With a plan in place, Kevin felt a sense of stability, and his fears, hesitations, and insecurities were all pushed to the corners of his mind.
Only then did he have the mood to carefully examine the fragments of Klein's remaining memories.
Kevin habitually stood up, turned off the gas valve, and watched the wall lamp gradually dim until it went out. He then sat back down, unconsciously fiddling with the brass cylinder of the revolver, pressing the side of his head, and quietly "reliving" the memories in the crimson-tinged darkness, like the most focused audience in a cinema.
Perhaps due to the bullet passing through, Klein's memories were like shattered glass, not only lacking continuity but also missing significant content in many places. For instance, where did the exquisitely crafted revolver come from? Was it suicide or homicide? What did the note saying "Everyone will die, including me" really mean? And were there any strange activities Klein was involved in two days before the incident?
Not only were these specific memories fragmented and incomplete, but even the knowledge Klein had mastered was affected. In his current state, Kevin believed that if Klein were to return to university, he might not be able to graduate, even though he had only left school for a few days and had not slacked off.
"In two days, I have to attend the interview for the history department at Tingen University..."
"The universities in the Ruen Kingdom have a tradition of not retaining graduates directly... The mentor gave one recommendation letter for Tingen University and one for Beckland University..."
Kevin silently "watched" as the red moon outside the window tilted westward and gradually sank until a faint light appeared in the east, dyeing the horizon gold.
At this moment, there was movement from the inner room, and soon, footsteps approached the partition door.
"Melissa is awake... She's as punctual as ever," Kevin smiled slightly, feeling an affection for Melissa akin to seeing his own sister, influenced by Klein's memories.
But I don't actually have a sister... he then joked to himself.
Melissa was different from Benson and Klein in that her early education wasn't completed at the Church of the Goddess of the Night's Sunday school. By the time she reached school age, the Ruen Kingdom had enacted the Elementary Education Act, established the Board of Middle and Lower Education, and increased funding and investment.
Within just three years, many public elementary schools were established, maintaining strict religious neutrality and not involving the conflicts of the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Goddess of the Night, or the Church of Steam and Machinery.
Compared to the Sunday school, which cost only one penny a week, the three pence weekly fee of the public elementary school seemed quite expensive. However, the former only held classes once a week on Sundays, while the latter offered six days of schooling each week, making it almost free by comparison.
Melissa was unlike most girls; she had always been interested in gears, springs, and bearings, aspiring to become a steam mechanic.
Having suffered from a lack of education himself, Benson, the eldest brother, understood the importance of education and supported Melissa's dream, just as he had supported Klein's university studies. After all, Tingen Technical School was only a secondary education institution and didn't require further accumulation through grammar school or public school.
Last July, fifteen-year-old Melissa passed the entrance exam and became a student in the Steam and Machinery Department at Tingen Technical School. Her weekly tuition increased to nine pence.
At the same time, the import-export company where Benson worked was affected by the situation in the Southern Continent. Both profits and business volume shrank significantly, forcing the company to lay off more than a third of its staff. To keep his job and maintain their livelihood, Benson had to accept more burdensome tasks, often working overtime or traveling to harsh environments, just like in recent days.
Klein had considered helping his brother with the expenses, but coming from a common background and entering university through an ordinary grammar school, he felt acutely aware of his shortcomings. For example, the ancient Fusac language, the root language of all Northland countries, was something that noble children and those from wealthy families learned from a young age, while he only encountered it for the first time in university.
There were many similar areas, and Klein had to exert all his effort, often staying up late and rising early, just to keep up with others, graduating with average grades.
As memories of his brother and sister jumped through Kevin's mind, the sound of the handle turning and the creak of the inner room door opening brought him back to reality. He suddenly remembered he was holding a revolver.
This was a semi-restricted item!
It would scare a child!
And I still have the wound on my head!
Seeing Melissa about to come out, Kevin pressed his temple and hurriedly pulled open the desk drawer, tossing the revolver inside with a bang.
"What happened?" Melissa looked over in confusion at the sound.
She was at the peak of her youth. Despite not having the best food, her face was thin, slightly pale, but her skin still had a healthy glow, exuding a youthful aura.
Seeing his sister's brown eyes looking inquisitively at him, Kevin forced himself to remain calm, picking up something near his hand and casually closing the drawer to conceal the revolver. The touch at his temple confirmed that the wound had healed!
