Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 90 – Rookie

　　North End, Alka Street.

　　Kopsti Reed was sitting in a dazed state in an easy chair in his sitting room, flanked by a charcoal-burning fireplace.

　　As a senior member of the public school staff, he was paid over four pounds a week, which was enough to enable him to live quite well as a single man, but the clothes he wore at home had many patches sewn into them, and the teacups on the table were very simple.

　　Without removing his wig, Kopsti is most noticeable for his high cheekbones and relatively slight chicken chest – a deformed state in which the sternum bulges forward.

　　A book of poems written in the ancient Forsak language lay spread out on his lap, but it was a long time before a page was turned.

　　Kopsti’s eyes froze unfocused, and suddenly he heard a soft laugh in his ear:

　　”I am puzzled that you have not fled and remained at home; are you not afraid of the police coming to your door?”

　　The voice was low and hoarse, like that of a boy in the act of changing his voice.

　　Kopsti shuddered and nearly jumped up from his easy chair.

　　He jerked his head sideways, only to see that a figure had somehow taken its place on the sofa a few paces away!

　　The figure was wearing a summer linen shirt and light pants, and his face was hazy, making it impossible to see clearly.

　　”You… What are you doing here?” Koupresti asked in a loud voice as he gripped the handrail tightly.

　　Klein, who had used his illusion ability, leaned back, crossed his arms, and spoke leisurely:

　　”Last night, heh, it should be early this morning, I just saved you guys.”

　　”Saved us?” Koopsti relaxed a little as he saw that the other party didn’t seem too malicious, “You… you’re the one within the woods? You solved the dead body we woke up?”

　　As he spoke, he moved rather hastily, showing obvious trepidation.

　　He was able to sneak in while I was awake but unaware; surely I could not resist …… similar thoughts flitted through Kopsti’s mind.

　　”You’re lucky enough that I happened to be passing by, or there would have been a field of bodies there, torn to shreds.” Klein smirked, “Back to our earlier question, I’m curious as to how you dared to stay in your home, are you aware of the crime you committed?”

　　He confirmed from Kopsti’s behavior before and after the “Resurrection Ceremony” that the other party was a rookie, and couldn’t possibly have the skill to hide his true emotional color, so he planned to find out the truth by questioning and “psychic vision”, and at most, he would finally verify it with divination. At most, I would use divination to verify it at the end.

　　”I, I know, buying corpses privately and digging up other people’s graves are crimes that can send me to prison for more than ten years, and, and, I will definitely be punished by the church.” Koupesti, who was less than 30 years old on the outside, sucked in his breath and laughed bitterly, “But, as long as I didn’t make too much of a mess, those kids and their parents won’t turn me in because they did the same thing, and even if the sentence is reduced for meritorious deeds and reduced for self-reported surrenders, I’ll still end up in the prison cell for a while.”

　　”Heh.” Kopsti smiled to himself, “I’ve already had kids tell their parents who I am, and they got the mob to warn me to quit my job and stay away from school for a week, which I agreed to do.”

　　Klein nodded softly:

　　”A change of scenery is a good thing, but of course, don’t do anything like that again, compelling ignorant children to commit crimes is a great evil.”

　　”No more, never again, I actually didn’t think it would be that dangerous, I just saw that they had the same hobby as me, that’s why I thought of teaching them and leading them to search for the mysteries of eternal life, as for the matter of digging graves, a long time ago, many doctors did it as well.” Koupresti sighed rather backwardly.

　　The color of his emotions matched his current state …… Sounds like he doesn t sound like a member of the Spirit Order ah …… Klein thought about it and asked bluntly:

　　”Where did you learn the ‘Spirit Dance’ from?”

　　”Spirit Dance? Ah, I generally call it the Dance of Death.” Kopsti was stunned at first, then realized, “It was taught to me by an old gentleman.”

　　”An old gentleman?” Klein trailed off.

　　Kopsti drifted off for a moment at the memory:

　　”He was a vagabond who fainted on my doorstep because of a serious illness.”

　　”I didn’t know he was sick at the time, and thinking it was a simple fainting spell, I helped him home, gave him a hot towel, and applied medicinal oils to him.”

　　”After he awoke, he asked me not to take him to the hospital or clinic and mentioned that death is not the end.”

　　”Having experienced the deaths of my parents and several relatives, I was intrigued by something similar, so, talking to him, I found that he possessed a vast knowledge and an admirable philosophy on the subject, and he seemed satisfied with my curiosity, and even ended up performing the miracle of beating a mosquito to death and waking it up.”

　　This beginning …… I’ve read at least ten similar novels in my past life, all of which are about kindly picking up a dying old grandpa to go home and getting a miraculous encounter …… The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched as he said:

　　”So, you left him at home?”

　　Kopsti nodded solemnly:

　　”Yes, if not for the lack of time, I even wanted to become his student.”

　　”Within those few days, he taught me the Dance of Death and taught me a lot of knowledge, but unfortunately, it was too short a time, and just as I was getting into the swing of things, he died, leaving behind only a copper whistle.”

