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.

the door and opened before closing the door behind him.

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

following me.” Klein honestly answered

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 came from the

“Yes.” Klein answered.

gently. He did not comment on its merits or demerits as 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

extremely advanced

a result of that notebook. Heh, we happened to be investigating where Welch received the Antigonus family’s notebook. Of course, we

Klein asked in a

hoped that it was the

coffee mug and took a mouthful, his eyes not showing the sliver of a ripple. “Return the way you came, then do anything you

returned

“Of course, do not

Klein took a deep breath and bade him

left at the intersection, and bathed in the light from the gas lamps on the

of his footsteps echoed, making him sound

at the stairwell. He went forward and saw a shadow standing there—the

met. The priest

as pure and bright, while the darkness

prayer hall with his cane and newspaper as though nothing had ever happened, successfully leaving Saint Selena

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

surfaced in

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

as nervous as he was previously. He took a casual stroll before going around and to the back of

ancient-styled building with mottled walls. The address on the door was ‘3.’ Its

opened to the public as a way to earn

watched vanished instantly. He took this opportunity to hand over his Special Operations Department badge to

led underground to a small, confined shooting

the revolver from his armpit holster and the box of brass

over

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

prevent misfiring, nor did he 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 into something more comfortable” after encountering an enemy

Klein closed the cylinder and rolled it with his

raised it up straight, and aimed at

he was in no hurry to shoot. Instead, he recalled his experience at military training

aiming and his holding stance. He was as serious

wall and sat down on a long, soft bench. He placed the revolver

with the wooden handle and bronze cylinder. He got into standard firing position and pulled the

his body moved back from the recoil.