What he had picked up from the drawer was a silver pocket watch with vine and leaf patterns. A light press on the top, and the cover popped open.
It was the most valuable item left behind by the three siblings' father, a Royal Army sergeant. But, being second-hand, it frequently malfunctioned in recent years, causing Benson to make a fool of himself often enough that he left it at home.
Melissa, perhaps with a natural talent for mechanics, began tinkering with the pocket watch using the tools at her technical school after grasping some theoretical knowledge. Recently, she even claimed to have fixed it!
Kevin saw the second hand not moving and instinctively started winding the watch.
However, after a few turns, there was no sound of the spring tightening, and the second hand remained motionless.
"It seems to be broken again," he said, trying to find something to say to his sister.
Melissa glanced at him expressionlessly, quickly stepped over, and took the pocket watch.
Standing in place, she pulled up the top button of the watch and, after only a few turns, the ticking sound of the second hand resumed.
Normally, pulling it up should adjust the time, shouldn't it? Kevin's expression became dazed.
At that moment, the distant cathedral bells tolled, a distant and ethereal six chimes.
Melissa listened carefully, then pulled up the top button of the watch even further, turned it several times, and set the time.
"All set," she said briefly and without any emotion, then handed the watch back to Kevin after pressing the top button back.
Kevin returned her an awkward but polite smile.
Melissa gave her brother another deep look, then turned to the cupboard, grabbed her toothbrush, towel, and other items, and headed to the shared bathroom.
"Why did she look so exasperated and resigned just now?"
"Was it the gaze of someone caring for an intellectually challenged brother?"
Kevin shook his head with a low laugh, closing and opening the watch cover with a click.
Repeating this action, his thoughts wandered to a question.
Without a silencer, Klein's suicide, well, let's temporarily consider it suicide, would have made quite a noise. How did Melissa, just a wall away, not notice anything?
Was she sleeping too soundly? Or was Klein's suicide inherently bizarre?
Click, open, click, close... When Melissa returned from washing up, she saw her brother repeatedly opening and closing the watch cover.
Her gaze once again filled with resignation, and she said in a sweet voice, "Klein, take out the remaining bread and remember to buy new ones today, along with lamb and peas. You're about to have an interview, and I'll make lamb stew with peas for you."
As she spoke, she moved the stove from the corner, rekindled it with some remaining coals, and boiled a pot of hot water.
Just before the water boiled, she opened the bottom drawer of the cupboard, took out a jar of inferior tea leaves as if it were a treasure, and sprinkled about ten leaves into the pot, pretending it was real tea.
Pouring two large cups each, Melissa and Kevin shared two loaves of rye bread with the tea.
Without wood chips and not too much gluten, it still tasted bad... Kevin, weak and hungry, forced himself to swallow the bread with tea while silently complaining.
After a few minutes, Melissa finished eating, gathered her long black hair, looked at Kevin, and said, "Remember to buy new bread, just eight pounds. The weather is hot, and too much will spoil. And don't forget the lamb and peas."
So it really is caring for an absent-minded brother, emphasizing it again... Kevin smiled and nodded, "Got it."
Regarding the Ruen Kingdom's pound, Kevin, based on Klein's memories and his own comparison, believed it was close to his familiar pound, about 0.5 kilograms.
Melissa said no more, got up, tidied up, packed the last loaf of bread for lunch, put on their mother's worn-out veil hat, grabbed the bag she made herself for carrying books and supplies, and prepared to leave.
Today wasn't Sunday; she had a full day of classes.
It took about fifty minutes to walk from this apartment to Tingen Technical School. There were public carriages, costing one penny per kilometer, with a maximum fare of 4 pence within the city and 6 pence in the suburbs. To save money, Melissa always left early and walked.
Just as she opened the front door, she paused, half-turned, and said,
"Klein, don't buy too much lamb and peas. Benson might not be back until Sunday. And remember, only eight pounds of bread."
"Yes, yes," Kevin answered helplessly.
Meanwhile, he silently repeated the word "Sunday" several times.
In Northland, a year was also divided into twelve months, with each year having 365 to 366 days, and a week had seven days.
The former was an astronomical result, making Kevin suspect this was a parallel world, while the latter came from religion because there were seven orthodox deities in Northland: the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Goddess of the Night, the Earth Mother, the God of War, and the God of Steam and Machinery.
Watching his sister leave, Kevin sighed and quickly turned his thoughts to the ritual for turning his luck around.