Part 1 THE JOKER Chapter 80 An Invitation to a Dinner Party
After dinner, a well-fed and well-drunk Klein sat down leisurely on the parlor sofa, and cut open with his pocket-knife the letter which his tutor had sent him.
At this time, Melissa sat at the dining table, by the light of the gas lamp, painstakingly calculating the exercises in the book, while Benson nestled in the single sofa, holding the Elementary Accounting Tutorial and reading it.
Shaking open a full three pages of letterhead, Klein looked at it with some anticipation and some trepidation:
”…… I’m glad to hear from you, it makes me nostalgic for the past few years of my life, unfortunately, Welch and Naya have left us forever ……”
”I attended their funerals separately and felt the great sadness of their parents, two young people who should have had a brilliant and bright future ……”
”Fate is always unpredictable, no one can know what exactly befalls us in the next moment, the older I get and the more things I’ve seen, the more I can feel the fragility and helplessness of being human.”
”…… Regarding the historical information on the main peak of the Hornachis that you mentioned, I remember that Mr. John Joseph, an archaeologist, once published a monograph describing in detail what he had seen in the main peak of the Hornachis Mountains, where he found several ancient structures that were more than a thousand years old or more. ”
”To the shame of every historian and archaeologist, we lack the means to date them precisely, and can only make rough judgments based on the style of the buildings, the character of the murals, and the few legible writings.”
”It is hard to believe that there could be a human settlement on a mountain peak that high. Mr. Joseph has ample evidence that those humans developed a civilization of their own, a unique civilization, the particulars of which are difficult to describe in a letter, and I would suggest that you go to the Devereux Library and try to see if you can borrow that monograph, and believe me, this library donated by Sir Devereux has a much larger collection than the one set up by the city government.”
”The title of that monograph is A Study of the Ancient Remains of the Main Peak of Hornachis, published by the Ruiners Press.”
”In addition, there are a number of papers that have been mentioned in connection with this, and they have appeared in journals such as New Archaeology, Archaeological Review, and other journals, with the specific names and issue numbers being ……”
……
Klein read through the letter word by word, mumbling the names of the monographs and papers mentioned by his mentor several times over.
Immediately afterward, he turned out his letterhead, found his pen, and expressed his gratitude in written words.
”Melissa, mail this letter for me tomorrow, here’s the postage.” Klein placed the loaded letter and the overage postage next to his sister’s book.
Melissa looked at it and pursed her lips:
”Klein, the postage doesn’t need to be this much.”
”Yes, the postage doesn’t need to be that much, but a girl needs a certain amount of pocket money.” Klein responded with a smile, “I think Selena should have told you that.”
He saw that Melissa was still a bit resistant and busily added:
”It helps you buy the materials you want, the tools you want.”
”Tools ……,” Melissa repeated in a low voice, her eyes shifting to the book, nodding her head slightly, “Okay.”
The corners of Klein’s mouth turned up at once, and he walked back to the couch at a brisk pace.
”Excellent persuasion, pinpointing Melissa’s weakness.” Benson gave a thumbs up and lowered his voice to a chuckle.
Klein cleared his throat and replied in a serious voice:
”And how am I supposed to convince you? The focus of your self-study should be on grammar and classics, but of course, basic math and logic are just as important.”
Based on the curricula of the public schools and grammar schools, and on the content of the university entrance exams, Klein could almost grasp the general direction of the yet-to-be-born “civil service exams”.
Benson touched his hairline and smiled to himself:
”I feel like a curly-haired baboon in front of those books.”
”But they’re certainly useful enough.” Klein said with a firm smile.
Just then, Melissa put down her pen, stood up, and walked over to where the couch was and said:
”Benson, Klein, it’s Selena’s birthday this Sunday, and she and her parents would like to invite our family to a dinner party, are you free?”
”I shouldn’t have a problem.” Klein said after thinking about it.
It was just the right time to get to know his sister’s friends as well, so that he wouldn’t be unable to find anyone to inquire about anything that happened to Melissa in the future!
”Me too.” Benson said as he ran his fingers through his hair, “Looks like we’ll have to think about a birthday present for Ms. Selena.”
Klein chuckled:
”I’ll leave that to Melissa, she knows Miss Selena better than we do, and all we need to do is what a gentleman would do, pay.”
”That’s the first time I’ve heard someone describe laziness so eloquently.” Benson shook his head and laughed softly.
Klein returned the smile:
”That’s what grammar and the classics are for.”
”……” Benson didn’t expect the conversation to circle back around, and for a moment he couldn’t find the words to respond.
……
The next day, Klein, dressed in his original set of cheap formal clothes and carrying a black, silver-encrusted cane, climbed the stairs one step at a time to the door of Blackthorn Security – his tuxedo had been sent to the cloakroom for mending.
