Chapter 403: The Fate of a Private Detective

He's dead?

Will Auceptin is dead?

And he seems to have been dead for some time!

Could this be fake?

Klein looked at the body of the child in surprise and suspicion as many

thoughts bubbled in his mind.

From what he knew, Will Auceptin was a special child who could be

involved with a Sequence 1 of the Monster pathway, Snake of Mercury, in

some way.

*In the divination game he played, a casual "Doctor, your luck will get

worse" was enough to make Aaron suffer from bad luck for an extended

period of time. The paper crane he folded allowed Aaron's Astral

Projection to be located in the spirit world and be instilled with

artificial revelations. Even above the gray fog, Klein only received an

inkling of his location and couldn't come to an effective conclusion...

How could such a child die for no reason? He was dead before Dr. Aaron's

dreams? What about his family?*

Klein narrowed his eyes, and despite his intense nausea, he carefully

examined the highly rotten body. He noticed some torn tarot cards in the

surrounding soil.

His spiritual intuition told him that the corpse in front of him was

most likely Will Auceptin.

*It's really shocking and difficult to understand... I should go above

the gray fog later and confirm if it's a fake death from Will

Auceptin... Wait, what does this have to do with me? I had already

decided not to get involved in this matter any further, in case I get

entangled by some Snake of Mercury. This might be even more terrifying

than Sealed Artifact 0-08...* Klein snapped out of his daze and

said to the terrified tomb keeper and Dr. Aaron, who was on the verge of

a mental breakdown.

"Call the police!"

"Okay! Okay!" The tomb keeper was taken aback at first before he

repeated his reply.

With the shovel in hand, he turned and ran out of the woods, at a speed

that was so fast that it appeared as though he was being chased by a

zombie.

*As expected, he's just an ordinary person and isn't cautious at all. In

this kind of situation, shouldn't he be wary of the people around him

who might have malicious intent? By exposing your back, it would be easy

for you to be hit by a shovel...* Klein glanced at the back of

the tomb keeper and shook his head with a sigh.

When he was a Nighthawk in Tingen, he had read a lot of case files and

found out that many of the victims had ended up becoming victims of

their companions.

Thinking of this, Klein walked to Dr. Aaron, bent down, and stretched

out his hand.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. He's already dead."

"...It's the death that scares me." Aaron calmed down a bit, and without

accepting Klein's help, he got up by himself.

His black frock coat was covered with dirt, and Klein felt his heart

pain for the clothes for some baffling reason.

*I'm the kind of person who can't stand seeing anything valuable get

damaged...* He inwardly sighed with emotion.

Noticing that Aaron was still panicking, Klein laughed and said, "At

such times, praying to the deity you believe in has quite a remarkable

effect."

"Is that so?" Aaron was stunned. He tapped his chest four times in a

clockwise manner and chanted softly, "The Evernight Goddess stands

higher than the cosmos and more eternal than eternity. Your devout

believer prays for your blessing..."

After repeating this over and over again, he gradually calmed down, no

longer feeling as terrified as before.

Klein drew a triangular Sacred Emblem on his chest and silently

whispered to himself, *God of Steam and Machinery, your completely

unfaithful believer is begging for your blessings...*

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at himself, suspecting that he

might be smote to death by lightning on the spot.

*However, lightning and thunder belong to the Lord of Storms, and it

isn't in the domain of the God of Steam and Machinery...* Klein

thought in a relaxed manner.

After about 20 minutes, the two of them found themselves sitting in an

interrogation room at a nearby police station.

During the testimony, Klein frankly informed the police that he was a

private investigator who wasn't too sure of what was happening. As for

Dr. Aaron, he described his dream in detail as the reason for digging to

find the body.

Klein could tell that the police didn't believe him at all, but after

they had gone out for a while, they immediately changed their attitudes,

saying that there was nothing suspicious about Dr. Aaron and Detective

Moriarty. All they had to do was sign their statements and leave.

Aaron was surprised, but Klein wasn't surprised. It was obvious that the

Nighthawks had been involved.

The advantage of having the doctor head to the Myriad Star Cathedral in

advance was demonstrated.

Before leaving the police station, Klein wasn't surprised to see a

familiar figure. It was the Nighthawk who had entered his dream earlier.

The man on duty, who was probably a captain, was still wearing a gray

trench coat and was obviously more resistant to the cold than Klein. His

blue eyes swept past Klein's face without any signs of abnormality,

pretending to be an ordinary senior inspector.

Klein, who was also pretending to be an ordinary private detective,

nudged his glasses, put on half top hat, and left the station with Dr.

Aaron in a carriage.

After instructing his carriage driver to head to Minsk Street first,

Aaron turned to Klein and said, "Sherlock, do you think this will be the

end of it?"

