Turning onto one of the two main streets, Klein, now with a different face, headed straight for the green mailbox and took out a letter he had prepared beforehand from his pocket.
This is a "death notice" he wrote in imitation of the police station's official document format. It was sent to the sheriff of the port town of Simim, and contained the news that a local resident, Wencter, had suddenly died of illness in Bayam.
When deciding to take on this Acting, Klein had already devised a plan to ensure things went smoothly, stayed on track, and did not cause irreparable harm to the girl Renee.
His plan was to use a " Sleeping Charm " to disguise the real-life Acting as a dream. In this way, if the girl, Renee, did not love Wencter and directly rejected his confession, she would not feel any guilt when she heard about his death afterward. At most, she would feel scared, which could be effectively Placate by going to church to pray and confess.
If the girl Renee, also liked Wencter and responded to his confession, the dream excuse would help Klein extricate himself, and the subsequent news of his death would sever Renee's expectations and prevent it from having a significant negative impact on her future life.
"Even so, it's still a bit cruel. No matter what kind of woman, if her favorite boy appears in her dream after his death and confesses his love to her, she will definitely be heartbroken and unable to get over it for a long time."
"Hmm... If we do nothing and wait for the news of Wencter's death to come back normally, Renee will definitely be extremely sad, though perhaps not as severely. However, the knot in her heart may never be untied, and she will spend her whole life wondering whether Wencter went on his adventure to pursue their future or simply didn't like her..."
"It's not necessarily a bad thing that things ended this way. Once she's recovered from her pain, she'll carry the tenderness of having been truly loved with her into the future."
"Sigh, no matter what, forcibly interfering in other people's lives for the sake of Acting, and causing innocent people to be affected, even if there is the excuse of fulfilling a wish, is not a truly kind thing. Just as Roselle said, the more you go down the Beyonder Pathway, the more Distortion and sinister it feels. The ' Acting Method ' may not be a catalyst... I can only try my best to minimize this impact..." After delivering the letter, Klein sighed and walked towards the only hotel in town with his unremarkable local face.
During the journey, he summarized his experience. "Authentically impersonating someone else and receiving feedback" should be the main clause of the " Faceless's Code," second only to "You can impersonate anyone, but only yourself."
Some " Faceless " might have concealed Wencter's death for this Acting, accepted Renee's confession, spent one or two years dating, marrying, and having children with her, and then, freed from the constraints of this identity and its relationships, remembered who they were, and coldly left... In this process, if they remained unexposed, the Potion would have been fully digested... But I really can't do it! I simply can't get past my own conscience; I can only skirt around the edges... Klein sighed, a strange fear creeping in.
He shook his head, silently mocking himself:
" The Beyonder must constantly contend not only with danger and madness, but also with all sorts of evil thoughts originating from themselves, and the corrupting pull that can easily lead to their Depravity..."
"Even so, in the end, I might still be corrupted by the Abyss and become the kind of ' Monster ' I swore to eliminate. Sigh..."
Composing himself, Klein stepped into the hotel and said to the owner behind the counter:
"An ordinary room."
The thin boss looked up and said:
"Valid identification document."
"How could there be something on my freshly sculpted face?" Klein chuckled sheepishly.
"I forgot to bring it."
"Then you can't stay here; that's the rule in our town." The shopkeeper lowered his head again, calculating today's income and expenses.
Klein took out a 1- Soli bill and casually pushed it over.
The boss's eyes widened immediately:
"No, no, put it away! I don't want to be locked up by the sheriff!"
"Get out, get out, you filthy bastard with no identification."
Klein was somewhat taken aback when he was kicked out of the hotel, unable to believe that the omnipotent money had just failed him.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he turned into an empty alley and transformed back into the strikingly handsome Gehrman Sparrow.
Klein returned to the hotel, tapped the counter lightly, and spoke in Loenese with Backlund accent:
"A room."
The shopkeeper looked up, immediately put down what he was holding, stood up, and nodded and smiled:
Okay, okay.
Do you need a room with a sea view, or something quieter?
He switched to his broken, spice-laden Loenese and made no further mention of identification.
This is truly a realistic world... Klein thought to himself, then replied politely:
"Quiet."
"Yes, yes, okay," the boss replied repeatedly.
Then, he called a waiter to watch the counter, took the keys himself, and led Klein upstairs:
"Sir, how many days will you be staying? It's 1 Soli and 5 pence per night."
"Tonight." Klein, somewhat overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, replied succinctly.
At the " Azure Wind " hotel, he and Danitz stayed in a luxury suite, which cost 5 Soli per night.
Without a doubt, the room the owner had chosen was clean and tidy, and the dampness common in port hotels was largely absent. Klein looked around and nodded in satisfaction.
