Part 1 THE JOKER CHAPTER 157 THE ITEMS OF YOUR DREAMS
”No, we don’t …… “Before Klein could finish his retort, Benson interrupted with a smile, “While it’s true that Elizabeth is a bit younger, and while her family situation is quite a bit more outstanding than ours, I think you are still quite suitable, only you may have to wait a few years, she is in public school and aims to enter university, marriage is at least six or seven years away, of course, you can be engaged first.”
…… Will you guys stop thinking so long term …… Klein took a breath and said:
”I don’t really like Elizabeth, well, to be precise, I don’t really like girls much younger than me, I like the more mature ones.”
Actually, within reason, I can accept it, but not now …… he added in his mind helplessly.
”Like a little more mature?” Melissa frowned slightly and said, “Then you must solve the marriage problem as soon as possible.”
Huh? Klein really struggled to understand his sister’s jumping thoughts and asked back blankly:
”Why?”
Melissa very seriously explained, “By the time you have saved up enough money for your future marriage, you will be almost twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and girls who are a little more mature than you will have either already gotten married or have long been engaged at that age, do you want to pursue a widow?”
What’s all this with ah …… Klein full of dumbfounded face returned in Chinese in his mind.
Benson, on the other hand, laughed and retorted to his sister:
”Melissa, you don’t understand, in today’s middle class, it’s not uncommon to find ladies in their thirties who aren’t married or engaged, they’re predominantly devotees of the Goddess, and most possess the ability to make a good living for themselves, preferring to be single rather than accepting an unsatisfactory marriage, er, I read about it in Family magazine.”
”Yeah?” Melissa was, after all, only a sixteen year old girl and didn’t know much about anything like that.
Seeing his brother and sister talking more and more, Klein coughed and said:
”When I said a little more mature, I meant a mental state, not necessarily older than me, and besides, it’s Benson who should be more worried about marriage.”
I’m sorry, brother, I had no choice …… He silently apologized in his heart.
”…… “Melissa froze for a moment, then nodded heavily, “Yes!”
Would have liked to speak specifically about middle class marriage, Benson suddenly winced and looked at his sister who gazed at him and said:
”I am at a turning point in my life, I must devote all my energy to my studies, and when I have a satisfying job and some savings, I will have the confidence to pursue the lady of my choice and give her a good enough life.”
Klein and Melissa were stunned at first, and then took off at the same time:
”You have a lady of your choice?”
Benson, who was only casually making a perfunctory remark, was startled and shook his head in a panic:
”No!”
”I’m just giving you an example!”
……
Inside a slightly dark and dimly lit house in the Hilston district, Bakerland.
In front of the unlit fireplace, a middle-aged or elderly man with graying temples and a dark-colored pipe sat comfortably in a rocking chair, gazing furtively at the visitors in the couch area.
He was the owner of the place, Eisinger Stanton, a very well known private investigator within the coterie, but he had not opened an office, and had only hired an assistant to help him.
Dressed in a white shirt and black waistcoat, Eisinger brought his pipe to his mouth, inhaled intoxicatingly and exhaled slowly, saying:
”Half an hour’s consultation costs a pound, and I certainly wouldn’t waste a second of my time if I were you.”
The two ladies in the sofa area were Forsyth Wall and Hugh Dilcha, who had collected information on “Hurricane Lieutenant General” Zillinger, and intended to ask the great detective who was good at deduction to help summarize the target’s behavioral patterns.
Of course, they hid the name of Zillinger and changed the description of the content involving the extraordinary.
Looking at Eisinger, whose face was slim and angular, with light and dark blue eyes, Hugh Dilcha handed the pouch of documents in his hand to the other party’s assistant, a brunette young man with gold-rimmed glasses and a competent demeanor.
”Mr. Detective, I’d like you to find out from the information the pattern of the target’s behavior in Bakerland.”
Though not tall, when Hugh Dilcha sat upright and spoke in a deep voice, the majesty still made people want to obey.
Eisinger gave her a deep look, took the pouch of papers from his assistant, untwisted it, and drew out the information inside.
He put down his pipe and read them intently, one by one, without missing a beat.
Ten minutes later, the gentleman with graying temples slowly tapped up the armchair:
”The target has a paranoid love for the wind …… Then, in the ‘Dust Capital’ of Bakerland, he certainly won’t pick a heavily polluted area to live in for a long period of time, which means that he could be living in Queens, the West Side, the Hillsboro Chorwood, or the outskirts of the North End ……”
”The target is a psychologically disturbed serial killer who murders a living person every other day …… The logical thing to do would be to target the homeless, and in Bakerland, even the police can’t figure out how many homeless there are… …”
”The area where the target lives is not too close or too far away from places like the East End and Birkeland Bridge where there are many homeless people …… Frequent searching around for victims is a sign of immaturity, which does not match your description …… And If it takes a long time to find the person you want to murder, the target may not be able to control his desire to commit a crime in an easily exposed situation ……”
”The target is a veteran sailor with very impressive water mobility …… A reasonable inference is that he doesn’t live too far from the river, and in the event of an accident, that would be his best bet for a safe escape …… ”
……
”Summarizing the above, we can outline the target’s range of activities, he resides not far from the Bakerland Bridge area, consider both sides of the Tassock River in the West End and Chorwood area ……”
……
”That is all that can be deduced from the information you have given.”
