Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 127 The Past
This, isn’t this embarrassing me? Hearing Allen’s request, Klein nearly drew a Crimson Moon on his chest with his hand, but he eventually resisted the impulse and responded to the other party in a very serious manner:
”Perhaps some of my behavior has caused you to misunderstand.”
”But I must tell you that faith is a thing that will not be changed once it is decided.”
Allen raised his arms at once and made an apologetic gesture:
”I’m sorry, I misunderstood your piety, I shouldn’t have made fun of your faith.”
”Okay, the difference in beliefs doesn’t prevent us from being friends.”
Klein put away the expression he had just disguised and smiled:
”That statement doesn’t hold true in Fusak and Feneport, they can only accept one faith.”
In comparison, due to multiple churches co-existing for more than fourteen hundred years, Rune and Intis were much more open in this regard.
Without waiting for Allen to answer, he changed the topic in a deceptively casual manner:
”Have you seen Will Onsettin since then? That’s the kid who had his leg sawed off and said you’d have bad luck.”
He was sure the night watchman would have followed the clues Alan had provided, so he was a little curious as to what the ending would be, and whether it was the kid or the tarot card he was holding that had changed Alan’s luck.
”No, I haven’t seen him since he was released from the hospital.” Alan shook his head affirmatively.
What a pity, the night watchman can find his way there based on the address registered at the hospital, while I can’t just jump in …… Of course, that kid might have moved away a long time ago …… Klein chatted with Allen for a few minutes before preparing to head to the underground range to familiarize himself with ordinary bullets under the the revolver that came with it.
At this time, two more acquaintances came in at the door, one was a member of the Kingdom’s Air Pollution Investigation Committee and a shareholder of the Cowim Company, Mrs. Mary, and the other was Klein’s landlady, Mrs. Starling Sommer, and both of them were dressed in relatively light dresses and appeared to be much younger.
According to the club’s rules, each member could only bring in one extra person, so Mary’s maid and specially hired bodyguard were left in the reception hall.
Klein politely greeted them and said hello, politely complimenting them:
”Ladies, you are beautiful today as always, but in a different way than usual.”
Mary, who had recently come into contact with a number of great people, smiled slightly and said:
”Rossel said that life lies in sports, and Starling always stays at home and takes care of those trivial matters, even if she goes out, she only attends banquets and listens to operas, her body is much worse than before, so I brought her here to play tennis and squash.”
With her higher cheekbones, she flicked her gaze to see a member of the House of Commons and two members of the Bakerland Region chatting in the corner, and turned her head sideways to Starling:
”I’ve run into an acquaintance, so I’ll go over and say hello, and you can wait for me in the library.”
”Okay.” Compared to Mary, Starling was obviously quite a bit prettier, but she looked quite respectful and docile when facing that lady.
Waiting for Mary to walk out for some distance, she lifted her chin slightly and looked at Klein and said:
”Mr. Moriarty, you seem to be very busy lately?”
”Yes, I was working with a lot of detectives before, helping the police department investigate that serial murder case, we made a certain contribution and got a lot of bounty.” Klein answered “truthfully”.
Starling reached up and covered her mouth and said:
”Really?”
”What did that murderer look like? Why did he kill those ladies? The papers were very vague.”
”I’m sorry, I have to abide by the confidentiality clause.” Klein skillfully made an excuse.
Can’t tell you that it has a long black fur, a watery smooth tail, and likes to run on all fours …… Klein mentally spat.
Starling nodded with a slight sense of regret, then asked rather curiously:
”So how much bounty did you get?”
”A lot of us split it together.” Crane didn’t answer positively.
”Was there fifty pounds?” Starling followed up.
”Yes.” Klein nodded “honestly”.
Starling Sommer burst into a smile:
”You’re earning more than I thought, you’re really a capable detective.”
”No, there may not be one of these things for a few years.” Klein laughed and shook his head.
”Regardless, you’ve proven yourself capable.” Starling said with a twinkle in her eye, “Next Sunday, Luke and I will be holding a party at our house, I hope you can come to it, well, sorry, this is presumptuous, I’ll have my maid deliver the invitations to you afterward, oh, there are quite a few unmarried young ladies in attendance at this party, all of whom have fathers or mothers who have relatively decent jobs, and all of whom have family incomes of more than 200 pounds a year. Some of them also have part-time occupations that can be done from home, such as typists, and they are all very fine women.”
This, this is a blind date party ah …… Mrs. Starling recognized my earning power as a detective, so she intends to introduce girls to the single me? But, in her eyes, I can only match women at this level? Klein instantly flashed through a multitude of thoughts, but considering the need to maintain neighborhood relations and the hassle of preparing dinner by himself, he agreed with a smile:
”If there are no emergencies, I’ll be on time.”
Starling spread a smile and said:
”Then Luke and I await your visit.”
Without further ado, she excused herself and left, entering the small library that was the club, while Klein went about his routine of practicing his extraordinary abilities with a gun in a small enclosed range.
