Chapter 79: Recruitment Fair

Chapter 79: Recruitment Fair

That was way too fast…

Could it already have circled the planet several times? Or has it been standing in place all along, just moving so quickly that my eyes cannot keep up at all… The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched slightly. He decided to wait a few seconds and see whether that “speedster beyond imagination” would appear again.

He was not worried that the spirit-world creature he had summoned would harm innocent people, because one of the descriptions was “friendly creature.” Besides, as long as he forcefully ended the summoning and stopped the ritual, no matter where that “speedster beyond imagination” had run off to, it would instantly be sent back to the spirit world.

After waiting for several seconds with no result, Klein inhaled and spoke in ancient Hermes:

“I!

“I end this summoning in my name!”

The surrounding chill vanished instantly. The swirling cold wind gradually calmed, and the candle flame returned to its normal color.

Klein stepped forward and extinguished the candle, planning to modify the final description and make a second attempt.

As for the first two lines—“the spirit that wanders the void” and “the friendly creature that can be commanded”—he did not intend to change them. The first line pointed to the spirit world. At most, he could replace it with a synonymous phrase, so changing it or not made little difference. The second line was the premise that guaranteed his own safety. Otherwise, what had happened just now would not have been a comic mishap, but a horror story.

Mm… I do not have to use “beyond imagination” to modify “speedster.” But the other options may not necessarily meet my needs. Perhaps… I can approach this from another angle. A messenger does not have to run that fast. Normal speed is fine. Safety can be guaranteed by other means. As long as malicious fellows always overlook it and do not take it seriously, that will do… This time, I will try for a spirit-world creature with a weak sense of presence… Klein weighed the matter for two or three minutes before carrying out the ritual again.

After completing the preliminary steps, he recited the new incantation:

“I!

“I summon in my name:

“The spirit that wanders the void; the friendly creature that can be commanded; the weak existence easily ignored.”

The warehouse immediately became abnormally quiet. Within the wall of spirituality, there was no wind, no cold, and even the candle flame did not change color.

Klein waited patiently, watching with anticipation, hoping to obtain a good messenger.

More than ten seconds passed. He sighed, looked around, and said, “Nothing at all. This description did not work.”

He waited no longer. Following the procedure, he ended the summoning and extinguished the candle.

What made him faintly puzzled was that the candle flame had swayed several times at the very end.

Did I overlook something… Klein frowned, then smoothed his expression and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

He returned to the problem of modifying the description, still focusing on the third line.

Let me change my approach again. If a messenger can take a beating especially well and has extremely strong survival ability, that should also be acceptable. No matter what, any messenger that can deliver the letter to the target is a good messenger… Klein pondered for a while and performed the summoning ritual for the third time.

Amid the fragrance of herbs and essential oils, under the dim yellow candlelight, shadows shifted across his face as his mouth opened and closed:

“I!

“I summon in my name:

“The spirit that wanders the void; the friendly creature that can be commanded; the extraordinary being with extremely powerful survival ability.”

The candle flame suddenly stretched upward, lighting the altar with a bright, reddish glow.

In Klein’s spirit vision, one white bone after another drilled out from the ground, stacking layer upon layer until they formed a safe-like creature.

At last, something visible has been summoned. And it is the type with extremely strong survival ability… It really looks like a safe. At a glance, one can tell it can take a beating very well… Klein let out a breath and said in ancient Hermes, “Are you willing to become my messenger?”

The box-like creature made of white bones quickly sent over the thought that it was willing.

Then it wriggled the white bones beneath it and crawled toward Klein, slowly, slowly.

It took ten seconds to crawl one centimeter.

…That is far too slow… Klein’s smile stiffened on his face.

Although messengers completed their duties by traversing the spirit world, that did not mean they required no speed.

Within the spirit world, distance and direction were chaotic. What mattered most was locating and finding a target.

As long as the positioning provided was accurate, clear, and immediate—for example, a summoning ritual, or blowing a copper whistle that acted like a simplified ritual—no matter where the messenger was in the spirit world, it could immediately appear within the altar.

But when the positioning was not so immediate and depended only on a contract connection or a previous anchor, the messenger had to spend time distinguishing the location, swimming through the spirit world, and searching for the target. That required a certain amount of speed.

If I let it deliver a letter, the recipient might not get it in this lifetime… Looking at the safe-like white-bone creature crawling forward at a snail’s pace, Klein thought helplessly.

He let the earlier smile return to his face.

“After serious consideration, I believe I still should not trouble you.

“Thank you for your willingness.”

The creature made of illusory white bones stopped. Compared with before, it looked as though it had never moved.

Klein quickly ended the summoning and rubbed the corner of his forehead.

For a moment, he felt a little discouraged. He decided to give up on clever tricks and use a less troublesome method to find a messenger: “open recruitment and interview selection”!

Taking a breath, Klein steadied his mood and solemnly performed the ritual.

Looking at the quietly burning candle flame, he stepped back and said, “I!

“I summon in my name:

“The spirit that wanders the void; the friendly creature that can be commanded; the unique existence willing to become my messenger.”

Whoosh!

Within the wall of spirituality, the wind suddenly intensified. Klein’s half top hat almost flew into the air.

The candle flame swayed and swelled to the size of a human head, its pallor making it seem as though it had lost all warmth.

A half-transparent head slowly emerged as if breaking through a thin membrane. Its hair was smooth, light gold, and its eyes were scarlet like blood. Its features were beautiful in a bright, imposing way.

She looks a little familiar… Klein muttered silently.

