Mystery: Death Singer

"How's Old Neil doing?"

As soon as he entered the office and closed the door, Klein turned around and asked Dunn impatiently.

Dunn smiled slightly, his voice light and relaxed:

"It's not bad. Yesterday's ritual magic was very successful and has temporarily stabilized his condition. He will take the earliest steam train this morning with Daly to Backlund to receive more comprehensive treatment and examination."

Upon hearing that Old Neil indeed needed to undergo investigation as he had expected, Klein frowned slightly and asked:

"So, can old Neil come back? Or is he destined to stay in Backlund from now on?"

Upon hearing this, Dunn looked up at him and said with certainty, "As long as Old Neil gradually stabilizes his condition, he can still return to Tingen, but he won't be able to work as a part-time night watchman anymore; he'll have to become a full-time office worker."

Klein was immediately relieved upon hearing this. Old Neil was already quite old, and apart from the emergency he encountered at the Dragon Bar, he wouldn't usually entrust him with handling extraordinary matters.

After discussing Old Neil's matter, Klein recalled his conversation with Ms. Daly the previous night and suddenly smiled, saying:

"Captain, I suddenly realized something yesterday."

"What is it?" Dunn leaned back slightly in his chair, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Klein recalled his prepared remarks and spoke calmly:

"When Old Neil suddenly felt danger and went out of control, I suddenly realized that 'divination is not omnipotent.' In that instant, I felt that I was in an exceptionally good state and became a true 'diviner.'"

"Based on my previous experience, I believe that the name of a potion itself contains a whole set of rules, and when we follow these rules to handle things, we seem to become people of the corresponding profession."

"For example, the 'psychic' or the 'diviner'. After following the guidance of the potion's name and becoming a true 'diviner,' the ramblings and hallucinations that bothered me disappeared, and I was even confident that I would be able to advance to the next level."

Dunn listened quietly to Klein's description, his gray eyes growing even deeper.

He remained silent for more than ten seconds, then reached up and rubbed his temples, shaking his head and smiling bitterly, "So, when Daly told me to become a true 'Nightmare,' she was reminding me that there was a hidden set of rules behind the potion's name that could help me master it."

Dunn picked up his pipe, took a sniff, and then looked at Klein and smiled:

"I think Daly must have been under some kind of constraint to remind me in this roundabout way, while you, who have only just figured out these rules, can tell me without reservation... when praying to sacred objects?"

At this point, a look of understanding flashed in Dunn's eyes. He smiled and stood up, saying, "I'll try it out first, and if it really works, I'll tell Leonard and Frye."

"I feel like Leonard has already mastered the 'acting method,' he's just been playing dumb... no, he might genuinely not be smart enough," Klein thought to himself, nodding with a smile.

After saying goodbye to the captain, Klein walked happily toward the staircase leading to the underground. He planned to wait two more days before submitting a special application to the captain, and then, after a series of tests, become the "Clown" of Sequence Eight!

"That way, I won't be the lowest-ranking member in the Tarot Club anymore."

"I wonder if Edric has already left Tingen, what kind of 'danger' he mentioned, and what about that 'magician's' potion recipe...?"

Thinking of this, Klein subconsciously touched the wallet in his pocket and sighed helplessly.

"Sigh~"

…………

Backlund, a location near the docks at the border of the East End and the Bridge End.

Dressed in overalls, Edric blended perfectly into the crowd. Using the surrounding people as cover, he glanced at a group of middle-aged and young people who looked like they were from the Southern Continent by the street, and his brows gradually furrowed.

In his perception, there were actually two Extraordinary Beings among these men who looked like gangsters, and judging from their subconscious avoidance of direct sunlight, they were likely Extraordinary Beings who, like him, were on the "Corpse Collector" path.

Is this what a cosmopolitan city is like? You can encounter extraordinary individuals just by casually strolling along the street... Edric quietly withdrew his gaze to avoid alerting them.

His destination remained the "Braveheart Bar," but his purpose was no longer to join the gathering of extraordinary individuals there. Instead, he planned to use the bar as a channel to find out which gang controlled the area, how many members they had, where their hideout was, and whether they had any connections...

Not long after, Edric saw a building with a sign that read "Brave Man's Bar," and next to its heavy-looking black wooden door stood a burly man who was nearly two meters tall.

Not an extraordinary one... Edric glanced at it briefly, then pushed past the burly man and opened the door, whereupon a cacophony of cheers and toasts erupted.

Edric raised an eyebrow, surprised that the bar was doing so well. Dozens of customers had already arrived in the early morning. Of course, it was also possible that these people had been partying since last night and hadn't had time to go home yet.

He walked through the crowd, past two stands where performances had already begun, and arrived at the bar where there were only a handful of people.

The bartender, wiping the glasses, glanced at Edric and asked with a smile:

"What would you like to drink?"

"A glass of Southwell beer." This was the only beer name Edric remembered. At Raphael Cemetery, he often heard Alvin say that he would have a glass of this beer after get off work, but he never actually did it.

Five pence.

Edric took out five coins and handed them to the other person in exchange for a large wooden glass filled with golden liquid. Regardless of the taste, the beer looked and smelled quite good.

Edric picked up the glass, took a sip, and finding it inferior to sweet iced tea, put it down and casually asked:

"Where is Kaspass... Kaspass Kanlinen?"

The bartender glanced at the Southwell beer in the wooden glass, which was almost empty, and pointed to the side: "In billiards room number three."

Edric nodded, got up and walked to the third pool room, where he gently knocked on the door.

Knock knock~

The door creaked open slightly, and the two men inside, who were playing pool, stopped and looked towards the door.

Sensing the wary gazes of the two men, Edric said frankly, "I'm looking for Kaspass Kanlinin. I've heard he has a lot of connections."

After a brief silence, one of the men, a man in his fifties with a bulbous nose, said in a deep voice:

"Come in."

Edric entered slowly, and Kaspass's opponent put down his pole and closed the door behind him as he left the room.