Once the Tarot Club meeting had arrived at its end, Klein dismissed Justice, Hanged Man and The Sun.
Kiyotaka stayed seated in his spot, unmoving, still trying to digest the information he had gathered in a single meeting.
However, at the same time, there were a lot of interesting prospects to look forward to, so it somewhat balanced it off.
Kiyotaka saw how Klein made the other Tarot Club members pray to him while "sacrificing" the items they needed to exchange to him, and then "bestowing" it upon the receiving party. The method was quite straightforward, like some kind of courier service.
He also heard of Klein's Honorific Name: The Fool that does not belong to this era; The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog; The King of Yellow and Black who wields Good Luck.
Once all of those frivolities were resolved, Kiyotaka tried to open his mouth but felt a deep pain in the entirety of his body. It was as if someone was purposefully ripping the outer layer of skin, peeling him like an orange.
Klein felt this and let out a knowing chuckle. "Someone with no Spirituality would have a hard time staying here. Although this does not apply to the "guests."
Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes. His body language was straight, albeit there were an occasional twitch and spasm in his body.
"It would seem like this place had some kind of connection to you as well, much like me. Although since I am the one who initiated the meeting, you bore only a little bit of the original brunt." Klein explained.
"'This place'? I assumed you would call it your own."
Klein rapped the edges of the long table. "Under normal circumstances. Of course, the emphasis of the sentence is normal. Clearly, this..." he motioned towards the seat of The Emperor and spoke, "...this isn't normal."
Kiyotaka's vision blurred. He looked at Klein in a tacit manner.
After a while, Klein spoke up. "I am unaware of your situation and my own as well. I would assume that you are from Earth, yes?"
Kiyotaka had figured out this much himself. Without saying much, he nodded and then reached out for his head to wipe it.
"2020?" Klein asked nonchalantly.
"2015."
"2020."
'There is a difference of 5 years...but we look about the same age. Hmm...perhaps it is a matter of suitable vessels which are already dead. However, what led to my "soul" choosing the body of Williams?'
As expected, the small exchange raised even more questions in his mind.
After a moment of silence between the "Deity" and the "Angel," Kiyotaka spoke first. "I would assume that we have a tacit agreement now."
Klein leaned back. "Yes. Mutual benefit, or mutual destruction." After a moment, he added: "Of course, the loss that occurred to me would be far less than for you. You are a normal human with no way to protect yourself from the ones who would try to seize the authority you have over this mysterious space."
"If that is even possible." Klein said the last bit to himself.
Kiyotaka nodded. "I have a few questions."
Klein smiled and felt Kiyotaka turn translucent. "We have time. Tomorrow, same time. I will answer what I can."
Kiyotaka ruminated inwardly, analysed the accent. Before he could say anything, he was plummeting down through what felt like sloshy, watery membranes of murky water.
Inside the small apartment located in the Iron Gate Street of the east borough, the blonde-haired man suddenly sat up, covered in sweat that coated his full body. His thin shirt was clinging tightly to his body.
He blinked his eyes a few times.
'It was real...'
"You fucking dog! We had an agreement!" A man who was standing in the door of his room suddenly barked. Kiyotaka looked up and realized that it was past his time of control over the room.
The man expected a retort back, but Kiyotaka simply stood up, picked up his coat and walked silently through the door, shutting it as he did.
***
Kiyotaka spent the rest of the day inside a library where he studied books like Advanced Advocacy, Property Transactions, Regulatory Compliance and Commerce Law. He skipped studying for the basic level law as he was more or less aware of what it might be.
Instead, what he did was picking up trickier topics and studying them. Unsurprisingly, the tax system, laws revolving around taxes, crimes and many other things were not that different to the era he originally belonged to.
Of course, he attributed it to the influence of Emperor Roselle.
After studying straight for around 6 hours, the grumble in his stomach made him leave his desk as he decided to finally eat.
He paid 2 Solis to the librarian for around 4 cups of cheap to medium quality coffee and then bade his farewell to him. On his way home, he tried to assess his situation.
Kiyotaka had decided not to give the exam after all. While he could delay the inevitable by saying that his results were yet to come, it still was not favorable in the long run. Not to mention, the job offer could be a scam in itself.
He could pretend to be a Accountant, and using the money from that, he could live a comfortable life. However, something that occurred to him recently changed his mind about a normal life. After all, normal was completely subjective, varying from person to person.
