403 The Fate of a Private Detective

He's dead?

Will Auceptin is dead?

And he seems to have been dead for some time!

Could this be fake?

Klein looked at the body of the child in surprise and suspicion as many thoughts bubbled in his mind.

From what he knew, Will Auceptin was a special child who could be involved with a Sequence 1 of the Monster pathway, Snake of Mercury, in some way.

In the divination game he played, a casual "Doctor, your luck will get worse" was enough to make Aaron suffer from bad luck for an extended period of time. The paper crane he folded allowed Aaron's Astral Projection to be located in the spirit world and be instilled with artificial revelations. Even above the gray fog, Klein only received an inkling of his location and couldn't come to an effective conclusion… How could such a child die for no reason? He was dead before Dr. Aaron's dreams? What about his family?

Klein narrowed his eyes, and despite his intense nausea, he carefully examined the highly rotten body. He noticed some torn tarot cards in the surrounding soil.

His spiritual intuition told him that the corpse in front of him was most likely Will Auceptin.

It's really shocking and difficult to understand… I should go above the gray fog later and confirm if it's a fake death from Will Auceptin… Wait, what does this have to do with me? I had already decided not to get involved in this matter any further, in case I get entangled by some Snake of Mercury. This might be even more terrifying than Sealed Artifact 0-08… Klein snapped out of his daze and said to the terrified tomb keeper and Dr. Aaron, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Call the police!"

"Okay! Okay!" The tomb keeper was taken aback at first before he repeated his reply.

With the shovel in hand, he turned and ran out of the woods, at a speed that was so fast that it appeared as though he was being chased by a zombie.

As expected, he's just an ordinary person and isn't cautious at all. In this kind of situation, shouldn't he be wary of the people around him who might have malicious intent? By exposing your back, it would be easy for you to be hit by a shovel… Klein glanced at the back of the tomb keeper and shook his head with a sigh.

When he was a Nighthawk in Tingen, he had read a lot of case files and found out that many of the victims had ended up becoming victims of their companions.

Thinking of this, Klein walked to Dr. Aaron, bent down, and stretched out his hand.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. He's already dead."

"… It's the death that scares me." Aaron calmed down a bit, and without accepting Klein's help, he got up by himself.

His black frock coat was covered with dirt, and Klein felt his heart pain for the clothes for some baffling reason.

I'm the kind of person who can't stand seeing anything valuable get damaged… He inwardly sighed with emotion.

Noticing that Aaron was still panicking, Klein laughed and said, "At such times, praying to the deity you believe in has quite a remarkable effect."

"Is that so?" Aaron was stunned. He tapped his chest four times in a clockwise manner and chanted softly, "The Evernight Goddess is nobler than the stars and more eternal than eternity. Your devout believer prays for your blessing…"

After repeating this over and over again, he gradually calmed down, no longer feeling as terrified as before.

Klein drew a triangular Sacred Emblem on his chest and silently whispered to himself, God of Steam and Machinery, your completely unfaithful believer is begging for your blessings…

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at himself, suspecting that he might be smote to death by lightning on the spot.

However, lightning and thunder belong to the Lord of Storms, and it isn't in the domain of the God of Steam and Machinery… Klein thought in a relaxed manner.

After about 20 minutes, the two of them found themselves sitting in an interrogation room at a nearby police station.

During the testimony, Klein frankly informed the police that he was a private investigator who wasn't too sure of what was happening. As for Dr. Aaron, he described his dream in detail as the reason for digging to find the body.

Klein could tell that the police didn't believe him at all, but after they had gone out for a while, they immediately changed their attitudes, saying that there was nothing suspicious about Dr. Aaron and Detective Moriarty. All they had to do was sign their statements and leave.

Aaron was surprised, but Klein wasn't surprised. It was obvious that the Nighthawks had been involved.

The advantage of having the doctor head to the Myriad Star Cathedral in advance was demonstrated.

Before leaving the police station, Klein wasn't surprised to see a familiar figure. It was the Nighthawk who had entered his dream earlier.

The man on duty, who was probably a captain, was still wearing a gray windbreaker and was obviously more resistant to the cold than Klein. His blue eyes swept past Klein's face without any signs of abnormality, pretending to be an ordinary senior inspector.

Klein, who was also pretending to be an ordinary private detective, nudged his glasses, put on half top hat, and left the station with Dr. Aaron in a carriage.

After instructing his carriage driver to head to Minsk Street first, Aaron turned to Klein and said, "Sherlock, do you think this will be the end of it?"

