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.

and opened before closing the door behind him. He took off his hat and bowed. “Good morning,

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 eyes were deep, and he appeared much

following me.” Klein honestly answered without

clasped his hands together. His deep gray eyes silently looked at Klein’s eyes. He did not follow up on the topic of being followed and instead, asked, “You

“Yes.” Klein answered.

comment on its merits or demerits as he switched the subject back. “It might be that Welch’s father doesn’t believe the

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 organizations that

should I do?” Klein asked in

a question, he hoped that it was the

raised his coffee mug and took a mouthful, his eyes not showing the sliver

returned with a

do not

deep breath and bade him farewell.

and bathed in the light from the gas lamps

echoed, making him sound more alone

the stairwell. He went forward

not say a word when they met. The

and bright, while the darkness and silence of the building’s interior remained. There were still men and women

the prayer hall with his cane and newspaper

burning sun. He immediately regained the familiar feeling of being observed. He felt like he

surfaced

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

the likelihood of it being a private investigator is very slim… Klein exhaled and no longer acted as nervous as he

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

shooting range was opened to the public as a way to

went in and the feeling of being watched vanished instantly. He took this

led underground to a

attendant simply. Next, he retrieved the revolver from his armpit holster and the box of brass bullets from his

feeling of being suddenly targeted made his desire to protect himself win over his procrastination. Therefore, he could not wait to come

After the attendant left, he flicked open the cylinder and removed the silver demon hunting bullets. Following that, he filled

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 into something more comfortable”

and rolled

hands, raised it up straight, and aimed at the target more

hurry to shoot. Instead, he recalled his experience at military training 1 , how to

his aiming and his holding stance. He was as serious as a student

sat down on a long, soft bench. He

practice before he picked up the revolver with the wooden handle and bronze cylinder. He got

arm trembled as his body moved back from the recoil. The