Chapter 89: Clue

Chapter Eighty-Nine
Clue

Not long after Klein and the others finished lunch, the detective who had taken leave returned to Green Park Street. That meant the commission Klein had accepted had come to an end.

Because Adol’s condition had clearly improved, Logo Caroman was quite generous when settling Klein’s pay. On top of the original ten pounds, he added a full fifty percent premium.

“As expected of a jewelry merchant. He really is generous… Though compared with other people in the West Borough and Queen’s Borough, he is not that rich. Green Park Street is close to the outskirts, even not far from the cemetery. If I run at full speed, I can get there in ten minutes…

“Uh, Miss Bodyguard—no, Miss Sharron—is most likely a Sequence 5 powerhouse, and her rate is one thousand pounds for three days. As a Sequence 7 Beyonder, I only get fifteen pounds for a day. There is still a bit of a gap…

“Of course, if I could get a mission like this every day, my annual income would exceed 5,400 pounds, putting me right at the top of the middle class. Even the first manager of Backlund Bank makes only 5,000 pounds a year… Heh. Pure fantasy. For most detectives, it really is a matter of going a week without work, then eating for a week after one job. And the Beyonder materials I need to advance to Sequence 6 will definitely add up to more than 3,000 pounds. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. To ordinary people, that is an enormous fortune, enough to live decently for an entire lifetime!

“The good news is that even with the acting method, digesting a Sequence 7 potion still takes six months to three years. Even if I can summarize the ‘Magician’ rules quickly, I can at most shorten the lower limit by one or two months. I still have enough time to save money and collect clues to the materials…

“Wait. Miss Justice seems to still owe me—uh, my blessed one—5,000 pounds…

“But her finances have not been too good recently. Within a few months, it will be very hard for her to produce such a large sum again…”

Holding the three five-pound notes, Klein let his thoughts wander wildly as he left the West Borough.

After returning to Minsk Street, he hurriedly burned the paper figurine he had used, then supplemented two more.

By evening, he took the steam metro to the Backlund Bridge area. Following the numbers provided in the newspaper, he knocked on the door of the house where the gathering was held.

As before, he put on the iron mask that covered only the upper half of his face and a black hooded robe. Under the attendant’s guidance, he entered the living room where only one candle burned quietly.

With one glance, Klein discovered that the number of Beyonders attending this gathering was nearly half of what it had been before.

I arrived exactly on time. Are the others late?

This time, Klein did not change his gait or habitual movements. He chose a seat in the corner and slowly sat down.

After several minutes, the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom cleared his throat and said, “Let us begin. The others likely will not come.”

Here, he offered a brief explanation:

“Because the murderer in that serial killing case has still not been found, most Beyonders from the Nighthawks, Mandated Punishers, Machinery Hivemind, and MI9 have been deployed. They are conducting large-scale investigations and searches.

“Under such circumstances, it is perfectly normal and understandable that some friends are unwilling to go out or participate in gatherings.

“To be frank, more people came today than I expected.”

As expected, Beyonder circles are not isolated. They are influenced by current affairs just the same…

Klein looked around and saw that the plump Apothecary was not absent. He instantly relaxed quite a bit.

The Apothecary pushed at the iron mask on his face and called out without much hope, “Looking to buy pith crystals from the Elven Spring. Price negotiable.”

“I have them,” Klein said without the slightest hesitation.

He was worried that someone else might also have found the material, causing his own goods to pile up unsold.

Although Beyonder materials were scarce, and duplicates rarely appeared within a single circle, this sort of thing was not impossible.

“Looking to buy pith crystals from the Elven Spring…”

The Apothecary seemed not to have heard anyone reply.

Halfway through speaking, he suddenly froze. He whipped his head toward Klein, his eyes burning as he blurted out, “You have them?”

“Yes,” Klein answered, finding it slightly hard to withstand that scorching gaze.

As he confirmed it, he lifted the edge of his black robe and took out an iron cigarette case.

Pa!

Klein opened the case, revealing the faded-egg-like pith crystals from the Elven Spring inside.

“If you are worried, you may ask the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom to appraise them,” Klein added in a deep voice.

Strictly speaking, that was not particularly necessary. Whether or not it was a Beyonder material could be seen at a glance, and whether it had been contaminated could be discovered soon after taking it in hand.

However, if a Beyonder lacked enough mysticism knowledge, it was very easy to confuse similar materials. At such times, appraisal became necessary.

The Apothecary stared at the Beyonder material in Klein’s hand as though gazing at a beautiful woman he had coveted for a very long time. Only after several seconds did he shake his head and say, “No. No need!”

“That is it!”

“That is exactly it!”

The corner of Klein’s mouth lifted faintly. He named his price:

“Three hundred pounds, plus a clue to the Apothecary formula.”

“A clue to the Apothecary formula… It is you!”

The Apothecary froze for a second, then finally understood who sat across from him.

It was the fellow who had made him bring sedatives for nothing last time!

Immediately afterward, he sighed in pain and regret so great it seemed to reach the extreme.

“You really are a Lucky One!”

