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 and opened before closing the door behind him. He took off his hat and

hat were hanging on a clothes stand to his side. He was dressed in a white shirt and black vest. Even

Klein honestly

hands together. His deep gray eyes silently looked at Klein’s eyes. He did not follow up on the topic

“Yes.” Klein answered.

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

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

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

do?” Klein asked in

he hoped that it

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

Klein returned

with certainty. “Of course, do

deep breath and bade him farewell. He left the room and went

the light from the gas lamps on the two

footsteps echoed, making

went forward and saw a shadow standing there—the

when they met. The priest turned around

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

cane and newspaper as though nothing had ever happened,

regained the familiar feeling of being observed. He felt like

question surfaced in his

into the cathedral? Although I could have still used the dark environment and the priest to conceal my temporary disappearance, would it be 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

slim… Klein exhaled and no longer acted as nervous as he was previously. He took a

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

underground shooting range was opened to the public as a way to earn some additional

instantly. He took this

short verification, he was led underground to a

attendant simply. Next, he retrieved the revolver from his armpit holster

targeted made his desire to protect himself win over his procrastination. Therefore, he could not wait

removed the silver demon hunting bullets. Following that,

time, neither did he leave an empty spot to prevent misfiring, nor did he take off his formal attire and halved top hat. He planned on practicing in his usual getup. After all,

and rolled

gun in both hands, raised it up straight, and aimed at the target more than ten meters

recalled his experience at military training 1

Rustle! While his clothes rustled, Klein repeated his aiming and his holding stance.

bench. He placed the revolver to the side, began massaging his arms, and rested for

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

trembled as his body moved back from the recoil.