　　Before the words left his mouth, Kopsti pulled out a copper whistle that was well-made and not too antique:

　　”This is the one.”

　　I also have one …… probably ancestor level …… Klein spat and asked thoughtfully:

　　”How long ago was this? What did he look like? Where did you bury him?”

　　”Six months ago, his most obvious features were patchy gray hair plus a red spot on the side of his face, and he asked me to bury him in the garden out back.” Kopsti calculated the date and said.

　　Not Mr. Aztec, but the probability is that he was a member of the Order of the Spirit, and the sequence may not be low …… Klein turned to the question:

　　”Besides the ‘Spirit Dance’, you learned that ‘Resurrection Ritual’?”

　　”That ceremony, I’ve just learned half of it, and I can only gradually improve it one at a time based on fragmented knowledge and folklore that I’ve looked up.” Koupresti answered very honestly.

　　Refinement based on folklore? Oh, that poor black cat, may the goddess protect you …… Klein resisted the urge to draw the Crimson Moon on his chest.

　　”And beyond that?” He trailed off.

　　”Well, there’s this copper whistle, which I think is the key to communicating with the world beyond the senses.” Kopsti raised his hand and blew on it, lamenting, “Every time I blow on it, I can feel my surroundings grow chilly, feel someone watching me, feel someone pulling on me ……”

　　At the same time he spoke, in the eyes of Klein, who had his “spiritual vision” on, there was a watery pattern on the ground, and a cold aura filled the air, and the fireplace and lights dimmed a bit.

　　Immediately after that, there emerged a skull with three dead fish eyes, and around the skull there was a black, knuckle-like tentacle messy winding.

　　One tentacle reached out, touching Kopsti’s leg at times, pulling at his clothing at others, looking rather impatient, but Kopsti did not respond at all, seemingly not even noticing.

　　This is a messenger, right? Copper whistles are all about summoning the corresponding messenger …… What do you mean by summoning it and not giving it a letter? Klein looked a bit dumbfounded.

　　At that moment, Kopsti looked at him excitedly:

　　”Feel that? It’s getting chilly all around! The gaslight’s dimmed, too!”

　　”Truly, someone is watching me, pulling at me!”

　　The terrified-looking messenger struggled to touch Kopsti, over and over again, but in the end received no letter, and drifted helplessly back to the “ground”.

　　Klein looked on with the corners of his mouth slightly twitching, and muttered silently to himself in his heart:

　　”I take back what I just said, he’s not a dish, he’s a dish with a stingy foot.”

　　”He’s not an extraordinary person at all!”

　　”I thought before that he was the kind that just started in the occult, now it seems that he hasn’t even found where the door is yet ……”

　　”‘Reaper’ Pathway Sequence 9’s ‘Body Collector’ can all see ghosts and spirits directly ……”

　　Combined with Kopsti’s performance of ordering the living corpses with a brass whistle after the ceremony, Klein was fully convinced that he wasn’t lying, and couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh.

　　In a whirlwind, a question occurred to him:

　　”If a note is written to that messenger just now, where will it be sent?”

　　”A real Spirit Order member? A senior member?”

　　Pressing the thought, Klein nodded:

　　”It does get grim.”

　　Finishing his response, he quickly digressed, “Have you felt anything out of the ordinary since that old gentleman’s death?”

　　”Well …… not before, but in the last two weeks, I’ve occasionally felt like a corpse around someone, the kind you can wake up.” Koopsti asked, half scared and half confused, “Is this a hallucination?”

　　Matching Ataru’s statement that he wasn’t lying …… Klein glanced at the color of Koupresti’s aura and genuinely cautioned:

　　”I suggest you go to church at least three times a week for the next two months to attend mass and listen to prayers.”

　　”If you don’t want to do that, you can start by reserving a grave for yourself.”

　　”Well ……,” Kopsti responded with a slight sense of disappointment.

　　He had thought that was a sign that he was making some progress!

　　Crane considered this for a moment and spoke in a commanding tone:

　　”Show me the old gentleman’s body.”

　　”Huh? Okay.” Koupresti wanted to refuse, but instantly recognized the reality.

　　He grabbed his tools and led Klein out the back door of the kitchen and into the grassy, dead garden, stopping in front of a crooked tree.

　　Klein stood by and watched as Kopsti skillfully dug through the dirt, revealing a little of the stone slab underneath.

　　Getting the top layer right, Kopsti, with the help of a tool, pried the slab with force.

　　Poof!

　　The stone slab pressed down on the soil dug out just now, and the not-so-deep crypt was sprinkled with scarlet moonlight that vaguely pierced through the clouds.

　　Koupresti subconsciously gazed at it, and suddenly screamed miserably, fell back a few steps, and dropped to the ground.

　　In the middle of the tomb, there were no rotting corpses or white bones, and the bottom was cluttered with pieces of white feathers, white feathers dyed with pale yellow oil!