Chapter 163: Various Signs

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Three
Various Signs

What?

Klein was stunned by Rozanne’s question. Somewhat blankly, he recalled, “When I went to Old Neil’s house before, just last month, I saw a piano in the living room. He told me that his deceased wife had loved music…”

As he spoke, Klein suddenly shuddered, inexplicably seized by a bad feeling.

Rozanne furrowed her pretty brows and said with some uncertainty, “Maybe I remembered wrongly… No, that is not right. In the first half of the year, Madam Orianna and the others often went with me to Old Neil’s home as guests. Back then, there was no piano in the living room. I clearly remember asking him why he had stayed single all this time. His answer was that he had never met a lady who made him want to marry…”

There was no piano in the first half of the year… He was still answering questions about why he had stayed single…

Klein’s body tensed at once. In a deep voice, he asked, “Rozanne, how long has it been since you last visited Old Neil’s house?”

“Ever since Kernli became a Nighthawk and Viola chose to leave, no longer working as a civilian staff member, I have either been staying up late or catching up on sleep. How would I have time to go to other people’s homes as a guest… Mm, since early June.”

Rozanne was rather confused by the question and could only answer honestly.

As Klein listened, his heart gradually sank, as though he had sensed something.

He hurriedly took a half-penny coin from his pocket and gripped it between his thumb and middle finger.

Drawing a deep breath, Klein considered briefly and quickly decided on his divination statement.

“Old Neil’s current condition is wrong.

“Old Neil’s current condition is wrong.

“…”

While silently reciting, his eyes swiftly darkened, and his entire person entered a meditative state.

Zing!

His thumb flicked, sending the brass-colored penny into the air, where it flipped and spun continuously.

Pap! The coin fell, landing exactly in Klein’s open palm.

This time, George III’s portrait faced upward.

The portrait indicated correctness, affirmation.

That meant Old Neil’s current condition was indeed wrong!

Klein closed his hand over the coin. Suddenly, he remembered what he had seen soon after he first became a Beyonder and grasped spirit vision: behind Old Neil, there had been a nearly transparent pair of eyes—cold beyond reason, lashless, bizarre and illusory.

Old Neil’s explanation at the time had been: a residual manifestation of ritual magic.

Right. I also saw an almost invisible human figure in the shadow by the door. Its aura color was exactly the same as the dim yellow, dark surroundings… And that time after I had completely digested the Seer potion and secretly changed the activation switch for spirit vision to tapping my teeth, I tried it once and casually looked toward Old Neil. As a result, he suddenly began coughing violently, coughing as if his heart and lungs were being torn apart…

Scene after scene flashed through Klein’s mind, and his expression grew increasingly grave.

Rozanne looked at him. Frightened and worried, she asked, “Old Neil has not lost control, has he? No. Even though he is petty and stingy, and wants to reimburse everything, he is really a good person. He rarely gets truly angry. He would not—he would not lose control…”

“I cannot be certain. But I think Old Neil is only approaching loss of control.”

Klein comforted Rozanne, then strode past the partition and pushed open the Captain’s office door.

Dunn Smith was drinking coffee. The sudden intruder startled him, nearly making him choke.

“What happened?” he asked. He did not blame Klein. His expression had turned extremely serious.

Klein answered with great concision and without any concealment.

“Captain, my divination indicates that Old Neil’s condition is wrong.

“Last month, Old Neil told me that his deceased wife loved music. But today Rozanne said he has always remained single.

“And on the day I first became a Beyonder, I saw a pair of illusory, bizarre eyes behind Old Neil, watching everything. At the doorway, there was also a nearly transparent figure peering inside. He told me those were residual manifestations of ritual magic.

“I felt something was not right, so I attempted a divination.”

Dunn listened, his expression heavy. With a whoosh, he stood and walked toward the coat rack, asking doubtfully as he went, “Why did you not directly divine whether Old Neil had lost control?”

“Over this past month, Old Neil has behaved no differently from a normal Beyonder. He even worked together with me to help Swain eliminate a Mandated Punisher who had lost control. I have also observed his aura colors several times with spirit vision and found that he was relatively healthy, only somewhat aged. Therefore, I believe he is only approaching loss of control, showing certain signs, and that there is still room to pull him back.”

Klein expressed his opinion in one breath.

Dunn put on his black hat, wore his knee-length windbreaker, and nodded slightly.

“A very reasonable deduction… We will visit Old Neil now. Mm, we will try our best not to provoke him.

“Then we will attempt to control him and use ritual magic to stabilize his condition and suppress its deterioration.”

Control…

Hearing that word, inspiration suddenly flashed through Klein’s mind.

“Captain, can we use Sealed Artifact 3-0611?”

