When he heard the ethereal, layered prayers, Klein was riding in a four-wheeled carriage back to Böklund Street from Saint Samuel Cathedral.
A woman... not in a hurry... he could only make a very rough judgment on this, and could not immediately go above the Gray Fog to respond.
Klein glanced at the gas streetlights that dispelled the darkness outside the window, then looked away, picked up his white porcelain teacup inlaid with gold, and took a small sip.
Seeing this, Richardson, standing to the side, mustered his courage and said:
"Sir, I've thought it through. You're absolutely right. Everyone starts with little to no experience and grows from there. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to grow."
After confirming the deaths of Godops and his gang, he finally stopped worrying and began to think about his career.
Changing employers in a short period of time is a significant stain on a servant's reputation, and Richardson believed that once he resigned from Dawn Dantès's company, he would find it difficult to continue working as a personal valet.
This would be a huge blow to him.
This is not only because a male servant's annual salary is at least £25, far exceeding that of other non-management positions and comparable to that of a mistress's maid, but also because male and female servants are the servants with the best chance of becoming stewards!
They follow the master or mistress, helping them with chores, acting as their mouthpiece, and serving as their assistants. This allows them to effectively cultivate their own abilities, fully master various butler skills, and become the employer's confidants. Given the opportunity, they can relatively easily transition to manor steward, butler's assistant, deputy butler, and gradually rise to the position of butler.
Richardson did indeed crave a peaceful life, but that didn't mean he was willing to remain a servant forever. He undoubtedly wanted to earn more money and achieve a higher status through his own efforts, and becoming a butler for a wealthy family was his ultimate goal.
"It's not too late to understand now," Klein replied with a smile, granting Richardson permission to stay.
Back at 160 Böklund Street, he instructed his housekeeper Taneja, to have the kitchen prepare a late-night snack for him at 11:30, then went up to the third floor, took off his coat, and went into the bathroom.
At this time, the maid had already filled the bathtub with hot water at the right temperature five minutes in advance.
Klein didn't rush to take a bath. Instead, he went above the Gray Fog and figured out who had been praying.
Mr. X... the Traveler... Miss " Magician " is quite efficient... Without realizing it, she has grown up too... Klein muttered to himself.
After careful consideration, he conjured the "world" Gehrman Sparrow, and had the dummy pray in the pervasive Gray Fog:
"... Give me the time, the place, and more intelligence; only then can we take action."
Klein's idea was simple: the " Traveler's" abilities were quite useful, but Dawn Dantès could hardly leave Böklund Street for long or stay in his room all the time. If Miss " Magician " could provide detailed and reliable information, an assassination wouldn't have much of an impact. However, if "The World" were to gather information bit by bit from the outside, that would be impossible and would affect his more important matters.
Soon, " Magician " Fors responded:
"I'll collect it as soon as possible."
Since Mr. X's next gathering hasn't been scheduled for a specific time or location, she can only wait patiently.
Having finalized the matter, Klein returned to the real world, stripped naked, and lay down in the bathtub.
The warm water enveloped him, and he comfortably closed his eyes, feeling the fatigue in his body and mind being washed away little by little.
He had visited Saint Samuel Cathedral several times during this period to listen to Bishop Electra explain the Revelation of Evernight, and had also learned about the appearance and characteristics of the two inner watchmen. However, since there had been no repetitions, he still could not determine the pattern of the watchmen's rotation.
Such behavior would also bring trouble. Klein opened his eyes, looked at the mist above, and sighed inwardly:
"The first review should be coming soon..."
A person who frequently enters the inner area of Saint Samuel Cathedral would most likely be subject to scrutiny by the " Nighthawks," and such things would be almost inevitable if his background was not yet clear.
If no review was conducted, it would be a serious dereliction of duty for the Nighthawks... Klein slowly exhaled.
Beneath the walls of Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard slowly emerged from a quiet, almost silent room.
His emerald green eyes now seemed to be stained with strange black water, with countless illusory bubbles and ripples appearing and disappearing.
"Not bad, you've become a ' Spirit Warlock ' so quickly, almost catching up to me." Daly Simone, congratulated him in a tone that was both teasing and self-deprecating.
She was still wearing a hooded black robe, with blue eyeshadow and blush, giving her an eerie beauty.
When Leonard saw the familiar woman, he felt that her aura had become even colder, as if countless Specter were hidden around her, layer upon layer, deep and icy.
"Obviously, I still have a long way to go to catch up with you. With your current form, you should be ready to be promoted to ' Gatekeeper,' right?" Leonard wasn't too casual in front of Daly, and spoke rather seriously, because if he joked, he would be the one blushing and embarrassed in the end, not the lady.
" Gatekeeper " is Sequence 5 of the " Death " pathway.
