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.

a neighbor, but he did not reveal any abnormalities. He said in a deep

out and noticed the man in the stairwell.

suddenly raised his foot and kicked the bag of

Klein coldly pulled the trigger like his

Bang!

burst out from the man’s left

the second floor; however, Leonard had already reached his

landed on the man from

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

“Nice shooting.”

legs… The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched in

enhancements to his visual, auditory, or tactile senses after consuming the

the scope of spiritual perception? Klein nodded in thought as he watched Leonard find

gun and cane in each hand, Klein entered the kidnapper’s room. They saw Elliott Vickroy jolt awake from the gunshot as

they used against Elliott. Bunched together,

but Leonard disdained getting his hands dirty, so he

pleasant

precise.” The genuflecting Leonard answered

Klein lowered his revolver and said

I been saved?” Elliott said joyfully without

that he had suffered quite harshly in the short few hours of being a kidnapping victim. He did not have the kind of rashness someone his age

stood up and said to Klein, “Go downstairs and find some patrolling cops. Get them to inform the tobacco merchant. I do not wish to walk out with a

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

had forgotten something. In addition, he heard Leonard say to Elliott, “Don’t be nervous. You will

…

the streets. With the help of pedestrians, he found

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

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

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

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

to the police station is an extreme waste of time. Let’s leave first,” the Nighthawk

that he would take any responsibility for any repercussions,

where the kidnappers were. The old

He found

he heard a crisp snap

two-wheeled carriage drove past with its windows open. The black-haired and green-eyed Leonard had snapped his fingers

closed the window, turned

his right hand

pleasure working

that good terms… Klein politely shook

not expect the kidnapping case to be resolved so quickly. All he could do was marvel at the capabilities of Beyonders. Even though he was just a half-assed Sequence 9 Beyonder, he was able to do

of peace among aristocrats after a clash of swords,” explained Leonard

had many

a frown, “Shouldn’t we confirm with Mr. Klee? If he believes that the police rescued Elliott, our commission will

of

about their providing of the

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

important to