Lord of Mysteries

Chapter Three: Melissa

With the plan finalized, Zhou Mingrui suddenly felt a sense of direction, all his fear, hesitation, and unease retreating into a corner.

Only now did he have the peace of mind to carefully examine the remaining fragments of Klein's memory.

Zhou Mingrui habitually stood up, turned off the pipe valve, and watched the wall lamp slowly dim until it went out. He then sat back down, unconsciously stroking the brass revolver of the pistol while pressing his hand to the side of his head, quietly "reminiscing" in the crimson-tinged darkness, like the most attentive audience member in a movie theater.

Perhaps affected by the bullet, Klein's memory was like shattered glass, not only lacking coherence but also clearly missing much information. For example, where did the exquisitely crafted revolver come from? Was it suicide or murder? What did the sentence in the notebook, "Everyone will die, including me," really mean? Had he been involved in any strange events in the two days before the incident?

Not only were these specific memories fragmented and incomplete, but even the knowledge he possessed was in the same state. Judging from his current condition, Zhou Mingrui believed that if Klein returned to university, he probably wouldn't be able to graduate, even though he had only been away from campus for a few days and hadn't relaxed his self-discipline in the slightest.

"Two days later, I have an interview for the History Department at Tingen University..."

"Universities in the Kingdom of Rune have a tradition of graduates not staying on as full-time... My advisor gave me a recommendation letter from Tingen University and a letter from Backlund University..."

...

As Zhou Mingrui silently "watched," the red moon outside the window gradually sank in the west until a faint light appeared in the east, and the horizon turned golden.

At this moment, movement came from inside the room, and soon, footsteps approached the isolation door.

"Melissa is awake... She's as punctual as ever." Zhou Mingrui smiled slightly, influenced by Klein's memories, he felt a sense of kinship with Melissa, like seeing his own younger sister.

However, I don't have a younger sister... he immediately muttered.

Unlike Benson and Klein, Melissa's early education wasn't completed at the Sunday school of the Church of the Goddess of Night. When she reached school age, the Kingdom of Rune enacted the "Elementary Education Law," establishing a committee for secondary and lower education and providing dedicated funding to increase investment.

Within three years, many public elementary schools were established, strictly adhering to the principle of religious neutrality and avoiding involvement in the conflicts between the Lord of Storms, the Goddess of Night, and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.

Compared to Sunday school, which cost only one copper penny a week, the three-pence tuition at public elementary schools seemed quite expensive, but the former only required one day of school per week, while the latter required six days of classes per week, making it almost free overall.

Unlike most girls, Melissa loved gears, springs, and bearings from a young age and aspired to become a steam mechanic.

Having suffered from a lack of education himself, her older brother Benson understood the importance of education, just as he had supported Klein's university education, supporting his sister's dream. After all, the Tingen Technical School was only considered secondary education, eliminating the need for further grammar or public school education.

Last July, fifteen-year-old Melissa passed the entrance exam and successfully became a student in the Steam and Mechanical Engineering Department of Tingen Technical School, with her weekly tuition increasing to nine pence.

Meanwhile, Benson's import/export company, affected by the situation in the Southern Continent, saw a significant reduction in both profits and business volume, forcing them to lay off more than a third of their staff. To keep his job and make a living, Benson had to accept even heavier workloads, frequently working overtime or traveling to harsh environments, as he had been doing these past few days.

Klein had considered helping his brother, but being born into a commoner family and attending an ordinary grammar school, he immediately felt his own inadequacy upon entering university. For example, the ancient Fursaq language, the ancestral language of all countries in the Northern Continent, was something that noble children and wealthy families had to learn from a young age, something he only encountered for the first time in university.

There were many similar examples. Klein exerted almost all his strength, often staying up late and getting up early, just to barely catch up with others and graduate with average grades.

Memories of his older brother and sister flashed through Zhou Mingrui's mind until he turned the handle and the door to the inner room creaked open. He suddenly snapped back to reality, remembering he was holding a revolver in his hand.

This was a semi-controlled item!

It would scare children!

And then there was the wound on his head!

Seeing Melissa about to emerge, Zhou Mingrui pressed his temple while frantically pulling open a desk drawer and tossing the revolver inside with a bang.

"What happened?" Melissa, hearing the noise, looked over in confusion.

She was in the prime of her youth; even though she didn't eat well, her face was thin and slightly pale, but her skin still radiated a youthful glow.

Seeing his sister's probing brown eyes, Zhou Mingrui forced himself to remain calm, picked up the nearest object, and then calmly closed the drawer, concealing the revolver. The sensation on his temple confirmed that the wound had healed.

He took out a silver-white pocket watch with vine and leaf patterns from the drawer. With a gentle press of the top, the cover popped open.

