Time passed steadily, Tingen bid farewell to the tail end of summer, arriving in mid-August with temperatures stabilizing at around 26 or 27 degrees Celsius.
Whoosh!
Klein suddenly stood up from the bathtub and stepped out, causing drops of water to fall.
He stood there naked, looking down at his abdomen, and with a slight effort, the lines of his muscles were clearly outlined.
This is the result of his consistent training over the past few days; in addition, he looks much more energetic.
And today, his combat coach, Gawain, began teaching him basic boxing footwork and power generation techniques.
Thump, thump, thump, Klein's bare feet slammed on the bathroom floor, sometimes sliding forward, sometimes retreating sharply, sometimes dodging to the right, accompanied by punches and blocks.
He stopped, exhaled with delight, picked up a towel, and began to wipe himself.
In the two weeks following his encounter with Dr. Duster Guderian, the asylum Doctor, Klein seemed to have broken free from the cycle of coincidences and the strange loop of constantly encountering extraordinary events. His life became stable; he collected his salary methodically, delved into the study of the occult, practiced shooting and combat, developed new dishes, and, with his brother Benson and sister Melissa, gradually accumulated decent tableware and decorations. He consulted with Captain Dunn, teammate Leonard, and others about past extraordinary cases, and performed Divination for people at the club, strictly adhering to the rules he had developed.
This brought him peace of mind. If it weren't for the occasional longing for Earth in the dead of night, if the Red Chimney incident hadn't been left unresolved, and if the patterns passed down by the Misfortune Cloth Doll hadn't occasionally appeared in his dreams, he would have begun to get used to and cherish his current life.
During this period, the " Tarot Club " convened three times. Klein did not receive any new Roselle's Diary, but according to " Justice," she met two Beyonder and was naturally making contact with them. Once she entered the corresponding circle, she should be able to trade for more Roselle's Diary.
The " The Hanged Man " also stated that he has returned to land and is handling some matters, but will begin the search as soon as he has free time.
In addition, " Justice " felt that the two Beyonder she had recently met were worth developing. For example, they each had good public identities to cover up their identities, each had certain and different resource channels, and each had their own principles and characteristics. They were not the kind of people who would easily sell secrets. The only problem was that they were both only Sequence 9, which was not very suitable for a high-end and strict Concealment organization like the " Tarot Club ".
A high-end organization? I feel it's more like a pyramid scheme... At that moment, " The Fool " Klein could only cover his face and sigh. He couldn't find the words to deal with Miss " Justice's" self-satisfaction and could only agree to let her observe those two Beyonder further.
Of course, " Justice " is no longer the naive and romantic girl she once was. She carefully avoided mentioning the names and characteristics of the two Beyonder, fearing that the " The Hanged Man " would use this information to find out who she really was.
"Miss Justice said she could clearly feel the Potion digesting, and maybe in another three or four weeks, she would be able to complete the Acting of ' Spectator '... The formula for ' Mind Reader ' needs to be put on the agenda..." Klein, having dried himself, put the towel aside and put on his underwear while thinking about what happened at the " Tarot Club " the day before yesterday.
In the past twenty days, he had only met with Doctor. Duster Guderian. With the idea that haste makes waste, he only talked about the other man's condition and asked some trivial questions about the Psychology Alchemists.
The speed at which " Justice " digests the Potion forces him to plan ahead how to obtain the Sequence 8 " Mind Reader " recipe from Duster.
After buttoning up his shirt one button at a time, Klein picked up another dry towel and wrapped it around his head to absorb the moisture from his short hair.
Compared to " Justice," he digested the " Potion's " Seer at a speed that was no slower. By this week, he no longer heard any sounds he shouldn't have heard or saw any scenes he shouldn't have seen during Cogitation and Spirit Vision.
Klein turned the towel over and dried his hair again, then looked up at the door and muttered to himself:
"My summarized ' Seer Code ' are indeed effective. Next week... next week I should be able to completely digest the Potion... I still don't know where to get the Hornacis Gray Goat's Horn Crystal and the Human-faced Rose for the ' Clown ' recipe... Maybe I could follow Ms. Daly's example and submit a special application... but that would definitely attract the attention of the higher-ups... Right now, I just want to develop stealthily... The followers of the Aurora Order have been recruited by the police department have also been found, but we still don't know who Mr. Z is..."
Henry said the 'Red Chimney' commission would be completed before the end of this week... My savings have recovered to just over £7, so I don't have to worry about paying the balance...
"The information he provided about some of the houses and residents doesn't seem problematic at the moment, and I don't have time to check them one by one..."
"Perhaps we could start by checking which house with the red chimney recently had a new occupant?"
"Hmm, that's an idea."
After sitting quietly for twenty or thirty seconds, he put on his gray-black trousers, fastened his bow tie, secured his gun holster, threw his worn knight training clothes into the laundry basket, Door Opening, and walked out of the bathroom—he had just finished his Wednesday afternoon combat training and was still at his teacher Gawain's house.
