Reimbursement

"No matter what, we have to go there now. We should bring Klein along, too. The Antigonus Notebook first came from him, so perhaps he can help."

Dunn spoke calmly, then looked Lynch over again.

"You should buy a cane."

Lynch really wanted to refuse. Canes were expensive.

But Dunn's next words cheered him up.

"He could apply for reimbursement. It was part of maintaining the proper appearance expected of a formal team member."

He really didn't want to see Lynch looking so destitute. His salary wasn't low, yet he was still wearing his old, worn-out shirt. Dunn had noticed a patch beneath the other man's arm.

"Thank you, Captain!"

Lynch sprang to his feet, delighted.

Dunn nodded and gestured for Lynch and the others to follow him to the carriage.

The carriage traveled along the quiet streets to 2 Daffodil Street. Lynch hadn't intended to get out; he'd planned to wait for Klein to come out. But Dunn urged him to go inside and change.

"No gentleman would go out dressed like that. By the time we're done, it may be daytime. You wouldn't want to leave a bad impression on any young ladies who see you.

"You're already twenty-four. Many gentlemen your age are married. Your salary is decent, and once you become a formal team member, you'll earn six pounds a week. You can certainly marry a fine young lady."

Dunn spoke gently. He even pulled the curtain aside himself, urging Lynch to hurry out and change.

Lynch climbed out of the carriage, speechless.

He couldn't understand why these people were so fixated on marriage.

Before he'd transmigrated, he'd already been facing pressure to marry. He hadn't expected to escape it even after transmigrating.

Being pressured to marry was a real pain for an older bachelor.

Lynch entered Number 2 Daffodil Street helplessly. He quietly opened the door to his room, changed his clothes, and grabbed his hat. Then he left the house with Klein, whom Dunn had woken up.

"What exactly happened?"

Klein waited until he was in the carriage before quietly asking Lynch.

Lynch sighed and explained everything to him.

To be honest, he'd been wondering why Klein, the protagonist, hadn't been the one to have this dream. Why had it come to him instead?

What did the person behind it intend by choosing him?

Lynch thought it over for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he gave up.

The other party probably wasn't planning to kill him for now. He could afford to wait. Once he'd produced the original text of Lord of the Mysteries, things would likely become clear.

He had a feeling he'd gotten mixed up in something incredible.

Lynch sighed again.

"Well, if your dream was real, we might actually get the Antigonus Notebook!" Leonard said with an amused smile.

Then he glanced at Klein, a trace of confusion in his eyes.

He'd thought this slightly suspicious Klein would be the first to notice something was wrong. He hadn't expected it to be Lynch.

Remembering Old Man's suspicions about Lynch, he muttered under his breath that the old man was crazy.

Compared to Lynch, Klein was far more suspicious.

Leonard really couldn't understand why Old Man kept asking him to probe Lynch.

Old Man had been the one to suggest that Dunn give Lynch a double dream last time. And what had happened? Lynch had risked his life to prove his loyalty to the captain. Even if it had been in a dream, it was still touching.

And now Old Man suspected Lynch was hiding something from them.

How could that be?

Leonard hadn't noticed anything at all.

Even when Old Man said some of Lynch's mannerisms resembled his own, Leonard didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

People who spent a lot of time together naturally picked up the same habits.

Besides, Leonard suspected Lynch admired him and the captain, and had secretly learned their mannerisms. Sometimes he acted like Leonard; other times, like the captain.

Whenever Leonard noticed it, he couldn't help smiling.

If anyone deserved closer scrutiny, it was Klein.

One commission he'd handled had led to all this. Leonard couldn't tell whether that was because High Sequences were drawn to him or because something was wrong with him to begin with.

If Klein had been the one to dream this, Leonard might have thought he was just overthinking things. But the dream had come to Lynch, Klein's roommate, which made it strange.

Was Klein really trying to shake off suspicion on purpose?

Leonard glanced at Klein again, a knowing smile playing at the corner of his mouth, as if he'd already seen through him.

Klein was baffled by his look.

He'd always felt that Leonard was suspicious of him, so he tried to stay out of the man's way. But this time, even though he hadn't been involved, Leonard was suspicious of him again.

What had he even done to make this man so wary?

He wanted to ask, but didn't know what to say. After all, Leonard hadn't voiced his suspicions.

But that was exactly what made it even more frustrating!

Klein could only look out the window as the carriage left Daffodil Street and headed for the building they'd visited during the day.

The carriage traveled for about half an hour before they finally arrived.

Lynch stood downstairs and pointed to an open window above. "It's right there. I dreamed I threw the Antigonus Notebook in through that window. It felt so real."

He pointed to the spot.

Frye immediately went over and examined the ground for a while. Then he said seriously, "There are your footprints here. I'm afraid it wasn't a dream."

"Does that mean I left the house for some unknown reason, came here, and threw the Antigonus Notebook inside?

"But the Antigonus Notebook wasn't in my hands anymore. I gave the one the captain had secured for me to the black-robed member of the Big Meat Church. Did they give it back to me? Was this revenge?"

Lynch analyzed the situation seriously, quickly shifting the blame elsewhere.

The others had no better explanation, so they could only accept his theory for the time being.

"Let's go upstairs and take a look first. Maybe we'll find out."

Dunn switched on a flashlight, and they headed up the stairs.

"It's this door. In my dream, it was open, and someone was sitting in a recliner with his back to me. Be careful."

Lynch spoke quietly at the door.

Dunn nodded and pointed to the revolvers, signaling Lynch and Klein to hold theirs and stay behind them.

"Protect yourselves," Dunn reminded them. Then he kicked the door open.

As the door swung open, a stench of decay hit them. Lynch nearly threw up.

He hurriedly stepped back, waiting for the smell to clear.

Beside him, Klein clamped a hand over his nose, feeling like he could barely breathe.

"Could that be a corpse?" Klein muttered.

Lynch was about to answer when he suddenly felt a gaze fixed on his back. He whipped around, raising his revolver.

The door to the room where Elliott had been kidnapped that afternoon had been opened a crack by someone. A pair of eyes stared at them from inside.

"Come out, or I'll shoot. I don't want to cause a commotion here and disturb anyone."