The wheels pressed against the tracks, and the horses pulled the carriage forward steadily and heavily. Soon, they left the street where nothing had happened.
Klein held his cane with a normal expression. He waited until the horse-drawn omnibus had passed two stops before getting off early, taking a long detour, and slowly heading back to the place where the Demon Hound had been killed.
He wasn't looking for the extraordinary characteristics it had precipitated. The top powerhouses of the Church couldn't have missed such a thing and would have definitely taken it away long ago. Neither was he investigating the source of the soft hum from before. So much time had passed, carriages traveled the streets, people came and went—what clues could possibly remain? Even divination would surely yield no answers.
Klein's purpose was to glean, from the subtle details left around the street, the characteristics of the
So this is Acting as a "Magician"... He walked under the gray sky, along the curb separated by gas lamps, and sighed silently.
The reason he got off two stops later and took a roundabout way back was that he was worried there might be official Beyonders secretly cleaning up the battlefield, and if he could avoid meeting them, he should try his best to do so.
Dressed decently, holding his cane, with a gold watch chain hanging from his lapel, Klein took some time to finally return to the "Demonic Hound death scene," but there wasn't a single corresponding trace left on the street, and the passersby clearly didn't know that a rather intense supernatural battle had taken place here.
"That Sealed Artifact is truly amazing, even more powerful than large-scale hypnosis." Klein activated his Spirit Vision and slowed his pace, appearing like a gentleman out on an outing rather than one conducting business.
After making this round, he had unexpectedly spent over half an hour, but his Spirit Vision gained nothing. The target block was completely normal.
However, Klein's intuition still detected something, which was the range and the boundaries.
"When entering the block and leaving from the other direction, I felt a subtle sense of unreality, as if I had entered another world from one. That means the Sealed Artifact's area of influence can at least cover a single block. The upper limit is unclear for now. Hmm, another thing can be confirmed: it only works on Beyonders." Klein stood outside the target street, nodded thoughtfully, then returned once more, found a decent café, ordered a cup of Nanwell coffee, and sat by the window.
While drinking the fragrant liquid, he scanned the increasingly busy street outside, observing whether there would be any other changes as time passed.
Unfortunately, what he expected never happened.
Of course, he wasn't entirely without gains. At the very least, he had confirmed one thing, and that was that "The Magician does not perform without preparation" is indeed one of the rules of acting.
He felt a very slight prying sensation within the subtly precipitated characteristics inside him.
After evening arrived, Klein stopped observing, took the horse-drawn omnibus back, and returned to Minsk Street.
By this time, all the gas lamps on both sides of the road were lit, their bluish flames illuminating the slightly damp concrete pavement and the trees with their withered, yellowing leaves.
Klein, holding his cane, passed by Lawyer Ulrigh's house and strolled towards the building at No. 15.
As he walked, he suddenly remembered something: the food at home had run out. If he went back like this, he wouldn't be able to make dinner!
Uh… Should he go to the butcher's, the vegetable shop, and the fruit shop, or should he first find a restaurant to fill his stomach? Klein hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to be lazy tonight and eat ready-made food.
Although many dishes in this world were quite simple to make and very fast, not to the point of "an hour of cooking, five minutes of eating," it still required some effort, and he also had to wash the dishes and cutlery himself.
Touching his wallet, Klein turned on the spot and headed in the direction where he remembered there were more restaurants.
He passed by Lawyer Ulrigh's house once more.
Ulrigh stood behind the open bay window, looking at the "confused" expression of Detective Moriarty, and raised his voice: "Mr. Moriarty, did you… I mean, did you forget your keys again? Or did you lose them?"
Why 'again'? Klein chuckled in response: "No, I didn't."
Ulrigh nodded very seriously: "Then would you like to be a guest at my house?"
"Wait until after dinner, when it's completely dark, before heading back."
… Klein hesitated for a second before smiling: "It would be my honor."
As he entered, the black cat Brody was licking its paws in the corner. Ulrigh, without much small talk, went into the kitchen.
By the time Klein hung up his coat and hat and put down his black cane, walking step by step into the dining room, the food was already set on the table. There were darkly charred steaks and mashed potatoes of the same hue, among other dishes.
He wasn't surprised by this. This was the cooking style of Mrs. Doris, Lawyer Ulrigh's grandmother, after she had grown old. It didn't look good, but it was tasty enough.
She is a great chef… Klein sat down opposite Ulrigh and smiled in greeting: "Are you about to have dinner?"
"Yes, before eating, I'm used to looking at the scenery outside and letting my thoughts spread boundlessly." Ulrigh spread his napkin and picked up his knife and fork.
Klein looked around in confusion and said: "Where is Mrs. Doris?"
Ulrigh sighed and replied seriously: "It's getting colder and colder. Her old lung problems have flared up again, and she has to go to the hospital for a while."
"May the Lord bless her." Klein, not too deftly, drew the triangular holy emblem of the
Next, he cut a piece of steak, forked it, and was about to put it in his mouth.
Just at that moment, he suddenly thought of a problem and hurriedly opened his mouth to speak: