Jörg and Lila followed Oskar back to Berlin and infiltrated his office. They searched through his documents, checking the numbers in his ledgers and, as expected, found out that he had been buying food from other farms for more than he was paying Hanna.
But even with the costs he was paying, his customers in Berlin paid far more. Oskar had connections with rich families from before the war began, and once fighting broke out, he had become a valuable supplier of food for Berlin’s wealthy. He’d even been importing goods from other countries.
After going through all of Oskar’s records, Jörg and Lila returned to Xandra’s inn.
Jörg immediately went to the Count’s room, where he requested another loan. “I’m going to purchase the supply route of a merchant named Oskar Gulke, an associate of Fabrice LeRoy, and get him to buy food from somewhere other than Kleinerbrunn.”
Naturally, the Count was reading in his chair. “You’re taking on more and more debt,” he replied, not looking up from his book. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I’ll pay it back over two hundred years or so.”
“That’s quite a long time.”
“Hardly, to monsters like you and me.”
“So long as you intend to pay me back, I’ll lend you as much as you like. However, money alone might not be enough. How do you intent to persuade this merchant?”
“The first thing I’ll do is look into the wealthy people Oskar is connected to, to see who also knows Lieutenant Colonel Kreutzer. Once I find someone who does, I will infiltrate a gathering they’ll be attending and make contact with Oskar there. When I do that, I’d like to use your appearance, if you’ll allow it.”
“You wish to disguise yourself as me?”
“Yes. I want to be someone Kreutzer knows, and you’re the best option.”
“What about me?” Lila asked.
“It’s okay. You should stay here and rest.”
“I want to go disguised as an adult, too.”
“It’s a social gathering, so it’ll be nothing but a bunch of boring grown-ups. A place filled with people who only know about consumption.”
“Still, I’d like to experience it.”
“Children shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.”
“I’ll say I don’t drink and just have water.”
“She could use the simulacrum of a young lady and attend as my niece,” the Count suggested.
“Are you sure?” Jörg asked the man.
“It will be a good experience for her to see just how vapid the wealthy are. Lila can collect information from the other guests while you speak with Oskar. Do you think you could do that, Lila?”
“I can do it,” the young girl said with determination.
“Well then, if you’re going to pass as a young lady, you’ll need to learn how to conduct yourself in high society. Xandra will teach you.”
The event the Count found for them was a banquet hosted by the CEO of a metalworking factory. It was a small gathering for close associates only, but it provided an opportunity to exchange information with business owners, meaning people in positions of power would be attending.
Xandra dressed as a chauffeur and drove Jörg and Lila up to the house.
“Have fun,” Xandra said playfully. “And while you’re there, Jörg, you might as well get all the sustenance you need.”
“Yeah. Even if I drain people like this one after the other, I won’t feel guilty about it.”
“Watch your tone when you speak and make sure you sound like the Count.”
“Naturally.”
“And don’t be intimidated, Lila. Try to stay cheerful.”
“Okay.”
It was probably because Lila had always talked so maturely, but her simulacrum as a young lady suited her perfectly. She looked ready to hold her own in a salon filled with writers and thinkers.
Disguised as the Count, Jörg stepped down from the car with an aristocratic air, then circled around to open the door for his niece. Lila was wearing a cloak and seemed to move more gracefully than usual—the result of the high heels she was wearing. She took Jörg’s hand and let him help her down to the ground.
Xandra drove off to park the car as the two of them climbed the stairs to the front doors of the house.
After they were let in, Lila removed her coat and handed it to a servant, revealing the evening dress she was wearing underneath. It had a sleek silhouette without any unnecessary curves and was lavishly decorated with beads and detailed embroidery from shoulder to chest. The dress hung long enough to cover her ankles, while the short sleeves gave way to long ivory gloves which covered her arms.
In the hall, groups of men and women sat in high-backed chairs holding glasses and chatting amiably. Enough furniture filled the room to seat all the guests, with a large table in the center lined with delicacies that were easy to eat while making the rounds.
Such splendor during wartime left Jörg speechless. Lila looked upset. They could almost taste the rat sausage and turnip they’d eaten at the Mittelstandküche on their tongues. While the common people ate the equivalent of livestock feed, the people here were feasting no differently than they had in times of peace, dining on beautifully browned meat dishes, duck and vegetable aspic, rich soups, white bread and fragrant cheeses, and baked pastries filled with fruit and cream.
Based on the size of the room, it didn’t seem they were expecting too many more guests.
Jörg spotted Lieutenant Colonel Kreutzer and walked over to greet him. Kreutzer treated Jörg as he normally would the Count and smiled kindly at Lila when Jörg introduced her as his niece. Jörg and Lila chatted with Kreutzer and his companion for a short while.
Kreutzer announced to the room that the Count was an old friend. He said nothing about the fighting in Romania. From late September to the middle of October, Germany’s Ninth Army had trampled over the Romanian Army and was currently advancing toward the capital, Bucharest. The Count had already informed Jörg that it was only a matter of time before the capital fell. As an officer in the intelligence department, there was no doubt Kreutzer knew about this, but he left it unsaid, likely out of consideration for the Count’s position.
Instead, he launched into a speech about the fighting at the Somme, speaking passionately of the valor with which the German Army had defended the front lines.
“The British are completely untrained,” he proudly told everyone. “They just hand out guns to the common folk, which gets them nowhere. And yet, if we did the same thing, the quality of our German blood would show. We Germans approach everything seriously, hence why people improve so much under our training. Men who have only ever worked on the farms pick up new skills with only a little guidance and are soon effective soldiers. That’s something other countries could never imitate.”