Part 4 The Undead Chapter 52 Wind Review Murdered

　　Mrs. Willis looked into the face of Dawn Dantes and smiled without minding at all:

　　”Your past, those experiences you had in Dixie Bay and on the South Continent, are better than all the novels I’ve read, and make one want to have the same experience.”

　　Of course, this is based on a true story, thanks to Anderson Hood, a hunter who’s always running around …… Klein chuckled lowly as he cast his eyes over the creamy cupcakes:

　　”Because I only told the funny part, there’s a lot more in here that I don’t want to remember.”

　　He simply nodded and began to enjoy the dessert, but after hearing these words, Mrs. Willis and the other ladies were inexplicably reminded of the title of a best-selling novel: ‘A Man with a Story’. In their eyes, Dawn Dantes was like this, the surface was like a clear and quiet lake, but in reality, the bottom could not be seen, hiding a lot of surprises, but also buried a lot of pain.

　　At 9:40 the dinner was over, and a portion of the gentlemen and ladies went in company to the card room for a two hours’ game of Texas, while the few remaining males went towards the sitting-room, intending to gossip for a time, which did not exclude the ladies’ wives from joining in, but as there were a great number of smokers and inevitably colorful conversation, no ladies took part, and they either descended to the first floor, and gathered round the piano, listening to the active performers play and singing softly, or in groups of two or three, playing chess and having fun.

　　Klein chose to go to the sitting room on the second floor, where the smaller number of people chatting privately would help him to be accepted into the circle as early as possible.

　　Entering the room, he surveyed his surroundings, went straight to the window, opened it, and then pulled a high-backed chair close by and sat down.

　　No sooner had Klein completed this series of movements than he saw Portland Mormont, the host of the day’s dinner, holding his pipe and chuckling:

　　”A man always needs a little space to himself.”

　　He was a loud-voiced, tall, rosy-cheeked old man of about sixty years of age, with hair that was still thick but had gone all gray, and with features that were very typical of the average Ruin’s looks, with not much in the way of character.

　　”Yes, one must be considerate of image and their feelings when the ladies are around, and I wanted to kiss it an hour ago.” Hazel’s father, Councilor Macht, followed, removing an ornately shaped silver metal box and twisting a rolled cigarette out of it.

　　Other men who came into the sitting room did likewise, magically adding pipes or cigarettes to their hands.

　　Between the flickers of the flames, a wisp of smoke lingered out, giving the room the feeling that yesterday’s haze had not yet dissipated.

　　After a few seconds of enjoyment with his eyes closed, Portland Mormont looked sideways at his guest Dawn by the window:

　　”Dawn, don’t you smoke?”

　　Klein clenched his fist against his mouth and coughed lightly twice and said:

　　”I’m not healed yet, and the doctor has instructed me not to smoke lately.”

　　Frankly, he was on the verge of choking right now, and it was a good thing he had wisely picked his spot by the window earlier.

　　These big smokers …… Klein flexed his right index finger and rubbed it in front of his nostrils.

　　He wanted to use the extraordinary ability of the “magician” to create invisible, invisible air tubes, extending outward, drawing in fresh air to get rid of the harm of second-hand smoke, but considering that there may be hidden extraordinary people among the men present, and then rationally gave up this idea.

　　Portland Mormont sniffed and laughed:

　　”I’ve heard Bishop Elektra tell me that it’s not for nothing that you’re sick, Dawn; you lack a wife!”

　　This professor himself is a believer in the “God of Steam and Machinery”, but his wife believes in the “Goddess of the Night”, so he has settled in Birklund Street near St. Samuel’s Church, where bishops often visit and communicate with each other.

　　Is this a jibe at me for thinking of women when I’m sick? I really can’t see that Bishop Elektra is actually a man who likes to spread rumors …… It’s all the fault of “Magic Mirror” Aroldus! Klein belabored a few words and shook his head and laughed:

　　”I have a lot of respect for marriage and would rather be single if I don’t have the right target.”

　　At this time, Mr. Willis, a senior employee of Birkeland City Hall, exhaled a smoke ring and said:

　　”I actually envy Dawn’s current single status, which means I can pursue any type of lady.”

　　He purposely used an accent on any type, causing the crowd in the sitting room to let out an ambiguous laugh in unison.

　　Had word gotten around this neighborhood that Dawn Dantes had a wide range of preferences and was not resistant to any type of attractive woman? Klein controlled his right hand, not subconsciously rubbing the corner of his forehead, only to realize that his image of the newly rich man with depth and grace and good looks and conversation had subtly changed.

　　He first suspected that it was Bishop Elektra, the loudmouth, who had spoken out, and then felt that it was his butler, Walter, who had taken the initiative to have his servants spread the word.

　　Because a man with few flaws and extremely charismatic will always be unconsciously rejected by the rest of the same sex within the circle, but when he has flaws and has a topic to be flirted with, it is easy to make people feel close.

