The more he thought about how a living person was playing cards with more than ten corpses in a dimly lit room into the night, the more his scalp tingled.
Klein suppressed his instinctive fear and looked at the pale face, the malicious brown eyes, and the man who was about twenty-eight years old that suffused madness. He pretended to be intimidated by the manâs dominance and took a step back. During this time, Kaspars left the room and closed the door.
The man asked in a deep voice, âYouâre the one looking for a bodyguard?â
â⊠Yes.â Klein gulped deliberately.
The manâs strangeness made him feel fear, but it also brought him peace of mind.
The stronger the bodyguard, the safer he would be!
The pale-faced man in the black vest lifted his chin and asked, âWhy are you looking for a bodyguard? How much are you willing to pay for this?â
Klein didnât answer straight away. He thought for nearly twenty seconds before saying, âIâll tell you the details of the mission first. Give me a price after you assess it. If I can pay for it, or if I have an item of equivalent value, we would have ourselves a deal. Otherwise, I can only give up and look for someone else.â
The fierce-looking man didnât say a word. Instead, he nodded as a gesture for Klein to recount his story.
Klein deliberately looked at the zombies, treating them as normal card players. Then, he gave the man an inquisitive look saying: âBefore I answer, do you want to kick these guys out of the room?â
âThereâs no need for that,â the pale-faced man said in a deep voice.
Klein hesitated for a moment, then honestly said, âI offended a big shot who might have a country supporting him.â
The room suddenly turned still and silent. The man, who had a hint of madness and malice in his eyes, froze on the spot as if he had turned into a plaster statue.
After nearly a minute, he slowly said, âThis mission is priceless.
âGet out.â
Ah? Klein didnât manage to react until the man turned and walked back to the card table. Only then did he realize that there was no deal.
You played cards with a bunch of living corpses in the room and presented yourself as a person of high standing and strength. Yet, you were scared off just like that? Youâre clearly a little crazy⊠Klein didnât know whether to laugh or cry as he added, âThe big shot doesnât have that much freedom in Backlund.â
The man in the black vest ignored him and sat down again. The zombies began to hand out cards, look at their cards, and throw out chips.
Klein exhaled and backed out of the room only to see Kaspars Kalinin. He had been waiting outside with his brandy nose and hideous wound.
âWe didnât come to an arrangement.â Klein threw up his hands.
Kaspars didnât show a look of surprise as he pondered for a few seconds before saying, âDid he request too high a price?â
âNo, he finds the mission too difficult.â Klein didnât hide the reason.
Kaspars frowned.
âMaric is the scariest person I know. He isnât even afraid of bullets, and since he thinks the mission is difficult, I donât think I can help you get in touch with other powerful people.â
âWhat a pity.â Klein sighed.
Kaspars clenched his right fist and struck his left chest.
âMay the Storm be with you.â
Then Iâm dead⊠Klein said with a smile as he made the best out of it, âThank you.
âYou can try asking around for me. Iâll pay you a fee. Yeah⊠Iâll come again tomorrow night. â
After receiving a positive answer, he left the Bravehearts Bar feeling slightly melancholic. He didnât even have the interest to play a game of billiards.
Was I being too honest? If I described the mission in a way that sounded simpler, Maric wouldâve agreed⊠I just wonder how much money he would ask for⊠Sigh, itâs not my style to let someone else face the danger for me through deceit⊠As a Beyonder, if I constantly go against my heartâs true thoughts and my own principles, then I probably wonât be far from losing control⊠Feeling mixed emotions, Klein changed carriages and returned to Minsk Street.
âŠ
After washing up, Klein didnât waste any charcoal. He directly went to the bedroom and pulled the curtain to isolate the room from the outside world.
On the way back, he carefully thought for a while and discovered that the possible danger wasnât something that couldnât be resolved.
To the unknown ambassador, his primary and fundamental purpose is to find Ian Wright. The reason he sent people to deal with me was because he wished to obtain clues to finding Ian from me. If direct interrogation doesnât work, killing me and channeling my spirit could be considered⊠If I let him know that I canât find Ian either, he wouldnât take the risk to deal with a hired detective when the militaryâs special department might be monitoring the situation.
Of course, my appearance and strength far exceeded his expectations, causing their operation to be exposed and causing them to suffer heavy setbacks. If I were the ambassador, I would definitely think about revenge and vent my anger, but it definitely wouldnât be now, not when the situation is so tense and turbulent⊠Yes, this is building on the premise that the ambassador has brains, and he isnât a good-for-nothing who got to his position through connections and only knows to act rashly⊠For him to be handling such an important matter, it must mean that heâs still rather reliableâŠ
In other words, the crux of the problem is Ian Wrightâs whereabouts!
