Chapter 189: Excavation

Chapter 189: Excavation

Who is it? Klein abruptly raised his head and looked toward the door.

He felt as though he had developed a certain illness: a fear of hearing the doorbell ring. It was exactly like the symptom he had suffered back on Earth, when he dreaded seeing an incoming call on his phone.

Putting down the newspaper and magazine, he glanced at the empty plate from which even the sauce had been finished, then rose and walked toward the door.

Before his hand even touched the knob, he already knew that Dr. Allen was outside.

Don’t you need to go to work? Klein muttered inwardly, then reached out and opened the door.

“Good morning, Allen. Today’s fog is gray.” He piled a smile onto his face.

Allen still wore that aloof expression of his, but now there was also urgency and panic mixed into it.

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and, with no time for greetings, said directly, “Sherlock, I dreamed again! I dreamed of Will Auceptin again!”

Huh? Klein nearly froze on the spot.

That’s not right, is it? The genuine paper crane is with me, above the gray fog. The one I folded is with the Nighthawks. You’re carrying a shoddy paper crane folded by the Nighthawks, yet you can still dream of Will Auceptin? This isn’t scientific—no, this isn’t mystical… Klein’s expression turned serious at once, and he immediately asked in return:

“Was it the same dream as before?”

“No. This time it wasn’t as frightening.” Allen, on the contrary, calmed down a little. “I dreamed of Green Cemetery. You know Green Cemetery, don’t you?”

“I do,” Klein answered tersely.

It was outside Green Cemetery that he had caught a group of students dancing a spirit dance, along with a disastrously incompetent mysticism enthusiast named Kapusky. From the latter, he had obtained another copper whistle that could summon a messenger.

Allen inhaled a breath of cold air and continued, “I dreamed of the woods outside Green Cemetery. I dreamed of a birch tree with a ring of bark stripped from its middle. Will Auceptin was sitting beneath that tree, quietly watching me.”

“And then?” Klein asked.

Allen shook his head. “The dream ended there.”

This really is a strange matter… Could Dr. Allen’s dreams have nothing to do with that paper crane? No. If they had nothing to do with it, the dream wouldn’t have changed after the paper crane was switched. Besides, I used that paper crane to divine above the gray fog and received corresponding revelations… Klein considered for a moment before saying, “This is already beyond my understanding. Allen, why did you come to me?”

Allen’s breath turned into white fog as it dispersed in the air. “I want to visit the outskirts of Green Cemetery and take a look. Right now, during the day. Can you protect me? I will pay the commission fee—one pound.”

Go now to explore a place that appeared in a dream? During the day, we shouldn’t encounter anything too bizarre… Klein thought briefly and said, “I can accept this commission, but I suggest that before we go, you visit a church and tell the bishop you know about this dream.”

Allen gave a quiet “mm,” then asked with some puzzlement, “Why do you always suggest that I go to church? I know you explained it before, in a way that was quite logical. If miraculous powers exist, then Churches capable of guiding the human world for so long must be the factions that possess the strongest miraculous powers. If they don’t exist, then going to church can at least provide psychological comfort and useful connections. But why do you recommend going to church even over something that isn’t especially strange?”

Klein considered for two seconds and answered with a perfectly serious expression, “I am a detective. I come into contact with many unusual matters, so I understand what makes the Churches special and under what circumstances one should seek their help.”

“Really?” Allen’s expression turned solemn.

The corners of Klein’s mouth immediately lifted.

“Just joking.

“Allen, relax a little. I’ll change clothes first. Ah—and wash the dishes.”

He had stood at the doorway talking with Allen for quite a while without wearing a heavy coat, and the cold, gloomy wind had left his body a little stiff.

Seizing the opportunity, Klein went to the washroom, then above the gray fog, where he divined the degree of danger involved in this commission and received the conclusion that there was almost no risk.

If the revelation had indicated danger, his plan had been to use the Church of the Evernight Goddess as an excuse to renege on the commission.

…

Hillston Borough, Starry Cathedral.

“Sherlock, why don’t you hire a maid? As a great detective, you can certainly afford several servants,” Allen asked in puzzlement as he led Klein into the largest cathedral of the Church of the Evernight Goddess in the Hillston Borough.

He had wanted to ask the question back in the carriage, but he had not found a chance to naturally bring up the subject.

Klein sighed, then spoke in a heavy voice.

“Allen, let me tell you a story. Once, there was a detective. He hired two maids, a cook, and an assistant, and lived quite well. But one day, he accepted a case and successfully identified the murderer. That murderer was a very savage, very cruel person. With thoughts of revenge, he snuck into that detective’s home.

“The detective was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. In the end, he only suffered a few minor injuries, but two of his servants died because of it.

“Allen, do you understand?”

“I understand.” Allen’s tone carried obvious sympathy. “Sherlock, so you had such an experience.”

