Chapter 179: Black hair, Brown Hair

Tingen City, Blackthorn Security Company.

Scratching his eyes to try to get rid of the drowsiness, Klein could only sigh tiredly as he took a sip from his cup of coffee.

He was more into tea but these were difficult times, he needed that extra caffeine.

'I hope Clown brings a physical increase... This sleep thing will affect me sooner rather than later.' Klein thought seriously as he took another sip.

"You look horrible my good friend, difficult nights?" Leonard's poetic voice rang out as he entered the office and saw the dark circles under Klein's eyes.

'Just what I was missing' Klein thought defeated, already being able to feel the headache.

But hiding his emotions, Klein controlled his expression as best he could and looked at the poet calmly.

"Good morning Leonard, how have you been?"

Leonard showed a pained expression as he sat down next to Klein.

"You hurt my heart, can't I worry about my friend who is almost as special as me?" Leonard said with a smile as he rested his cheek on his gloved hand and looked amused at Klein whose lips were trembling.

'Special you say? Every day that passes I am more sure that you have a novel protagonist complex.' Klein thoughtfully as he took another sip of his coffee.

Seeing that he hadn't elicited a reaction from the Seer, Leonard frowned somewhat in disappointment and settled into the sofa.

Both were quite close but their knees were not touching, in the past, this would have bothered Klein but now he was used to the rather strange personality of the poet.

"But seriously, Klein, you have to try to get more sleep. You're not a Sleepless so lack of sleep will affect you." Leonard expressed his concern and Klein could only sigh.

'Leonard may be a little weird but he means well.' Klein thought as he looked at his friend with better eyes.

Leonard now had a thoughtful expression as he scratched at the pile, his eyes narrowing slightly as he muttered something under his breath that Klein was unable to hear despite being quite close.

Klein then also narrowed his eyes at Leonard, he couldn't help but feel that the guy had something annoying on his mind.

He then watched as Leonard's green eyes widened and a big smile spread across his face.

'I could have sworn I saw the light bulb above your head go on...' Klein thought suspiciously.

Leonard then got up from the chair with an elegant step and looked at Klein with a smile worthy of a poet.

"I have something to help you relax. Would you like to join me on a small journey through the streets of Tingen?"

'The light bulb went on because of the stupidity you give off.' Klein thought flatly while raising an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't we be on duty here?"

Leonard's smile wavered slightly but he immediately recovered and winked.

"No problem my good friend, it's early so we have half an hour to spare, I promise we won't use even twenty minutes."

Klein was still very unsure about what decision to make, although it would be more appropriate to say that he was looking for a way to refuse without hurting the poet's feelings.

'Should I be direct or more delicate? Harder or softer? Maybe if I do it hard he'll be more determined to get me out of here but if I do it soft he won't understand and will keep bothering me...' Klein seriously thought about what his next move would be.

"You have half an hour, come back here before 8:00 a.m."

Both men froze and slowly turning their heads like old puppets, they looked at the source of the voice.

Coming out of his office while cleaning his pipe was Captain Dunn Smith who looked at them with a small smile directed towards Klein.

"I know you've been having a hard time Klein so I want you to try to rest more."

He then looked at Leonard with a disapproving look.

"Though I do disapprove of you for wanting to get away from work for a while."

Leonard chuckled awkwardly while scratching his head.

"Hehe~ Sorry Captain..."

Dunn shook his head slightly and continued, ignoring the embarrassed poet.

"I agree that it's something you need, try to take advantage of this moment to relax a bit."

"Captain..." Klein muttered in surprise, not knowing what to say.

He couldn't help but look at the poet and immediately his expression soured a bit.

Leonard looked at him with a look that said <I told you so>

Shaking his head, Klein looked at the Captain and nodded.

"As you say, Captain, I think I do need a little rest after all."

Dunn nodded and with his clean pipe, he took some tightly wrapped tobacco from his pocket and filled the pipe.

"Just remember to come back by 8:00 a.m."

Klein didn't say anything else, he got up and grabbed his cane and hat, he headed for the door being followed by Leonard who quickly got to his side.

Neither of them leave the room but stayed inside and gave each other a knowing look.

One...

Two...

Three...

"Ah! I almost forgot we have lunch at 2:00 p.m. Don't miss it" Dunn commented.

'There he is' Both men thought with a smile and waited another few seconds in case the Captain forgot to say something else.

"Ah! We also have a little meeting with the Punishers at 5:00 p.m."

...

