Wednesday morning, across from the Coim Company, in the Cherwood Borough.
Klein was sitting on a wooden bench outside the Gardeley department store, clutching a paper bag containing the most famous Cyndi Desi pie in the area with one hand, and holding a cup of iced tea in the other.
Beside him, a tramp was curled up on the other side of the bench, sleeping. Ten minutes later, the mall's security guard woke him up and shooed him away.
Klein wore gold-rimmed spectacles which didn't provide for any vision correction and a silk half top hat. He didn't look much different from most of the gentlemen around him.
He idly looked across the street at the Coim Company, lifted his right hand, and took a large bite of the Cyndi Desi pie. He felt the rich aroma gush out and fill his oral cavity.
The reason why this pie from Desi Bay stood out amongst the southern pies was that it used a lot of oil and fat, but the meat was chopped into very tiny bits. With the fat and lean meat mixed together, it didn't feel too heavy.
The rich, meaty juice seeped into the outer crust, neutralizing the dryness and made up for its shortcomings. The wheat fragrance was clearly brought out, and the small pieces of crushed apples were used to stimulate appetite with a slightly sour and sweet taste while neutralizing the oily taste.
It's okay... Although the weather isn't good and the pollution is terrible, Backlund is far superior to Tingen in many other aspects. Foods of all styles can be found everywhere. There are all kinds of operas and plays available. They can be enjoyed as long as one isn't afraid to spend money... Although I might not necessarily eat or partake in such entertainment, I have these options at the very least. This is the advantage of a big city... Klein raised his sweet iced tea and took a sip.
He never took his eyes off the Coim Company's entrance. For that ten pounds, he had been sitting there since eight in the morning. Even his breakfast was bought on the way there.
Of course, for most private detectives, a commission of ten pounds was an absolutely enviable business, equivalent to about three weeks' salary for a member of the middle class!
According to the information provided by Mary Gale, her husband was currently the first manager of Coim Company and was Luke Sammer's superior; however, their shares in the Coim Company came from Mary's father, and Mary had inherited it.
One of the immediate reasons she suspected her husband of having a mistress was that an employee in the company had divulged to her that Doragu Gale would leave the office on Wednesday and Friday mornings alone and only return in the afternoon. In addition, he would leave work early for two days a week, and Mary had never seen her husband return home before seven.
After breakfast, Klein waited another hour plus before seeing his target walk out of Coim.
He was wearing a black top hat, a double-breasted tweed coat, and a standard bow tie. He was slightly fat, with yellowish temples, slightly brownish eyes, and a slightly long face.
Doragu Gale... He silently recited his target's name, stood up, picked up his cane and his heavy portable camera, and crossed the road.
Instead of getting his carriage driver to pick him up, he stood by the side of the road and looked around for a rental carriage.
Klein took the opportunity to cross the road and arrive beside him. Pretending to be careless, he bumped into his target.
"Sorry, I'm quite lost." Klein bowed his head in apology.
Doragu frowned, but remained silent, waving his hand to indicate that it didn't matter.
Klein bent down, bowed, and walked to the end of the street.
He didn't run into Doragu in order to steal his belongings and use the dowsing method to easily track him. That would've been easily noticeable.
Instead, Klein had only done one thing when he collided with Doragu. With the help of his agility as a Clown, he had secretly slipped a spare button of his into one of the pockets of Doragu's double-breasted coat.
Going around a corner, he stopped and looked back just in time to see Doragu board a rental carriage.
Klein was in no hurry to tail him. He waited patiently for a few minutes before slowly getting into another horse carriage and said to the carriage driver, "Just go according to my instructions. Head to the end of the street first."
"Alright." The driver didn't ask why.
Inside the carriage, Klein leaned his cane and began performing a divination.
However, his divination statement wasn't directed at Doragu Gale; instead, it became "the whereabouts of the spare button of my clothes!"
The Dowsing Rod Seeking was originally the most practical technique to find objects. Only Seers were able to use it to seek people. Now, Klein was using it in its original form.
The easiest and most convenient items to find were those that belonged to himself!
Along the way, Klein kept getting the carriage driver to change directions until they finally arrived at a street house in the Hillston Borough. When they first circled it, Klein noticed that there were gardens and lawns behind the house, which was different from the other houses.
His dowsing method told him that Doragu Gale was inside that house.
After paying the two-soli fare, Klein walked to the door with marble statues outside. He saw two men in black and white plaid uniforms that resembled the police uniform.
"I don't know you. Where's your proof of membership?" One of them, a brown-skinned man of Southern Continent blood, stopped Klein.
