The reflection in the mirror was clear, but the woman in the black court dress was nowhere to be seen; it was as if she had never been there.
Klein quietly activated his Spirit Vision, but found nothing.
Did I hire a female ghost as a bodyguard? This is even more eerie than a female ghost... At least with Spirit Vision, one can see ghosts... Klein thoughtfully touched the Azik Copper Whistle in his pocket, only to find that its coolness and coldness remained unchanged.
Unaffected by the bronze whistle... it seems it's not a Death... However, I can't be sure. The bronze whistle was buried with me, but none of the other dead around it showed any abnormalities... Is it because those buried in the cemetery have all undergone resurrection by priests and bishops? When exactly does it work, and when does it not...? After the ambassador's matter is over, if I'm still alive, I'll go to the cemetery to conduct some experiments and try to figure out its scope and limitations. I can't always be carrying around a time bomb... Klein washed his face, turned around, and walked out of the washroom.
He had just picked up the newspaper in the living room, intending to go to the sitting room or bedroom to look through it, when he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.
Amidst the clanging and clattering sounds, Klein suddenly tensed up, cautiously donning his coat made of various materials, and headed towards the door.
He clearly remembered that danger would befall him in the next few days!
Standing behind the door, after waiting for a moment, Klein naturally pictured the scene outside in his mind.
The red moon peeked faintly from the sky, and the elegant gas streetlights on both sides of the street illuminated the damp road. A boy in an old overcoat stood there, his bright red eyes deep and somewhat confused.
Ian Wright? What's he doing here? Isn't this the scene I saw in my Dream Divination? Is this a sign of impending danger? Klein opened the door and took two steps back warily.
" Detective Moriarty," Ian said, removing his brown Round Tower hat and bowing slightly, "I've come to apologize. I'm so sorry to have dragged you into such a dangerous situation."
Klein frowned slightly and said:
"The best thing you should do is go to the police station."
Ian looked around, then lowered his head slightly and said:
"I just came from Military Intelligence Section 9."
"Huh? This is the name of that special department in the military?" Klein stepped aside, pointing to the living room.
"Perhaps we can have a chat."
"I need to at least know why I've ended up in this predicament..." he sighed inwardly.
Ian didn't stand on ceremony and followed Klein into the living room, sitting in the same spot as before.
Just as he was about to speak, Klein suddenly added:
"If what you're trying to say will put me in an even bigger crisis, then there's no need to say it."
"No, it's almost over." Ian possessed a composure beyond his years.
Klein breathed a sigh of relief and asked in confusion:
So, what exactly happened?
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw a figure appear in the glass of the bay window opposite the living room: a black court dress, long hair tied in a light gold bun, blue eyes, delicate features, and a pale face. It was the woman who had greeted Klein in the bathroom mirror earlier.
The woman appeared to have found an unreal high-backed chair to sit on, her left hand supporting her right elbow, her right hand propping up her cheek, and she adopted a listening posture with little expression.
... Klein was momentarily at a loss for how to react.
After a few seconds of silence, Ian said in a low voice:
"Actually, Detective Zerrell is a spy for the Feynapotter Empire. He adopted several homeless children and taught them intelligence-gathering skills, including me."
So that's how it is... I'm involved in a major espionage case... Klein suddenly realized.
Ian, looking at the coffee table, continued:
"We have the advantage of age; we're often overlooked, which allows us to gather a lot of useful information. Two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a clue to Hermosuin Manuscript."
" Hermosuin?" Klein felt the surname sounded familiar.
Ian looked up at him and explained:
" Turan von Hermosuin, the greatest scientist, mathematician, and mechanician after Emperor Roselle, the father of the second-generation difference engine."
It was him! Klein suddenly remembered the relevant information:
He was not only a great scientist, but also a mad scientist. He believed that humanity had inherent flaws and that the ultimate truth could only be obtained through Robot. He loved eating sugar and seemed to use it as his energy source. He mysteriously disappeared while researching the third-generation difference engine and is an important figure that countries around the world are trying to find.
"His manuscripts? The manuscripts concerning the third-generation difference engine?" Klein asked tentatively.
