Chapter 126: Divination Is Not Omnipotent

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Six
Divination Is Not Omnipotent

Sis, you worry too much—no, you really are far too thoughtful!

Klein’s spirits lifted upon hearing Melissa’s words. He immediately smiled and said, “Melissa, your concern is extremely reasonable. I am indeed still a little hungry. Mm. I will go upstairs first, change clothes, and take a bath.”

Although he was already quietly swallowing saliva, confirming the whereabouts of Instigator Trissy mattered more!

No one knew whether that fellow would next take revenge on society with even greater madness.

“Mm,” Melissa answered without lifting her head, continuing to study.

Thud, thud, thud! Klein swiftly ran to the second floor and entered his bedroom.

He locked the door behind him, removed his coat, took off the holster beneath his arm, and drew a plain silver knife from a drawer.

After sealing the room with a wall of spirituality, he breathed in, steadied his mood, and walked four steps counterclockwise.

Amid incantations such as “The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings,” Klein—now increasingly accustomed to the mad whispers tearing at his spirit—once again appeared inside the towering palace above the gray fog.

Having used several rituals that day, he was a little weary. He pinched his temples and made a sheet of yellow-brown parchment appear upon the bronze long table.

Klein thought seriously for a moment, then carefully wrote down the divination statement:

“Trissy’s whereabouts.”

He was not certain the name was correct, but he had the other party’s specific appearance, traits, and detailed information as a guide.

Holding the parchment, Klein leaned back against his chair. First, he recalled everything related to Trissy in his mind. Then he silently recited the divination statement seven times.

Emptying his mind, he closed his eyes. With the help of meditation, he soon entered a dream.

Inside a misty, illusory scene, he saw the head of a steam locomotive spewing thick smoke and sparks. He saw leather seats arranged in rows, and a carriage that was clean and orderly.

Trissy, with her rather round face, long narrow eyes, and mild, sweet bearing, sat by the window. On the table before her rested a hat whose brim was trimmed with fine black gauze.

Klein distinguished the details carefully, trying to confirm the train number. But no matter how he looked, he could not see it.

Before long, he found the dream difficult to sustain and withdrew from it. The ancient, mottled bronze long table and the illusory crimson stars were reflected in his eyes once more.

“I can only confirm that Trissy is leaving Tingen by steam locomotive. There are no further clues… Sigh. It seems this mysterious space mainly helps me eliminate interference. It does not raise my own divination level to an exaggerated degree…”

Klein tapped the edge of the table with one finger and began considering what to do next.

Through this divination, he had thoroughly confirmed that the target was indeed the former Instigator Tris. But now that the other party had already fled Tingen, he did not think the result just now would help Dunn much more.

“The Captain already said that he would send telegrams to Backlund, to Enmat Harbor, and to the major stations along the railway, putting out a nationwide wanted order for Trissy… I will not report this divination result. It would only risk making them suspicious…”

Klein swiftly made his decision. Whether he gave his reminder or not, Dunn was already making the correct follow-up arrangements.

And when dream divination could not clearly reveal the train number, switching to pendulum divination or another method would not produce an effective result either, even if he attempted elimination one by one.

The red chimney matter was in a similar state.

At that moment, he felt his spirit grow hollow and depleted. He did not linger above the gray fog. Wrapping himself in spirituality, he simulated the sensation of falling.

By the time he “returned” to his room, his mind was already filled with oily little lamb chops.

“They must be sprinkled with cumin… Praise the Goddess!”

Klein swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Like the wind, he removed the wall of spirituality and pulled open the bedroom door.

…

The next day, at eight forty in the morning, he entered Blackthorn Security Company with his cane in hand.

“Good morning, Klein. Good news!”

Behind the reception desk, Rozanne excitedly waved at him.

Klein’s eyes brightened.

“They caught Trissy?”

“Trissy? Who is she?” Rozanne, dressed in a pale green gown, looked completely blank.

“…You do not need to know her. What is the good news?”

Klein changed the subject.

Rozanne answered with a brilliant smile, “The Captain’s application was approved. The police department will transfer two officers who have come into contact with supernatural events here to work as civilian staff! I finally will not have to stay up all night so often. Praise the Goddess!”

“That truly is good news…”

Klein echoed with sincere agreement.

After chatting with Rozanne for a few moments, he passed through the partition and walked toward the underground, preparing to continue his mysticism lessons.

When he passed the Captain’s office and the Nighthawks’ entertainment room, he looked inside a few times and discovered that Dunn, Leonard, and the others were all present. This meant that the search and investigation the previous night had not obtained a good result. Next, they could only hand the tedious follow-up over to the police department.

Klein had originally wanted to speak with the Captain and learn the latest situation, but seeing that Dunn was busy writing documents and sending telegrams, he could only silently withdraw. He decided he would ask at noon instead.

He followed the layers of stairs downward into the earth. He saw the two rows of elegant gas lamps enclosed by metal grilles, the light piercing through glass, and the corridor that remained forever silent, cold, and empty.

Breathing the cool, fresh wind, Klein walked several steps, then suddenly stopped.

His gaze snapped toward the gas lamps. His brows gradually furrowed.

He realized he had made an extremely elementary mistake.

A mistake made precisely because he had common sense from Earth!

During last night’s divination above the gray fog, Klein had seen Trissy riding away on a steam train. He had therefore instinctively judged that it was something currently happening.