He had strived for normalcy, but exactly qualified as normal to him? For a person such as Kiyotaka—not Williams, but Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, normal life was far from what he had been blindly chasing for.
But there was no need for it now. There was actually many things he didn't know. There was an element of "intrigue" in this world. There were things he didn't know, things he couldn't understand, at a scale that he couldn't fathom.
It was terrifying, but he felt excitement. It was something that was incited inside him after the Tarot Club Meeting and his fellow transmigrator—The Fool.
The mysterious ruler above the Gray Fog.
To humour himself, he wanted to call him as a fraudulent ruler.
However, Kiyotaka avoided thinking of him as fraudulent. After all, he was the same. What was worse was that The Fool actually held more Authority and was able to kill him the very moment if they ever came face to face.
Hence, he decided that he would try to build wealth and use a portion of that wealth to research into these so-called Beyonders and the potions one could attain to gain that power. After a while of wandering here and there, he finally decided on where to eat his first dinner in this world.
He went inside the greasy looking restaurant and ordered some bread with beef and gravy. He dipped the bread inside the gravy and hungrily ate the meat.
'Once I get a proper job, I need to take care of my health and body. I can start by running and making some equipment at home, or simply doing pushups and pullups, but I need energy for that...yes, let's start once I secure a good job which can provide me with enough sustenance.'
Kiyotaka absolutely demolished the big bowl of beef, licked the bones dry, drank the broth and then cleaned the bowl with the remaining pieces of the bread. He didn't bother with the people around him since he knew that any person coming here would not be too well off and would be too engrossed in eating.
The taste of the broth and the bread was not as good as anything he had tried in the past, but it made his insides warm and the tremble in his fingertips was somewhat cured.
He realized that Williams almost never ate flesh. Be it because of some personal preference or something else, Kiyotaka was not sure, but he made a mental note of eating more proteins in the future to not look like a lankier version of Slenderman.
Looking outside, he saw a lot of people sitting at the edges of the road and shivering, huddling close by to get some warmth. He looked at them blankly, without any moving emotion in his heart. After a moment, he wiped his mouth and paid 12 Pences, leaving him with £3 and 14 Solis.
His finances were getting tighter, but he realized that he could survive another week with this money, even if he kept eating meat for breakfast and dinners. However, he decided to not get too comfortable with it, or else he would end up like the people outside.
As he was about to leave the restaurant, an involuntary sigh left his lips.
A remnant ache persisted inside him, like a parasite.
He turned and ordered some more meat and a small bowl full of broth. He paid 10 Pence for it, alongside a cheap quality bowl and carried it outside. Once he was out, he walked to the corner, and bent down, holding the bowl out. This left him with £3, 13 Solis and 2 Pence.
His fingers felt warm first, and then they started to burn from the steaming broth inside the bowl.
There were two people sitting with their backs to the glass wall of the restaurant. Since the heating inside the restaurant turned the glass hot, it provided some relief to the old bones of the two people sitting there.
The one sitting to the right was a man who had rough fingertips, giving the look of someone who was a skilled person. He was a middle-aged man who was wearing a thick jacket. His grizzled gray hair was oily, and his beard was obvious. Besides him was a woman who was old and hunched, but Kiyotaka could tell from a glance that she was a beauty in her younger days. She was wearing a sweater, a thick jacket and a hat.
'Another case of Aristocrats turning poor?'
The man was smoking but he suddenly scrambled to his feet when he saw Kiyotaka tower over them.
Kiyotaka extended the bowl towards the woman who seemed to be in a much worse condition. She looked up at the blue-eyed man who had an indifferent look on his face. He looked at the old man and lowered his hat before walking away.
With his back turned to the two old people, Kiyotaka sighed. "I suppose sober Williams was quite different..."
***********
Kiyotaka spent the entirety of the evening trying to resist the urge to drink alcohol and sleep, but in the end, he gave in and drank enough shots to get rid of the crushing headache.
**********
The next morning, Kiyotaka woke up early, threw up and took a bath in the combined washroom which was shared by all the tenants on the first floor and the shopkeepers on the ground floor.
Once he was done, he picked the second pair of clothes he had which was a simple white shirt and a long coat.
He grabbed his half-top hat and placed it on his head.
After that, he made a quick commute to the same restaurant, ate a bread with some fresh butter and jam before making his way to the designated location, which was 2 King's Avenue, Royal Museum.
