Chapter 202 - Confirming the situation

Folding the letter paper, Klein took out the copper whistle and brought it to his lips, blowing hard. Silently and without a sound, he saw the illusory and hazy white bones being thrown out one by one from the desk, forming a fountain and assembling into a huge monster. It was still nearly four meters tall, still covered in a faint light, and still had its head poking out of the roof, seemingly no different from before. Klein flicked his wrist and threw the letter up, watching as the white bone monster caught it steadily. He blew the copper whistle again and witnessed the "messenger" disintegrate into illusory white bones, falling like rain and vanishing on the surface of the desk. After doing all this, Klein felt much more at ease, but he didn't stop trying. He moved his chair back, stood up, and walked counterclockwise four steps, entering the gray fog. The majestic palace and the ancient, mottled long table came into his view, as if they had remained unchanged for thousands of years. Klein sat on the high-backed chair belonging to "The Fool" and silently took off the pendulum from the left wrist cuff, manifesting the yellowish-brown parchment and the round-bellied pen. He was going to divine for the captain's situation tonight! After a moment of thought, Klein wrote the first divination statement: "Dunn Smith's anomaly will put me in danger." — In the occult, divinations involving one's own safety are the hardest to be interfered with by external forces. This is a matter of spiritual instinct. In other words, as long as it's not a particularly powerful interference, Klein could get relatively accurate results in divinations involving his own safety. This was also the reason why he had divined for the existence of danger for the mission despite knowing that Mrs. Sharon had the ability to interfere with divinations. He was well aware that Mrs. Sharon wasn't powerful enough to influence this kind of divination. And now, to determine Captain Dunn Smith's situation, he decided to eliminate all interference and divine in the gray fog. Holding the pendulum in his left hand, Klein silently recited the divination statement seven times and closed his eyes, entering a meditative state. After a few seconds of stability, he opened his eyes, and the deepening color of his eyes had returned to normal. He looked at the yellow crystal pendant, his heart gradually sinking, because the pendulum was rotating clockwise, with a considerable amplitude and speed. This indicated a positive answer. This indicated that Dunn Smith's anomaly would put him in danger! And the danger was not low! Closing his eyes for a moment, Klein "erased" the previous content and wrote a new divination statement: "The cause of Dunn Smith's anomaly." He placed the yellow crystal pendant aside, leaned back against the chair, and recited the divination statement while entering a dream state through meditation. In that gray and hazy illusory world, he saw nothing, discovered nothing, only grayness, nothing but grayness. "This indicates insufficient information and a failed divination..." Klein opened his eyes and looked at the parchment on the bronze long table, muttering bitterly and helplessly. Suddenly, he felt an intense fatigue, realizing it was the result of the intense battle, the continuous use of rituals, and multiple divinations. Wrapping himself in spirituality, Klein fell into the gray fog and returned to the real world. Throughout the night, he had several nightmares, with either Cohen Lee vomiting out his internal organs or Dunn Smith with dark red blood around his mouth at the end of each dream. ...... The next morning, Klein, who was about to take his shift at Charnis Gate, arrived at Blackthorn Security Company early. At this time, the clerical staff such as Rosan and Mrs. Oliana had not yet come to work. Klein walked past the partition and looked into the open door of the captain's office, where he saw Dunn Smith. Dunn had taken off his coat and was only wearing a white shirt and a black waistcoat. He was sitting at his desk, holding a cup of coffee and staring blankly at the wall in front of him. His hair was slightly dry, his gray eyes lacked luster, and his hard-lined face showed obvious signs of exhaustion. Even for a captain who had experienced many similar incidents, losing two teammates in such a short time was unbearable... Klein felt a pang in his heart, and the image of the broken mirror, Dunn's half-collapsed body, and his blood-stained face flashed through his mind again. Klein gritted his teeth and turned his head to the side. After a few seconds, he managed to control his expression and knocked on the door of the captain's office. Knock, knock, knock. Dunn put down his coffee cup, and his gray eyes became deep again. He took a silent breath and said, "I have reported the incident to the Church. They have given an initial response." "The Church will compensate Cohen's family with 3,000 pounds, and the police department will provide 1,000 pounds in consolation..." That's a total of 4,000 pounds. For most middle-class families, it's a fortune they could never save in a lifetime... Cohen earned 7 pounds a week, 364 pounds a year. With bonuses and additional income, he could reach at least 380 pounds. 