nownovels Chapter 28 Reimbursement
Chapter 28 Reimbursement
Since the night watchman's personal coachman had not yet left, they would travel to Old Neil's house in their own carriage.
When Klein tried to pay the coachman he had hired earlier, he realized that he had left in such a hurry that evening that he only had 1 sole on him, which was not enough for the fare. He could only look at Leonard with pleading eyes.
The price of a carriage can be calculated by kilometer or by time. Since the matter is urgent and speed is needed, and the coachman also needs to wait, Klein chooses the distance as the price. Moreover, the price usually doubles when picking up passengers at night, so Klein is still short at least 1 sol.
Seeing Klein's predicament, Leonard casually took out 10 sulphurs and tossed them to the coachman, saying to keep the change. He then urged Klein to get into his company's carriage. However, Klein's feelings were complicated, and he swallowed back the words "change".
Sitting in the carriage, Dunn looked at Klein and Leonard, who were both worried and serious, and instead offered words of comfort:
"You don't need to look so serious. Your report was very timely. I believe we still have a chance to save old Neil. After all, he survived one when he was young."
Klein and Leonard nodded, but their serious expressions did not ease at all.
As night grew darker and there were few pedestrians on the road, coupled with the city's well-developed road network, the carriage traveled quickly and soon arrived at the detached house where Old Neil lived.
Dunn, with his deep gray eyes, walked toward the main gate with "Quiet Hair" in his hand. Klein and Leonard followed behind their captain with serious expressions, passing through a garden planted with roses and mint.
Upon reaching the door, Klein stepped forward at the captain's signal and pulled the rope connecting the bell inside the house, while Dunn and Leonard tensed up, waiting for the reaction from inside.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells..." The crisp sound of the bells echoed in the room, breaking the tranquility of the night, and was even a little jarring.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong..." Klein didn't pull it many times before stepping back and waiting, just like a polite visitor.
However, after the clear sound of the bell, there was still no movement in the room. The three night watchmen waited patiently, but their bodies remained tense.
"Perhaps old Neil is getting old and hard of hearing, and didn't hear it..."
Klein forced a smile, trying to think positively, but his voice grew softer and softer, clearly knowing that his words were not convincing at all.
Captain Dunn could sense that Old Neil was inside the house, busy with something, so he decided not to wait any longer and said to his two subordinates:
"I'm now trying to pull Old Neil into the dream; you're to break in from the front."
He then handed the "Quiet Hair" to Leonard and continued:
"Control him as much as possible, don't hurt him. We can't easily abandon any of our teammates; we must try to save him!"
Leonard took the 'quiet strand of hair' with his gloved hand and nodded solemnly.
But not long after Captain Dunn closed his eyes, just as Leonard and Klein were about to break down the door from the front, Captain Dunn suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices, which startled Leonard and Klein, leaving them at a loss.
Instead, Dunn opened his eyes and angrily rebuked Leonard and Klein.
"What are you waiting for? Charge in and take control of old Neil!"
Hearing their captain's reprimand, the two could only suppress their shock. Leonard clenched his right fist and punched the seemingly sturdy door lock.
A deep crack appeared in the wood around the door lock, and the lock fell off with a snap.
"Such precise control over strength!"
Klein sighed inwardly. Breaking the door directly was nothing, even smashing the entire door was nothing, but damaging only the area around the lock required considerable control.
Although Klein had a lot on his mind, it didn't hinder his actions at all.
He followed Leonard, who had been to Old Neil's house, and rushed straight towards the location where Old Neil was most likely to be.
They stormed into a rather inconspicuous room, breaking down the door as before, and found Old Neil lying motionless on the floor covered with papers, dressed in a wizard's robe embroidered with occult symbols. But in Klein's intuition, something was happening to Old Neil, and unexpected problems could erupt at any moment.
Leonard, who rushed in first, did not hesitate at all and threw the "Quiet Hair" into Old Neil's exposed hand.
In an instant, Klein felt that everything around Old Neil had calmed down, and even the negative changes happening to Old Neil were stopped. This was the effect of the 'Quiet Hair'—any creature that comes into unprotected contact will become quiet, lose all motivation, until the end of its life.
Although somewhat expected, the effectiveness of this sealed artifact still exceeded Klein's expectations.
But he didn't let his guard down. Together with Leonard, he pointed his gun at the now motionless old Neil, while also worrying about Captain Dunn, who had just been bleeding from all seven orifices.
Just as Leonard and Klein were in turmoil, they heard footsteps approaching, which eased their anxiety.
The blood on Dunn's face had been wiped away. If it weren't for Klein's sharp eyes noticing the bloodstains on the captain's temple, he would have doubted whether he had been seeing things.
