Chapter 122: Confession

Chapter 122: Confession

Early morning, 160 Böklund Street.

After Klein got up, washed, and dressed, he did not rush to open the door and go out. He first took four steps counterclockwise and entered above the gray fog.

He then manifested the World, Gehrman Sparrow, making the dummy pray devoutly:

“Great Mr. Fool, please relay two sentences to Danitz:

“I need him to provide information on West Balam, preferably with attached personal connections.

“Also, tell him to be careful of people from the Evernight Church recently.”

…

On the Golden Dream, which saw the sun earlier than Backlund, Danitz was holding a glass of malt beer and sitting in the shadows, avoiding the fierce glare.

In another fifteen minutes, class will start again. Captain says that a qualified treasure hunter must grasp sufficient mathematical knowledge… Ah, this truly gives me a headache, but I am also a little looking forward to it. Shit!

Danitz rested one hand on his knee and gulped down a mouthful of beer.

Just then, gray fog spread before his eyes, and a blurry figure looking down upon everything appeared. By his ear echoed Gehrman Sparrow’s voice.

Information on West Balam? Although we went there searching for lost ancient treasures and got to know a few tribal natives, that is about it. There is not much more to say… This is so troublesome. I have to run around again. Why does Gehrman Sparrow have so many things to do!

Danitz silently complained. Then he warily glanced left and right, afraid that the madman might suddenly leap out.

Drawing in a breath, he thought about how he needed to work hard to grow stronger, lest he be utterly unable to help if the captain were in danger and could only shamefully hide behind her. Danitz slapped his cheeks several times with his free hand, then abruptly flipped over and stood up.

He immediately left his shadowy spot, found Tinplate, Bucket, and several other companions, and asked whom he should consult if he wanted a deeper understanding of West Balam. He received almost unanimous answers:

“Captain Edwina Edwards, or Anderson Hood, who previously attended the bonfire party aboard the ship.”

If I directly ask Captain, will she suspect me and think I have secrets, secretly serving someone else? But Anderson, that fellow, has run off to who knows where. Shit!

Danitz fell briefly into difficulty. He could not help shifting his thoughts to Gehrman Sparrow’s later warning:

“Be careful of people from the Evernight Church!”

Danitz was not stupid. He knew anything specially emphasized by that mad adventurer would not be simple. In other words, he believed that there was a high probability he would soon become a key capture target of the Evernight Church, madly pursued by the Red Gloves!

Besides the Evernight Church, the Church of Storms and the military are also targeting me. It is said that each has sent an entire team…

Danitz thought with a trembling heart.

Very quickly, an expression mingling confusion and bitterness appeared on his face. He muttered in a low voice, “But I haven’t done anything…”

…

After relaying the request to collect information on West Balam to Admiral of Stars Cattleya, Klein left the gray fog and returned to the real world. Just as usual, he ate breakfast and attended his tutor’s lessons.

After waking from his afternoon nap, he changed into formal outdoor clothes with the help of his personal valet Richardson, then boarded the carriage that had long since been waiting at the door.

“To Saint Samuel Cathedral,” Klein said to the coachman, half-leaning against the carriage wall.

He considered that since he was still maintaining the identity of Dawn Dantes, it was best not to casually change the persona he had set before. Therefore, the frequency of his visits to Saint Samuel Cathedral could not fall, and the donations could not decrease.

Moreover, this would effectively wash away part of the suspicion. After all, few would imagine that the “criminal” who had infiltrated behind Chanis Gate not only had not fled, but had openly returned to the cathedral as if nothing had happened… Thank Roselle, and thank him for not plagiarizing criminal psychology and pointing out that many highly intelligent criminals like returning to the scene of their crimes to admire their masterpiece and others’ helplessness…

Klein muttered inwardly, picked up the black tea Richardson had prepared, and took a light sip.

After moistening his throat, he glanced at his personal valet and asked in an apparently casual tone, “What is your deepest impression of East Balam and West Balam?”

Sitting beside him, Richardson did not ask why. After thinking, he said, “East Balam is more stable. West Balam is more chaotic.”

After this brief answer, Richardson turned his head toward his employer and discovered that Dawn Dantes had already half-closed his eyes, showing a posture of “continue.”

Richardson scratched behind his ear and weighed his words.

“Also, poverty, hunger, and whippings. Uh, the original people of East Balam and West Balam once all worshiped Death. Later, because believers of righteous gods such as the Goddess, the Lord of Storms, and the Eternal Blazing Sun received preferential treatment, could improve their status, and could obtain the Church’s protection, large-scale conversions appeared.

“However, as more and more people converted, that special status soon disappeared. Many at the bottom secretly began worshiping Death again.