　　At the flirtation with a bit of color, Klein didn’t get annoyed, and rather graciously and deliberately laughed bitterly:

　　”That’s why it’s difficult to choose, being single until now.”

　　”Haha.” Portland Mormont and the others burst out laughing at the same time.

　　Councilor Macht then said:

　　”What you need is a little ability to make decisions, a good marriage, a good family, helps a man immensely.”

　　He stopped snickering and gave a serious exhortation.

　　It seems that no matter what world you are in, you can’t escape the fate of being urged to get married ah …… Klein nodded gently and casually swept the window, enjoying the night view of the garden of the Portland-Mormont house.

　　At this time, he saw a silhouette, Hazel Macht in a long dark green dress was walking along the path, walking alone into the depths of the garden, pausing from time to time and looking from side to side, seemingly searching for something.

　　Wasn’t this young lady playing the piano just now? How did she suddenly go into the garden? When Klein withdrew his gaze, Hazel’s back was already hidden by a clump of flowers.

　　It was not a rude behavior for guests to leave the hall and enter the garden when attending a dinner party or a ball, because it was a classy thing to stroll under the moon and blow the night breeze with the scent of flowers, however, it often meant a rendezvous as well.

　　Who was Hazel having a rendezvous with? No, not like that. There’s no one here today that she can really “look at”, and although the shock of her previous visit to the sewers has made her seem less haughty and even occasionally brooding, deep down she still seems to have a disdain for the common man. …… Dealing with the negative effects of magical items? It didn’t make sense, finding a lounge or going to the lavatory would be better than going to the garden, it would be more secluded, and she had gone to the third floor during the ball at her house, not the garden …… Klein ruled out all the impossibilities, and had a tentative guess in mind:

　　From Hazel’s gesture of sensing or searching for something, it seemed that she had found something unusual and was ready to go for a closer look and deal with it?

　　That would also mean that there was a supernatural situation in the home of Professor Portland Mormont?

　　If true, this professor or someone in his family is not simple …… The various bishops at St. Samuel’s Church visit from time to time, and none of them have found anything!

　　Well, the Stealer must have a unique ability to sense and observe in certain areas ……

　　Klein did not have the idea of interfering in the outside matters, because the problems that could be detected by Hazel would not be too dangerous, moreover, this place is very close to St. Samuel’s Church, so if there is really any secret, no one would want to make a big fuss, and would be very restrained.

　　At that moment, Senator Macht in the sitting room broke from the effects of the last vulgar joke and looked over at Portland Mormont:

　　”I hear you’re leaving Birkeland University?”

　　Professor Portland-Mormont took a puff on his pipe and said:

　　”Yeah, the Council of Higher Education wants me to take the presidency of the newly formed Bakerland University of Technology, heh, and while most of my wealth was brought in by those alloys, my best field is mechanical engineering.

　　”They promise to build better laboratories there and give more funding, ha, at my age, more autonomy better help is indeed more important.”

　　Mr. Willis laughed in agreement:

　　”And Beckland University will have one more vacancy for a full professor, those senior associate professors who have been waiting for decades and decades will finally have another chance.”

　　In the Ruhn higher education system, a full professor was not only a title, but also a position, equivalent to a department head, so there could only be one.

　　Bakerland Technical University …… Klein listened with a smile, not speaking freely on topics he didn’t understand.

　　……

　　Inside the garden, Hazel came to a shady, unoccupied corner.

　　She had just noticed an abnormal convergence of ants and other creatures on the ground, and felt inspired to think that something was hiding over here.

　　It was a gift that came with her own sequence, and it had never failed her before.

　　–She could just pick out the one hiding the valuables from several sealed boxes without additional assistance, but of course, she couldn’t tell exactly what it was, only that it must be more valuable compared to the others.

　　Just like Mr. Dawn Dantes, there is bound to be a very valuable item on his person …… Hazel hooked her mouth slightly and turned her attention to the somewhat fluffy looking dirt in front of her.

　　She sensed quite a bit of spirituality converging below her, creating an attraction to bugs and shady spirits.

　　Not human bodies, some used materials with spirituality …… they should have been discarded separately, but ended up buried together, creating unwanted changes …… Hazel’s eyes darkened a bit, deciphering from the undisguised characteristics and changes of the spirituality what was underneath the dirt situation.

　　Her chin lifted slightly as she glanced back at the small building, thinking that the Portland-Mormonts had at least one supernatural ability.

　　And if this problem in the corner of the garden wasn’t dealt with, in a few days, the place and several nearby houses would be haunted!

　　Hazel withdrew her eyes, extended her left hand, aimed it at the dirt in front of her, and twisted her wrist in a gentle grip.

　　The spirituality that had gathered there vanished precipitously, as if it had been stolen from her.