But—but in this world, no one had invented electric lamps or similar devices. After nightfall, almost no passenger steam trains ran. Klein, long used to green-painted trains running through the night back on Earth, had instinctively ignored that fact.

In other words, that was not what had happened last night.

It was a scene of the future that he had foreseen!

It was something that would happen during daylight today or tomorrow!

Klein’s heart tightened. He paced back and forth several steps, then thud, thud, thud, ran back upstairs.

He knocked open the door of the entertainment room and saw Leonard standing beside the window, reciting poetry with an expression of helplessness.

Ignoring Kernli, Royale, and Siga Teon, who were playing cards, Klein looked toward Leonard and said, “I have a question for you.”

“Do you want to learn techniques for amusing young ladies and madams?”

Leonard put down Selected Poems of Roselle and teased him.

He left the entertainment room and followed Klein to the middle of the staircase leading underground. Staring into Klein’s eyes, he spoke with a light laugh.

“It seems you performed a rather effective divination last night.”

Klein gave no explanation. He said directly, “I divined that Trissy would leave by steam locomotive.”

“Steam locomotive. The earliest train is at seven…”

Leonard took the pocket watch from the pocket of his shirt, pressed it open with a snap, and glanced at it.

“We cannot delay. I will tell the Captain that I received reliable intelligence.”

He strode upstairs, directly left Blackthorn Security Company, stayed downstairs for several minutes, and then returned, entering Dunn Smith’s office.

Klein released a breath and watched as the card-playing Nighthawks were summoned. Then the Captain, having sent yet another telegram, hurriedly left with them.

Thinking back on what had just happened, Klein’s feelings were complicated. The death of the tailcoat clown had given him a warning, but this time, a mistake of a similar nature had occurred in himself. The lesson therefore seemed even more profound, and he felt as though he understood many more things at once.

Turning toward the armory, Klein entered the guard room. Familiar with the place, he removed his hat and coat, then hung them upon the coat rack.

Old Neil had just finished making coffee with the hand grinder. He took a sip in evident enjoyment and said, “Want a cup?”

“Yes.”

Klein sat down as comfortably as though he had returned home.

Old Neil glanced at him and muttered, “Still three cubes of sugar and one spoonful of milk? You truly are a fellow who likes sweet things. It is bad for your teeth and your body.”

“No, no, no. I only prefer coffee a little sweeter when I drink it. When it comes to pan-fried steak or roast meat, I lean more toward seasonings like rose salt, black peppercorns, and cumin.”

Klein had always felt that he belonged to every flavor faction at once.

Old Neil quickly prepared the coffee and pushed it across.

“Will you rest a little, or begin directly?”

“Let me calm down for a few minutes. The Captain and the others have received intelligence about Trissy’s whereabouts and are heading to the steam train station. I wonder what the result will be…”

Klein sighed.

Old Neil clicked his tongue.

“Is the intelligence detailed? Do they know which train?”

“No, not certain,” Klein said, pressing his lips together.

Old Neil immediately laughed.

“Under those circumstances, failure is much more likely than success. Trissy should be Sequence 7. A Beyonder of that level is not so easily caught. Heh. Do not think of relying on divination. Divination is not omnipotent. You will only obtain symbols. One careless moment, and you will interpret them incorrectly or overlook something.”

Klein recalled the mistake he had made this time. Feeling it deeply, he nodded from the heart.

“Yes. Divination is not omnipotent.”

After saying this, he sighed with emotion. Then his body, mind, and spirit suddenly entered a wondrous state. He leaned back slightly, trying to breathe out, but at that moment, an illusory sound of shattering abruptly rang beside his ear.

He discovered in astonishment that something within his body seemed to be dissolving, merging with his own spirit.

It was a unique feeling impossible to describe in words. Klein half-closed his eyes, quietly experiencing it.

No one needed to remind him. He knew this was the manifestation of the Seer potion being completely digested.

…

The first small town through which the Tussock River passed after leaving Tingen was called Winia. It was also the first steam train station on the route to Backlund after departing Tingen.

Upon the platform, Trissy had changed into a beige dress and wore a round-brimmed ladies’ hat. Fine black gauze hung down from the brim, covering most of her face and making her appearance hazy and difficult to recognize.

She had already sent a telegram to her companion in Tingen, reminding the other party to be careful for the near future. As for herself, using valuables she had stolen by breaking into homes, she had purchased a steam train ticket to Backlund.

The reason she had not boarded at Tingen Station, but instead drifted downstream to the small town of Winia, was because Trissy still possessed an assassin’s instinct and abundant experience.

Whooo!

Amid a sharp, drawn-out whistle, the towering steel train, like a monster, spewed smoke mixed with a few sparks and stopped beside the platform.

Trissy carried no luggage. She directly boarded a first-class carriage. At the same time, she decided that after three stations, she would immediately get off and switch to another way of reaching Backlund.

…

Underground beneath Saint Selena Cathedral, Klein leaned against the back of his chair with his eyes closed.

He felt the potion’s complete digestion. In a vague way, he saw one illusory star after another. Those stars shared an inexplicable connection with him, as though they wished to gather together and become one.

After an indescribable hunger and craving faded, Klein returned to normal and gained no further realization.

But my spirit has become far lighter and purer…

He opened his eyes and silently added that sentence.

At this moment, he knew that he had become a true, complete Seer.