Siblings

After her conversation with Klein ended, Neph, back in the Real World, pondered for a few seconds, abandoned her prayers, and directly asked, "Um—did you see everything that just happened?"

The Corpse Cathedral didn't appear before her, nor did a Blond Priest suddenly appear, leaving Neph uncertain. She called out again, "Adam?"

After a moment of silence, a flat, emotionless voice rang out. "Keep her with you."

Whew— Neph breathed a sigh of relief.

What's wrong with Mrs. Thomas? I know a few good doctors.

"Mrs. Thomas is ill with worry because she is very concerned about her young son who is serving in the army."

You mean Little Thomas?

Little Thomas is dead.

As the whispers of a man and a woman reached her ears, Neph was standing outside the Civic Square, where George III was to be in the West Borough...

His speech will be held in the Memorial Square, but with the help of broadcasts, it will also be heard in the Civic Square.

Just as Neph was hesitating whether to stand in this randomly chosen Civic Square or risk going to the Anniversary Square in the West Borough, where there was a chance that the "Lord of Storms" would strike George III dead, she might as well strike her too.

Surely not—by the way, isn't Miss "Justice" over there? Should I check from her? Hmm, should I go over there?—King George III in the square is just a stand-in, no need to worry, but the "Lord of Storms"—

"I'm a little worried about Klein— "

A woman's voice, tinged with a dazed quality, snapped Neph back to reality, causing her to look toward the source of the sound.

Klein isn't exactly a rare name, but anyone who hears a familiar name will take a second look—after all, you don't often see someone with the name Klein just by throwing a brick.

"Is he in the Southern Continent? It seems chaotic there too. I wonder how he is doing—"

The Goddess melancholy and lost in thought. She wore an old-fashioned black dress, a black wool coat that went past her knees, and a hat with a black veil hanging down.

She looked very young; even in clothes that made her look older, she appeared to be no more than twenty years old, with a radiant face and a slender figure.

Neph's gaze swept over the man in the top hat beside her, and as she pondered the amount of hair beneath the hat, she sighed and said, "Melissa."

She made no attempt to hide, so the brother and sister both looked at her. More than her pure white attire, what they noticed first were her strange eyes.

"Your eyes—" Benson began hesitantly.

Neph tilted her head slightly, and as the light and shadow shifted, Benson realized he hadn't misread it. "It changes color?!"

Neph ignored him and instead looked Melissa up and down.

At Klein's request, she altered the siblings' memories, making them believe that Klein was still alive but had gone on a secret mission. After that, Klein maintained communication with his family and would find excuses to go back for a few days when things weren't too dangerous or he was too busy, or at least have a meal together.

Such opportunities were rare, but communication remained constant. Neph could occasionally hear Klein talk about his family. He wouldn't mention it all the time, but Neph should be able to hear about any major changes, unless... "You don't seem to have told your brother," Neph said softly, staring thoughtfully at Melissa.

Unless Klein himself knew.

"What?" Benson turned to look at Melissa, his expression questioning.

Melissa's gaze remained fixed on Neph. Neph raised her hand, and a crystalline hexagonal snowflake condensed in her palm. She played with the snowflake, looked up at Melissa, whose pupils had contracted, and smiled leisurely, "Such a big matter, you should tell your brother about it."

"Hiss, I should have warned him sooner—I thought he would know, but thinking about it, firstly, he's not Psychiatrist," and secondly, you two don't contact each other frequently enough, so there's a high chance he wouldn't have noticed in time.

"You should still tell him, or I can talk to him. Oh, by the way—"

She glanced at Benson, Benson became dazed. Then, she opened her hand, and a snowflake floated up and hovered in front of Melissa.

"If there's danger, just take it and shout ' Bitter Winter' in Jotun —oh, do you Jotun? If not, ask your Teacher, whose Jotun is probably Montmont —well, for your brother's sake."