No, the protagonist has nothing to do with me. That’s just a story I made up on the spot… It’s not as if I can tell you directly that I’m involved in all kinds of bizarre and mystical incidents, that there are often secrets in my home that cannot be seen by others, and that it’s best not to hire servants if I can avoid it… Klein stared ahead and let out a long sigh.

The cleaning of his rooms was mainly handled by Mrs. Starling Summer’s maid. She came twice a week, did only the most basic sweeping, and charged one soli each time.

As they spoke, the two had already entered the hall of Starry Cathedral.

The place inherited the usual style of the Church of the Evernight Goddess: dim, quiet, and with few candles.

At the very front of the hall was the altar engraved with the sacred emblem of darkness. Self-luminous pearls embedded upon it formed the stars, while red gemstones formed the crimson moon. Everything else was the blackness of night.

At a glance, that place was filled with scattered points of starlight and a crimson glow, exceptionally holy.

Yet Klein felt that it was not as impressive as the design of Saint Selena Cathedral in Tingen. That hall was completely dark, with light entering only from the very front, through one fist-sized circular hole after another. It made one feel as though they were directly looking at the starry sky, inspiring awe from the depths of the heart.

However, that design also had one problem: at night, the effect disappeared… Klein casually found a seat, removed his half top hat, and leaned his black hardwood cane nearby. Allen continued forward along the aisle, heading straight for the confessional to look for the bishop.

Sitting in such a hall and watching the believers around him pray intently, Klein suddenly felt an unusual quiet settle over his heart.

Come to think of it, this is only the third time I’ve entered the Goddess’s church… He gave a self-mocking smile.

…

Winter County, inside the Cathedral of Serenity.

Leonard Mitchell put on a black trench coat, wore his red gloves, and entered the room belonging to the high-ranking deacon, Crestet Cesimir.

“Congratulations. You are now officially a Red Glove. May the Goddess bless you.” Cesimir drew a crimson moon across his chest.

As always, his high, upright collar covered his mouth.

“Praise the Goddess. It is my honor.” Leonard raised his right hand and tapped his chest four times clockwise.

Cesimir did not waste words and went straight to the main topic.

“Based on your own request, I have placed you in Soest’s squad. He is a Spirit Warlock and possesses his own mystical item. I have also instructed others to prepare the Beyonder weapon you need.

“Recently, you will mainly be responsible for a demon-summoning case while also following up on certain leads—for example, the consecutive incidents in Backlund related to tarot rituals.”

“Yes, Your Excellency Cesimir.” Leonard had no objection.

This will be the beginning of my revenge… he said silently in his heart.

…

West Borough, the outskirts of Green Cemetery.

Klein accompanied Dr. Allen, searching the nearby woods for a long time. From time to time, falling gray-white dust made them cough several times.

“Perhaps no such tree exists. Things in dreams cannot completely correspond to reality.” Toward the end of their search, even Allen himself had become somewhat uncertain.

Luckily, I’m good at finding things… Klein pointed with his cane in one direction and said, “Let’s look over there and make one final effort.”

“All right.” Allen took a breath.

The two walked for a while, and Allen suddenly stopped. Pointing diagonally ahead, he said, “There! There!”

More than ten meters away, a birch tree with a ring of bark stripped from its middle stood there quietly, as though it had been waiting for them.

“It’s exactly the same as the one in my dream,” Allen said with absolute certainty.

Klein smiled with slight vigilance. “But there is no Will Auceptin.”

Allen approached the birch tree and frowned as he stared at it for a while. Suddenly, he pointed to the ground beside the roots.

“Will Auceptin was sitting right here at the time. One of his hands was pointing toward the earth below!”

“Pointing toward the earth below?” Klein stood beside him and looked down at the patch of ground where almost no dead grass grew. “You want to dig it open?”

Allen nodded. “Now that we’ve found this place, we should at least confirm what is here. Sherlock, go to the cemetery and borrow two shovels.”

“I should stay here. You go to the cemetery. I’m worried something unexpected might happen,” Klein said cautiously.

“All right.” Allen did not object. He immediately left the woods.

After a while, having solved the issue with the power of money, he returned with three shovels and a cemetery keeper, and they began trying to dig.

As Klein dug, he suddenly caught a whiff of a somewhat familiar smell. As the topsoil was peeled away, the thing buried beneath gradually revealed itself.

It was the corpse of a child, already severely decomposed!

The skin and flesh looked as if they were about to melt, and many worms crawled in and out of the nose and mouth.

Clang!

The shovel in Allen’s hand fell, striking a stone.

He pointed at the corpse’s legs, his mouth moving frantically but no words coming out.

Suppressing the nausea, Klein looked carefully and saw that the lower half of the child’s left leg was clearly missing.

At the same time, Allen took two steps back, fell to the ground, and cried out in a sharp voice:

“Will Auceptin! Will Auceptin!”

It was Will Auceptin’s corpse!