Chapter 127: The Past

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
The Past

This—this is not making things difficult for me, is it?

Hearing Alan’s request, Klein almost instinctively drew a crimson moon upon his chest, but in the end he restrained the impulse and answered the other man with an extremely solemn expression.

“Perhaps some of my behavior has given you a misunderstanding.

“But I must tell you: faith is something one does not change after making a decision.”

Alan immediately lifted both arms in an apologetic gesture.

“I am sorry. I misunderstood your piety. I should not have joked about your faith.”

“All right. A difference in faith does not prevent us from becoming friends.”

Klein put away the expression he had just disguised and said with a smile, “That sentence does not hold true in Feysac and Feynapotter. They accept only one faith.”

By comparison, because several Churches had coexisted for more than fourteen hundred years, Loen and Intis were much more open in that regard.

Without waiting for Alan’s reply, he deliberately changed the subject as though casually.

“Did you ever see Will Auceptin again afterward? The child whose leg was amputated, the one who said your luck would grow worse.”

He believed the Nighthawks would certainly follow Alan’s clue and investigate, so he was rather curious about the result—curious whether the one who had changed Alan’s fortune was that child, or the tarot cards in his hands.

“No. Since he was discharged, I have never seen him again,” Alan said, shaking his head with certainty.

What a pity. The Nighthawks can follow the hospital’s registered address and find him, but I cannot rashly interfere… Of course, that child might have moved away long ago…

After idly chatting with Alan for a while, Klein prepared to go to the underground shooting range and familiarize himself with the revolver that had come as a free addition, using ordinary bullets.

At that moment, two acquaintances entered through the door. One was Madam Mary, member of the Kingdom Atmospheric Pollution Investigation Committee and shareholder of Cowim Company. The other was Klein’s landlady, Madam Stelyn Sammer. Both of them wore comparatively light dresses, making them look quite a bit younger.

According to the club’s rules, each member could only bring in one additional person. Therefore, Mary’s maid and specially hired bodyguard had both been left in the reception hall.

Klein politely went forward, greeted them, and offered a courteous compliment.

“Ladies, you are as beautiful as ever today, but in a way different from your usual beauty.”

Having recently come into contact with quite a few important figures, Mary smiled faintly and said, “Roselle once said that life lies in movement. Stelyn is always at home handling trivial matters. Even when she goes out, it is only to attend banquets and listen to operas. Her health is much worse than before, so I brought her here to play tennis and squash.”

Her eyes, set above comparatively high cheekbones, shifted, and she saw a Member of the House of Commons and two Members of Parliament from the Backlund region chatting in a corner. Turning her head, she said to Stelyn, “I’ve run into some acquaintances. I’ll go greet them. You can wait for me in the library.”

“All right,” Stelyn answered.

Compared with Mary, Stelyn was clearly much prettier, but before that lady, she appeared rather respectful and meek.

Only after Mary had walked some distance away did she lift her chin slightly and look at Klein.

“Mr. Moriarty, you seem to have been very busy recently?”

“Yes. I was working with many detectives before, helping the police department investigate that serial murder case. We made a certain contribution and received quite a bit of bounty money,” Klein answered “truthfully.”

Stelyn raised a hand to cover her mouth.

“Really?”

“What did the murderer look like? Why did he kill those ladies? The newspapers introduced it very vaguely.”

“I am sorry. I must obey the confidentiality clause,” Klein said, skillfully finding an excuse.

I cannot exactly tell you that it had black fur all over, a smooth, moist tail, and liked running on all fours…

Klein silently roasted the matter.

Stelyn nodded with a little regret, then asked with considerable curiosity, “Then how much bounty did you receive?”

“There were many of us dividing it,” Klein answered indirectly.

“Was there fifty pounds?” Stelyn pressed.

“Yes,” Klein said with an “honest” nod.

A smile instantly appeared on Stelyn Sammer’s face.

“Your income is higher than I imagined. You truly are a capable detective.”

“No. Something like this may not happen even once every several years,” Klein said, smiling as he shook his head.

“No matter what, you have proven your ability.”

Stelyn’s eyes moved, and she said, “Next Sunday, Luke and I will hold a banquet at home. I hope you can attend. Mm, apologies, this is rather abrupt. Later, I will have my maid deliver an invitation to you. Heh, this banquet will have quite a few unmarried young ladies attending. Their fathers or mothers all have relatively respectable jobs, and every family has an annual income above two hundred pounds. Some of them even do part-time work that can be done from home, such as typing. They are all very outstanding women.”

This—this is a matchmaking banquet… Madam Stelyn has acknowledged my earning ability as a detective, so she plans to introduce girls to single me? But in her eyes, I am only suited to women of this level?

Many thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind in an instant. But considering the need to maintain neighborly relations, as well as the trouble of preparing dinner for himself, he answered with a smile.

“If no urgent situation arises, I will attend on time.”

Stelyn’s smile brightened.

“Then Luke and I will await your visit.”

She did not ramble further. After taking her leave, she entered the club’s small library. Klein, meanwhile, proceeded as planned to a closed private shooting range, where he practiced shooting and his Beyonder abilities.

