12 Tussock Street, second floor.
Morien sat up in bed and glanced at the wall clock.
It was half past three in the afternoon. He had just finished his nap and planned to visit the Divination Club.
Closing his eyes, Morien silently took stock of himself.
The Melee Scholar within him had been nearly half digested.
Half of that came from One-Punch Morien, who had developed an acting principle and spent three days studying martial arts at a dojo. Two-fifths came from Star Rail Morien, who had spent over a week researching. Less than the final fifth came from that fight with Toji.
As for himself in the Mysteries World...
He provided the means to digest the Melee Scholar.
In any case, it would all eventually feed back to him.
No matter how well everyone else answered their tests, he was the one who provided the test papers.
He was the MVP.
Of course, claiming he had not digested even a little would just be malicious slander.
He occasionally went to the East Borough to beat up gangsters, too.
The gangs collected protection money from others; he collected protection money from the gangs.
Gangsters robbing gangsters. Perfectly normal.
Over the past half month, he had already earned more than three hundred pounds.
He opened the wardrobe, took out a period-appropriate shirt and shorts, changed into them, and left the room.
This was merely a modest house. The first floor had a living room, kitchen, and washroom, while the second floor had a bedroom and a study. The room was not large, but it was fully furnished, with a bed, bookshelves, a desk, and a wardrobe.
None of the areas were particularly spacious, so a family living here would find it somewhat cramped.
But for one person living alone, this was more than enough space.
After straightening his clothes, putting on his top hat, and hanging his life-saving mask at an angle over the side of his face, Morien prepared to leave.
Unlike the other worlds, where he could casually remove his mask, Morien in the Mysteries World had to rely on it to resist corruption. Even if he removed it, he could not let it get too far away.
Picking up his cane, he quickly descended the stairs to the first floor, pushed open the front door, and stepped outside.
As the door shut behind him, a not particularly new two-story townhouse stood at his back.
Morien had always felt that he was not a particularly extravagant person.
Honestly, he thought this house was quite nice.
Compared with those luxurious, larger homes, this slightly smaller two-story house that did not interfere with daily life was exactly what he had always wanted.
The minimum lease was three months, at 1 pound and 3 soli per month. Paying for a full year at once cost 12 pounds.
After buying materials and arranging false identification documents, Morien still had quite a bit of money left, so he simply rented it for a year.
"Wonderful. Thanks for the generous support, kind people." Morien recalled the gangsters who had helped arrange his fake documents.
The gangsters had seen that he was not particularly muscular and that his skin was unusually good for this era. They assumed Morien was some pretty boy and tried to jack up the price.
Then, carrying the three hundred pounds generously contributed by those dozen or so kind people, along with a Hunter Beyonder Characteristic, Morien gratefully sank every last one of them into the Tussock River in the East Borough.
May they find peace in the divine kingdoms of the gods they each believed in.
May heaven be free of Morien.
Morien walked to the roadside and waved down a carriage.
"Howes Street, the Divination Club."
After telling the driver his destination, Morien took the carriage to the Divination Club.
He had joined the Divination Club five days ago. Every day, Morien visited the club and tried to run into Klein by chance.
But so far, he had not succeeded even once.
After all, Klein's visits to the club were irregular. Although Morien came every day, his own schedule was irregular as well.
Before long, the carriage stopped outside the club.
Morien paid, got out of the carriage, and entered the club.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Morien. It's a pleasure to see you." The female receptionist greeted Morien with a smile. "Coffee or black tea today?"
"Good afternoon, Miss Angelica." Morien answered with a smile. "Desi Coffee, please. Extra sugar."
"Certainly. I'll prepare it for you. Please wait a moment."
The receptionist left. Morien sat down on a sofa in the lobby and casually picked up a newspaper to read.
Of all the Moriens, only he and Star Rail Morien could read the local writing.
Star Rail Morien could read it because the Synesthesia Beacon had recorded most of the writing there. He could read it because of the Good Teacher, the Hidden Sage.
By now, Morien was proficient in more than twenty languages, including Loenese, Intisian, Elvish, Hermes, Ancient Hermes, and Dragonese.
Every time the Knowledge Pursuer, the Hidden Sage, stuffed him full of knowledge, he would synchronize it with himself in the Honkai: Star Rail World.
The next day, he could reap a rough grasp of it, and after returning a week later, he would be directly at minor proficiency.
He still had to thank Star Rail Morien for serving as a stress-relief app.
He really was exceptionally gifted in this regard.
Soon, a cup of coffee was brought over and placed on the small table in front of Morien.
"Thank you." Morien picked up the coffee and asked casually, "Has anyone come to the club today?"
"People I haven't seen before, that is."
"People you haven't seen before..." Miss Angelica thought for a moment before answering, "Not many people came today, and you should have seen several of them."
"The only ones you probably haven't met are Mr. Kane, Mr. Klein, and Mr. Calvert."
Morien paused as he turned the newspaper pages, and the smile on his face deepened.
"Is that so? I understand. Thank you."
"You're welcome."