Chapter 129: Fors’s Dream

Chapter 129: Fors’s Dream

Hearing the middle-aged man’s shout and seeing his twisted expression, the fury and hatred in Hazel’s eyes gradually froze, melting into a faint bewilderment and confusion.

It was not only her. Councilman Macht, Madam Liana, and Dawn Dantes beside them likewise fell silent. For a brief while, no one spoke. Even Fors, who was hiding behind cover, lost her earlier excitement and no longer felt such a strong sense of justice.

After more than ten seconds, Macht stopped looking at the attacker. Turning his head, he said to his bodyguards, “One of you stay here. Guard the scene and the criminal while waiting for the police to arrive.”

At this point, he paused for a second, then turned to his personal valet and said, “Notify a few newspaper reporters to come interview this matter.”

Having made preliminary arrangements, the House of Commons member swept his gaze around and saw that quite a few passersby were attempting to gather and see what had happened. He then turned toward Dawn Dantes and gave an apologetic smile.

“I am sorry you had to experience such danger. I never imagined matters would develop to this extent. We actually did consider the practical circumstances of factory owners and mine owners like him, and we provided certain assistance and transitional plans. Who would have thought…”

Designing a plan is one thing. Implementation is another. When controlling air pollution becomes extremely urgent and all sides apply great pressure, the appearance of a one-size-fits-all approach is hardly surprising…

Klein sighed, then said with a self-mocking smile, “There is no need to pay too much attention to my feelings. In the past, I have experienced situations far more dangerous than this.”

On the surface, he was referring to his business experiences in West Balam of the Southern Continent. In truth, however, he was thinking of Megose, who had carried the child of an evil god; the terrifying meteor that had descended from the sky; Cynthia, who had wanted to bear Admiral Amyrius’s child; and the angel of the Rose School of Thought and monster of the Numinous Episcopate who had caused a mountain outside Bayam to collapse.

Compared to those, what had happened just now was like a drop of drizzle falling from midair. The incident itself was not worth paying attention to. Considering the presence of the two bodyguards, Xio and Miss Magician, as well as Hazel, Klein had not even acted. He had merely performed the normal evasive movements of someone experienced.

What he truly cared about was whether this would be followed by a “downpour.”

Macht sighed and nodded.

“I can see that you are very calm.

“I once had some doubt regarding the experiences you spoke of. Now I truly believe them.

“Alright, Dawn, let us return separately. Leave the rest to the police. If they need statements, they will come to your home to take them.”

Klein nodded and said to the Macht family, “Please be careful of your subsequent safety.”

Councilman Macht nodded solemnly and sighed again.

“The Backlund social season has only just begun, and already such a thing has happened… Cherish the peace we still have.”

The Backlund social season was marked by the noble members of the House of Lords returning here. It seemed to have started only last weekend… And this week, two incidents have already happened in succession: the frame-up against Baron Syndras, and the attack against Councilman Macht…

As thoughts scattered through his mind, Klein did not linger. With his visibly frightened personal valet Richardson, he walked toward his own carriage.

After boarding and watching the scenery outside the window slowly recede, Klein silently exhaled and half-closed his eyes.

For now, he could not determine whether Beyonder powers had been involved in this attack, because each part of it could be done and completed by ordinary people. And that middle-aged man’s motive was also sufficiently solid—there was no need to forge such a thing deliberately. Klein believed that in the current Backlund, former factory owners or unemployed workers with similar experiences were far from limited to one person.

The only thing that made him feel something was wrong was: why had Macht been chosen as the target?

Although this member of the House of Commons was indeed a supporter and advocate of controlling air pollution, often giving corresponding speeches in Parliament and occasionally accepting newspaper interviews, he was absolutely not the most eye-catching figure in the passing of the bill. By comparison, members of the Backlund Air Pollution Investigation Committee were more likely to be selected as targets for revenge.

Leaning against the carriage wall, Klein slowly opened his eyes and saw that the night outside had already deepened. Clouds piled upon one another, and raindrops fell rapidly.

Once again, he sensed that beneath Backlund’s calm surface, the whirlpools were becoming larger and more violent.

Withdrawing his thoughts, Klein slightly raised his left palm and touched his coat pocket.

Inside were what seemed to be Frank Lee’s reply and mushrooms of some unknown variety.

Klein very much wanted to return home, go above the gray fog, and use the newly obtained mushrooms to communicate with Creeping Hunger so he could use that sealed artifact again. With the storm already beginning to brew, he believed it was necessary to recover his peak combat ability as soon as possible. In that regard, Creeping Hunger was indispensable.

Unfortunately, two Beyonder bodyguards were still beside him. Recently, he had to avoid going above the gray fog as much as possible.

I clearly do not need protection, yet I spent several hundred pounds to hire two people who restrict my movements. Such is the helplessness of a rich man…

Klein sighed inwardly and picked up the red tea Richardson had just prepared.

He lightly sipped it. The muscles in his face immediately tightened slightly, then relaxed again.

