A Diviner's Divination

"You've adapted to the role of a 'Diviner' that quickly?"

After seeing off the satisfied Mrs. Green and finishing their now-cold lunch, Angel leaned back on the Sofa, feeling sluggish as blood pooled in her stomach, and asked Klein.

"This might help me grasp the Potion's power. Look, shouldn't a 'Diviner' be doing divinations? To be honest, I'm planning to take a part-time job at the Divination Club... Well, mainly to keep an eye out for suspicious people while working as an amateur diviner."

Klein took a sip of Coffee and replied with a smile.

That happened to fit the rules of the Acting Method. But that was also because the Diviner sequence itself possessed convenient supportive abilities. Other sequences, such as the Assassin Potion, would be extraordinarily difficult to act out openly...

Angel watched the silver chain faintly visible beneath the sleeve on Klein's Left Hand, and a slight hint of jealousy rose within her—one's success depended not only on one's own efforts, but more importantly, on whether one had chosen a good Potion pathway...

When Mrs. Green had been present earlier, Klein had tossed out the Yellow Crystal hanging from the silver chain and performed Pendulum Divination on the spot. Angel had thought he had even forgotten the confidentiality rules. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Green had been entirely focused on persuading Angel to accept the commission and had no time to notice Klein's strange actions.

Having obtained the divination result, Klein readily accepted Mrs. Green's commission to find her stolen ring. Although Angel was somewhat puzzled, out of trust in her teammate, she did not raise any objections on the spot. Instead, she played along and, after tactfully suggesting that they "needed more money," settled on a commission contract worth 120 Gold Pounds.

"I used Pendulum Divination. By relying on the connection between the Astral Body, the Spirit World, and the starry sky, it divines whether something is auspicious or inauspicious," Klein explained. "Clockwise means affirmation, counterclockwise means denial. What I divined just now was, 'There will be danger in recovering the ring.'"

"The pendant rotated clockwise at a very slow speed, so the conclusion was..."

"There's danger, but not much?"

Angel answered before he could.

That matched the Jules Detective Agency's investigation results. The ring had indeed been sold to a gang by the thief, but it was only a gang. No higher-level powers were involved.

For Beyonders, ordinary gang members truly did not count as much of a threat.

"That's right. If the divination indicated great danger—dangerous even for Beyonders—then it would mean this matter likely involved supernatural factors. Otherwise, it was an ordinary theft case."

"Having confirmed through divination that it was the latter, I thought we could accept the commission. After all, she came to us because of the Blackthorn Security Company sign. Whether to maintain this cover identity or to help an ordinary citizen, it was a reasonable course of action."

Klein explained with a faint smile.

And they could earn a full 120 Gold Pounds...

Angel silently added another reason for him.

Thinking of the Gold Pounds that would soon be theirs, she asked Rosanne, who was brewing a second pot of Coffee beside them, "By the way, Miss Rosanne, if we complete the commission, how will the 120 Gold Pounds be divided?"

Rosanne tilted her head as she poured hot water into the coffee pot and answered:

"By the usual rules, half of the commission payment has to be handed over to Mrs. Orianna as funding for the entire team. The other half is divided among the members involved according to their contributions, though they usually split it evenly."

Each member possessed different Beyonder abilities, and their contributions to combat or searching for items varied greatly. Splitting it equally was indeed the more appropriate method. So they would hand over 60 Gold Pounds, and the two of them could get 30 Gold Pounds each?

Angel quickly calculated the reward she could receive. Thirty Gold Pounds—that was ten weeks of a Nighthawk's salary. It was said that becoming an official member would double it, but even then, it would still be five weeks...

Her gaze swept over Klein, who was seated across from her. She noticed his eyes widen as he stared at Rosanne, as though he could not believe he might receive such a large reward.

"Unfortunately, Klein isn't an official member yet, so he can probably only receive ten percent. Well, ten percent after half has been handed over."

"Ah?"

Seeing the enormous sum of 30 Gold Pounds instantly turn into 6, Klein could not help letting out a questioning sound at the tremendous gap.

His reaction nearly made Angel laugh aloud, but she had received professional training. She tensed the muscles in her face and held it in.

Judging by his clothes, he did not seem particularly short of money... But she had learned in their earlier conversation that Klein had an older brother who worked overtime every day to earn money, as well as a younger sister still in school. Perhaps the entire family was under significant financial pressure?

Angel pondered silently.

Wait, unofficial member...

"But I'm not an official member either, Miss Rosanne."

Angel reminded her.

"Huh? You were already a Beyonder before joining the Nighthawks, so I thought you already..." Rosanne raised her brows in surprise. "In that case, it's 30 Gold Pounds each again."

Perhaps to prove that he deserved that half of the reward, the high-spirited Klein immediately helped Angel with the subsequent divinations. Rosanne, who was quite interested in mysticism, watched from the side, while Brett, lacking interest, went to help Mrs. Orianna organize the finance room.

