Lord of the Mysteries

Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound of footsteps echoed through the dark, narrow corridor, which was otherwise silent.

Klein kept his back straight as he kept up with the priest’s pace. He did not pose questions or chat idly with him, remaining silent like a windless body of water.

After passing through the heavily guarded passageway, the priest opened a secret door with a key and pointed down a stairwell made of stone. “Turn left at the intersection to reach Chanis Gate.”

“May Goddess bless you.” Klein gestured the sign of the crimson moon on his chest.

Commoners practiced etiquette, while the religious partook in ritual blessings.

“Praise the Lady.” The priest returned with the same gesture.

Klein did not speak further as he walked down the dark stone stairwell with the aid of the refined inlaid gas lamps on both sides of the wall.

Midway, he subconsciously turned back and saw the priest standing at the entrance. He was in the shadows and appeared like an immobile wax statue.

Klein looked away and continued to proceed down. It did not take long before he hit ground laid with ice-cold stone slabs. This led him to the intersection.

He did not turn towards Chanis Gate because Dunn Smith, who had recently finished his shift, was definitely not there.

He turned right and saw the familiar path. Klein went back up another flight of stairs and appeared inside Blackthorn Security Company.

Seeing doors that were tightly shut or half-closed, he did not rush into them. Instead, he went to the reception and saw a brown-haired girl focused on a magazine with a sweet smile.

“Hi, Rozanne.” Klein came to her side and deliberately rapped the table.

Knock! Rozanne stood up suddenly and knocked over a chair and said in a fluster, “Hi, nice weather today. Y-you, Klein, why are you here?”

She patted her chest and heaved a few sighs of relief. She was like a young lady afraid that her father had caught her skiving.

“I need to find Captain,” answered Klein simply.

“…You gave me a fright. I thought Captain came out.” Rozanne glared at Klein. “Don’t you know how to knock!? Hmph, you should be thankful that I’m a tolerant and kind woman. Well, I do prefer the term lady… Is there a reason why you are looking for Captain? He’s in the room opposite Mrs. Orianna.”

Even though he felt uptight, Klein was so amused by Rozanne he smiled. He pondered for a moment before saying, “A secret.”

“…” Rozanne’s eyes widened and while she reeled in her disbelief, Klein did a slight bow before bidding her farewell.

He went through the reception’s partition and knocked on the door of the first office on the right.

“Come in.” Dunn Smith’s deep and gentle voice sounded.

door behind him. He took off his hat and bowed. “Good morning,

windbreaker and hat were hanging on a clothes stand to his side. He was dressed in a white shirt and black vest. Even though his hairline was rather high, his gray

me.” Klein

looked at Klein’s eyes. He did not follow up on the topic of being followed and

“Yes.” Klein answered.

he switched the subject back. “It might be that Welch’s father doesn’t believe the cause of death that we reported and had hired a private investigator from Wind City

as Wind City. It was a region with extremely advanced coal and steel industries. It was one of the top three

Dunn continued, “It might also be a result of that notebook. Heh, we happened to be investigating where Welch received the Antigonus family’s notebook. Of course, we can’t eliminate other people or

Klein asked in a serious

a question, he hoped that it was the

answer him. He raised his coffee mug and took a mouthful, his eyes not showing the sliver of a ripple. “Return the way

Klein returned with a

nodded with certainty. “Of course, do not scare

him farewell. He

lamps on the two walls, he arrived

his footsteps echoed, making him sound more alone

Klein arrived at the stairwell. He went forward and saw a shadow

they met. The priest turned around in silence

silently before returning to the prayer hall. The circular holes behind the arched altar were still as pure and bright, while the darkness and silence of the building’s interior remained. There were still men and women lining outside the confessional, but much fewer than

Klein slowly left the prayer hall with his cane and newspaper as though

moment he walked out, he saw the burning sun. He immediately regained the familiar feeling of being observed. He

question surfaced

hard for him to continue monitoring me by pretending to pray? If he had not done something wrong, there would be no problem walking in with an open and aboveboard manner, right? Unless the person has some dark history, making him afraid of the Church or fear the bishop, knowing that

Klein exhaled and no longer acted as nervous as he was previously. He

address on the door was ‘3.’ Its name was the Zouteland Shooting

of the police department’s underground shooting range was opened to the public as a

He took this opportunity to hand over his

he was led

simply. Next, he retrieved the revolver from his armpit

suddenly targeted made his desire to protect himself win over his procrastination. Therefore,

left, he flicked open the cylinder and removed the silver demon hunting bullets.

take off his formal attire and halved top hat. He planned on practicing in his usual getup. After all, it was impossible for him to shout “wait a minute, let me change

the cylinder and rolled it with

the gun in both hands, raised it up

in no hurry to shoot. Instead, he recalled his experience at military training 1 , how to form a line with the iron-sights, and knowledge about a gun’s

Klein repeated his aiming and his holding stance. He was as serious as a student taking a high-school

wall and sat down on a long, soft bench. He placed the revolver to the side, began massaging his arms, and rested for quite a

practice before he picked up the revolver with the wooden handle and bronze

back from the recoil. The bullet