Chapter 94 Dinner
In the only private room at the Old Ville Restaurant, at 6:30 in the evening.
All members of the Blackthorn Security Company, except for Frye, the "corpse collector" who needs to guard the Chanis Gate, the other seven Beyonders and five civilian staff have arrived.
One of the dinner's protagonists, Klein Moretti, visited a retired knight in the afternoon and underwent rigorous combat training.
At this time, he looked tired, his eyes were blank as he stared at the long table covered with a white tablecloth, and he was massaging his leg muscles with his hands. From time to time, the slight movements would irritate the injured parts of his body, and he would grit his teeth and gasp.
Another protagonist, Angel Granger, took off her usual shirt, trousers and windbreaker and changed into a summer dress. Unaccustomed to this attire, she was trying to curl up in the armchair to make herself less conspicuous.
Miss Roxanne leaned beside her and whispered something. Due to the height difference, Angel could only bend down and tilt his head, listening to the other person's whisper with a smile on his face.
Dunn Smith, the captain of the Tingen Nightmare, had locked himself in his office all day, thinking about how to become a true "Nightmare". Now it seemed that he had made some progress. His sharp eyes scanned the players around the table one by one.
Xijia Teong, the "midnight poet" with white hair and black eyes who likes to write novels in his spare time, is talking in a low voice with Luoyao Leiding, a female night watchman, and his eyes occasionally glance at Angel and Klein; Leonard Mitchell, a poet with a somewhat unruly temperament, is sipping his aperitif, squinting his eyes, wondering what he is thinking; Conley White, who is a little short but has strong muscles, had just finished his shift at Chanis Gate yesterday, and worked overtime today to patrol several cemeteries in the northern district. Even though he is a "sleepless person", he looks tired at this time and yawns from time to time.
Mrs. Orianna, who usually seemed to have endless things to do, was quietly arguing with Old Neil, dressed in a black robe, about something, perhaps about the expense reports. Brett, with his lush beard, read the headline from today's Tingen Daily: Former Tingen Mayor Dennis has resigned due to the recent deterioration of Tingen's security situation. César Francis, standing nearby, with a mysterious smile, assessed the news's veracity. He believed that Mayor Dennis was forced to resign due to the arrest of a Tingen socialite, who was implicated in several major crimes.
As the waiters in the restaurant brought plates of steaming hot food to the table, cut them into portions and served them to each guest, the "Blackthorn Security Company Newcomer Welcome Party" finally began.
Captain Dunn stood up first, holding up his glass. The champagne in the glass was a beautiful amber color, and as the glass was shaken, strings of bubbles hung on the wall of the glass.
"Let us all raise our glasses and welcome our new members, Miss Angel Granger and Mr. Klein Moretti!"
"cheers!"
Everyone stood up, raised their glasses, bent over, moved their glasses to the middle of the table, clinked glasses together, and then drank the champagne in one gulp.
As the alcohol wore off, the atmosphere at the table became lively. Except for Klein, who had undergone brutal training and looked at the food in front of him with an embarrassed expression, everyone else had already chosen their favorite dishes and began to feast on them.
"I heard you killed another Sequence 6 in Enmat Harbor?"
Leonard quickly finished the steak and mashed potato salad in front of him, took a sip of champagne, and leaned over to Angel and asked.
He seemed to have planned this in advance and took the seat next to Angel in advance.
"You're really well-informed... But I didn't kill him, and Mr. C eventually got away. The wanted order should have been sent to Tingen, right?"
Angel swallowed the bacon in his mouth and emphasized helplessly, cursing the "Rose Bishop" who had escaped to who knows where.
"That doesn't matter. In battle, severely injuring the opponent and forcing them out of the fight is actually the same as killing them."
Since the restaurant waiter was present, they did not mention extraordinary abilities or occult terms, but only communicated vaguely.
After all, their external identity is a security company, so it is normal for them to talk about fighting and killing during a dinner party.
At first, Roshan was very interested in their conversation and listened attentively for a few words, but she soon lost interest in the boring battle experience and turned to look at Klein on the other side. The steak in front of the latter did not move at all. He was taking small bites of the beef pudding he had ordered from the waiter, as if his taste buds and appetite had not yet recovered from the excessive exercise in the afternoon.
"What's wrong, Klein? Are you also going on a diet like me?"
"Believe me, Miss Roxanne, I really want to finish this steak, but my stomach has other ideas..."
Klein dipped his pudding spoon into the steak sauce and took a tentative bite. However, he quickly gave up on this oily and salty staple and continued to slowly devour the beef pudding in front of him like an ant moving house.
"After strenuous exercise, you need to eat a lot to replenish the lost salt and energy. You are just not used to this kind of training. When you recover, you will eat this steak as if you have been hungry for three days and ask the waiter for another one."
Even though there were two ladies between them, Leonard still educated the new Nighthawks in his frivolous tone. Because his voice was too loud, it attracted the attention of other chatting team members.
"Oh, it must be Sir Gawain. I've always said that he might have secretly made an agreement with the Mandated Punishers to use extreme training methods to dissuade the newcomers of the Nighthawks."
