Chapter 121: A Comparison of Conversational Experience

Chapter 121: A Comparison of Conversational Experience

What do I think? If I knew the answer, why would I be here? I would have long since found a way to indirectly submit the intelligence!

Leonard silently grumbled twice, then began weighing his words.

During this process, he discovered that although he was standing upright and looking down at Dawn Dantes, the wealthy gentleman seated leisurely in the easy chair instead occupied the superior position in terms of bearing, like a high-ranking figure casually listening to a subordinate’s report.

This made Leonard rather uncomfortable. He subconsciously glanced around, pulled over a chair, and leaned back into it in a half-habitual, half-deliberate manner.

“I think that he—or rather, you people—are searching for something.

“In Tingen, when he infiltrated the Nighthawks, he was searching for something. In Backlund, when he infiltrated Chanis Gate, he was searching for that same thing!

“The first time, he gained nothing, so he used Ince Zangwill’s attack to fake his death and leave.

“The second time, he still failed to find it, so he took nothing and left directly from behind Chanis Gate!”

In these sentences, Leonard deliberately used a confident tone to reveal that he had already grasped the fact that Gehrman Sparrow was Sherlock Moriarty, and Sherlock Moriarty was Klein Moretti. He wanted to apply pressure that way, so Dawn Dantes would no longer remain so calm and would give up any thought of quibbling.

As expected, he went to dig up my grave…

Klein sighed inwardly and gave a soft chuckle. He picked up the wineglass filled with red wine, lightly swirled it, and said, “Do you think that without precise intelligence, we would recklessly test things twice in a row? You should know that this kind of matter only allows one chance. Once it fails, success becomes impossible.

“So, who would rely on action to verify guesses when they have not even confirmed the target?”

He tacitly admitted what I said. Klein Moretti is Gehrman Sparrow, and he is a member of that hidden organization that believes in the Fool—the chivalrous thief Black Emperor…

Leonard worked hard not to frown. Placing his right foot over his left leg, he said, “So it was not that he failed to find it, but that other factors caused the failure?

“During those two stages, there were only two things shared by Tingen’s Saint Selena Cathedral and Backlund’s Saint Samuel Cathedral: Sealed Artifact 2-049 and the Antigonus family notebook.

“The Antigonus family notebook… Was it that? Klein Moretti joined the Nighthawks because of it!”

Although the reasoning process is wrong, the answer is right…

Klein laughed lightly and said, “Our brains are not decorations.

“If his target were the Antigonus family notebook, he would not have had to join the Nighthawks at all. Before you obtained it, he had plenty of opportunities.

“And even after you obtained it, he was not lacking in chances to get it. You should understand the situation back then better than I do.

“Also, since the target was the Antigonus family notebook, why did he not take it away this time?”

After being mocked by Dawn Dantes, Leonard Mitchell finally realized that the idea he had come up with on the spot was full of logical contradictions. Shame stirred in him, along with a faint trace of anger.

He quietly inhaled and said, “Then why did he use different methods to infiltrate Chanis Gate twice? And this time, not only did he take nothing and leave nothing behind, he himself also entered a strange state.”

No sooner had Leonard spoken than he saw Dawn Dantes, whose temples were graying, reveal a meaningful smile.

“As for the latter matter, even I do not know why. Perhaps you should ask the Evernight Goddess.”

The Goddess… What does he mean?

Leonard was instantly shocked and suspicious. He found it hard to imagine what exactly had happened behind Chanis Gate in Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Immediately afterward, he heard Dawn Dantes chuckle deeply.

“As for your first question, I think you have misunderstood some things.

“The members of our organization come from different places. They joined for different purposes and chose to change their faith. Before that, however, their lives still belonged to themselves.

“Just like me. I have a past, and I have a present. The reason I came here is because of the surname I gave myself.”

Dantes… The Count’s Return… He joined the hidden organization that believes in the Fool for revenge and came to Backlund?

Leonard nodded thoughtfully.

Klein paused for a few seconds, casually tasted a mouthful of red wine, and continued with a smile:

“Likewise, he, who came back to life because of the curse of the Antigonus family notebook, is also here for revenge.”

Klein had deliberately mentioned his current surname, Dantes, and mentioned revenge in advance. He was drawing a distinction between himself and Gehrman Sparrow—Klein Moretti, so Leonard would not afterward think that the two of them had similar goals, shared commonalities, and perhaps concealed some deeper connection.

Taking the initiative to speak of it himself could create a mental fixed impression in the listener. The listener would subconsciously follow the logic of the words and treat Dawn Dantes and Klein Moretti as two entirely different people. The only commonality between them would be their desire for revenge. And in this world, there were certainly far more avengers than merely these two.

