Chapter 116: Lanevus's Child

Christina didn't notice the seer's blank look. She took a peek at

Angelica over at the reception desk, lowered her voice, and said, "I

mean Lanevus's child."

She extended her hand to point at the young lady with the sunhat and

said, "This is my niece, Megose. Her mother is my elder sister. I'm very

sorry and regretful that I thought Lanevus was an outstanding young man

back then, and I introduced Megose to Lanevus, who was single. Then they

became lovers.

"Megose's parents were happy with Lanevus at first too. They planned to

pour all their savings into the steel company after they got engaged.

Luckily, before that happened, Lanevus ran away. Their family didn't

encounter any life-threatening losses. Unfortunately, my sister and

brother-in-law have to explain to their relatives and friends why the

engagement ceremony will be canceled, and they have to worry about the

child that Megose is bearing.

"We believe in the God of Steam and Machinery; we are not believers of

Lord of Storms. We don't believe in chastity before marriage. We don't

blame Megose, and even pity her. However, the existence of the child

does make things difficult, especially since he has such a father."

He took advantage of people both financially and sexually...

Klein looked towards Megose who was standing quietly next to her. He

then realized that the lady was quite a beauty.

She had a bright forehead, long blond hair, and a pair of big eyes just

like Christina's. She looked depressed yet calm, and her lips were

tightly pursed together.

*What an infuriating swindler, and he even got away

successfully...* Klein cursed at Lanevus and said after some

thought, "If it was a child that is already born, I do have a way to

divine Lanevus's whereabouts using the child as an aid. But

unfortunately, this would require us to wait a few months. Yes, this

might be a reflection of the divination result earlier. Be patient and

wait persistent without being greedy, then there will be an opportunity

of seeing the sunlight."

"A few months..." Christina mumbled to herself as she shook her head.

"No, after such a long period of time, even if we find Lanevus, we

wouldn't be able to get back our money..."

She looked sideways at Megose. Her voice lowered unconsciously as she

asked, "Do you have anything that Lanevus carried around before?"

"No," Megose answered clearly yet gently. "Would the ring he gave me

count?"

"It must be something that he carried for a very long time." Klein shook

his head.

Christina remained silent for a while and looked at Megose when she

said, "You have to make a decision. I think keeping this child would

make your future tough and thorny. Are you going to tell him that his

father was a swindler and took away many people's money, including his

mother's?

"Time to head to the clinic, to the hospital. Plus, this could help us

to find Lanevus, to get what we lost."

Hey, isn't such divination a little hardcore? It was not

Klein's place to involve himself in the family matters of others. So, he

could only wait patiently by the side as he lampooned inwardly from time

to time.

Megose lowered her head and looked down. She didn't speak for quite a

while.

Then, she touched her stomach and revealed a gentle smile.

"He is different from his father. He will be a considerate and likable

child.

"He will kick me lightly every day, telling me his mood. He will even

hum a song, whistle and use music to help me sleep..."

Klein heard and suddenly felt something amiss.

The former part of what Megose said seemed to be normal, but the latter

part was like the ravings of a madwoman.

Did she have a mental problem due to the incident? Klein

raised his right hand to his glabella. He pretended to massage it to

ease his weariness.

Just then, Megose suddenly turned around and walked towards the door,

leaving only one sentence.

"Maybe his father will come back in secret after he is born, keeping a

part of the money for his child..."

Klein never expected she would respond like that, and he was momentarily

taken aback that he forgot to activate his Spirit Vision. Then, he

watched helplessly as Megose left the club and walked down the stairs.

Christina let out a sigh and said, "Sorry, Mr. Moretti. Sorry to bother

you, we will look for one of Lanevus's personal items that he carried

with him all the time."

Klein nodded indiscernibly. He watched her walk downstairs and sighed as

he shook his head.

The next morning, Klein entered Blackthorn Security Company, greeted

Rozanne, and asked, "Where's today's newspaper?"

The sweet brown-haired girl Rozanne sized him up and said, puzzled,

"Klein, you're so weird."

"Why?" Klein asked in reply, smiling.

Rozanne rolled her eyes and said, "You always read the newspapers during

noon break because you have mysticism lessons in the morning. Old Neil

is already waiting for you in the armory!"

"I found out earlier that there would be a case offering a reward, so I

want to read the newspaper to memorize the criminal's appearance.

Perhaps I might one day come across the person?" Klein explained with a

smile.

