Chapter 25: Misfortune

'So the person you're looking for is that boy... What's he doing in Lenburg? How did he get here?' Klein frowned, and as usual, his finger began to tap the table's edge.

Tap tap tap tap

From what little he knew, Ademisaul was not very mentally capable. Not because he was dumb, but because the boy was born Half-Monster.

He saw things he wasn't supposed to see and heard things he wasn't supposed to hear.

'Even as a Clown now, I don't feel I've surpassed the level of intuition that kid had... Only two people have figured out that I died and came back to life, and one of them is the Death Counsul!!!'

Rubbing his forehead a little, Klein's brow narrowed. A question echoed in his mind,

Who was that man at the end of the dream?

'I've never seen him nor felt any sense of familiarity. A relative? But Old Neil said that boy was an orphan and had no family, that he was looked after by the leader of the tavern... And that guy doesn't look anything like this one.'

Exerting his power over the mysterious space, the man's figure formed on the bronze table. Klein took the opportunity to look at it closely.

Squinting, another figure formed beside him, this one being that of the half-monster boy.

Then another formed in the middle of them, this one being of the pair in the older man's coat tails.

'Their features are similar...' Klein murmured, seeing how the woman's nose and the older man's were identical.

Nodding, Klein waved his hand slightly. Almost everyone in front of him disappeared, leaving only the boy Ademisaul.

Resting his cheek in his palm, the clown looked at the boy with a complicated look.

It turned out that he was not an orphan, but quite possibly, his only remaining family had abandoned him after seeing his 'special' condition.

Klein had no idea what his story was. Whether his parents died when he was very young or whether they only died in recent years. However, the evidence showed that the first possibility was the most likely.

'I'm careless of details; whatever his family history is, it's not something I should get into... But judging by the way the man looked...' Considering it some more, Klein closed his eyes and sighed.

Finally, Ademisaul's figure disappeared. Klein extended his arm without opening his eyes, his topaz pendulum glowing.

'It is safe to take this job... It is safe to take this job...' Using semi-cogitation to empty his mind, he repeated seven times silently.

Opening his eyes, he saw the pendulum swinging at a medium speed clockwise.

Judging the result and seeing that he was in the danger zone he was willing to tolerate, Klein decided to make one last divination.

He would not hand over an innocent child to gangsters seeking to harm them, if they turned out to be a danger he would pretend to accept their job and go to the police to report them.

People who seek out the Half-Monster Ademisaul are a danger to him...'

After repeating that sentence several times in his mind, Klein opened his eyes, already expecting a negative result. To his surprise, the pendulum was swinging clockwise at a good speed!

'Looks like I misjudged Grandpa...' Relieved that he wasn't going to send a little lamb to the slaughter, Klein could only sigh as he simulated the sensation of falling.

Returning to his body sitting on the toilet, the clown washed his hands and exited the bathroom, returning to the living room where the two men were still standing.

'They didn't even sit down; they must be in a hurry. I doubt I'm the only one who'll be offered the job of finding your boss's grandson...' He gave a slight bow.

"Sorry, I'm late, gentlemen. I seem to have eaten something that upset me last night."

"No problem. I understand how that is," one of the men said as he nodded, empathy shining in his eyes.

Klein changed the subject, not wanting to investigate further or learn more about a mobster's stomach problems.

"I'll take this assignment. I'll look for any information I can on this guy. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Everything you need is on the paper I gave you." The more prominent man said as he pulled a small wad of notes from his pocket.

"Here are 18 sassem. Four are for payment for the consultation, and fourteen are for accepting the job. If you complete it and get us useful information, we will give you another fourteen sassem, but if you manage to find the boy, we will give you 30 sassem."

The sound of a teller rang in Klein's mind, immediately brightening the clown's mood. Smiling elegantly, the clown placed a hand on his chest and gave a small bow.

"I'll do my best," straightening up, he added, "I'll be using my contacts to speed things up; I should have news in a few days. Stop by again next Thursday."

They both nodded. "If everything is ready, then have a good day, Mr. Moriarty. We'll see you on Thursday."

After dismissing the men from his house, Klein didn't rush off to find the boy. First, he packed everything he might need, including three packets of cards and a change of clothes.

'With the new method of sacrifice, it is possible that I can create talismans by praying to myself instead of the Goddess. Considering how rare the space above the grey mist is, I wonder what charms I can create... Of course, for that, I would first need the ingredients for which I have no money as I have yet to look up the Magician's formula, but I have not yet digested the Clown potion...' His mind wandered over all the problems before him, and Klein lamented the sheer number.

'If only I had the strength of Mr. Chariot, I could try to rob the gangs in this area... Though I doubt, I would do it in a way as luminous and vivid as yours. I'm not crazy...' Shaking his head, Klein put the lunatic out of his mind.

Thinking of his strength, his lips tightened slightly. In all this time since he had made the deal, he had yet to pray to the Scarlet Monarch.

'There doesn't seem to be any hurry, but I can't keep trying the patience of a true God...'

He did not fully know what intentions 'He' had with him. But if he was to go by 'His' blessed one's actions, they seemed at least to be 'good', and besides, it was quite possible that 'He' knew what the Space above the Grey Mist was.

'I finish this job and make contact... I'll see what 'He' wants.'

...

Adjusting the simple bronze laurel on his head, Klein walked down the street momentarily before raising his hand and requesting a carriage.

One that was pulled by a black horse was the one that picked him up.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked as he looked over his shoulder at the small window that connected him to his passenger.

