Chapter 384: On Your Own You Check Yourself

In Empress Borough, the opulent villa of Earl Hall.

The aroma of Feynapotter's top-quality Mount Saint Dersee coffee blended

with the splendid fragrance of the Queen's black tea to create an

intoxicating symphony of smells. They lingered around the elegant

three-tiered high tea tray, that served delicious and delicate desserts.

This was the high tea party organized by Audrey.

She had invited her friends of blue-blood parentage, all who were fellow

enthusiasts in mysticism. They sat around her, talking and laughing.

Under Audrey's imperceptible guidance, Jane, Murray, and the others

became extremely interested in the Black Emperor, the Hero Bandit who

had appeared last night. All of them cast their eyes towards the

noble-born Kance Leerhsen who had joined MI9.

"What Beyonder powers does that Black Emperor have?" the sweet-looking

Christine asked curiously.

Among the few of them, the lowest rank among their fathers was that of a

viscount. It allowed them to have sufficient status and channels to

understand the existence of Beyonder powers and potions in their

endearing pursuit of mysticism. But just like Audrey before, they were

all unwilling to join the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, the

Machinery Hivemind, and MI9.

Other than that, the families that they belonged to didn't have

histories that traced back to a thousand years ago, and even the ancient

aristocrats that had just been established in the Fourth Epoch of the

Loen Kingdom weren't completely loyal to the royal family or to the

upper echelons of the military. They weren't bestowed with any formulas,

and even if they had Beyonder ingredients, it was unlikely that they

could recognize them. They wouldn't even know how to use them even if

they did recognize them.

This limited the possibility of Murray, Christine, and the others in

becoming Beyonders. They could only look forward to it, but it was

difficult for them to take that crucial step.

As for whether or not their elders had collected the potion formulas and

nurtured Beyonders for their families, that was beyond their purview.

After all, this wasn't allowed; if the King were to find out, they could

use this as a reason to strip them of their noble titles.

Of course, there were already two traitors in the living room: Audrey,

who had advanced to Sequence 8 Telepathist; and Viscount Glaint, who had

gathered one portion of Beyonder ingredients. It wouldn't be long before

he became an Apothecary.

The tall, thin, young gentleman, Kance, took a sip of his coffee and

said, "I won't give you a direct answer. I'll just tell you some facts.

"Other than traces of a gas explosion in the dining room where the

battle happened, various means were used to detect poison, substitutes,

Specter's Shriek, bullets condensed with holy powers, and other

elements. By the way, that Black Emperor, no---Hero Bandit was in a

specter state."

*It doesn't look like the person who had killed Vice Admiral Hurricane

Qilangos, nor does it look like the person who had dealt with Lanevus in

the sewers... Is the person involved in Capim's case Mr. Fool's third

Blessed who stole the Black Emperor's card? There are at least three

Blessed in Backlund alone... How many Blessed does "He" have in

total?* Audrey's heart skipped a beat as she deliberately asked,

"Was there an intense Beyonder battle?"

Murray, under her lead, asked one step further, "There were Beyonders at

Capim's place? Relatively powerful Beyonders? And there was more than

one?"

"He's just a trafficker..." Viscount Glaint unconsciously expressed his

doubt.

Audrey maintained her faint smile and curious gaze, patiently waiting

for Kance's reply.

Kance laughed and said, "Murray's guess is correct. I can only say this

much.

"Do you want me to be locked up by Captain?"

*Capim's place had more than one relatively powerful

Beyonder...*

*Indeed, he's not an ordinary human trafficker. He might be involved in

many matters regarding mysticism...*

*Human trafficker... Could he be involved in some cult's sacrificial

rite? Mr. Fool's Blessed attacked because of this?*

*It was roughly the same with Lanevus. It involved a cult and

sacrifices, as well as the descent of the True Creator... I wonder which

cult and evil god is behind Capim...*

*Mr. Fool's goal seems to have always been targeting these evil gods...

Is it really strife between the gods? Who knows how many grand schemes

of those evil gods "He" has foiled...* Audrey made many

connections as her heart surged with emotions.

Our Tarot Club's enemies are the evil gods!

The rest aren't qualified!

*Does Mr. Fool wish to get the title of "The Nemesis of Evil Gods?"

Audrey pursed her lips and chuckled softly in her heart.*

Then, she suppressed her emotions and secretly made a confession.

*Audrey, how can you do this? How can you use Mr. Fool as a

joke...*

At noon, when Klein returned to Minsk Street, he found, as he had

expected, a letter from Old Kohler who had paid a carriage driver to

deliver to his mailbox.

This was their agreed upon contact method during an emergency.

Of course, according to Klein's prediction, Old Kohler, who didn't know

many words, could only use simple symbols to tell him where and when

they would meet. To his surprise, it was actually written in neat

writing when he opened the letter.

With a quick glance, Klein confirmed that it was identical to the

handwriting in Daisy's vocabulary book.

