After signing a contract with Millet Carter and receiving an advance payment of ten pounds, Klein didn’t rush to Williams Street immediately. Instead, he made an appointment for four in the afternoon.
Millet was understanding with regard to this. Alone, Detective Sherlock Moriarty definitely had to recruit people to carry out the exploration.
When the old gentleman left, Klein immediately returned to the dining table and cut the steak which had turned cold before wolfing it down.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Mrs. Mary arrived as scheduled. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, but her face was turning gloomy. Stelyn Sammer, who accompanied her, had no choice but to maintain her silence.
Klein handed over an envelope containing his carefully chosen photo.
“Madam, please confirm it.”
Mary paused for two seconds and slowly took in a breath. Then, she took the envelope, pulled out the photo, and examined it.
“… Excellent, very excellent. You’re the most efficient and responsible detective I’ve ever met. I’m honored to introduce you as a member of the Quelaag Club… This is the remaining 7 pounds for the payment. You deserve it.” Mary took out a wallet from her leather handbag and counted out a five-pound note and two one-pound notes.
Then, without waiting for Klein’s response, she stuffed the photo back into the envelope, put it into her handbag, and abruptly got up to leave.
As she opened the door, Mary stumbled and almost fell, but fortunately, Stelyn caught her.
With this episode, Mary clearly slowed down and seemed to turn calm.
He returned to the second floor, took a nap, waking up comfortably to the bell chimes of the nearby church.
Klein had already searched the map and confirmed that Williams Street was at the border of the West Borough and Empress Borough, a residential area in the heart of Backlund.
The gas lamps haven’t been lit yet, and the streets were surprisingly darker than during the evenings; however, the air was fairly alright, without the suffocating air in the boroughs to the east.
Taking a rental carriage, he went all the way to Williams Street. Klein saw a waiting manservant outside the Unit 8 house.
The manservant, who was dressed in a red vest and light-colored trousers, bowed respectfully at the incoming visitor.
“Good afternoon, might I inquire if you are Detective Moriarty?”
“Yes, I have an appointment with Mr. Carter.” Klein nodded and followed the manservant into a mansion with a garden and lawn.
The house was two stories tall. The first floor was in a mess, with a lot of construction materials placed everywhere. There were workers coming in and doing some modifications.
Millet Carter wasn’t wearing a hat. Covering his nose, he walked over.
“I’m very sorry about the mess and dirt here, but I do wish that everything will be fine before my family arrives in Backlund. I can only urge them to keep working nonstop.”
Having said that, he looked at the manservant and instructed, “Continue watching them.”
“Is that so?” Millet led Klein to the basement and asked doubtfully.
“I’ve never verified it, but I chose to believe in authority. It’s said that this originated from the words passed down by Emperor Roselle,” Klein casually fabricated an excuse.
Millet nodded, then turned to look at the door. He couldn’t help but frown before asking, “Mr. Detective, you didn’t bring an assistant?
“There might be quite a bit of danger in that structure.”
“I’m experienced in this area, so I won’t put myself in a dangerous situation. If I were matched with inexperienced assistants, it might easily affect my nimble and decisive actions.”
Millet was startled.
“You’re very professional.”
Without any further doubts, Millet led Detective Moriarty through the cluttered living room and down the stairs to a fairly spacious basement.
There were no gas pipes here, but four metal candlesticks were set into the walls, their yellow lights flickering.
Stepping on the stone pavements on the ground, Klein couldn’t help but sigh in reflection.
At this moment, Millet pointed ahead and said, “There’s a secret door over there. It was discovered by the workers when they were renovating.”
Klein focused his gaze. With the not-very-bright candlelight, he saw a gray stone door in the corner. It should’ve been part of the wall, but it was now exposed.
“I’ll leave the rest to you. Be safe.” The old gentleman, Millet, gave Klein a lighted lantern and cautioned him.
“Has this place been ventilated ahead of time?” Klein asked cautiously.
Millet shook his head indiscernibly.
“It’s not particularly stuffy inside, but I didn’t let the workers go too far.”
“Alright.” Klein checked his belongings, put on a black glove, and, under Millet’s gaze, unhurriedly carried the lantern and approached the stone door. He pushed it open with his cane.
Amidst the heavy creaking sounds, through the light outside, he saw a deep-colored passageway paved with stone.
There were several wooden doors on both sides of the passageway and at the end. They had already begun to rot, but they were still barely usable.
The light dispersed the darkness, and when he passed by the rooms on either side, he was able to see a somewhat empty scene through the open door which was likely opened due to the exploration from the workers Millet had hired. There was also a long bench and a table that shared the same aesthetic style as the door.
Stretching out his gloved right hand, he half-clamped his cane and slowly pushed against the door.
A jarring sound of friction began to reverberate through the air as the stone door slowly cracked open. Spirit light suddenly appeared in Klein’s eyes, reflecting an intertwined aura of different colors.
His heart tightened as he pushed the door open, before taking a few steps back.
The crack in the stone door widened rapidly, and a slimy black creature fell from above.
It was a snake with a triangular head and red floral patterns on its head!
It straightened its upper body, shot out its tongue, and looked at Klein with cold brown eyes.
One snake after another fell from above the door as they piled up at the entrance.
Klein saw a large hall beyond them. In the middle of the hall, countless snakes of various colors slithered together, forming an exaggerated nest of snakes about ten meters wide. The slimy, disgusting feeling assaulted his senses.
Klein felt his scalp turn numb as he couldn’t help but take two steps back. He even wanted to look away without daring to look straight ahead.
Although he was a man, he was still afraid of snakes. Snakes were the animal that he was most afraid of.
This stemmed from a psychological trauma in the past. When he was a child—despite being way past his bedtime—he liked to secretly open the door to his room and watch movies with his parents through a crack.
Unfortunately, his parents once watched a snake disaster movie. One scene involved the demolition of a building. The result was the unearthing of a large nest of snakes, and the dense squirming remained deeply imprinted in his mind.
Miss Bodyguard in her black Gothic dress quickly appeared by his side, her mouth tightly closed. She didn’t say a thing.
Klein looked at her and she looked back at Klein, but no one spoke.
When a snake slowly slithered out, Klein finally coughed and repeated, “Do you have any solutions?”
Miss Bodyguard didn’t answer. Instead, she floated and suddenly, a cold wind blew in the passageway.
The wind howled as it blew into the hall. The temperatures dropped rapidly as it approached the temperatures of the outside world.
The densely-packed snakes in the middle of the hall suddenly slithered in all directions, searching for a warmer, more suitable spot to survive.
Two to three minutes later, a thin layer of frost formed on the surface of the hall and the passageway, and countless snakes had disappeared without much of a trace.
The continued as Klein said, chattering, “T-that’s quite enough.”
The surging cold wind slowed down, but the cold didn’t subside. Miss Bodyguard’s figure disappeared once again.
Klein lifted his cane-wielding right hand, covered his mouth and nose, and sneezed. Then, he raised the lantern and cautiously walked through the stone door into the wide hall.
The style here was identical to the passageway outside. There were eight circular columns of the same color erected there.
Metal poles hung from the high dome, and at the bottom were candlesticks carved into different creatures.
An upside-down candlestick… As a university student of the History department, a person who could barely be called an elite in this field, Klein made a preliminary judgment based on this unique arrangement.
