Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 3 Melissa (First update, please vote!)

With the plan finalized, Zhou Mingrui suddenly felt reassured, and all his fear, hesitation, and unease were extinguished.

Only then did he have the mind to carefully examine the fragments of Klein's remaining memories.

Zhou Mingrui habitually stood up, turned off the pipe valve, and watched the wall lamp slowly dim until it went out. He then sat down again, unconsciously stroking the brass cylinder of the pistol while pressing his hand to the side of his head. In the darkness tinged with crimson, he quietly "relived" the moment, like the most attentive audience member in a movie theater.

Perhaps due to the impact of the bullet, Klein's memory was like shattered glass, not only losing its coherence but also clearly missing content in many places. For example, where did the exquisitely crafted revolver come from? Was it suicide or homicide? What exactly did the sentence in the notebook, "Everyone will die, including me," mean? Had he been involved in any strange things in the two days before the incident?

Not only have these specific memories become fragmented and incomplete, but so has the knowledge he has acquired. Judging from his current state, Zhou Mingrui believes that if Klein were to return to university, he probably wouldn't be able to graduate, even though he has only been away from campus for a few days and hasn't relaxed at all.

"I have an interview with the History Department at the University of Tingen in two days..."

"The universities in the Kingdom of Rune have a tradition of not keeping graduates on as faculty members... My advisor gave me a letter of recommendation from the University of Tingen and another from the University of Backlund..."

……

As Zhou Mingrui silently "watched," the red moon outside the window slanted westward, gradually sinking until a faint light appeared in the east, and the horizon was tinged with gold.

At that moment, a noise came from inside the room, and soon, footsteps approached the isolation door.

"Melissa is awake... She's as punctual as ever." Zhou Mingrui smiled slightly, feeling a sense of kinship with Melissa, influenced by Klein's memories.

However, I don't have a younger sister... he then retorted.

Unlike Benson and Klein, Melissa's early education was not completed at the Sunday school of the Church of the Goddess of Night. When she reached school age, the Kingdom of Rune promulgated the "Elementary Education Law," established the Committee for Secondary and Lower Education, and provided special funding to increase investment.

Within three years, having incorporated many church schools, numerous public primary schools were established, strictly adhering to the principle of religious neutrality and avoiding involvement in the disputes between the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Goddess of Night, and the God of Steam and Machinery.

Compared to Sunday schools that cost only one penny a week, the tuition of three pennies a week for public elementary schools seemed quite expensive. However, the former only had classes on Sundays, while the latter had classes for six days a week. Overall, it was low-cost to almost free.

Unlike most girls, Melissa loved gears, springs, bearings and other such things from a young age, and aspired to become a steam mechanic.

Having suffered from a lack of education himself, Benson, the eldest brother, understood the importance of education. Just as he supported Klein's university education, he supported his sister's dream. After all, the Tingen Technical School was only considered secondary education, and there was no need to go to grammar school or public school to accumulate knowledge.

Last July, 15-year-old Melissa passed the entrance exam and became a member of the Steam and Mechanical Engineering Department at the Tingen Technical School, where her weekly tuition increased to nine pence.

Meanwhile, Benson's import and export company was affected by the situation in the South China Sea. Both its profits and business volume shrank significantly, and it had to lay off more than a third of its employees. In order to keep his job and make a living, Benson had to accept more demanding tasks and often had to work overtime or travel to places with harsh environments, just like these past few days.

Klein had considered helping his brother, but as a commoner who entered a regular grammar school, he felt his own inadequacy as soon as he entered university. For example, the ancient Fusak language, the source language of all countries in the Northern Continent, was something that noble children and children of the wealthy had to learn from a young age, but he only came into contact with it for the first time in university.

There are many similar examples. Klein used almost all his strength, often staying up late and getting up early, to barely catch up with others and graduate with average grades.

Memories of his older brother and sister flashed through Zhou Mingrui's mind until he turned the handle and the door to the inner room creaked open. He suddenly came to his senses and remembered that he was holding a revolver in his hand.

This is a semi-controlled item!

It will scare children!

And, and the wound on my head!

Seeing that Melissa was about to come out, Zhou Mingrui pressed his temples and hurriedly opened the desk drawer, throwing the revolver inside with a bang.

"What happened?" Melissa looked over in confusion when she heard the noise.

She was in the prime of her youth, and even though she didn't eat much good food, her face was thin and slightly pale, but her skin was still radiant and exuded a youthful aura.

Seeing his sister's brown eyes looking at him inquisitively, Zhou Mingrui forced himself to remain calm, picked up the things closest to him, and then calmly closed the drawer to conceal the revolver. The sensation on his temple with his other hand confirmed that the wound had healed!

He took out a silver-white pocket watch with vine and leaf patterns from the drawer. With a gentle press on the top, the watch cover popped open.

