Chapter 32: Confirmation

Chapter Thirty-Two
Confirmation

15 Minsk Street. After returning home, Klein did not hurry above the gray fog to perform divination. He pretended that nothing had happened and read the newspapers.

During that process, he heard illusory, layered prayers and vaguely recognized that they came from a lady.

After enduring the ravings of the True Creator, my ability in this area seems to have improved slightly…

Thoughtfully, Klein flipped the newspaper, sitting and half reclining steadily in the easy chair without moving.

Only when the hands of his pocket watch neared ten did he put down what he was holding and go to the second-floor washroom to clean himself.

Entering the bedroom and drawing the curtains, Klein skillfully arrived above the gray fog and saw the crimson star symbolizing Justice repeatedly swelling and contracting, bringing forth echoing prayers one after another.

Klein spread out his spirituality and touched it. Before his eyes immediately appeared Miss Justice, wearing a pale-white silk nightgown.

Her figure was still quite blurry. She seemed to be leaning against her bed.

After reciting the honorific name, Audrey went straight to the main topic.

“Ambassador Bakerland is Sequence 6 of the Hunter pathway, a Conspirer, and has an assistant suspected of being Sequence 5…

“After obtaining detailed intelligence, I found someone to ask Mr. A. He agreed to take over the mission to assassinate Ambassador Bakerland, but his condition is ten thousand gold pounds, or one of the potion formulas for Unshadowed, Cataclysmic Interrer, Prophet, or Manipulator. It does not need to be complete. A portion will do.

“I chose the former and paid two thousand pounds in advance. Respected Mr. Fool, was my decision correct?”

Ten thousand gold pounds…

The corner of Klein’s mouth moved, and he immediately forced his train of thought elsewhere.

That Sequence 5 assistant should be the infiltrator from the Diviner pathway, right?

Treat it as such. Better to overestimate the enemy…

Does Mr. A truly have that ability? Will he take the money and not do the job?

Cataclysmic Interrer, Prophet, and Manipulator listed alongside Unshadowed—those should all belong to Sequence 4. That is the threshold of the high Sequences…

Mr. A is very likely one of the Aurora Order’s twenty-two Oracles. Being stationed in Backlund, the capital of capitals, means his position should be second only to the five Saints at the very top. He is among the outstanding Oracles…

The Aurora Order controls the Secrets Suppliant pathway. That is a road that directly approaches the True Creator. As an Oracle, he is very likely a Beyonder of this Sequence chain. Based on Backlund’s status, it can be preliminarily judged that he is Sequence 5—a Shepherd. Of course, he could also be a lower Rose Bishop, but more outstanding in other aspects, such as intelligence…

I must remind Miss Justice not to have too much contact with Mr. A. Beyonders of the Secrets Suppliant pathway are either abnormal madmen who have already shown it, or madmen hiding it very deeply. There is almost no exception… Sequence 8 Listener of this pathway frequently hears the True Creator’s voice…

Mm. Only a madman would boldly accept a mission to assassinate the Intis ambassador and have the courage to complete it…

I have a portion of the Unshadowed potion formula here, as well as the corresponding advancement ritual. That could save Miss Justice ten thousand gold pounds…

Why does Mr. A want only the formulas for Unshadowed, Cataclysmic Interrer, Prophet, and Manipulator? Are those pathways interchangeable with the Secrets Suppliant pathway at high Sequences? That is rather many. Counting that way, there are five pathways…

Unshadowed belongs to the Eternal Blazing Sun. Cataclysmic Interrer sounds like it belongs to the Lord of Storms—or the Evernight Goddess… Earlier, I judged that the pathways of the Eternal Blazing Sun, Lord of Storms, and God of Knowledge and Wisdom belong to neighboring Sequences. That is why They are hostile to one another. Looking at it now, Cataclysmic Interrer belongs to the Lord of Storms. It is Sequence 4 of the Sailor pathway, while Prophet belongs to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom…

What pathway does Manipulator belong to?

That they can all interchange with the Sequence corresponding to the True Creator is interesting…

Mm… I cannot give Mr. A the Unshadowed formula. Not even a partial formula. Aurora Order members are madmen who are always seeking opportunities to take revenge on the world and endanger public safety. Strategic things cannot be traded to them… This is not only a matter of principles. It also involves my own safety. Once the time is ripe, the madmen of the Aurora Order really might sacrifice an entire city…

Let Miss Justice spend the ten thousand pounds. Some of that includes the reward she planned to give my blessed one, and for the rest, I can compensate her with knowledge…

Klein reached out and pinched his own cheek.

He did not immediately answer Justice. Instead, he manifested paper and pen, preparing to perform divination.

Klein had no understanding at all of the friend Maric had mentioned. He could only judge from the pronoun “she” that the person was female. If he wanted to directly divine whether the other party was reliable, failure was inevitable.

However, Klein could perform an indirect divination using his own safety. The success rate would be much higher that way.