The head fully emerged, but what followed behind it was not a neck. Instead, it was an illusory hand pinching the ends of her hair.

After the hand came an intricately patterned, dark-colored sleeve.

The spirit-world creature that had been summoned emerged faster and faster. It soon fully appeared before Klein’s eyes.

It was, indeed, a familiar “person.” It was the headless woman Klein had encountered on the way to Kalvetua’s undersea ruins, the one who had stood at the top of a castle.

She was no longer as enormous as before, comparable to the castle itself. Now, she was merely a tall “ordinary” lady.

Of course, her neck still ended in a cut, and in her hands she carried four identical heads.

“Is…” “it…” “you…” “summoning me?” The headless woman in a gloomy, elaborate black dress stood there quietly, while the four dangling heads spoke one after another in ancient Feysac.

She can communicate directly with language… This spirit-world creature is not low-level… I remember you had a castle… You own property, yet you still came to “apply” for a messenger job? Klein first sighed inwardly, then mocked silently. He then looked past the headless woman toward the candle flame behind her, disappointed to discover that no other spirits were emerging.

He had originally thought many spirit-world creatures willing to become his messenger would swarm over, line up in several rows, and wait for interviews. In the end, there was only one respondent.

It should be a limitation of the ritual itself. This is a comparatively simple and elementary summoning ritual, so it cannot summon multiple targets at once… Klein looked at the headless lady and nodded solemnly.

“Yes.”

Before the other party could speak, he added two more questions:

“Can you travel through the spirit world at a fairly high speed? How is your survival ability?”

The heads carried by the headless woman answered in sequence:

“Yes.” “Quite…” “good.”

As she spoke, she floated upward, then swiftly descended again, giving a brief demonstration.

Whew… Klein decided not to try again when there was no telling what result he might obtain. He asked seriously, “Are you willing to sign a contract and become my messenger?”

The headless woman’s skirt shifted slightly. The four golden-haired, red-eyed heads nodded at the same time.

“Yes.” “Each time…” “one…” “gold coin.”

Ah? One gold coin per delivery? Mr. Azik did not mention that spirit-world creatures had hobbies like this… Right, he said that when signing a contract, persuasion and communication were best. This is one form of persuasion and communication? Klein was so surprised that he almost ended the summoning at once.

Wait. The money does not necessarily have to come from me… Whoever summons the messenger pays… Heh. Perhaps after communication improves, cash-on-delivery will even become an option… Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Klein agreed to the other party’s request.

“Alright.

“Let us sign the contract.”

He picked up the dark-red fountain pen and the yellow-brown parchment he had prepared beforehand, then swiftly wrote the contract in ancient Hermes, the language capable of prying open the forces of nature.

The format and clauses had all been described in detail by Azik in his letter. They were concise and powerful, including terms that forbade the messenger from peeking at letters, abandoning letters, or endangering the contractor’s life. Of course, if a letter written by the contractor contained content concerning the messenger, it had to be explained to the messenger in advance.

Beyond those clauses, Klein added the term of one gold coin per letter delivered, and clearly stated that the fee could be paid either by the contractor or by the other party receiving the letter.

To guarantee the contract’s effect, the final section contained the honorific name of a deity belonging to the relevant domain.

This was a necromantic contract, so under normal circumstances, it had to use Death’s honorific name. However, Death had fallen long ago and no longer gave any response. Therefore, Azik mentioned that descriptions of a high-ranking existence in the domain of necromancy, or of the underworld itself, could be used as a replacement, though the binding effect would not be as strong.

Without question, Klein chose the underworld, which had close relations with a certain big shot:

“The destination of all death, the hell hidden deep within the spirit world, the witness to the final decay of all things, the kingdom belonging solely to Death.”

After writing those four lines, the ancient Hermes words on the yellow-brown parchment ignited one after another with pale-green flames, illuminating the surroundings with eerie chill.

Having completed the main body of the contract, Klein took out Azik’s copper whistle, pressed it against the parchment, and signed his current name:

“Gehrman Sparrow.”

This did not necessarily require his true name, because his aura itself would enter the contract. The purpose of the name was only to make summoning possible. In other words, “the messenger belonging exclusively to Gehrman Sparrow” could summon the target, while “the contracted creature of Klein Moretti” could not.

Once Klein finished signing, the parchment floated upward, carrying Azik’s copper whistle and the dark-red pen to the headless woman.

One of the golden-haired, red-eyed heads she carried bit the round-bellied pen and wrote her own name:

“Reinette Tinekerr.”

The pale-green flames rapidly connected into a single sheet, wrapping around Azik’s copper whistle and the yellow-brown parchment.

A few seconds later, the parchment turned to ash, and the copper whistle fell without any visible change into Klein’s outstretched palm.

The four heads carried by the headless woman Reinette blinked at the same time. Her figure quickly became illusory and withdrew back into the pale candle flame.

After the contract had been completed, Klein no longer needed to use the incantation to end the summoning. His own will was enough.

Whew. I finally have a messenger. “The spirit that wanders the void, the friendly creature that can be commanded, the messenger belonging exclusively to Gehrman Sparrow”… Mm, when there is a chance, I should find an Artisan to make something like a copper whistle, so I will not need to perform a ritual every time I summon the messenger… In a good mood, Klein began cleaning up the aftermath.

Over the next few days, Bayam gradually returned to normal, but Danitz still did not hear any telegrams from Admiral of Blood’s pirate crew.

On Sunday morning, Danitz flipped through the newspaper, then suddenly lowered his voice and said to Klein, “There is a Beyonder gathering tonight. Do you want to attend?”