Lord of the Mysteries

Old Kohler seemed to be a slightly afraid of her ferocity as he subconsciously took a step back.

“Liv, this is a detective, and he w-wishes to help you find Daisy.”

Liv’s wrinkled, peeling face turned to Klein and said coldly, “We’ve already made a police report.”

Although she was perhaps in her thirties, she looked to be in her fifties.

Klein looked around the room where many wet clothes hung. He vaguely remembered the last time he was here. There had been a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, carefully holding a crude homemade iron to iron the clothes which had wrinkled from being hung to dry. Her hands had been covered with burns.

She’s the “missing” Daisy... Klein looked back at the laundry maid, Liv, and said in a neutral tone, “Do you believe that the East Borough police will really be looking for Daisy?

“Are you sure the people who caused Daisy to go ‘missing’ wouldn’t cast their sights on your family?

“Do you wish to lose another daughter after losing one?”

When the cruel yet heart-wrenching words reached Liv’s ears, the indifferent expression on her face slowly crumbled. She turned agape, but she couldn’t say anything. The corners of her eyes gradually turned red.

She abruptly lowered her head and muttered to herself in pain and despair, “I don’t have any money...”

The room suddenly became silent. Even the sobbing girl didn’t make another sound.

Klein pursed his lips and let out a silent sigh.

“I occasionally do volunteer work, simply to help others. Heh heh, I haven’t done so in a long time, so please give me a chance.”

“Volunteer work?” Liv lifted her head and ruminated over the phrase.

Klein nodded slightly and answered, “The job will be done pro bono. No, it is not completely free either. Kindness will bring me great satisfaction.

“Since you have no other solutions, why not give it a try?”

Liv was silent for a moment. She raised her hand, which had wrinkled from being soaked in water for an extended period of time, wiped her eyes, and said in a low voice, “Mr. Detective, you... you really are a kind and good gentleman...”

Her voice suddenly became choked with sobs.

“... This was what happened—at midday before yesterday, at noon, Daisy delivered a load of washed laundry under Freja’s lead. It was just outside East Borough, and they needed to cross several streets.

“In order to rush back for lunch, Freja had chosen a secluded alley, but a momentary distraction left her realizing that Daisy, who had been following her, was gone.

“She retraced her route but never found Daisy, and Daisy hasn’t come back yet.

“Where did this happen, Freja?”

The girl named Freja had already stood up, her eyes were red and puffy.

She sobbed and said, “Right here, right here in Broken Axe Lane, Mister Detective. Will Daisy be alright?”

“Probably,” Klein replied without much of an expression.

He looked around and asked, “Do you have anything that Daisy often carries? I can borrow a police dog. It has an excellent sense of smell and can be used to find a person based on the lingering scent.”

“... No,” Liv thought for a moment and said with a sad expression.

Freja once again shed tears. She felt as if the situation had turned into one of despair once again.

Suddenly, she blinked and said, “Wait, there’s something.

“Daisy’s vocabulary book!”

“Vocabulary book?” Old Kohler asked.

Liv sniffed and said, “I make Freja and Daisy attend the free school at night. I can keep washing clothes, but they can’t always be doing the same.”

This lady is such a good mother... Klein couldn’t help but sigh.

The free classes offered at night were set up by the three major Churches or some charity organizations. From eight to ten o’clock in the evening, the school would be free of charge and would even provide stationery and a certain amount of paper. It was an education that was need-blind, and it would at most involve some religious knowledge. Klein had heard Old Neil mention that he had once been a teacher for the Church of the Evernight Goddess for several years.

Because there were very few people who volunteered to be teachers in the free school, a unique teaching method was established. Teachers would arrive early, gather the few students who had the best academic progress, imbue them with the content for that day’s class, and then put them in charge of teaching the different classes. The teachers would supervise, correcting any mistakes. It was called a “tutorial system.”

Corresponding to the free classes were the free organizations such as the technical workers’ workshop, which were truly accessible to the poor, and one of the few outlets to escape from poverty.

Unfortunately, there were too few similar organizations, and it was difficult for them to play a substantial role.

At this moment, the sobbing Freja added, “Daisy liked studying very much. She was made the tutor of her class by her teacher. She would put together the vocabulary words she had copied and hugged them in her bed every day. She would wake up early and go out into the street to recite them under the light of dawn. She’s always found it regretful that there are no street lamps around here...”

As she spoke, Freja rushed back to the bunk bed and took out a stack of crumpled paper from under the tattered pillow.

Due to it being in a humid environment for extended periods of time, the words that were copied on it had already smudged.

The edges of the sheets of paper were worn out, as though they had been turned over and over by someone for a long time.

“Mister Detective, i-is this okay?” Freja handed Klein the so-called vocabulary book, which had no binding at all, and anxiously asked.

“Yes,” Klein answered very simply.