"Is that so?" Rozanne picked up the day's newspapers and started

flipping through them out of curiosity. "Wanted... Lanevus, right?"

Klein immediately answered, "Yes."

"...Wicked swindler! He stole about ten thousand pounds!" Rozanne read

carefully for nearly twenty seconds before cursing suddenly in rage.

Klein shared the same feeling.

"It's really ridiculous! Even I want to apply to take over the case!"

Rozanne continued to read and shook her head regretfully.

"The case doesn't seem to involve supernatural factors. Even if it did,

it would be passed to Mandated Punishers under the Lord of Storms."

Klein didn't quite understand what Rozanne meant, but after he took the

newspaper and read it, he sighed.

"Yeah, there were so many people cheated. There must be believers from

all three major churches, and Lanevus's steelwork company was said to be

located in the South."

If a case was related to supernatural factors and involved only the

believer of one God, it would be passed to the corresponding team.

However, if it involved believers of the Evernight Goddess, Lord of

Storms, and the God of Steam and Machinery, it would be assigned based

on jurisdiction area. The Nighthawks controlled the Golden Indus

Borough, the North Borough, and the West Borough. The Mandated Punishers

controlled the East Borough, South Borough, and the port, while the

Machinery Hivemind troop was responsible for the university and suburb

areas.

As he flipped through the newspapers, Klein memorized Lanevus's

appearance,

He had a plump forehead, black hair, brown eyes, and a pair of

spectacles with almost round lenses. He smirked faintly, looking as

though he was mocking everyone.

Besides that pair of spectacles, Lanevus didn't seem to have any obvious

traits, and looked really ordinary.

He chatted with Rozanne casually then passed through the partition, in

preparation to head underground.

Then, he saw the pale and cold Corpse Collector Frye and the

white-haired black-eyed author Seeka Tron exiting the recreation room

and turning towards him.

After a simple greeting, Klein watched his two teammates leave and

discovered Dunn Smith in a black trench coat standing by the side of the

door he opened.

"There's a case?" Klein asked curiously.

At that time of day, there wouldn't be two Nighthawks heading out

together for no reason.

Dunn looked over with his gray eyes. He nodded and smiled.

"There seems to be a paranormal incident in West Borough. I've sent

Seeka and Frye to check on it, but you don't have to worry about that.

Until you master combat techniques, I don't intend to send you on any

missions. I have to take responsibility for my team members."

*Captain, you are such a nice person. Besides the receding hairline and

bad memory, you are flawless...* Klein complimented inwardly. He

asked for confirmation, "In other words, I only need to attend mysticism

classes and combat training. I don't have to contribute anything, and I

can still get my pay?"

"This is only temporary," Dunn confirmed.

*I only need to 'attend classes' and 'work out', and I'll get an ample

paycheck. It's great just thinking about it...* Klein thought

happily.

I hope there are no more coincidences! He prayed in silence.

The days passed by peacefully until Friday. Klein completed his combat

training and took a carriage back to Besik Street.

Outside Henry's Private Detective Company, he looked to the left and to

the right. Confirmed that no one was watching him, he put on the gauze

mask, lifted up the collar of his trench coat, and quickly entered the

stairway.

Knocking on the door, Klein saw the middle-aged brawny man, Detective

Henry, again.

"Good afternoon, sir. One of the cases that you entrusted us with is

done." The deep blue-eyed Detective Henry spoke with a hoarse voice from

drinking and smoking.

Klein intentionally lowered his voice and said, "Is it the information

of the man that appeared at the Evil Dragon Bar?"

*The man that bought the Spectator potion's supplementary

ingredients...*

"Yes." Henry waved his smoking pipe.

Then, he didn't say anything but look at Klein with a smile.

Klein understood what the man meant, and he took out four one-pound

notes and handed it over.

"This is the second payment."

He paused and added, "Write me a receipt."

His private stash of money had been reduced to less than one pound...

"No problem." Henry coughed. He checked the anti-counterfeiting marks on

the notes as he instructed his staff to bring over pen and paper.

Then, he beckoned to Klein for him to have a seat while he quickly wrote

a receipt and stamped a seal on the bottom.

After completing everything, Henry took a puff at his pipe and said,

"According to your description, my assistant and I waited at the Evil

Dragon Bar for three days before finally meeting that man.

"He's quite an alert gentleman, and is good at observation. Thankfully,

we're experienced...

"His name is Daxter Guderian, a doctor of the Greenhill Mental Asylum."