"Proof of membership?" Klein hid his heavy camera behind him and asked with a slight frown.
The brown-skinned man immediately turned stern.
"This is the Quelaag Club. Only our members and up to one of their guests can enter."
Klein tersely acknowledged.
"Then how can I join your club?"
"You can only join after receiving a recommendation from two members," The brown-skinned man didn't brutally chase him away, but patiently answered the question.
He couldn't guarantee that Klein would end up joining the club eventually.
"Alright." Klein pursed his lips and decided to put Plan B into motion.
He found a hotel near the Quelaag Club and got a short-stay room for four hours.
Then, he locked the door behind him, drew the curtains, and entered the space above the gray fog. He conjured a yellowish-brown goatskin and a fountain pen in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, Klein wrote the exact same divination sentence as before: "The whereabouts of the spare button of my clothes."
This time, he didn't use the dowsing method, but a dream divination!
The reason why he didn't do it in the real world was because Klein felt that the Quelaag Club seemed to be quite a high-end club, and he suspected that there might be some powerful Beyonders inside. In order to not waste time, he decided to get it done once and for all.
In the gray dreamy world, Klein was the first to see Doragu's black coat, which was hung on a coat rack. On the carpet in front of it was a round table.
The scene zoomed out, and the sight of a romping man and woman entered Klein's eye. The man was Doragu Gale, the woman had shimmering blond hair who looked rather young. She was in her early twenties at most.
The pained expression with her knitted brows does look rather coquettish... Why am I always seeing scenes such as this... Klein covered his eyes and woke up.
The fact that Doragu has a mistress is confirmed... How do I get material evidence... By responding to my prayers? But this is limited to what I can obtain with my own body. I can only do it through sketching and not through the camera... I can't possibly draw a picture with my bare hands, can I? It looks like today won't do. I'll tail that girl and find out her address and name later. I refuse to believe that they'll be inside the Quelaag Club every time they meet... Detective Klein quickly came up with his next course of action.
Just as he was about to leave the mysterious space above the gray fog, he suddenly thought of something.
He decided to take the opportunity to divine if the iron-black threadworm which had infiltrated his room was under the control of a Beyonder of the Seer pathway.
He didn't do so before because he felt that the relevant information was too scarce, and it was difficult to create something out of nothing which would result in a failed divination. It would've been the same if he was above the gray fog. Furthermore, he had various matters to divine the few times he came above the gray fog previously, and he didn't have the capacity to bother with such a question. Now that he was free, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to do the divination.
As for the question of whether it was risky to contact Azik, he had already long divined it. The answer was that it was risky, and not something trivial, so he could only use it as his last resort.
After writing the corresponding divination statement, Klein removed the silver chain from his sleeve and allowed the topaz pendant to hang over the paper.
"The iron-black threadworm that sneaked into my room was controlled by a Beyonder from the Seer pathway."
...
After repeating it seven times, Klein opened his eyes and saw that the spirit pendulum was spinning clockwise, with great amplitude and frequency.
Positive... The answer is positive!
Shouldn't it have failed? Klein didn't expect to obtain such an answer. According to his Seer instincts, such a divination was likely to fail.
Why? He frowned and thought for a while before deciding to switch to a different method of divination and target.
He wanted to directly divine the controller using dream divination!
This time, Klein saw nothing in his dream, and couldn't get the corresponding revelation about the Seer pathway Beyonder.
"That's more like it..." he muttered and thought back to the prior divination and fell into deep thought.
They should've been a lack of conditions and result in a failed divination just like the one that followed... Could it be that this mysterious space had filled in the necessary conditions? Does it contain something of the Seer pathway? Klein suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He had a bold idea!
Perhaps, the mysterious space above the gray fog had something to do with the path of the Seer pathway!
Hmm... Klein lightly rapped the edge of the ancient table. Despite thinking about it, he couldn't find any other evidence. He could only temporarily put this matter on hold and prepare for his return to the real world.
Regardless, I've confirmed at least one thing. The Mid-Sequence Beyonder beside the Ambassador is from the Seer pathway and whether he's a member of the Seer doesn't matter... This might be my chance of obtaining the Sequence 7 and even the Sequence 6 potion formula! Klein extended his spirituality and wrapped it around him before plunging into the gray fog.
...
Meanwhile, in Viscount Glaint's study.
Audrey let the master of the study guard the door while she looked at Xio and Fors. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "I need your help with a mission."
"What mission?" Xio's eyes lit up as if she could smell the ink on the bills.
Audrey gave her a polite smile.
"Assassinate the Intis ambassador to the Loen Kingdom, Bakerland Jean Madan."