……
At 9 o’clock at night, Klein sat at his desk and watched as the scarlet moon gradually pierced through the clouds in the sky, revealing a figure that was no longer missing.
The watery reddish “veil” slowly swept away, and time passed by, and at a quarter past 10:00, he heard the sound of illusory, layered prayers.
Without distinguishing it, Klein could guess that it was a plea for help from Ms. Magician.
He brushed the curtains closed, extinguished the lamp, took four steps backward into the gray mist, and reached out to the shrinking and expanding crimson star.
In an instant, Forsyth’s shadowy figure appeared on the chair behind which the symbol was “Cascading Doors”.
She breathed a sigh of relief and rose to salute:
”Dear Mr. ‘Fool’, you have saved me once again.”
”It’s nothing to be concerned about.” Klein responded in a tone of clouds very light and wind very light.
Voorhees was secretly staggered and resumed her seat.
She pondered over what had just happened and did not speak for a while, while Klein did not take the initiative to throw out the topic in order to maintain his image.
Silence quickly became the dominant theme within the lofty palace like a giant’s residence.
By the time Voorhees returned to her senses, she suddenly felt that this atmosphere was a bit oppressive and made people less comfortable.
At the party, there was Miss Justice and Mr. World, they weren’t afraid that no one would talk, but now, it’s just me and Mr. Fool, what should I do, I feel so pressured! I have to say something, I have to say something, I can’t just sit there like a fool …… That’s Mr. Fool! I’m sure he doesn’t care about anything, but I’m nervous, I’m so nervous! Forsyth suddenly regained the feeling of being alone with his boss when he first entered the workplace.
Although Klein wasn’t an audience member, he could clearly see the “magician” lady’s constraints and uneasiness, so he smiled and said:
”Maybe you can tell a little bit about how you became an Extraordinary.”
For example, how to get the “Apprentice” formula and the bracelet …… Klein silently added the real point of the question.
Voorhees relaxed a bit and reminisced:
”It was almost three years ago, and I had just graduated from the Birkeland Medical School.”
”With the help of my father, I entered a well-paid private practice, heck, my father had settled in East Byron.”
”Ever since the safe passage to the southern continent was discovered, the kingdom’s finest young men have begun to spill their footprints into every corner there, my father, as a junior officer, went to East Byron, chasing after wealth and power, while my mother and I were left behind in Becklander, living like widowed and bereaved fathers, heh, and it’s been many months before a ship brings a letter from a faraway land. ”
”This was not uncommon in the kingdom, I knew an old gentleman who had five children, but either in the Isles or in Sibyland, in the Pas Valley, in the Hagarty Meadows, they had their careers, their families and their fortunes, and had forgotten that there was a father always waiting for them to return.”
”When I was in grammar school, my mother contracted a serious illness, and I had no choice but to watch her die in a hospital bed, while my father answered my letters at intervals of a month, telling me that he had a new family and a new life in East Byron, and that he had given me all of his property in Bakerland, with some extra money, and that, I suppose that he should be somewhat guilty.”
As a best-selling fiction writer, Forsyth had mastered the skill of pulling things out of the air.
Klein idly and quietly listened without interrupting.
Exhaling, Voorhees exhaled and continued:
”Anyway, my father introduced me to the Yusuf Clinic through the Retired Officers’ Club, and the pay there was really good, and I was getting by pretty well, just a little anxious about the future, so I worked hard to study under the senior doctors and tried to save up until I met an old lady who came to see me often.”
”She was lonely, had no children, and her partner had died ten years ago, so I sympathized with her somewhat and would often speak to her and keep her company.”
”On one occasion, I was surprised to find that she could walk through walls, which led me into a new world.”
”The old lady said it was a legacy from her husband, and she vaguely mentioned that there didn’t seem to be a curse as long as it wasn’t in any family.”
”It wasn’t long after that, when she was so ill that she was about to pass away, she asked me if I would like to be like her, I was very young and still had quite a few fantasies in my head, so I said yes without hesitation.”
”She gave me the formula and asked me to watch over her body after her death and remove the glowing items that would suddenly appear, and that’s what she left me, which can be used as the main ingredient for magic potions.”
”In addition, she gave me this bracelet, instructing me not to use it until I was in the greatest danger, and also, not to pay too much attention to the ravings of the full moon.”
”Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to avoid the danger after all, and after using it once, the full moon’s ravings were subsequently severe.”
It seems that that is a certain Abraham’s widow ah …… she used her own experience to prove that the “curse” only exists in the bloodline …… Klein gently nodded:
”When you become a High Sequence powerhouse, the ravings won’t have much effect.”
”I hope so.” Although Voorhees didn’t believe that she could become a High Sequence Powerhouse, she believed in Mr. Fool.
……
It was Monday again, and Klein had just gotten up and gone downstairs when he saw a spread out piece of paper on the coffee table in the living room with a short writing on it:
”Effective.”
That’s good …… Klein was instantly relieved.
At 2:45 p.m., he entered the gray mist on time to “prepare” for the new tarot session.