In fact, I don't know whether that notebook was destroyed or hidden... but I can work backward. If it was to be destroyed, that could have been done on the spot. There was no need to have me take it away first... Upon hearing Leonard's question, Klein instantly switched into "keyboard detective" mode and said thoughtfully:
"Perhaps the unknown existence Welch, Naya, and I came into contact with both enjoyed the 'sacrifice' of lives and wanted similar things to continue happening. So, since the 'suicides' were certain to be discovered, it had me take the notebook away and hide it in preparation for its second round of 'enjoyment.' Something went wrong along the way, though, and I ultimately failed to kill myself."
This was a reasonable guess Klein had made based on the materials, novels, movies, and television shows involving evil rituals he had seen in his previous life.
As for what had gone wrong along the way, he knew very well: there had been an additional "variable"-him, a transmigrator.
"A good explanation, but I think there might be another possibility. Welch's and Naya's sacrificial suicides made it possible for that unknown existence to descend. The notebook carried or nurtured evil, and it had you take it away and hide it out of concern that we would discover and destroy it before it was 'born' or became 'powerful,'" Leonard Mitchell outlined another possibility.
At this point, he gazed into Klein's eyes and said with a slight smile:
"Of course, the notebook might already have been destroyed to conceal its contents and hide the object that actually carried or nurtured the evil. That would give us sufficient reason to explain your failed suicide."
What does he mean? Is he suspecting me? Suspecting that the original owner's body carried or nurtured evil? No, what he carried or nurtured was a transmigrator... 'nurtured' works well enough... Klein froze for a moment, inwardly snarking as he weighed his words and said:
"I won't defend myself. After all, I really have forgotten those memories. But both the captain and Madam Daly have confirmed that there's nothing else wrong with me. Your joke isn't funny."
"I'm merely exploring such a possibility. We can't rule out that the unknown existence suffered a blow when it descended, causing your suicide to fail. We must believe that the Goddess always watches over us." Leonard smiled and changed the subject. "Did you discover anything this afternoon?"
After their exchange and the earlier incidents, Klein had become deeply wary of Leonard, but he answered without showing anything on his face:
"No. I'll have to take a different route tomorrow afternoon."
He pointed at the partition and said:
"I need to collect my bullets from the armory."
The Shooting Club stayed open until nine at night. After all, many of its members only had free time after work.
"May the Goddess watch over you." Smiling, Leonard traced a circle symbolizing the crimson moon over his chest.
As he watched Klein pass through the partition and listened to his footsteps descending the stairs, the smile gradually vanished from Leonard's face, leaving his green eyes full of puzzlement.
He murmured something, his tone somewhat dissatisfied.
After descending the stairs, Klein followed the corridor quietly illuminated by gas lamps and turned toward the armory, materials storeroom, and archives.
The iron door stood open. Rozanne, the brown-haired girl, was standing before the long table, talking to a middle-aged man with a thick black beard and a half top hat.
"Good afternoon-no, good evening. It's always like midnight here. Klein, I heard from Old Neil that you've become a Beyonder? Something called a 'Seer'?" Rozanne turned her head and asked rapidly.
She made no attempt to hide her curiosity and concern.
Klein nodded with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Miss Rozanne. Although it's always night here, it feels peaceful. What you just said wasn't quite accurate. You should put it this way: the Sequence potion I consumed was called 'Seer.'"
"You chose to become a Beyonder after all..." Rozanne sighed and fell silent for a moment.
Klein looked at the middle-aged man beside her and asked politely:
"And this is?"
Another Nighthawks member, or one of the other two civilian staff members I haven't met?
Rozanne pressed her lips together and said:
"Brett, our colleague. He wants to swap shifts with me so he can have the evening after tomorrow free. He's taking his wife to the North Borough Grand Theater to see The Arrogant One to celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary. What a romantic gentleman."
Brett smiled and extended his hand.
"With Miss Rozanne around, nothing ever needs repeating. Hello, Klein. I didn't expect you to become a Beyonder so quickly. As for me, heh, perhaps I'll never have the courage."
"I suppose ignorance is bliss." Klein made a self-deprecating remark and reached out to shake his hand.
"That isn't a bad thing." Brett shook his head with a smile. "A Beyonder once told me before he died never to investigate those strange and dangerous things. The less you know, the longer you live."
At this point, Rozanne interjected:
"Klein, you don't need to worry too much. Old Neil told me that your 'Seer' is a support type and is relatively much safer, as long as you don't try to communicate with unknown existences. Why are you wearing clothes like that? They aren't gentlemanly at all! What are you doing here?"
"To collect today's thirty bullets." Klein did not answer Rozanne's earlier question.
He believed that the young woman would soon forget about it.
