Lord of the Mysteries

Leonard’s singing sounded like a lullaby as it lightly resounded through the doors and into the winding wooden stairwell.

Klein’s mind immediately turned torpid. He felt like he saw a silent moonlight and serene rippling lake.

His eyelids rapidly turned heavy as if he were about to fall asleep standing.

Amid these indistinct sensations, he also felt a strange, formless, and indifferent focus on his back. It felt like he was wandering the spirit world himself.

A baffling sense of déjà vu suffused as Klein suddenly found his train of thought once again. With his strong spiritual perception and extreme familiarity with Cogitation, he barely escaped the influence of the Midnight Poem.

However, he remained serene and could hardly evoke any emotions.

Soon, Leonard stopped singing as he turned his head with a smile.

“I’m considering asking Captain’s permission to apply for a Feynapotter lute. How can there not be an accompaniment when singing?

“Heh heh, I’m just kidding. I can hear them asleep.”

The black-haired, green-eyed Nighthawk with his poetic vibe took a stride forward and walked to the door that separated them from the kidnappers and hostage.

He suddenly moved his shoulder and threw a punch at the door’s lock.

Crack!

The wooden board around the lock shattered in a muffled manner.

“This requires precise control.” Leonard turned his head and smiled. He then reached his hand into the hole and opened the door.

Klein, who had regained consciousness, was not as confident as him. He reached under his armpit, drew his revolver, and turned the cylinder, making sure that he could shoot at a moment’s notice.

As the door swung back, he saw a man sleeping on a table with a gun by his feet. Another man was rubbing his eyes in a daze while trying to stand up.

Bam!

Leonard slid forward and struck the awakening kidnapper unconscious.

Klein planned to enter as well when he suddenly sensed something. He turned around abruptly and faced the stairwell.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Footsteps were approaching from below. It became clear that “something” was a hatless man in a brown coat circling the stairwell in his progression toward the third floor while hugging a paper bag of bread.

Suddenly, he stopped. He saw a gun’s barrel aiming at him with a metallic luster.

His pupils reflected a young man dressed in a halved top hat, black formal suit with a bow tie of the same color. It also reflected the cane which rested along the rail and the dangerous revolver.

“Do not move. Raise your hands. Three, two, one…” Klein’s tone was deep but relaxed.

He held the revolver with both hands as he tried to imagine the man as a target from his practice.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the man in the brown coat threw the bag of bread and slowly raised his hands.

“Sir, is this a kind of a joke? Has there been a misunderstanding?” He stared intently at the finger that Klein had placed on the trigger as he forced a smile.

abnormalities. He said in a

the man in the stairwell. He said leisurely, “So the kidnappers have another accomplice responsible for buying and delivering

foot and kicked the bag of bread up in an attempt to

the trigger like his usual

Bang!

out from the man’s

Leonard had already reached his hand towards the handrail

thud, Leonard landed on the

that had splattered on him. He looked up at

“Nice shooting.”

in an indiscernible

having any enhancements to his visual, auditory, or tactile senses after consuming the Seer potion, he could still

nodded in thought as he watched Leonard find

the kidnapper’s room. They saw Elliott Vickroy jolt awake from the

with the rope they used against Elliott. Bunched together, they were thrown in a corner. The lack of rope was made up by

but Leonard disdained getting his hands dirty, so he

Elliott stammered in pleasant delight when he

you guessed right. Very precise.” The genuflecting Leonard answered

in him… Klein lowered his revolver and said to Elliott, “We are mercenaries hired

been saved?” Elliott said joyfully

of being a kidnapping victim. He did not have the kind of rashness someone his age normally

cops. Get them to inform the tobacco merchant. I do not wish to

about the aftermath, nodded. He put away his revolver,

that he had forgotten something. In addition, he heard Leonard say to Elliott, “Don’t be nervous. You will soon see your father, mother, and your old butler, Klee. Why don’t we play a round of

…

laughter and walked out into the streets.

the Special Operations Department; instead, he

him holding a gun, he was not worried at all. He had received an all-purpose weapon usage certificate the day before yesterday. His application was accelerated by going

and inform the Vickroy family. The other policeman followed Klein to the kidnappers’

forty minutes, Leonard signaled to Klein while the policeman was not paying attention. Klein was

time. Let’s leave first,” the

it clear that he would take any responsibility for

building where the kidnappers were. The old butler, Klee, disembarked with his portly master,

daze. He found it

crisp snap as he turned

open. The black-haired and

by Vickroy’s carriage, Leonard closed the window, turned

his right

was a pleasure working with

that good terms… Klein

marvel at the capabilities

is a celebratory gesture of peace among aristocrats after a clash of swords,” explained Leonard with

know.” Klein had many aristocratic

said with a frown, “Shouldn’t we confirm with Mr. Klee? If he

of

of the kidnappers’

us, money isn’t that important,” said

very important to