While Klein was thinking, he noticed something. He found that there were now four black dots on the back of his hand, which happened to form a small square. These four black spots faded and disappeared quickly, but Klein knew that they were still hiding in his body, waiting to be awakened.
"Four spots forming a square; is it in correspondence with the four pieces of staple food at the four corners of the room? Does this mean that in the future, I don't need to prepare the food and can do the ritual and chants immediately?" Klein made a guess.
This might seem good, but the emergence of the spots was ominous, and "things" that one lacked understanding of were always scary. The fact that those inexplicable Chinese Divinations from Earth could produce effects here, the strange transmigration in his sleep, the mysterious murmurings that almost drove him crazy during the ritual, and the mysterious and trippy gray world whose significance he had no idea of made Klein slightly concerned.
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown." He recalled this saying as he was experiencing the fear of the unknown acutely.
There was in him an unprecedented and irresistible urge to make contact with the mysterious domain, to learn more, and to explore the unknown. There was also a contradictory escape mentality within him, compelling him to pretend nothing had happened.
Klein decided to spend the time contemplating his decisions for the future. He spent about three hours contemplating. Through that time, he realized that he didn't feel tired or hungry.
Ohh, Mythical Creatures don't need sleep or food. Ommm, I'll still sleep and eat! I might be a Mythical Creature, but in my heart I'm still human! Wait, do I even have a heart? Oh, it doesn't matter. We are poor, though; I'll eat when I obviously need to- same for sleeping! I also need to pick up the bread I used for the ritual.
He decided to put the bread away. Once he was done with that, he decided he needed to start planning. I can't leave this world yet. I must think of a way to come into contact with more mysticism circles. I need to overcome the fear of the unknown. The only way now is to wait for the next 'gathering.' I need to see if I can learn the formula of the 'Spectator' potion or other things related to mysticism. There are four more days before Monday. Before that, I need to first figure out the problem with Klein. Why did he commit suicide? What happened to him? Unable to transmigrate back and wash his hands of everything, Klein picked up the notebook that lay on the table. He wanted to find hints that could help him regain his lost memory fragments. Thankfully, the original Klein was a diary maker.
The book he had begun on the 10th of May. Matters regarding his school and mentor, as well as content on knowledge, were at the beginning.
"12th May. Mr. Azik mentioned that the common language used by the Balam Empire in the Southern Continent also developed from Ancient Feysac, a branch of Jotun. Why is this so? Does this mean that every sentient living being once spoke the same language? No, there has to be a mistake. According to 'The Revelation of Evernight' and 'The Book of Storms', giants were not the only hegemons of the world in primordial times. There were also elves, mutants, and dragons. Anyways, these are just myths and fantasies."
"16th May. Senior Associate Professor Cohen and Mr. Azik discussed the inevitability of the Age of Steam. Mr. Azik opined that it was just a coincidence because if it wasn't for Emperor Roselle, the Northern Continent would still be wielding swords like the Southern Continent. Mentor argued that Mr. Azik had placed too much emphasis on the contribution of an individual. He believes that with progress, even if there wasn't an Emperor Roselle, there would be an Emperor Robert. Therefore, the Age of Steam might come late, but eventually come nevertheless. I found little meaning in their discussion. I prefer discovering new things and unraveling the hidden past. Perhaps I am more suited to study archaeology than history."
"29th May. Welch found me and told me that he had acquired a notebook from the Fourth Epoch. Oh, my Goddess! A notebook from the Fourth Epoch! He didn't want to ask the archaeology department's students for help, so he came to Naya and me to help him decode the contents. How can I refuse? Of course, I can only do it after my graduation defense. I can't afford to divert my attention at this stage."
This caught Klein's attention. Compared to the notes about history and viewpoint disagreements, the appearance of a notebook from the Fourth Epoch might have led to Klein's suicide.
The Fourth Epoch was known as the Age of Gods, which piqued Klein's attention. Klein didn't care so much about the first three Epochs because there were only legends about those times.
"Hmm, so Klein was concerned for his future career and thus focused on the interview. But it was all futile…" Klein could not resist exclaiming.
"18th June. I have graduated. Farewell, Khoy University!"
"19th June. I have seen the notebook. By comparing sentence structures and root words, I discovered that it is a modified form of ancient Feysac. More precisely, over the course of its thousand-year history, the Feysac language had changed constantly, a little at a time."
