Klein

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Nighthawk Investigations in Tingen

As a Tingen Nighthawk, Klein assists Dunn Smith with supernatural investigations. His spirit-channeling ability leads to his assignment in Councilor Maynard’s death case, and he subsequently investigates the brutal murder of Maynard’s mistress, Madam Sharon 7.

Obstructed by police acting under the influence of Maynard’s relatives, Klein enters Sharon’s residence through a balcony. Divination above the gray fog reveals that supernatural forces affected Maynard’s death and that Sharon was a powerful Beyonder, exposing interference with his earlier divination. He searches her safe in spirit form and discovers evidence connecting her to the Demoness Sect 8.

Klein reports his findings to Dunn and accompanies him to the asylum to deal with Hood Eugen, a Psychiatrist approaching loss of control. Their attempt to channel Sharon’s spirit fails because it has already vanished 8 9.

Tingen Catastrophe and Resurrection

Klein and Leonard Mitchell confront Megose and the Evil God’s Offspring she carries. Klein’s first Flaring Sun Charm is diverted by Dunn under Edward Vaughan’s control; Leonard saves Klein from Megose’s attack, and a second charm strikes her without stopping the descent 14.

Dunn refuses to kill his companions, breaking Edward’s bargain and losing his soul. As Edward uses Dunn’s body to plunge Tingen into chaos, Pallez temporarily restrains the immediate threats. Klein completes his prayer to the Evernight Goddess, drawing her attention and crimson light over the city 14.

When Ince Zangwill approaches Dunn’s body afterward, Klein attempts to intervene rather than remain feigning unconsciousness. Ince kills him and takes the urn of Saint Selena’s Ashes. Klein is buried, but resurrects in the cemetery and decides to leave for Backlund 18.

To avoid involving Benson and Melissa in his pursuit of the culprits, Klein does not return home. He withdraws his remaining funds, purchases travel supplies and a train ticket, then secretly watches his family and gives Melissa Sevia Chrysanthemums before departing 18.

Detective Work and Tarot Club Operations

In Backlund, Klein works as the private detective Sherlock Moriarty while continuing to preside over the Tarot Club. He commissions the assassination of Intis ambassador Beckland Jean Madan through the club; Audrey pays ten thousand pounds to hire Mr. A, and the Aurora Order publicly claims responsibility for the killing 21 23 44.

Using Rosago’s belongings, Klein establishes the World dummy as a separate participant in Tarot Club meetings. This persona can request materials and issue missions without presenting those needs directly as Mr. Fool’s 24 37.

His investigations take him into the East Borough. While having his jacket mended, he buys food for an impoverished father and learns from the man’s daughter, Tyler, about trafficking and murdered bounty hunters. He combines her information with Audrey’s intelligence to investigate Lanevus at the Dockworkers’ Association 28 29.

Klein also earns a strong recommendation from Miller Carter after discovering snakes beneath Carter’s mansion and returning with an assistant to remove them. The basement collapses during the operation, but both investigators escape unharmed 48.

Hunt for Lanevus

Disguised as a reporter, Klein recognizes a heavily altered Lanevus through his Seer intuition. He confirms the identification through dream divination and instructs Audrey to report Lanevus’s possession of the Fallen Creator’s divinity specifically to the Church of Evernight 29 30 31.

Initially judging a direct confrontation beyond his strength, Klein watches the Church’s operation from a distant clock tower. After the divine flesh is destroyed, he pursues Lanevus into the sewers and kills him using sharpened playing cards, evasive Clown movements, and a Slumber Charm. He leaves the corpse surrounded by tarot cards and removes traces of his presence 31 33.

The revenge relieves much of his accumulated distress. Klein resolves to focus on advancement and ordinary detective work, postponing confrontation with Ince Zangwill, Sealed Artifact 0-08, and Tingen’s terrifying shadow until he can reach Sequence 4 33.

Edward Vaughan and the Roselle Exhibition

Immediately after leaving the sewers, Klein encounters Edward Vaughan, who recognizes the name Sherlock Moriarty and addresses him in Chinese. Klein introduces himself as Zhou Mingrui and believes he has found a fellow transmigrator and angelic senior 31 32.

Edward’s claim to have spent fourteen hundred years in the world shakes Klein’s hope of returning to Earth. Nevertheless, Klein values the encounter: Edward explains Lanevus’s Hermits of Fate badge, Amon’s status as a King of Angels, and the adjacency of the Seer and Marauder pathways 32 33.

At the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, Bernadette Gustav’s glance causes a powerful spiritual reaction in Klein. After confirming through divination that she will not harm him, he decides to keep more distance from Edward’s high-level conflicts. He later identifies a bookmark as a possible hidden Card of Blasphemy and commissions Audrey to investigate it 45 46.

Edward apologizes for exposing Klein to Bernadette’s influence and offers one thousand pounds. Klein declines the money but accepts warm zongzi, moved by their connection to home. Unknown to him, Edward uses the exchange to strengthen Klein’s goodwill through Devil influence 47.

Appearance

• Detective attire: At the Roselle exhibition, wears a half-top silk hat and double-breasted wool frock coat, carrying a black walking stick 45.
• Investigative disguises: Uses plain work clothes, a flat cap, false whiskers, and altered hairstyles to pass as a laborer or reporter 28 29 31.
• Clown mask: Wears a white-painted mask with a red nose and upturned lips during his confrontation with Lanevus 31.
• Beyonder gathering attire: Conceals himself beneath a hooded black robe and an iron mask covering the upper half of his face 38.

