Chapter 88: Report

Chapter Eighty-Eight
Report

“What is it?” Benson asked casually.

Melissa, however, looked at her elder brother seriously, because she felt Klein had behaved rather strangely tonight as well—only a little better than Elizabeth, and later Selena.

Klein had already prepared his excuse. He chuckled and said, “There is an error in the wording of a certain document. I already told a colleague that I would submit the corrected version as soon as I arrive at work tomorrow. So either I go by the company now and fix it while we are on the way, or I wake up at least half an hour earlier tomorrow. Without question, I choose the former.”

“I kept feeling that you were not paying enough attention while playing cards. So it turns out you were thinking about work,” Benson said in sudden understanding. Then he smiled. “No, I apologize. I should phrase it this way: playing cards is helpful for thinking.”

“Very well. We will wait for you,” Melissa said, withdrawing her examining gaze. She raised a hand and adjusted the ruffles on her leg-of-mutton sleeves.

Because it was already past the operating hours of the rail carriages and trackless public carriages, after the three siblings said their goodbyes and went out, they could only hire a rental carriage nearby: two soli for forty-five minutes.

“I heard every single rental carriage driver raises prices randomly,” Benson complained in a low voice after painfully paying out most of the money he had won.

Klein smiled.

“I think it is acceptable. It is almost eleven.”

“I was only joking. What I am thinking now is that we could actually hire it together with others. Forty-five minutes is enough to reach many places,” Benson said, looking out the window at the people around them hiring carriages one after another.

I understand. Carpooling…

Klein rubbed the silver-inlaid pattern at the top of his cane and said, “We have no problem with it. Other customers do. Benson, have you not noticed? They all attach great importance to their own image, and care deeply about the matter of respectability. I think that may be a common trait of the middle class.”

“Mm,” Benson nodded seriously. “The Wood family was also more extravagant than I imagined. Yet old Mr. Wood earns only four pounds a week… Heh. Perhaps respectability is the greatest difference between certain members of the middle class and curly-haired baboons.”

What did curly-haired baboons ever do to offend you…

Klein nearly failed to hold back his laughter.

Melissa did not join their discussion. Seated in place, she glanced at Klein from time to time, making him feel faintly uneasy.

The light two-wheeled carriage sped along the quiet, dim streets. In only twelve minutes, it arrived at Zouteland Street.

“Wait here for me. Five minutes—no more than five minutes—and I will be back.”

Klein emphasized it once, put on his hat, took his cane, and stepped down from the carriage.

Because payment was calculated by time rather than distance, the driver had no objection to waiting.

Climbing the stairs, Klein arrived outside Blackthorn Security Company and knocked on the door with three firm raps.

Less than ten seconds later, the door opened inward. Leonard Mitchell, wearing only a waistcoat and shirt, appeared before him.

“You are not on duty tonight,” Leonard said, emphasizing it with visible surprise.

Klein needed to take only one weekly rotation guarding Chanis Gate. At other times, he could still maintain a normal schedule. As for sudden incidents at night, those were handled by the Sleepless, who loved the darkness.

But sleeping only two or three hours a day causes hair loss and memory decline… Whenever Klein thought of this, he could not help silently teasing Captain Dunn Smith.

“I have something to report,” he said simply.

“A mission?” Leonard stepped aside and casually asked.

Klein had just entered the reception hall when he saw Dunn come out wearing his black windbreaker. His gray eyes were as deep as ever.

“Captain, I encountered a supernatural incident.”

“Details,” Dunn asked directly.

Klein recounted everything that had happened earlier, including his own handling of it, without hiding anything.

“…Therefore, I believe it is necessary to investigate Hynas Vincent.”

At the time, Klein had judged that since the evil thing summoned through magic mirror divination had not yet created a tragedy, and since it had not given him an extreme danger warning, it meant the entity likely still needed time. It was unwilling to awaken prematurely or take full control of Selena.

Under those circumstances, as long as he did not directly reveal his purpose, that evil being would most likely choose to observe first. In such a situation, having Elizabeth trick Selena to the bedroom door would not be too difficult.

“You handled it very well. You seized the moment before the evil spirit had fully descended and before it had completely possessed her,” Dunn said with a light nod. “Leave the investigation afterward to us. You may go back and rest.”

Klein breathed out in relief and laughed.

“I thought you might make this incident my entry mission and have me complete it alone.”

Judging from the incantation Elizabeth provided, Hynas Vincent possesses a certain degree of danger…

“That is because your entry mission has already been chosen,” Leonard said lazily from the side with a soft laugh.

“What?” Klein was startled.

The corners of Dunn’s mouth lifted. His voice remained mellow as he explained, “Around seven tonight, we received a case transferred from the police department. Preliminary judgment suggests there is no danger, and it is not urgent. So we intend for you to complete it independently tomorrow.”

“All right. Do not ask what the case is. Sleep properly tonight. Your day off will be moved to Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Captain, saying it like that will only make me sleep worse, all right… And Monday afternoon is the date of the Tarot Gathering… Do I need to send Justice and the Hanged Man an advance message postponing it?