As she spoke, Melissa glanced around and realized that the space they were in was completely Quarantine. Someone was passing through them, as if passing through some kind of phantom—or were the phantoms themselves? Melissa couldn't tell; she was simply horrified.

"Do you know Klein?" she tried to ask the Uniqueness question that mattered to her.

"Of course," Neph smiled, raising her hand to adjust the feather Hat Ornament on her hat. "See? Your brother has good taste, doesn't he?"

She paused, then reminded him again, "Remember to tell him that you've become a ' Savant."

Melissa wasn't surprised that she could call out the name. She was new to the extraordinary world and didn't know much about this field, but she understood that such a method of separating her from the others without anyone noticing was not something an ordinary person could do.

Melissa, however, remained calm. She realized that the unidentified girl before her had a close relationship with her brother. While curious and worried about her brother's past, she didn't forget to bring up one thing. "Klein gave this to you? You two—what's your relationship? Did he—uh, I asked him that when he came home last time—"

Neph raised a hand to her forehead, her tone resolute. "Don't worry, Klein will never be in a relationship. If you really want to hold your nephew or niece, you'll have to rely on your other brother."

"Ah—" Melissa looked utterly disappointed, "Why?"

"Then ask him," Neph shrugged. "It's fine if you urge him, it's none of my business anyway, hey."

These words finally reminded Melissa of something. She reached out and caught a snowflake, its touch carrying a chill that seemed abrupt even in the depths of winter. She shivered. Neph said softly, "It seems like this thing can't escape once you directly condense the summoning incantation—I guess you'll just have to bear with it for now."

Melissa didn't understand the sentence, but she didn't ask what it meant. Instead, she tentatively asked, "How should I address you?"

Neph's gaze swept over the snowflake in her hand, and after a moment of contemplation, she smiled and said, "That's right. You need to explain my identity to the Church of Steam and Machinery, although I think they'll know my origin just by looking at this snowflake."

"Hmm, just call me----"

Chapter 52 Siblings

"Miss Pure White."

This was clearly not a name. Melissa realized that the girl and her brother probably had no hope, otherwise she wouldn't have been left without even a name. This disappointed her greatly. She said listlessly, "Hello, Miss Pure White."

Do you know how Klein is doing right now? I'm very worried about him—

Neph stared at Melissa and suddenly had a terrible idea.

"Well then," she said with a smile, "Have you ever heard of Messenger?"

"What is that?" Melissa asked, puzzled.

"It's about contracting a Spirit World Creature to deliver messages for you," Neph explained. "You know about Spirit World Creature, right—or at least you know about the Spirit World?"

Melissa nodded.

Neph breathed a sigh of relief and introduced her to her thrifty younger sister, "Your brother has contracted with a Spirit World Creature as Messenger, but he needs to pay the creature one Gold Coin each time he delivers a message—"

"A Gold Coin?!" Melissa exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," Neph nodded, "As far as I know, most of the letters he sends to you are left in the mailbox by this Messenger."

Melissa showed a clear anger, then, as if remembering something, she asked politely, "Since you mentioned this Messenger, does that mean—"

"I know how to summon his Messenger," Neph told her with a smile. "You can summon his Messenger and send the letter over; it's much faster than mailing a letter—and you probably don't know, he's here to listen to the lecture today too."

"Where is he?" Melissa instinctively searched for him.

"It's a bit far," Neph said, "Not in the same square as you."

Melissa seemed somewhat disappointed, but still asked, "What is the Messenger's summoning Ritual?"

Having achieved her goal, Neph smiled gleefully, "First do this—yes, then do this—um, it's Gehrman Sparrow, that's his alias—"

She carefully Church Melissa the Ritual for summoning the Messenger, making sure everything went smoothly before speaking, "Alright, if you want to know anything, go ask him yourself. As for who I am? Hey, I dare say, as long as you bring out the name 'Pure White ' and the snowflake in your hand, and talk about today's events, you'll get most of the answers."

