Chapter 34: The Choice of a Host

Chapter 34: The Choice of a Host

After a round of soothing, Allen Ceres and Wilma Gladys finally managed to calm the baby down.

Whew… Tall and thin Allen breathed out, straightened, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and nodded apologetically to his guest. After holding himself back for a few seconds, he finally organized his words:

“I’m sorry. Children are all like this.”

“Yes.” Klein smiled in response, indicating that he did not mind in the slightest.

Then he changed the subject and continued sharing what he had seen and heard in East and West Balam.

During this process, he once again used his Beyonder powers to make every ordinary person in the living room fall into an illusion. He himself picked up the unfinished ice cream from earlier, changed to a new silver spoon, and rose with a smile. Walking to the stroller, he asked gently,

“Will, do you want some?”

Without waiting for the plump fellow wrapped in silver silk to respond, his voice became even softer.

“You have already been born. You should be able to fold paper cranes now. That way, I won’t have to visit so often. You know very well that this easily arouses suspicion.”

Will Auceptin Ceres glared at him without answering.

Klein did not back down. He took a sheet of good-quality white paper from nearby and placed it into the stroller.

Then he bent down and scooped a little ice cream with the silver spoon.

“All gifts of fate have already had their prices secretly marked, have they not?” Klein moved the silver spoon in his hand as he spoke with a low laugh.

Lying inside the stroller, Will raised his left hand and wiped his tear-stained face. He muttered,

“For Beyonders of the Fate pathway, the things listed on the price tag are paid first. Only afterward do they wait for the gift.”

As he spoke, this chubby baby grabbed the sheet of white paper and, with somewhat difficult movements and a faint sob still in him, began folding a paper crane.

Klein stood before the stroller, keeping the silver spoon steady, smiling as he watched the scene.

…

A carriage set off from Pessote Street toward the area where Saint Samuel Cathedral was located.

When it passed 160 Böklund Street, Leonard Mitchell looked through the carriage window and glanced at that house. He seemed to speak to himself as he said,

“Dwayne Dantès is back too.”

Immediately, the slightly aged voice sounded in his mind:

“Fate will eventually converge.”

“Old Man, after waking up, you sound more and more like a charlatan.” Leonard could not help mocking him.

Pallez Zoroast laughed twice and offered no reply.

After arriving at Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard was led by a priest into the study of Saint Anthony, the Archbishop of Backlund.

Anthony Stevenson wore a black robe edged with red. His eyes were deep, and his face was beardless. Standing in the shadows cast by the cabinets, he was like an unknown existence watching everything from the depths of darkness, making people feel fear for no reason at all.

“Your Grace, what did you summon me for?” Although Leonard already had some expectations, he still performed a rather nonstandard bow.

Anthony nodded gently.

“You have already made sufficient contributions and may apply to become a Sequence 5 Spirit Warlock. However, your Requiemer potion has not yet been fully digested. Therefore, I have taken you out of Soest’s team and assigned you some individual missions.”

Leonard replied according to procedure,

“Please give your instructions.”

Anthony picked up a stack of papers from the desk.

“These are all incidents suspected to be hauntings. Investigate them one by one, focusing primarily on soothing rather than purification. If you need assistance, you may draw personnel from the Nighthawk teams in the relevant areas.”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Leonard would have taken the initiative to do similar matters even if Saint Anthony had not ordered him, so he had no objection to such an assignment.

After accepting the stack of papers, he casually flipped through them and asked,

“Your Grace, what is Captain Soest’s team busy with right now?”

Although over the past half year, he had focused on revenge, appearing casual on the surface but sealed off inwardly, and had not established deep friendships with the members of that Red Gloves team, they had still fought side by side and gone through danger together. It was difficult not to care about them.

“They are currently cooperating with Crestet to complete a mission,” Anthony Stevenson answered without giving details.

So His Excellency Cesimir has also come to Backlund… Leonard asked no more. He tapped his chest four times clockwise.

“May the Goddess bless everyone.”

“Praise the Goddess.” Anthony returned the same gesture.

After leaving the archbishop’s study, Leonard made his way downward, preparing to enter the underground area and find a quiet room. There, he would organize the missions he needed to complete into a table and mark their order of priority.

Along the way, while walking down the stairs, he subconsciously raised his head and glanced at the stained-glass window high above.

Sunlight shone in from there, making the colored pattern even more solemn and clearly revealing the dancing dust motes and tiny flying insects.

Seeing this scene, Leonard suddenly remembered the Old Man’s descriptions of Amon. For no reason, he had the illusion that the air was filled with that Blasphemer.

His heart trembled. Then a question occurred to him, and he quickly lowered his voice.

“Old Man, I have a question.”

