Chapter 44: A Taste of Deja Vu

Leonard's singing sounded like a lullaby as it lightly resounded through the area.

Klein's mind turned torpid—he felt like seeing a silent moonlight and serene rippling lake. Amid these indistinct sensations, he also felt a strange, formless, and indifferent focus on his back, like he was wandering the spirit world himself.

A baffling sense of déjà vu suffused as Klein suddenly found his train of thought once again. With his strong spiritual perception and extreme familiarity with Cogitation, he barely escaped the influence of the Midnight Poem.

Soon, Leonard stopped singing as he turned with a smile. "I'm considering asking permission to apply for a Feynapotter lute. How can there not be an accompaniment when singing?

Heh heh, I'm just kidding. I can hear them asleep." He strode forward and walked to the door that separated them from the kidnappers and hostage and suddenly threw a punch at the door's lock.

The wooden board around the lock shattered in a muffled manner. Leonard then reached his hand into the hole and opened the door.

Klein, who had regained consciousness, was not as confident as him and drew his revolver, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

As the door swung back, he saw a man sleeping on a table with a gun by his feet. Another man was rubbing his eyes in a daze while trying to stand up.

Leonard slid forward and struck the awakening kidnapper unconscious.

Klein planned to enter as well when he suddenly sensed something and turned around abruptly to face the stairwell.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Footsteps were approaching from below. It became clear that "something" was circling the stairwell toward the third floor while hugging a paper bag of bread.

Suddenly, he stopped seeing a gun's barrel aiming at him.

"Do not move. Raise your hands. Three, two, one." Klein's tone was deep but relaxed.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the man in the brown coat threw the bag of bread and raised his hands. "Sir, is this a kind of joke? Has there been a misunderstanding?"

"Do not attempt to resist. Someone will determine if it's a misunderstanding in a while." Klein said he was unable to determine if he was an accomplice or a neighbor.

Leonard, who finished handling the kidnappers, walked out and noticed the man in the stairwell. "So the kidnappers have another accomplice responsible for buying and delivering food?"

Upon hearing this, the man's pupils constricted as he suddenly raised his foot and kicked the bag of bread in an attempt to block Klein's vision.

Seemingly unaffected, Klein coldly pulled the trigger.

Bang! Blood burst out from the man's left shoulder. He tumbled to the ground and attempted to escape from the second floor; however, Leonard had already reached his hand towards the handrail before leveraging himself to jump over.

With a dull thud, Leonard landed on the man from above.

The man let out a shout and fainted as Leonard swatted away some of the blood that had splattered on him and looked up at Klein. "Nice shooting."

I was trying to hit his legs. The corner of Klein's mouth twitched.

He discovered that despite not having any enhancements to his visual, auditory, or tactile senses after consuming the Seer potion, he could still "see" obstructed objects and "hear" faint footsteps, allowing him to take preemptive judgment.

Was this in the scope of spiritual perception? Klein nodded in thought as he watched Leonard find a sharp dagger in the accomplice's possession and then drag him into the room.

Klein entered the kidnapper's room and saw Elliott Vickroy jolt awake from the gunshot as he sat up slowly from a huddled position.

Leonard securely tied up the three kidnappers with a rope. Bunched together, they were thrown in a corner.

The unconscious man who had been shot in the shoulder was bandaged, but Leonard disdained getting his hands dirty, so he did not help more.

"W-who are you people?" Elliott stammered in delight when he saw the scene before him.

"Yes, you guessed right." The genuflecting Leonard answered casually.

Klein said to Elliott, "We are mercenaries hired by your father. You can also call us security personnel."

"Phew, for real? Have I been saved?" Elliott said. It was apparent that he had suffered quite harshly in the short few hours of being a kidnapping victim.

Leonard stood up and said to Klein, "Go downstairs and find some patrolling cops. Get them to inform the tobacco merchant. I do not wish to walk out with a child and four idiots."

Klein, who was wondering about the aftermath, nodded and walked to the staircase.

As he went down the stairs, he heard Leonard say to Elliott, "Don't be nervous. You will soon see your father, mother, and your old butler, Klee. Why don't we play a round of Quint?"

...

Klein held back his laughter and walked out into the streets, soon finding two patrolling policemen.

He used his identity as a professional security company and recounted the happenings factually. The two policemen exchanged looks, and one of them left to gather reinforcements and inform the Vickroy family. The other policeman followed Klein to the kidnappers' room.

Leonard signaled to Klein while the policeman was not paying attention for him to sneak out with him. "Trust me, heading to the police station is an extreme waste of time. Let's leave first."

Since Leonard was making it clear that he would take any responsibility for any repercussions, Klein did not retort and followed in tow. Almost five minutes later, a few carriages rushed to the building where the kidnappers were. The old butler, Klee, disembarked with his portly master, Vickroy.

After passing by Vickroy's carriage, Leonard closed the window and looked at Klein. "It was a pleasure working with you." He extended his right hand and smiled.

I don't think we are friends. Klein politely shook his head.

"This is a celebratory gesture of peace among aristocrats after a clash of swords," Leonard explained.

"I know." Klein had many aristocratic classmates.

He looked outside the window and said with a frown, "Shouldn't we confirm with Mr. Klee? If he believes that the police rescued Elliott, our commission will be halved."

"Don't mind it. To us, money isn't that important," Leonard said with a shrug.

Klein forced a polite smile, "Many poets died early from poverty."

Leonard chuckled. "I believe Elliott would not lie on this matter. I can tell that he still has some of his innocence left in him. However, you will not get much of the 200 pound commission either."

"How much would I get?" Klein asked.

"As the unspoken rule has always been, half of the commission would be handed to Mrs. Orianna as additional funding for the team. The remaining would be split among members. A pity you aren't a formal member; you'll only get about ten percent of the remaining half."

"Aren't you worried that the kidnappers will realize that they were under the influence of a Beyonder's powers after they wake up?"

"They will not suspect anything. They will only believe that the weather was good and very conducive for sleeping, leading to them dozing off. They will even believe that the song existed only in their dreams. This is something we have verified before," Leonard answered confidently. "Instead, it's your demon hunting bullets that might arouse suspicion. Of course, you being a queer who enjoys mysticism would be a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"I see." Klein was relieved but felt like he had forgotten or overlooked something.

...

After returning to Zouteland Street, Klein did not wait for Klee's arrival. He strolled to Welch's place and took a different route home.

The evening grew dark. Klein was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly awoken by something familiar outside. He opened the door in puzzlement and arrived outside the bedroom that no one stayed in.

He pushed open the mottled door and saw a gray desk.

There was a notebook on the table, and its cover was made of hard paper, completely black in color.

A baffling sense of déjà vu arose in him as he walked over and opened the notebook.

The page he flipped open to was of a picture—a picture of someone dressed in gorgeous clothes and a splendid headdress—The Fool!

Beneath The Fool was a line in Hermes.

"Everyone will die, including me."

Horror gripped Klein's heart as he suddenly realized that the corner of The Fool's mouth was curving up.

Ffffffff!

He sat up in shock as he saw crimson moonlight penetrate his curtains and the silhouette of his own bedroom, realizing that he had had a nightmare.

As a Seer, he knew what dreams typically portend. Therefore, he began to seriously search through his memories.

Klein froze up when he did because he knew what he had missed out on today. While he was immersed in Leonard's singing, he sensed a formless and indifferent focus on his back.

The feeling of being observed felt different from the usual Cogitation or experience he had from using Spirit Vision. It gave him a sense of déjà vu!