"If that body really belongs to Will Auceptin, then you shouldn't be troubled any longer." Klein paused and continued, "Aaron, have you found anything else that's strange during this period of time? Regardless of what it is."

Aaron thought about it and shook his head.

"No."

"This is worth celebrating!" Klein sighed and said with a smile.

To him, this was the best way things could end with Will Auceptin's matter. Although the paper crane Klein had folded above the gray fog wouldn't reveal anything, and there would be no problems with any divination afterward, he was still a little worried that some Nighthawk would suddenly think of something and use it to find some clues. And now, with the death of Will Auceptin, the case might soon reach a dead end, put in the archives, and temporarily declared a closed case. No one would pay any more attention to it without any new developments.

Aaron relaxed and asked suspiciously, "Frankly, I don't think my statement was very convincing. Why did the cops choose to believe it in the end?"

"I don't know either," Klein feigned puzzlement and said, "I thought I'd have to get my lawyer to take me home again—No, bail me out."

Aaron smirked and said, "Sherlock, you seem to have a lot of experience in being sent to the police station?"

Klein laughed and replied in a deep voice, "It's the fate of every private detective."

…

Just as Klein and Aaron were being taken to the police station near Grimm Cemetery, Fors Wall was wearing a long black dress and a black bonnet with a fine mesh hanging down. She entered the silent cemetery and found the grave of Mrs. Aulisa.

She and Xio had gone to Empress Borough an hour ago to visit Viscount Glaint, and they had successfully gotten a verbal agreement for borrowing 400 pounds without any interest.

Viscount Glaint's only request was that the two Beyonders accompany him to the gathering Mr. A would convene tonight to ensure his safety. He was anxious to procure a Royal Jellyfish's venom crystal so that he could complete the concoction of the Apothecary potion.

Audrey had found the horn of an adult Flying Unicorn in the family treasury, and she had taken one out in the name of doing a biological experiment, effectively offsetting part of her debt.

She also put forward an additional condition for Viscount Glaint to get the help of Duke Negan's children to confirm if the dragon specimens in the treasury had a Thousand-faced Hunter and whether there were still light dots flashing inside.

When the loan was settled, Fors was in no hurry to pray to Mr. Fool to close the deal as quickly as possible, because it would make Xio intuitively turn suspicious if things developed too quickly.

Taking advantage of her free time, she changed her clothes and rented a horse carriage to get to Grimm Cemetery, which was located on the outskirts of West Borough.

Knowing the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation and Indestructibility, Fors realized that the main ingredient that turned her into an Apprentice was the Beyonder characteristic left behind by Mrs. Aulisa. In a way, she had inherited her powers.

Therefore, she couldn't help but pay a visit and put a bouquet of flowers in front of Mrs. Aulisa's grave and thank her.

It was early winter, and most of the flowers had long since withered, but Fors still bought a handful of plain flowers.

These flowers were grown in a greenhouse and were quite expensive.

Thank you, Emperor Roselle, for your invention… Fors said inwardly in a most sincere manner.

As far as she knew, most of the flowers that the nobles used for their winter banquets came from greenhouses, while a tiny portion was delivered directly from the warm south by airships. This was more than the average middle-class worker could bear.

Standing in front of the black tombstone, Fors took a deep look at the photograph of Mrs. Aulisa before bending down to lay down the flowers and whispered, "Thank you."

She immediately straightened up, closed her eyes, and quietly recalled the past.

At this moment, she heard a slightly aged voice.

"You really are a good and kind-hearted lady."

Fors opened her eyes and turned her head, realizing that Mr. Lawrence, from the Abraham family, had also appeared there at some point. He was also holding a bouquet of plain but elegant flowers in his hand.

"No, this is not goodness, nor is it kindness. Mrs. Aulisa once gave me, a person who had lost her mother, an unforgettable period of warmth," Fors said sincerely.

Her eyes were suddenly moist.

Lawrence, who only had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, put down the flowers and sighed.

"This shows that you value relationships."

After chatting for a while, when Fors was about to leave, Lawrence, who was waving her goodbye, suddenly began to cough violently.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

He coughed until his legs buckled and fell to the ground. It seemed as if he would die at any moment from suffocation.

As a doctor who had graduated from an accredited school, Fors didn't hesitate to turn around, crouch down, and begin performing first aid.

After a while, Lawrence's condition finally stabilized. He wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth and smiled at Fors.

"Lady, can you take me back to the hotel?"

"No problem." Fors helped him to his feet.

Lawrence looked ahead, his eyes a little out of focus. He coughed lightly, and he said with a sad and self-deprecating laugh, "My life might be coming to an end…"