Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 46 Portrait

Ugh! Ugh!

Klein squatted there, vomiting uncontrollably. Because he hadn't eaten breakfast, he quickly vomited up everything he had.

At that moment, a small, square, tin-colored bottle that looked like a cigarette box appeared before his eyes.

The bottle, now free of its cork, emitted a mixture of smells resembling tobacco, disinfectant, and mint leaves, which made Klein's nose tingle and instantly invigorated him.

The pungent stench still lingered in the air, but Klein no longer felt nauseous, and his vomiting quickly stopped.

He followed the tin-colored square pot upwards and saw a pale, lifeless hand, the sleeve of a black trench coat, and the cold, sinister "corpse collector" Frye.

"Thank you." Klein had fully recovered and stood up again, supporting himself on his knees.

Frye nodded expressionlessly:

You'll get used to it.

He plugged the spout of the tin flask, put it in his pocket, and turned to the highly decomposed body of the old woman. Without wearing gloves, he began his examination, while Dunn Smith and Leonard Mitchell strolled around the room, occasionally touching the table and newspapers.

Old Neil, pinching his nose, stood outside the door and complained in a muffled voice:

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...

"This is disgusting! I'm applying for subsidies this month!"

Dunn turned around, touched the plaster on the wall next to the fireplace with his black-gloved right hand, and looked at Klein, saying:

Does this place look familiar?

Klein held his breath and visualized the image of his silver pocket watch in his mind, calming his mind and body.

He, who was already in a state of spiritual vision, immediately had a different feeling, and a scene from the deepest part of his memory suddenly flashed before his eyes:

A fireplace, a rocking chair, a table, newspapers, rusty iron nails on the door, a tin can inlaid with silver...

The scene was dim and dark, like a documentary on Earth, but much blurrier and more surreal.

It quickly overlapped with everything Klein saw before him; that familiar, as if he had been there before, feeling was palpable, and the illusory, fleeting scream once again pierced through the invisible barrier:

"Honakis...Fregora...Honakis...Fregora...Honakis...Fregora..."

"It feels a little familiar," Klein answered truthfully, his head throbbing slightly, so he quickly tapped his forehead twice.

Hornachis... the Hornachis mountain range that appeared in the original owner's diary?

That was deciphered from the Antigonus family notes...

The whisper just now was very similar to one before, both involving the name Hornach... Is this... is this a seduction?

Klein was startled and dared not think any further, fearing that he would be heading down a path of no return.

Dunn nodded slightly, walked to the front of the cabinet, and suddenly reached out and pulled open the wooden door on top.

The bread inside was covered in mold, and next to it lay seven or eight gray, stiff-fuzzed rats, dead.

"Leonard, go downstairs and find the patrolling police officers to find out what's going on here," Dunn instructed his team.

"Okay." Leonard turned and left the room.

Dunn then opened the doors to both bedrooms and searched them thoroughly.

After confirming that no clues or Antigonus family notes had been found, "Corpse Collector" Frye straightened up, wiped his hands with a white handkerchief he carried, and said:

"The person has been dead for more than 5 days, has no external injuries, and shows no significant effects from supernatural forces. The specific cause must await further investigation."

"Have you noticed anything?" Dunn turned to look at Old Neil and Klein.

The two, who had long since broken free of their spiritual vision, shook their heads simultaneously.

"Apart from the dead man, everything here is normal. No, at first, an unseen force sealed the room. You know, we often do similar things when we use ritual magic," Old Neil added after a few seconds of thought.

Just as Dunn was about to speak, he suddenly looked towards the door. A few seconds later, Klein and Old Neil realized what was happening and turned to look at the corner of the stairs.

A few seconds later, the faint footsteps grew louder, and Leonard and a police officer approached.

The officer smelled the stench and his expression changed slightly. He immediately cooperated with his "colleagues" from the Special Operations Department to knock on the door of the second-floor resident and get a general idea of ​​the situation on the third floor.

A moment later, he, wearing silver two-V epaulettes, looked at the corpse on the rocking chair and said:

"Katie Stefana Bieber, between 55 and 60 years old, a widow, has been renting here with her son, Riel Bieber, for over ten years."

"Her husband was a jeweler, and her son, who is about 30 years old, is unmarried and has inherited his father's business, earning about £1.15 a week. According to their neighbors, they haven't seen them for more than a week."

Having described this much, Klein already knew where the focus would be next:

Missing, or more accurately, whose whereabouts are unknown, is Riel Bieber!

That ancient notebook is very likely on him!

"Do you have a picture of Riel Bieber?" Dunn asked the officer, who was playing the role of a senior inspector.

However, this cannot be called impersonation, because according to the police department's records, he is indeed a senior inspector, and his salary and subsidies are based on that, except for the church's part.

The police officer shook his head nervously and said:

"I don't know... We have to go back to the precinct to look for it. Normally, we can't possibly take photos of every guy."

"I understand. Continue questioning the residents on the first floor, and ask them in detail," Dunn ordered.