"The key to Pendulum Divination lies in choosing what to divine." Klein held the silver chain in his Left Hand, allowing the Yellow Crystal pendant to hang naturally, almost touching the tabletop. A sheet of paper containing the divination statement he had just written lay on the table. "If you ask something like, 'Where is Mrs. Green's lost ring?' you won't get an answer, because the pendulum can only provide 'yes' or 'no,' at most with an additional 'intermediate state.' Any more specific answer lies beyond its scope."

"However, we can break down the question we need to divine, turning it into simple questions that can be answered with 'yes' or 'no,' then divine them one by one to obtain the answer."

Looking at the sheet of paper on the table that read, "Mrs. Green's lost ring is at the Labor Mutual Aid Society in the Docklands of Tingen City," Angel was rather surprised. Was Klein really a newcomer who had only just become a Beyonder?

Klein closed his eyes, his lips moving as though he were silently reciting something.

After a while, he opened his eyes again and saw the pendant in his hand slowly rotating clockwise.

"The confirmation is correct. It seems the conclusion in the investigation report Mrs. Green provided is accurate. The ring is in the Docklands."

"Can we narrow down the area further?"

Angel held the investigation report, her gaze sweeping across several keywords.

"I remember the Labor Mutual Aid Society. Its office area was converted from a warehouse. There usually aren't many people there, but there are many rooms, and they're a mess. Searching them one by one would take too much time. If we alert the staff, it could easily lead to a conflict."

"You can't ask questions; you can only verify whether something is true or false." Klein reiterated this as he held a Steel Pen. A new blank sheet lay before him, but he had not written anything, waiting for Angel to propose what needed to be divined.

"What about eliminating possibilities one by one? We could try divining every room?"

"My spirituality can't support too many divinations. It would work if the location were small, but if the area is too large, there's nothing I can do."

Klein rejected that method. He frowned and thought for a while before nodding as though he had made some decision.

"How about this? I'll go to the Docklands with you and use the Dowsing Rod to find the ring."

He picked up the cane beside him and explained this method of divination to Angel and Rosanne.

Unlike the "yes or no" indications of Pendulum Divination, Dowsing Rod only required one to silently recite the object of divination, such as "the location of Mrs. Green's lost ring," then plant the cane on the ground. The direction in which it fell would indicate the item's approximate location.

"That sounds pretty good. Even if the range isn't very precise, as long as we divine several times and use the Triangulation Method, we should be able to make up for the lack of accuracy."

Angel was somewhat tempted, but after estimating the size of the dockside warehouse in her mind, she still shook her head.

"It won't be of much use. We've already confirmed that the ring is in the Labor Mutual Aid Society's warehouse. The place is quite large, and your divination won't be accurate enough from outside..."

"Then let's go inside together." Klein was rather eager as he rubbed his hands and made the suggestion.

"Then it wouldn't be stealing, but robbing." Angel rejected him. "I should act alone. With an Assassin's agility, it's better for me to go in by myself. If you follow me, you'll instead be more likely to alert those gang members."

Without waiting for Klein to speak, she took the paper and pen, swiftly wrote a sentence, and placed it before him.

"Come on, Diviner. I've already thought of a way. Try divining this first."

Emphasized as a "Diviner," Klein could only smile bitterly. He took the sheet of paper and glanced at it. Written on it was, "Mrs. Green's lost ring is currently being carried by someone."

The pendulum rotated counterclockwise, giving the divination result: denial.

"The second one."

While Klein closed his eyes and silently recited the words on the paper, Angel had already written another sentence: "Mrs. Green's lost ring is currently being properly stored."

This time, the Yellow Crystal pendant rotated clockwise.

This indicated that the ring was being properly stored.

After completing two consecutive divinations, Klein set down the pendant and pressed both hands against his temples, rubbing them for a while before opening his eyes.

"I can conduct at most two or three more divinations. Sorry, I only just became a Diviner, and consecutive divinations consume a great deal of spirituality."

"It's fine. It's already enough. I've gotten the answer I needed."

Angel laid the three sheets containing the divination statements flat across the Tea Table in order, then used her pen to mark the divination results on each one.

Under Klein and Rosanne's surprised gazes, she patiently explained, "First, we confirmed that the ring was indeed at the Labor Mutual Aid Society in the Docklands, just as Mrs. Green's information stated." She drew a circle on the first sheet. "Then, the second divination denied that the ring was currently being carried by someone."

She drew an X on the second sheet.

"Finally, it was being properly stored."

After drawing the final circle, Angel looked up at the two of them. "A gold ring that clearly looks quite valuable, not being carried by anyone and being properly stored—where should it be?"

"In a safe!" Klein and Rosanne answered in unison.