Leonard?

For a moment, Klein thought he had seen it wrong.

But the blur caused by the light was not serious. Being familiar with the other party, he quickly confirmed his previous judgment.

In the time it took to breathe, Leonard disappeared, the light dissipated, and the valley returned to the quietness of midwinter. The scene in Klein's dream was shattered.

He opened his eyes and placed the badge he had obtained from Lanevus on the surface of the bronze table.

"The real Leonard, or Leonard in disguise as the Faceless Man?" Klein thought for a moment and tossed a gold coin.

His spirit told him through this medium that it was Leonard Mitchell, his teammate from Tingen's Night Squad!

"Is he an 'investigator' sent by the Goddess Church for the party, or is he an Avenger who took risks to look for opportunities without the knowledge of the Nighthawks?" Klein wondered to himself, finding it difficult to make an accurate judgment.

And in the absence of any prior information, his divination could not provide any revelation.

After a few seconds of silence, Klein laughed at himself and drew a crimson moon on his chest:

"Wish him good luck, and may the goddess bless him."

Klein stopped dwelling on this question and planned to learn more about the party before deciding whether to participate in the future or to anonymously remind Leonard Mitchell.

…………

Backlund, in a secret room in the underground area of ​​the Steam Cathedral.

Ikanser took off his hat, smoothed down his fluffy but not soft hair, and sat down in the first seat on the left.

Then, he took out the ancient silver mirror of Arrodes from the special pocket inside his clothes and placed it in front of him.

To his right, across from him, and diagonally to him, there were deacons and captains of the Mechanical Heart. They were all summoned to a meeting by Backlund Archbishop Horamick Hayden, a member of the Pre-Divine Council.

The archbishop, dressed in a white priest robe, looked like an ordinary old man at this moment, sitting peacefully at the very top.

Seeing that everyone was present, he looked around and said gently:

"Start with Ikanser and tell us about the investigation in the past few days in order."

Ikanser Bernard scratched his hair and reported concisely while flipping through thick documents:

"Your Excellency the Archbishop, we are in charge of Sherlock Moriarty. After a detailed investigation and the assistance of corresponding extraordinary means, we have confirmed that he was passively involved in this matter. Before this, there was no evidence that he was aware of Prince Edessak's problem.

"He was a friend of the deceased Talim Dumont and indirectly completed some commissions given by the prince, but there was nothing wrong with that. At most, he inflated some expenses."

At this point, Ikanser suddenly felt guilty, because Sherlock Moriarty was also an informant for the "Mechanical Heart", and the expenses he reimbursed here were likely to be exaggerated to a certain extent.

In any case, his work as an informant was very effective and outstanding, enough to offset many problems. Moreover, he has been our informant for a short time, and the one involving the most money was the "share"... Ikanser exhaled slowly and continued to report:

"Our conclusion is that he is innocent and has no hidden agenda. He was once keenly aware of the dangers of Red Rose Manor, but that was a typical case of wrong reasoning and correct results. He was afraid of the oppression of the royal family. For this reason, he has been passive and lazy and has not conducted any substantive and in-depth investigation. He has reported this to us.

"Unfortunately, he still couldn't avoid this incident, but he was lucky enough. The descendant of the God of Death he mentioned was monitoring near the Red Rose Manor and rescued him from the desperate situation of the meteorite falling in time. The traces at the scene showed that this was a very terrifying attack, most likely related to '0-08'."

Klein mentioned the existence of Ince Zangwill and "0-08" in his letter. As for whether he knew the former archbishop and the "0" level seal, no one cared because he was with Azik Eggers at the time and it was entirely possible that he learned about it from him. This was also everyone's subconscious judgment.

As for the "0" and "1" level seals, the seven orthodox churches have been informing each other of the rough situation, and the numbers are shared, so there is no duplication.

"...However, we don't have all the information, and there are still three things we cannot confirm. First, '2-111' shows that after Sherlock Moriarty fled into the woods, he did not rush to get away, but stayed where he was, praying to someone. Second, when did he and Azik Eggers meet? Third, how did he escape from the underground ruins? With his strength, it should not be possible. In the process, he even destroyed the Aurora Society's advent ceremony." Ikanser concluded.

"2-111" refers to the magic mirror of Arrodes.

Horamick listened quietly and smiled as if talking to himself:

"Falsely reporting expenses..."

He immediately cleared his throat:

"No matter what, Sherlock Moriarty is Backlund's hero.