Personality

Klein is cautious about threats beyond his strength. He leaves suspicious equipment behind when infiltrating the Dockworkers’ Association, checks whether he has been followed, and relies on the Church against Lanevus’s divinity rather than immediately attempting revenge himself 29 30 31.

His restraint does not erase his loyalty or anger. He risks exposing himself to oppose Ince at Dunn’s body, separates himself from his family to protect them, and breaks into laughter and tears after killing Lanevus 18 31.

He is compassionate toward people in poverty: the older man’s hopeful expression persuades him to accept tailoring work he initially intended to decline, and he buys the man food. Homesickness is equally powerful; Edward’s zongzi move him in a way that the offered money does not 28 47.

Klein maintains Mr. Fool’s inscrutable manner despite his private uncertainty and frequent wry commentary. He suppresses reactions while reading Roselle’s diary and uses his Clown abilities to keep his voice and expression composed before Tarot Club members 19 21.

Abilities & Skills

Divination and Spiritual Intuition

Uses pendulum, coin, and dream divination to investigate supernatural events and assess danger 8 30 37 46.

• Detects supernatural involvement in Maynard’s death and identifies Sharon as a powerful Beyonder 8.
• Recognizes Lanevus despite changes to his face, complexion, and glasses, then confirms his identity through dream divination 29 30.
• Checks advancement safety with a coin and Bernadette’s intentions with a pendulum 37 46.
• Limit: His earlier divination concerning Maynard was interfered with 8.

Access to the Gray Fog

Enters the mysterious space above the gray fog by taking four counterclockwise steps 8 37.

• Presides over Tarot Club meetings and controls the World dummy 19 24.
• Receives prayers and materials offered through sacrificial rituals 37.
• Summons himself in spirit form to move objects between the gray-fog space and the physical world 33 37.
• Burns clothing and other corresponding traces with spiritual flames after killing Lanevus 33.

Clown Bodily Control

Possesses precise movement, exceptional balance, and voluntary control over outward emotional reactions 8 19 31.

• Scales walls and drainpipes to bypass an obstructed crime-scene entrance 8.
• Evades Lanevus through acrobatic movements and anticipates a feint through Clown intuition 31.
• Throws sharp-edged playing cards with lethal accuracy 31.
• Suppresses changes in expression, tears, and throat tension while maintaining a persona 21 47.

Spirit Channeling and Ritual Work

Can channel spirits and conduct spirituality-based rituals 7 8.

• Uses a Ritual Silver Dagger to seal a room before summoning himself 8.
• Searches Sharon’s safe in spirit form without picking its lock 8.
• Limits: Channeling is unavailable at Sharon’s residence without her body; a later attempt fails because her spirit has vanished 8 9.

Detective Work and Languages

Combines interviews, disguises, observation, and supernatural verification 28 29 30.

• Gains access to the Dockworkers’ Association by posing as an investigative reporter 29.
• Reads the Chinese text of Roselle’s diary and converses with Edward in Chinese 4 32.
• Uses Ancient Hermes activation words for charms 14 31.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Citrine Pendant — Used for pendulum divination; remains with him after resurrection 8 18.
• Azik’s Copper Whistle — Retained after his death; Klein considers using it to ask Azik for assistance 18.
• Ritual Silver Dagger — Channels spirituality to seal a ritual space 8.
• Flaring Sun Charms — Gold-leaf charms producing intense golden light and fire; used against Megose 14.
• Slumber Charm — Activated with “Crimson” during the fight with Lanevus; its calming effect envelops both combatants 31.
• Playing and tarot cards — Used as cutting projectiles and left around Lanevus’s corpse 31 33.
• Master Key — Received from an Earth Mother bishop as payment. Edward identifies Mr. Door’s spirituality within it: breaking its casing can release corruption and ravings. Klein lacks a direct means to break it at Sequence 7 44.
• Hermits of Fate badge — Taken from Lanevus; carries a concealment symbol and an Ancient Hermes admission inscription 33.

Relationships

• Dunn Smith — Nighthawk captain and mentor. Klein assists his investigations and remains deeply affected by his death 7 8 18 33.
• Leonard Mitchell — Fellow Nighthawk who saves him from Megose; later mourns Klein and questions why he faced Ince alone 14 18.
• Benson and Melissa — Family members he leaves behind to keep them out of his dangerous affairs 18 33.
• Old Neil — Mysticism guide whom Klein thanks after mastering the Seer potion 4.
• Audrey / Justice — Tarot Club member who relays intelligence, arranges Beckland’s assassination, and accepts the bookmark investigation 30 31 44 46.
• Alger / the Hanged Man — Supplies Roselle diary pages and Magician ingredients; credits Mr. Fool’s intervention for Qilingus’s death 19 37.
• Derrick / the Sun — Supplies the Mist Treant ingredients required for Klein’s Magician potion 37.
• Azik — Trusted source of assistance. Klein forwards information about Qilingus to him and initially mistakes the reported killing for Azik’s work 12 18 19.
• Edward Vaughan — Apparent compatriot and source of rare mystical knowledge. In reality, an Outer Deity impersonating a fellow transmigrator, seeking Klein’s memories and manipulating his goodwill 32 33 44 47.
• Ince Zangwill — Kills Klein in Tingen and becomes a target of his deferred revenge 18 33.
• Lanevus — Enemy connected to the True Creator’s offspring ritual; Klein tracks and kills him 8 29 30 31.
• Sharron — Hired bodyguard whom Klein pays one thousand pounds for protection; he remains unwilling to trust her with the suspected Card of Blasphemy 44 46.

Notable Quotes

“No reason.”
— His answer when Lanevus asks why he killed him 31.

“Apart from that, I’ll be an ordinary detective.”
— His private resolution after deciding to prioritize advancement 33.