Picking up the porcelain cup and taking a sip of coffee, Klein swallowed the sweet and mellow flavor with three sugar cubes in his mouth, and then pointed to a passage he excerpted from his notebook.

"Look here, this is a report I found from a newspaper called "Connaught Wisdom Observer", which records the detailed information of some missing persons. It is said that the reporter from the newspaper came to ask the family members of the missing persons and got

The purpose of publishing the permission is to find out the points of connection between the missing persons through the joint efforts of the general public..."

In fact, the effect of this was not very good, and many family members of the missing persons did not cooperate. As a result, this series of reports was cut in half after being serialized for only two issues.

Klein has reason to suspect that this is a team of Beyonders under a certain local official force in Conant City, and they want to use this cunning operation to save the effort of using their brains...

Well, it definitely wouldn't be the Nighthawk's idea, it must be the Punisher or the Heart of the Machine.

But guess what, Klein, who actually discovered the problem, is very grateful for these two reports.

"Well, I don't seem to see anything in common."

Alice had already glanced at the missing persons information he had excerpted a few times, biting into a piece of tender pink round cake and shaking her head.

"If you look directly, of course you won't find anything in common between these people, because regardless of gender, age, origin, or occupation, you can hardly find any pattern at all, and their social circles don't even overlap, but if—"

As he spoke, Klein took out the pen from the inner pocket of his formal suit and wrote down his birthday number next to the information about the first missing person extracted from the note.

"The missing person is not yet 27 years old this year. The spiritual number that affects him can be directly calculated by adding the date of birth... On the 24th, the spiritual number obtained by adding up is '6'."

Immediately, he showed her one by one and calculated the spiritual numbers of the remaining four missing persons. Except for a certain middle-aged coachman whose birth spiritual number did not match, the current influencing spiritual numbers of the rest of them all happened to be 6.

this number.

"Four of the five people have the same pattern...it shouldn't be regarded as a coincidence." Alice nodded, and suddenly asked, "But why do you think these disappearances are related to the person who sent me the letter?"

related?"

As if he had expected that she would ask him such a question, Klein drank coffee leisurely and answered frankly:

"I have investigated the timing of your appearance in Tingen, as well as the major and minor events that occurred before and after that time, and found that only the serial disappearance cases in Dixi County were suddenly ended after you appeared. Therefore, the behind-the-scenes of those missing cases

It is also a very reasonable conjecture that people are connected with the person who called you."

"I see... Well, those people behind the scenes? Do you think they are a force?"

"Yes, and you said that when you first came here, you met the Extraordinary who called you 'Witch'... I think they may have regarded you and the person behind the disappearance as a group."

Klein adhered to the principle of saying too much and making mistakes, and tried his best to guide her to think along the lines of thought he designed without leaving any trace.

"...The one calling me is the 'Witch' of this world?"

Alice derived this conclusion quite naturally.

"I can't guarantee this. I only know that there is only one secret force related to witches... the 'Witch Cult' that has been passed down since the Fourth Age. Their members are all women. They are famous for spreading disasters and disasters.

An extremist organization. As for why they kidnap people with a birth number of '6', I haven't figured it out yet."

Klein said truthfully.

In an occult sense, the number 6 represents balance and coordination in life, but it is not certain whether the Witch Cult will adopt this meaning.

In the teachings of the Goddess of the Night, 7 is the spiritual number corresponding to the goddess. If 6 is understood according to this teaching, this number will have the meaning of "1" defect.

"The Witch Cult..." Alice repeated the phrase, nodded slightly, and then picked up a piece of small round cake and asked, "How many victims are there in the serial disappearance case? What if it is really something particularly important?

The official extraordinary organization will definitely pay attention to this incident, and maybe they have discovered the reason why the witches kidnapped people with a birth number of '6'."

"About ten people? The newspaper didn't mention the specific number, and do you think I'm someone who would know such important information?"

Klein spread his hands and acted unusually calm.

He didn't lie. Given his authority level, he did not know the inside story of Dixi's disappearance.

But he can probably guess that maybe someone has discovered the mystery of the missing person's birth number, or maybe there is a large amount of error data in the missing person's birth number that is not '6', which makes the extraordinary people rule out this judgment.

What's more, he and others received a notice from the captain yesterday, saying that the wanted countermeasures for the "Mirror Witch" have been adjusted, and they usually don't need to pay special attention to the wanted "Witch of Joy."

…If it weren’t for the discovery of something by the church’s top brass, Klein believes there would not have been such a change.

Otherwise, just look at the wanted notice for the defected archbishop next door. The captain never said that there was no need to report this person's whereabouts.

Although no one has ever seen him.

But no matter what, the real point to be conveyed to Alice has been reached.

Sure enough, Alice did not continue to dwell on the issue of the birth number, but instead mentioned the name of the Witch Sect.

He didn’t know what she was thinking about. When the focus of her eyes was on Klein again, he heard her smile and praise like this:

"You are quite capable. It's surprising that you can find so much in just two days."