Leonard unconsciously lowered his raised right leg and leaned slightly forward.

“Revenge?

“Whom does he want revenge against?”

After asking, he saw the elegant, handsome middle-aged gentleman lift the corners of his mouth slightly.

“Lanevus, and…

“Ince Zangwill.”

“Ince Zangwill…” Leonard repeated aloud. His expression changed several times before finally returning to stillness.

His green eyes stared forward, briefly losing focus, as if he were thinking of many things.

After a long silence, Leonard exhaled.

He loosened his instinctively clenched hands and asked in a somewhat hoarse voice, “Was Lanevus truly killed by him?”

“Of course,” Klein answered calmly with a quiet sigh.

Leonard opened his mouth, seeming to want to say something, but he failed to speak. Then he pressed his lips tightly together again.

Seeing that his hint had achieved its purpose, Klein immediately changed the subject and said with a soft laugh, “If you have a similar goal, or if you need help, you may likewise recite His honorific name. Perhaps you will receive a response.”

His… That hidden existence, the Fool?

Leonard thought Dawn Dantes was habitually proselytizing, attempting to develop him into that hidden organization, so he did not think too deeply and responded with silence.

Klein instead smiled and said, “Right. Pass a message to Pallez Zoroast for me. A member of our organization encountered Blasphemer Amon in the Godforsaken Land.”

This sentence contained so much information that Leonard briefly did not know how to react. His mind echoed with related thoughts:

The Godforsaken Land? The Godforsaken Land the seven great Churches have searched for in vain? This hidden organization actually has members who can enter and leave the Godforsaken Land!

Blasphemer Amon… The old man once said he was hiding from a high-Sequence Beyonder surnamed Amon. He was heavily injured by that very person, which was why he had no choice but to undergo one parasitism after another until he ended up inside me…

Dawn Dantes’s tone and bearing truly resemble an undying monster who has survived from the Fourth Epoch. He is on the same level as the old man, or close to it… In front of him, I truly have no superiority at all. I even lack confidence…

As his thoughts flashed, Leonard barely regained himself and said, “I will pass it on.”

Mm. After Leonard enters another person’s dream, that old grandfather does not seem able to precisely grasp his senses. Otherwise, when he heard Blasphemer Amon, there should have been some abnormal reaction… The words of the Snake of Fate, Will Auceptin, can also support this: only when the poet classmate truly encountered danger did that old grandfather notice and take action… Very good. He is not completely “parasitized”…

As Klein interpreted the hidden information, he smiled and said, “You may leave. You can also rest assured that my objective does not lie in the Evernight Church.”

My next objective, not my past one…

Klein silently added in his heart.

Leonard had already obtained enough information and did not dare remain. Leaving the chair, he gave a bow.

Then he withdrew from Dawn Dantes’s dream.

…

Inside a room on the street behind Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard woke and heard the parasite inside his body speak in that slightly aged voice in his mind:

“What did he say?”

Leonard weighed his words and answered, “He directly admitted that he is a member of the hidden organization that believes in the Fool, and so is Klein Moretti, who used the alias Gehrman Sparrow.

“Their goal is revenge—each person’s own revenge.”

Pallez Zoroast fell silent for a second before asking, “Did he say why Klein Moretti could revive? Or how he faked his death to that degree?”

Leonard recalled the conversation and said, “His explanation was the curse given by the Antigonus family notebook.”

A curse…

Only at this moment did Leonard realize that Dawn Dantes’s wording had been extremely strange.

The power that could allow a dead man to revive was actually being called a curse!

Pallez Zoroast seemed to have no doubt about this. After several seconds of silence, He asked, “What else did he say?”

Leonard did not conceal anything. He spoke frankly:

“He mentioned Blasphemer Amon. He said a member of their organization encountered him in the Godforsaken Land.

“Old man, is that the Amon you mentioned?”

The slightly aged voice took a long while before replying, “It should be.”

After pausing, He continued, “I am thinking that Dawn Dantes—no, the Fool behind him—perhaps truly is one of my old friends…”

The old man believes himself to be a level above Dawn Dantes, perhaps even more than one level… Is he an earthbound angel?

After a little thought, Leonard asked, “Which old friend?”

Pallez Zoroast did not answer. Instead, He asked, “Do you still intend to find an opportunity to reveal the matter of Dawn Dantes and Klein Moretti?”

Leonard abruptly fell silent. Only after more than ten seconds did he say in a low voice, “Not for now.

“Perhaps I and he—and they—still have the possibility of cooperation…

“And the Church suffered no substantive loss this time.”

The parasite inside him said nothing more, as if He had entered sleep again.

Leonard slowly raised his head, looked at the documents before him, and muttered darkly, his green eyes shadowed:

“He has left me behind…”