"If he hadn't intervened in time, if he had gotten scared at that moment and chose to run away, most of us wouldn't be alive today.

"Moreover, he has also demonstrated his faith in God and his kindness towards us. As long as he doesn't have any major problems, we can just ignore his minor shortcomings and secrets."

"Your Excellency, this is exactly what we thought." Ikanser breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess his prayers in the woods, including the whistle-blowing ceremony, were all ways to contact Azik Eggers, but the effects and speeds were different. In such a critical situation, the only thing he could do was to save himself. We deduced this from the subsequent progress of the incident."

"In addition to saving yourself, you can also write a suicide note." Another Mechanical Heart Deacon joked, and then reported the part he was responsible for, "...We still haven't found the underground ruins described by Sherlock Moriarty, even with the help of '2-111'. And we are temporarily unable to grasp the whereabouts of the royal high-sequence strongman on that day."

"...It can be confirmed that the Church of Evernight was the first to receive the intelligence. This intelligence came from a special channel of Earl Hall. The details are unknown."

"...We have joined forces with the Nighthawks and the Mandated Punishers to eliminate most of the Aurora Society's forces in Backlund, but I suspect they still have hidden power..."

"...When the incident happened, the Triss mentioned by Sherlock Moriarty was heading to Backlund, but no one has seen her since then. According to Sherlock Moriarty, she is a key figure and was renamed Triss Chick."

"…I can't figure out how the Church of Evernight captured the Witch of Despair and Butler Finkel. The divination results tell me that they are still alive, but no longer free."

…

Deacons and captains reported their findings one after another. Horamick half-closed his eyes, seeming to be thinking about something.

After the room was silent for more than ten seconds, he opened his eyes and said at a moderate speed:

“Make every effort to find Triss Chick, if she’s still alive.

"Gather all the problems that cannot be effectively revealed by divination and give them to me. There are saints in the church who are good at this, although they may not be more effective than '2-111'.

"The monitoring and investigation of the high-sequence strongmen of the royal family can be put on the 'table'. There is no need to worry too much. They have always known that we are doing these things. This is also a warning.

“The investigation of the underground ruins continues, and the Church of Night and Storm has been informed.

"Ikanser, ask '2-111' how Sherlock Moriarty escaped from the ruins and when he met Azik Eggers."

Looking at the archbishop and then at his colleagues, Ikanser gritted his teeth and said:

"Yes, Your Excellency the Archbishop."

He sadly believed that his legend would soon spread from the few "Mechanical Heart" teams he was in charge of to all the Steam Church Beyonders in Backlund.

After going through the process, he said:

"Dear Arrodes, my question is, when did Sherlock Moriarty meet Azik Eggers?"

Water light suddenly floated on the silver mirrors on both sides that seemed to have eyes, and a picture quickly formed:

Sherlock Moriarty stood in a room, watching a rat with a rotten belly climbing up the wall and drilling a hole. Behind him were Old Kohler and the owner of the cheap hotel.

"He met the other party when he was completing the bounty mission of Azik Eggers. The mission was issued by MI9 and was caused by a coincidental conflict." Ikanser interpreted the content of the picture.

After saying that, he chose an equal answer, then held his breath, waiting for Arrodes to ask a soul-piercing question.

Not surprisingly, he saw the bright red words:

"Do you know how it feels to try your best to please someone, only to be left there by him?"

This question is not sharp enough, unlike Arrodes' usual style... Ikanser suddenly felt that the bloody words on the mirror lacked the usual sense of horror, were not bloody enough, and seemed weak.

He didn't bother to think about why, and answered immediately:

"Know!"

"Congratulations, you got it right." New words appeared on the surface of the silver mirror, turning white.

…………

January 5, 9:00 am.

Klein, with a gray scarf wrapped around his neck, arrived at Rose Pier carrying a suitcase and a cane.

The White Agate was anchored there. Compared to humans, it was unusually large and was said to be able to carry hundreds of passengers.

It has a strong characteristic of this era, with chimneys and sails standing side by side, and 12 cannons and corresponding gun positions on each side of the ship, which is necessary to guard against pirates and peers.

Under the arrangement of Captain Ireland Kaag, the selected strong sailors and crew members lined up at the gangway, some even deliberately showing their legal revolvers, rifles and sabers.

This made the guests who boarded the ship feel much more secure and no longer afraid of the upcoming nine-day journey.

Klein stood below, looked up, and walked up the ladder in the undulating blue water.

The journey began... As he took a step, he sighed silently.