The Difference Engine is a mechanical device used for computation, which can effectively improve the efficiency of scientific research and various engineering projects. In Klein's view, it is an alternative computer of the Steam age, although it currently only has computing power.
Ian shook his head and said:
"I don't know, I haven't actually seen it, but maybe I have some related ideas."
He paused, then recounted what had happened:
"I reported this to Detective Zerrell, who was very pleased and instructed me to follow that lead. He then immediately reported to his superior."
"It took me some time to finally pinpoint the manuscript's location, but fearing danger, I didn't go to steal it directly. Instead, I decided to return to Detective Zerrell's place. After that, it happened as I told you: Detective Zerrell's house was broken into, many of the small mechanisms were not restored, he didn't respond to my requests to contact him, Zmanger Gang even tried to capture me..."
"With your help, I confirmed Detective Zerrell's death and removed a false tooth from his body, well, after we parted ways."
" Detective Zerrell told me that the inside of that denture was engraved with emergency contact information for his superior, a method even he himself didn't know about, and it would only be removed in case of an emergency."
Klein nodded slightly and said:
"So you sent a telegram?"
Ian, unusually, showed a hint of surprise and said:
"Did someone from Military Intelligence Section 9 tell you that?"
"No, a friend of mine just happened to see you on White Rum Street," Klein casually made up an excuse.
"Hmm." Ian nodded dejectedly. "I contacted Detective Zerrell's superior in Backlund via telegram and arranged a time, place, and method of meeting in cipher, but soon I was found by the Zmanger Gang —no, to be precise, by Intis's intelligence agents. That's what Military Intelligence Section 9 told me."
"Fortunately, Military Intelligence Section 9 arrived in time, and a chaotic battle ensued, allowing me to escape."
"However, this afternoon when I met with Detective Zerrell's superior, I was ambushed again by Intis intelligence agents and unfortunately captured. I was terrified of death, so I told them everything I knew. However, they did not keep their promise and still wanted to kill me. At this time, Military Intelligence Section 9 finally came looking for me."
"It's at times like this that you act like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy..." Klein was just remarking when a question suddenly occurred to him, gleaned from Ian's earlier words:
When Ian discovered that there were seemingly important items left on Zerrell's body and that Ian had successfully taken them, he simply assumed that the Beyonder opposite him was not very skilled or powerful, and that the " Spirit Channeling " was ineffective, failing to obtain much useful information, thus leading to errors and omissions.
However, after it was confirmed that the ambassador had a Mid-Sequence of the " Seer " pathway, things became very strange. Under such powerful " Spirit Channeling " communication, it was impossible that the false tooth had not been discovered.
The fact that the body was dumped in such a remote and hard-to-find place didn't seem like a pre-arranged trap.
Combining this with Ian's description, the answer is obvious.
Klein nodded and said:
"Have you ever considered that there might be a traitor among Zerrell's superiors, a traitor who has defected to the Intis intelligence agency?"
"This is why Zerrell was exposed and died after obtaining the manuscript clues, and it's also why you were ambushed."
It was precisely because Intis had information about Zerrell's superior that he paid little attention to the emergency contact information engraved on the inside of the dentures!
Zerrell's report to his superior directly led to his downfall!
Ian was stunned for a moment, and after a long while, he clenched his fist in frustration and tried to remain calm as he said:
"I never thought of that. You're truly an excellent Detective..."
He quietly exhaled, then proceeded to describe:
"I also told Military Intelligence Section 9 about the whereabouts of the manuscript, as well as everything else. They casually mentioned your ordeal, and lo and behold, they didn't suspect I was lying, nor did they send anyone to guard me; they all went to snatch the manuscript. But under that kind of pressure, no one can lie."
At this point, Ian stood up and bowed deeply:
Please allow me to apologize again.
"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this. Actually, you didn't need to hide anything from me."
Having understood the whole story, Klein smiled and said:
"No, in this matter, it was mainly my own mistake that led to my current predicament."