4,000 pounds is equivalent to his income for ten years... Such a sum of money could generate at least 200 pounds in returns each year, which could somewhat make up for the harm caused to Cohen's family by his death... Although money can't replace emotions or Cohen, it's the most effective solution at the moment... Klein had many thoughts flashing through his mind, but what came out of his mouth was a sigh, "That's all we can do." The Church of the Night Mother is very conscientious in this regard. Dunn pulled at his collar and said in a low voice, "You go to the Underworld and replace Lo Yao." "Understood." Klein nodded slightly. He turned and walked towards the door, hearing the captain's almost self-talk-like addition, "We'll take Cohen home later..." Take Cohen home... What will his father, mother, siblings, and fiancée react... Klein's heart tightened, and he was actually a little relieved that he didn't have to face that kind of sadness. He knew it was an evasive mentality, but he was really afraid of seeing the heartbroken eyes of Cohen's parents and the soulless expression of his fiancée, afraid of witnessing their hidden resentment, and afraid of hearing their sobs. He quickened his pace and arrived at Charnis Gate. Silently, he completed the handover with Lo Yao. He sat in the duty room, occasionally taking out his silver pocket watch and watching the time pass second by second. He didn't know how much time had passed when a faint, layered voice suddenly rang in his ears. He looked at the four black dots on his hand and knew that "Justice," "The Hanged Man," or "The Sun" was praying to him. But he couldn't respond in time. He could only endure until the prompt ended, until the next prayer, until he got home the next morning. As soon as he took out the key to open the door, Klein saw the maid Bella wiping the dining table, and his sister Melissa and brother Benson coming down the stairs in their outing clothes. "Didn't you go to Mass last week?" Klein asked, slightly puzzled. Benson smiled and said, "I can understand the memory of someone who hasn't slept all night." "Ah?" Klein was even more confused. "It's the first day of ticket sales for 'The Count Returns' today," Melissa explained proactively. Klein tapped his forehead and casually took off his hat. "I've been so busy these days that I completely forgot about this." Especially these past three days... He added with a sigh. Melissa gave him a concerned look and said, "Your breakfast is in the kitchen. Have it and then go to sleep. Benson and I were thinking that since we're going out, we might as well go to St. Selena's Church for Mass." "Okay." Klein waved goodbye to his brother and sister, had a simple breakfast, and returned to his bedroom. After getting ready, he took four steps backward and entered the gray fog. He saw the deep red stars corresponding to "Justice" and "The Hanged Man" expanding and contracting in an illusory manner. He stretched out his right hand and spread his spirituality. Before his eyes appeared a blurry picture, and in his ears rang the pleading voice of Miss "Justice": ... "I beseech Your attention." "Because of the Zilingers incident, my father hired a非凡者 to protect me, and there's also some surveillance I'm not aware of. I finally found an opportunity to beseech you. I want to ask for leave for next week's gathering. I believe these things will soon fade away." Klein subconsciously glanced at the blurry image, seeing the misty fog, the giant bathtub that seemed to be rippling with water, and Miss "Justice" wrapped in a bath towel. He withdrew his gaze and began to listen to the "Hanged Man's" plea again. The description was different from "Justice's", but the plea was for the same thing. He also wanted to ask for leave due to the lingering effects of the Zilingers incident. Klein nodded slightly and responded to their pleas respectively: "I understand." Immediately after, he sent a thought to the deep red star corresponding to "The Sun": "The upcoming gathering is temporarily cancelled." ...... The City of Silver. Derek Berg was on the training ground, listening to instructions. The sky above was still dark, with occasional flashes of lightning illuminating everything. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he saw thick fog, an ancient palace like a giant's abode, and the "Fool" sitting deep within the gray mist. "The upcoming gathering is temporarily cancelled." The voice echoed, and everything before Derek returned to normal. He wasn't surprised by this magic, because before each gathering, the "Fool" always gave him such a hint. Derek subconsciously looked up at the woman in front of him, a member of the City of Silver's six-person council, "Shepherdess" Lovia. This terrifying powerhouse kept shifting between smiles and coldness, and told each of the young people present that they would join the patrol team next to clear the nearby dark monsters. This was no longer training. Elder Lovia didn't notice anything unusual... Her state was getting stranger and stranger. Was it because there was a spirit equivalent to a high-sequence powerhouse in the souls she tended? Derek thought, his mind wandering. ...... Klein returned to the bedroom and lay down on the bed, quickly falling asleep and dreaming of the events of the past few days. Suddenly, he felt himself being shaken by someone and woke up with a start. Opening his eyes, Klein saw a huge skeletal hand. The hand paused for a moment, threw the letter it was holding onto the bed, and then vanished. Mr. Azik's reply... Klein picked up the letter with a sudden realization.