Klein’s gaze followed downward, and he discovered that the lemon slices in the tea were twice the usual amount.

Without leaving a trace, he glanced sideways at Richardson and saw that his personal valet looked somewhat dazed, seemingly still immersed in the fright brought by the attack just now.

As cowardly as ever…

Klein evaluated him inwardly and set the bone-china teacup in his hand back on the table.

…

Late at night, 39 Böklund Street, Councilman Macht’s home.

Hazel sat before her dressing table, looking at the gray rat crouching on the powder box. After a long silence, she said, “Did my father do something wrong? What he promoted was clearly a good thing…”

“Nothing is beneficial to everyone. There will always be people whose interests are damaged. At times like this, corresponding bills or plans must consider that, with compensation and assistance. If your father did those things, then the problem is not his. If not, then it means he is cold and cruel,” the rat said perfunctorily.

Hazel carefully thought back for a few seconds. Her expression eased, and she changed the subject.

“During dinner, I sensed a very valuable item hidden inside a cupboard in the private room. But afterward, when I found a chance to open it, I found nothing.”

The rat froze for a moment, then thought and said, “Perhaps it was Dawn Dantes’s bodyguard.

“He has recently just been drawn into a suicide case. It is said to involve Baron Syndras. Hiring a few bodyguards for secret protection is very normal.

“Mm… The bodyguard inside the cupboard may have possessed supernatural powers and carried a mystical item. That was why you sensed it.”

Hazel nodded lightly, accepting this explanation. She subconsciously muttered, “I wonder what kind of supernatural powers those bodyguards possess…”

After saying that, she gave the gray rat a puzzled glance.

“How did you know that Dawn Dantes was involved in a troublesome case?”

The rat squeaked.

“My current state is very suited to eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.”

As it spoke, it glanced toward 160 Böklund Street. Its eyes flickered twice.

…

Fors, who was sleeping in shifts, felt herself drift into an ancient and majestic palace. Inside, all kinds of Beyonder ingredients and mystical items were arranged everywhere, even including two blurry tarot cards.

Yet she could not take away a single thing. All those items were sealed by an invisible power.

Fors looked around, trying to find a way to break the seal. At last, she saw a complicated symbolic mark engraved on the dome:

It was a symbol combining “Fate” and “Concealment”!

Find an object engraved with this symbol, and you will be able to open the seal of a treasure…

Such a realization suddenly appeared inside Fors. She abruptly woke and discovered that she was curled up on the room’s carpet, covered with a thin silk blanket. Neither she nor Xio dared to sleep in the easy chair, fearing that Dawn Dantes, who often sat there, would notice something wrong.

Rubbing her forehead, Fors turned over and sat up. She saw Xio leaning back against the wall that “led” to the master bedroom, very seriously listening for movement around them.

“I feel like there might be some hidden secret here. I had a strange dream—an exaggerated treasure and a complicated symbol.” As Fors walked toward Xio, she spoke with a frown.

As an Astrologer, she intuitively believed that the dream just now was a problem!

Seeing that Fors’s expression was very serious, Xio suppressed her doubtful words. After thinking, she said, “Perhaps some secret truly does exist. I have heard a proverb from the mysterious world. It goes like this: ‘When one Beyonder element is discovered in a place, there is bound to be a second.’”

“If we do not count the butler, whose grasp of Beyonder powers cannot yet be judged, then Miss Hazel is the first Beyonder element. Near her—or rather, in this neighborhood—there should be a second.” Fors nodded lightly, then smiled. “However, this has nothing to do with us. Tomorrow evening, we can collect our payment, end the bodyguard mission, and leave this place. The most pitiful one is still Dawn Dantes. Innocent and ordinary, yet forced to live alongside troublesome incidents and Beyonder elements.”

At this point, Fors looked at Xio and began joking.

“Quick, quick, say may the Goddess bless him.

“I am a believer of Steam and Machinery, so I cannot do that.”

Xio seriously considered for two seconds, drew a crimson moon over her chest, and piously whispered, “May the Goddess bless Mr. Dawn Dantes.”

Fors had fully shaken off her drowsiness by now. Covering her mouth, she yawned and said, “I will walk around the house and inspect it. You sleep after a quarter of an hour.”

“Alright.” Xio’s energy was clearly much better than Fors’s.

Fors immediately turned toward the door. She pressed a hand against the wall and arrived in the corridor.

Just as she was about to head toward the staircase, she suddenly detected faint movement from the room where Dawn Dantes’s personal valet slept.

Fors’s eyes moved slightly. Cautiously, she approached and opened a “small door” in the wall, bringing her eye closer.

She then saw Richardson dancing a somewhat frenzied dance with a mysterious flavor.

“A spirit dance? Isn’t this valet a believer of the Evernight Goddess? Is he secretly worshiping Death?”

Fors frowned as she watched Richardson finish the spirit dance and quietly pray for Death’s protection, asking Him to help him avoid all kinds of danger.

After everything ended, Fors clicked her tongue, shook her head, and silently muttered to herself:

“Poor Mr. Dantes.”