Part 1 The Joker Chapter 165 Epitaphs
”We are the Guardians, and a group of wretches constantly fighting danger and madness.”
Dunn’s words echoed through the old Niall’s house, between the floors, walls, and ceilings that showed signs of corrosion, and in Klein’s mind and heart.
There had never been a moment before that had struck him more than the words did now.
He felt he might not be able to forget that feeling for the rest of his life, even if he returned to Earth in the future.
In the almost frozen atmosphere, Dunn walked towards the old Neil’s “corpse”, half crouched down, took out a white handkerchief from the upper side pocket of his black trench coat, and covered the pair of dark red, crystalline, agonized eyes.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Klein saw the keys of the piano stop jumping on their own, where an almost transparent figure loomed up.
This …… Klein, who had opened his psychic vision as early as the door, was stunned at once.
He did not even notice this strange “spirit” before!
Whether he was disturbed by the spirit of the old Neil or affected by the ability that came with him after he lost control of his body? As Klein watched the nearly invisible figure evaporate quickly and completely disappear from his eyes, he vaguely understood something.
In the midst of the heavy, oppressive feelings, he heard the captain command:
”You search Old Neil’s home carefully for any clues that may exist.”
”Okay.” As soon as Klein opened his mouth, he froze for a few seconds at the sound of his own voice, which was so raspy, so low, as if he had a bad cold.
”Okay.” Loyal followed out with a reply.
Her voice is in about the same condition as mine …… Both nostrils are clogged as if …… Klein glanced at the female teammate, who never had much of an expression, as if recognizing her for the first time.
He placed his cane in the umbrella stand in the foyer, bypassed the seal 3-0611, and walked with heavy steps into the living room and up to the second floor, searching bedroom by bedroom for clues.
Old Neil would regularly hire short-term workers to clean up the rooms, so there is no clutter in the place, which is characteristic of most bachelors, and everything is neatly organized, as if there is a real mistress of the house.
Half an hour later, Klein found some manuscripts on Old Neil’s bedroom bookshelf, cluttered with some peculiar, bizarre ritual:
”Life Refining.”
”The materials needed include 100 ml of spring water from the Fountain of Elves (the Golden Spring on Sunia Island), 50 grams of Star Crystal, half a pound of gold, 5 grams of Ignite, 30 grams of Hematite …… and a large amount of living human blood.”
Below the living human blood, Old Neil annotated:
”Consider extracting my own, accumulating it one at a time and preserving it with ritual magic.”
Consider extracting my own …… Klein closed his eyes and crumpled the draft in his fingers.
……
Thursday morning, 9:00 a.m., moon time, Raphael’s Cemetery.
Klein stood quietly in a corner of the cemetery, dressed in a solid black formal dress and shirt, holding a silver-encrusted cane.
A neatly folded white handkerchief was tucked into the place of his breast pocket, and in his palm he held a solemn, ethereal handful of deep-sleeping flowers.
At this time, Dunn, Frye, Leonard and Cohen Li carried the black coffin containing the old Neil’s “body” step by step to the front of the tombstone, and silently put it into the dug grave pit.
Watching the yellowish-brown soil covered with shovel after shovel, Roxanne, dressed in a long black dress and wearing a small white flower on her head, sobbed quietly:
”Can someone tell me, is this all true?”
”Why did it have to get out of control, why did we have to take magic potions, why did we have to become transcendentals, why did we have to have spiteful spirits why did we have to have monsters, why couldn’t there have been a safer way to do it, why, why, why ……”
Klein listened in silence until old Neil’s coffin was covered with dirt, until all traces of his existence were buried deep within the grave pit.
”May the Goddess protect you.” He drew a Crimson Moon on his chest, then took a few steps forward and bent down to place the bouquet of Deep Sleep flowers in his hand in front of the headstone.
”May the Goddess bless you.” Dunn and Frye and the others simultaneously nodded four times clockwise on their chests.