Earlier, he had been thinking about how to resolve Old Neil’s matter, trying as much as possible to save him. But because he had been too flustered, too uneasy, and too worried, he had never managed to find a direction. Only after Dunn Smith’s words reminded him did he recall that there was a Sealed Artifact that might prove useful:

“Serial number: 0611.

“Name: Quiet Hair.

“Danger level: Grade 3. Some danger. Must be used with caution. Only operations involving three or more people may apply for it.

“Confidentiality level: full Nighthawk members and above.

“Sealing method: do not allow it direct contact with living organisms.

“Description: This is a simple ornament made from many strands of deep-black long hair tangled together.

“Any living creature that touches it without protection will lose all desires and emotions, including but not limited to hunger, anger, grief, pain, jealousy, envy, hatred, happiness, satisfaction, and greed.

“It has been confirmed that affected creatures will even lose the desire to separate themselves from 0611. They will quietly remain where they are until the end of their lives.

“If external force separates the affected subject from 0611, the former will gradually return to normal. But experimental data shows that this only holds true if the contact time does not exceed two hours.

“Once contact time exceeds two hours, the affected subject will become quiet forever.

“The highest level of experimental subject was Sequence 5.

“Direct contact can be avoided by means such as wearing gloves.

“These strands of hair do not possess living characteristics and have no tendency to escape sealing.

“Appendix: These strands of hair appeared in a failed advancement incident. They are the remains left behind by a certain Nighthawk captain who failed to successfully advance to Sequence 6.”

Hearing Klein’s words, Dunn nodded, his gray eyes deep.

“Excellent suggestion. I almost forgot 3-0611. Go to the recreation room and find Royale. I will retrieve the Sealed Artifact from behind Chanis Gate. I will make up the application afterward.”

That is exactly how it should be. We cannot waste time!

Klein did not delay. He immediately went to the Nighthawks’ recreation room and called out Royale, the Sleepless who rarely showed any expression.

“What is the mission?”

Royale, whose black hair was smooth like silk, asked calmly.

Klein exhaled and answered heavily, “Visiting Old Neil.”

“Visiting Old Neil… He?”

Royale’s eyes widened at once, as if she had guessed something terrible.

“It is not confirmed yet,” Klein said, nodding slightly.

Royale said no more. Both of them fell silent at the same time, and the air around them seemed to slowly condense and grow heavy.

After several minutes passed like this, Dunn finally returned from underground.

He wore black gloves and held a cluster of messy, intertwined pitch-black hair.

Compared with the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem, Quiet Hair did not display any obvious external abnormality. If it fell on the road, it would easily be ignored.

After calling for the driver Cesare, the four of them set out for Old Neil’s house.

The carriage wheels rolled over muddy roads that had just been rained upon. Inside the carriage, it was even quieter than midnight.

After an unknown length of time, Dunn sighed and finally spoke.

“When Old Neil was young, there was once a woman he was about to become engaged to. But she suddenly fell seriously ill, and it was difficult to treat. Old Neil risked leaking Beyonder secrets and attempted to save her through ritual magic. In the end, he still failed. Back then, Old Neil had only just begun learning mysticism.

“According to the records, the Nighthawks at the time were all vigilant for the possibility that Old Neil might lose control because of this. Fortunately, he eventually regained reason and showed no abnormalities.”

May this be a false alarm too…

Klein could not help drawing a crimson moon over his chest. In a low voice, he prayed, “May the Goddess protect him.”

Dunn and Royale made the same gesture.

“May the Goddess protect him.”

…

The sky gradually brightened. The dark clouds fully retreated. The Nighthawk team’s carriage stopped before Old Neil’s detached house.

After having Cesare drive the carriage away to hide at a distance, Dunn restrained his emotions. Holding his cane in one hand and Sealed Artifact 3-0611 in the other, his gray eyes deep and dark, he walked toward the front door.

Klein pressed down his half-top silk hat and followed behind the Captain together with Royale, passing through the garden planted with roses and golden mint.

After they reached the door, Klein stepped forward and pulled the rope connected to the bell inside.

Ding, ding, dang, dang!

A crisp, pleasant bell echoed through the house, breaking the heavy silence.

Ding, ding, dang, dang! Ding, ding, dang, dang! Klein pulled several times in succession, then politely stepped back and made no further attempts.

The three Nighthawks waited patiently for several minutes, but never heard footsteps coming to open the door.

“Maybe Old Neil went to see a doctor and is not home,” Klein said, squeezing out a smile.

Before his words had fully faded, an elegant melody suddenly came from inside the house. It was a beautiful composition played on a piano, like a peaceful lake under the moonlight, veiled by a thin layer of mist.

Dunn’s expression immediately became terribly grave. Klein’s heart sank to the bottom as well.

He was just about to perform a divination when he suddenly saw water gushing out from the crack beneath the front door.

At first, the water was transparent and pure. Then it became stained with crimson—crimson like blood, crimson so dense it was nearly unbearable.