Klein's first morning in Backlund began with light fog, low visibility in the sky, cold and humid environment, cheap tea at 1 penny per liter, and two slices of toast with inferior butter.
He was busy for the entire morning. He first went to the headquarters of the Backlund Post in Cherwood District and spent 30 pounds to subscribe to a month's worth of advertisements.
Starting from Tuesday, loyal readers of the Backlund Post will see a small notice at the fold between pages 7 and 8:
"Sherlock Moriarty is a private detective who specializes in handling all kinds of matters. He charges a reasonable fee and strictly abides by the principle of confidentiality. He lives at 15 Minsk Street in Cherwood District."
The reason why Klein did not choose the Tussock Times, Backlund Daily, or other major newspapers that cover the entire Loen Kingdom is because his business will only be limited to the city of Backlund for the time being, and he does not want to become very well-known.
Therefore, the Backlund Post, which was quite popular locally and had low advertising costs, became his first choice.
After leaving the Backlund Post's headquarters, Klein took a map and bought different plant powders and silver flakes from various herbal medicine stores, flower stores, jewelry stores, and accessories stores to prepare for the ceremony. As long as spiritual items were not involved, most of the mystical materials could be bought in ordinary stores, but they were not so concentrated, so he had to go to many stores to get them all.
To this end, Klein spent another 5 pounds, and the huge fortune of 200 pounds he took out fell below the 100 mark, leaving only 92 pounds.
“Spending money is like spending water…” Klein found a small restaurant nearby and ordered an 8-penny steak with black pepper sauce, 2.5-penny mashed potatoes with pork sausage, 1-penny coffee, and 1-penny vegetables. Because the total amount exceeded 1 soli, he added another 1-penny to get a portion of value-for-money bread with butter.
At 1 p.m., he returned to No. 15 Minsk Street. Without taking a rest, he spent time mixing "Holy Night Powder" with herbal powders such as deep sleeping flower, dragon blood grass, crimson sandalwood and mint. This is the material used to build the spiritual wall.
——Before he could buy a real ritual silver dagger, he could only make do with this method.
Klein guessed that he would have to advance to Sequence 7 to get rid of this restriction.
“Phew, Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and classmate Sun haven’t asked for leave yet. Today’s party will be held on time… I wonder what kind of surprise Mr. Hanged Man will bring me, and how many pages of Roselle’s diary he can provide…” Klein leaned against the bed in the bedroom, thinking about various things aimlessly.
For him, being a private detective is a career that combines making money with action. It allows him to meet people from all walks of life, slowly discover Backlund's circle of Beyonders, and gradually find clues about the Secret Society.
Of course, if he was lucky enough, he could even find out what Sequence 7 the Joker corresponded to from certain Beyonders circles, and buy the corresponding potion formula and main ingredients.
As for Ince Zangwill's whereabouts, Klein would not take the initiative to look for him for the time being. He might even have to avoid him for a while. However, if he could accidentally find this enemy without exposing himself, he would not mind doing a good deed and sending an anonymous letter to the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
"The income of a private detective can only support a middle-class life at best. If I want to have enough money to buy potion formulas and extraordinary materials, I can either go to Miss Justice or make some investments with the remaining 100 pounds in my anonymous account... Well, I can't move the 92 pounds on me for the time being. Maybe I won't have any money in my account for a long time..." Thinking of this, Klein suddenly turned over and sat up. He went to the first floor and began to read the various newspapers he had bought before.
These newspapers often publish some news, such as someone has invented something and is looking for investment, or someone wants to form a joint venture to start a certain business.
Klein relied on his knowledge of Earth and his understanding of this era to carefully screen projects. Unfortunately, those guys today were not very reliable.
At 2:45 p.m., he returned to his bedroom, locked the door, drew the curtains, and created a spiritual wall with "holy night powder."
After walking four steps backwards, he arrived above the gray fog. Klein sat upright on the Fool's high-back chair, extending his spirituality and touching the crimson star that symbolized the "sun" in response to his prayer.
This is one of the few things that have not changed in my completely changed life... He suddenly sighed.
…………
Somewhere outside the City of Silver, inside a half-collapsed black-gray tower.
Nine patrol members gathered in front of a blazing fire, chatting about their experiences during the past few days.
Several other team members were guarding the periphery, on guard against possible sudden attacks in the darkness.
Countless Beyonders from Silver City have taught them through blood:
Never let your guard down, the monster in the dark may be right behind you!
On nights when lightning frequency was very low, they had to keep the flames burning and the lights shining; once they were plunged into complete darkness, it was possible that everyone would disappear - no one could tell how horrible things would happen in pure darkness, because the facts had exceeded the limits of their imagination time and again.