Klein was about to greet Roxanne when he suddenly saw Captain Dunn step through the partition.
”Good morning, Klein, did you sleep well last night?” Dunn asked with concern.
Klein answered truthfully:
”Better than I expected, surprisingly no nightmares, just the memories are still a little heavy and nauseating.”
”Good, I can rest easy.” Dunn said with a smile and a nod.
After another chat about the weather, he took the initiative to mention:
”The Sanctuary has replied to my telegram, telling Al and Loretta that they should send the seal ‘2-049’ to Berkland immediately, along with the notes from the Antigonus family, and sent another night watchman to come over on the steam train yesterday afternoon to help.”
”I think they should have departed by now.”
Already departed? Does that mean I’m completely out of the shadow of the Antigonus family notes? Klein was stunned with the feeling that it wasn’t real enough, as if he was dreaming.
This is a lot easier than one thought ……
There shouldn’t be any follow-up, should there?
”May the Goddess bless them, and may they have a good journey.” After a few seconds’ reprieve, Klein drew the sign of the Crimson Moon on his chest.
Dunn put on his hat and pointed to the door:
”I’ve got to go patrol Raphael’s Cemetery, heh, forgot one thing, Leonard and the police department have had some success in tracking down the members of the Order of the Secret Doctrine, found the coachman who had given them a ride, and identified their temporary residence in Tingen, but they were quite discreet, and didn’t leave behind any particularly valuable clues.”
”Not bad for an old hidden organization.” Klein echoed with emotion.
Dunn nodded and turned toward the door.
Three seconds later, he stopped and turned back:
”Also, it might take two to three more days for the Holy Church to reply to your application to become a full member, huh, it’s not the same efficiency as the Antigonus family notes thing which are under the jurisdiction of separate departments.”
”I understand.” Klein replied sincerely.
At the same time, he silently added one thing in his mind for the captain:
Remember to submit a reimbursement request today!
Watching Dunn leave, Klein heard the surprised voice of the brown-haired girl Roxanne:
”Goddess, Klein are you going to become a full member? I remember you joined us less than a month ago!”
Klein smiled and laughed:
”After I took the ‘Diviner’ magic potion, it’s already something that’s sure to come.”
”Makes sense ……,” Roxanne stayed for a few seconds, then suddenly lamented, “I was praying that you’d finish your occult course soon and join the roster of the rotating arsenal, but it turns out… …Goddess, I’m not a sleepless sleeper when I have to be on night duty every two days! My skin, my condition, Goddess, save me!”
”Shouldn’t you be quite used to this life? It was always you and Brett and old Neil on duty before I joined, wasn’t it?” Klein asked back suspiciously.
Roxanne shook her head with a sad expression:
”No, before that it was four, earlier it was five, unfortunately, Kornleigh chose to become a ‘Sleepless One’, Viola didn’t renew her contract last month and joined Hoynor Mechanical, she’s a very talented girl in manufacturing, she just lacked the opportunity and money, and five years of clerical life gave her enough to build up.”
Speaking of which, Roxanne suddenly glanced at Klein and hid a smile:
”I’ve thought of a good idea, Klein, why don’t you get married as soon as possible, and then accidentally expose the secrets of the Extraordinary One to her, this belongs to a very minor leakage, and there won’t be any particularly severe punishment, after all, no one can hide from the people who share the same bed for a long period of time. By then, you’ll be able to introduce her to join us as a civilian! Perfect plan!”
Klein said with a slight twitch of his mouth:
”Ms. Roxanne, you can also find a husband as soon as possible, which should be even easier, and I’m sure you have enough ways to divulge secrets to him.”
Roxanne sniffed, her eyes rounded and her mouth half-open as she said:
”How can that be? Marriage is a very serious matter, and must be carefully observed, carefully selected, and verified with a certain amount of time.”
That s not what you just said …… Klein did not reason with Ms. Roxanne, smiled and exchanged pleasantries, and excused himself and entered the underground.
Arriving at the weapons vault, he saw Old Neil tossing hand-ground coffee and sat down, waiting patiently.
”You should be a full member soon, right?” Old Neil asked casually as he performed the filtering.
”The captain said it would take another two to three days, and there’s no telling if the Sanctuary will approve it.” Klein replied matter-of-factly.
”Hey.” Old Neil let out a laugh, “The Holy Church won’t veto this kind of thing, especially since you’ve become an Extraordinary.”
Speaking here, he turned his head and looked at Klein with a smile:
”You have to be mentally prepared, every full member of the Night Watchers must pass a ritual, which is to complete a task independently, of course, Dunn will definitely pick the very easy and very simple kind for the newcomers, and you’re still an auxiliary Diviner.”