Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 189 – Excavation

　　Who is it? Klein jerked his head up and looked toward the door.

　　He felt like he had a disease now, a disease of fear of the doorbell ringing, exactly the same symptoms he had back on Earth when he was afraid of a call coming in on his cell phone.

　　Putting down the newspaper and magazine and glancing at the empty plate with nothing left of the dressing, Klein got up and walked toward the door.

　　Before he could grip the handle, he already knew it was Dr. Allen outside.

　　Don’t you even have to go to work? Klein muttered, reaching out to open the door to his room.

　　”Good morning Allen, the fog is gray today.” He said piling on a smile.

　　Alan still had the same cold expression, but with a little more anxiety and trepidation.

　　He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, not bothering to say hello, and cut straight to the chase:

　　”Sherlock, I dreamed again! Dreaming about Will Onsettin again!”

　　Huh? Klein nearly froze in his tracks.

　　This isn’t right, is it? The genuine crane is with me, above the gray mist, and the one I folded is with the Night Watcher, and you’re carrying an inferior crane folded by the Night Watcher, and you’re all able to continue dreaming about Will Onsettin? This is not scientific, no, this is not occult …… Klein became serious at once, and instantly asked rhetorically:

　　”Still the same dream as before?”

　　”No, it’s not as scary this time.” Allen in turn calmed down a little, “I dreamed about Green Cemetery, you know Green Cemetery, right?”

　　”Know.” Crane replied succinctly.

　　He had caught a group of spirit-dancing students and a vegetable-starved occult enthusiast, Kopsti, outside of Grimm Cemetery, and had gotten another brass whistle that could summon a messenger from the latter.

　　Alan sucked in a breath of cold air and continued:

　　”I dreamed of the woods outside Grimm’s Cemetery, of a birch tree that had shed a ring of bark around its waist, and Will Onsettin was sitting underneath it, looking at me silently.”

　　”And then?” Klein trailed off.

　　Alan shook his head, “Here the dream ended.”

　　What a strange thing …… Could it be that Dr. Allen’s dream had nothing to do with that thousand paper cranes? No, if it has nothing to do with it, there wouldn’t be a situation where the dream changes with the switching of the thousand paper cranes, and I also used that thousand paper cranes for divination on top of the gray mist, and there was a corresponding revelation …… Klein said with deliberation:

　　”This is beyond my understanding, Alan what do you want from me?”

　　The hot breath Allen exhaled drifted as a white mist in the air, “I want to visit the outside of Grimm’s Cemetery, right now, just during the day, can you protect me? I’ll pay for the commission, a pound.”

　　Going to explore a scene that appeared in a dream now? You shouldn’t encounter anything too weird during the daytime …… Klein thought for a moment and said, “I can take the commission, but I suggest you make a trip to the church before then and tell that bishop you know so well about the dream.”

　　Alan let out a “hmmm” and then said with some confusion, “Why do you always suggest that I go to the church? I know, you explained before, in a very logical way, if there are magical powers, the church that can always dominate the human world must be the power with the strongest magical powers, if not, then going to the church can at least get psychological comfort and corresponding human resources, but, a thing that is not too strange, why do you also suggest that I go to the church?”

　　Klein considered this for two seconds and replied in a serious manner:

　　”I’m a detective, and I have access to a lot of unusual things, so I understand how special the church is, and when and what situations to turn to them for help.”

　　”Really?” Allen listened with a grave expression on his face.

　　Klein curled his mouth at once:

　　”Just kidding.

　　”Alan, relax, I’m going to go change my clothes, er, and clean the dishes.”

　　He’d spent half the day chatting with Alan in the doorway without a heavy coat, his body a little stiff from the chilly, cold wind.

　　And while he was at it, Klein went to the washroom, went above the gray mist, and divined the danger level of the commission, and came to the conclusion that there was almost no risk.

　　If he reaped a very dangerous revelation, his intention was to borrow the Church of the Goddess of the Night to renege on the commission.

　　……

　　Hilston District, Church of the Starry Night.

　　”Sherlock, why don’t you hire a maid? As a great detective, you are enough to afford several servants.” Alan asked suspiciously while leading Klein into the Church of the Goddess of the Night’s largest church in Hilston District.

　　This was something he wanted to inquire about on the carriage, but never found the chance to cut into the topic.

　　Klein sighed and said heavily:

　　”Alan, let me tell you a story, once there was a detective who employed two maids, a cook, and an assistant, and was doing quite well, but one day he took over a case and managed to lock up the murderer, who was a very savage and very vicious man, and he infiltrated that detective’s house with the idea of revenge.

　　”The detective, who was an expert fighter, ended up with only minor injuries, but two of his servants died as a result.

　　”Alan, do you understand?”

　　”I understand.” Alan’s tone held obvious sympathy, “Sherlock, so you still have this kind of experience.”

