Lord of the Mysteries (P1)

Chapter 118: August

From his demonstrations, Teacher Gawain’s strength is still quite terrifying, and his steps are swift too. I reckon it wouldn’t be a problem for him to fight three of me... He has the pay from the police station, and he also bought a plot of land in a village out in the Tingen suburbs that provides a fixed rental... He hires a chef, a maidservant, and a laundry maiden... In the Foodaholic Empire on Earth, a man in his fifties with such wealth would have been traveling the world...

Klein looked away from Gawain and shook his head. Then, he went to the clothes rack to take down his top hat and black windbreaker.

After he tidied himself up, he took his cane and exited the house. He walked along the weed-covered stone path towards the gates.

Just then, he saw that there was a two-wheeled carriage stopped outside the metal fence, and there was a man with a familiar face standing next to it.

“Leonard?” Klein muttered, looking suspiciously towards his messy-haired Nighthawks teammate.

Leonard was dressed in a white shirt, black trousers, and buttonless leather boots as he twirled his hat in his hands. When he saw Klein come out from the house, he smiled and asked, “Are you pleasantly surprised?”

Only surprise, without any joy... Klein ignored Leonard’s inappropriate behavior and looked into the fake poet’s green eyes.

“What happened?”

Leonard put on his hat and said, “Captain wants you to work with me and Frye. Let’s talk about it on the way.”

“Alright.” Klein followed him into the carriage.

As the scene outside of the carriage flew past, Leonard took up the document bag by his side and threw it at Klein.

Klein caught it steadily and took out a document. He then started reading carefully. 𝒇𝘳𝐞𝚎𝓌𝑒𝑏𝐧𝑜𝙫ℯ𝑙.c𝚘𝘮

“August 11th, 11pm, at a workhouse in West Borough, the bankrupt Salus attempted arson to cause a tragedy. But in the end, he only managed to burn himself to death...”

“August 11th, 10pm, harbor worker, Zid jumped into the Tussock River and ended his poverty-stricken life...”

“August 11th, 8pm, in Iron Cross Street’s Lower Street, Mrs. Lauwis who earned a living by selling matchboxes died of a sudden disease...”

...

Klein was puzzled when he read the first two incidents. He found the deaths very ordinary and common. Not only should it have been beneath the attention of the Nighthawks, even the police force would avoid wasting resources looking into such obvious causes of death.

However, when he read down the list, he slowly creased his eyebrows.

After two pages, he suddenly lifted his head and looked at Leonard.

“Isn’t this too many?”

When the number of ordinary deaths reached a staggering amount, it was difficult to call it normal.

For once, Leonard nodded seriously and said, “The number of death incidents within the past two weeks are five times the normal rate.

“When the Tingen Police headquarters tabulated the data, they realized the problem and quickly passed it over to us, as well as the Mandated Punishers and the Machinery Hivemind.

𝑓r𝘦𝘦𝘄eb𝒏𝙤vel.c𝙤𝙢

“Although these death incidents appeared normal during initial investigations, Captain believes we should investigate them once more. It might require the help of divination or ritualistic magic.”

Klein said with a look of enlightenment, “I understand.”

Leonard snapped his fingers and said, “You, me, and Frye are in a team. He’s waiting for us at Iron Cross Street’s Lower Street. Seeka, Royale, and Old Neil are in another team, investigating corresponding incidents in the North Borough. Captain is staying in the security company to respond to any emergencies.”

“Okay.” Klein nodded solemnly and suddenly thought of something. He quickly asked, “Can I drop by my place and leave a note?”

He had to tell his brother and sister that he couldn’t dine at home that night because something has cropped up.

Leonard laughed.

“No problem, it’s on the way.”

With that, Klein calmed down and read over the death incidents again, intending to find a link among the various names, times, and causes of death.

Then, he suddenly realized something.

Is this my first group mission after becoming a Nighthawk?