Klein Frozen

Bakery.

"Ten pounds of rye bread."

Klein, wearing a worn brown coat, stood before Mrs. Slin and smiled.

This weight made Mrs. Slin open her eyes slightly in surprise.

"Did Benson come back early?"

Klein hurriedly shook his head.

"A guest arrived."

He answered vaguely.

A guest had indeed arrived; it was Benson's colleague, Lynch Trans. He and Melissa had only occasionally seen this gentleman alongside Benson, and they were not particularly close.

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

However, it didn't have much to do with him. If his experiment succeeded, he might leave this place today.

Klein deliberately tried not to think about what Melissa and Benson might be thinking; he really wanted to go home.

He shook his head, watching Mrs. Slin place the rye bread into a bag, his mouth involuntarily secreting saliva.

His stomach was empty, and he wished he could start eating right now.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Slin wouldn't let this opportunity pass, lecturing him for quite a while about the housing he needed, as well as work wages and other things that made him anxious, before finally letting him leave.

Afterward, he encountered a strange fortune-teller at the market, and under the influence of it being free, he underwent a divination.

It was just that before the other party could interpret the Fool Card, the real fortune-teller returned.

Upon learning that the other party was not offering free services, Klein immediately took his bread and left the place.

He then bought some lettuce and meat at the market, and with the remaining money and the items in his pockets, he hurried home.

Just as he arrived home, he remembered one thing.

He had originally intended to perform a luck-enhancement ritual in his room, but that Mr. Trans was still in his room.

Fortunately, the man was looking at something in the room and did not notice him.

Klein did not disturb him and turned to walk into the communal bathroom.

At this time, the other tenants on the second floor had already left, otherwise, the bathroom would not have been quiet.

Klein placed the bread, lettuce, and meat he had bought on clean paper, so that the bread would still be edible later.

It was just that it would likely be a bit off-putting to be tainted by the smell of the bathroom.

However...

Klein shook his head. No matter what, he had to find a way home; he would spare no cost, no matter what it took.

It was a pity that going home was clearly impossible to achieve.

Klein performed the luck-enhancement ritual, but he did not return to his home; instead, he opened Sefirah Castle and, at the same time, put on a grand display before Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man.

Meanwhile, Lynch, who was staying in Klein's room, stood up with a hint of excitement.

Energy!

The Stone of Myriad Phenomena had captured energy again.

The closer he got to the bathroom, the more intense the energy extraction became.

However, this energy extraction did not last long—perhaps three minutes, perhaps five.

He soon discovered that the Stone of Myriad Phenomena had stopped absorbing energy and had become as quiet as before.

Was it detected by Sefirah Castle?

Lynch had no time to think about the reason and immediately returned to Klein's room.

As soon as he entered the room, he began to check the energy inside the Stone of Myriad Phenomena.

A mere few minutes of absorption had yielded more than half of what he had absorbed from the Antigonus Notebook.

Lynch quickly stopped the Stone of Myriad Phenomena from helping him find a pathway suitable for him, and instead had the Stone of Myriad Phenomena generate a pathway better suited to him.

This obviously required more energy, but if it succeeded, it would allow him to avoid competing with Beyonders of other pathways for potion ingredients.

Watching the Stone of Myriad Phenomena begin to simulate and generate a pathway, Lynch cast his gaze upon the notebook Klein had left on the table.

Klein's notebook was still spread open on the table, not closed, with the following written in Hermes Language: Everyone will die, including me.

Lynch was grateful for this body's past efforts in self-studying this language, which allowed him to read the words; otherwise, relying only on his fragmented memories of the plot of Lord of the Mysteries, he really wouldn't have been able to confirm that this sentence was useful.

Just by grazing energy from the outside, the Stone of Myriad Phenomena had such a huge reaction; if he could enter Sefirah Castle, he couldn't even imagine how happy the Stone of Myriad Phenomena would be.

However, the Tarot Club, which already had two members, was unlikely to absorb him now, so he had to stick close to Klein for the time being.

Of course, this process might take some time.

But don't be in a hurry; getting past the 2.5-pound debt was the top priority.

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

This was just too unlucky, wasn't it?

Just moments ago above the gray fog, while listening to Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man discuss Beyonders, he had suddenly felt a wave of weakness. Frightened, he had hurriedly brought the meeting to a close and left the gray fog.

He had intended to return to his room and get some sleep immediately, only to discover that the diary belonging to the original owner, which he had been reading that morning, had not been closed.

And Lynch was standing right next to the diary at that moment, his gaze fixed motionlessly on the Hermes Language written upon it.

He had no idea how much the other man had seen.

Klein's heart leaped into his throat.

No, he couldn't get too agitated. The other party had no evidence and wouldn't be able to make any connections. Even he, the person who had experienced the events of yesterday, was still somewhat bewildered by them.

Thinking of this, Klein felt slightly more at ease.

He cleared his throat and said with feigned dissatisfaction, "Mr. Trance, I don't believe I gave you permission to read my diary!"

Lynch pretended to look somewhat apologetic and stepped back a little.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read these. I just wanted to borrow your pen, and since you hadn't closed it, I accidentally saw what was written in your notes."

Klein breathed a sigh of relief.

It was his own fault; after all, he had forgotten to close the notebook. He couldn't afford to make such a mistake again.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to forgive Lynch, he was stunned to hear what the other man said next.

"I really did see it by accident, but it confirmed one thing for me: it was you who attacked me yesterday!"

Klein opened his mouth, nearly blurting out the word "bullshit."

How could he possibly have attacked someone?

Even the original owner couldn't have done it.

How could refined people like them be so uncivilized?

"Mr. Trance, could you have mistaken me for someone else?"

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

Lynch knew Klein wouldn't admit it.

He pulled the Antigonus Notebook out of 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 not only did you ignore me, you punched and kicked me, and finally, you smashed my head with this book. I was knocked unconscious...

When I woke up, only this notebook was left. Later, I brought it here to settle the score with you, only to faint at your doorstep. You aren't trying to deny it, are you?"

Lynch shook the Antigonus Notebook, his eyes burning as he stared at Klein.

Klein froze in place.

With logic, evidence, and a witness, could it really have been him?

But admitting to this meant he would have to pay five pounds in medical expenses, which meant his family would have to go five weeks without eating or drinking just to clear the debt...

"Ahem, is it possible that someone who looks like me did it?"