"20th June. We have deciphered the contents of the first page. The author was a member of a family called Antigonus."
"22nd June. He mentioned the Black Emperor. This is anachronistic about the time this notebook is deduced to be written. Is the Professor wrong? Is 'Black Emperor' a common title for every emperor of the Solomon Empire?"
"22nd June. The Antigonus family apparently had a very high standing in the Solomon Empire. The author mentions that he was making a secret transaction with a person named Tudor. Tudor? Is it related to the Tudor Dynasty?"
"23rd June. I am trying to restrain myself from thinking about the notebook and going to Welch's place. I need to prepare for the interview! It's very important!"
"24th June. Naya tells me that they have found something new. I think I need to check it out."
"25th June. From the new deciphered content, the author had accepted a mission to visit the 'Nation of the Evernight' situated at the summit of the highest peak of the Hornacis mountain range. Oh, my Goddess! How can a nation exist at the summit of that peak which is over 6000 meters above sea level? How do they survive?"
"26th June. Are these strange things real?"
The record ended at this point. Zhou Mingrui transmigrated in the early hours of the 28th.
The June 27th entry was that ominous line, "Everyone will die, including me." Klein thought. I should probably visit Welch and Naya to take a closer look at that notebook. With my current powers, I can likely figure it out. My Spirituality! It says something is wrong?! Wait, yes, in novels, movies, and TV drama series, these things that, if they were really related, this visit would be very dangerous—those who went investigating castles despite knowing that they were haunted served as a warning!
However, he had to go since escaping would never solve the problem. It would only make things worse, until it welled over and completely drowned him!
Perhaps call the police? But claiming to have committed suicide would be silly, right...
Knock! Knock, knock!
There was a series of quick and forceful knocks.
Klein sat straight up and listened. He also felt something strange, a pulling of sorts to something outside, but it was quickly snuffed out. If it wasn't for his paying attention and his spirituality, he might have thought he imagined the feeling.
Knock! Knock, knock!
The knocks echoed through the empty hallway.
…
Sometime in the recent past...
Amanises, the Evernight Goddess, was preparing to interfere with the Ressambley/Grafting of the curtain that contained up to Sequence 1 characteristics of the Fool Pathway. But just as 'She' was going to interfere, 'She' made a mistake! 'She' had intended to influence Antigonus, but 'She' froze for too long thinking about how to influence Antigonus, and when 'She' finally moved, 'She' lost control of Antigonus. In that time, the curtain grafted itself to Klein!
". . . .Wait, what? How . . . how . . . what how did I mess that up?" Amanises was deeply confused about why 'She' froze and then lost control. Was I somehow Fooled?
But Amanises quickly shot that down. How could 'She' have been affected? 'She' was completely unsure of how 'She' had slipped up. It was as if fate made 'Her' fail intentionally, with how improbable the event was.
What 'She' was planning was somewhat straightforward. 'She' was planning to use the mad Half-Fool Antigonus to affect Sefirah Castle/grey fog and cause the curtain to be thrown into the Forsaken Land of the Gods, thus preventing the Celestial Worthy from gaining an immediate avatar. But 'She' made a mistake! She immediately realized what that meant!
"I need to kill him before the Celestial Worthy... Wait, he's not losing control?" Amanises quickly looked at Klein's position and was ready to use her descent vessel to rush and kill him. She was also planning on calling 'Her' angels and more.
As 'She' had noticed when 'She' looked, 'She' realized something: Klein wasn't breaking down into a monster! He was managing to accommodate the characteristic!
"Is he so blessed by Fate that it allowed him to get the one in, in perhaps a trillion-to-one chance? I did feel like my failure was off," mused Amanises. "Wait, 'He' needs anchors; otherwise it won't matter if 'He' manages to accommodate it!"
Amanises quickly concealed all of the humans around 'Him' because 'She' noticed 'Him' beginning to marrionettize animals around 'Him' to turn into 'His' anchors. Then 'She' gave 'Her' faith in 'Him' to truly anchor 'Him'. All of these measures were thankfully enough to anchor 'Him'.
"I'll need to keep an eye on him; my Nighthawks are likely going to begin investigating 'Him' after these suicide cases. I'll send Arianna. Hmmm, wait a minute- 'He's a free archangel for me! 'He's managed to skip all of the years required to get to Sequence 1! All I have to do is convince 'Him' to join the Nighthawks. I will also perhaps need to consider having a way to guarantee that 'He' joins, but perhaps I may not need to.