　　No, the protagonist has nothing to do with me, this is just a story I just made up …… I can’t tell you directly, I’m involved in a lot of strange and mysterious events, and from time to time there are unmentionable secrets in my home, so it’s best to not hire a servant if you can …… Crane eyed the forward and let out a long sigh.

　　The cleaning of his room is mainly handled by Mrs. Starling Sommer’s maid, twice a week, only doing the most basic cleaning, once 1 Sule.

　　As they spoke, the two of them had already stepped into the hall of the Church of the Starry Star.

　　This place adhered to the usual style of the Church of the Goddess of the Night, dim, serene, and sparsely lit by candles.

　　At the very front of the hall was the holy stage inscribed with the Darkness Holy Emblem, on which the stars were inlaid with self-luminous beads, the Crimson Moon was formed with red gems, and the rest of the place was all pitch-black night color.

　　At a glance, it was extraordinarily sacred with the stars and the scarlet shining there.

　　But Klein felt that it was not as good as the design of St. Selene’s Church in Tingen, where the hall was pitch black, with only light filtering through right in front of it, from fist-sized round holes after fist-sized holes, which made it seem as if one was seeing the stars directly, and inspired a feeling of awe from the bottom of one’s heart.

　　However, there was a problem with that kind of design, and at night the effect was lost …… Klein found a seat at random, removed his half height silk bowler hat, and leaned back on his black hardwood cane while Allen continued on down the aisle, heading straight for the confessional to look for that bishop.

　　Sitting in such a hall, looking around at the faithful intent on their prayers, Klein’s heart was suddenly at peace.

　　Speaking of which, this is only the third time I’ve been in the church of the Goddess …… He smiled to himself.

　　……

　　Winter County, inside the Church of Serenity.

　　Leonard Mitchell put on his black trench coat and red gloves, and entered the room belonging to Senior Deacon Cresta Sesima.

　　”Congratulations, you are officially a Red Glove, may the Goddess bless you.” Sesima drew a Crimson Moon on his chest.

　　He still covered his mouth with a collar that stood high.

　　”Praise the Goddess, it is an honor.” Leonard raised his right hand and nodded four times clockwise.

　　Without further ado, Sesima got straight to the point:

　　”Based on your own request, I have placed you into the Sost Squad, he is a ‘Requiemist’ with magical items of his own, and I have instructed someone to prepare the extraordinary weapons you need for you.

　　”You’ve been mainly responsible for a demon summoning case lately, and take care of some clue gathering on the side, such as, for example, the consecutive occurrences that happened in Beckland, related to the Tarot Ritual.”

　　”Yes, Your Excellency Cecima.” Leonard didn’t have any opinion on that.

　　This will be the beginning of my revenge …… he said silently in his heart.

　　……

　　In the West End, on the outskirts of Green’s Cemetery.

　　Klein accompanied Dr. Allen on a long walk through the nearby woods, coughing every now and then from the falling gray dust.

　　”Maybe there isn’t a tree like that, and what happens in the dream world can’t be fully reflected in reality.” By the end of his find, Alan was a little unsure himself.

　　Luckily, I’m good at finding things …… Klein said as he pointed a direction with his cane:

　　”Let’s look further that way for a last ditch effort.”

　　”Good.” Alan gasped.

　　The two walked for a while before Allen suddenly stopped and pointed diagonally ahead:

　　”There, there!”

　　A dozen meters away, a birch tree that had shed a circle of skin around its waist stood quietly, as if waiting for the two.

　　”It’s exactly like in my dream.” Alan said with utter certainty.

　　Klein chuckled slightly warily:

　　”But there was no Will Onsettin.”

　　Alan moved closer to the birch tree and frowned at it for a while before suddenly pointing next to the roots:

　　”Will Onsettin was sitting right here, and he had a hand pointing down at the dirt!”

　　Pointing down to the dirt? Klein stood next to it and looked down at the patch of barely dead grass:

　　”You want to dig it up?”

　　Alan nodded, “Already found this place, always need to make sure what’s there, Sherlock, you go to the cemetery and borrow two shovels.”

　　”It’s better if I stay here and you go to the cemetery, I’m worried about an accident.” Klein said cautiously.

　　”Good.” Alan didn’t push back and left the woods immediately.

　　After a while, he swung his money and returned with three shovels and a graveyard keeper, and began to try to dig.

　　As Klein dug, he suddenly smelled something more familiar, and as the soil on the surface parted, what was underneath was gradually exposed.

　　It was the body of a child that was already highly decomposed!

　　His skin and flesh were as if they were melting, and there were many worms crawling in and out of his nose and mouth.

　　When!

　　The shovel in Alan’s hand fell and smashed on a rock.

　　He pointed at the legs of the corpse, his mouth opened and closed frantically but he couldn’t say anything.

　　Klein held back his nausea and looked carefully, realizing that the left leg of the kid’s corpse was obviously missing the lower half.

　　At the same time, Allen took two steps back and dropped to the ground, shouting in a shrill voice:

　　”Will Onsettin! Will Onsettin!”

　　It was the body of Will Onsettin!