LOM: Lord of Mysticism

"There is the presence of supernatural factors..." Klein's eyes returned to normal, and he looked at Leonard and Frye.

Leonard chuckled. "Very professional and deserving of the title of Seer."

Frye opened his suitcase and took out a silver knife and other tools. "The corpse tells me that she really died of a heart attack. Do you have any way to divine a more detailed answer?"

Klein nodded. "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 took two steps back. "Give it a try."

Klein 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.

...

He entered the dreamland whilst standing and 'saw' a translucent spirit lingering around the corpse.

He extended his illusory right hand to touch Mrs. Lauwis's remaining spirituality. In an instant, 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 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 felt weary and got into bed, but she never woke up ever again.

Klein observed every detail, intending to look for a trace of the supernatural factor. When everything ended, he still hadn't gained any clues.

As the blurriness shattered, Klein left the dreamland. He dispelled the wall of spirituality and said, "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 sick, even at no cost. Time is not something they can afford to lose; a day without work might mean no food on the table the next day." Leonard said. "Are you implying that the supernatural factor came into play when Mrs. Lauwis was patted by a lady or madam?"

Klein replied, "Yes, but this is merely my interpretation. Divination is always unclear."

The conversation ended. He and Leonard stepped back to the other side of the bed and allowed Frye to take out his tools from his suitcase so he could do a further examination.

After Frye was done, they waited as he packed up his tools. After cleaning up and covering the corpse, he turned around and said, "Her death was caused by a natural heart disease. There's no doubt about it."

Leonard paced back and forth. He paused for quite a while before saying, "That's it for now. Let's head over to the workhouse in West Borough. We'll see if we can find other clues. Maybe we can link the two incidents together."

"Okay, we can only hope," Klein agreed.

Leonard opened the door, walking out of the room first, and told Lauwis and the tenant, "You can return home now."

"Don't be in a hurry to bury the body. Wait for another day, as there might be one more thorough examination." Klein added.

"A-alright, Officer." Lauwis bowed and replied in a hurry. "A-actually, I... I don't have the money to bury her just yet. I have to save for another few days. Luckily, the weather is turning cold."

Klein asked, "You plan on letting the corpse remain in the room for a few days?"

Lauwis replied, "Yeah, thankfully, the weather became colder recently. I can move the body onto the table at night. When we eat, I can carry her to the bed..."

"I've left you money for the burial next to your wife." Frye said and exited the apartment.

Klein followed closely while thinking. If the weather was still as hot as June or July, how would Lauwis deal with his wife's corpse? Would he pick a dark night with strong winds and throw it into the Tussock or Khoy River? Or just dig a hole and bury her?

The law requiring a cemetery burial had been established more than a thousand years ago, at the end of the previous Epoch. The seven major churches and imperial households from each country had approved the law in order to cut down on the number of water ghosts, zombies, and restless wraiths.

Each country provided free land, while each church was in charge of keeping watch and patrolling. They only charged minimum fees for cremation and burial in order to pay for the necessary labor force.

But even so, the truly poor still couldn't afford it.

After leaving 134 Iron Cross Street at Lower Street, the three Nighthawks and Bitsch Mountbatten parted ways. Silently, they took a turn to the nearby workhouse in West Borough.

As they got closer, Klein saw a long queue. The place was packed.

"There are about a hundred, no, closer to two hundred," he muttered. He saw the people queuing were in tattered clothes. Occasionally they looked towards the door of the workhouse impatiently.

Frye slowed down and said, "There is a limit to the number of homeless poor each workhouse will accept daily. They can only take them in based on the queue order. Of course, the workhouse will examine and refuse entry to those who fail to meet the criteria."

"The economic recession in the recent months has played a part too..." Leonard sighed.

"Those who don't manage to queue will have to figure out a way of their own?" Klein asked.

"They can also try their luck in the other workhouses. Different workhouses have different operating hours. However, each one has the same long line. Some of them would wait from two in the afternoon." Frye paused. "The rest of the people mostly starve for a day. Then, they lose their ability to find a job and fall into a vicious cycle. Those who can't withstand the hardship find it hard to stay on the good side of the law..."

Klein let out a sigh. "The newspapers would never publish any of this... Mr. Frye, I hardly ever hear you speak so much."

"I was once a pastor in a workhouse of the Goddess," Frye said.

When the three of them arrived at the door of the workhouse in West Borough, they showed their identity documents to the doorkeeper before they were taken into the workhouse.

The workhouse was transformed from an old church. There were mattresses and hammocks all over the Mass hall. The pungent scent of sweat permeated every corner.

In and out of the hall, there were many poor families. Some swung hammers to break rocks, and some picked oakum; no one was free.

"In order to not let poor people rely too much on workhouses and turn into scoundrels, the Poor Law established in 1336 enforced a rule whereby every poor person can only stay in the workhouse for five days at most. Any longer than that, one would be cast out. During the five days, they have to do manual labor, such as breaking rocks or picking oakum. These are the same tasks that criminals in prison do," Frye explained briefly.

Leonard said, "When they leave this workhouse, they could go to another one. Of course, they might not be able to move in. Heh, perhaps, to some people, poor people are like criminals."

"Picking oakum?" Klein asked.

"The fibers of old ropes are actually a great material to seal the gaps in boats." Frye stopped near a burnt mark on the ground.

A few minutes later, the director and pastor of the workhouse rushed over. They were both men in their forties.

"Salus started the fire here and only burnt himself to death?" Leonard asked, pointing at the ashen mark on the ground.

The director of the workhouse scanned the area where Mitchell was pointing and nodded. "Yes."

"Before that, did Salus act strangely in any way?" Klein asked.

The director said, "According to the person that slept next to him, Salus had been chanting with hopelessness, 'The Lord has given up on me,' 'The world is too filthy,' 'I have nothing left,' stuff along those lines. However, no one expected that he would break all the kerosene lamps and start a fire intending to burn the place down while everyone was sleeping. Thank the Lord, someone found out in time and stopped his wicked act."

Klein and Leonard then found some people who had slept next to Salus the night before and also the guard that stopped the tragedy. However, those people didn't have any new information. Of course, they used Spirit Vision, divination, and other methods to check if any of the people were lying or misleading them.

"It seems that Salus long had this idea. There's nothing abnormal about this case." Leonard said after the director and the pastor left.

Klein pondered. "My divination tells me that a supernatural factor had influenced this incident."

"Let's eliminate Salus's fire case temporarily," Leonard concluded.

Frye said, "No, maybe there is another possibility. For example, Salus acted at the instigation of someone else, a Beyonder who didn't take any supernatural measures."

Klein echoed, "It's very possible, such as the Instigator from before!"