Leonard's recitation was like a lullaby. It gently reverberated between the left and right doors, and it echoed in the winding wooden staircase.
Klein's mind immediately went into a trance, as though he could see the tranquil moonlight and the tranquil surface of a lake.
His eyelids rapidly turned heavy, as though he could fall asleep standing up.
In this blurry state, he felt an invisible, strange, and indifferent gaze from behind. It was as though he was roaming the spirit world.
A baffling sense of déjà vu suffused him as Klein suddenly regained his train of thought. With his powerful spiritual perception and extremely familiar Cogitation, he barely escaped the influence of the Midnight Poem.
However, he remained calm, unable to produce any other emotions.
Soon, Leonard stopped reciting and turned his head with a smile.
"I'm considering applying for a Feynapotter lute. How can I recite without any accompaniment?"
"Heh heh, I'm just joking. I heard them falling asleep."
The black-haired, green-eyed Nighthawk with the bearing of a poet strode forward and walked to the door where the kidnappers and hostages were.
He suddenly swung his shoulders and punched the door lock.
Ka-cha!
The wooden boards around the door lock shattered, and the sound was extremely weak.
"This requires precise control," Leonard joked as he turned his head back. He reached his hand into the hole and opened the door.
Klein, who had regained consciousness, wasn't as confident as he was. He reached under his armpit and pulled out his pistol. He adjusted the cylinder to ensure that he could fire immediately.
As the door retreated, he saw a man sleeping on the table with his pistol by his feet. He also saw a man rubbing his eyes in a daze as he tried to stand up.
Thud!
Leonard slid forward and knocked out the hijacker who was about to wake up.
Klein was about to follow in when he suddenly sensed something. He turned around abruptly and faced the stairs.
Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of footsteps gradually became clearer. A man in a brown coat without a hat was carrying a paper bag of bread. He circled the corner of the stairs and headed for the third floor.
Suddenly, he stopped and saw the metallic muzzle of the gun looking down at him.
His pupils reflected a young man in a half top hat, a black suit, and a bow-tie of the same color, his cane leaning against the railing, his dangerous revolver.
"Stop all your movements and raise your hands. Three, two …" Klein's tone was low and soothing.
He held the revolver with both hands and tried to use the man as a practice target.
In the tense atmosphere, the man in the brown coat threw away the bag of bread and slowly raised his hands.
"Sir, have you misunderstood something?" He stared at Klein's finger on the trigger and squeezed out a smile.
For the time being, Klein couldn't determine whether he was a companion of the kidnappers or a neighbor, but he didn't show any abnormality on his face and said in a deep voice,
"Don't try to struggle. Someone will come to check if it's a misunderstanding."
At this moment, Leonard, who had dealt with the kidnappers in the house, walked out. He glanced at the man at the corner of the stairs and said leisurely,
"So the kidnappers have a companion who's responsible for receiving and buying food?"
Upon hearing this, the pupils of the man in the brown coat constricted. He suddenly raised his foot and kicked the bag of bread in front of him in an attempt to block Klein's line of sight.
Klein didn't seem to be affected as he calmly pulled the trigger as though he was practicing.
Bang!
Blood spurted out from the man's left shoulder.
He rolled and was about to escape to the second floor, but Leonard had already reached out to hold the railing and jumped down.
With a muffled thud, Leonard fell from the sky and landed on the man's body.
The man fainted. Leonard patted away the bloodstains on his clothes and looked up at Klein with a chuckle.
He chuckled and said, "Your marksmanship isn't bad."
I was thinking of hitting his leg … The corners of Klein's mouth twitched indiscernibly as he caught a whiff of the faint scent of blood.
He realized that although his vision, hearing, and touch hadn't been enhanced after consuming the Seer potion, he could still "see" things that were blocked and "hear" weak footsteps, allowing him to make judgments in advance.
Does this fall under the category of "inspiration?" Klein nodded in thought as he watched Leonard find a sharp dagger from the kidnapper's companion and "drag" him into the room.
With a gun in one hand and a cane in the other, Klein walked into the room where the kidnappers were. He saw Elliot Vickroy wake up from the gunshot. His body went from curled up to straight before he slowly sat up.
The original three kidnappers had been tied up tightly by Leonard with the rope they had used to deal with Elliot. They were strung together and thrown into a corner. As there wasn't enough rope, their clothes were torn to make up for it.
The one who had been shot in the shoulder was being bandaged in an unconscious state, but Leonard didn't remove the bullet because he found it dirty.
"W-who are you?" Elliot stuttered with a hint of pleasant surprise when he saw the scene in front of him.
"Yes, you guessed right. Very accurate," the half-squatting Leonard replied casually.
I didn't expect this fellow to have some sense of humor … Klein lowered his revolver and looked at Elliot.
"We are mercenaries hired by your father. You can also call us security personnel."
"Phew, really? Have I been saved? "Elliot asked with joy, but he didn't dare to make any sudden movements.
It was obvious that he had suffered quite a bit in the short few hours since he was kidnapped. He didn't have the impulsiveness that a person his age should have.
Leonard stood up and said to Klein, "Go downstairs and find the patrolling police.
"Go downstairs and find the patrolling police. Tell them to inform the tobacco merchant. I don't want to be like a kidnapper with a child and these four guys."
Klein, who was thinking about how to deal with the aftermath, nodded, put away his revolver, and walked down the stairs with his cane in hand.