There were a lot of unassuming security companies here and Kiyotaka couldn't help but feel something was strangely off about the place here but a part of them thought that it was just his weak mind and body.
After a bit of searching here and there, he finally arrived at the designated location. The plaque to the side of the double doors said: "WhiteThorn Security Company."
The doors were slightly ajar and when he entered, he saw a wide hall with a few sofas and tables for guests to sit. At the forefront was a desk with a receptionist who was busy looking at herself in the mirror.
There was a woman sitting on the sofa. She was a beautiful young woman. As a matter of fact, she was the most beautiful woman Kiyotaka had seen so far. Of course, the bar was quite low since he had only seen malnourished, bankrupt aristocratic women as Street Girls or the women of East Borough who were barely clinging to life.
Kiyotaka noticed it was more a matter of vitality and health than actual beauty. The majority of the residents of the East Borough were so malnourished that even if they were beautiful, they would not appear so, due to the sunken cheeks, the dark holes under their eyes and the lack of hygiene.
Pulling his attention back to the woman, who had now put the newspaper down and was looking at her, he noticed that she was wearing a hooded black robe and a silver bracelet with a hanging white crystal pendant around her wrist.
She was wearing heavy makeup: a blue eyeshadow and blush.
It made her look older than she was and that slightly confused Kiyotaka. He was not sure why a young woman such as her would pose to be much older. She had a sullen look on her face and looked as if she had cried recently, the red streaks reaching from one corner of her eye to another.
Kiyotaka removed the hat from his head and put it to his chest. "Good morning."
The woman who was already attentive to the newcomer's presence mustered up a smile, her black-tinted lips curling up into a curtsey. "Good morning." She then motioned with her hand to the reception. "If you have any requests, you can do them there. Roxanne would help you out with the process."
Kiyotaka adjusted his hair and then spoke up. "Actually, yesterday, I was called here for the position of a Accountant. The gentleman told me that while it was not a full-time job, you'd require a Chartered Accountant's assistance from time to time."
The woman looked up at him and then towards Roxanne before smiling. "Please, sit here." She stood up and Kiyotaka took his place
Meanwhile, Roxanne had already come over. She had shoulder-length black hair and dark blue eyes which almost looked black. Her face was round and cute, making her look much younger than she was and she was almost as tall as Kiyotaka.
'She doesn't seem to be from Loen...'
"Good morning. Would you like tea or coffee?"
Kiyotaka didn't hesitate. "Coffee, please."
The woman from before was about to leave when she turned. There was a certain gloom on her features which she was trying to hide, as if mourning something. "Can you describe who it was?"
Kiyotaka looked up and said flatly: "Medium-heighted man. Long blonde hair and beard. Blue eyes. The gentleman didn't introduce himself and left in a hurry."
"I see. Thanks. I will get back to you shortly."
'Well...this is suspicious. Normally someone—at least the Receptionist—should know about a newcomer coming. But from the looks of it, Roxanne looks equally surprised. What is going on? Have I been led into an ambush? Williams was in a neutral relationship with a lot of other gang members and sometimes the police, but he did not have any major disagreements with anyone.'
'There are gangs like Zmanger and a few others comprising of Highlanders, but none of them were at odds with Williams. There should be no reason for it. Also, while this is a security company, it is still a private one. Private companies are not associated with the government, for the most part. And given Williams' non-suspicious background, it won't make sense to assume that I have been led here for the company to capture me...'
As Kiyotaka was knee deep in conjuring different kinds of theories over the current situation, he shook his head and relaxed back into the soft sofa.
The Crimson Moonlight was soft outside as the clouds were unpresent and the only thing blanketing the moonlight was the smog.
Roxanne brought the cup of black coffee to Kiyotaka and placed it on the table in front of him. While passing by, she gave Kiyotaka an enticingly elfin smile before departing. Once she was gone, Kiyotaka brought the cup up to his mouth and took a sip from it.
Disappointingly, it was quite bland. It had the taste of a coffee, but it felt like it was diluted many times over and the taste of coffee was nothing more than an aftertaste that faded too quickly instead of lingering, as it usually does.
Keeping his expressions flat, he took another sip from it. Nights in Backlund were cold, despite the not-so-cold months of the year. As he brought the cup up to his lips, the black liquid was brightly illuminated by the Crimson Moonlight, and he saw his own eyes staring back at him inside the crimson-black liquid—a pair of light brown eyes behind a curtain of brown hair.