As for whether there would be interference, and how accurate the result would be, with the gray fog as a barrier, he was not worried at all.

After weighing the statement for more than ten seconds, Klein wrote:

“Hiring Maric’s friend as a bodyguard for three days is risky.”

Putting down the fountain pen and unwinding his spirit pendulum, Klein gathered his mind and swiftly performed the divination.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the citrine pendant rotating clockwise. However, the range was very small, and the speed was very slow.

There is some risk, but it is quite low… reliable…

Klein nodded lightly and switched to divining Mr. A.

Similarly, he had no direct contact with Mr. A. Everything he knew came through retelling and deduction. It was difficult to confirm whether Mr. A had the ability or whether he would honor the promise. Klein could only approach it indirectly from another angle.

As a fairly outstanding Diviner, Klein quickly identified the direction: he would divine Ambassador Bakerland.

The ambassador had quite a few entanglements with him. The corresponding intelligence was relatively detailed. Even what the other party had become involved in was something Klein understood rather well. As a divination target, he posed no problem.

After thinking for a while, Klein wrote:

“Bakerland Jean Madan will face a fatal threat from Mr. A.”

In this divination, where his certainty was not great, he made the statement as vague as possible and did not preset a definite result, lest it fail.

This time, Klein saw the pendulum again rotate clockwise, but its speed was faster, and its range wider.

This means Mr. A will carry out the mission and has a fairly good chance of success…

Klein slowly exhaled, then began responding to Miss Justice’s prayer.

“Acceptable.

“Your decision has no issue.

“Absolutely do not appear personally.

“My blessed one hopes to receive one thousand pounds in activity funds. Use the same method as before. It would be best if it can be completed tomorrow.

“This will offset the Light Suppliant formula. You also no longer need to collect information on the Secret Order. However, if you obtain corresponding news in the future, I will trade with you.”

After learning that the infiltrator was a Beyonder of the Diviner pathway, Klein’s need for information on the Secret Order was no longer so urgent.

Originally, he had wanted to ask for more than one thousand pounds, but considering that Miss Justice had to pay ten thousand pounds for the matter of assassinating the ambassador, her financial condition would certainly become tight. Therefore, he could only give the bottom line.

Once done, Klein did not linger. He immediately returned to the real world.

…

Audrey was holding a sheet of music, softly humming its melody. Outside the window, the crimson moon appeared and vanished.

Suddenly, dense gray fog rose before her eyes. A figure sat high upon an ancient chair, looking down from above, and spoke in a low voice.

After hearing Mr. Fool’s response, Audrey immediately breathed a sigh of relief and was no longer so anxious.

One thousand pounds… My debt to Mr. Fool is close to being paid off… I feel so much lighter…

Audrey held the music score against her chest, dimples faintly appearing.

Although for a very long time afterward, her pocket money would be only one thousand pounds per month—leaving her in an extremely difficult position—she could still grit her teeth and squeeze out another thousand pounds.

Borrow a little more from Glaint and increase the number of installments…

Audrey had received good education in that area. After all, her father was a behind-the-scenes banker.

…

At noon on Thursday, Klein once again heard illusory prayers. After confirmation, Miss Justice had already deposited the money into that anonymous account.

Within Backlund, bank reconciliation and clearing could be completed on the same day. In other words, starting Friday, Klein could withdraw that cash from any Backlund Bank branch within the city.

After lunch, Klein once again met Mary Gale. She took him outside Cragg Club, where two members waited.

One was a famous surgeon, Alan Kress. The other was an equestrian instructor to nobles, Talim Dumont.

After the introductions, Alan, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, tall and thin in build, and somewhat cold in temperament, entered the club first. Talim, the equestrian teacher with short, curled brown hair, walked beside Klein and smiled.

“If Mary had not mentioned you, I would never have known that Backlund had gained such an outstanding detective. If I ever have anything that requires entrusting, I will come to you.”

“Then allow me to thank you in advance,” Klein replied with a smile.

From Mary’s introduction in the carriage, he knew that Talim had originally been a noble descendant, his ancestors possessing the title of viscount. Unfortunately, the family estate had been squandered completely by his grandfather. For that reason, his father had nearly ten brothers and more than six sisters. And as landed nobles, once the land they possessed fell beneath the required standard line, hereditary titles could be lowered—though that also depended on the King’s mood.

Talim could not, like other noble children, receive a considerable sum of money upon adulthood to do business. Because of his grandfather’s reputation, he had no channels to enter the government as a clerk or serve as a butler in another noble family. He could only make use of his strengths and become an equestrian instructor for many nobles, earning a fairly generous income of about four hundred pounds a year.

“Sigh. Divorce truly is something that makes a person poor.”

It was unclear whether Talim was hinting at Mary Gale’s matter or thinking of his grandfather, who had lived more like an Intisian than a Loen gentleman.

Klein could not reply. He could only follow him into Cragg Club and saw a spacious, bright hall.