Wearing his usual inexpensive suit and carrying a black cane with silver accents, Klein climbed the steps to the Blackthorn Security Company—the tailcoat he'd worn for the battle with the Clown had been damaged and sent to the hat shop for repairs. Just as he was about to greet Rozanne, Captain Dunn stepped out from the partition.
"Good morning, Klein. Did you sleep well last night?" Dunn asked, concerned. After all, Klein had taken a life with his own hands during the pursuit of Ray Bieber the previous evening.
Klein answered truthfully, "Better than I'd expected. I didn't have nightmares, but thinking back, it's still a bit heavy…a bit nauseating."
"Good. That's reassuring." Dunn nodded with a slight smile.
At that moment, Klein suddenly sensed his spirituality being stirred by something, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
"Could it be that Miss Justice or Mr. Hanged Man is praying to the Fool again?"
With this thought, he noticed Dunn was trying to fill the silence with some small talk, so Klein mentioned, "Captain, I'd like to head to the washroom."
Dunn blinked in slight surprise, then donned his hat and nonchalantly gestured toward the door. "Go ahead. I also need to patrol Raphael Cemetery later… Oh, and one more thing: Leonard and the police department made some progress in their investigation of the Secret Order. They located the carriage driver who transported some members, pinpointed a temporary residence in Tingen, but those cultists were quite cautious and left no substantial clues."
"As expected of an ancient, secret organization." Klein agreed thoughtfully, turning to leave.
But Dunn, just as he reached the door, paused and turned back. "Also, your formal membership application may take another two to three days for approval. Heh, unlike the Antigonus family diary case, this is handled by a different department, and their efficiency is… well, different."
"Understood." Klein responded sincerely.
After watching Dunn leave, Klein avoided the company washroom, given that this was the Nighthawks' headquarters, and instead waited until Dunn was out of sight before stepping outside to Old Will's restaurant, which catered to the company's lunch orders.
Securing himself inside one of the washrooms, Klein locked the door, closed the valves, and, gripping the small silver knife he'd borrowed, brought a glowing orb to mind and slipped into a semi-meditative state.
He gathered his will, recalling his training to expel spirituality from the blade's tip, moving it in rhythm with his body to seal the washroom in an intricate connection with his environment.
Then, he laid down the knife, turned counterclockwise, and took four steps.
The familiar sounds of screams and whispers swarmed around him, overwhelming him with madness and torment, but he clung to control, enduring the most harrowing moments with barely a clear mind.
Boundless gray mist stretched endlessly around him, the distant orbs of red stars scattered close and far, and the grand temple loomed like a long-dead titan, unchanged, ancient, with centuries of accumulated silence that pressed upon him.
Glancing down, he noticed the nearest red stars belonging to "Justice" and "The Hanged Man," but they showed no signs of swelling or shrinking, leaving him puzzled.
"No prayer… then what was it?"
Klein scanned his surroundings but found nothing unusual, so he summoned pen and paper and wrote out a divination statement:
"The reason my spirituality was stirred."
In the hazy, dreamlike trance, Klein saw the towering temple again and the red star that flickered amidst the endless gray mist.
As the scene faded, Klein withdrew from the vision.
He raised his hand and, with a slight pull, summoned the same crimson star from his dream to him. Knowing these stars preserved prayers like offline messages, Klein focused, eager to hear the words that had stirred his spirituality.
And then, he heard a string of words that were all too familiar: "Hornacis…Antigonus…half a Fool…"
…
Back on the White Agate, Ebner put down the pen in his hand, a faint smile of amusement playing on his lips as he thought, "I wonder if I gave the Fool quite a scare?"
"While it'll certainly keep him on his toes, Klein still doesn't fully grasp the harsher side of this world at this point. He's still entangled in the aftermath of the Antigonus family's notebook, and if everything played out as expected last night, he's probably still shaken by the corpse of that Clown that startled him…"
"So, if I keep dropping key words here and there without much context, he'll eventually give in and bring me into the Gray Fog."