He didn't panic, but he was equally disturbed by the absurdity of it. Staring back at him, inside the liquid was a version of him that he was 2 days ago. More than 5 years younger, an inch taller, a much-chiseled face, and his signature middle-parted hair.
Kiyotaka placed the cup to the side and looked out through the window behind him. From the single paned window, the sight of the moon was...beautiful. Enchanting, in its own way, despite it making the hair on the back of his neck stand up, like a bristled cat.
Suddenly, a wave of lucidity flushed Kiyotaka and he felt as if, for a moment, he had gained all of his previous mental faculties back, at their full potential. The spiderwebbed nexus of obstacles was miraculously removed and at that moment, he realised something.
'Night...Moon...? I just woke up! How is it night again? Did I sleep? No, she just brought the coffee that I said I wanted in the day. She would've definitely called me if I had dozed off. What's going on?'
As if on cue, a steady stream of the very familiar Gray Fog flooded inside the giant hall. It enveloped Kiyotaka and then rushed towards where Roxanne was stationed. When Kiyotaka turned his head in that direction, he saw himself: sitting next to Horikita and his lips upturned into a rare occurrence of a smile.
The Gray Fog wrapped itself around the scene and then swallowed it, blending in with the surrounding. Then it did the same for a lot of other things such as the scene of him running against Manabu Horikita, the scene of him and Fuka teaming up to fight Tsukishiro and his lackey, the scene of him giving it to Ichinose from behind and so on and so forth.
After a while, someone came into focus. His eyes were judgmental as he looked around and then when his eyes landed on Kiyotaka after taking a survey of the surroundings, he looked as if clicking his tongue as he went back from where he had returned.
Kiyotaka felt his eyes go heavy as he fell asleep. After what felt like 10 seconds, he opened his eyes again. Standing in front of him was Roxanne, her jet-black hair now tied up in a tight bun and her light-brown eyes were playful as she held the cup of coffee in her hand.
"Tired? This early?" She asked in a playful manner.
"No- Yes, I mean, No, not really." He replied, blinking and then took the cup of coffee from her grasp before placing it on the table beside him. "Thank you."
"No problemo~" She hopped back to her place.
'Is she from the Intis Republic? Her accent and mannerisms are not native. Not to mention women from Loen are said to be more reserved.'
'Putting that aside, this was some seriously strange sequence of events. I have never had a dream such as this. Not as vivid and complicated as this. Nor have I ever had such a clear recollection of past memories inside my dream. Not to mention, it felt oddly real. Almost as if I was here at night, tangibly.'
The woman from before appeared once again. The red streaks in her eyes were absent now. Kiyotaka, who had taken a single sip from the coffee—and found it just as bland as he had felt in his dream—stood up and gave her a cursory nod.
Behind her was the man from his lucid dream. His scalp prickled and the premonition that something dangerous was nearby suddenly flared—the basic instinct that distinguished between a predatory and a prey.
This was the second time this had happened. The first was with the Blonde Man and this time it was due to this man, however, the influence of dominance exerted by the Blonde Man was much stronger than this one. It was almost as if Kiyotaka dared to glance at him for more than a second, he would lose his life.
However, it wasn't the same for this man. Despite the man being middle-aged, Kiyotaka could tell he was really strong. Freakishly so. However, he was confident that if he had his previous body, he would've had no trouble in beating him in a hand-to-hand combat.
The man was in his forties with soft facial features and long hair. He was wearing a black windbreaker and red gloves while carrying a black cane which was inlaid with gold.
He looked at the woman and then put his long hat on. "I have to go now, Daly. I will leave this to you." As he was about to leave, he smirked and was about to say something but refrained from doing so and left.
Once he was gone, the woman named Daly walked over to him and on the three-seated sofa to the right of where Kiyotaka was sitting.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Daly Simone. Nice to meet you."
Kiyotaka nodded. "I am Williams. Just Williams."
"Just Williams? Or as in, you just have a first name?"
"The latter."
'Sigh... How miserable can this body be. He doesn't even a surname! Well, I suppose I should visit one of the 'National Database and Registration Authority' branches in Backlund. I don't have a criminal record, other than some minor affiliations with different gangs, so it won't be too hard to add a surname to myself, even though personally I do not care about it, due to my ever-changing plans, I might require it in the future.'
