Dunn's Suspicion

Lynch's eyes lit up. He pulled the Antigonus Notebook out of his desk.

He hadn't wanted to keep dealing with this thing anyway. When he passed by that place later, he could just throw it into the room.

He had noticed that the window on the side of the house facing the street was open, directly opposite the body. If he went by there, he could toss the notebook inside.

Then, when Dunn and the others came to investigate, they would find the Antigonus Notebook.

He had already revoked the notebook's recognition of him as its owner, so Dunn and the others would definitely be able to see its contents.

Even if Dunn and the others realized that this notebook was the same one as the fake, and discovered that he had thrown it inside, it wouldn't be a big deal.

After all, if the Antigonus Notebook was real and he'd had a dream like that, it was entirely plausible that he'd been controlled into throwing it.

He could also take the opportunity to have Klein divine whether there was anything seriously wrong with his dream.

That was it. Perfect.

Lynch quickly tidied himself up and put on his coat. He was just about to put on his hat, but soon took it off again.

If he wanted to pin everything on the person behind the scenes, he couldn't show up looking so neat.

With that in mind, Lynch immediately took off his coat. Wearing only a shirt and carrying the Antigonus Notebook, he left the house.

He couldn't take a carriage, of course. It took him about an hour to walk to the building he'd visited during the day.

He stood outside and looked up at the open window.

He remained motionless for a long while. Then, expressionless, he threw the notebook through the window.

Afterward, he paused again, as though something had taken control of him.

This lasted for five minutes. Then Lynch suddenly moved, as if his mind had been unlocked. He hugged himself and shivered.

He stared at the scene before him in confusion, seeming unable to understand why he was there. In a daze, he continued walking.

After he had gone some distance, Lynch immediately started running.

Klein probably couldn't divine anything from this far away, could he?

If Klein could divine it even now, Lynch could only accept his bad luck.

He patted his pocket. There were a few pennies inside, left over from when he'd bought cakes for Klein and the others. When he'd gone out, he'd deliberately left his money behind. That fit with the idea that he'd been controlled.

But he was really tired. He was about to give out.

If he kept walking, he was sure his legs would hurt tomorrow.

Lynch found a carriage and rode to Zouteland Street.

The door to the Blackthorn Security Company was shut. Not a sliver of light shone from inside. Lynch didn't pay it any mind and knocked.

Someone from the Nighthawks team was on duty below, keeping watch over Chanis Gate, while others were on night duty upstairs. Tonight, it seemed to be Leonard.

"Who is it?"

Leonard's voice rang out.

"It's me, Lynch Trans."

Lynch gave his name. Before long, Leonard opened the door.

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

Leonard checked the time. It was three in the morning.

Lynch should have been asleep at this hour.

"I had a dream. I dreamed that something was wrong with the place we visited during the day, and that someone inside was watching me. I also dreamed that I threw the Antigonus Notebook through the open window."

Lynch rubbed his brow, looking worried.

Leonard watched him for a while, then stepped aside.

"I'll notify the captain right away. As for you, I think you should wait in the lounge. You probably haven't noticed that you've been trembling this whole time."

Leonard's voice softened.

He pointed toward the lounge, then found Lynch a coat.

Only then did Lynch seem to realize that he was drenched in sweat and shivering involuntarily after being hit by the cold wind.

"Sorry. I was probably in too much of a hurry and forgot to prepare properly."

He put on the coat and seemed to come back to life.

Leonard watched him, then suddenly smiled. "I don't know why, but the way you put on your coat seems familiar."

Lynch pretended not to hear.

Of course it seemed familiar. He was lucky enough to have switched to Leonard's Sleepless persona just then. It was only natural for him to occasionally pick up traces of Leonard's mannerisms.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

Lynch looked at him blankly, as if he didn't understand why he was asking.

"I took a carriage."

"Then why are you covered in sweat?"

Leonard watched his eyes, suspicion in his expression.

Lynch didn't seem bothered. He appeared to think it over, then shook his head.

"I remember taking a carriage. It only just left. If I'm covered in sweat because I was nervous, then fine. But if not, something happened to me. You should probably ask Old Neil to come over too."

He met Leonard's gaze candidly.

The suspicion in Leonard's eyes vanished. He seemed to mutter something, then picked up his top hat from the lounge and hurried outside.

Lynch didn't ask where he was going. It was obvious Leonard meant to notify Dunn and the others.

The Nighthawks had it rough. Whenever something happened, they could be dragged out of bed even in the middle of the night.

Come to think of it, when Dunn had used Dream Infiltration on Klein and him before, it had also been late at night. Later, when someone had followed Klein, Dunn had still had to work in the middle of the night. With him and Klein around, who knew how many sleepless nights Dunn had endured?

But then again, it probably wasn't a problem. Sleepless could stay in high spirits on just three or four hours of sleep a day.

Like him right now. He'd only slept for a little while and had even had a dream, yet he still didn't feel sleepy.

Though it wasn't as if he wasn't tired at all. After sitting in the lounge for a while, Lynch started to feel drowsy.

Unfortunately, he had only just closed his eyes when he heard the outer door open.

Dunn and Leonard came in, with Old Neil and Frye behind them. Both were yawning, looking as if someone had dragged them out of bed.

No, that was probably exactly what had happened.

Lynch could easily imagine how Leonard had woken them up.

"What exactly happened?"

Dunn and the others didn't go to the office. They all sat in the lounge and waited for Lynch to explain what had happened.

"Here's what happened. I went to a gathering at the home of Mr. Skuton, a lecturer at Tingen University, today. When I got back, I studied until midnight. I was probably too tired, so I dozed off for a bit.

"I dreamed after only about ten minutes. I dreamed I was back at the place I'd visited during the day. A door was open there, and a figure stood with its back to me.

"I dreamed I went downstairs and threw the Antigonus Notebook in my hand inside. The sensation was so real that as soon as I woke up, I hailed a carriage and came here."

Dunn nodded and examined Lynch's clothes.

An ill-fitting suit coat, one he'd left there some time ago. It had a hole in it and looked worn.

He wasn't wearing a top hat. His shirt cuffs were untidy, and even his collar was undone by one extra button.

This clearly wasn't an ordinary dream. Dunn even suspected that what Lynch called a dream had actually happened.

What kind of person could control even a Beyonder?

Even though Lynch was only Sequence 9.