*Looks like this girl was the one who helped Old Kohler write it... This

piece of paper doesn't seem to be exposed to moisture. Perhaps Old

Kohler had bought some in the event he needs to contact me

urgently...* Klein opened the door to the living room and read

the letter.

Only taking off his hat and cane, he leaned his cane against the wall.

He didn't take off his coat because the fireplace in the room wasn't lit

yet, and the early November cold was silently seeping into his bones.

The letter was simple; after all, Daisy didn't know many words either.

She thanked the detective for his kindness and good intentions before

telling him that she safely returned home, and she finally said, in a

tactful way, that she hoped he would bring her vocabulary book with him

the next time he came to East Borough.

What a polite girl... Klein chuckled. He snapped his fingers

and burned the letter, leaving no clues behind.

He decided to return to East Borough the next day and return the book to

Daisy, as well as reimburse Old Kohler for the cost of the letter

delivery letters, paper, and fountain pens.

With this in mind, he couldn't help but sigh and chortle.

"Captain, now it's my turn to approve the expense claims of others..."

Without wasting any time, he went out again and went straight to the

Quelaag Club, where Dr. Aaron was seen more often during Friday

afternoons. Klein wanted to ask about Will Auceptin, the child who had

played with tarot cards.

After entering the Quelaag Club in Hillston Borough, Klein said to the

red-vested attendant, "A cup of marquis black tea and a serving of

dessert. Send it to the corner seat of the main hall. Dr. Aaron,

Reporter Mike, and the others are sitting there."

Klein had already spotted the relatively cold and famous surgeon, Aaron

Ceres, who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, as well as Reporter Mike

Joseph from the Daily Observer, who he had worked with twice and had a

pair of charming blue eyes. He also saw the aristocratic equestrian

teacher, Talim Dumont, whose frequency of appearing at the club was only

second to his.

"Oh, our great detective is here, and we happened to be talking about

you." Talim stood up with a smile.

"Speaking bad things behind my back?" Klein joked.

Mike stood up and shook his hand.

"No, I want to hire you again."

"What's the matter this time?" Klein bowed at Dr. Aaron and sat down at

their table.

Mike chuckled and said, "I'm sure you've read the papers? Capim has been

killed off by the Hero Bandit Black Emperor, and his crimes have been

exposed. What a joyous event!

"And as a reporter, I need to have an acumen for the news. I plan to get

a list of names of the girls who were rescued in East Borough from the

police department to interview them. Then, I'll paint Capim's most

cruel, most evil, and most unforgivable side to the readers of the

newspaper. Of course, the victims must remain anonymous."

He paused for a moment and suppressed his voice.

"I also have a hidden objective, or should I say, I wish to use the

interview to know if these girls or their family know any relatively

special friends. Who knows, that might be Hero Bandit Black Emperor!"

You've found the right person... The corners of Klein's mouth

almost twitched.

He smiled at Mike and said, "We've already worked together on East

Borough's matters. We have sufficient familiarity and trust, so I have

no reason to decline."

"I hope for a pleasant partnership." Mike stretched out his hand. "We'll

start tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and we'll be paid the same as

last time for a total of ten pounds."

At that moment, Dr. Aaron, who had been listening by the side, said,

"Sherlock, I want to hire you as well. This evening, or after dinner."

It looks like my business is improving recently... Klein

asked, amused, "Will it conflict with Mike's request?"

"No." Aaron shook his head. "My luck recently has been pretty good. This

makes me suspect that my bout of bad luck was because of that child's

inverted Wheel of Fortune card and the words he said. I'm very troubled

and puzzled in this regard. I swear to god that I was very nice to him,

and I treated him with the best of intentions. Why would he treat me

that way? I wish to visit him at his place and confirm that he didn't do

it on purpose. However, I'm ultimately afraid that something similar

would happen again or some accident might occur. Therefore, I wish to

hire you to protect me. Just for tonight. It won't conflict with Mike's

request. How about it?"

*That's what I wanted to do! After challenging the impossible and doing

good deeds, my moral standing has become pretty good... Am I really

going to become the King of Yellow and Black who wields good

luck?* Klein was pleasantly surprised as he said with a reserved

smile, "No problem, we can talk about the remuneration."

City of Silver.

Derrick Berg once again examined the translucent worm with twelve

circles, the remains of Amon's avatar.

He had originally wanted to ask Mr. Fool what this was exactly, but

considering how he had already troubled this godlike figure once, he

couldn't bring himself to ask as he abandoned this plan. Now, he planned

on showing it at the next Tarot Gathering and ask Mr. Hanged Man, Miss

Justice, and the rest.

After hiding the worm, Derrick suddenly thought of something. It was

about time for the team that had gone with Shepherd Elder Lovia, to

explore the half-destroyed temple of the Fallen Creator, to return---it

wasn't too far from the City of Silver, and it was in a direction that

they hadn't set foot in before.

He decided to take a look. There were quite a few people he knew among

the expedition team.