It was the most valuable item left by the three siblings' father, a Royal Army sergeant, but secondhand is secondhand, and it had been malfunctioning frequently in recent years, even after being repaired by a watchmaker. This had repeatedly embarrassed Benson, who liked to wear it to enhance his status, so he simply left it at home.

It must be said that Melissa might truly have a talent for mechanics. After mastering the theoretical knowledge, she began to tinker with this pocket watch using the tools from the technical school, and recently even claimed to have fixed it!

Zhou Mingrui watched the cover pop open and saw the second hand stop moving.

He subconsciously turned the top, intending to wind the pocket watch. However, after turning it several times, there was still no sound of the mainspring tightening, and the second hand remained motionless.

"Looks like it's broken again." He looked at his sister, trying to make conversation.

Melissa glanced at him expressionlessly, quickly came over, and snatched the pocket watch away.

She stood there, first pulling up the button on the top of the pocket watch. After only a few turns, the ticking of the second hand began to sound.

Normally, pulling it up should be for adjusting the time... Zhou Mingrui's expression immediately froze.

Just then, the distant cathedral bells rang out, six times in a row, melodious and ethereal.

Melissa listened intently, then pulled the button on the top of the pocket watch up a little further, and then turned it several times to set the time.

"All done," she said briefly, without a trace of emotion, then pressed the button back up and returned the pocket watch to Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui returned an awkward but polite smile.

Melissa gave her brother another deep look, turned and walked to the cabinet, grabbed a toothbrush and towel, opened the door, and headed to the communal restroom.

"Why did her expression just now have a hint of disgust and helplessness?"

"The look of concern for her mentally challenged brother?"

Zhou Mingrui shook his head and chuckled, snapping the watch case shut and then snapping it open again.

Repeating these actions, his thoughts drifted to a question.

Without a silencer, Klein committed suicide—well, let's call it suicide for now—and the noise he made was definitely not small; Melissa, sitting just a wall away, was completely unaware.

Was she sleeping too soundly? Or was the whole incident of Klein's suicide simply eerie?

*Snap, open; click, close…* Melissa returned from washing up to find her brother unconsciously opening and closing the pocket watch lid.

Her gaze softened with helplessness once more, and she said sweetly,

“Klein, take out the rest of the bread. Remember to buy new ones today, and meat and peas too. You have an interview soon, I’ll make you lamb stew with peas.”

As she spoke, she moved the stove from the corner, used the remaining embers to start a fire, and boiled a pot of water.

Before the water boiled, she opened the bottom drawer of the cupboard, carefully took out a tin of inferior tea leaves, and sprinkled about ten leaves into the pot, pretending it was real tea.

They each poured two large cups, and Melissa and Zhou Mingrui shared two strips of rye bread with the tea.

There were no sawdust particles, not much gluten, but it still didn’t taste good… Zhou Mingrui was weak and hungry, and relying on the tea, he forced himself to swallow the bread while muttering to himself.

A few minutes later, Melissa finished eating, smoothed her black hair that fell to her vest, and looked at Zhou Mingrui, saying,

"Remember to buy new bread, only eight pounds. It's hot, too much will spoil easily. Also, lamb and peas, remember!"

She really cares about her bookish brother, having to emphasize it again… Zhou Mingrui smiled and nodded:

"Okay."

Regarding one pound in the Kingdom of Rune, based on Klein's physical memory and his own comparison, Zhou Mingrui believed it was close to his usual jin (a unit of weight), which is 0.5 kilograms.

Melissa didn't say anything more, got up, tidied up, packed the last loaf of bread for lunch, put on the old gauze hat her mother had left her, picked up her handbag for books and stationery, and prepared to leave.

Today wasn't Sunday; she had to attend classes all day.

It took about fifty minutes to walk from this apartment to the Tingen Technical School. There were public carriages, costing one penny per kilometer, with a maximum of four pennies within the city and six pennies in the suburbs. To save money, Melissa always left early and walked.

She paused as soon as she opened the door, turning halfway around to say,

"Klein, don't buy too much lamb and peas. Benson might not be back until Sunday. Um, remember the bread is only eight pounds."

"Okay, okay," Zhou Mingrui replied helplessly.

At the same time, he silently repeated the word "Sunday" several times in his mind.

In the Northern Continent, a year is also divided into twelve months, with 365 to 366 days, and a week also has seven days.

The former was an achievement of astronomy, leading Zhou Mingrui to suspect this was a parallel world; the latter stemmed from religion, as the Northern Continent had seven orthodox deities: the Eternal Sun, the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Goddess of Night, the Earth Mother, the God of War, and the God of Steam and Machinery.

Watching his sister close the door and leave, Zhou Mingrui suddenly sighed, quickly shifting his thoughts to the fortune-changing ritual.

Sorry, I really want to go home…