Selina took the time to rest.
The mattress was soft and springy. It's not completely distinct from what she had back in her unit, but it's not without its differences. For example, it was fuller in comparison, perhaps due to the presence of a metallic spring underneath.
"The Moretti family sure is well-verse in consideration of guests. It makes me wonder if they already had one after coming here..." Selina thought of how Klein explained that they were once from the Lower Street.
It is common to start consideration trivial things when transitioning to a class. Which is why it wasn't difficult for Selina to guess.
By the time she woke up, it was already lunch time.
Because Klein had asked her to postpone the plan regarding the Halzter Van Company because of his absence. She thoughtfully accepted. Not only will it be dangerous but would also incite suspicion and would label her as problematic by the Nighthawks.
Now she's left with nothing to do.
"So I was right refraining from bestowing myself another seed... Another seed would cause the hidden infection to mutate. Endangering the receiver. I should warn my believers later..." Selina muttered as she faced the ceiling.
"I'm dabbling on a dangerous matter by constantly visiting that dreamworld..."
Her melancholy was brought upon by the reason to use the dreamworld and the faction in aiding Mr. Fool's recovery. Regardless of wanting a stable life until she returns, there's really nothing free in this world.
Everything has a cost, it can only be mitigated by knowing what to exchange.
After placing her luggage underneath the bed. She took her capelet, wore her sun hat and left the Moretti residence.
She refrained from using the stove without permission. So instead, she sought Mrs. Smyrin's Bakery for pastries to be accompanied with a milk for lunch. Then perhaps afterwards commit another revision.
"This has become the most peaceful I have ever been..." Selina adjusted the rim of her sunhat to deflect the light before strolling off.
...
Tingen City. Iron Cross Street.
It was already a little past five. People were returning to Iron Cross Street, and the sides of the streets were becoming crowded. Some children were mixed in the crowd, coldly watching everything, placing their attention on the pockets of the pedestrians.
While Klein was slightly occupied by something else. He was suddenly struck by the setting of their path and quickly reminded the group, "Be careful of thieves."
Leonard smiled. "You need not mind them."
He pulled on his shirt and adjusted the holster of his gun, revealing his revolver.
Suddenly, all the gazes fixed on them shifted away. The pedestrians around them instinctively made way.
Klein froze for a moment, then caught up to Leonard and Frye with large steps. He lowered his head, trying hard to avoid being noticed by anyone he knew.
Benson and Melissa still had dealings with the neighbors here. After all, they hadn't moved too far away.
The three made their way past the area that was and had many peddlers, then turned into the true Lower Street of Iron Cross Street.
The pedestrians here were all dressed in old, ragged clothes. They were cautious of strangers wearing bright and beautiful clothes; yet, there was also greed in their eyes, like vultures eyeing a meal, waiting to strike at any time. But Leonard's revolver prevented any accidents from happening.
"Let's first investigate the death from yesterday. We'll begin with Mrs. Lauwis, a lady who glued matchboxes together for a living." Leonard flipped his notes and pointed to a place not far away, "First floor, No. 134..."
As the three of them walked forward, children who were playing in the streets and dressed in shabby clothes quickly hid by the corner of the road. They observed them with eyes full of curiosity and fear.
"Look at their arms and legs, thin as matchsticks." Leonard sighed. He entered building No. 134 first.
Air that was a mixture of numerous scents entered Klein's nostrils. He could faintly detect the stench of urine, sweat, and mold, as well as the smell of burning coal.
Klein couldn't help but pinch his nose. He then saw Bitsch Mountbatten who had been waiting there for them.
Officer Mountbatten had a brownish-yellow mustache and was envious of Leonard's rank of inspector.
"Sir, I have already asked Lauwis to wait in her room," Bitsch Mountbatten said with his unique, shrill voice.
He clearly didn't recognize Klein, who now looked more energized and proper. All he cared about was sucking up to the three officers in front of him as he led them to the Lauwis family on the first floor.
It was a simple apartment. There was a bunk bed laid upright inside the room and a desk filled with glue and hard paper on the right side. The corner of the room was piled full of frames for matchboxes, while an old cabinet sat on the left, acting as a storage space for both clothes and cutlery.
A stove, toilet, and a small amount of coal and timber occupied the two sides of the door, while the center of the room was occupied by two dirty mattresses. A man was sleeping under a torn blanket, leaving no space for anyone to walk.
A lady lay on the lower level of the bunk bed, her skin ice cold. It was clear that she had lost all signs of life.
Beside the corpse sat a man in his thirties. He had oily hair, looked dispirited, and his eyes had lost their luster.
"Lauwis, these three officers are here to examine the body and ask you questions," Bitsch Mountbatten shouted, without any regard for the sleeping man.
The dispirited man looked up weakly and asked in surprise, "Didn't someone already examine the corpse and question me?"
He was dressed in a grayish-blue worker's uniform which had visible signs of being mended multiple times.
"Answer when I tell you to! Why do you have so many questions?" Bitsch Mountbatten berated the man, then turned to Leonard, Klein, and Frye. "Officers, this is Lauwis. The person on the bed is his wife, who is also the deceased. According to our preliminary analysis, she died from a sudden illness."
Klein and the rest tiptoed to the edge of the bed.
The high-nosed, thin-lipped Frye did not say anything with his cold demeanor. Instead, he patted Lauwis gently, signaling for the man to make way so that he could examine the body.
Klein looked at the sleeping man and asked, "This is?"