As he listened, he reviewed the whole incident based on Ian's description and his reflections over the past few days, confirming that he had made two mistakes:
"I discovered that Ian's situation was a bit complicated, but I still accepted the commission, which was fine. At the time, I just felt that it would involve the mafia, at most one or two Beyonder dared not show their faces in the shadows. However, the Divination lacked sufficient information, resulting in failure... This was within my ability to handle, and normally there wouldn't be any trouble. I might even have been able to take the opportunity to make contact with Beyonder in Backlund."
"After finding Zerrell's body and confirming the waters were deep, considering the sensitive nature of my own position, I immediately and decisively withdrew, leaving Ian to handle the aftermath. This was a perfectly reasonable and extremely cautious choice."
"One of my Error was that when Meursault came to my door, I didn't back down decisively and reveal the things related to Ian. At the time, I only thought that the other party was a gang, and a few Beyonder behind the gang. Who knew that it would involve someone like Intis? What I didn't expect was that Meursault would be so reckless. After failing to complete the mission, he didn't threaten or intimidate me, didn't go through any other procedures, and went straight to my door to kill and Spirit Channeling. He didn't give me a chance to back down, and my situation worsened as a result."
Therefore, this is not a Error that is too subjective or too serious.
" The Error that truly put me in such a passive position was a small Error at the very beginning: when I rented the house and accepted the commission in Sherlock Moriarty's name, I didn't pretend!"
"This led to the situation where, after my Beyonder status was exposed to the ambassador, I dared not run away. Even if I showed fear and panic, making Military Intelligence Section 9 and the police think that my escape was a matter of course, I still dared not run away, fearing that the ambassador would not find a target for retaliation and would casually mention it to the authorities. Based on my experience as Nighthawks, most 'law enforcement officers' are hostile to uncontrolled Beyonder and would certainly not ignore me because of my low Sequence; they would definitely launch an investigation."
"At that time, my appearance will be clear and unmistakable evidence, and I will be hunted down by the High-Sequence experts of the Church of the Goddess for being involved with Grade 0 Sealed Artifact and being resurrected from the dead."
"You can't rely on the other party suddenly forgetting or not taking it to heart. You have to prepare for the worst in advance. If you wait until the ambassador takes some action before you respond, it will definitely be too late. Whether it's an assassination attempt, hiring bodyguards, or buying supplies, it all takes enough time."
"Only if the ambassador dies, and his assistant dies as well, or if attention is diverted to investigating the ambassador's cause of death, can I resolve this hidden danger. His assistant has no official status and cannot directly contact the authorities. He certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of reporting a mere Sequence 9, or at most Sequence 8, who has disappeared without a trace."
"Of course, his death would be the best outcome, then there would be no hidden dangers."
"Compared to seeking Mr. Azik's help and being brought back into the '0-08's' sights, or being hunted by High-Sequence powerhouses, assassinating the ambassador is the relatively simplest option... If it fails, I can only accept one of these two outcomes..."
"Alas, it all stemmed from a small oversight at the very beginning. I thought that since I was in a metropolis of over five million people, where nobody would know me and I had avoided the Nighthawks, there was no need to disguise myself every day. In fact, that made it easier for people to spot the problem. As a result, for such a small Error, I ended up paying a price of over 10,000 gold pounds, and there's no guarantee it will even be resolved..."
"It's just like a Clown, making a Error, triggering a chain reaction, then struggling to maintain balance in order to please the Spectator..."
"This is what I suffered from—lack of experience. This is the first time in my two lifetimes that I've been a 'fugitive'."
"Once this matter is completely resolved, revealing my Beyonder status won't be so dangerous. They'll just assume I obtained the Potion while looking for bodyguards recently, instead of questioning my origins. Of course, I'll have to get used to wearing glasses and growing a beard, gradually letting those around me get used to my new image, so that when they ask about me in the future, this is the only image they can think of."
Having figured out the whole thing, Klein's smile grew even wider, making Ian feel rather strange.
"I should go now. I need to disappear for a while, otherwise I might end up in jail." Ian put on his hat, said goodbye, and left.
Klein didn't stop him, watching him disappear into the crimson moonlight, while the lady on the convex window had vanished sometime earlier.