Chapter 116: Claw Marks

Chapter One Hundred SixteenClaw Marks

Backlund Bridge area, Bravehearts Bar.

Klein pressed down the flat cap on his head, carefully protecting the wallet inside the inner pocket of his gray-blue worker’s jacket. He circled around the drinkers gathered near the boxing ring and headed straight for the bar.

Along the way, he looked around but did not discover the black-market arms dealer Kaspars Kanlinen.

Either playing cards or billiards…

Klein nodded to himself and sat down before the bar.

“Half-and-half.”

He had seen someone drink that alcoholic beverage before and felt it should suit his taste.

At least better than pure malt beer…

Klein thought, not without comparison.

The bartender looked up at him.

“Which two drinks? Different choices, different prices.”

“Ordinary ones. Ordinary is fine.”

The man Klein had seen last time had used the lowest-quality varieties, making the entire glass of half-and-half only two and a half pence.

“Four and a half pence.”

Only after seeing Klein line up the brass coins on the bar did the bartender turn around to mix the drink. In passing, he said, “Here to look for Kaspars again? He isn’t here anymore. His business was taken.”

“Ah?”

Klein had not expected that answer.

Before the bartender could reply, a man beside him with protruding lips laughed loudly.

“That’s right. We chased Kaspars away!

“Heh. What right does a crippled old man have to do this kind of business?

“If you want anything, come to us. Come to our boss.”

A gang conflict?

That was the first thought to surface in Klein’s mind, and he was just about to refuse the other party’s proposal.

But then he immediately thought of another possibility.

Could the Rose School of Thought have deliberately found a gang to suppress Kaspars, thereby forcing out Maric and Miss Sharron behind him, making them jump into a trap of their own accord?

Mm. That probability is not low. Kaspars has been a black-market arms dealer here for a long time. He definitely is not someone others can chase away just because they say so. During the recent period, as the serial murder cases kept occurring, the entire atmosphere in Backlund was extremely tense. The Rose School of Thought—or some other secret force, in any case people searching for Maric and Miss Sharron—definitely did not dare carelessly kill and channel spirits to obtain answers. That would create many bloody cases, and they clearly only had a few suspected targets for now, without confirming who had a way to contact Miss Sharron and Maric…

Klein swallowed back the words that had reached his mouth and instead asked, “May I first learn about the prices, then decide whether to buy?”

He planned to observe the ordinary human force that had taken over the black-market trade in Bravehearts Bar. If he found something wrong, he could use it to do Kaspars, Sharron, and Maric a favor.

In any case, Klein did not intend to start any conflict. He was merely preparing to follow normal procedures and take a look. That could not be called an adventure.

“Sure. The only requirement is…”

The man raised a hand before his protruding mouth and made a zipping motion.

“No problem.”

No sooner had Klein answered than the half-and-half was placed before him, and the copper pence were taken away by the bartender.

In the spirit of not wasting anything, he picked it up and drank several mouthfuls. His brows gradually drew together.

Not the taste I imagined. Too much alcohol. Too little grape flavor…

Klein set down the glass and followed the man toward billiard room number three, where Kaspars had usually stayed before.

Just as they were about to reach the door, another thought suddenly occurred to him.

Even I, someone who does not have much information, can guess this might be a trap. Would Miss Sharron and Maric, who have been hunted for who knows how long, fail to realize that? They definitely would not show themselves…

But Kaspars knows more than one Beyonder. He is connected to several…