Part 1 The Joker Chapter 15 The Invitation

　　”Why?” Upon hearing Dunn’s words, Klein’s mind exploded and he instinctively blurted out.

　　Extraordinary people have serious hidden dangers? So much so that the judgmental organs within the church, the extraordinary people who dealt with evil events, were also prone to problems?

　　Dunn Smith stepped into the compartment and took his previous seat, keeping his expression and tone as usual:

　　”This is not something you need to understand, nor is it something you can understand unless you become one of us.”

　　Dumbfounded for a moment, Klein followed suit and sat down, half amused, half puzzled:

　　”How can you possibly make a decision to join without figuring this out?”

　　And without joining, there’s no way to understand it, so it’s a dead end ……

　　Dunn Smith took out his pipe again and just put it on the end of his nose and took a drag:

　　”You’re probably mistaken, one of our members includes civilians.”

　　”That is to say, by becoming one of your clerical staff, you can learn the relevant secrets, figure out the hidden dangers and possible dangers encountered by the Extraordinary, and then consider the question of whether to become an Extraordinary afterward?” Klein re-described the other side’s meaning in his own words as he organized his thoughts.

　　Dunn smiled and said:

　　”That’s true, except for one thing, that is, it’s not that if you consider becoming an Extraordinary One, you will definitely become one, in this regard, all the major churches are equally strict.”

　　It’s only strange if it’s not strict …… Klein ventriloquized and said with a gesture that reinforced his tone:

　　”What about clerical staff? That should be strict too, right?”

　　”If it’s you, then it shouldn’t be a problem.” Dunn’s eyes were half-closed, and he was sniffing his pipe with a slightly stretched expression, but not lighting his cigarette.

　　”Why?” Again Klein was puzzled.

　　At the same time, he mentally chortled to himself:

　　Could it be that my specialness, my traveler’s aura, is like a firefly in the dark night, so distinct, so outstanding?

　　Dunn opened his half-closed eyes, his gray eyes as dark as before:

　　”Firstly, being able to survive such an event without our help shows that you have strengths that are different from others, such as, luck, and lucky people are always popular.”

　　Seeing Klein’s expression become a bit dull, he smiled slightly:

　　”Well, take it as a humorous statement, secondly, you are a graduate of the history department of Hoy University, which is something we need very much, although Lulmi, a follower of the Storm Lord, has a disgusting attitude towards women, his views on society, humanities, economy and politics are still sharp, he said that talent is a key factor in maintaining a competitive edge and good development, this is something that I agree with.”

　　Noticing Klein’s slight frown, he casually explained:

　　”As you should be able to imagine, we will often come into contact with documents and items from the Quaternary era and even earlier, and quite a few cults and many heresies have tried to gain power from these things, and there are times when they themselves lead to weird and horrible things.”

　　”With the exception of the extraordinary in special fields, most of us aren’t very good at learning, or have passed that age.” Speaking here, Dunn Smith pointed to his head, the corner of his mouth slightly hooked as if in self-deprecation, “Those boring, tedious knowledge always makes people want to sleep, even the insomniacs, can’t resist. In the past, we would look for historians and archaeologists to collaborate with, but this would risk the leakage of hidden secrets, and might also bring bad encounters to Mr. Professors and Associate Professors, so having a professional to join and become a member of us is a good thing that is hard to refuse.”

　　Klein nodded gently, accepting Dunn’s statement, and asked with a divergent thought:

　　”So why didn’t you guys just, uh, develop one before?”

　　Dunn continued, self-consciously:

　　”That’s the third and final and most important point, you’ve been exposed to a similar incident, there’s no question of violating the terms of secrecy by inviting you to do so, whereas developing someone else in addition, if it fails, I’ll take the blame for the leakage of the hidden secrets. The vast majority of our crew, our clerics, come from within the Church.”

　　Listening quietly, Klein wondered:

　　”Why do you guys keep it so strictly secret? Wouldn’t a lot of things being published and circulated so that more people know about them prevent the same mistakes from happening again? The greatest fear comes from the unknown, and we can make the unknown known.”

　　”No. Humans are stupider than you can imagine, and this will instead lead to more imitations, greater confusion and more serious incidents.” Dunn Smith replied, shaking his head.

　　Klein let out a “hmmm” and said with some understanding:

　　”The only lesson mankind has learned from history is that mankind is incapable of learning any lessons from history and always repeats the same tragedies.”