Dang, I should be thankful for that mistake that fate caused me to commit; I managed to get a free archangel out of it. Also, I can get an actual friend like Lilith!" Amanises was in a significantly better mood than before.
…
Meanwhile, in the Concealed World of Arianna.
"Arianna, take Sealed Artifact 0-19 and go to Tingen; there is a believer who managed to accommodate a Sequence 1 characteristic without being a Beyonder; your mission is to help stabilize 'Him' and convince 'Him' to join the church. Take this letter with you to convince 'Him' if necessary. Also tell Pallez, who is parasitizing Leonard Mitchell, that 'He' can choose to join the church or die." Amanises sent a divine revelation to Arianna.
A normal person managed to become a Sequence 1? Without any preparation? Also, an angel was parasitizing a Nighthawk?
Arianna was shocked by what 'She' was hearing. Nevertheless, 'She' did as commanded. 'She' immediately went to the Chanis Gate in the Serenity Cathedral and took 0-19. A Sealed Artifact corresponding to Sequence 2: Servant of Concealment. Then 'She' rushed to Tingen.
…
Meanwhile, the parasite in Leonard, just a little before going to knock on Klein Moretti's door, was panicking.
"Boy, we are screwed; we are screwed so badly, it's just- how bad must our probably my luck be." Pallez lampooned in despair.
Leonard couldn't speak because he was close to Dunn, Kenley, and some policeman; he believed his name was Bitsch. From Pallez's panicking, Leonard could barely control his facial muscles.
Why is he panicking? Why are we screwed?! Leonard, who didn't know why Pallez was panicking, was worried, but because he didn't know, he wasn't panicking as badly as Pallez.
"Boy, we are screwed, screwed, or perhaps we may gain that one in a million chance that nothing bad will happen. Though then again, judging from the fact that nothing has happened, that one in a million chance might be better than a thought. No, 'He' might have just arrived. Oh, we are screwed. Boy, you better pray to your Goddess for a miracle." Pallez, while still panicking, spoke in a much calmer voice now, though it could clearly be heard that there was an edge of panic.
Pallez was also calculating 'His' chance of simply changing hosts in an attempt to escape, but 'His' spirituality wasn't warning him. 'He' could clearly sense there was a Sequence 1 of a different pathway but still related to 'His', but 'He' didn't feel any danger, which only made 'Him' worry even more.
Wait, 'He'? Old Man called the person a 'He'. Wait, what are we getting ourselves into? Leonard was beginning to panic just as badly as Pallez was, or even more. He also desperately wanted to warn Dunn and Kenley!
But before Leonard or Pallez could do anything, the policeman reached the door and began knocking.
…
"Who is it?"
Klein was thinking about the mysterious suicide of the original owner of this body and the unknown danger he might encounter when he heard the sudden knock on the door. He subconsciously opened the drawer, took out the revolver, and asked vigilantly.
The other party was quiet for two seconds before a slightly sharp voice, in Awwa's accent, replied, "It's me, Mountbatten, Bitsch Mountbatten."
The voice paused for a moment before adding, "The police."
"Okay, I'll be right there!" Klein responded loudly.
Since it was the police, Klein had to hide the revolver! He quickly sent his marionettes to hide it and used illusions to doubly hide it.
After doing all of that, he tidied up his clothes and quickly approached the door and murmured, "Sorry, I just had a nap."
Outside the door stood four policemen in black-and-white checkered uniforms with peak caps. Bitsch Mountbatten, the one with a brown beard, coughed and said to Klein, "These three inspectors have something to ask you."
Inspectors? Klein looked at the shoulder badges of the other three reflexively and found that two of them had three silver hexagons and one had two, both of which looked superior to Bitsch Mountbatten, who had only three chevrons.
"Please come in. How might I help you?" Klein purposefully made his tone nervous since his emotions seemed too dull.
Meanwhile, Pallez was exclaiming it was a miracle; the one-in-a-million chance had appeared! Leonard was having a very hard time trying to control his facial muscles and body in general after hearing Pallez's celebration.
The leader of the three inspectors was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes. He seemed to be able to read the mind of a person and make them fearful. His eyes were wrinkled, and the edge of his hat revealed light brown hair. He looked around the room and asked in a deep voice, "Do you know Welch McGovern?"