Fifteen minutes later, on Raveru Street.

Taking a sip of the Ice Tea and feeling refreshed, Klein let out a pleased sigh and smiled.

"Just what I needed." He said with a smile and Leonard, who was looking at this, smiled at him as he took a sip of his own Ice Tea.

"What did I tell you? They make the best Ice Tea in all of Tingen." The poet said proudly as they walked down the street.

Klein nodded in agreement with the poet, at first, he hadn't taken what the man had said seriously.

But after drinking the Ice Tea, Klein swallowed his words with gusto.

'And it costs the same as a normal Ice Tea!'

This was the best!

Klein thought it would be more expensive but no, the Ice Tea cost the same as in other places.

'Thank you, Goddess.' Klein thought gratefully as he touched his chest 4 times in a clockwise circle.

He already planned to take this route when he came to the Security Company.

Klein looked at Leonard and smile warmly.

"Thanks, Leonard, I needed this."

Leonard winked as he chuckled proudly.

"Of course. A walk in the fresh air is good for anyone my good friend, and you..." He said pointing at Klein.

"You needed a long, long walk."

"Yes, I realize that." Klein said, feeling much more relaxed than he had in the last few days.

'A walk in the fresh air huh?' he thought as he looked up at the clear sky of the city.

He had been so tense that he forgot to relax, now he realized what a bad idea that was.

'If I had continued like this I would have collapsed one of these days...'

Looking sideways at Leonard, Klein took a sip of his Ice Tea.

'It's good to have friends who take care of you-

Ufff!

In the middle of his thoughts and because he wasn't looking his path, Klein collided with two women and all three fell to the ground.

Holding his head, Klein gave a small grunt as he looked down at his arm.

He had been in the middle of drinking his tea when he crashed and the cup was still half full, his arm and jacket covered in Ice Tea.

He didn't have time to grieve because he saw how Leonard was helping one of the women who fell to get up.

The lady was wearing a long black dress with fair and smooth skin, brown hair like a waterfall, and brown eyes. She had the mature vibe of a woman in her thirties, but there was a remnant of innocence about her.

Her eyes were crystal clear and she had a delicate look.

This dainty appearance only made Klein feel worse.

The other girl was already up and was glaring daggers at him, her dress stained with tea.

She had on a rather large women's hat with a veil that prevented Klein from seeing her face.

All he could see was the woman's black hair.

'How careless!' Klein thought sheepishly as he hurriedly got up and helped Leonard.

This woman also had tea stains on her dress.

Klein was now red with embarrassment.

He gave a deep bow.

"Please forgive me, ladies! I didn't see my way and I crashed into you messing you up your beautiful dresses!"

'Please don't ask for compensation money!' Klein thought terrified as he trembled slightly.

Those dresses look expensive and Klein couldn't afford to pay dearly.

Leonard looked at his friend and teammate and could only lament his clumsiness but he couldn't help but feel that the taller woman was quite familiar...

Seeing how Klein was trembling, the taller woman just laughed in amusement while waving her hand gracefully.

"No need, sir. We weren't looking where we were going either so it's our fault as well."

"What-" The shorter one tried to say something but a look from the taller one made her shut up.

'Difficult relationship.' Klein looked at this and couldn't help but comment in his mind.

The tallest looked at her dress and sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness it's an old dress, no doubt I made the right decision in choosing this one before going out."

She then looked at the duo in front of her and smiled warmly.

"Please excuse us, but we have to go home to change, have a good day gentlemen." With a slight nod, the woman walked off followed closely by the young lady with the big hat.

'That was close...' Klein thought in complete relief.

If they had asked for money...

Plap!

His head received a hard slap and Klein gave Leonard a pained look.

Leonard had an expression of shock.

"Do you have any idea who she was?!" he yelled in disbelief and Klein looked at him like he was crazy.

"She was Madam Sharron!" Leonard yelled and Klein still didn't understand.

Should he know that name?

Leonard looked at his friend and seeing that he didn't understand what had happened, he could only say one thing.

"You're lucky you know that?"

Leonard decided to educate his friend on who Madam Sharron was.

With every word that came out of Leonard's mouth, Klein's expression grew more and more horrified.

Obviously after calming down, Leonard did not stop bothering Klein with his little accident and as soon as they returned to the Company, he told everyone what happened.

Klein could only take this in shame.

...

On the afternoon of Sunday.

Klein, who was locked in his room sleeping, woke up when he heard murmurs in his ears.