"You get what you pay for, and I will definitely take the money seriously. If there are any new developments in the follow-up investigation, I will tell you again."

Klein accepted her praise without humility, but he said in his heart that it was entirely because he had seen the internal files of the Nighthawks and was certain that there was a connection between her and the Witch Cult...

But there is no need to say this.

Klein happily accepted the brand-new 10-pound note, while Alice held her chin with a thoughtful expression on her face. The two were speechless for a moment.

The private room with the small heart-shaped lamp lit fell into silence, but the atmosphere was not solidified. Instead, it was filled with the fragrance of scented tea, and there was a certain sense of lazy tranquility that belonged exclusively to the afternoon.

I kind of wish that time would stop passing like this...

There are no bizarre and extraordinary events, there is no need to face the murderer who caused the murder, there is no need to worry about daily food, rice, oil, salt and wages, as well as the desire to go home hidden in the heart...

Klein felt that he was not qualified to escape these problems, but since time traveling, he had been tense all the time, rushing to the destination every day without stopping. Even on his days off, he had to worry about the mysterious transportation ceremony and the Tarot meeting.

The top shows off the inscrutable and strong demeanor...

The time at this moment, even if it was just one more second, would be good for him. He could escape from the complicated worldly affairs and enjoy this rare and luxurious lazy time willfully and greedily.

——And macarons! Oh, they should be called "Intis-style colorful round cakes" here...

After refilling himself a cup of scented tea - he had already finished his coffee when he was calculating spiritual numbers for Alice - Klein let his thoughts go and let his whole body sink into the soft seat, almost paralyzed.

move.

Only when he occasionally wanted to stuff the soft and delicious cookies into his mouth, he was willing to put in some effort, reach out for the colorful small desserts on the dessert plate, and then let the satisfaction brought by the sweetness fill his senses.

Until the final plate became increasingly empty, leaving only the last blackcurrant-colored round cake. Klein raised his hand to take it, but before touching its fragile surface, he touched another person's hand.

.

Warm, delicate feel with skin elasticity.

He suddenly woke up as if he was electrocuted, took back his hand, smiled awkwardly and expressed his willingness to give up the last macaron to the girl.

As soon as he finished speaking, Klein felt a twitch in his heart, secretly thinking that his naive reaction was not for nothing. Alice would most likely seize the opportunity to tease him to the point of blushing and heartbeat, providing her with material for her nasty nature of "pleasure".

.

But to his surprise, Alice was just stunned, without saying anything more or making any special expression. She just accepted his concession and finished the small round cake in small bites.

…

After that, until Klein washed away his fatigue and lay down on the bed in his room to fall asleep, nothing unexpected happened again.

With enough funds to buy enough spiritual materials and prepare to make half-finished amulets for Benson and Melissa... I can try carving tomorrow when I have nothing to do...

He vaguely planned what he would do tomorrow, and gradually fell into sleep.

——Well, dreamland. He had a dream.

It's not a reminder from spirituality, nor is it a valuable omen or revelation, it's just a simple dream with little nutrition.

At the beginning of the dream, it seemed to be a reenactment of the scene in which he used a pen to calculate spiritual numbers in the afternoon.

But when he saw the people sitting next to him clearly, he suddenly felt as if he had returned to his student days before time travel. He was sitting in a somewhat noisy self-study classroom, with a math test question on the table in front of him.

In the dream, he was holding a black pen and writing on the corrected test paper, but he would turn to look at the blond girl at the same table from time to time to make sure that she did not fall asleep while he was explaining.

After explaining the math problems, the scene suddenly changed. He seemed to have gone to college, and as soon as the summer vacation came, he was called out to go shopping by his pretty girlfriend who was already in a relationship.

She is dressed beautifully in a T-shirt and denim hot pants. She has a curvy figure and a pair of delicate and slender legs that look like white lotus roots drawn by someone.

She held his hand and walked through the exquisite and bright glass windows, occasionally stopping to look at the products displayed inside, her green eyes shining brightly.

When they were tired of shopping, they took the elevator to the couple's restaurant on the top floor of the building and ordered a large table of colorful ice cream and various desserts. They joked with each other that they would definitely gain ten pounds after eating.

She was always so quirky and would not let go of every opportunity to make him blush.

So in the restaurant where classical piano music was slowly playing, she picked out the slender chocolate bar on the parfait plate, bit one end in her mouth, and then smiled evilly and motioned for him to come over and eat the dipped bar.

Chocolate with ice cream.

...Of course, in the dream, he was not so carefree and would just let her think.

He came closer, lowered his head and bit the two soft and delicate lips.

The chocolate bar dipped in ice cream quickly melted completely under their alternating body temperatures, spreading a sweet and slightly bitter taste in the mouth.

It was an all-too-familiar taste of chocolate.

Mmm, very sweet.

With his heart full of sweet joy, Klein woke up with a silly smile.

After waking up, he was just stupid and had no joy.

...How could you have such a ridiculous dream?! Could it be that you were further affected by Alice's charm ability?
To be continued...