After entering, Dunn glanced at Old Neil, who was being controlled by "Quiet Hair," and then surveyed the surroundings. Seeing the concerned looks in Leonard and Klein's eyes, he offered an explanation:
"Old Neil was just performing some rituals involving some mysterious forces. I pulled him into a dream, interrupting the ritual. We both suffered some backlash and minor injuries, but nothing serious, so you don't need to worry."
Hearing their captain's words, Klein and Leonard both breathed a sigh of relief. They knew their captain was not one to lie, and if he said it wasn't serious, then it must not be serious.
Dunn then instructed Leonard to search for relevant clues in the surrounding area, while Klein went to the carriage to retrieve the prepared items in preparation for setting up the ritual to save Old Neil.
While Dunn and Klein were setting up the ceremony, Leonard came down from the second floor of Old Neil's house and handed a piece of paper he had found to Captain Dunn.
After reading it, Dunn let out a deep breath and handed the paper to Klein.
Klein took it and read that it described a strange and eerie ritual:
"Life is Forged".
"The required materials include: 100 ml of Fairy Spring (Golden Spring on Sonia Island), 50 g of Star Crystal, half a pound of Gold, 5 g of Phosphorus, 30 g of Hematite... and a large amount of fresh human blood."
Below the blood of the living, Old Neil had a note:
"I can draw from my own, drawing a little at a time, accumulating it bit by bit, and storing it with ritual magic."
"When Old Neil was young, he had a girlfriend he was about to get engaged to, but she suddenly fell seriously ill and was incurable. Old Neil risked revealing the secret of the extraordinary to try to save her with ritual magic, but he did not succeed."
At the time, Old Neil was just a beginner in the mysticism. According to records, the night watchmen were very worried that he would lose control, but fortunately he eventually regained his senses.
The problem in Old Neil's heart hadn't been resolved; it simply resurfaced decades later.
Captain Dunn sighed in admiration, but his hands didn't stop; he continued arranging the necessary items for the ceremony.
Klein remained silent for a long time before resuming his efforts to help the captain set up the ceremony, while Leonard searched for possible clues once again.
During the ritual jointly presided over by the three Night Watchers, the power emanating from the Goddess of Night gently brushed over Old Neil, bringing him divine comfort. In Klein's spirituality, he clearly felt that all the inexplicable changes that had occurred in Old Neil's body had disappeared.
After Captain Dunn took away the 'Quiet Hair', Old Neil gradually woke up. Klein could see that his mental state was exceptionally good, which made Klein praise the goddess in his heart.
Old Neil was visibly startled when he saw Dunn and the others in front of him. He then looked around in alarm, noticing traces of his ritual everywhere, as well as bottles containing preserved blood. He wanted to say something, but ultimately only gave a wry smile and warned Klein and Leonard:
"Hold fast to your faith and resist temptation. Do not believe the whispers in your ear, even if what they say is true, it is a trap to lure you into the abyss."
After he finished speaking, Old Neil stood up and extended his hands, while Dunn handcuffed his hands with the handcuffs that had been prepared beforehand and engraved with many occult symbols.
Just as Old Neil was being led onto the carriage, he suddenly looked towards the second floor of the house behind them, and Klein followed his gaze and simultaneously activated his spiritual sense.
Klein saw a nearly transparent figure, barely discernible as a woman, waving and even smiling at Old Neil from a window on the second floor.
And a youthful smile appeared on Old Neil's face.
But it was all fleeting. The figure gradually disappeared with a wave of his hand, as if it had never existed, and Old Neil's expression became extremely sad.
It was past midnight when they escorted Neil to the Charness Gate. Klein and Leonard, who had been working hard for two days, were resting in the lounge.
Leonard was alright, still in good spirits, but Klein was completely listless, collapsing onto the sofa and refusing to get up.
Finally, Klein remembered that he hadn't left a note for his brother and sister when he left home. He wondered how worried they would be if they found out he hadn't come home all night. So Klein decided to ask the captain for a day off to go home and catch up on his sleep.
Before leaving, Klein glanced at Leonard, and finally hesitated before saying:
"Don't worry, I'll pay you back for the car once I get my weekly salary."
When he said those words, Klein was heartbroken.
He originally only wanted to lend Leonard 1 sole, but Leonard treated money like dirt and gave him 10 sole, which is half a pound.
You see, Klein is currently paid a clerical salary of 3 pounds per week, but he had already received four weeks' salary in advance, so half of his weekly salary will be deducted each week, meaning he can only receive 1 pound 10 shillings per week.
Thinking about how he had to give a third of his first week's salary to Leonard, Klein's gaze towards Leonard became somewhat strange, simply because of Leonard's extravagant spending.
Leonard looked at Klein in surprise and said:
"You sent a carriage to see me on official business. There's no reason for me to pay for the fare myself. I can get reimbursed by Lady Oriana afterward. Why would I need you to pay for it?"
Klein's eyes widened instantly, and he asked uncertainly:
"Yes, can it be reimbursed?"
Leonard nodded affirmatively.