"All right." Rozanne pointed at the table. "Brett, I'll leave everything to you. You should know where the keys and bullets are. Sigh, Old Neil is so stingy. He didn't even leave any hand-ground coffee behind. He promised to let me drink my fill today..."
Amid her chatter, Klein collected his bullets.
The two left the underground area together and parted on Zouteland Street, one taking a public carriage home and the other entering the Shooting Club.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gripping the gun, raising his arm, firing, swinging out the cylinder, ejecting the casings, loading the bullets... Klein repeated the process over and over, familiarizing himself with and committing to memory the feel of shooting.
Of course, he took several breaks in between to review and make corrections.
After finishing his practice, Klein also used the space to do various exercises like push-ups, working hard to train his body and improve his fitness.
When everything was over and he had taken a trackless public carriage home, he discovered that it was nearly seven and the sky had long since grown dark.
Just as Klein was about to go to the market or the roadside stalls to buy ingredients for dinner, he saw the front door open and Melissa return with her bag of stationery and books.
Besides that, she was also carrying quite a few groceries.
"...I thought you and Benson would both be home rather late today, so I took one soli from where you keep the money before leaving this morning." Seeing her brother's puzzled gaze, Melissa gave a serious explanation out of habit.
"Since you took money, why didn't you take a public carriage to school?" Reminded of it, Klein recalled what had happened that morning.
Melissa frowned slightly and said:
"Why should I take a public carriage? It costs four pence to get to school, so a round trip is eight pence. Including you and Benson, we'd spend twenty-four pence a day on public carriages-a whole two soli. In a week, well, excluding Sunday, that's twelve soli, almost as much as our rent!"
Stop, stop, stop. Don't show off your arithmetic... Amused, Klein pressed his hand downward.
Melissa paused before adding:
"Walking to school is perfectly fine for me. The teacher said everyone needs to exercise regularly, and I can also pick up some broken parts along the way."
Klein chuckled and said:
"Then let's do some more arithmetic. Twelve soli for public carriage fares, twelve soli and three pence for rent-that's only one pound, four soli, and three pence altogether. Benson's salary can cover it with quite a bit left over. Yes, he's collected last week's pay... and I can still receive one pound and ten soli each week. Even if we eat meat every day, even including the costs of gas, coal, wood, seasonings, and so on, we'll still have money left over if we're a little frugal with lunch. We can even subscribe to a morning newspaper. It's only one penny a day."
"In two months, once I've paid back my salary advance, I can start saving to buy new clothes for Benson and you."
"But, but we have to account for emergencies." Melissa held to her unchanged view.
Klein looked at her with a smile and said:
"Then we can eat a little less meat. Don't you think spending fifty-no, a hundred minutes on the road every day is a waste of time? You could use it to read more books, think through more problems, and improve your grades."
"That way, Melissa, you can graduate with excellent grades and find a well-paying job. What would there be to worry about then?"
Drawing on his experience debating people on forums, he finally persuaded Melissa to agree to take a public carriage to school.
Phew, I finally managed to fool her. No, how can I call it fooling her? This is persuading someone with reason... Klein muttered inwardly, took the groceries Melissa had bought, and sighed.
"Remember to buy beef, mutton, or chicken tomorrow... you need to eat enough and eat well to have a healthy body and a clever mind to cope with difficult studies."
Just talking about it is making my mouth water a little...
Melissa pursed her lips and remained silent for a few seconds before saying:
"All right."
Early the next morning, after seeing to it that Melissa boarded a public carriage, Klein parted with Benson at the street corner, and each arrived at his own company.
As soon as Klein stepped through the entrance, he saw Old Neil chatting with Rozanne at the reception desk. The former was still wearing a classical black robe, utterly unconcerned about anyone else's gaze, while the latter had changed into a light, pale-yellow dress.
"Good morning, Mr. Neil, Miss Rozanne." Klein removed his hat in greeting.
Old Neil gave him a mischievous look.
"Good morning. You didn't hear anything you shouldn't have last night, did you?"
"No, I slept very well." Klein found this rather strange himself.
He could only attribute it to his Spirit Intuition not being high enough yet...
"Haha, don't worry about it. It's actually not that easy to hear them." Old Neil pointed toward the partition. "Let's go to the armory. We'll continue our 'mysticism lessons' this morning."
Klein nodded and followed Old Neil down the stairs, underground, and into the armory, where they relieved Brett, who had been on night duty.
"What do I need to learn today?" Klein asked curiously.
Old Neil drew out a thoughtful hum before saying:
"Complicated, foundational knowledge. But before that, I'll teach you an interesting trick."
He pointed at the silver chain wrapped around his wrist, with a pure white crystal hanging from its end.