The endless gray fog hung silently before a light scraping noise on the bronze table sounded.
Klein changed his seating posture and began placing more weight on the details regarding the evil spirit. He was more and more convinced that Miss Sharron and himself had neglected the possibility of something happening to Rafter Pound.
This is a Beyonder power of the Red Priest pathway, Conspiracist?
Furthermore, this is even closer to a common fraud. There's only the use of supernatural powers in the details. Therefore, even if I had arrived at the mysterious space above the gray fog, I would passively have my senses fooled. I would've only discovered the problem by proactively considering and analyzing the situation?
If it wasn't for Mr. Azik, who knew of the evil spirit suspected to be the dead Red Angel Medici, I wouldn't have realized this problem. Nor would I have hired Miss Magician to seek out any abnormalities on Williams Street...
After a few minutes of contemplation, Klein conjured a pen and paper, preparing to use divination to confirm his theories.
After deliberating for a moment, he finally penned the sentence for the dream divination: "Baronet Rafter Pound's current situation."
After putting down his dark red fountain pen, Klein held the piece of paper with the divination statement and leaned back in his chair.
He first recalled the information he had regarding Rafter Pound before closing his eyes, chanting silently, and entering Cogitation.
Klein's thoughts rapidly calmed down as he quickly entered a dream state.
In a gray world, disconnected scenes flashed past before finally fixating on Unit 29 on Sivellaus Street.
Inside the warm activity room, Rafter Pound was dressed in cotton pajamas, holding a wine cup with red liquid. He was standing silently by the window, looking at the Backlund police station headquarters diagonally across the street.
This baronet had gray sideburns and puffy eye sockets that were tainted with blackish-green colors. The wrinkles on his forehead and the corners of his eyes and mouth were so pronounced that it exceeded what someone in his forties should look like.
His pupils weren't dilated in a very serious manner, but they were abnormal. His cheeks were flushed red as he had a furtive smile. He looked slightly abnormal compared to the last time Klein met him.
Indeed, something is wrong with him... Klein left the dream and began considering how he could deal with the evil spirit.
Without a doubt, he had his usual train of thought for such matters. Under the situation where he was unable to contact Miss Sharron, his first reaction was to report the matter!
But how should it be reported? Klein considered it seriously and conjured The World's figure and made him pray.
"Through a reliable channel, pass this information to the Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.
"The information is: High-level spies from Feysac and Intis are gathered at Williams Street for unknown motives.
"Reward of 100 pounds."
This was the explanation Klein thought of after repeated consideration. Directly revealing the King of Angels, Red Priest, the Medici family, or the Tudor Dynasty's ruin would indeed garner the attention of the Churches and military, but it would also easily make Miss Magician, who reported the matter, to be targeted by the official organizations. There were huge risks involved.
Not only was using "high-level spies from Feysac and Intis are gathered at Williams Street" relatively milder, something which ordinary Beyonders had a chance of noticing, but it was also something that would make the Churches and the military wary. They would send out the corresponding experts to employ the most effective methods.
As for the subsequent fruits of the investigations, it was all thanks to their contributions and had nothing to do with the reporting party.
Klein had considered getting Mr. Azik to help, but he ultimately chose to abandon the thought. This was because the evil spirit was suspected to be a King of Angels and was very dangerous. Mr. Azik, who was still in the stage of recovering, might not be able to deal with it.
After some thought, Klein turned the conjured scene into a stream of light and transmitted it to the crimson star representing The Magician.
...
Backlund, Cherwood Borough.
When Fors received the response from Mr. World, she was taken aback.
Those are high-level spies from Feysac and Intis? she exclaimed to herself, believing that there was no way she could've inferred something like that with the information she had provided!
However, she quickly felt at ease, believing that the reason why Mr. World had suspicions of abnormalities in Williams Street was precisely because he had received the corresponding intel of high-level spies. Once he confirmed the appearances of people from Feysac and Intis, it was easy for him to make such a conclusion.
Pass this information to the Church of Evernight and the Church of Steam? Isn't that a euphemistic way of saying "report"... Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch from the sideline, or I'm sure a great show would unfold...
Fors wasn't a stranger to reporting matters; after all, her housemate and good friend was a bounty hunter.
She quickly had an idea, deciding to hand the matter of reporting the intel to the experienced Xio.
When she came out of the bedroom, she saw Xio sitting on a sofa. She was flipping through documents about her target, raising her hand to grab at her messy blonde hair from time to time and appearing extremely serious.
Fors casually picked up an item to embellish her motives and came over to the sofa. She handed over the item.
"Here, have a piece of cake."
