The thought of a living person playing cards with a dozen or so corpses in a dimly lit room for half the night is terrifying, sending chills down your spine.
Klein suppressed his instinctive fear and looked at the pale-faced, brown-eyed, and slightly manic-looking man in his late twenties. He pretended to be intimidated by the man's aura and took a step back. Kaspars left the card room and closed the door.
The man asked in a low voice:
"Are you the one who needs a bodyguard?"
"... Yes." Klein deliberately swallowed.
The other party's strangeness both frightened him and brought him a certain sense of security.
The stronger and more capable the bodyguard, the safer he will be!
The pale-faced man in the black vest raised his chin and said:
Why do you need bodyguards? How much are you willing to pay for them?
Klein didn't answer immediately, but thought for several seconds before saying:
"I'll first tell you the details of the task. After you assess it, give me a price. If I can pay it, or have an equivalent item, then the deal will be done. Otherwise, I'll have to give up and find someone else."
The man, whose gaze was filled with malice, did not speak, but nodded slightly, indicating that Klein should speak.
Klein glanced at the Living Corpse, treating them like normal card players, and asked with his eyes, "Before answering, are you going to kick those guys out of the room?"
"No need," the pale-faced man said in a deep voice.
Klein considered it for a moment and then described it truthfully:
"I've offended a powerful figure, someone who might have the backing of a nation."
The room suddenly fell completely silent. The man, whose eyes held malice and who appeared slightly deranged, froze in place, seemingly turned into a plaster statue.
After nearly a minute, he slowly spoke:
"This mission is priceless."
"You can leave now."
Huh? Klein didn't react at first, and it wasn't until the other party turned and walked towards the card table that he realized the deal had failed.
You were playing cards with a bunch of Living Corpse in the room, acting all high and mighty, and you got scared off like that? You were clearly a bit crazy... Klein added, unsure whether to laugh or cry:
"That important figure isn't so free in Backlund."
The man in the black vest ignored him and sat down again, while the Living Corpse resumed dealing, looking at, and throwing chips.
Klein let out a breath, left the room, and saw Kaspars Kanlinen, a middle- Old Man with a bulbous nose and gruesome wounds, waiting outside.
"The deal fell through," Klein said, shrugging.
Kaspars showed no surprise, and after a few seconds of contemplation, said:
"His price was too high?"
"No, he thought the mission was too difficult." Klein didn't hide anything.
Kaspars raised an eyebrow and said:
" Maric is the scariest person I know. He's not even afraid of bullets. Since he thinks the mission is difficult, I don't think I can help you contact any other capable guys."
"It's a pity," Klein sighed.
Kaspars clenched his right fist and struck his left chest, saying:
May the Storm be with you.
"Then I'll die..." Klein said with a bitter laugh.
"Thanks."
"You could try asking around among some capable guys elsewhere. I'll pay you a reward. Hmm... I'll come back tomorrow night."
After receiving an affirmative answer, he left the Bravehearts Bar looking somewhat dejected, not even interested in playing a game of pool.
Was I too honest? If I had described the request more simply, Maric would have agreed... I just wonder how much he would have asked for... Sigh, having someone face danger for me without my knowledge is not my style... As an Beyonder, if I always go against my true feelings and principles, I'm afraid I'm not far from losing control... Klein changed carriages, half sighing and half relieved, and returned to Minsk Street.
After washing up, Klein didn't waste the charcoal. He went straight into the bedroom, drew the curtains, and shut the room out from the outside world.
On the way back, he thought about it carefully for a while and realized that the potential danger was not insurmountable.
For that unknown ambassador, his primary and fundamental objective was to find Ian Wright. The reason he sent people to deal with me was to obtain clues about Ian. Unable to get answers directly, he resorted to murder Spirit Channeling... If he knew that I couldn't actually find Ian either, given the potential surveillance by special military departments, he wouldn't risk his life for a mere henchman...
Of course, my appearance and my unexpected strength exposed their actions, causing them to suffer a serious setback. If I were that ambassador, I would certainly consider revenge, but definitely not now, not now when the situation is tense and turbulent... Well, the premise is that that ambassador has a brain, and isn't just a spineless fool relying on connections and acting out of spite... The fact that he was entrusted with such an important matter shows that he must be relatively reliable...
In other words, the crux of the problem lies in the whereabouts of Ian Wright!
Hmm... there's still a slight concern. After that ambassador's ultimate failure, what if he deliberately reveals to the military's special forces that Meursault is Beyonder, letting them know my abilities are questionable, and using them to retaliate against me...? This is just something he might casually mention, it wouldn't be difficult at all, but I must be wary...
