Lina

Friday evening, Olsna Street, Tingen.

After learning from the gang's intelligence that Madam Sharon had gone to a Conservative Party banquet and would not return until very late, Klein felt that his five pounds had been well spent. Relying on a Clown's balance and agility, he scrambled over the wall and climbed along a drainpipe into Madam Sharon's second-floor bedroom.

The moment he entered, he caught a faint fragrance—the sort of feminine scent that made one's blood race.

Klein fell into a brief daze and even felt his body respond a little.

He immediately calmed himself through meditation and inwardly grumbled, Is she burning aphrodisiacs as incense?

Shortly after Klein entered Madam Sharon's bedroom, a slender figure materialized beneath a tree in the garden below.

The figure belonged to the Witch Lina. Ever since secretly encouraging Senator Maynard's wife and sister to hire an official team to investigate Sharon, she had been hiding nearby, and so had watched Klein's entire operation.

She did not dare approach any closer, however. She had tried before and had nearly been detected by his spirituality.

Watching Klein's back, Lina muttered helplessly, "Now that's what a Clown should be capable of... Why are the two I trained so useless?"

Meanwhile, in Backlund, Abner finally fulfilled his earlier promise and brought Miss Hazel to Bravehearts Bar on Iron Gate Street to attend the Beyonder gathering his teacher was about to hold.

Already at Sequence 6, Abner had little interest in a gathering at this level. After introducing Hazel to Kaspars, he turned and entered a gloomy card room, where he found Maric.

After becoming a Polymath, Abner was no longer particularly afraid of him. Even if Maric truly lost control, he was confident he could escape unscathed.

Maric, who was playing cards with his