As he walked down the stairs, he had a vague feeling that he had forgotten something. He then heard Leonard say to Elliot, "Don't be nervous.
You will soon be able to meet your father, mother, and old butler, Klee. Why don't we play Gwent? "
…
Klein held back his laughter as he walked into the streets outside. Following the directions of a passerby, he found two patrolling police officers.
He did not use the badge and ID of the Special Operations Department. Instead, he told the whole story in the name of a professional security guard.
As for the problem of him being armed, he wasn't worried at all. This was because he had just received the All-Category Weapon Use Permit the day before yesterday. He could apply for it through internal channels, and it would be approved very quickly.
The two policemen exchanged looks, and one of them went to inform the helpers and the Vickroy family. The remaining one followed Klein back to the room where the kidnappers were.
After waiting for more than forty minutes, while the police weren't paying attention, Leonard signaled to Klein to sneak out of the room with him.
"Trust me, going to the police station is a waste of time. Let's leave first," the Nighthawk with the bearing of a poet explained in a relaxed manner.
Klein didn't retort and followed behind with the mentality that even if the sky collapsed, there would always be someone taller to hold it up.
After nearly five minutes, a few carriages rushed to the building where the kidnappers were. The old butler, Klee, accompanied his fat master, Vickroy, down.
Up to this point in time, he was still in a daze. He couldn't believe that the good news would come so quickly. It was as fast as a dream.
Suddenly, he heard a crisp sound, and he subconsciously turned his head to look.
A two-wheeled carriage drove past with the windows open. The black-haired, green-eyed Leonard snapped his fingers again.
After passing the Vickroy family's carriage, Leonard closed the windows, turned around, and looked at Klein.
He smiled and raised his right hand.
"It was a pleasure working with you!"
We don't seem to know each other well … Klein politely high-fived him.
He never expected the kidnapping case to be resolved so quickly. All he could do was sigh that Beyonders were indeed Beyonders. Even a half-baked Sequence 9 like him was capable of doing many unbelievable things.
"This is a gesture nobles use to express their celebration after fencing," Leonard explained with a smile.
"I know." Klein had quite a number of noble classmates.
He looked out the window and frowned.
"Aren't we going to confirm it with Mr. Klee? If he believes that the police rescued Elliott, our payment will be halved. "
A full 100 pounds!
As for the matter of providing the kidnappers' location, there was no doubt about it due to the "meeting."
"Don't worry about it. Money isn't that important in our lives," Leonard said with a smile as he shrugged.
… To me, it's very important! Klein forced a polite smile.
"Many poets die young because of poverty."
Leonard chuckled.
"I believe that Elliott wouldn't lie about this matter. I can tell that he still has some innocence left in him. However, even if you receive 200 pounds, you won't get much of it."
"How much can I get?" Klein immediately asked.
"According to the unspoken rules, half of the payment has to be given to Mrs. Orianna as an additional expense for the team. The rest is split equally among the participating members. Unfortunately, you aren't an official member, so you can only get 10%."
10 pounds? That's not bad … Klein pretended not to feel the pinch as he asked,
"Aren't you worried that the kidnappers will realize that they have been affected by Beyonder powers after they wake up?"
"They won't suspect anything. They will only believe that the weather is too good and suitable for sleeping, which is why they couldn't help but collapse. They might even believe that the chanting only exists in dreams. This is something we have verified." Leonard answered confidently. "Instead, it's that demon hunting bullet of yours that makes people find it odd. Of course, a strange person who likes mysticism is a very reasonable explanation."
"Yes." Klein let go of his worries. He felt that he had forgotten, or rather, neglected something.
…
After returning to Zouteland Street, Klein didn't wait for Klee. He strolled to Welch's residence and took a different route home. He also bought beef, cabbage, and other ingredients for dinner.
As usual, it was a pleasant dinner, and as usual, the siblings chatted leisurely while they studied. However, there was an additional visitor who knocked on the door.
He was a staff member who had come to take away all the pennies in the gas meter.
As the night deepened, the siblings bade each other goodnight and returned to their respective rooms.
Klein was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly awakened by the rustling outside. He opened the door in puzzlement and came to the unoccupied bedroom.
Pushing open the mottled door, Klein saw a gray table.
On the table was a notebook. Its cover was made of hard paper and was completely dyed black.
A baffling sense of déjà vu surfaced in his mind as Klein walked over and opened the notebook.
The opened page had a picture. It was of The Fool wearing gorgeous clothes and a gorgeous headdress!
Beneath The Fool was a line written in Hermes:
"Everyone will die, including me."
Klein was alarmed as he suddenly realized that The Fool's lips had curled up!
Phew!
He suddenly sat up and saw the crimson moonlight peeking through the curtains. He saw the bookshelf and desk, and the outline of his bedroom. He realized that he had had a nightmare.
As a Seer, he knew that dreams often revealed something. Hence, he seriously recalled it.
As he recalled, Klein froze. This was because he knew what he had overlooked today!
While immersed in Leonard's chanting, he had felt an invisible, indifferent gaze from behind him.
This sort of gaze was different from normal Cogitation or Spirit Vision. It gave him a sense of déjà vu!
And according to Captain Dunn, once he had such a feeling, it usually meant …
Klein suddenly sat up straight and confirmed his feelings.
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