“What is it?” Pallez Zoroast asked slowly.

Leonard suppressed his voice.

“Why didn’t you parasitize a flying insect back then? They’re smaller and more hidden. They can easily sneak into a church, and you wouldn’t need to worry about being found by Amon.”

“How long can a flying insect live? Constantly transferring hosts is an enormous burden in itself. If that were the case, not only would I be unable to recover little by little through parasitism, my condition would even worsen and my lifespan shorten.” Pallez Zoroast snorted.

Leonard came to a realization and pursued the matter with another question:

“What about other creatures? Ones that can live relatively longer and also enter a church unnoticed.”

Pallez Zoroast immediately sneered.

“It seems you’ve never taken certain things I said to heart. That will make you suffer greatly in the future!

“On the extraordinary path, the higher the Sequence, the more madness and the greater the tendency toward losing control accumulate. That is the essence of the characteristics themselves. It can only be suppressed and resisted. It cannot be eliminated.

“Therefore, for a Parasite, the choice of host must take this factor into account. If one parasitizes an ordinary animal, it is still fine as short-term behavior. But if the duration grows long, one will inevitably be affected by the body structure and hormones. Heh. Everything is mutual, is it not? A Parasite can influence the host, and the host can in turn influence him.

“When you lodge inside an ordinary animal’s body, you must frequently find people to talk to, to prevent yourself from forgetting your former identity. In that case, the risk of exposure becomes extremely high. But if you do not do this, you will certainly be influenced by the host, gradually lose the ability to speak, confuse your sense of self, become unable to distinguish who you really are, and be overwhelmed step by step by the inclination toward madness and losing control.”

Leonard listened with inexplicable alarm and nodded slightly.

“I understand… No wonder you choose hosts so carefully.”

“Are you trying to praise yourself?” Pallez Zoroast clicked His tongue. “For us, the most suitable hosts are undoubtedly Beyonders of our own pathway. All aspects synchronize well. Moreover, after raising them up one Sequence at a time, they can become supplements for our own extraordinary powers, special medicine for our own condition, and finally have their bodies taken as ours.”

Listening to the Old Man calmly speak of something so evil and terrifying, Leonard slightly frowned, yet secretly breathed out in relief at the same time, because this meant the other party would not do that to him.

Pallez Zoroast continued,

“The next best choices are Beyonders of the Seer and Apprentice pathways. Absorbing their powers will not place too great a burden on a Parasite’s state, and they can help one recover comparatively quickly.

“Worse than that are intelligent Beyonders of other pathways. At least communication is smooth, and they know how to cooperate.

“As for you, heh heh…”

Leonard was just about to shoot back at the Old Man when he suddenly saw a bishop walking up from below the stairs. He hurriedly closed his mouth, gripped the railing, and quickened his steps.

…

At 7:30 in the evening, at 39 Böklund Street, the home of Member of Parliament Macht.

Wearing a tailcoat, Klein stepped down from the carriage while fastening his clothing buttons. Against the backdrop of the lamp-lit fountain, he entered the entrance hall and saw Mori Macht, dressed in an olive-green military uniform, wearing an orange-red sash and combat medals.

His wife, Riana, wore an off-the-shoulder gown and smilingly said to Dwayne Dantès,

“Welcome, our traveler. Everyone is waiting for you to share what you saw in East and West Balam.”

“Then should I find a newspaper and start a travel column?” Klein replied jokingly.

Member of Parliament Macht knew exactly what business Dwayne Dantès had gone to the Southern Continent for, and the matter had originated from his own introduction. Therefore, after exchanging a smile with the other party, he stepped forward on his own initiative, gave him a hug, and said in a lowered voice,

“Well done!”

Klein smiled and nodded, then asked,

“Did you like the gift?”

He was referring to the bottle of River Valley grape wine suitable for making sour cocktails.

“It was wonderful. A flavor that made me nostalgic,” Member of Parliament Macht said sincerely.

Klein was about to enter the hall when he noticed something was not quite right. Sweeping a casual glance around, he asked in slight puzzlement,

“Is Miss Hazel not here?

“Has she already gone to her women’s college?”

Madam Riana sighed and shook her head.

“No. She is merely ill. She will not go to college until September.”

“A cold?” Klein expressed the concern expected of a guest.

Member of Parliament Macht smiled helplessly.

“No. A few days ago, when she went to the suburban manor, she was bitten by a mad rat. The wound has not fully healed yet.”

Hazel was bitten… by a mad rat… Klein nodded thoughtfully.

“Did you consult a doctor?

“Mm, was that rat caught?”

“The doctor gave her an injection to prevent infection,” Member of Parliament Macht said simply. “That rat has not yet been found. Perhaps we should raise a few cats at the manor.”