LOM: Lord of Mysticism

In the West Borough of Tingen City, on Daffodil Street.

Klein pulled open the curtains and allowed sunlight to pour into his bedroom. He walked to the edge of his bed and laid down.

He knew that he shouldn't waste any time and head to the Divination Club to continue the process of digesting the potion, but he instead laid silently on his bed, enjoying his rare break.

He had a full schedule from Tuesday to Friday: mysticism lessons and practicals in the mornings, shooting and combat training in the afternoons. He was mentally exhausted by the time evening came around. There was no change in his morning routine on Saturday, but he had to guard Chanis Gate in the afternoon and would've stayed underground until the dawn of Sunday.

Sunday morning was time for Klein to catch up on sleep. In the afternoon, circumstances would determine if he went to the Divination Club. On Monday morning, he had just returned from Khoy University and had the Tarot Gathering in the afternoon. He also had to think about the issue of acting as a Seer. In other words, he had been busy the entire week, with no time to rest.

Thus, all Klein wanted to do was laze around, not doing anything except daydreaming.

"I have the formula for the Clown potion; all I need to do now is fully digest the Seer potion." He slowly propped himself up.

He took out a bronze coin from his pocket and divined if it was suitable for him to head to the club today. He got a definitive response.

...

In the meeting room of the Divination Club on Howes Street.

Klein sat down in a shaded corner and sipped on his Sibe black tea as he read the Tingen City Honest Paper. There weren't many members around him, just six or seven.

Soon he saw a monocled Glacis walk in with a blue-dressed lady beside him. The lady was in her thirties and carried an Intis hat decorated with the feathers of a black swan.

"Good afternoon, Glacis. That Mr. Lanevus wasn't a trustworthy fellow, was he?" Klein asked.

Glacis had asked him for a divination about investing in Lanevus's steel company. Glacis had obtained a negative suggestion. But having noticed his indecisiveness, Klein believed that he had taken the risk anyway. He hoped the man hadn't invested everything he had.

Glacis let out a bitter smile. "I truly regret not listening to the suggestion you divined for me. Heh, this is the second time I'm saying something like that; let's hope, no—I believe that there will not be a third time."

He then looked at the lady. "Madam Christina, look, Mr. Moretti had already guessed our motive for coming here. He is the most magical fortune-teller I've ever seen. However, I'm more inclined to describe him as a seer."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moretti. We have come here precisely because of Lanevus." Christina gave a simple bow.

"This is the job of a fortune-teller." He followed the path to the Topaz room.

Glacis walked to his seat sighing. "Lanevus has gone missing. He gave the excuse of going to Sivellaus County to oversee the excavation and left Tingen. We sent someone to look for him via steam locomotive and discovered that the large-scale steel mine he spoke of only existed on the map. Luckily for me, I recalled your advice and only invested a third of what I initially intended to invest."

Klein asked curiously, "Before making such a major financial decision, wouldn't you choose a representative and ascertain if whatever he said was true at the Hornacis mountain range in the Sivellaus County?"

Christina responded, "Our representative was fooled by the people Lanevus employed, the place he rented, and the land that was fenced off."

Klein maintained his attitude of a Seer and asked, "What do you wish to divine today?"

"We wish to see if this is salvageable or not," Christina said, glancing at Glacis.

Klein took a piece of paper and a fountain pen. "Then let us do an astrolabe divination. I'll ask, and you'll answer."

Between the questions, Klein marked out the Thunderous constellation and the corresponding symbols of various situations before completing the astrolabe.

"Madam, sir, you are now at a crossroads. If you don't restrain yourselves, you'll fall further into the pit, but if you can be patient and wait persistently without being greedy, then there will be an opportunity." Klein said.

"I understand." Christina nodded. "Mr. Moretti, can you divine Lanevus's whereabouts?"

Klein replied, "I'm not sure I can. The information Lanevus left behind is most likely fake; even his name might not be real. Unless you can give me very specific details or an item he carries with him all the time, it won't be possible."

Christina fell silent before pushing a one-soli note toward Klein. "I have heard from Glacis that you are a true seer, who is respectful and fearful of fate and not greedy for money. You can think of the rest as tips that I am giving to the club."

Seeing Christina leave, Glacis closed the door and asked, "Is there really no way?"

He sighed. "Lanevus took off with over 10,000 pounds, and his victims totaled over a hundred people. Luckily for me, I only lost 50 pounds. Those were my savings, and I have no debt. But Miss Christina invested 150 pounds. To her, this is not a sum that she can bear easily."

"Have you called the police?" Klein asked.

"We've already made a police report. After much discussion, we're willing to take out a portion of the money we would get back as a reward. One can get 10 pounds as a reward if they manage to provide clues about Lanevus's whereabouts, and if it's a precise location that helps the police catch Lanevus, they'll get a reward of 100 pounds."

Klein, who was low on money, worried about how to pay the detective in the future. Perhaps the police will have some items belonging to Lanevus... But they won't be very useful if he's already left Tingen...

In the next hour and a half, Klein got another two customers. He was about to exit the club when he saw Christina enter again.

Beside her was a young girl wearing a sunhat. Christina saw Klein and approached him, asking, "Mr. Moretti, you said that you could try divining Lanevus's whereabouts if there was something belonging to him?"

"That is correct." Klein nodded.

Christina asked, "Then is his child something that belongs to him?"

After hearing this, Klein was momentarily a little lost.