After analyzing his situation, Klein suddenly felt an urge to hire someone to kill the unknown ambassador.
But then he thought about the powerful Sequence users who might be around the other party, and he felt a wave of frustration.
"I wonder if the messenger can accept my assignment without Mr. Azik's consent... Probably not... Keep a close eye on this matter and find an opportunity to silence him? Since he sent someone to kill me, I won't have any qualms about killing him... Right, I could consider issuing this mission at the Tarot Club and see if Miss ' Justice ' and Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' can do anything... Perhaps, we can spend a lot of money to persuade Mr. A or someone of equal Sequence..." Klein suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of the " Tarot Club ".
Having made up his mind, he calmed down considerably, found some paper and a pen, and wrote down the Divination statement:
"The whereabouts of Ian Wright."
After confirming that there were no hidden Beyonder in the room, Klein glanced at the curtains that blocked outside prying eyes, recalled Ian's appearance and attire, silently recited Divination phrases, and leaned back in his chair.
He quickly Dream Divination, and in that illusory and hazy world, he saw a dark, cramped, and dirty room with bunk beds and makeshift beds on the floor, where four people were sleeping.
Ian was fast asleep, curled up on top of the bunk bed, his body pressed against the old satchel.
The dream shatters, Klein opens his eyes, and interprets the revelation:
"Such accommodations only exist in the East Borough and the Backlund Bridge Area, but that's an exceptionally large area. Even if all the police in Backlund were mobilized, they couldn't possibly search it all..."
" Ian was very careful; he didn't leave anything with me, otherwise I could have found him using my Dowsing Rod Method..."
After thinking for a few minutes, Klein picked up his pen and added a paragraph before and after the Divination statement, turning it into a defensive statement:
"I don't know where Ian Wright. I haven't seen him since I found Zerrell's body."
The paper lay there on the desk, a pen pressed against its edge.
Having done all this, Klein stood up, returned to his bedside, and quickly checked whether anyone was watching his every move by subtly flicking a coin.
After receiving a negative answer, he quickly took four steps in reverse, silently recited an incantation, and entered the Gray Fog.
Inside that ancient and majestic palace, Klein, without bothering to examine his surroundings, first repeated the Divination he had just performed.
Seeing that the negative answer remained unchanged, he was no longer so nervous. He looked up to the side and noticed that the core of the newly added deep red star had been tinged with a hint of sunlight-like gold.
"Is this the source of the warmth I felt?" Klein spread his Spirituality, carefully touching the past in a way that was like a prayerful recollection.
As the light and shadow shifted, a blurry scene quickly appeared before his eyes.
The petite girl and the woman with slightly curly brown hair, whom he had tried to pull into the Gray Fog, were standing in front of the "altar." A man wearing a white hard-shell mask was chanting the name of the Eternal Blazing Sun in a low voice, creating a warm and pure light.
Is this an exorcism? Klein almost laughed.
At this moment, he finally understood the reason for the previous situation. It wasn't that someone had penetrated the Gray Fog and locked onto him. It was more like " Justice " and others chanting their names and making supplications. After receiving the information, the Gray Fog would naturally and instinctively respond to him. However, since it wasn't a supplication, the illusory, layered sounds turned into a warm current.
"This is a hint, not harm or impact..." Klein made a clear judgment.
At the same time, he also roughly confirmed one thing: the way this mysterious space above the Gray Fog established contact with Miss " Justice " and the others was not entirely bizarre or outside the rules of this world. It was still subject to certain constraints and could be affected by specific methods to some extent.
Klein continued watching the scene before him and listening to the voices, and was astonished to find that it was lasting longer than ever before.
Prior to this, he was unable to actively spy on the target corresponding to the Crimson Star unless the other party made a request, in which case he could receive the corresponding scene.
Another scenario is that when he provides feedback, he can see the scene and hear the synchronized audio, but once the response ends, he can no longer obtain any additional information.
Now, it's like watching a video, a reality show video that's been censored for a long time.
He witnessed the petite woman conversing with a man wearing a golden mask in the study, overheard her companion address her as Hugh, and realized she was seeking the extraordinary ingredients needed for the " Sheriff's " Potion...
The video recording only ended when the two women returned home, and Klein regretted not being able to see their house numbers clearly.
Gazing at the gradually fading golden sunlight, he nodded thoughtfully, vaguely understanding why this anomaly had occurred.
"So, the power of purification helped me maintain the corresponding passage? Hugh's 30 pounds were well spent... I wonder when I'll be able to maintain it myself..." Klein shook his head and smiled, conjuring up paper and pen, intending to continue divining Ian Wright's whereabouts above the gray mist.