"Heh, this strategy only works while he's still Klein. Once he becomes Sherlock, it won't be so easy to mislead him, and by the time he's Gehrman, well… I'd probably turn into Beyonder characteristics before even joining the Tarot Club. Not that Gehrman's all that merciless, though; that impression is probably Fors's influence."
In a cheerful mood, Ebner continued to study the other Beyonder abilities that had already been parsed by the Pure White Eye. Even though he now understood that the "parsing" originated from the unknown realm behind the Eye, he was still used to calling it the Pure White Eye. After all, it maintained some secrecy around the true power source.
After lunch, Ebner once again picked up the pen, grabbed a novel as a prop, and muttered a few choice words—"Antigonus…Fourth Epoch angel family…in the Four Emperors' War, allied with the Tudor Dynasty"—before settling into the novel, intending to log off with an appropriate show.
…
In Tingen's Golden Indus District, inside the Deweyville Library.
Using a letter of recommendation from his university mentor, Klein successfully obtained a library card.
As he examined the small card in his hand, he asked one of the librarians, "Do you have A Study of the Ancient Ruins on Mount Hornacis, published by the Loen Publishing House?"
One of the librarians promptly responded, "Please wait a moment. Let me check."
The librarian turned toward the numerous card drawers, pulling out the one labeled with "Hornacis" and, following an established sequence, flipped through several cards filled with words.
After a thorough scan, he shook his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry, sir. We don't have that book in our collection."
"What a shame," Klein replied, disappointed.
Just then, his spirituality was stirred once again, the sensation identical to what he'd felt that morning.
"Again? Is this supposed to scare me to death or annoy me to death?" Klein quipped inwardly, but outwardly he maintained a polite smile as he turned back to the librarian.
"Could you point me to the washroom?"
The librarian blinked in surprise but dutifully gave directions.
Once inside, Klein expertly sealed the space with his spirituality and turned counterclockwise to enter the Gray Fog.
Through divination, Klein confirmed the source of the spiritual stirrings was once again the crimson star. This time, he took a deep breath and, recalling how he had previously observed the Hanged Man, allowed his spirituality to extend and make contact with the orb of crimson.
He soon found himself seeing hazy, distorted images—a young man with brown curls reading a book, holding an intricately patterned pen in his hand.
The youth was well-dressed in Loen-style formal attire, and though his surroundings were modest, they were tastefully decorated, like a carefully furnished guest room.
Since the images were indistinct, showing only a silhouette, and Ebner had worn the "Sea Breeze Hat" throughout the Dream Labyrinth Tower scenes, Klein didn't recognize the youth as the one he had seen in his dream divination "killing" Tris.
Listening closely, Klein tried to make out the young man's words but realized he was just mumbling to himself while reading, with no coherent flow. Klein could barely grasp anything concrete.
"He probably isn't praying to me on purpose… But the book he's reading seems to hold many secrets about the Antigonus family… This is exactly what I need to know, which explains the reaction from my spirituality."
"Perhaps I should summon him to the Gray Fog and ask him more directly? But this goes against my principles… I don't want to force anyone into this mysterious space against their will."
"But this young man's careless utterance of those names might attract the attention of secretive organizations like the Secret Order. I should at least give him a warning…"
Klein deliberated for a while before deciding to summon the youth to the Gray Fog and offer him a word of caution. Whether he would choose to stay and become a member of the gathering would be entirely up to him.
"If I summon him in my role as a god, he likely won't want to risk further contact but should respect it enough to keep this encounter private. There's some risk, but it's worth it."
Resolving himself, Klein extended his right hand to touch the crimson star, only to halt midway.
After a moment of silence, he let the yellow crystal pendant on his left hand dangle naturally before him.
Once its swinging stilled, he visualized a light sphere and began mentally reciting:
"Touching this crimson star will bring me danger."
After several repetitions, he opened his eyes and observed the pendulum, noting its slight counterclockwise movement.
"No… No danger."
This time, Klein didn't hesitate. He reached out with his right hand and touched the crimson star.
Immediately, the star exploded with light, spilling out like flowing water.
(End of Chapter)