Klein Froze

The bakery.

"Ten pounds of black bread."

Klein, wearing a worn brown coat, stood in front of Mrs. Slin and smiled.

The weight made Mrs. Slin's eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"Did Benson come back early?"

Klein quickly shook his head.

"We have a guest."

He answered vaguely.

They did have a guest: Lynch Trans, one of Benson's colleagues. Melissa and Klein had only occasionally seen him around Benson, and they weren't particularly close.

He had no idea why the man had fainted on his doorstep.

But it had little to do with him. If his experiment succeeded, he might be able to leave here today.

Klein deliberately avoided thinking about what Melissa and Benson would make of it. He really wanted to go home.

He shook his head and watched Mrs. Slin put the black bread into a bag. His mouth began to water.

His stomach was completely empty, and he couldn't wait to start eating.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Slin wasn't about to let the opportunity pass. She spent quite some time telling him about the housing he needed, his salary, and other matters that made him anxious before finally letting him go.

After that, he ran into a strange fortune-teller at the market. Since the reading was free, he let the man tell his fortune.

But before the man could explain the Fool Card, the real fortune-teller came back.

When he learned the reading wasn't free after all, Klein immediately picked up his bread and left.

He then bought some lettuce and meat at the market and hurried home with the rest of his money and the things in his pocket.

As soon as he got home, he remembered something.

He had planned to perform the Luck Enhancement Ritual in his room, but Mr. Trans was still there.

Fortunately, the man was looking at something in the room and hadn't noticed him.

Klein didn't disturb him. Instead, he turned and walked into the communal washroom.

The other tenants on the second floor had already left by then. Otherwise, the washroom wouldn't have been quiet.

Klein found some clean paper to set under the bread, lettuce, and meat he'd bought, so they would still be edible afterward.

They'd just have picked up the smell of the washroom, which would probably be a little off-putting.

But...

Klein shook his head. No matter what, he had to find a way home. He'd pay any price for it.

Unfortunately, going home was clearly impossible.

Klein performed the Luck Enhancement Ritual, but he didn't return to his own home. Instead, he opened Sefirah Castle and put on a grand show in front of Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man.

At the same time, Lynch, who was in Klein's room, stood up, excitement flickering within him.

Energy!

The Stone of Myriad Phenomena had detected energy again.

The closer he got to the washroom, the more energy it absorbed.

But the energy didn't keep coming for long. Maybe three minutes, maybe five.

He soon realized that the Stone of Myriad Phenomena had stopped absorbing energy and had gone quiet again.

Had Sefirah Castle noticed it?

Lynch didn't have time to consider why. He hurried back to Klein's room.

As soon as he entered, he checked the energy inside the Stone of Myriad Phenomena.

In just a few minutes, it had absorbed more than half as much energy as it had from the Antigonus Notebook.

Lynch quickly stopped having the Stone of Myriad Phenomena search for a Pathway suited to him, and instead told it to create one that would suit him even better.

That would obviously require more energy, but if it worked, he wouldn't have to compete with Beyonders from other Pathways for Potion ingredients.

As he watched the Stone of Myriad Phenomena begin simulating the creation of a Pathway, Lynch glanced at the notebook Klein had left on the desk.

Klein's notebook was still open on the desk. Written in Hermes was the sentence: Everyone will die, including me.

Lynch was grateful that the previous owner of this body had once taught himself the language. That was the only reason he could read it. Otherwise, the scattered fragments he remembered from Lord of the Mysteries wouldn't have been enough to confirm that the sentence mattered.

Just absorbing energy from the outside had made the Stone of Myriad Phenomena react so strongly. He couldn't even imagine how delighted it would be if he could get inside Sefirah Castle.

But the Tarot Club only had two members so far, so the chances of him being taken in were slim. For now, he would have to stick close to Klein.

Of course, that might take some time.

But there was no need to rush. The most urgent thing was to wriggle out of the 2.5-pound debt.

When Klein returned to his room, feeling exhausted, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Could he be any unluckier?

Just now, while listening to Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man talk about Beyonders above the Gray Fog, he'd suddenly felt weak. Frightened, he'd hurriedly wrapped things up and left the Gray Fog.

He'd planned to return to his room and go straight to sleep, but then he saw that the original owner's diary, which he'd read that morning, was still open.

Lynch was standing beside the diary, staring motionlessly at the Hermes writing on the page.

How much had he seen?

Klein's heart tightened.

No, he couldn't get too worked up. The other man had no proof and wouldn't connect the dots. Even Klein himself, despite having experienced what happened yesterday, was still confused about it.

That thought put Klein somewhat at ease.

He cleared his throat and said, pretending to be displeased, "Mr. Trans, I don't believe I gave you permission to read my diary!"

Lynch pretended to look apologetic and stepped back a little.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to read it. I only wanted to borrow your fountain pen. You'd left the notebook open, and I only saw what was written on the page by accident."

Klein breathed a sigh of relief.

It was his fault, after all. He'd forgotten to close the notebook. He couldn't make that mistake again.

Just as he was about to tell Lynch he forgave him, he heard the man's next words and froze in shock.

"I really did see it by accident, but it confirmed something for me. You were the one who attacked me yesterday!"

Klein opened his mouth, nearly blurting out, "Bullshit!"

How could he have attacked anyone?

The original owner couldn't have done it either.

They were refined people. How could they do something so uncivilized?

"Mr. Trans, could you have made a mistake?"

Klein tried to remind him in as calm a voice as possible.

Lynch had known Klein wouldn't admit it.

He pulled the Antigonus Notebook from his pocket.

"Look at this. Yesterday evening, I saw that something was wrong with you, so I grabbed you to ask what was going on. But you didn't just ignore me—you punched and kicked me, then hit me over the head with this book. I lost consciousness from the blow...

"When I woke up, all I had left was this notebook. Later, I brought it here to settle the score with you, but I fainted on your doorstep. You're not going to deny it, are you?"

Lynch shook the Antigonus Notebook and stared intently at Klein.

Klein froze in place.

He had a solid case and a piece of evidence. Could he really have done it?

But admitting to it meant he would have to pay five pounds in medical expenses. Their family would have to go five weeks without food or drink to pay off that debt...

"Ahem. Is it possible that someone who looked a lot like me did it?"