Derrick Berg remained silent and listened to his companions recalling the monster they had encountered before, a humanoid monster with eyes all over its body.
In order to deal with this monster, their patrol team paid the price of five people being injured, two of whom were seriously injured.
Suddenly, Derrick's eyes blurred and he felt himself surrounded by thick gray fog.
And in the indescribable distance, in the depths of the gray fog, a vague figure sat upright on an ancient high-backed chair, looking down at him.
"Get ready for the party."
Derrick heard the Fool's voice in his ears, but none of his teammates noticed.
Derrick retracted his gaze and observed the environment for more than ten seconds. He then moved to the edge of the fire, leaned against the broken wall, and faced everyone sideways, pretending to sleep.
Ever since he discovered that Elder Lovia, a member of the Six-Man Council, was unable to detect the existence of Mr. Fool, he gradually came to believe that as long as he did not carelessly expose certain problems, he would be able to quietly go to the Tarot gathering above the gray fog even under the scrutiny of others.
…………
Backlund, Queens.
Audrey excused herself as being tired and went back to her bedroom.
She suppressed her excitement and did not pace back and forth. She sat quietly in the bed, waiting for Mr. Fool to call her.
Dad was busy communicating with other congressmen about the bills that were about to be submitted, and the Beyonder guards no longer followed me all the time. Thank the goddess, my life has finally returned to normal! Two weeks have passed, and Mr. "The Hanged Man" must have prepared the pituitary gland of an adult seven-colored lizard dragon... I'm about to be promoted to Sequence 8! Audrey thought with sparkling eyes.
For her, this was more exciting and anticipated than receiving a reward of 30,000 pounds and a large plantation worth at least 8,000 pounds!
Finally, she saw the familiar illusory crimson light surging out like a tide and drowning her.
…………
On an ancient sailing ship.
Alger Wilson locked the door of the captain's cabin and sat behind the sextant and navigation notes, constantly memorizing the contents written on the thick stack of paper in front of him.
After the investigation period, he was praised by the top leaders and did not linger in the prosperity of Backlund. He took the initiative to leave the metropolis and returned to the sea, carrying a batch of secretly copied Roselle diaries.
"Once I digest the 'Navigator' potion, I will be able to advance normally. My merits will be enough to exchange for the formula and materials... But this will expose that I know about the 'acting method', which has both advantages and disadvantages..." Alger shook his head and suddenly lost his focus.
At this moment, he felt the call of the Fool, and the face of Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilingos suddenly appeared in his mind, with flesh and blood rotting rapidly and falling down piece by piece.
Alger instinctively lowered his head and allowed the crimson tide to swallow him.
…………
Above the gray fog, in a palace that looked like a giant's residence.
Klein activated his clairvoyance and examined Justice, The Hanged Man, and The Sun, confirming their current status.
Audrey was about to greet him cheerfully when she suddenly saw the Hanged Man gesture and speak first:
“Mr. Fool, I got a total of 19 pages of Roselle’s diary this time.”
"Here, I must thank you for sending your followers to help me get rid of Qi Lingos. These diaries are the reward I should pay!"
19 pages? Not bad... Klein didn't say much about the Favored Ones. He smiled calmly and said:
“This is the principle of equal exchange.”
As expected of Mr. Fool… A pirate general carrying a magical item is not taken seriously by “Him” at all… It seems there is no need for me to mention the bounty… I wonder how many high-sequence followers Mr. Fool has… Audrey unconsciously began to get used to calling “The Fool” “Him”.
Hearing the Fool's answer, Alger the Hanged Man humbly said:
"The current limit of my memory is six pages. Please allow me to give it to you in several parts."
“No problem.” Klein, who was shrouded in thick gray fog, nodded slightly.
"The Sun" Derrick watched as "The Hanged Man" materialized the diary page by page and was very curious about the contents.
With his previous experiences, he believed that the items Mr. Fool was interested in must contain many mysteries.
He glanced at Miss Justice, and seeing that she had no urge to ask, he carefully remained silent.
Soon, the six-page diary was completed and came into Klein's hands.
Audrey and the others began to wait quietly, having become accustomed to similar things.
Klein lowered his gaze and read the first page:
"On December 16, we contacted the poor fellow who was trapped in the depths of the storm and lost in the darkness."
Finally, there is a follow-up to the previous page of notes... Klein was delighted and became more focused:
"He called himself Mr. 'The Door' and tried to teach me a complex and difficult ritual to help him return to the real world, and promised to fulfill three of my requests."
"Does he think I'm stupid? I've lived for more than sixty years in my two lifetimes, and I can't see that this is the usual operation of evil gods and demons?"
"But some of the history of the Quaternary Period he described is really interesting."
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