"Right. I see." Daly raised her brows and cleared her throat. "So, the thing is, we do need an accountant to look after our ever-increasing expenses and modest financing options."
'Hmm...? It sounds like there is a problem. Could it be that they can't locate the person who told me to come here? That could kind of make sense as the man was highly suspicious. And the feeling I had gotten from him was unlike anything else. It felt like I was 4 years old again, struggling to keep up with the fully grown adults in the White Room.'
"As for the man who called you here, he was a former talent recruiter agent for us. You have completed the screening process as well. You can join us." Daly spoke without a smile.
She then looked at Roxanne. "She would help you go through the Terms and Conditions. As for the compensation, we have agreed on a price of £6 per week. This is the rate given to full-time accountants.
You seem to have enough experience in it, so that is going to be your salary for now. Of course, if you perform well and integrate—properly integrate into our security company, this could increase."
'£6 a week? That is quite generous. That lands me just inside the Middle Class. Putting that aside, what does she mean when she says I look like I have enough experience? Do I look that old? And what does she mean by "properly" integrate? Does she want me to help me with matter of "security"?'
"You are free to do other jobs and gigs in your spare time, as long as it doesn't affect your performance and working hours here." Daly sighed and then waved Roxanne to take over.
As she was coming, she held her hand out to Kiyotaka. "Welcome to WhiteThorn security company. I would have loved to stay and give you company, but unfortunately I have some important things to look forward to."
"Sure. Thanks for having me." Kiyotaka gave a short reply and showed his gratitude by pressing his hand over his chest. "Have a good day ahead."
Daly pursed her lips, receded her hand and departed.
Once she was gone, Roxanne guided him around, showing him the company excitedly. Then she took him to a room and flashed him the contract. Kiyotaka went through it and found no problems with it.
Working hours were from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Wednesday and 9pm to 5am from Thursday to Saturday. This was due to the unique nature of his job. As for the compensation, it would be paid on the Monday of the following week.
**************
Underneath the WhiteThorn company, inside a winding tunnel that led to Saint Samuel Cathedral, Spirit Guide Daly Simone and Red Glove, Soul Assurer Soest walked side by side.
"What do you think?" Daly Simone asked.
"Nothing too suspicious. Although his mind is too aware. There are a lot of...factors inside his head that are slowing him down. He likely is a recovering junkie. However, for a non-Beyonder to have that level of awareness of mind is uncanny. He was gaining lucidity at a very fast rate." Soest gave Day his honest impression of Williams.
"That does seem to raise some kind of suspicion. Normally speaking, people with high awareness of self are not uncommon, but for a junkie to be so acutely aware of someone entering their dream is quite..." Daly's words grew softer as she went silent.
"He wasn't aware of anyone entering his dream, no. He was more confused as to why he had fallen asleep. That said, he was frantically looking around." Soest let out a taunting guffaw. "I am more surprised how that crackhead got his degree. This needs to be investigated."
"Yes. Regardless, we can closely monitor him. After this week, if he clears the additional screening that I would be personally doing, then we can recruit him into the Church. Sure, he was misguided, but he is trying his best to get a normal life now. The Goddess will guide him."
"I agree. While I don't like an unstable person such as him, he has shown to have good prospects. Someone like him might do well being a Sleepless." After a moment, he cleared his throat. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have more pressing matters to attend to."
Daly lowered her head. "Yes...we need to investigate the other collaborators involved in the descent of the True Creator."
"You can leave that to the Red Gloves. We are following up with the investigation. And we will have someone to look into this Blonde Man that this new chap talked about."
"I see. I will still do some research regarding it. I believe my abilities are better suited for this."
Soest nodded.
From the corner of his eye, he eyed up Daly and her breasts which were pushed up due to her folding her arms underneath them [1]. Noticing Soest leering at her, she removed her hands, and with hurried steps walked ahead, entering the hidden entrance that led up to Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Soest smirked to himself and ran his hand through his thinning hair and traced his finger on his receding hairline.
He looked back, over his shoulder.
------------
[1]: Soest was described as a pervert by Daly. Taking that assumption into perspective, it would be a "little" safe to say that he had showed his perverted side to Daly, and hence why she had that impression of him.
A/n: Well, this is the 1 out of 2 chapters that is being released this week. Chapter 6: Pilfering will be released tomorrow. Tschüß