After folding the letter, Klein took out his brass whistle, brought it to his lips, and blew hard.
Without a sound, he saw illusory, hazy white bones being thrown out one by one from the desk, turning into a fountain and piecing together a huge Monster. It was still nearly four meters tall, still shrouded in a faint light, and still had its head sticking out of the roof, seemingly no different from before.
Klein flicked his wrist, tossing the letter up, and saw the skeletal Monster catch it firmly.
He blew the copper whistle again and watched as the "messenger" disintegrated into illusory white bones, which fell like rain and disappeared on the surface of the desk.
Having done all this, Klein felt much calmer, but he didn't stop trying. He moved his chair back, stood up, took four steps counterclockwise, and entered the Gray Fog.
The majestic palace and the ancient, weathered table came into view, seemingly unchanged for millennia.
Klein sat down in the high-backed chair belonging to " The Fool," silently unfastened the pendulum from his left wrist cuff, and conjured a yellowish-brown parchment and a round-bellied fountain pen.
He wanted to Divination the captain's fate tonight!
After a moment's thought, Klein wrote down his first Divination statement:
" Dunn Smith's unusual behavior could put me in danger."
In mysticism, Divination concerning one's own safety is the most difficult to be interfered with by external forces, as it belongs to a Spirituality instinct.
In other words, barring particularly strong interference, Klein can obtain fairly accurate results in Divination concerning his own safety.
This is also why he still performed Divination for the mission, even though he knew that Madam Shermane had the ability to interfere with Divination. He knew very well that Madam Shermane was not strong enough to influence this kind of Divination.
Now, in order to ascertain Captain Dunn Smith's condition, he decided to eliminate all distractions and Divination above the Gray Fog.
Holding the pendulum in his left hand, Klein silently recited the Divination phrase seven times, then closed his eyes and entered a Cogitation state.
After a few seconds of stabilization, he opened his eyes, and the deep color in his eyes had returned to normal.
He stared at the citrine pendant, his heart sinking as the pendulum spun clockwise with a considerable amplitude and speed.
This means the answer is yes.
This suggests that Dunn Smith's unusual behavior could put him in danger!
And the danger is quite high!
Klein closed his eyes briefly, "erased" the previous text, and wrote out a new Divination statement:
"The reason for Dunn Smith's unusual behavior."
He placed the citrine pendant back, leaned back in his chair, and silently recited the Divination phrases while Dream Divination through Cogitation.
In that hazy, illusory world, he saw nothing, discovered nothing, nothing but grayness.
"This means there's insufficient information, the Divination failed..." Klein opened his eyes and looked at the parchment on the bronze table, muttering a bitter and helpless sentence.
Suddenly, he felt intense fatigue, realizing it was the result of the intense battle, the continuous use of rituals, and the multiple Divination.
Enveloped in Spirituality, Klein plunged into the Gray Fog and returned to the real world.
Throughout the night, he had several nightmares, each ending with either Kenley vomiting his internal organs or Dunn Smith with dark red blood around his mouth.
The following morning, Klein, who was about to take over the Chanis Gate duty, arrived at Blackthorn Security Company ahead of schedule.
At this time, Rozanne, Mrs. Orianna, and other clerical staff had not yet arrived at work. Klein walked through the partition, looked at the open door, and saw Dunn Smith in the captain's office.
Dunn took off his coat, leaving him in only a white shirt and black vest. He sat down, holding a cup of coffee, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.
His hair was slightly dry, his gray eyes were dull, and his hard-lined face showed obvious signs of haggardness.
Even for a captain who had experienced similar things many times, losing two teammates in a short period of time was unbearable... Klein felt a pang of sadness, and the image of that broken mirror suddenly reappeared in his mind, along with Dunn's half-lying body and face stained with dark blood.
Klein gritted his teeth, turned his head, and looked to the side.
After a dozen seconds, he composed himself and knocked on the door of the captain's office.
Thump, thump, thump.
Dunn put down his coffee cup, his gray eyes regaining their deep, mysterious look.
He took a silent breath and said:
"I have reported the matter to the Holy Cathedral, and they have given a preliminary response."
"The church will compensate Kenley's family with £3,000, and the police department will provide £1,000 in compensation..."
It's a total of 4,000 pounds, a fortune most middle-class people could never accumulate in a lifetime... Kenley's weekly salary was 7 pounds, 364 pounds a year, and with bonuses and extra income, it would be at least 380 pounds. 4,000 pounds is equivalent to ten years of his income... Such a sum of money would yield at least 200 pounds in returns each year, barely enough to compensate for the pain Kenley's death caused his family... Although money cannot replace feelings, nor can it replace Kenley, this is currently the only relatively effective solution... Klein had many thoughts flashing through his mind, but ultimately, he let out a sigh:
That's all we can do.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess is quite conscientious in this regard.
