章 51: Change
Hearing Klein's question, Anna, with her beautiful eyes, hesitated for a few seconds, then left the decision to him.
Klein thought briefly, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands near his face. Calmly, he replied, "We'll use astrological divination."
Using Anna's fiancé's name, physical description, address, birthdate, and other details, Klein quickly sketched out the star chart. Once he finished, he asked Anna to wait outside, then interpreted the signs—constellations, planets' placements, and other symbols—to determine that Anna's fiancé, Joyce Mayer, was in grave danger but would eventually return to Tingen after enduring hardship.
Though the divination was complete, Klein wanted to be thorough to establish a reputation—something that would help his act as a seer in the future. Taking a pen, he wrote out a line in Hermes: "Joyce Mayer's condition."
Muttering this phrase repeatedly, he stared at the written information on the page, focusing on Joyce's birthdate and other details, sinking into concentration.
After repeating it seven times, Klein leaned back in his chair, entering a state of meditation, envisioning a sphere of light. His eyes turned dark as he slipped quickly into an ethereal trance.
His surroundings became quiet and empty, and a surreal mist stretched out endlessly above him.
Recalling the page's contents once more, he allowed himself to drift into a deep sleep.
He was using dream divination!
Everything blurred, and Klein found himself in a twisted vision, half-conscious, half-oblivious.
Gradually, the dream clarified, revealing a young man with a hooked nose and blond hair, swimming frantically in a sea of blood, nearly swallowed several times, but eventually escaping to shore.
The scene shifted. Klein saw a familiar garden villa, along with the prominent signboards of buildings across the street. In a dark corner, the blond-haired, hook-nosed young man crouched in crazed distress, staring intensely at one sign: Divination Club!
Suddenly, the scene changed again, and Klein found himself within a grand yet dilapidated palace.
The palace walls were crumbling, and moss and weeds had taken root in places, growing through cracks. Through gaps in the structure, he could see nearby mountain peaks and white clouds floating past.
At the palace's head was an enormous throne made of stone, inlaid with dim gems and gold, as if it had not been meant for a human.
The massive, mottled throne sat empty, weathered by time and marked by age.
Perplexed, Klein glanced around, unable to understand why he was dreaming of such a place.
As his haze started to lift, he subconsciously moved toward the palace exit, wanting to see what lay beyond.
Then, suddenly, he felt a gaze upon him—a gaze from behind!
Klein turned sharply to face the massive stone throne, only to see countless transparent maggots writhing together, growing slowly and menacingly.
Hiss!
Klein's eyes snapped open as he awoke from the dream.
Rubbing his temples, he frowned, wondering, "The beginning was the result of my divination, but what was the latter part? It seemed like it was directed at me personally."
He was sure this wasn't some hidden fear manifesting as a dream, as he had been actively divining.
"And the results of the divination are troubling. Joyce is somehow outside the Divination Club? From his appearance in the dream, it seems like he's ready to attack… no, something is very wrong with his state. This is definitely a supernatural incident!" Klein decided to alert the authorities immediately.
Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to the reception hall, where Anna was looking out the window, ignoring her untouched tea.
"Ah, Mr. Moretti, did the divination yield any results?" Anna asked, standing up quickly as she caught sight of him.
Klein didn't answer directly. Given the warning he had received from his vision, he spoke carefully: "Don't worry about him for now; my divination indicates you're in great danger if you leave here, and that danger may come from your fiancé!"
"How can that be?!" Anna replied, half in disbelief, then seemed to consider something before asking uneasily, "Could Joyce have angered someone?"
"In any case, it would be safer for you to stay here until the police arrive to check on things," Klein said before moving toward the door, intending to call for his Blackthorn Security Company team.
But as he reached the door, he paused, turned back to fetch a citrine pendant from the divination room, and held the silver chain, allowing the pendant to dangle before him.
Waiting for it to settle, he envisioned the light sphere again and repeated the question, "Will I be in danger if I go out now?"
After seven repetitions, Klein opened his eyes to see the citrine spinning clockwise, quite rapidly.
This confirmed that leaving would indeed be dangerous, and it wasn't a mild threat, either!