"It could have been done two months ago," Daly said without hiding anything, her expression slightly Distortion.
Leonard roughly understood the reason and nodded slightly.
"Haven't accumulated enough merits yet?"
Daly immediately pursed her lips and said:
"Right.
"It's like you've already gone to bed, everything's ready, but then you realize you don't have any condoms at home, and it's nighttime outside, and most of the shops in the neighborhood are closed!"
A peculiar metaphor... Leonard didn't know how to respond, so he could only smile and say:
"You can take the initiative to take on some tasks."
Without giving Daly a chance to speak, he pointed to the other end of the corridor:
Captain Soest is waiting for my report on the promotion.
Daly didn't say anything and watched him leave.
Only after his figure disappeared around the corner did the woman's expression falter for a moment, and she murmured to herself:
"Captain Soest..."
In the room where Leonard's Red Gloves squad was temporarily stationed, Soest, who had only recently become a " Spirit Warlock," saw his undisciplined subordinate enter and casually tossed him a document:
"Excellent, you've been promoted. I'll congratulate you later. Now, first, conduct a dream review of your goals."
It was already late at night, but for the " Nighthawks, " who were mainly composed of " Sleepless, it was not much different from daytime; in fact, they felt even stronger.
"Isn't this the local ' Nighthawks's ' task?" Leonard asked casually as he took the document.
"They've been busy lately and short-handed, so they asked us for help," Soest explained casually.
Leonard didn't ask any more questions and immediately lowered his head to look through the documents.
The first thing that caught his eye was a photograph, and the middle-aged gentleman in it left a very deep impression on him!
" Dawn Dantès..." Leonard's pupils contracted sharply.
He recognized this man and knew that he was an immortal Monster who had survived from the Fourth Epoch, at least at the level of Saint, or even stronger!
And he also knew my secret, knew the Old Man's identity... Leonard instinctively raised his hand to rub his temples:
"Captain Soest, I've just been promoted, and my Spirituality is still a bit out of control."
"Oh, I see..." Soest realized he might Error and quickly turned to the other Red Gloves, saying, " Alberto, you come here."
The man named Alberto was in his thirties, with blond hair, slightly pale skin, and a rather unhealthy physique.
Leonard breathed a sigh of relief and handed the documents to the other party.
Just then, a sudden thought struck him: Would Alberto be negatively affected by entering that undead Monster's dream?
At that moment, he felt a pang of regret, thinking he should have done it himself. At least he was aware of the danger and had dealt with the other party before, so he wouldn't have offended them.
Dawn Dantès shouldn't do anything to Alberto... If he reacts too strongly and causes Alberto to act abnormally, his problems will immediately be exposed to us, and given the Church's strength and Backlund's condition, he simply won't be able to leave this metropolis alive... Leonard quickly calmed down, believing that Dawn Dantès would use a gentler approach to avoid the dream examination.
He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alberto, seemingly reading the newspaper casually, but actually keeping a close eye on him to prevent any accidents from happening.
160 Böklund Street, inside the master bedroom.
Klein suddenly woke up from his dream and realized that an "outsider" had arrived.
" The Nighthawks's inspection?" he muttered to himself, glancing around and finding himself in that semi-open room.
Then he heard a knocking sound at the door.
"Come in..." Klein tried to make his voice sound like he was talking in his sleep.
Turning the handle, the door opened, and a rather thin, blond man in a black trench coat walked in; it was Alberto the Red Gloves.
"Superintendent of the Backlund Police Department." Alberto casually showed his identification and sat down opposite Klein.
"Is there something you need, officer?" Klein asked, getting into character.
He knew that due to the influence of the " Nightmare " ability, he should act normally at this time.
Alberto conjured a stack of papers and read aloud in a low voice:
" Dawn Dantès, male, from Desi County..."
He briefly summarized the intelligence he had gathered so far, and then asked:
Is this information authentic?
"Partly true, partly false," Klein replied "honestly" in the dream.
The only real truth is probably that he's "male and has no female companion"... At the same time, he chuckled to himself.
Alberto was slightly pleased to see progress so quickly, but he put on a stern face and said:
"Which ones are fake?"
Klein was prepared for this, and pretended to recall:
"My wealth did not come from mineral deposits, but from adventures in the Southern Continent."
He combined Anderson's description of the situation in West Balam with a fabricated story about how a commoner gained wealth through eloquence, intelligence, experience, and boldness in a region where Loen and Intis frequently clashed.
This story isn't detailed; it's just an outline. Its main purpose is to convince the Nighthawks that Dawn Dantès is an ordinary person with an adventurous spirit, not Beyonder. Stories of similar rags-to-riches tales are common in Loen.
P. S.: Requesting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Monday!