"M-my tenant." Lauwis rubbed his forehead as he said, "The rent for this room is three soli ten pence a week. I'm only a worker at the harbor, and my wife made two and a quarter pence per crate of glued matchboxes. Each crate h-has, up to 130 boxes. We, we also have a child. We can only rent the rest of the space to someone else. We only charge a soli a week for the mattress..."
"I have a tenant who's helping out at the theater, and he's not back before 10 at night. He sold his rights to the mattress in the daytime to t-this man. He's the person who watches over the gate of the theater at night, so he only pays six pence every week..."
Hearing the other party stammer as he explained, Klein couldn't help but look at the crate in the corner of the room.
One crate had 130 matchboxes and only earned them 2.25 pence, about the cost of two pounds of black bread... How many crates could she manage a day 1 ?
Leonard surveyed the surroundings and asked, "Was your wife acting abnormally prior to her death?"
Lauwis, who had been asked similar questions, pointed to the left side of his left chest and said, "From last week, well—perhaps the week before, she said that she felt stuffy in this area and couldn't catch her breath."
The precursor to a heart condition? A normal death? Klein interrupted, "Did you see how she died?"
Lauwis recalled, "She stopped working after sunset. Candles and gas are more expensive than matchboxes... She said that she was very tired and asked me to talk to the kids and let her rest. When I saw her again, she had a-already stopped breathing."
Lauwis could no longer hide his grief and pain when he said that.
Klein and Leonard asked several questions, but could not find anything unnatural about the death.
After they looked at each other, Leonard said, "Mr. Lauwis, please wait outside for a few minutes. We are going to conduct a thorough examination of the corpse. I don't think that you'll want to see that."
"Alright." Lauwis stood up anxiously.
Bitsch Mountbatten walked toward the mattress and kicked the tenant, violently chasing him out of the apartment. He then closed the door and guarded the room from the outside.
"So?" Leonard looked at Frye.
"She died of a heart attack," Frye said with certainty, retracting his hands.
Klein thought for a moment before taking out a half-penny, intending to do a quick judgment.
"Mrs. Lauwis's heart attack was due to supernatural causes?" No, that is too narrow, the answer might be misleading... Hmm, "There are supernatural factors influencing Mrs Lauwis's death." I'll use that! He quickly decided on a statement.
As he recited the statement, Klein made his way to the side of Mrs Lauwis's corpse. His eyes turned darker as he tossed the coin.
The sound of the coin reverberated around the room as it fell, straight into Klein's palm.
This time, the portrait of the king was facing up.
This meant that there were supernatural factors influencing Mrs. Lauwis's death!
"There is the presence of supernatural factors..." Klein's eyes returned to normal, and he looked at Leonard and Frye.
Leonard suddenly chuckled.
"Very professional, and deserving of the title of Seer."
Are you trying to hint at something... Klein muttered in his head.
Frye opened his suitcase and took out a silver knife and other tools. He paused and asked, "The corpse tells me that she really died of a sudden heart attack. Do you have any way to divine a more detailed answer?"
Klein nodded seriously and said, "I can attempt to combine a mediumship ritual and a dream divination. Hopefully, I'll be able to obtain something from Mrs. Lauwis's remaining spirituality."
Frye maintained his cold and reserved state. He took two steps back and said, "Give it a try."
He turned his head sideways and looked at Klein. He suddenly sighed without much fluctuation in his tone. "You're getting more and more used to this kind of situation."
It's not like I wanted it... Klein had an urge to cry. He then took out the bottles of pure dew, essential oils, and herbal powder. Then, he quickly set up the mediumship ritual.
He chanted the honored titles of the Evernight Goddess in the middle of the spirituality wall and recited his prayers in Hermes.
Soon, wind spun around him and the light grew dimmer.
Klein's eyes turned entirely black, and he repeated the divination statement, "The cause of Mrs. Lauwis's death.
"The cause of Mrs. Lauwis's death."
...
He entered the dreamland whilst standing and 'saw' a translucent spirit lingering around the corpse.
Then, he extended his illusory right hand to touch Mrs. Lauwis's remaining spirituality.
In an instance, light burst out in front of him as scenes flashed past, one after another.
There was a skinny and sallow lady dressed in ragged clothes, busily making matchboxes.
She suddenly paused and held her chest.
She was speaking to her two children.
Her body wavered as she gasped for air.
She was buying black bread when someone suddenly patted her.
She was having the symptoms of a heart attack again and again.
She was feeling weary and got into bed, but she never woke up ever again.
Klein observed every single detail, intending to look for a trace of the supernatural factor. But when everything ended, he still hadn't gained any clues. As the blurriness shattered, Klein left the dreamland and returned to reality.
He dispelled the wall of spirituality and said to the waiting Frye and amused Leonard,
"There were no direct symptoms. Most of the scenes revealed that Mrs. Lauwis had a heart ailment a long time ago. The only scene that was different was when Mrs. Lauwis was patted on the back by someone. The hand was fair and slender, apparently a woman's."
"For such a family, they wouldn't go to a doctor unless they're very, very sick. Even if they were to queue at a free charity hospital, time is not something they can afford to lose. A day without work might mean no food on the table the next day." Leonard sighed emotionally like a poet.
Frye looked at the corpse on the bed and sighed lightly.
Before Klein spoke, Leonard quickly got out of his pensive state and said thoughtfully, "Are you implying that the supernatural factor came into play when Mrs. Lauwis was patted? It came from the slender hand of a lady or madam?"
Klein nodded and replied, "Yes, but this is merely my interpretation. Divination is always unclear."