Klein looked up, straightened, and saw the black-and-white photo on the headstone:
Old Neil was wearing his classic black fedora, his bare hair mottled and gray, deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and his dark red eyes slightly clouded.
He was so peaceful, no more sadness, no more pain, no more fear.
Inscribed at the bottom of the photo was a line of epitaph, from what Neil Sr. had written in his recent diary:
”If you can’t save her, then be there for her.”
As the cool morning breeze blew through, the coolness, quiet and silence of Raphael’s Cemetery infected everyone in attendance.
……
At noon, Klein took the sheet signed by the captain and walked to the weapons depot.
He pushed open the half-hidden door and saw Brett, with his thick black beard, sitting behind the desk.
Klein was visibly stunned for a moment before handing over the requisition slip:
”Fifty rounds of regular ammo.”
As he spoke, his eyes swept over the silver-encrusted tin canister on the table, his nose seemed to smell the tangy flavor of hand-ground coffee, and his ears seemed to hear the words of hidden laughter again:
”But why wait until you have extra money? You could have written an application to Dunn and asked him to authorize the expense!”
……
Brett took in Klein’s expression and sighed:
”I can guess how you feel, I can’t believe myself that old Neil left us like that, there are times when I even think it might be a dream created by the Captain.”
”That may be the fate of many of the night watchmen.” Klein smiled bitterly back.
After this incident, he had a lot more disappointment and resentment towards the church hierarchy that hid the “Playing Law”.
”I hope that there will be fewer and fewer tragedies like this, may the Goddess protect you all.” Brett drew a Crimson Moon on his chest, took the claim form, and got up and walked into the rear weapons warehouse.
……
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The smell of gunpowder permeated his surroundings as Klein vented and fired at the targets in front of him until the brass bullets were expended, then he gathered himself and rode the trackless public carriage to the home of his fighting teacher, Gawain.
He went through set after set of exercises in a self-mutilating manner until he was told to stop by Gawain.
”Fighting practice is not for hurting yourself.” Gawain said in a deep voice as he stared at Klein with slightly cloudy dark green eyes.
”Sorry, Sensei, I’m not in the best of moods today.” Klein exhaled and explained slightly.
”What happened?” Gawain asked flatly without seeing a ripple.
Klein thought for a moment and answered briefly:
”A friend of mine died suddenly.”
Gawain was silent for a few seconds, lifting a hand to touch the blonde sideburns that were beginning to mottle, his tone wavering:
”I once lost 325 friends in five minutes, and of those, at least ten were the kind you could give your back to.”
Klein sighed with some realization, “That’s the cruelty of war.”
Gawain glanced at him and suddenly smiled to himself:
”The cruelest thing is that I’ll never be able to avenge them, to fulfill their wishes, never.”
”You, on the other hand, still have such a chance, although I don’t understand what exactly happened, I know that you’re still young, you still have a lot of chances.”
Klein was silent for a while, then suddenly took a breath and shot to his feet:
”Thank you, teacher.”
Gawain nodded gently and said without seeing much expression:
”Rest for ten minutes, then redo the previous exercises for ten sets.”
”…… “Klein actually didn’t know what expression to use in response at once.
……
Friday morning, inside the Night Watchman Recreation Room.
Klein, Siga Teang, and Frye were sitting around the round table, but not playing cards; one was reading a newspaper and flipping through magazines, one was staring out of the convex belly window, and one was holding a fountain pen, trying to write something, but was slow to land on the paper.
The room was so quiet, no one spoke, no one joked, the atmosphere was almost stagnant.
Phew …… Klein exhaled and put down the paper, intending to focus his attention on the various materials he was reading.
Just at this time, Dunn Smith knocked on the door and came in, looking around the room and said:
”Klein, come out here for a moment.”
What is it? Klein stood up with a vague sense of foreboding and followed out of the rec room.
Dunn stood up to the mouth of the steps leading down to the ground and turned to look at him and said:
”The Sanctuary is here.”
The men who examined me are here? Crane’s spirits tightened for a moment.