Old Neil commented on Klein's fighting instructor and scooped a spoonful of egg custard into his mouth, enjoying the delicious food. Especially when there is a companion at the table who has no appetite to compare with, the food is often more tempting.
Seeing Klein's bitter face, Xijia Teon pushed the ice cream in front of her towards him and said, "You can try something sweet. An icy dessert might help you regain your appetite."
"Thank you. I'll try."
Klein took the blueberry ice cream, scooped a mouthful into his mouth, and his expression changed repeatedly.
"It seems to be really effective. Hmm, maybe I can write this idea into the novel..." Looking at Klein who was waving the spoon quickly and finishing the blueberry ice cream, Xijia was thoughtful.
"Ms. Writer, you always say that, but when can I see your masterpiece in a magazine?"
"Tomorrow, tomorrow!"
Amidst the banter of the others, Klein, who had gradually sped up his eating, had already finished the pudding and steak in front of him. He seemed to be debating whether to order another helping, his eyes shifting back and forth between the empty plate and the waiter in the corner. Finally, he put down his knife and fork, picked up his wine glass, and downed the remaining half glass of champagne, which had already run out of fizz.
"Look, I'll tell you what I'm saying."
Leonard whispered to Angel.
——————
Klein Moretti, aching all over, refused his brother Benson's help. He gritted his teeth, and with trembling legs, he walked up the stairs step by step to his bedroom.
As soon as the door closed, his forced nonchalant expression broke.
“It hurts, it hurts so much!”
It was like the day after my college classmates dragged me to go hiking in a mountain in my past life, and I could only hold on to the wall and move down the stairs one step at a time...
Falling on the bed without any grace, he massaged his legs that seemed to no longer belong to him, recalling the miserable experience of "muscle soreness" in the past.
Why not just sleep like this... I already took a shower in the afternoon, so forget about it at night...
It was as if there was a devil in his mind tempting him: Lie down, you are tired, and leave everything until tomorrow.
No, I still have things to do today and can’t sleep yet!
Klein forced himself to stand up from the bed, and with trembling legs, he walked to the desk and found the notebook with various analyses written on it from yesterday in the drawer.
"She declined the invitation to Monday afternoon today. Was it because she had to attend a scheduled 'Tarot Club', or because she really had other plans?"
Klein frowned as he thought about the addition of another piece of information to the page that analyzed the connection between Angel and the "Queen."
Stroking the citrine pendant tied to his left wrist, he finally made up his mind.
Originally, "Fortune Teller" Klein had always avoided using divination to directly confirm his speculation. Firstly, due to the lack of information, the divination might fail. Secondly, he was unsure of his own attitude after the divination was successful, and how to face Angel's attitude.
That's why he has always been reluctant to use divination to explore the truth that is so close at hand.
But when he thought of Angel, who was wandering downstairs of the company building today, his eyes revealing fear and vulnerability, Klein felt a tightness in his heart for no reason.
Whatever the method, he wanted to get to know this colleague, this companion, better.
“Crash—”
The silver chain dropped, and Klein, already familiar with the process, let the topaz fall less than a centimeter from the table, with the tip of the crystal facing the "Angel Granger" on the notebook.
"Angel Granger is the 'Queen' of the Tarot Club?"
He half-closed his eyes, sketched out a ball of light, entered a meditative state, and silently recited the sentence requiring divination seven times.
Then he opened his eyes hesitantly and looked at the swaying crystal pendant.
A slight clockwise rotation... then a counterclockwise rotation...
Looking at the pendant that was constantly shaking and expressing two opposite answers, Klein sighed, not knowing whether it was regret or relief.
"The divination failed because of insufficient information... No, this is just like when I faced the Tuxedo Clown of the Secret Order. Was my divination interfered with?"
Is it a characteristic of the "Assassin" sequence?
I remember the same thing happened when Old Neil divined the assassin fugitive... It seems I need to continue collecting information, or...
He looked at the back of his right hand, where four black spots were hidden beneath the skin. These spots would only become visible during a certain ritual.
"Yeah, it's time to do this. Now that it's come to this, what's there to hesitate about?"
After making up his mind, Klein snapped his notebook shut and, with his aching legs, took four unsteady steps counterclockwise across the bedroom.
A moment later, in the gray fog, inside the magnificent temple, the looming figure of The Fool appeared at the head of the long bronze table.
"Angel Granger is Miss 'Queen'."
Glancing at the high-backed chair on his left, Klein closed his eyes, leaned back, silently recited the divination, and entered a dreamland through meditation.
In the gray and illusory world, the "Queen" lady, wearing a hood and with a wisp of light golden hair hanging down from her cheek, stopped meditating, blew out the candles on the table, carried the plates of cold food out of the basement and dumped them into the trash can.
This was the day when the three members completed the "ritual magic" and prayed over the Fool.
Finally, the Queen held a plate of Fenapotent noodles. She seemed to be hesitating whether to throw the food away. After a moment's hesitation, desire overcame reason. She took a fork from the kitchen, sat at the dining table, and enjoyed the food that was supposed to be offered to the Fool.
Under the hood that was lifted to facilitate eating, it was the face that Klein had been thinking about day and night.
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