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.

accomplice or a neighbor, but he did not reveal any abnormalities. He said in a deep voice, “Do not attempt to resist. Someone will determine if it’s a misunderstanding in a

that moment, Leonard, who had finished handling the kidnappers, walked out and noticed the man in the

and kicked the bag of bread up in an attempt to

Klein coldly pulled the trigger

Bang!

from the man’s

to the ground and attempted to escape from the second floor; however, Leonard

thud, Leonard landed on the man from

Leonard swatted away some of the blood that had splattered on him. He looked up at Klein

“Nice shooting.”

corner of Klein’s mouth twitched in an

that despite not having any enhancements to his visual, auditory, or tactile senses after consuming the Seer potion, he could still “see” obstructed objects and “hear” faint footsteps, allowing him to take preemptive

in thought as he watched Leonard find a sharp dagger in

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

kidnappers with the rope they used against Elliott. Bunched together, they were thrown in a corner. The lack of rope

shot in the shoulder was bandaged, but Leonard disdained getting his hands dirty, so he did not help

pleasant delight when he saw the

Very precise.” The genuflecting Leonard

bastard to have some humor cells in him… Klein lowered his revolver and said to Elliott, “We are mercenaries hired by

for real? Have I been saved?” Elliott said joyfully without daring

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

inform the tobacco merchant. I do not wish to walk out with

the aftermath, nodded. He put away his revolver, picked up his cane,

he had a nagging feeling 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

…

walked out into the streets. With the help of

his badge and identification as a member of the Special Operations Department; instead, he used his identity as a professional

holding a gun, he was not worried at all. He had received an all-purpose

policemen exchanged looks and one of them left to gather reinforcements and inform the Vickroy family. The other policeman followed Klein

waiting for more than forty minutes, Leonard signaled to Klein while the policeman was not paying attention. Klein was

an extreme waste of time. Let’s leave first,” the Nighthawk with the poetic

that he would take any responsibility for any repercussions,

the

a daze. He found it incredulous that news would come so fast. It felt like

crisp snap

windows open. The black-haired and green-eyed Leonard had snapped his fingers

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

right

pleasure

think we are on that good terms… Klein politely shook

he could do was marvel at the capabilities of Beyonders. Even though he was just a

is a celebratory gesture of peace among aristocrats after

know.” Klein had many

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

total of

their providing of the kidnappers’ location from their ‘meeting’

it. To us, money isn’t that important,” said Leonard

very important to