Dunn tugged at his collar and said in a low voice:
"Go underground and replace Loyao."
"Okay." Klein nodded slightly.
He turned and walked toward the door, hearing the captain's almost soliloquy-like addition:
"We'll take Kenley home later..."
Sending Kenley home... what would his father, his mother, his siblings, his fiancée do? Klein felt a pang of guilt, a strange sense of relief that he didn't have to face that kind of grief.
He knew it was an act of escapism, but he was genuinely terrified of seeing the heartbroken looks in Kenley's parents' eyes and his fiancée's soulless demeanor, terrified of witnessing their reproachful expressions, and terrified of hearing their sobs.
Klein quickened his pace and arrived at Chanis Gate, silently handing over the reins to Loyao.
He sat in the guard room, occasionally taking out his silver pocket watch and watching the time tick by.
After an unknown amount of time, Klein suddenly heard illusory, layered voices in his ears.
He glanced at the back of his hand where four black dots stood out and understood that it was " Justice," " The Hanged Man," or " The Sun " praying to him.
But he couldn't respond in time, so he could only endure until the prompts ended, until there were more requests, and until he got home the next morning.
As soon as Klein took out his keys and opened the door, he saw the maid Bella wiping the dining table, while his sister Melissa and brother Benson came down the stairs in their respective outerwear.
"Didn't you just attend Mass last week?" Klein asked, somewhat puzzled.
Benson smiled and said:
"I can understand the memory of someone who hasn't slept all night."
"Huh?" Klein was even more confused.
"Today is the first day that tickets for ' The Return of the Count ' are available for pre-order," Melissa explained.
Klein slapped his forehead and casually took off his hat:
"I've been so busy lately that I completely forgot about it."
Especially these last three days... he added with a sigh.
Melissa looked at him with concern and said:
"Your breakfast is in the kitchen. Eat it and then go to sleep. Benson and I were thinking that since we're going out anyway, we'll go to Saint Selena Cathedral for Mass."
"Okay." Klein waved goodbye to his brother and sister, ate a quick breakfast, and returned to his bedroom.
Having made preparations, he took four steps backward into the Gray Fog, where he saw the crimson stars corresponding to " Justice " and " The Hanged Man " illusoryly expanding and contracting.
Extending his right hand, spreading Spirituality, Klein saw blurry images before his eyes and heard the pleading voice of "Miss Justice " in his ears:
I beg your permission to hear my prayer.
"Because of the Qilangos incident, my father hired an Beyonder to protect me, and there's also some surveillance I'm unaware of. I finally managed to find this opportunity to plead with you; I'd like to ask for leave from next week's gathering. I believe these things will soon fade away."
Klein glanced at the blurry scene instinctively and saw the billowing mist, the giant bathtub that seemed to be rippling with water, and Miss " Justice " wrapped in a towel.
He looked away and began to listen again to the Hanged Man's prayers.
The other party's description differed from " Justice," but they were asking for the same thing: he also needed to take leave due to the lingering effects of the Qilangos incident.
Klein nodded slightly, responding to their requests:
"I see."
Immediately afterwards, he transmitted a thought to the crimson star corresponding to the " The Sun ":
The upcoming gathering is temporarily cancelled.
City of Silver.
Derrick Berg was listening to instructions on the training field, the sky above him still dark, with flashes of lightning occasionally illuminating everything.
Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he saw thick fog, an ancient palace that resembled the dwelling of Giant, and Mr. The Fool sitting high in the depths of the Gray Fog.
The upcoming gathering is temporarily cancelled.
The sound was still echoing when everything before Derrick's eyes returned to normal.
He wasn't surprised by this miracle, because Mr. The Fool had given him this hint before every gathering.
Derrick subconsciously looked up at the woman in front of him, the " Shepherd " Lovia, a member of the City of Silver Council of Six.
This terrifyingly powerful figure constantly shifted between smiles and ruthlessness, telling each of the teenagers present that they would be joining a patrol to clear out the nearby dark Monster —this was no longer training.
Elder Lovia found nothing unusual... Her condition was getting stranger and stranger. Was it because there was an Evil Spirit in the soul she Grazing that was equivalent to High-Sequence powerhouse? Derrick's thoughts wandered.
Klein returned to his bedroom, lay down on the bed, and quickly fell asleep, dreaming of the events of the past few days.
Suddenly, he felt himself being shaken and snapped back to reality.
Klein opened his eyes and saw a giant skeletal hand.
The giant hand paused for a moment, tossed the letter it was holding onto the bed, and then vanished.
Mr. Azik's reply... Klein picked up the letter with a sudden realization.
P. S.: First update, please vote with monthly tickets! ~8)