Klein's first morning in
He was busy the entire morning. He first went to the headquarters of the *Backlund Post*, located in Cherwood Borough, paying 30 pounds for a small monthly advertisement.
Starting Tuesday, loyal readers of the *Backlund Post* would see a small notice in the crease between the seventh and eighth pages: "Sherlock Moriarty, private detective, adept at handling all kinds of affairs. Reasonable fees, strict adherence to confidentiality. Residing at 15 Minsk Street, Cherwood Borough."
Klein didn't choose major newspapers covering the entire Rune Kingdom, like the *Tassok News* or the *Backlund Daily*, because his business was currently limited to the city of Backlund, and he didn't want to achieve too much fame.
Thus, the locally popular and reasonably-priced *Backlund Post* became his first choice.
After leaving the *Backlund Post* headquarters, Klein, map in hand, purchased various plant powders and silver sheets from herbalist shops, flower shops, jewellery stores, and accessory shops. This prepared him for conducting rituals. Barring spiritually active items, most mystical materials could be bought in ordinary stores. However, they weren't concentrated, and he needed to visit many places to gather everything needed.
For this, Klein spent another 5 pounds. His massive fortune of 200 pounds dropped below the 100 mark, leaving only 92 pounds.
"Money flows away like water…" Klein found a small restaurant nearby and ordered an 8-penny steak with black pepper sauce, 2.5-penny mashed potatoes with pork sausage, 1-penny coffee, and 1-penny vegetables. Because the total exceeded 1 soli, he added another penny and got a super-value bread roll with butter.
At 1 pm, he returned to 15 Minsk Street. Without resting, he spent time preparing the "Holy Night Powder" from herbs like Deep Sleep, Dragon's Blood Grass, Crimson Sandalwood, and Mint. This was the material used for creating the Spirituality Wall.
Until he bought a real ritual silver dagger, he had to make do with this method.
Klein guessed he would have to advance to Sequence 7 to get rid of this limitation.
"Phew… Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and Little Sun haven't asked for leave yet, so today's gathering will be convened on time… I wonder what surprise Mr. Hanged Man will bring me, how many pages of Roselle's diary he can provide…" Klein lay back on the bed in his bedroom, letting his mind wander to various things.
For him, being a private detective was a profession that combined earning money with taking action. It allowed him to contact people from all walks of life, slowly discover the Beyonder circles in Backlund, and gradually find clues about the
Of course, if he was lucky enough, he could even find out the Sequence 7 corresponding to "Clown" directly from some Beyonder circles, and buy the corresponding potion formula and main ingredients.
As for
"A private detective's income can at best sustain a middle-class life. To have enough money, enough to buy potion formulas and Beyonder materials, I must first rely on Miss Justice, and second, make some investments with the remaining 100 pounds in my anonymous account… Hmm, the 92 pounds on me can't be touched for now. I might not have any income for a long time…" Thinking of this, Klein suddenly flipped over, sat up, went to the first floor, and began reading the various newspapers he had bought on a whim.
These newspapers often contained advertisements, such as some invention seeking investment or someone wanting a partner for a certain enterprise.
Relying on his earthly knowledge and understanding of this era, Klein carefully screened the projects. Unfortunately, the ones today were all unreliable.
At 2:45 pm, he returned to his bedroom, locked the door, drew the curtains, and used the "Holy Night Powder" to create a Spirituality Wall.
Walking four steps in reverse, he arrived above the
*This is one of the few unchanging things in my completely changed life…* he suddenly sighed.
…………
In a certain area outside the
Nine members of a patrol team sat around a blazing fire, chatting about their recent experiences.
Several other team members stood guard on the periphery, vigilant against sudden attacks that might erupt from the darkness.
An unknown number of Beyonders from the City of Silver had learned a bloody lesson: Never let down your guard. The monsters in the darkness might be right behind you!
On nights with low lightning frequency, the fire must be kept burning, the light must be maintained. Once plunged into total darkness, the complete disappearance of the entire team was not impossible. No one could say what terrifying things could happen in pure darkness, as facts had repeatedly broken through the limits of their imagination.
To deal with this monster, their patrol team paid the price of five injured, two of them seriously.
Suddenly, Derrick's vision blurred. He felt himself surrounded by thick gray fog.
And in the distant, indescribable depths of the gray fog, a blurry figure sat on an ancient high-backed chair, looking down at him.
"Prepare for the gathering."
The Fool's voice echoed in Derrick's ears, but none of his teammates noticed.
Withdrawing his gaze and observing the environment for a dozen seconds, Derrick moved to the most edge of the fire, leaned his back against a broken wall, turned sideways to face everyone, and pretended to sleep.
Ever since discovering that even Elder Lovia, a member of the Six-Man Council, could not detect Mister Fool's existence, he had gradually come to believe that as long as he didn't carelessly expose certain problems, he could silently ascend to the Gray Fog to participate in the Tarot Gathering even under the sweep of many gazes.