Klein shook his head with a bitter smile, took his leave, and departed.

Once outside the stairwell, he suddenly sensed something and looked up toward the carriage his family had hired. He saw Melissa quietly examining him through the window.

When their gazes met, Melissa immediately turned her head and sat properly again.

The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched. He pretended nothing had happened and boarded the carriage.

Beneath the crimson moon and pure night sky, the two-wheeled carriage traveled lightly, passing street after street.

After returning home, Klein let Benson bathe first, then came to Melissa’s bedroom door and raised his hand to knock twice.

Melissa, who had been about to go to the other washroom, opened the door with a creak and looked at her brother in confusion.

“Melissa, is there something you want to ask? I know there is,” Klein said directly.

Do not keep secretly observing…

Melissa’s lips moved several times. Her brows slightly furrowed, she said, “Klein, what exactly did you do to Elizabeth? I feel she was very abnormal.”

“And Selena later became very strange too.”

Klein had prepared for this long ago. He asked in return, “Do you know Elizabeth and Selena are mysticism enthusiasts?”

“…I know. But I do not like it. I do not believe there is anything in this world that cannot be understood,” Melissa answered seriously after a slight pause. “All lack of understanding only means we do not yet possess enough knowledge.”

“Mm. I think the same way,” Klein answered guiltily.

I did once think that. Until I successfully courted death…

He cleared his throat twice and continued, “Mysticism involves Hermes, the special language used in ancient sacrifices and prayers. Elizabeth knew I am skilled in that area. Heh, after all, it belongs to a historian’s domain. So she asked me about the words corresponding to certain pronunciations and their specific meanings.”

Melissa nodded faintly, accepting her brother’s explanation, because it matched what she knew of both sides.

“As for why Elizabeth and Selena later became strange, I do not know the exact reason,” Klein first distanced himself, then said, “But I can guess.”

“You can guess?” Melissa blurted in surprise.

Klein raised a hand and tapped his mouth.

“I am guessing from the content Elizabeth asked me about. Those Hermes words were connected to divination, and also to certain evil sacrificial targets. Mm. When Selena performed magic mirror divination, did she recite Hermes?”

He deliberately brought up the matter so that his sister would be more vigilant toward similar things in the future. If she could stay away from Selena and Elizabeth, that would be even better.

“Yes…” Melissa answered hesitantly. “I think I understand why Elizabeth and Selena acted strangely…”

At this point, Klein deliberately asked back, “Because Selena’s magic mirror divination involved evil and illegal beliefs, and after Elizabeth learned the concrete meaning of the corresponding Hermes words from me, she found a chance to scold Selena and correct her mistake?”

“I believe that is the case,” Melissa said without doubt, because she had reached that conclusion herself.

Seeing that his guidance had taken effect, Klein breathed out in relief.

“You should remind Selena more often in the future and have her return to the proper path of faith.”

As he spoke, he tapped his chest four times, acting very much like a priest.

“Mm. I will!”

Melissa answered firmly.

“One more thing. Do not tell Elizabeth or Selena about our guess, or about what I said. I originally promised Elizabeth that I would not tell you,” Klein emphasized at the end.

“Mm.”

Melissa nodded lightly.

…

Monday morning, eight o’clock. Blackthorn Security Company.

Klein removed his hat, greeted Rozanne and Bright, exchanged pleasantries about the weather, and entered Captain Dunn Smith’s office.

He pushed open the door and looked up, only to be suddenly startled, because Dunn’s face was quite pale. Even his gray eyes seemed muddier than usual, having lost their usual depth.

“Did something happen? Hynas Vincent?” Klein asked in both surprise and concern.

Dunn rubbed his forehead, took a sip of coffee, and smiled bitterly.

“Hynas Vincent is dead.”

“Killed ahead of us by someone else?” Klein took his cane and sat across from Dunn.

Dunn did not answer directly. He sighed and said, “Leonard and I went to find Hynas Vincent last night. Because he had shown no abnormal signs in ordinary times, and because there was nothing strange in his home, I decided to first enter his dream and search for clues.”

“In his dream, in his dream…”

Dunn repeated the phrase twice. In his gaze, fear appeared involuntarily.

“In his dream, I saw a cross. A tremendous cross. A cross that filled the entire sky. Nailed to that cross with black iron spikes was a naked man. His arms were spread open, his feet were above, and his head hung down like a pendant. His body was covered in line after line of bloodstains.

“The moment I saw that scene, I fainted and left Hynas Vincent’s dream. When I woke, Leonard told me Hynas had died in his sleep.”

“A tremendous cross, an upside-down man covered in bloodstains… That is somewhat similar to the True Creator worshipped by several secret organizations, but also very different…” Klein speculated in confusion.

The secret organizations that worshipped the True Creator had mostly appeared only in the past two or three hundred years, such as the Aurora Order and the Iron and Blood Cross Order. But similar images had never vanished throughout the previous thousand years.

Dunn rubbed his forehead again.

“We will follow up on that later. For now, go complete your entry mission.”