people of great status, and only merchants as rich as nations or great nobles would be invited.

The Mecklen family was considered wealthy, but still not enough to meet the threshold for magical item auctions. As the second son of the Mecklen family, Charlotte simply had no way in.

Anne extended her small hand in invitation.

Charlotte didn’t hesitate much, opened the carriage door to invite Anne in, and then got in himself.

This carriage was a bit plainer than yesterday’s, but still very spacious, enough to seat seven or eight people.

Charlotte sat across from Anne and asked, “Miss Anne, don’t you have classes today?”

As a third-year student, she should be quite busy with her studies. Charlotte asked casually to start the conversation.

Anne answered with a hint of pride, “I’ve already completed my main credits, only a few internship courses remain, so my schedule is quite relaxed—I don’t need to go to school every day.”

Only then did Charlotte realize he shouldn’t view the world of top students from the perspective of an average one.

Back in college, Henry Clark had a tough time every day, working hard to complete assignments from the professors, worrying about not having enough credits, fearing he wouldn’t graduate, never daring to relax. There was a well-known saying in the math department: “When people are pushed to the limit, they can do anything—except math.”

Charlotte Baker was much the same as Henry Clark—just the ordinary kind of excellent. He graduated from Leman Public School, got into Behemoth National Academy, once took an elective in Lamia Breathing Techniques, but by graduation had only barely managed to condense a power seed, never breaking through. In his four years at Sheffield University, he also failed to awaken his spirit, and only managed to step into the extraordinary by summoning an evil god.

Compared to Anne Britton, who stepped into the extraordinary on her own as a freshman, he was more than a little lacking.

Anne Britton was much more composed than yesterday. This young lady was actually quite tall—by Earth’s measurements, about 170 centimeters. Even accounting for any error in her shoe soles, she wouldn’t be under 168 centimeters, making her a tall girl.

Today, she wore tortoiseshell-framed glasses, no long skirt, knee-high leather boots, and hunting pants that perfectly outlined her long legs. On her upper body was a fitted jacket, her smooth golden hair tied in a ponytail hanging down her back, looking heroic and spirited. There was even a tricorn hat placed beside her seat.

After some small talk, Charlotte asked, “Miss Anne, do you have any other plans today? I’d feel bad if I made you change your schedule for me.”

Anne hesitated slightly and replied, “I’m also going to the magical item auction.”

Anne said in a low voice, “But there’s something I must tell Mr. Mecklen. I’m not going to the magical item auction to buy anything, but because... the person who killed my aunt will be at today’s auction.”

Charlotte was shocked and asked, “Mr. Mills is there too? Shouldn’t we report this to the city patrol?”

Anne bit her lip and said, “The person hosting the magical item auction is Duchess Mason. The city patrol can’t enter the venue.”

Charlotte immediately understood. Although the Fars Empire was a society ruled by law, it was completely different from the world he once knew.

In Henry Clark’s original world, no high official would ever dare openly entertain a wanted criminal, but in this world, the law was nothing but waste paper in front of the nobility.

Power was above the law!

The city patrol would never offend a duchess for the sake of a wanted criminal, especially a powerful noble like Duchess Mason.

Charlotte had heard many rumors about Duchess Mason, but all of them could be summed up in one point—she commanded one-sixth of the empire’s navy.

The Northern Fleet was the hereditary army of the Duchess Mason family, never loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, only to the Mesu family.