　　”That famous quote from Emperor Roselle is indeed philosophical.” Dunn agreed.

　　…… Emperor Roselle said that? The traveler’s predecessor is really three hundred and sixty degrees without a dead angle not leaving the later with a chance to pretend ah …… Klein for a moment actually did not know how to answer.

　　Dunn turned his head to look outside the carriage, the dimness of the streetlights intertwined with the light of civilization.

　　”…… There is a similar phrase within the judgmental organs of the major churches, which is perhaps the main reason for the strict secrecy that prohibits ordinary people from knowing about it.”

　　”What is it?” Klein’s spirit lifted with the thrill of spying on a hidden secret.

　　Dunn’s head snapped back, his face muscles pulling imperceptibly:

　　”Belief and fear bring trouble, and more belief and fear bring even more trouble, until everything is destroyed.”

　　After saying this, he sighed:

　　”And there is no way for mankind to solve really big trouble except by praying to the gods for blessing and help.”

　　”Belief and fear bring trouble, and more belief and fear bring even more trouble ……” Klein mumbled the words, not quite able to understand them, and then feeling fearful because of the unknown that he didn’t quite understand, as if in the shadows of the street lamps outside, in the darkness without light as if in the shadows of the streetlamps outside, in the darkness without light, there were eyes full of malice and open mouths.

　　With hooves gaunt and wheels rolling and Iron Cross in sight, Dunn broke the sudden silence with a formal invitation:

　　”Are you going to join us as a civilian?”

　　Thoughts surged through Klein, briefly unable to decide, and he thought for a moment:

　　”May I think about it?”

　　There was too much at stake to make a hasty and reckless choice.

　　”No problem, just give me an answer by Sunday.” Dunn nodded his head, “Of course, remember to keep it confidential, you can’t tell anyone else about the Welch-related incident, including your brother and sister, once you violate it, it will not only bring them trouble, but it may also lead to you going to the special court.”

　　”Good.” Klein replied solemnly.

　　The carriage returned to silence.

　　Seeing that the Iron Cross Street was approaching and he was about to arrive home, Klein suddenly thought of a question and hesitated for a few seconds but still opened his mouth to ask:

　　”Mr. Smith, how about the salary and treatment of your civilian staff?”

　　This is a serious question ……

　　Dunn froze for a moment and then smiled:

　　”Don’t worry about this problem, our funding is jointly guaranteed by the church and the police department, the clerical staff who just entered, the weekly salary is 2 pounds and 10 Sools, in addition to 10 Sools of confidentiality and risk allowances, the total is also 3 pounds, not much worse than a formal university lecturer.”

　　”After that, the salary grows gradually as you gain seniority and appropriate merit.”

　　”For clerical staff, we generally have a five-year contract, and after five years if you don’t want to do it anymore, you can leave normally, you just have to make up for it by signing another lifetime confidentiality clause, you can’t leave Tingen without our approval, and relocating to another city requires you to get the local night watchman to register in the first place.”

　　”By the way, there are no Sundays, only shifts, and you must keep three civilians on duty at all times, and if you want to go south, to Dixie Bay, to do a vacation, that will need to be coordinated with your colleagues.”

　　Dunn had just finished speaking when the carriage stopped and the apartment where the Kleins lived appeared on the side.

　　”I see.” Klein turned around and stepped out of the carriage and parked next to it, “By the way, Mr. Smith, if I think about it, where should I find you?”

　　Dunn said with a low chuckle:

　　”Go to the ‘Hound’s Tavern’ on Besieker Street, find their owner Wright, and tell him that you want to hire a mercenary squad for a mission.”

　　”Huh?” Klein sounded confused.

　　”Our address is also confidential, it’s impossible to tell you directly until you say yes, well, Mr. Klein Moretti, I hope you still have a good dream tonight.” Dunn saluted with a smile.

　　Crane took off his hat and saluted, watching the carriage depart from slow to fast.

　　He pulled out his pocket watch and snapped it open, seeing that it was only a little after four in the morning, with a cool breeze blowing through the streets and streetlights dimly lit in all directions.

　　Klein took a deep breath, feeling the dead of night around him.

　　It was amazing how the loudest and noisiest neighborhoods during the day could be so cold and quiet in the middle of the night, a far cry from the wordless stares and psychic psychedelia of the Welch residence.

　　It wasn’t until this time that he realized the back of his linen shirt was somehow covered in sweat, cold and wet.