"What's wrong with him?" Klein quivered and blurted back.
"I'm the one asking the questions." The dignified middle-aged police inspector had a stern look in his eyes.
The inspector next to him, also wearing three silver hexagons, looked at Klein and smiled gently. "Don't be nervous. It's just a routine question."
This policeman was in his thirties, with a straight nose and gray eyes that, like a lake in an ancient forest that no one visited, gave him an indescribable sense of depth.
Klein then began explaining how he knew Welch McGovern and some additional information. Finally, Klein asked what happened to Welch. Instead of answering, the middle-aged police inspector looked sideways at his gray-eyed colleague.
The inspector with the peaked cap and ordinary looks replied mildly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Welch has passed away."
"WHAT?" Despite having some hunches, Klein could not help but shout out in astonishment.
Welch died just like the original owner of this body? That is a little scary!
"What about Naya?" Klein questioned hurriedly.
"Ms. Naya passed away too," the gray-eyed police inspector said quite calmly. "Both of them died in Mr. Welch's house."
"Killed?" Klein had a vague guess.
Perhaps it was suicide… caused by that notebook?
The gray-eyed inspector responded by saying it was a suicide. The same inspector followed up by saying there were no obvious signs of external factors. Then the inspector asked when the last time was that he saw Welch or Naya. At the same time, the inspector gestured with his eyes to another inspector with black sideburns and green eyes.
When he heard the question, Klein thought about it and answered it thoughtfully, "It should be June 26th; we were reading a new chapter in the notes. Then, I went home to prepare for my interview on June 30th. Uh, the interview was for the History Department of Tingen University."
When Klein finished speaking, the inspector with black sideburns and green eyes moved to pick up the diary on the desk.
Damn! I forgot to hide it!
"Hey!" Klein cried out.
The young inspector smiled back at him but did not stop flipping through his notes, while the gray-eyed inspector explained, "This is a necessary procedure." Klein, though, noticed that the young inspector, when Klein said "hey," mildly reacted. It seemed he was scared of him. Klein strangely decided to move on from that.
Klein wanted to complain about search warrants, but when reviewing Klein's memories, he couldn't find anything about search warrants. Likely the Loen Kingdom hasn't developed search warrants, unfortunately.
"What is this strange thing?" The young police inspector turned to the end of the notes and suddenly asked, "And what does this mean? 'Everyone will die, including me'..."
Klein wanted to initially quibble, but he realized something: he had planned to "connect" with the police in case of possible danger, but he had no reasons or excuses.
He decided in less than a second. Putting his hand over his forehead, he answered painfully, "I have no idea. I really have no idea... When I woke up this morning, I felt I wasn't quite right, as if I had forgotten something. It's especially true for whatever happened recently. I don't even know why I wrote such a sentence."
"That is ridiculous! Do you think we are fools?" Bitsch Mountbatten could not help but interject angrily.
Klein responded that it was true, and the gray-eyed inspector agreed that it might be true, to Klein's shock. Furthermore, the same inspector said an expert may come in the next two days to help with Klein's amnesia. Klein then questioned what field the expert was in: psychology? He then wondered whether the expert might discover his memories of Earth!
The inspector with black sideburns and green eyes then did a final inspection of the desk and room before finishing.
"Well, Mr. Klein, thank you for your cooperation. We advise that you had better not leave Tingen for the coming days. If you have to, please notify Inspector Mountbatten, or you'll become a fugitive," the gray-eyed police inspector warned.
That's it? That's it for today? No other questions for deeper investigations? Or taking me back to the police station to torture me for information? Klein was at a loss.
Nevertheless, he wanted to solve the odd turn of events brought about by Welch, too. So he nodded.
"That wouldn't be an issue."
The inspectors exited the room one by one, and the young man at the end suddenly patted Klein on the shoulder.
"It's really nice. Very lucky."
"What?" Klein's face was puzzled.
The green-eyed police inspector with a poet's temperament smiled and said, "Generally speaking, the norm is for all the involved parties to die in such an event. We are very glad and fortunate to see you still alive." To Klein, though he seemed forced to say that, the inspector definitely seemed nervous! Yet once again, Klein seemed to strangely move on from that.
After that, he exited the room and closed the door behind him politely.
"Wait, what?" Klein should have been chilled by this revelation, yet he wasn't.