Could it be that Anna's fiancé suspected her of meeting with me romantically? But why would he target me as well? What's going on? Klein rubbed his temples as an idea started to take shape.
After confirming through divination that other female guests leaving would be safe, Klein approached the front desk, tapping to get the attention of Angelica, who was leisurely reading a magazine.
"Mr. Moretti, is something wrong with your reading?" Angelica asked, surprised.
"Anna may be in danger. Could you please go to the police and ask them to send someone here to escort her safely home?" Klein answered seriously.
"Oh dear, is it true?" Angelica was so shocked that she dropped her magazine.
To reassure her, Klein produced a special badge from the Seventh Special Operations Squad and handed it to her. "Take this to the station and tell them it's from Probationary Inspector Klein Moretti of the Special Operations Unit, requesting Senior Inspector Dunn Smith's support."
"Oh! So you're an inspector, Mr. Moretti!" Angelica looked at Klein with renewed respect. Her doubt dissipated instantly, and even Anna abandoned her plan to head home, deciding to wait for the police's protection.
Feeling both nervous and thrilled, Angelica left quickly, while Klein settled at the front desk in her place, his hand resting on the revolver in his pocket.
"My bullets ran out at the range earlier, and I didn't get new ones from the office…" he thought ruefully.
---
At Blackthorn Security Company, Captain Dunn Smith scanned a newly translated dispatch. After reading it, his expression grew serious. Rising, he walked to the entertainment room and called for a young poet with green eyes.
"What's the mission, Captain?" The young Nighthawks asked with a smile.
"Be serious, Leonard." Captain Dunn reminded him, then added, "It's a rescue mission for Klein Moretti."
The young man, Leonard Mitchell, blinked in surprise. "Him again? He does seem to run into trouble quite often."
At the Divination Club, Klein checked the lobby's clock, estimating that his team was nearby. He walked to the second-floor window, looking down at Leonard, who was pretending to read a newspaper on the street below.
Suddenly, Klein felt a slight dizziness, realizing that Captain Dunn had pulled him into a dream state.
"What's going on?" Dunn asked.
Klein quickly explained the situation, adding, "Joyce seems unstable, like someone may be influencing him."
Dunn nodded. "Do a quick divination to see if he's still outside. Then, lead him out with Miss Anna."
"Understood, Captain," Klein replied without hesitation.
After the dream dissolved, Klein divined again, confirming Joyce was indeed outside, and then led Anna and a curious Angelica down the stairs.
The moment they exited the club, a figure lunged from an alley—a young man with blond hair and a hook nose, his face twisted in rage. He brandished a pistol, aiming at them as Anna and Angelica froze in shock.
Before Joyce could fire, his vision blurred, and his mind drifted into the boundless cosmos. When he finally returned to himself, he was pinned to the ground by a young man with a poet's air, his weapon confiscated.
"Joyce!" Miss Anna, recovering from her stupor, gasped as she recognized him. Her voice trembled as she cried, "Why did you attack me? Do you know how much I've worried about you?"
Joyce glared back at her, his bloodshot eyes fixed as though he would attack if freed from Leonard's grip.
Leonard chuckled, "Perhaps he needs a poem," he said, his tone soft and calming.
"Why so rash? Wouldn't it be better to treat your lover gently?" he murmured, the sadness in his tone palpable.
His words resonated, and with each syllable, a quieting force filled the air. Anna, Angelica, and Klein, standing at a safe distance, felt themselves lulled into a trance, as though under a serene moonlit night.
As for Joyce, his contorted face relaxed, and his eyes slowly closed as he drifted into a deep sleep.
Miss Anna, sensing something amiss, turned to Klein with confusion. "Inspector, what's happening? Joyce seems like a different person."
Klein wanted an answer himself, but instead, he turned to Captain Dunn, who emerged from the shadows nearby.
---
"We didn't detect anyone manipulating him," Dunn said, shaking his head. "If there was, they likely fled the moment things took a turn."
Meanwhile, after nearly two days at sea, Ebner and his party finally arrived at the island Miss Gwyn had described.
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