It was the most valuable item left by the three siblings' father, a Royal Army sergeant. But secondhand is secondhand, and it had been malfunctioning from time to time in recent years, even after being repaired by a watchmaker. This caused Benson, who liked to wear it to elevate his status, to embarrass himself repeatedly, so he simply left it at home.

It must be said that Melissa may indeed have a talent for mechanics. After mastering the theoretical knowledge, she began to tinker with the pocket watch using the tools from the technical school, and recently even claimed that she had repaired it!

As Zhou Mingrui watched the watch cover pop open and saw the second hand stop moving, he subconsciously turned the top of the watch, intending to wind it.

However, after twisting it several times, he still couldn't hear the sound of the spring winding up, and the second hand remained motionless.

"It seems to have broken again." He looked at his sister, trying to make conversation.

Melissa glanced at him expressionlessly, strode over, and snatched the pocket watch away.

She stood still, first pulling up the button on the top of the pocket watch. After only a few turns, the ticking sound of the second hand began to emerge.

Normally, shouldn't pulling it up be for adjusting the time...? Zhou Mingrui's expression immediately became blank.

Just then, the distant cathedral bells rang out, six times in a row, melodious and ethereal.

Melissa listened intently, then raised the button on the top of the pocket watch a little higher, and then turned it repeatedly to set the time.

"Alright," she said briefly and without any emotion, then pressed the top back and returned the pocket watch to Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui responded with an awkward but polite smile.

Melissa gave her brother another deep look, then turned and walked to the cabinet, grabbed her toothbrush and towel, opened the door, and headed to the communal restroom.

"Why did her expression just now have a hint of disgust and helplessness?"

"The look of care and concern in your eyes for your intellectually disabled brother?"

Zhou Mingrui shook his head and chuckled softly, snapping the watch cover shut and then snapping it open again.

As he repeated these actions, a question popped into his head.

Without a silencer, Klein committed suicide—well, let's call it suicide for now—but the noise he made was definitely not small, and Melissa, who was just a wall away, didn't even notice.

Was she sleeping too soundly? Or was Klein's suicide itself shrouded in mystery?

Click, open; click, close… When Melissa returned from washing up, she saw her brother’s unconscious actions of repeatedly opening and closing the pocket watch cover.

Her gaze once again held a hint of helplessness, and she said in a sweet voice:

"Klein, take out the rest of the bread. Remember to buy new bread today. Also, take out the meat and peas. You have an interview soon, so I'll make you lamb stew with peas."

As she spoke, she moved the stove out from the corner, used the remaining embers to start a fire, and boiled a pot of hot water.

Just before the water boiled, she opened the bottom drawer of the cupboard, took out a can of inferior tea leaves as if it were a treasure, sprinkled about ten leaves into the pot, and pretended it was real tea.

Each person poured two large cups, and Melissa and Zhou Mingrui shared two rye breads with their tea.

There were no sawdust particles mixed in, and not much gluten, but it still didn't taste good... Zhou Mingrui was weak and hungry, so he forced himself to swallow the bread while muttering to himself, relying on tea.

A few minutes later, Melissa finished eating, smoothed her black hair that fell to her back, and looked at Zhou Mingrui, saying:

"Remember to buy new bread, just eight pounds. It's hot, too much will spoil easily. Also, lamb and peas, remember!"

So it really is out of love for her bookish older brother, she even needs to emphasize it again… Zhou Mingrui smiled and nodded:

"OK."

Regarding the one pound in the Kingdom of Rune, based on Klein's physical memory and his own comparison, Zhou Mingrui believed it was close to his usual one jin, which is 0.5 kilograms.

Melissa didn't say anything more. She got up, tidied up, packed the last loaf of bread for lunch, put on the old gauze hat her mother had left her, picked up the handbag she had sewn herself for carrying books and stationery, and prepared to go out.

Today is not Sunday, so she has to attend classes all day.

It takes about 50 minutes to walk from this apartment to the Tingen Technical School. There are public carriages, costing one penny per kilometer, with a maximum of four pence in the city and six pence in the suburbs. To save money, Melissa always leaves early and walks there herself.

She had just opened the door when she stopped, turned halfway around, and said:

"Klein, don't buy too much lamb and peas. Benson might not be back until Sunday. Hmm, remember the bread is only eight pounds."

"Okay, okay," Zhou Mingrui replied helplessly.

At the same time, he silently repeated the word "Sunday" several times in his mind.

In the Northern Continent, a year is also divided into twelve months, with a total of 365 to 366 days, and a week also has seven days.

The first part, based on astronomical findings, led Zhou Mingrui to suspect that this was a parallel world. The second part, however, stemmed from religion, as the orthodox deities of the Northern Continent consisted of seven: the Eternal Sun, the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Goddess of Night, the Earth Mother, the God of War, and the God of Steam and Machinery.

Watching his sister close the door and leave, Zhou Mingrui suddenly sighed and quickly turned his attention to the fortune-changing ceremony.

I'm sorry, I really want to go home...

P.S.: Requesting votes on Monday!

(End of this chapter)