The window was not very big—it was even quite small, 25 cm x 15 cm—but it was big enough to talk to the passenger and small enough to provide privacy.

Privacy was just what Klein needed.

"I'll be giving you directions and where to turn. I hope you don't mind that." The clown said as he held out a five argentum note, the second highest value in Lenburg.

The driver grinned from ear to ear and quickly grabbed the note, hiding it in his waistcoat: "No problem at all, kind sir!"

Ignoring the pang he felt, Klein did not respond immediately but straightened his back, closed his eyes, and let his topaz pendulum dangle.

'Location of Ademisaul... Location of Ademisaul...'

After repeating the prayer seven times, Klein felt his spirituality move, and without opening his eyes, he said, "To the right on this street, please."

"Understood." Nodding at the words of such a kind gentleman, the driver pulled the horse's reins.

The carriage began to move following Klein's directions, some straight, many turning right or left. Using divination, the clown guided the carriage to its goal.

After a long moment, Klein lowered his arm, "This is it."

Pulling on the reins and bringing the horses to a halt, the driver tapped on the window with his knuckle, "Have a nice day, sir."

Klein, who was halfway down, raised an eyebrow in doubt, but his expression quivered a little as he saw where they were.

Klein glanced at the building in front of him, immediately calculating how much money he had thrown away on his journey.

It was a tall departmental building with exposed alcoves and vibrant yellow domes. A large sign in big yellow letters read 'Astope Quarter'.

This was one of the best places to live in the whole area!

'What could someone mentally deranged like Ademisaul be looking for here?' Frowning, Klein stuffed a pocket in his trousers, making sure the letters were there and then moved on.

Walking over to a vendor, Klein asked for his target. After getting an answer, he did the same with several, slowly moving away from the yellow building and taking more random routes.

Someone as peculiar as the Half-Monster would no doubt make a scene no matter where he went. He would have to ask around and follow the trail.

After a long while, Klein ended up in an alley. His brow furrowed into a frown, a layer of sweat clinging to his forehead, and his nose slightly wrinkled at the smell of dampness and rubbish in here.

'You can move a long way for such a skinny and possibly starving man.' It had been several hours since he had started tracking the boy. The sun was slowly setting, and he had already left the Elysian District and entered the Nexus District.

Despite his mental grumbling, Klein pulled out his pendulum and began to use it as a guide to find clues.

It only took him five minutes to find an open trash bag, all sorts of contents littering the floor, but what caught the clown's attention was a perfect apple core on the floor.

This one was completely out of place. Unlike the rottenness one would expect from something taken from the rubbish, this one was relatively fresh as if the apple had just been plucked from the apple tree and eaten on the spot.

Bending down, Klein took a closer look at the object. Traces of saliva were still on it—it had been eaten recently!

Criiick.

The sound of glass being stepped on made his head whip around to the source of the noise. His brown eyes collided with panicked dark green eyes.

At the other end of the alley, the figure of Ademisaul stood wearing a tattered and extremely dirty brown shirt and missing a shoe.

'How did I not notice him before?' Surprised by the sudden appearance of his target, Klein controlled his body so as not to make any sudden movements.

But before he could try to defuse the situation, Ademisaul sprinted to the opposite side, shouting, "No, no, no, no! They won't get me!!!"

"Hey, wait!!!" Getting up, Klein tried to chase after the young man, but his foot stepped on the apple core on the ground, causing him to stumble and fall face-first to the ground.

Klein raised his head in alarm, and his face was dirty with various filth. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

A Clown, someone supposed to have a ridiculous level of balance, had tripped!

Not wanting to lose the young man, he quickly got up with a deft wave of his hand and began to chase after the boy.

'Was that a beyonder power? That was too ridiculous to have been just luck!' Gritting his teeth, Klein reached the end of the alley and looked both ways, searching for any sign of the young man.

Finding him running the other way, Klein could only grit his teeth and sped up.

"Wait! I'm trying to help you!"

"No! No, no!"

'What I'd give for a lasso now!' Klein gritted his teeth, quickly dodging the people in the way.

The boy's speed was nothing out of the ordinary, one could even say it was below average thanks to his current state so the Clown was already on his heels.

Reaching almost the end of the pavement and about to cross the intersection, Klein reached out his hand with every intention of grabbing the young man's shirt collar.

As soon as his fingers touched the soiled fabric, Klein's sense of danger was triggered, and he instinctively did a backflip.

"Watch out!!!"

Where he stood, a carriage sped past, crashing into the wall and wood exploded all over the place.

The owner who had shouted the warning came running over as well, visibly pale and alarmed.

What the fuck was that? Klein thought ridiculously, this was already too much!

If it wasn't for his Clown powers it would have seriously hurt him!

All this movement attracted a lot of attention, several people coming over to see what had happened. Because of this, Klein was unable to continue his pursuit of the young man and was quickly on the verge of losing sight of him.

'Ah no! I didn't spend 5 argentum to lose you like this!' Gritting his teeth, Klein jumped a little high, managing to see over the people.

It was only for a moment, but he could see the boy duck into a building that appeared to be under repair, through one of the open windows that closed as soon as he entered, trapping him inside.

'Gotcha.' With new information, Klein did his best to get out of the crowd but it still took him a few precious moments.

As soon as he was free, he sped towards the building where Ademisaul entered, his eyes being drawn for a moment to the sign.

<Apex Financial Solution>