…

At nine o’clock that night, Klein sat at his desk, watching the crimson moon in the sky gradually pierce through the clouds and reveal its no-longer-incomplete form.

Like water, a pale-red “veil” slowly spread outward. Time passed minute by minute. When it was a quarter past ten, he heard layered, illusory prayers.

Without needing to distinguish them, Klein could guess they were Miss Magician’s pleas for help.

He swiftly closed the curtains, extinguished the lamp, took four steps counterclockwise, and entered above the gray fog. Reaching out, he touched the crimson star that was constantly contracting and expanding.

In an instant, Fors’s hazy, blurred figure appeared in the chair whose back was marked by “layer upon layer of doors.”

She exhaled in relief, rose, and bowed.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, you have saved me once again.”

“This is not something worth dwelling upon,” Klein answered in a tone as calm and light as drifting clouds and gentle wind.

Fors clicked her tongue inwardly and sat back down.

She thought about what had just happened and did not immediately speak. Klein, in order to maintain his image, also did not take the initiative to raise a topic.

Inside the towering palace like the dwelling of giants, silence quickly became the main theme.

By the time Fors came back to herself, she suddenly felt that atmosphere pressing down upon her, making her extremely uncomfortable.

During gatherings, there is Miss Justice and Mr. World and the others. There is no fear of no one speaking. But now there is only me and Mr. Fool. What should I do? The pressure feels so great! I have to say something. I absolutely have to say something. I cannot just sit here like a fool… That is Mr. Fool! He definitely will not care about anything, but I am so nervous, so restrained!

Fors abruptly recovered the feeling she had had when she had first entered the workplace and had been alone with her direct superior.

Although Klein was not a Spectator, he could still clearly see Miss Magician’s tension and unease. He smiled and said, “Perhaps you could speak about how you became a Beyonder.”

For example, how you obtained the Apprentice formula and that bracelet…

Klein silently added the true target of his question.

Fors relaxed a little. Recalling the past, she said, “That was nearly three years ago. I had just graduated from Backlund Medical College.”

“With my father’s help, I entered a private clinic that offered quite good pay. Heh, my father had already settled in East Balam by then.

“Ever since a safe route to the Southern Continent was discovered, the kingdom’s outstanding young people began scattering their footprints across every corner there. My father, as a low-ranking officer, went to East Balam in pursuit of wealth and power, while my mother and I were left behind in Backlund, living like a widow and fatherless child. Heh, only every few months would a ship from afar bring one letter.

“This situation is not rare in the kingdom. I know an old gentleman who has five children, but they are either on the islands, in West Balam, in the Paz River Valley, or on the Hagati grasslands. They have their own careers, families, and wealth, but have forgotten that there is still a father always waiting for them to return.

“When I was studying at grammar school, my mother became seriously ill. I had no choice but to watch helplessly as she died in a hospital bed. My father only replied to my letter one month later, telling me that he already had a new family in East Balam and had welcomed a new life. He gave me all the property in Backlund and some extra money besides. I think he must have felt somewhat guilty.”

As a bestselling novelist, Fors had already masterfully grasped the skill of wandering off on tangents.

Klein had nothing else to do and quietly listened, not interrupting.

Hoo. Fors let out a breath and continued, “In short, through a retired officers’ club, my father introduced me to Yosif Clinic. The salary there truly was generous. My life was decent enough, but I still felt some anxiety about the future. So I kept working hard, learning from the senior doctors and saving money, until I met an old lady who often came for treatment.

“She was very lonely. She had no children, and her companion had died ten years earlier. I felt some sympathy for her and would often speak with her and chat with her.

“One time, I was astonished to discover that she could actually pass through walls. That brought me into a whole new world.

“The old lady said this was a legacy her husband had left to her. She vaguely mentioned that as long as one was not from some family, there seemed to be no curse.

“Not long afterward, she became gravely ill and was about to pass away. She asked me whether I was willing to become someone like her. I was very young then, and my mind still held many fantasies, so I agreed without hesitation.

“She gave me the formula and told me to watch over her corpse after her death, to take away the glowing object that would suddenly appear. That was the legacy she left me, and it could serve as the main ingredient for the potion.

“In addition, she gave me this bracelet, reminding me not to use it unless I was in the most dangerous situation. At the same time, she told me not to pay too much attention to the ravings during the full moon.

“Unfortunately, in the end, I still failed to avoid danger. I used it once, and the full-moon ravings became serious from then on.”

It seems she was the widow of some Abraham… Her own experience proves that the “curse” exists only in the bloodline…

Klein lightly nodded.

“When you become a high-Sequence powerhouse, those ravings will no longer have much effect.”

“I hope so.”

Although Fors did not believe she could become a high-Sequence powerhouse, she believed Mr. Fool.

…

It was Monday once again. No sooner had Klein gotten up and gone downstairs than he saw a sheet of paper spread upon the coffee table in the sitting room. On it was a brief line of writing:

“Effective.”

That is good…

Klein instantly let out a breath of relief.

At two forty-five in the afternoon, he punctually entered above the gray fog and began “preparing” for a new Tarot Gathering.