Xio glanced at the cake slathered with a layer of cream. Without losing focus, she raised her hand to grab it.
At this moment, Fors flipped her wrist, and the cake in her palm had turned into a golden decorative flower.
"Surprised?" she asked with a smile.
Xio couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Stop your performance. I prefer food."
"Alright. I have a matter for you to do. 70 pounds." Fors smiled as she sat down.
...
After first dealing with the evil spirit's matter, Klein returned to the real world and held a ritual in passing. He brought the radio transceiver, which had been placed above the gray fog for several days, back to his first-class master bedroom.
He lay in bed and used Cogitation to recover his energy until he was awoken by the tapping sounds.
When Klein opened his eyes, the crimson moonlight had already shone in, blanketing the dim room like a veil, as well as the radio transceiver which was automatically spewing out illusory white paper.
This really feels like a horror film... A shame it's connected to a magic mirror without any moral integrity or bottom line... Klein sat up and walked over. He saw lines of Loenese on the illusory white paper.
"Honorable existence above the spirit world, your loyal and humble servant, Arrodes, has arrived and would like to greet you.
"Do you have something you would like to test me on?"
Look at this, look! This is what I call smooth-talking! This is what a professional is like! In that instant, Klein really wished to pull Darkwill into the room to witness the magic mirror's art of communication.
I clearly have questions to ask it, but it becomes a situation of me testing it. And it even threw in a question...
Klein controlled the curling of his mouth as he replied in a deep voice, "Yes."
"Please speak. The ignorant and limited Arrodes is ready." Amidst the tapping sounds, the illusory paper no longer produced Loenese, but instead produced a fawning smiley face.
This is already the emergence of emoticons... This fellow evolves really quickly... Klein directly asked, "Where can I obtain a mystical item which can steal the Beyonder powers of others?"
The tapping sounds suddenly became intense as the illusory white paper quickly produced scenes like a screenshot from a movie.
There were places which Klein was familiar with such as Tingen City's Saint Selena Cathedral's Chanis Gate; the black-haired, green-eyed, handsome poet, Leonard Mitchell; a middle-aged man who sat on a sofa smiling at the noble ladies opposite him; and a young arrogant lady who was loitering in the sewers...
There were a total of twelve scenes, and finally a line of Loenese text appeared: "These are the ones that you can easily or conveniently acquire one from. There are a lot more, but they are either very complicated or troublesome, or they range at the highest levels which I cannot see clearly."
Not bad. He actually knows to help me filter... This is a fantasy and mystical version of Google... Klein gently nodded and said, despite knowing the answer, "It's your turn to ask."
"You have already answered." Amidst the tapping, Arrodes's unsurprising answer appeared on the illusory white paper.
Klein chuckled inwardly and asked, "Where will Leonard Mitchell be staying for the time being?"
The tapping sounds became intense again as one scene after another appeared before Klein's eyes.
It was a famous landmark in Backlund, a towering Gothic bell tower with a Bell of Order hanging above.
There was a road sign on the road with the words "Pinster Street."
It was Unit 7 along a row of terrace houses. In it, there was the extremely suave Leonard Mitchell wearing a black coat and red gloves. He was Klein's poet friend who was reading through the dossiers of Lanevus and Capim.
This fellow is in Backlund, and he's investigating the Lanevus and Capim cases? What the hell... The corners of Klein's mouth twitched slightly as he carefully thought of the clues he left behind in those two cases.
The only clue is that Detective Sherlock Moriarty is involved in the two cases. If Leonard enters Daisy's dream, he should discover this point. But, I already kept a beard and had a pretty good disguise back then. It's unlikely that he can recognize me in the rather blurry scene in the dream and portraits... As long as he doesn't recognize me, it doesn't matter. What has problems with Sherlock Moriarty have to do with me, Gehrman Sparrow? Klein retracted his thoughts and memorized Leonard Mitchell's current residence.
7 Pinster Street, Backlund.
He planned on entrusting The Moon Emlyn White to visit Leonard Mitchell the day after tomorrow and use the badge of the Hermits of Fate to purchase a mystical item.
I hope my dear poet friend has additional items to spare... If not, the price will definitely be at a premium... Klein tersely answered and said to the radio transceiver, "It's your turn to ask."
He was honestly curious as to what Arrodes would ask this time.
Amidst the clacking sounds, the radio transceiver spewed out new illusory paper. On it was a question composed in Loenese: "Great Master, Leonard Mitchell has a huge secret. Do you wish to know?"
... This can also be considered a question? Klein raised his head in amusement and surprise as he looked at the crimson moon which was silently illuminating the dark sea.
Soon, he honestly gave an answer.
"Yes."
