Whispering Verse

A variety of newspapers are published in this city, known as the Pearl of the North, which is shrouded in fog all year round. The university district where we are currently is not only home to most of the higher education institutions in Tobesk City, it is also an area where newspapers and publishing houses are gathered, so the journey is not actually long.

The Rhodes cards obtained from Professor Manning were not yet for sale, so although the detective's wallet was found, Shade's options were still small.

He would certainly not dare to think about major national newspapers such as the Torbesk City Morning News, the Terrarel River News and the Kingdom Morning News that Detective Sparrow subscribed to.

But I still took my business card to the newspaper office and asked about it. I was shocked by the guaranteed price given by the accountant, so I gave up completely.

"These are the best-selling newspapers in the country, and my business is limited to Tobesk, so there is no need to advertise in such a place."

He comforted himself in this way, and then felt that his idea made sense and he had convinced himself.

As for the Three Penny News or the Delrayon Business Journal, which have a fairly good circulation in Tobesk, you can find a small square in the middle of the newspaper, or under the obituary column, and search for the inventor. Contents such as investment, factory recruitment or missing property notices are crowded together to publish advertisements.

Newspaper offices were very busy, so when Shade visited these offices, his visit was not taken seriously. Editors and reporters were coming in and out. It only took Schade twenty minutes to stay in the smoky newsroom on the second floor of the Delrayon Business Journal when three people rushed in, waving their hands and shouting "big news."

There were new developments in the local child abduction incident. Members of the royal family unexpectedly appeared at the auction house. Someone died on the street in the North District of Tobesk... Then some people rushed out following the guy with the news. This bustling steam house There is never a shortage of new things to do in the city.

The price of the advertising area of ​​this kind of newspaper is also not low, and you are charged based on the number of times you use it. Considering that his office's capacity was limited and he couldn't receive too many customers, he just purchased ads for this week's Sunday and next week's Sunday ads to see the effect first.

As for those tabloids that publish gossipy news, such as "Textile Daily", "Tobesk Citizen" and other newspapers, the price of advertising is relatively low. It's just that Shade is worried that placing too many advertisements in such newspapers will make him, like Sparrow Hamilton, an expert in the field of infidelity and mistress investigations.

But he didn't have much choice but to pray that other commissions would come to him because of these tabloid ads.

The good news is that when Shade took his business card and found the newspaper office of "Steam Bird Daily", which has the fourth largest newspaper circulation in the city, on St. George Street in Tobesk University District, the person who received Shade in the office The middle-aged man in a black buttoned formal suit glanced at the business card placed on the elegant solid wood desk, then put down the pen in his hand, clasped his hands together, and asked doubtfully from behind the desk:

"Sir, who gave you the business card?"

"Miss Dorothy Louisa, she commissioned me to collect materials for her new detective story some time ago. Later she heard that I wanted to advertise in a newspaper, so she directly introduced me to this place."

Shade said half-truthfully that he and other people in the same group had such "reasonable" acquaintance experiences.

"Luisa... there's no problem with advertising. There's room for about thirty words in the lower margin of the second page, next to the date. If you want to advertise for a long time, it's cheaper. .....How about ten shillings a month? Come to us at the beginning of each month or wire it through the post office.

"Ten shillings?"

Shade was stunned for a moment, suspecting that he had heard wrongly, or that the gentleman behind the desk had misspoken.

He had traveled a lot today, and he knew that for a large-selling newspaper like "Steambird Daily" that was published four times a week, even the ten shillings for a week's back-page advertisement was considered very cheap.

As for the advertising area at the bottom of the second page, ten shillings a month is almost the same as free money.

"Luisa introduced me with the business card. Of course it can be cheaper."

The middle-aged man shrugged and explained.

"Will Miss Louisa provide you with manuscripts?"

Schade knew that female writers also moonlighted as journalists.

"Contributors, but more importantly...her father, Professor Skaven Louisa, is a shareholder of the newspaper. Most of the current editors of the newspaper are his students. When I was a student, I also sat in on the professor’s class, and since she took the initiative to introduce you, it should be cheaper.”

The middle-aged man explained and asked Shade if he wanted tea.

"this......"

Judging from her conversation, the female writer must have come from the middle class or even the upper class, but Shade didn't expect Miss Louisa's family to be so powerful. Yesterday at Professor Manning's place, he learned that the professor knew Miss Louisa's father, but at that time he did not expect that this was the case.

"Is this really good?"

Shade asked a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong? It's not like I won't charge you money. Oh, sir, you are so interesting. Are you still worried that we will lose money?"

The middle-aged man said with a smile, and Shade shook his head and laughed. As if he was afraid that the other party would regret it, he slapped the ten shillings on the table.

He planned to thank Miss Louisa properly next time. Shade already owed two favors regarding the copy of "The Little Match Girl" and the advertisement.

Because he has to reserve 20 pounds that need to be repaid next month and 10 pounds that he owes Xiao Mia, the funds that Shade can use are not very generous. The cheap advertisements in "Steam Bird Daily" greatly reduced his planned expenditure, which made the foreigners who were still not wealthy full of hope for their future life.

"Sure enough, everything will be fine."

After dealing with the issue of advertising, when I returned to Saint Teresa Square at noon, I unexpectedly found a letter on the floor mat. It turned out to be a reply from "the lady" who asked Shade to meet her at the club in the evening.

"That lady" successfully helped a group of five people escape after the accident at Lakeview Manor. This help was certainly not free.

"But a ring warlock of this level should not lack the power of a ring warlock. Is it true that you want me to do things that are inconvenient for you as a noble?"

He doesn't think that nobles are the law-abiding guys described in the book.

The letter I asked the priest to deliver last time was probably written on temporary paper and pen at Lakeview Manor, so the quality of the paper was very ordinary. This time, the lady used special high-end letter paper. Although the page was not gold-rimmed, the entire paper had a special fragrance. Mia is very sensitive to this smell, probably because it is pungent, but Shade likes this smell very much.

Of course, he wouldn't just smell the letter paper like a pervert.