“This point is even more obvious in the more chaotic West Balam. The descendants of Death can always receive a large amount of support…

“These are things my father mentioned occasionally when he was drunk.”

Klein listened quietly without interrupting his personal valet’s narration, and without asking any further questions.

Before long, the carriage arrived outside Saint Samuel Cathedral. Klein first admired the flying white doves on the square for a while before entering the great prayer hall, removing his hat, and handing it, together with his cane, to Richardson.

He casually found a seat. In the dim environment, he looked toward the altar, toward the points of “starlight” and the Dark Sacred Emblem. A surge of unease, awkwardness, and lack of confidence suddenly rose within his heart.

If his guess was not wrong, ever since he had touched the sacred sword and sworn an oath through it, he should have been watched by the Goddess. Every time he entered a church and pretended to pray, it felt very much like parading through the street while wearing the emperor’s new clothes.

I wonder what the Goddess’s attitude actually is… and what position the Church takes… Mm. I will test it first…

Klein clasped his hands together and pressed them before his mouth and nose, seeming to pray earnestly.

After seven or eight minutes, he slowly rose and walked to the donation box, took out a fifty-pound note, and devoutly placed it inside.

Once this was done, Klein turned toward the confession room at the side and pushed open the door.

Unlike the earliest confessionals, which were large wooden boxes with two doors, modern confession rooms were independent rooms. They were relatively spacious. The confessor and the listening bishop were separated by a wooden-slat partition and had their own seats.

With the help of the weak light, Klein sat in that chair. Then he heard the bishop’s rich voice behind the wooden-slat partition say, “What would you like to say? The Goddess watches over every one of Her believers.”

Klein immediately raised his right hand and tapped four points clockwise over his chest.

“Praise the Goddess.

“I wish to confess. A few days ago, people from the military approached me, hoping to sell a batch of guns and artillery to West Balam, adding some charcoal to the chaos there…”

After he finished, the bishop behind the partition unexpectedly gave no response for a moment, as if stunned by the matter of smuggling arms and briefly unsure how to organize his words.

An awkward silence appeared inside the confession room.

That scared you? Have you never encountered a confessor as frank and direct as me? If I said I was planning a murder against a demigod and hiding from the gazes of the Mother Tree of Desire and the True Creator, would you not jump up?

Klein lampooned inwardly before continuing, “When I was young, I did indeed enjoy the life of adventure, seeking wealth amid iron, blood, and fire. But now I have grown tired of that and would rather have a peaceful future.

“I should have refused, but I could not overcome the greed in my heart. It is a sufficiently tempting business, and it also helps me establish a foothold in Backlund’s upper society.

“I confess that, in the end, I still chose noise and chaos.”

The bishop behind the wooden-slat partition finally responded, his voice gentle.

“Do not fear. Do not wander. To a certain degree, greed does not require guilt, as long as you do not harm innocents and do not commit the crimes recorded in the sacred scriptures.

“Go and do it. Follow your own heart. Make the choice you most want to make. Only in this way can you gradually and truly understand the doctrines, and understand the true meaning of those words.

“There is no need to make things difficult for yourself. Remember one thing: sincere admission of one’s wrongs and confession, no matter when, are worthy of praise and forgiveness.

“May the Goddess bless you.”

“Praise the Goddess!” Klein once again drew a crimson moon clockwise over his chest.

His purpose in coming to Saint Samuel Cathedral this time was to use the opportunity of confession to inform the Church that he was about to engage in the arms business, then see what reaction they would have, thereby peering into the Goddess’s attitude toward him.

Saying nothing more, Klein slowly rose, left the confession room, followed the aisle, and walked toward his personal valet Richardson.

At that moment, he saw a lady sitting in the corner of the great prayer hall. She wore a hooded black robe, with blue eye shadow and blush, giving off a bewitching beauty. It was Daly Simone, the former Spirit Medium.

Daly lifted her head and likewise noticed Dawn Dantes. Her expression immediately turned slightly dazed, as if she had fallen asleep during prayer just now and entered a dream.

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, politely offering a greeting. Then he took the hat and cane handed over by Richardson and walked out of the great prayer hall at an unhurried pace.

Daly withdrew her gaze, looked down at the back of the chair before her, and slowly closed her eyes again.

After leaving Saint Samuel Cathedral, Klein stood at the edge of the steps and paused for two seconds.

On the large square ahead, the white doves all suddenly took flight, blocking the view of the spectators.

…

Less than half an hour later, underground, Leonard heard that Dawn Dantes, whom they had previously investigated, was about to become an arms-smuggling merchant cooperating with the authorities and selling weapons to West Balam.

What exactly is he trying to do?

Leonard’s brows furrowed little by little, completely unable to understand that undying monster’s thoughts.