It didn’t make much sense, but it seemed to make sense …… Hugh and Forsyth looked at each other, nodded solemnly, retrieved the information, and rose to take their leave.
Looking at the backs of the aides sending the two ladies out the door, Eisinger, whose temples were graying, pulled out a brass trinket from his vest pocket, a pocket-sized, spread-out book with a vertical eye in the center.
Eisinger rocked his rocking chair slightly, rubbing the trinket as he whispered to himself:
”Zilingus has infiltrated Berkland?”
……
Inside a basement in Pritz Harbor.
”Alger the Hanged Man sits in a chair and looks coolly at the writhing, struggling man in front of him.
The man was dressed as a sailor, his head was completely wrapped in a light blue film of water, and his face was purple and red.
His hands kept clawing and tugging at his face, but only managed to throw out drops of liquid.
Finally, he couldn’t bear it and gave the signal of submission.
The corner of Alger’s mouth hooked up and he casually slapped his palm.
The light blue film of water immediately disintegrated and turned into raindrops, falling to the ground.
The man dressed as a sailor gasped for air, wheezing until he coughed violently, coughing until he tore his heart and shattered his lungs.
When the other man calmed down, Alger leaned back slightly and mimicked the calm, bland tone of the Fool’s voice:
”Tell me the purpose of Zylingus’ visit to Berkland.”
”He… He was there to fulfill a commission, but I’m not sure exactly what it was.” The pirate completely lost his will to resist, and answered honestly and frankly, “I only know of the benefits he may obtain, and Zillingerus once mentioned gleefully in front of us that if this time went well, he would obtain an item he had dreamed of for a long time, and that the ‘Four Kings’ in the pirates would become the ‘Five Kings’.”
A long-dreamed of item? Alger frowned and fell into deep thought.
……
On Monday morning, Klein still couldn’t take a break and continued to follow the plan of lining up the houses with red chimneys in Tingen City.
Unfortunately, this time, he still failed to find his target.
He returned home around noon, warmed up last night’s leftovers, nibbled on a loaf of oatmeal bread, and proceeded to catch up on his sleep for an hour.
When it was two-forty, Klein put down the book in his hands, sealed his bedroom with his spirituality, and once again entered the mysterious space above the gray mist.
He casually sat at the head of the bronze table, did not care about the frequency of the heartbeat of the “sun”, stretched out his right hand, in advance of the response.
Inside Silver City.
Derek Burger was sweating on the practice field when he suddenly saw a gray fog and the “Fool” sitting on a high-backed chair.
He was first stunned, then stopped moving and lowered his head.
When the “illusion” disappeared, he counted his heartbeats silently, took the silver-white straight sword, and walked quickly to the rest area.
A thousand heartbeats later, he had locked himself in a separate washroom.
After waiting for another dozen breaths, he saw crimson light pouring in from the void, drowning itself in a flash.
Above the gray mist, Klein leaned back, tapped his left tooth twice, and quietly opened his psychic vision.
He saw that deep in the etheric body of the Sun, the mottled colors became pure as the morning sun, and smiled and spoke:
”Congratulations, Mr. Glorifier.”
At the same time, he noticed that the bright stars behind the high-backed chair of the other party moved quickly and reorganized into the symbol of the sun.
It changed naturally without my intention, like a conditioned reflex …… Well, except for the palace, the long table, and the chair, none of the other figurative things could be preserved after I left this place …… They are very special …… There are so many secrets above this gray mist …… Klein gazed thoughtfully at what lay before him.
Derek bowed his head again and replied introspectively and humbly:
”This all stems from your help, and this is only the beginning.”
He was not at all surprised that the Fool could tell that he had taken the magic potion.
At that moment, Klein pulled out his silver pocket watch, pressed it open and looked at it, and smiled softly:
”Let’s get the party started then, and remember, it’ll be about the same frequency, well, or interval, after that as well.”
As he spoke, he established contact with the Crimson Star, symbolizing “Justice” and “The Inverted Man”, and pulled the two members back into the magnificent palace that was the home of the giants.
Audrey had just taken in the sight before her and immediately greeted her in a light tone:
”Good afternoon, Mr. Fool, I have another page of Rossel the Great’s diary here.”
”Good afternoon, Mr. Sun, did you get the ‘Mind Reader’ formula?”