No Discoveries

Lin Chuan had to admit that he seemed a little too relaxed. While he was above the Gray Fog, he had already considered that Tingen's Nighthawks would soon come to investigate. He had even been looking forward to it.

But he had lost track of time, assuming they would at least wait until Klein finished eating. Only when someone knocked did he realize the "gas meter inspectors" had arrived. That was rather embarrassing for someone at half-step Great Old One perfection.

(An activated Sefirah without the corresponding characteristics was equivalent to a half-Great Old One. Lin Chuan possessed the corresponding characteristics but deliberately remained at the half-Great Old One level, hence the designation "half-step Great Old One perfection.")

Still, Lin Chuan did not care about something as trivial as embarrassment. Or rather, he did not care what anyone thought apart from people he knew, such as Klein.

His definition of himself was flexible. He could freely switch between human and Outer Deity whenever he pleased.

Besides, looking at it another way... Lin Chuan glanced down at his floating body. The Nighthawks were here to investigate Klein, but he had nothing to do with "Klein."

That statement was entirely true. He would dare say it even to Klein Moretti himself.

Arresting someone required evidence, after all. Welch McGovern, Naya, and Klein Moretti had died after deciphering the Antigonus Family Notebook together. What did that notebook have to do with Lin Chuan?

"Who is it?"

Klein was still wolfing down his bowl of boiled potatoes and rye bread soup. At the sudden knock, he instinctively mumbled a question, then signaled with his eyes for Lin Chuan to hide for a moment.

Since he could see Lin Chuan in the mirror, other people probably could too. If they spotted him, it would be difficult to explain.

Lin Chuan understood, but he did not leave. He merely folded his arms across his chest and shook his head, reassuring Klein. Even with his Sefirah split in two, separated by the starry sky and vast oceans, and without a single characteristic on him, he was still invincible in Tingen.

Still, to avoid implicating Klein, he ought to do something.

A slightly shrill voice called from outside in an Ahowa accent:

"Me, Mounbatten. Beachy Mounbatten."

"The police."

Klein saw that Lin Chuan remained motionless in the mirror, but his figure gradually faded like a drawing being rubbed out with an eraser. Relieved, he called back:

"All right, I'll be right there!"

Worried about why the police had come and whether they might search the room, he instinctively pulled open the drawer to hide the revolver in the coal stove. Instead, he discovered that both the revolver in the drawer and the notebook lying open on the desk had vanished.

Klein immediately understood that Lin Chuan had used some ability to help him in advance.

Rather than opening the door immediately, he felt around inside the drawer and across the desktop. Only after confirming that those items could neither be seen nor touched did he straighten his clothes and hurry to the door, mumbling as he opened it:

"Sorry, I was eating."

Lin Chuan stood to one side, watching Klein speak with Dunn, Leonard, and the others. Since he had already put the notebook away, the Nighthawks only briefly asked about Welch McGovern's and Naya's strange deaths. They did not discuss the line, "Everyone will die, including me."

Before leaving, however, Dunn still warned Klein that he had better not leave Tingen over the next few days. If he absolutely had to leave, he needed to notify Officer Mounbatten, or he would become a fugitive, and so on.

It seemed that, as the sole survivor among the three people who had deciphered the Antigonus Family Notebook, Klein could not shake the suspicions surrounding him even without his diary being discovered.

The officers filed out. Only Leonard suddenly patted Klein on the shoulder before leaving the room and said with a faint smile:

"Generally speaking, in incidents like this, it's normal for everyone involved to die."

"We're very glad, and very fortunate, to see you still alive."

With that, he also left the room, politely closing the door behind him.

Lin Chuan noticed a tinge of yellow appearing in Leonard's ether body, or rather, his emotional aura. It represented some emotion-perhaps excitement? Happiness? Enthusiasm?

He did not know much about how the colors of the ether body corresponded to emotions. But from what he knew of Leonard, had their poet already begun suspecting this "sole survivor of an incident that killed everyone else" was one of the so-called "protagonists of the era"?

Actually, that might well be the case. Lin Chuan would not have thought that of anyone else, but since it was Leonard, such an idea would hardly be surprising.

Once the Nighthawks had left for the time being, Lin Chuan reappeared in the room. He was not worried about Dunn suddenly coming back. Dunn still had a case to investigate and handle, and even if he harbored doubts, it was no great concern.

Besides, Klein really was just an ordinary person at present. In the eyes of a Sequence 7 Nightmare, he was utterly harmless. Since nothing was amiss for now, it would not be too late to return and examine him after nightfall.

Only... Lin Chuan still had one question. Had Pallez failed to notice him, or was he simply not keeping constant watch over Leonard's surroundings?

He had not used any abilities or symbolism involving his Sefirah. Making himself disappear just now had only been an innate ability of his spirit body, enhanced at most by his level. Even so, Pallez, who still possessed at least one Worm of Time characteristic, ought to have detected some trace of him.

Never mind. Whether Pallez genuinely had not noticed or was pretending not to, whether his condition was too poor or Lin Chuan's level too high, none of it was particularly important.

By then, Klein had finished his act and returned from the stairwell. After shutting the door, he happened to see Lin Chuan materialize in front of him. On closer inspection, his body was still slightly translucent, but he could now be seen clearly without a mirror.

Klein first returned to his chair, picked up the unfinished boiled potato, and took a large bite. He then discovered, to his disappointment, that it had gone completely cold while the police questioned him. Still, he did not mind. Gnawing on the cold potato and drinking his bread soup, he mumbled a question to Lin Chuan:

"What's going on with you? How come I can see you without a mirror now?"

"Oh." Lin Chuan tried pulling out the chair at Klein's desk. Discovering that he still could not move it, he simply lay on his side in midair.

"After I came down from the Gray Fog, all I had left was my spirit body. Originally, without activating Spirit Vision, you could only see me in a mirror. But just now, I suddenly realized I could control whether I appeared. I still can't touch anything, but at least ordinary people like you can see me now."

"Phew-" Klein sped up, finishing the remaining small piece of potato, then polishing off a strip of softened rye bread. Only then did he let out a long breath, feeling that he had finally come fully back to life, once again experienced the joy of being human, and once again basked in the brilliance of the sunshine.