"Fantastic."
"It's my honor," the boss said, his obsequiousness tinged with obvious fear.
Klein put down his luggage, rested for a while, then got up and went back downstairs to prepare for dinner.
The entire first floor, apart from the counter, was cluttered with several tables, all of which were slightly greasy. In a corner, a fireplace was burning brightly, emitting light and heat.
The Rorsted Archipelago are located in the south, and the lowest winter temperatures are only around 10 degrees Celsius, but for the locals, this is still cold weather that requires them to warm themselves by a fire.
Klein casually found a seat, ordered a local specialty roast meat and bay leaf mushroom soup, and potato bread as his main dish.
While waiting, he quietly scanned the diners in the restaurant, his gaze instinctively landing on a woman.
This lady has simple black hair tied up and a pair of very distinctive bluish-gray eyes. Her appearance is the kind that grows on you; the more you look at her, the more attractive she becomes.
She was clearly not of local descent, yet she was wearing a men's shirt and a thick brown jacket, with a round-brimmed hat with a dent in the center next to her.
This is a common attire for adventurers on the high seas, as are the three men at the same table, all bearing obvious signs of sun and rain exposure.
Klein never hid his admiration for beautiful women, but the woman who caught his attention was not because of her appearance.
The high seas are rife with discrimination against women. Women who manage to rise to a certain position among adventurers and pirate crews are either very cunning and shrewd, extremely powerful, or both. They are people to be wary of and cautious of!
Their boots had relatively fresh mud spots... Had they just come back from the jungle? Heh, quite the adventurers... Klein made a preliminary judgment based on some clues.
If these four adventurers came by boat from Bayam, even if they had stepped into sewage or encountered silt beforehand, the traces should have dried long ago. The roads inside the town were relatively clean, just a bit dusty, because it hadn't rained for the past two days. Excluding these two possibilities, the only explanation left is that they came back from exploring the jungle in the suburbs.
Klein had heard before that many adventurers would venture deep into the primeval forests of the colonized islands in search of abandoned and forgotten pagan temples or altars. These places often contained ancient gold and jewels, but for various reasons, they were later buried in places no one cared about or knew about. In the bars of each island, there were many legends about who had returned from jungle adventures with a full load and became rich overnight.
Those places might be haunted by evil spirits... It's better to hunt pirates; at least you can get the relevant information beforehand... Klein withdrew his gaze and focused on waiting for the food.
The seven major churches categorized the various deities in the original colonial beliefs as evil spirits, but Klein believed that some of them should belong to nature spirits.
After a while, the specialty grilled meats were served. They were cut into many small pieces, skewered on wooden sticks, and coated with a brownish-red sauce. They were fragrant and looked very appealing.
It's a bit like the kebabs from my previous life... In Loen, they grill large chunks of meat, and the chef cuts them up after they're done... The way they do it here makes it even more flavorful... Klein picked up a wooden skewer, bit off a piece of meat, and felt the juices overflow, a salty and savory flavor with a hint of sweetness.
"That's my type!" He nodded in satisfaction.
Klein thoroughly enjoyed the meal and even sampled the local "gurus sap," a specialty drink that's like lemonade with sugar and milk.
Back in his room, having not slept all night while hunting, he quickly washed up, turned off the fireplace, and crawled into bed.
Going to bed too early inevitably leads to a problem: waking up in the middle of the night needing to urinate.
Klein's sweet dream was interrupted. He opened his eyes and slowly mustered the courage to throw off the covers.
The temperature in Simim at midnight was around ** degrees Celsius, which felt quite cold.
After lying quietly for a while, Klein stretched out his arm, then silently withdrew it.
After thinking for a few seconds, he reached out again and picked up the " The Sun Brooch " from the bedside table.
Although this only provides a mental sense of summer heat without actually providing any physical warmth, at least it can deceive oneself into thinking that it's not cold right now.
Klein got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom in the room.
He squinted, trying to ease the pressure in his lower abdomen.
After finishing everything, he pulled up his pants and prepared to wash his hands when Spirit Intuition suddenly struck.
Klein frowned slightly and looked up at the ventilation opening in the bathroom.
Suddenly, something black and slippery fell down and hung there.
This is a venomous snake flicking its tongue!
Klein was startled, opened his mouth, and made a sound:
"Bang!"
The venomous snake was struck and cut in two.
What happened? Klein stared for a few seconds, and seeing no further movement, he walked out of the bathroom and took a gold coin from his pocket.
P. S.: I'm looking for support cards for the Golden Keyboard Award. You can get them by making purchases before, and I'm voting for the character, specifically for Little Klein!
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