Spying? Who Couldn't Do That?

"That person is my friend."

"Just a friend?" Klein asked anxiously, his tone rather stern.

But to Melissa, it sounded like an inexplicable interrogation.

"Klein, you're acting very strange today!" Seemingly angered by her brother's tone, Melissa sounded rather hostile herself.

"I..." Stumped by his sister's words, Klein faltered.

"Anyway, don't have anything to do with that person again!"

"Why?"

Hidden in a corner not far away, Lorne watched the conversation between the siblings.

Sure enough, I knew someone was spying on me.

"Wait, that person looks like the 'Seer' from the Divination Club." Lorne was a little surprised when he noticed the man's appearance.

He narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the man's figure.

He didn't dare activate Spirit Vision, partly because he feared blinding himself again, and partly because he worried that using it rashly might alert the other man.

With his vision enhanced by "Robot," he could see the man's every move clearly.

There's no mistake. That's definitely the man from the Divination Club.

It looks like he knows Melissa?

Lorne recalled the contents of the slips of paper from the Wish-Granting Box.

Last time, I ran into Melissa while looking for the Notebook. This time, I ran into her again while looking for someone.

Could it be because Melissa knows him?

So that's what the slips in the box meant?

Lorne sorted through his thoughts.

"Strange, why did they leave together?" Watching the two leave together, Lorne felt rather bewildered. He softened his footsteps and secretly followed them, pondering their relationship.

Could he be a member of Melissa's family? Her brother?

Now that I think about it, he does look a little like Melissa.

After following the two to a house, Lorne hid in a nearby alley.

"There's no unusual spirituality about Melissa. She should just be an ordinary person."

What should I do now...

That gaze earlier means he's already discovered that I came to this neighborhood... Lorne considered his next move.

"I can't just report him. I have no evidence, and something abnormal happened to me that day, too..."

"If things go wrong, I might end up getting arrested by the authorities myself."

After a moment of silence, Lorne gritted his teeth and made his decision.

"Forget it. I've already been noticed anyway. If that prying gaze comes back, I won't be able to hide from it."

"I might as well go all the way..."

"Spying? Who couldn't do that!"

With that thought, Lorne went to a nearby sporting goods store and spent several pounds on a finely made telescope.

Then he found a suitable corner near the house, raised the telescope, and began watching it.

"If he recognized me, there's no way he won't do anything next. As long as I find something genuinely abnormal, I'll have evidence."

Thinking this, Lorne raised the telescope and watched the windows of the house opposite him.

"Why do I feel like a Peeping Tom?"

"No, even if I'm doing this for my own sake, he's still a suspicious person."

"Besides, you were the ones who started spying..."

Lorne shook his head, casting aside those ill-timed thoughts.

After spending quite a while soothing his sister, Klein returned wearily to his room.

"Sigh!"

He felt rather uneasy.

"There's definitely something wrong with the person I met today.

"I didn't go looking for him, but he's already found his way to my family."

At that thought, Klein clenched his fists and decided to go Above the Gray Fog to perform another divination.

Perhaps because he was too anxious, he forgot to draw the curtains.

"He's doing something. He's doing something." Watching through his telescope, Lorne grew excited. The man had finally given himself away.

"Is he walking backward?" He looked through the telescope in confusion.

"Strange, why did he stop moving?"

Above the Gray Fog, Klein, the Fool, wore sunglasses as he considered his next move.

After a moment of thought, he made up his mind and began the divination.

"Even if it's only for Melissa and Benson, I have to find out what that person wants."

Before long, an image appeared before him.

"No flash this time?" Klein was rather surprised that he hadn't been blinded by another flash.

"Why is he holding a telescope?" Watching the young man's actions in the image, he felt puzzled.

Strange, what's he looking at? Why is he so absorbed?

And why does the setting in this image look so familiar?

"Wait, that looks like the area around my house!" Klein suddenly realized something.

He followed Lorne's gaze in the image...

"He's actually watching my house!"

"Damn, that prying gaze is back..."

"Have I been discovered?"

Sensing that familiar gaze, Lorne hurriedly put away the telescope.

He shouldn't have noticed me just now, right?

Or was he pretending, trying to lure me in?

Suspecting that some unknown, secretive entity with a fondness for spying had set its sights on him again, Lorne could only abandon his surveillance. He swiftly left Daffodil Street.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

"Something abnormal happened the moment I looked at him...

"Although I don't have any concrete evidence, I've confirmed that he must be connected to a secretive entity."

"I have to find evidence and report him as soon as possible."

"The image cut off?"

Seeing the divination image vanish, Klein was momentarily dazed.

After descending from the gray fog, he hurried straight to the alley where Lorne had been.

Finding it empty, Klein felt a surge of panic.

Could that person have discovered the Fool's true identity?

"So that's why he came to investigate me...

"Could he be someone from another Church?

"Did he see me take those four counterclockwise steps just now, too?

"No, that doesn't make sense. He shouldn't be able to connect what happened Above the Gray Fog to me.

"He couldn't possibly have realized I'm the Fool.

"Or is it because of what happened at the Divination Club last time?"

Countless questions weighed on Klein's mind.

He could barely breathe.

The events of the previous day had been so bizarre.

So much so that Klein was still distracted when he went to work the next morning.

"Klein, is something wrong?" Noticing that he seemed off, Old Neil asked with concern.

"No, no, it's nothing. I'm just a little tired."

Old Neil said nothing more, merely reminding him, "Make sure you get enough rest."

Then he took the initiative to bring up another topic:

"Dunn is planning to leave for a while."

"Huh?" Klein was rather surprised.

"Apparently, Dunn and Daly had a disagreement..."

"A disagreement?"

"Dunn wants Daly to go to the capital, Backlund. There are broader prospects there, and it's better suited to a genius like Daly.

"But Daly wants to stay in Tingen with Dunn. Neither of them could persuade the other."

"They even had an argument over it."

They're both thinking of each other... Klein gained a new understanding of their feelings for one another.

"Later, they settled on a compromise."

"A compromise?" Klein was a little puzzled.

"Yes, that's right. There's a special operation coming up in Backlund, and they're temporarily recruiting some people from squads around the country."

"Daly signed up, and Dunn decided to go with her. They plan to use this opportunity to have a look at Backlund first, then make plans for their future."

"That sounds very reasonable." Klein nodded. The captain's arrangement was indeed quite sensible.

Before long, Dunn gathered everyone and announced the decision, also appointing Frye as acting captain.

"Klein, stay behind for a moment." Just after announcing the decision, as everyone was dispersing, Dunn suddenly called Klein back.

"What is it, Captain?"

Klein had a vague sense of foreboding.

Dunn looked him over before saying slowly, "The people from the Holy Cathedral are here."

What! The people coming to assess me are here!

Previously, he would only have been a little nervous at most, but after what had happened yesterday...