He wasn’t trying to comfort Freja. Although it wasn’t the kind of items Daisy carried around all the time, it was something that had accompanied her all this while. Moreover, it had been projected with Daisy’s strong will. It was excellent for using it as dowsing to seek her out.

He casually flipped through the vocabulary book and said, “Then I’ll start taking action. The earlier I find Daisy, the better.”

Liv and Freja were unable to find words to describe their feelings. All they could do was watch as Klein and Old Kohler leave, repeating the words “thank you,” “thank you, Mr. Detective,” and “thank you, good gentleman.”

After leaving the apartment, Klein turned to Old Kohler and said, “You should pay attention to those female textile workers who lost their jobs, especially those who have neither found new jobs nor become street girls, and pay more attention to those who have gone off to unknown places...

“Pay attention to your own safety. Ask less and listen more. If you do this well, you’ll get a bonus.”

“Alright!” Old Kohler nodded heavily.

He didn’t immediately bid farewell. After hesitating for a moment, he asked with a tone full of expectation, “You’ll find Daisy, won’t you, Mister Detective?”

“I can only say that I will do my best.” Klein didn’t make any guarantees.

Old Kohler sighed and smiled bitterly.

“I’ve lost my child, so I’m very unwilling to see this sort of thing happen...”

He waved his hand and walked towards another street.

Klein left the area at a leisurely pace, wrapping Daisy’s “vocabulary book” around the head of the cane and, without attracting any attention, completed a “Dowsing Rod Seeking.”

There are results. Towards the northwest... For the time being, It’s not possible to confirm if I’m suffering any interference or misdirection... He looked down at the direction in which the cane was going to fall and put out his palm to steady it.

According to the revelation, Klein went all the way out of East Borough and hired a rental carriage.

Half an hour later, the carriage, which occasionally changed directions, stopped at Iris Street, near Cherwood Borough and West Borough. It stopped in front of a house with a vast lawn, a wide garden, a small fountain square, and a marble statue.

At this moment, Klein’s cane had fallen down inside the carriage and was aimed straight at that direction!

Through the window, Klein could see the guards patrolling inside the gates and ferocious dogs with their tongues out.

The security inside was quite tight.

More importantly, even without using divination, his spiritual intuition made him sense that there was great danger hidden within!

What is this place? How can Daisy’s disappearance involve such a dangerous place?Klein thought for a few seconds, then he told the carriage driver to keep going.

The carriage driver replied with some surprise, “Sir, are you not here to visit Mr. Capim?”

Capim? The name sounded extremely familiar to Klein.

He smiled and asked, “Why do you think so?”

“There will always be people coming out from East Borough who ride in my carriage all the way here. Heh heh, this is the home of the rich and powerful Mr. Capim,” the carriage driver casually replied.

East Borough... Capim... Tycoon... Klein suddenly remembered who Capim was.

There were many rumors that he was the leader of a bloody criminal organization which was stained with blood. He was involved in the disappearance of many innocent girls!

And in reality, he was a tycoon who knew quite a few important figures.

Without another word, Klein leaned back against the wall and half-closed his eyes.

The horse carriage slowly moved forward. The luxurious villa was left behind as it disappeared from the window.

...

In a small booth in a coffee shop.

Fors already knew that the old man across her was called Lawrence Nord, who came from Midseashire’s Constant City and was a public school teacher.

He didn’t know that Mrs. Aulisa’s husband was dead, nor that Mrs. Aulisa had inherited his estate and become a Beyonder, much less know that Mrs. Aulisa had left me her relics... Could he also be a Beyonder? Does he have the ability to divine?After taking a sip of Fermo coffee, she organized her words and said, “I was a doctor at the nearby Yosifov Clinic, and Mrs. Aulisa came to see me often. That was when her husband, Mr. Laubero had already passed away...

“... Sometimes I would accompany her by chatting with her and helping her do things like...

“So in the end, she made a will, giving me her savings and cash. She donated jewelry, books, furniture, and other things to a charity. This was done under the supervision of her assigned law firm.”

Fors was telling the truth, but not the whole truth.

Lawrence pinched his forehead and said, “What a pity. I don’t understand why Aulisa didn’t contact me over all those years.”

“She didn’t mention your name. She was vaguely dissatisfied with Mr. Laubero’s family,” Fors replied frankly.

Lawrence fell silent for a moment before saying, “Thank you for informing me. It has made me understand certain things.”

“By the way, where are Laubero and Aulisa buried?”

“Grimm Cemetery.” Fors took out a pocket watch and gave it a look before saying, “Mr. Lawrence, I still have things to tend to. I should be leaving.”

Lawrence didn’t stop her. He got up and saw her off.

After sitting down again, he rubbed his temples in distress and silently muttered to himself, Laubero is dead, and he didn’t leave any children behind, and I don’t know what Aulisa did to his Beyonder characteristic... Richard died at the hands of the Aurora Order... Sam doesn’t even wish to contact us at all, having no interest in shouldering the responsibility of the family name...

Will the Abraham family slowly disappear like this?