Looking at the police officer, he closed the door and turned to old Neil, saying:

"It's up to you now, or else the residents here will have to rest in peace, searching for Riel Bieber's likeness in their dreams. Hmm, I don't really trust drawings based on oral accounts."

Old Neil nodded, took out several thumb-sized bottles from a hidden pocket at the waist of his black classic robe, and sprinkled the liquid inside in a certain order around him.

Immediately afterwards, he took out a handful of powder and sprinkled it around himself.

A strange, pungent smell wafted out, unaffected by the stench in the room. Klein suddenly felt an invisible force surrounding Old Neil, a force that separated him from the environment and from himself and the others, just like the state of the house before.

Old Neil half-closed his eyes, his lips moving as he chanted a low, indistinct incantation. Klein was caught off guard, only vaguely hearing "I pray for the power of the goddess," "I await the favor of the night"...

Whoosh! A sudden gust of wind blew in through the window, stirring up the powder.

Klein felt a sudden jolt, and all the goosebumps on his skin rose up. He felt an indescribable, extremely terrifying "smell" quickly spreading through him.

His mind was in a state of confusion and tension, just like the state after solving a difficult math problem.

Suddenly, Old Neil opened his eyes, his pupils completely black.

He took out a fountain pen from his pocket and started drawing on the scrap paper on the table, his movements so fast that his whole body was trembling.

Klein stared intently and saw a face with deep-set eyes and a high nose quickly appear.

Once the naturally curly short hair was finished, Old Neil wrote a line of words below the portrait:

"Black hair, deep blue eyes, and a full porcelain denture on the left side of her mouth."

Thud! The pen in Old Neil's hand fell onto the paper, and his body twitched a few times.

"This is what Riel Bieber looked like in the room," Old Neil murmured, his eyes quickly returning to normal.

Then, he returned to his previous position and slowly turned around once. The invisible, intermittent force immediately dissipated, turning into a gentle breeze.

"Praise be to the goddess." Old Neil tapped his chest four times, forming the shape of a crimson moon.

Klein relaxed and observed more carefully, discovering that Riel Bieber's features were nothing special and his temperament was quite peaceful, except that the nasolabial folds on both sides of his nose were noticeably drooping.

"I'll try to find the object using the divination stick method." He picked up the portrait, found the men's clothing in the bedroom, and spread them all on the floor.

Dunn, Leonard, and old Neil did not stop him. As they watched him place his silver-inlaid black cane on the clothes and portrait, "The Corpse Collector" Frye remained silent as always.

As the brown turned black, Klein finished his silent recitation with a deep, penetrating gaze, and released his hand.

The black cane stood silently, as if it were stuck into the floor.

"Ryle Bieber's location," Klein murmured to himself again.

Amidst the howling wind, the cane fell to the ground, but as it fell, it kept changing direction, eventually spinning slightly around its fulcrum.

Without any external assistance, the black cane inlaid with silver regained its footing.

Klein tried several times, but with the same result each time, and could only shake his head at Dunn and Old Neil.

A strange force is interfering with my "divination"...

Dunn removed his black gloves and said to Leonard and Klein:

"Take Riel Bieber's portrait and question the residents here to make a final confirmation, then issue an arrest warrant for him on charges of murdering his mother."

"Okay." Klein gripped his cane and bent down to pick up the portrait.

Once the neighbors confirmed that the person in the portrait was indeed Riel Bieber, Dunn sent Leonard and the officers to the police station to complete the formalities, while he and Frye went to several bars in Tingen to search for him through underground channels.

Klein and Old Neil returned to Blackthorn Security Company by public carriage. It was not yet eight o'clock, and Rosanne had not yet arrived.

After closing the door, Klein turned to look at old Neil, asking with a mixture of doubt and inquiry:

"Why would I deliver the Antigonus family's notes to Riel Bieber's house?"

This is in a completely different direction from Welch's residence to Iron Cross Street.

Old Neil walked to the sofa and chuckled:

"Isn't it obvious? You either triggered the power within the notebook, or out of curiosity performed some rituals it described, thus provoking a strange entity you shouldn't have. And this power, this entity's purpose, is to give the notebook to Riel Bieber and cut off all leads so that no one can find out."

"So, apart from you who was chosen, Welch and Naya both committed suicide on the spot. To be honest, I still don't understand why you survived."

"I don't know either..." Klein sat down and answered with a forced wry smile, "I've also considered your guesses about what happened, but I don't understand why you had to give the notes to Riel Bieber."

Old Neil spread his hands and said:

"Perhaps his birth number meets the requirements, or perhaps he is the only surviving descendant of the Antigonus family. In short, there are too many possibilities... The reason why that notebook was sold to our city of Tingen should be similar."

"I think it's something like a descendant," Klein suddenly realized, then sighed, "Unfortunately, I didn't realize it immediately; Riel Bieber and that notebook are both gone."

Old Neil smiled and said:

"This is a problem that Dunn needs to worry about, but it's a good thing for you."

"Why do you say that?" Klein frowned in confusion.

(End of this chapter)