"If that body really belongs to Will Auceptin, then you shouldn't be

troubled any longer." Klein paused and continued, "Aaron, have you found

anything else that's strange during this period of time? Regardless of

what it is."

Aaron thought about it and shook his head.

"No."

"This is worth celebrating!" Klein sighed and said with a smile.

To him, this was the best way things could end with Will Auceptin's

matter. Although the paper crane Klein had folded above the gray fog

wouldn't reveal anything, and there would be no problems with any

divination afterward, he was still a little worried that some Nighthawk

would suddenly think of something and use it to find some clues. And

now, with the death of Will Auceptin, the case might soon reach a dead

end, put in the archives, and temporarily declared a closed case. No one

would pay any more attention to it without any new developments.

Aaron relaxed and asked suspiciously, "Frankly, I don't think my

statement was very convincing. Why did the cops choose to believe it in

the end?"

"I don't know either," Klein feigned puzzlement and said, "I thought I'd

have to get my lawyer to take me home again---No, bail me out."

Aaron smirked and said, "Sherlock, you seem to have a lot of experience

in being sent to the police station?"

Klein laughed and replied in a deep voice, "It's the fate of every

private detective."

Just as Klein and Aaron were being taken to the police station near

Grimm Cemetery, Fors Wall was wearing a long black dress and a black

bonnet with a fine mesh hanging down. She entered the silent cemetery

and found the grave of Mrs. Aulisa.

She and Xio had gone to Empress Borough an hour ago to visit Viscount

Glaint, and they had successfully gotten a verbal agreement for

borrowing 400 pounds without any interest.

Viscount Glaint's only request was that the two Beyonders accompany him

to the gathering Mr. A would convene tonight to ensure his safety. He

was anxious to procure a Royal Jellyfish's venom crystal so that he

could complete the concoction of the Apothecary potion.

Audrey had found the horn of an adult Flying Unicorn in the family

treasury, and she had taken one out in the name of doing a biological

experiment, effectively offsetting part of her debt.

She also put forward an additional condition for Viscount Glaint to get

the help of Duke Negan's children to confirm if the dragon specimens in

the treasury had a Thousand-faced Hunter and whether there were still

light dots flashing inside.

When the loan was settled, Fors was in no hurry to pray to Mr. Fool to

close the deal as quickly as possible, because it would make Xio

intuitively turn suspicious if things developed too quickly.

Taking advantage of her free time, she changed her clothes and rented a

horse carriage to get to Grimm Cemetery, which was located on the

outskirts of West Borough.

Knowing the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation and

Indestructibility, Fors realized that the main ingredient that turned

her into an Apprentice was the Beyonder characteristic left behind by

Mrs. Aulisa. In a way, she had inherited her powers.

Therefore, she couldn't help but pay a visit and put a bouquet of

flowers in front of Mrs. Aulisa's grave and thank her.

It was early winter, and most of the flowers had long since withered,

but Fors still bought a handful of plain flowers.

These flowers were grown in a greenhouse and were quite expensive.

Thank you, Emperor Roselle, for your invention... Fors said

inwardly in a most sincere manner.

As far as she knew, most of the flowers that the nobles used for their

winter banquets came from greenhouses, while a tiny portion was

delivered directly from the warm south by airships. This was more than

the average middle-class worker could bear.

Standing in front of the black tombstone, Fors took a deep look at the

photograph of Mrs. Aulisa before bending down to lay down the flowers

and whispered, "Thank you."

She immediately straightened up, closed her eyes, and quietly recalled

the past.

At this moment, she heard a slightly-aged voice.

"You really are a good and kind-hearted lady."

Fors opened her eyes and turned her head, realizing that Mr. Lawrence,

from the Abraham family, had also appeared there at some point. He was

also holding a bouquet of plain but elegant flowers in his hand.

"No, this is not goodness, nor is it kindness. Mrs. Aulisa once gave me,

a person who had lost her mother, an unforgettable period of warmth,"

Fors said sincerely.

Her eyes were suddenly moist.

Lawrence, who only had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, put down the

flowers and sighed.

"This shows that you value relationships."

After chatting for a while, when Fors was about to leave, Lawrence, who

was waving her goodbye, suddenly began to cough violently.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

He coughed until his legs buckled and fell to the ground. It seemed as

if he would die at any moment from suffocation.

As a doctor who had graduated from an accredited school, Fors didn't

hesitate to turn around, crouch down, and begin performing first aid.

After a while, Lawrence's condition finally stabilized. He wiped the

saliva from the corner of his mouth and smiled at Fors.

"Lady, can you take me back to the hotel?"

"No problem." Fors helped him to his feet.

Lawrence looked ahead, his eyes a little out of focus. He coughed

lightly, and he said with a sad and self-deprecating laugh, "My life

might be coming to an end..."