"Hello, Mr. Moretti." Gawain's maid, who happened to be passing by, quickly bowed and greeted him.
Klein nodded slightly, pointing to the messy, damp washroom:
Could you please clean this up?
"This is my duty. The laundry will be handled by the laundry lady; she'll be here at six," the maid replied, head bowed.
Laundry workers are not provided with food and lodging, and their wages are very low. Therefore, they are not employed by just one household. They often take on the laundry of many residents in the neighborhood. They either rush from one household to another every day, or they collect all the laundry at home and process it together, then send it back in turn. Only in this way can they barely survive.
Klein said nothing more, went to the living room, and bid farewell to his host who was sitting in a rocking chair.
He saw Gawain were gray, nodding listlessly, with a light brown blanket spread over his legs and a copy of the " Awwa Evening News " in his hand.
Klein knew that the man bathed in the setting sun was actually only in his early fifties, but he looked as if he were eighty or ninety years old.
During regular combat training, Gawain remained silent, only speaking when necessary and never uttering a word or engaging in idle chatter. Klein, on the other hand, was exhausted every day and lacked the desire to initiate conversation, so their relationship remained cold to this day.
"Watching Professor Gawain's demonstration, his strength is quite astonishing, and his footwork is agile enough. He could probably take on three of me without any problem... He has a salary from the police department, and he also bought a piece of land in the countryside outside Tingen, from which he can collect a fixed rent... He employs a cook, a maid, and a laundry worker... In the great food-loving country of the earth, a gentleman in his fifties or sixties with such wealth would have been traveling the world long ago..."
Klein turned his gaze away from Gawain, shook his head inwardly, and then went to the coat rack to take down his half-high silk hat and black trench coat.
Dressed neatly, he picked up his cane, walked out of the house, and approached the gate along the stone path flanked by weeds.
Just then, he saw a two-wheeled carriage parked outside the iron fence, and a familiar man standing there.
" Leonard?" Klein looked at his Nighthawks teammate with his hair all messy and muttered to himself in confusion.
Leonard, dressed in a white shirt, black trousers, and buckleless leather boots, was twirling his hat in his hand. Seeing Klein emerge, he smiled and said:
Surprised?
There was only surprise, no joy... Klein ignored the other party's frivolity and stared into the fake poet's green eyes, saying:
What's the matter?
Leonard put his hat on and said:
"The captain wants you to work with me and Frye. We'll discuss the details on the way."
"Okay." Klein followed the other person into the carriage.
Once the scenery on both sides had receded into the distance, Leonard picked up the briefcase beside him and tossed it across the way.
Klein caught it steadily, took out the document, and began to carefully read through it.
"At 11 p. m. on August 11, inside the West Borough End workhouse, the bankrupt Sols attempted arson to create a tragedy, but ultimately only burned himself to death..."
"At 10 p. m. on August 11, dockworker Zied jumped into the Tussock River, ending his impoverished life..."
"At 8 p. m. on August 11, Mrs. Louwise, who made a living by pasting matchboxes on the Lower Street of Iron Cross Street, suddenly fell ill and died..."
Upon seeing the first two incidents, Klein was puzzled, thinking that such deaths were too common and ordinary, and should not only fail to attract the attention of the Nighthawks, but also should be avoided by the police department to prevent the waste of police resources.
But as he looked down, he gradually frowned.
After turning two pages, he suddenly looked up at Leonard and said:
"Isn't that a bit too much?"
When the number of normal deaths becomes alarmingly high, it's hard to call it normal.
Leonard nodded seriously, a rare occurrence for him:
"The number of deaths in the past two weeks is five times the normal level."
" The Tingen City Police Headquarters discovered this problem when compiling statistics and quickly transferred the matter to us, to the Mandated Punishers and the Machinery Hivemind."
"Although the initial investigations of these deaths have all been completed without any issues, the captain believes we must reinvestigate them, which may require the assistance of Divination or Ritualistic Magic."
Klein suddenly realized:
"I see."
Leonard snapped his fingers and said:
"You and Frye in one group; he'll be waiting for us on the Lower Street of Iron Cross Street. Siga, Loyao, and Old Neil will be in another group to investigate the relevant incidents in the North Borough. The captain will stay at the security company to deal with any emergencies."
"Hmm." Klein nodded solemnly, then suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "Can I go home first and leave a note?"
He had to tell his brother and sister that he had something to do that evening and wouldn't be having dinner at home.
Leonard laughed:
"No problem, it's on my way."
Klein then calmed down and went through the death cases again, trying to find connections between the different methods of death, different names, and different times.
As he looked at it, he suddenly thought:
Is this my first group task since becoming Nighthawks?
PS: Regarding yesterday's plot, without spoilers, I'd like to say a few words. If I were to force Klein to not activate his Spirit Vision so that he would miss his observations, I would use a gentler, less upsetting approach. For example, he could activate his Spirit Vision but discover nothing, or it could just be a minor mental issue. This would provide sufficient justification for later explanations.
So why emphasize "too late" and "forgotten"? Why?
At least have some faith in me, hey.