Hmm⊠Thereâs still some latent danger. Would the ambassador reveal to the militaryâs special department that Meursault is a Beyonder after his failure? That would make them find my strength questionable, and use them to retaliate against me⊠This can be done easily with an offhand remark with no difficulty involved. I have to be on my guardâŠ
Klein analyzed his situation and suddenly had the urge to kill the unknown ambassador.
However, just the thought of powerful Beyonders around him left him depressed.
I wonder if the messenger can accept my delegations without Mr. Azikâs permission⊠Probably not⊠Should I pay close attention to this matter and find an opportunity to silence him? Since he sent someone to kill me, I wouldnât feel any psychological burden from killing him⊠Yes, I can consider setting a mission for the Tarot Club. Letâs see if Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man have any solutions⊠Perhaps, a large sum of money can tempt that âMr. Aâ or some other powerful Beyonders⊠Klein suddenly had an idea came to him as he thought of the Tarot Club.
With this idea in mind, he calmed down a lot. He found some paper and a pen and wrote the divination statement: âIan Wrightâs whereabouts.â
After confirming that there were no hidden Beyonders in the room, Klein looked at the curtain that shielded him from prying eyes. He recalled Ianâs appearance and silently read out the divination sentence before leaning back into his chair.
He quickly entered a dream and saw a dark, small, run-down room in the dreamy world. There was a bunk bed and a floor mat that four people slept on.
Ian was curled up at the top of the bunk bed, sleeping soundly under an old satchel.
When the dream shattered, Klein opened his eyes and interpreted the revelation.
Living quarters like that only exist in the East Borough and the Backlund Bridge area, but itâs an abnormally huge place. Even if all the police in Backlund are deployed, they still wouldnât be able to find itâŠ
Ian was very careful. He didnât leave anything with me. Otherwise, I wouldâve been able to find him through dowsing rod divinationâŠ
After a few minutes of consideration, Klein picked up the pen and added a paragraph to each of the divination statements, making it an excuse:
âI donât know Ian Wrightâs whereabouts. I havenât seen him since we found Zrealâs body.â
That piece of paper was left on the desk with a pen pressed against its edge.
After all was done, Klein got up and went back to his bed, making a quick, less obvious flick of the coin to make sure that no one was watching him.
After obtaining a negative answer, he quickly took four steps counterclockwise, chanted the incantation, and entered the world above the gray fog.
Within the ancient and towering palace, Klein couldnât be bothered to inspect the situation around him, and instead repeated the divination he had just done.
Seeing that the negative answer hadnât changed, he stopped feeling so nervous. Raising his head to the side, he realized that the core position of the newly added crimson star had been dyed with a sun-like gold.
âIs this the source of the warmth I felt?â Klein spread out his spirituality and gingerly touched it in response to the prayer.
A blurry scene quickly appeared in front of his eyes.
The petite lady he had tried to pull up above the gray fog was standing in front of an altar with a lady with slightly curled brown hair. A man wearing a white mask softly chanted the honorary name of the Eternal Blazing Sun, creating a warm and pure light.
Was she trying to get someone to do an exorcism? Klein almost laughed.
At that moment, he finally understood the reason behind the previous situation. It wasnât that someone had penetrated the gray fog and locked onto him. It was similar to Justice and company reciting his honorary name before making a prayer. And after the gray fog received the message, it automatically give him feedback. However, since it wasnât a prayer, the illusory, overlapping voices ended up becoming a warm current.
Notification. This is a notification, and not something that can cause harm or influence⊠Klein made a definite judgment.
At the same time, he was roughly certain of one thing. The way the mysterious space above the gray fog connected with Justice and the others wasnât absolutely abnormal or above the rules of this world. It still suffered particular restrictions that could cause effects of varying degrees by using specific methods.
Klein continued watching the scene before him and listened to the voice speaking. He was surprised to find that it lasted longer than ever before.
Before this, he wouldnât be able to take the initiative to spy on the corresponding target of the crimson stars, unless the other party had prayed for it, and only then would he be able to receive the corresponding scene.
In another situation, when he gave his feedback, he would be able to see the scene and hear synchronized voices at the same time. However, once the response ended, he would no longer be able to gain any additional information.
Now, it was like watching a long video whose footage was filled with mosaicked reality TV footage.
He saw the petite lady talking to a man in a golden mask in the study, heard her companions address her as Xio, and realized that she was looking for the Beyonder potion corresponding to the Sheriffâs potion.
It wasnât until the two women returned home that Klein felt regretful that he failed to identify their address. The ârecordingâ thus came to an end.
Watching the gradually dissipating gold colors, he nodded his head thoughtfully. He vaguely understood why such an anomaly had appeared.
In other words, the power of purification helped me maintain the corresponding passageway? Xioâs thirty pounds was worth it⊠I wonder when Iâll be able to maintain it myself⊠Klein shook his head and smiled. He took out a pen and a paper to continue to divine Ian Wrightâs whereabouts.