Chapter Text
“Ah...” Klein couldn’t help the slightly shocked sound that escaped him.
“What is it, lad?” Old Neil asked with some concern.
“I felt some... happiness? But it feels distant.” A bright burst of emotion that wasn’t his own, faint, as if muffled by a blanket.
Old Neil made a sound of enlightenment. “I see, congratulations.”
“I’m sorry?”
The old man chuckled. “You’ve been blessed with a soulmate.”
Klein paused in surprise. A... soulmate? When did this become a romance novel? He lampooned. Out loud, “I’ve never heard of soulmates?”
“It’s unique to Beyonders. They can feel the hidden emotions of their soulmate. Of course, not everyone can, soulmates are rare enough even among Beyonders, You’re exceptionally lucky.”
Klein didn’t feel lucky. The last thing he needed was an attachment he couldn’t afford, he wanted to get home, not have a relationship. Besides, they aren’t even Zhou Mingrui’s soulmate. He was an imposter masquerading as Klein Moretti.
“Thank you.” Klein said to Old Neil with all the sincerity he didn’t feel.
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Klein tapped the two illusory stars representing Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man and watched as two beams of red light appeared on both sides of the bronze table, coalescing into two figures.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool! Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man!”
Klein was surprised. Did Miss Justice really have no caution? How was she so sure that Klein was a good person? “Good afternoon, Miss Justice.”
He felt a faint pulse of intrigue buzzing in the back of his mind, mixed with some pleasure. His – the original Klein’s soulmate? The feeling was much stronger than before.
He tapped his glabella discreetly and he saw the two members bodies emit some colour! Red and yellow for Miss Justice... that’s joy and excitement...
Klein looked at Mr. Hanged Man and stopped. Blue and orange. Calm, a little pleased...
He pushed it out of his head. There was no way. What were the chances? It was simply a coincidence.
“Mr. Hanged Man, did you receive the box of Ghost Shark Blood?”
Klein witnessed the trade between Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man, listening just as attentively as the young woman, desperately ignoring the pulses of emotions he could feel. Patient, thoughtful... he categorized them absently.
It didn’t matter.
He rapped on the table gently, sharing what he read about in Roselle’s diary, the method to digesting potions that the emperor wrote about. Klein didn’t fully understand what he was saying but knew it must have been important.
Shock, enlightenment...
Stop making assumptions, Zhou Mingrui.
“This is an advance payment. In return, collect Roselle Gustav’s secret diary on my behalf, even if it’s just one page of it.” Klein paid no attention to any potential emotions his words caused, ignoring the echo, refusing to acknowledge it.
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Annoyance? Alger felt the faint pulse in the part of him that felt all his soulmate’s emotions, a secret he kept to himself from the church, another hing thing that set him apart from the other Mandated Punishers.
Annoyance wasn’t unfamiliar to him, his soulmate felt it often enough, mixed with wariness and caution but it was never quite this strong, as if the source was close by.
Alger watched Miss Justice discreetly and immediately denied the possibility. The woman was too cheerful to feel annoyed in this situation, unless she was skilled in putting on a mask. Even if she was, Miss Justice wasn’t a Beyonder, it would be impossible to feel her emotions even if they happened to be soulmates.
Alger refused to look Mr. Fool’s way. The idea that such a powerful and mysterious being could be his soulmate... Absolutely not! It was unthinkable.
The grey fog must have simply amplified his soulmate bond.
He pushed it out of his mind, focusing instead on the ‘casual chat’ Miss Justice suggested. “The infamous pirate, Admiral Ludwell has begun his voyage to explore the eastern end of the Sonia Sea again.”
“The owner of the Black Tulip?”
“Yes.”
Alger felt a pulse of confusion.
Yes, Mr. Fool couldn’t be his soulmate. The unfathomable being who seemed to know everything not knowing about Admiral Ludewell? The being shrouded in fog was nothing but calm and collected, listening quietly.
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After checking the divination club, Klein was in relatively good mood. While he did need to collect money to join the club, he still had a plan for the future. To join the club as soon as possible so he could begin acting as a Seer!
Fortunately, the Nighthawks paid well. Three pounds a week. Klein did the calculations in his head, after taking care of his family first, he could save enough.
Klein returned to Blackthorn Security Company, where he met the poetic Leonard. “Good afternoon, where’s Rozanne?”
Leonard smiled charmingly. “It’s her shift at the armory.” Before Klein could nod and acknowledge it, Leonard continued, “Klein, I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Why did Welch and Naya commit suicide on the spot while you returned home?”
“It likely has to do with how the unknown existence made me take the Antigonus family’s notebook away to hide it.”
“If your suicide was meant to silence you and wipe any clues, why weren’t you made to destroy the notebook then and there?”
Klein paused in thought. That was an excellent question, one Klein didn’t know the question to. He made some reasonable guesses based on novels and shows he saw in his own world but didn’t know for sure. He was as clueless as Leonard.
He was confused and suspicious of the circumstances. Klein was still too new to the mysticism world, he knew too little to know why anything happened the way they did.
Wait. Hold on. Suspicious? He was, but it felt abnormal, as if it didn’t belong to himself. It was so strong, he mistook for his own feelings.
"Are you suspecting me?" Klein asked mildly. "I won't try to defend myself as I've lost my memories from that period, however Captain and Madam Daly have confirmed that I'm fine."
A jolt of amusement. "I'm only considering a possibility." He smoothly changed the subject, "did you discover anything this afternoon?"
"No, I plan to try a different route tomorrow," a pause, "if you excuse me, I need to head to the armory to withdraw bullets."
"May Goddess bless you."
Klein walked away, he looked back with some wariness as he felt a sharp pulse of doubt and displeasure. He and Leonard made eye contact before Klein retreated.
Leonard?? His soulmate? So, during the Tarot Club the emotions he felt were simply coincidentally what Mr. Hanged Man felt at the moment? Did the grey fog amplify the strength of whatever he felt from his soulmate?
Why did he have to have a soulmate at all? It only made everything so much more complicated. He had no interest in romantic relationships, especially with men.
I just want to go home.