Klein immediately pondered whether his powers were the reason why he survived. Though, then again, technically Klein did die; it just happened that Klein was Zhou Mingrui, transmigrated into Klein's body. He also wondered why the police didn't protect him.
Wait, could it be because those inspectors are from those organizations mentioned by Mr. Hanged Man? Are they waiting for something to happen while they don't appear to be guarding me? Yeah, that could make sense.
He slowly opened the door, deliberately shouting with a trembling voice at the staircase, "You guys will protect me, right?"
Tap, tap, tap...There was no response from the police officers, and there was no change in the rhythm of the contact between the leather shoes and the wooden stairs.
"I know! You'll do that!" Klein shouted again in a tone of feigned conviction, trying to act like a normal person who was in danger.
The sound of footsteps gradually weakened and disappeared from the bottom floor of the apartment.
Klein snorted and laughed, "Isn't that response too fake? Their acting skills are not up to standard!"
After a few hours at home, where he began experimenting with his powers, he realized Melissa should almost be done with school for today. He also realized he could have used a lot of his powers to deal with the situation from before better.
He decided to do a little bit of cooking and also considered how he could explain to Melissa how he could cook. Later, Melissa arrived home and questioned whether Klein could cook this well. After a bit of playful banter, Melissa rushed to clean up and eat. Furthermore, Melissa commented on how good Klein's cooking was and how this was supposed to be for him. She pushed for the idea that she should cook in the future because of Klein's interview. Klein began considering how he could prepare for the interview. Later, Klein began putting on the appearance of studying. Melissa moved a chair over to sit beside him. With light shining from the gas lamp, she began working on her assignments. The atmosphere was serene. When it was almost eleven o'clock, the siblings bade each other goodnight and went to bed.
…
Dunn Smith, the inspector with grey eyes, was preparing to enter Klein's dream. Though he was deeply unsettled because his spirituality was trying to tell him not to. It said it was extremely dangerous! That he would die even!
Why would it be so dangerous? Dunn Smith was deeply worried; he pondered whether that Fourth Epoch notebook had corrupted Klein Moretti. But then how did Klein Moretti not show any issues? Thankfully for him, and to his surprise, 'Her' Eminence Arianna arrived.
"You won't be entering his dream." Arianna calmly said while carrying a silver suitcase.
"Your Eminence Arianna!" Dunn immediately bowed. He didn't understand why 'She' had personally arrived; he had the sense not to question.
Arianna immediately prepared to enter Klein's dream.
In addition to Arianna coming, Amanises had several extra measures ready to ensure Klein would join. In addition, Adam personally made an appearance but was careful not to be noticed. 'He' carefully began writing a story.
…
Knock. Knock. Knock. A series of light knocks on the door roused Klein from his dreams. He peered out of the window to see the first glimmer of dawn. In a daze, he flipped over and sat up.
"Who is it?"
Look at the time now! Why did Melissa wake me up?" Klein was confused but wasn't worried since his spirituality wasn't warning him.
Hearing the continuous light knocks, Klein's spirituality said he should let the person in. "I should let them in?" Klein was considering this when Arianna simply opened the door.
"Hello, Mr. Moretti, a fellow believer in the Goddess. Or should I refer to you as Attendant of Mysteries?" Arianna replied serenely and soothingly.
"Who are you?" Klein felt he should be slightly worried, but he felt strangely soothed and at ease.
"I am an angel under the service of the Goddess; you don't need to worry; I'm not here to harm you; I've come to negotiate," Arianna said calmly.
"Why are you here?" While Klein wasn't worried but now more curious, he felt that he wasn't in danger since his Spirituality wasn't warning him, and it told him he could benefit from what was going to happen.
"Mr. Moretti, I am here on orders from the Goddess to obtain your service to 'Her'. Allow me to explain further. I believe you can reasonably understand that the churches don't let Beyonders just run wild now? Also, in case you don't understand what I mean by Beyonders, they are people who have gained mystical powers." Arianna replied.
"I do understand what Beyonders are, and what you said does make sense about not allowing Beyonders to run wild." Klein could easily understand why that would be. Letting people with powers like mine loose would cause humanity to die within seconds.
"So then, you would likely understand that you have two options. The first one is to join or be willing to ally with the Church of the Evernight Goddess. The second is where you disagree with either being an ally or joining the Church. I hope you will be willing to join us. If you don't, there will be consequences neither of us desires." Arianna spoke truthfully.
Notes: