Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 50 Inspiration and Attempts

　　In the hazy and dull scarlet moonlight, Klein lifted the quilt and crawled up.

　　For a soothsayer, paying attention to dreams was the most basic quality, and the dream just now definitely could not be explained by a mere nightmare.

　　He wore fairly comfortable clothes, came to the front of the full-length mirror, and said in a low voice:

　　”I dreamed of the blood-stained door in that room.”

　　The bodyguard lady’s figure was slowly outlined on the mirror and replied without much expression:

　　”The influence of the evil spirit’s breath.”

　　”This will gradually diminish until it disappears.”

　　This way ah …… Klein nodded slightly and returned to the bedside, picking up the gold-cased pocket watch and pressing it open to look at it.

　　Seeing that it was still early, he lay back down to sleep again, this time with the dream branching out, and no more of what he had just encountered.

　　The next day, early Sunday morning, Klein refreshed himself and made himself a loose egg as a way to go with the buttered bread.

　　In the Kingdom of Ruin, or rather, in the countries of the North Continent, reading the newspapers at breakfast was a must for gentlemen, and Klein was no exception, spreading out his subscriptions to the Tassock Gazette, the Berklander Post, and the Berklander Morning Herald.

　　”The Uniform Examination for Government Employees Bill was officially passed in the House of Lords, with the initial examination taking place in early December, the second round at the end of January next year, and the final interviews two weeks later …… Within a week, the government will announce the positions and requirements involved in this examination, and begin the registration process …… Reporters speculate that most of this will be in Bakerland …… “Crane scanned the contents line by line, lifted his cup and took a sip of Sibel black tea.

　　He could hardly avoid associating it with Benson, muttering to himself in his mind:

　　”The bill was passed at the end of September, the positions were announced in the first half of October, the registration was completed in the beginning of November, and the exams began in the beginning of December …… The time schedule is very tight and unreasonable, enough to see the urgency of the king and the prime minister.”

　　”But this is very favorable to Benson, he has prepared more than two months earlier than others, even if he can’t compare to those elites who have graduated from the university, he can surely outperform the vast majority of other people, and those elites want to seek positions and he will not overlap.”

　　”He shouldn’t have a problem ……”

　　Klein wanted to tap his chest four times, draw a Crimson Moon, and say may the Goddess protect him, but the thought of Miss Bodyguard being nearby forced him to resist the impulse; after all, his professed faith was in the God of Steam and Machinery.

　　Eating the last bite of bread, he continued to read the newspaper:

　　”The Upper and Lower Houses passed a motion to establish a ‘Kingdom Air Pollution Investigation Committee’, allowing the government to form the body …… The next month will be a critical period for all parties to compete for the qualifications of the commissioners ……”

　　”…… Separate Alkali Prosecutor position approved, targeting factories that produce acids and alkalis to minimize their pollution levels.”

　　”…… No ads on Page 5 for Ernst Mercantile to acquire goods, no need to think about attending the Extraordinary People’s Party tomorrow night ……”

　　……

　　2 Daffodil Street, Tingen.

　　Benson read the story in the paper over and over again in silence, completely forgetting about the bread on his dinner plate.

　　”The Uniform Testing Act passed?” Melissa, wearing a long black dress, glanced sideways at her brother, who was acting unusually.

　　The newspapers had already been rendering the bill that would be passed this time in the previous days.

　　Benson finally put down the paper, wiped his black hair, and exhaled slowly:

　　”Yes.”

　　At that moment, the two men suddenly fell into silence, and the house was so quiet that there was not even the sound of knives and forks clinking against the dinner plates.

　　The unspeakable atmosphere was broken by Bella, the maid who came out of the kitchen, and Benson smiled:

　　”This is something predictable, in fact, what’s more important is a piece of news from earlier.”

　　”Huh?” Melissa’s expression was unusually stoic.

　　Benson nibbled on his bread and smiled:

　　”The news of the reorganization of Bakerland Technical College into a university.”

　　”It’ll officially enroll students next year, do away with grammar and classics, and focus on the technical aspects of the program, which is perfect for graduates and current students of technical schools everywhere.”

　　”Melissa, I think you could try it.”

　　”But ……,” Melissa countered subconsciously.

　　Benson interrupted her with a smirk:

　　”It will be half as cheap as the universities of Tingen, Perth, Hoy, Birkeland, etc., and equal to Constantine Technical University in the Intercounty, with more scholarship opportunities, and Melissa, don’t you love mechanics, and steam, and what that entails? This is your best chance to be exposed to more advanced and in-depth knowledge.”

　　”How about giving it a try? Don’t worry about wasting money, that, that money will allow us to maintain our current lives without having to work, but we’re still young, we can’t just define our lives, define our lives, look how much my grammar has improved compared to a few months ago.”

　　”Eh …… a change of scenery, maybe it will be better.”

　　”I know you can’t let go of Tingen, of this place, well, we’ll be back eventually, but not when we’re young.”

　　Melissa glanced sideways at the various parts on the coffee table, her lips opening and closing a few times as she said:

　　”What about Bella ……”

　　After Klein’s passing, she originally did not want to hire a handyman maid again, but when she thought of the possible misery of Bella’s life after she lost her job, she gave up on this plan, anyway, the extra expenses of 5 Soules per week is nothing to the Moretti family whose annuity income can be at least 300 pounds.

　　At this, Benson shook his head and laughed:

　　”This is still several months, can let Bella go ahead to look for a new job, until then, we will continue to pay her pay, give her bedroom, and, her cooking skills are much better than before, completely can go to apply for the family female chef, but unfortunately …… hehe, of course, all the premise is that you can pass the entrance exam to Bakerland Technical University.”

　　He was going to say that it was a pity that Bella hadn’t been able to learn the art of cooking for too long, but after glancing at Melissa’s pensive expression, he forced himself to change the subject.

　　Without waiting for Melissa to say more, Benson smiled and stroked his hair:

　　”I’m planning to quit my job tomorrow and focus on preparing for the exams, most of the positions this time are said to be in Berkland, which is exactly what I’m aiming for, I hope we can go there together.”

　　Melissa was silent for a moment before finally nodding slowly.

　　At the same time, she put away her knife and fork, picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth and said:

　　”I’ll go to the washroom.”

　　”Okay.” Benson watched his sister get up and leave the table, and the smile that had been piling up on his face flew away.

　　He pulled out the silver pocket watch with the branch and vine pattern, gazed at it carefully, and sighed very quietly.

　　……

　　Throughout the day on Sunday, Klein was busy running around several public libraries in the Chorwood district, trying to find information related to the Viscounts of Pound, but there was no separate biography of the Viscounts, and they hadn’t attracted the interest of any historian to carry out a specialized study.

　　Everything about them was scattered in different corners of various historical materials, and Kline, who did not have the “search” function, felt his head throbbing when he was faced with the sea of books and collections of essays.

　　He spent six hours looking through many materials, but still failed to obtain any useful information.

　　”Must get the help of a person who has extensive research on the history of the nobility, or, bribe someone from the police department to get Pound from the Baron’s current residential address, he is a noble, the police department must have corresponding records, the number of nobles is not large.” Klein returned home and stood in front of the wash mirror, talking to the air.

　　The surface of the mirror quickly outlined Miss Bodyguard’s gothic court dress and the black fedora on her head.

　　She nodded her head imperceptibly, as if in approval of Klein’s idea.

　　Immediately afterward, her disembodied and fluttering voice came out:

　　”The employment is over.”

　　I know, three full days …… Klein thoughtfully said:

　　”If I can harvest any clues in the matter of the Pond family, would you like to know?”

　　Ms. Bodyguard didn’t make an answer, but nodded softly.

　　”Well …… pass it on through Maric?” Klein asked.

　　After nodding her head again, the bodyguard lady bent over, lifted her skirts, and made a curtsy.

　　Her figure quickly disappeared, and the reflection in the mirror was no longer anything special.

　　Crane looked around the room and did not relax at that, preparing dinner and filling his stomach as he had been told.

　　In the dead of night, he returned to his bedroom and drew the curtains, then he took out his iron cigarette case and reached out to touch the “all-black eye” that Rosago had left behind.

　　An illusory hissing immediately swept through his mind, seemingly tearing his spirit apart and destroying his thoughts.

　　As Klein fought against the pain that made his head about to explode, he once again saw the thin black lines spreading out from different parts of his body.

　　They were dense and illusory, stretching into infinity.

　　Klein looked around and didn’t find any other thin black lines, finally confirming that the bodyguard lady had left.

　　He hurriedly let go and fled from that negative influence, slowing down for a few dozen seconds before completely returning to normal.

　　”Whew, finally I can go above the gray mist to verify that inspiration that arose earlier ……” Klein muttered to himself wordlessly, and quickly set up the ritual, summoning himself and responding to himself.

　　Then, in his spiritual state, he carried the Aztec copper whistle, picked up the iron cigarette case, and went back above the gray mist.

　　Crane sat at the top of the long, ancient table and rubbed his fingers together to create a spiritual flame that burned away the bloodstained papers in the corner and other items that were no longer needed.

　　After doing so, he opened the iron cigarette case, not surprisingly found that the “all black eye” became calm, no longer always reveal madness, but that kind of influence that kind of pollution is still settled inside, just no longer active, as if hibernation.

　　”I really can’t separate ……” Klein whispered, and then a man wearing a hooded robe appeared on the chair opposite the ancient table.

　　As with his previous attempts at creating a doppelganger, the man was stagnant and stiff, not a real person at all, and could not fool the members of the Tarot Society.

　　Klein, however, had been inspired by this.

　　He reached out and grasped the All-Black Eye, and there was a calm in his ears, no more hissing of terror.

　　With the extraordinary properties of this gathering, he saw the same black threads floating out from the dummy across the room.

　　Immediately afterward, Klein carefully let his aura spread out through the “all-black eye” and touched a few of the illusory threads.

　　Suddenly, he had a sensation of holding them.

　　With a thought, the dummy lifted its hand.

　　It’s really possible! I can create a fake Tarot Club member with the power of the “Secret Puppet Master”! However, this is very consuming, I can’t maintain a second …… Well, the symbols on the back of the chair will not change accordingly, but Ms. Justice and they can’t see it …… Klein was delighted! He began practicing over and over again, even mastering the art of manipulating his opponent’s throat and mouth to make it speak.

　　When the spirit was close to drying up, he smiled and looked across at the fake human:

　　”Welcome, new member, which tarot card would you like to draw?”

　　After saying that, he closed his mouth, while the dummy across from him raised his hand and rubbed his chin, hoarsely laughing:

　　”The World!”

　　”I’ll take the ‘World’ card.”