"Also, I hope you won't be frightened later."

Before Melissa could speak, she vanished from the spot. Benson seemed to snap out of his daze and called out to Melissa, "Melissa? What are you standing there for?"

"It's nothing," Melissa, quickly stepping forward. "I think I saw someone who looks familiar, but I'm probably mistaken."

Upon hearing this, Benson burst out laughing, "I told you young girls should dress younger! Look at you, you're already getting old and your eyesight is failing you."

Melissa didn't argue with him, but just smiled perfunctorily, then casually asked, "Benson? Have you heard of Gehrman Sparrow? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before, but I can't quite place it."

"Gehrman Sparrow?" Benson thought for a few seconds, then exclaimed, "Oh, I know that name! He was in that—right, that ' the Sea News '!"

Originally, this publication mainly reported on the situation in different colonies of the Loen Kingdom and events at the Sea. However, due to the current technological conditions, the the Sea News transmitted to Backlund was already severely outdated and of little use to those who needed it, resulting in poor sales and a decline in its quality over time.

Later, at the suggestion of the new editor-in-chief, the newspaper's style changed, with more rumors about the the Sea and various strange stories about pirates and Adventurer, making it seem more like a collection of stories than news reports.

Surprisingly, this style became quite popular, especially content involving ghosts, spirits, sea monsters, and Treasure. It became the go-to way for the few literate people in bars to brag to the majority of illiterate people, since it was entertaining enough, even though it seemed fake.

Melissa had clearly heard of this newspaper's reputation. She gave a slightly disdainful look and asked in a cryptic tone, "If I remember correctly, the credibility of this newspaper—?"

"Very low," Benson continued, "but I was quite impressed with Gehrman Sparrow; he's been in this paper several times, and one of them stands out in my memory—let me think—"

He walked along, deep in thought, before suddenly slapping his forehead and exclaiming, "That's it! I heard he seduced the mother of ' Vice Admiral of Ailment Vice Admiral of Ailment, ' and with her help, infiltrated the Black Death, where he and 'developed a wonderful relationship,' ultimately killing 'Vice Admiral of Ailment ' without mercy!"

"----?" Melissa stopped in her tracks.

"Can you still find that issue of the newspaper?" she asked.

"The backlog of newspapers should still be there—" Benson replied, "We can look through them when we get back; we should be able to find them—why are you suddenly interested in these things?"

Melissa smiled slightly but did not answer.

Klein's true form stands in Anniversary Square in the West Borough, dutifully playing the role of the wealthy Dwayne Dantès.

He had already left the Marionette in the Sewer, ready to switch places with Marionette and infiltrate the Mausoleum at any time. Bernadette and Trissy were also prepared, and he had even commissioned Reinette Tinekerr in advance.

However, since he was facing a godhood Ritual, Klein was still somewhat nervous. He anxiously organized his thoughts, and a sense of worry kept creeping into his heart.

Strange—why do I have this feeling that something bad is about to happen?

Klein glanced at the ceiling, a sense of unease creeping over him.

Just as he was struggling with his decision, someone greeted him, "Hi."

Without being addressed by name, and with a familiar voice, Klein recognized the person without turning around. He instantly relaxed and said softly, "I had a bad feeling about this—it turns out you were here to see me."

"Aha," Neph laughed, "Then you might be mistaken. I guess you're still in the dark. Your sister is keeping a bombshell from you."

"What?" Klein frowned.

Neph smiled slightly and replied casually, "She's already Sequence 9 ' Savant'— "

Klein looked surprised for a moment, but then he seemed relieved and whispered, "That's fine too, Sequence 9 ----"

Seeing that he had relaxed, Neph smiled and continued, "I just saw her and told her that you are also Beyonder being."

"Oh, by the way, I also left her the method to summon your Messenger. Maybe when you get back, you'll receive a letter from your sister—"