Did Someone Here Attract Accidents?

Seriously... Did someone here attract accidents?

Almost the instant the sound rang out, Leon and Klein headed for the door at the same time. Leon picked up the cane resting nearby.

Klein reached under his arm and gripped the revolver in his holster.

The seven sacred emblems on Chanis Gate glimmered faintly under the gaslight, as if they had sensed something.

Then came three more knocks.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

This time, they were harder-hard enough for Leon to feel the floor tremble beneath him.

The heavy black iron door did not budge, but something behind it was knocking. Rhythmically, forcefully, one blow after another.

Leon looked at Klein.

Klein's expression changed.

His usually scholarly face was utterly blank.

He stared at the door without moving.

The corridor was so quiet that only the faint hiss of the gas lamps remained.

Then-

Silence.

There was no sound. No knocking, no trembling, nothing.

Chanis Gate stood there quietly, as though nothing had happened.

Klein slowly drew the handgun from beneath his arm. He did not raise the muzzle, but his gaze never left Chanis Gate.

That's more like it. That's the vigilance a Nighthawk should have. Professional matters really should be left to professionals.

Leon silently admired him, his own gaze fixed on Chanis Gate.

There seemed to be some extraordinary things stored inside.

Then he asked the only professional present, "What are we supposed to do in a situation like this?"

"I don't know," Klein said expressionlessly.

"You don't know?"

Leon turned his head, looking surprised. "Then what did you do when this happened before?"

Klein swallowed, his voice tinged with barely concealed embarrassment. "To tell the truth, this is actually my first time on guard duty."

"In a way, it's my first time on guard duty too." Leon pursed his lips.

"The captain said that no matter what we heard or what happened, we weren't to open Chanis Gate unless it was opened from the inside."

"So this is normal?" Leon asked.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The noise erupted again, and Klein tensed.

This time, the heavy blows thundered like drums, pounding madly against the thick black iron doors of Chanis Gate.

The commotion was more than twice as loud as before, but the doors merely shook, showing no other signs of anything unusual.

He murmured, "It really does seem to be normal. Scared me to death..."

He slowly breathed out and suggested they return to the guard room together.

Leon nodded.

Just as the two were about to turn around, a grating scrape came from Chanis Gate.

Creak-

Amid the stiff, teeth-grinding sound, one of the doors was pushed open a crack.

A figure appeared in the gap.

It was about as tall as an ordinary adult man's forearm and wore a miniature, elegant black court gown with obvious stains on the hem.

It had a face that was not particularly delicate, deep black eyes, and tightly pressed lips.

A cloth puppet, or rather, a rag doll.

Almost instantly, Klein raised his gun and took aim on instinct.

The puppet in the long black court gown pressed itself tightly, forcefully, against the outward-opening door of Chanis Gate.

It extended a wooden arm, as if about to throw something outside.

Danger!

Klein's head buzzed. Even an idiot could tell that whatever was sealed behind Chanis Gate couldn't be anything good.

Was something going to happen on my very first guard duty? And with a newcomer here, too.

No, Klein, you have to protect your new colleague, just like the captain.

Klein thought.

A second before he pulled the trigger, his gun trained on the puppet-

A cane with a ruby-studded handle flew past Klein's ear like a javelin.

It struck the puppet squarely on the forehead.

Crack!

The puppet's fragile neck joint snapped.

The tremendous force sent the unsteady puppet staggering. Before Klein could even think about what was happening, some invisible force enveloped the off-balance puppet and pulled it back behind Chanis Gate.

The thing it held fell onto the empty floor in front of Chanis Gate.

It seemed to be a wad of paper.

Clang!

Chanis Gate closed again.

Peace and silence returned to the underground level. If one ignored Klein's rapidly beating heart, it was as though nothing had happened.

Leon, who had remained in his throwing pose, slowly straightened. His voice came from behind Klein, carrying just the right hint of concern. "The captain didn't say they'd dock our pay if we accidentally damaged something, did he?"

Klein shook his head mechanically.

He watched Leon walk over, pick up his cane, and stop in front of the wad of paper.

"It should be fine now. Klein, don't you think that looked like a psychopathic killer in there going after a victim? The victim was desperately banging on the door and calling for help, but got pulled back in... Klein?"

Leon turned around and saw that something was wrong with Klein's expression. He realized his reaction had been a little too conspicuous.

He thought for a moment, then explained in a matter-of-fact tone, "As a detective, quick reflexes are proof of first-rate professional skills. That makes sense, right?"

"Uh... yeah." Only then did Klein collect his thoughts. He nodded, startled, frightened, and puzzled.

Looking at Leon's calm expression, he finally realized that his newly hired colleague had reacted before he had.

He wanted to ask, Didn't you only just become a Beyonder?

How do you look almost as calm as the captain?

But he knew this was not the time to discuss it.

Besides, no matter what, Leon had done nothing wrong.

"Let me."

Klein hurried over to Leon, took a citrine pendant from his wrist, and held it over the wad of paper, silently reciting something.

Leon had seen the pendant before.

This seemed to be a form of divination and, unless he was mistaken, one of Klein's Beyonder Abilities.

This ability, unlike the rules of the Lands Between, made Leon quite curious.

The pendant rotated clockwise in midair at a moderate pace.

Klein breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "Pendulum Dowsing, a very common method of divination. But with the help of the Seer Potion, it can predict good or bad fortune fairly accurately. Clockwise means there's no danger from what's on the paper."

Leon nodded to show he understood, then picked up the wad of paper and unfolded it.

Klein leaned in as well.

On the paper, numerous occult symbols formed a vertical pupil!

The symbols overlapped in layers. Some resembled winding snakes, some broken lightning bolts, and others eyes with no openings.

They intertwined and nested within one another, finally converging into a vertical eye.

"Have you seen symbols like these before?" Leon asked.

There was nothing about them in the original owner's knowledge.

"I only recognize some of the symbols that make it up." Klein shook his head, his voice growing a shade grave.

He put away the pendant. "The situation now is that Chanis Gate was opened from the inside, but it closed again. We need to notify the people on duty."

With that, Klein returned to the guard room and pulled a rope.

The rope moved, gears turned, and an urgent bell suddenly rang out inside the Blackthorn Security Company on the second floor.

The bell echoed through the silence, sharp and piercing.

But instead of the other Nighthawks on duty upstairs, what answered was a faint scream.

A piercing scream full of terror.

Although it came from far away, Leon and Klein both recognized the voice at once-

The girl named Rozanne.