“Why did I not choose that path of luck back then…”

After all, I am the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck…

Klein mocked himself inwardly.

After a long sigh, the Apothecary changed his sitting posture and said, “That is too expensive. Two hundred pounds, plus the clue to the formula.”

“The clue to the formula is merely an attachment, because I cannot confirm whether it is true or false. So, three hundred pounds. Not a penny less. I believe someone elsewhere will need this too,” Klein said with a smile. “This price is actually quite fair. If it were someone else, perhaps they would ask four hundred, or even five hundred pounds, and you might still accept.”

“I would not be that foolish. I can still wait…”

The Apothecary muttered a couple sentences, then said, “The clue can be appraised by the old man—uh, the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom.”

“I can appraise only things that objectively exist and possess detailed specifics. A simple clue does not fall into that category,” the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom reminded them.

Divination can roughly determine whether a clue is valid, as long as it does not involve power two or three levels higher than oneself…

Klein silently said this to himself.

However, he would not reveal at a Beyonder gathering that he was skilled at divination.

“All right… Three hundred pounds plus the clue. You win!” The Apothecary inhaled, rubbed his fingers over a thick stack of cash, counted out the corresponding amount, then had the attendant bring paper and pen. He bent his head and began writing.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. After finishing the clue, he crumpled the paper casually and handed it to the attendant together with the cash and several other items.

When the attendant came over, Klein glanced at the contents and suddenly froze.

Because apart from the cash and clue, there were four slender glass tubes. Inside them was a seemingly pure liquid.

“What is this?” Klein asked in puzzlement.

“Have you forgotten? The sedatives you wanted. My specially made sedatives. Ten soli each. Four vials make two pounds, so the cash is 298 pounds,” the Apothecary answered. “If you do not trust my sedatives, you may request an appraisal.”

I really did forget… I only wanted those to earn Miss Sharron’s trust, and now she is not here. Hm. Fine. Keeping sedatives on hand might help handle some unexpected situations…

Klein said nothing further. He poured out the pith crystals from the Elven Spring, took the items, and counted the cash in front of everyone, using the weak candlelight to check whether it was genuine.

Two hundred and ninety-eight pounds… correct…

Seeing that his wallet could no longer hold more cash, Klein had no choice but to roll the banknotes together and stuff them into his pocket.

After putting away the sedatives, he unfolded the paper and glanced at the clue:

“South Borough of the Bridge, Rose Street, Harvest Church. Find Bishop Utravsky. If you can help him complete a task, you may obtain the Apothecary formula.”

Harvest Church… That is one of the few churches of the Earth Mother in the kingdom. And that Church controls the Planter and Apothecary pathways… The clue matches very well…

Klein thoughtfully folded the paper again.

The gathering continued. The female Beyonder who had an Artisan behind her either had not attended or had not obtained a new Beyonder weapon. She never spoke, causing Klein’s expectations to fall through—he now had 509 pounds in cash and could begin thinking about equipment.

After many trades failed, a man seated on a high stool spoke in a low voice.

“A friend of mine was unfortunately discovered during the current large-scale investigation and was locked by the Mandated Punishers beneath a certain Storm church. I want to request several helpers to rescue him.”

The old gentleman Eye of Wisdom immediately answered, “‘Wild Dog,’ give up that idea! The Mandated Punishers and Sealed Artifacts inside a Storm church are enough to destroy every single person here.

“Your friend’s fate is already sealed. Do not push yourself into the same desperate situation.”

Wild Dog looked around and found that no one responded to him. Unable to hold back, he struck his thigh heavily and growled, “But what exactly did he do wrong?

“He is an excellent physician. He has saved many patients. He has never harmed anyone! Just because he consumed a potion and became a Beyonder, he has to be imprisoned somewhere forever without sunlight, or even made into an experimental subject for the Mandated Punishers?

“Why?

“Why…”

Wild Dog’s pain-filled, despairing question echoed through the room. Even the Apothecary, who had always failed to keep his mouth shut, remained silent.

Sigh…

Klein, who had once been an official Beyonder, could only sigh deeply inside his heart.

Without making the acting method public, wild Beyonders were all time bombs…

But if the acting method was popularized, the situation might become even more chaotic and bloodier… After all, Beyonder characteristics are indestructible and conserved…

In that oppressive atmosphere, the gathering neared its end. Having gained nothing else, Klein spoke again:

“Does anyone have pistol bullets attached with different supernatural effects?

“For example, purification effects, demon-hunting effects, and so on.”

He did not specify caliber, because he currently had no gun. He could wait until after buying the bullets before matching one to them.

Amid silence, a female Beyonder, also seated in a corner, answered in a low voice, “I can ask for you. I will give you an answer at the next gathering.”

It seems to be that lady with an Artisan behind her…

Klein exhaled and said, “All right.”

Once the gathering ended, he did not return directly to Minsk Street. Instead, he went to the East Borough, changed outfits, and headed for the border between the North Borough and Hillston Borough.

That was where Kapusti Reid, the suspected member of the Numinous Episcopate, rented his home.