Chapter 44: Preparations in Advance

Chapter 44: Preparations in Advance

With afternoon tea canceled, Klein temporarily decided to go to Saint Samuel Cathedral and pray, so as to display his piety.

Of course, he did not forget to stop and admire the white pigeons in the square, making himself appear leisurely and composed.

Entering the cathedral and passing beneath the murals illuminated by sunlight from high above, Klein arrived at the dim, profound grand prayer hall.

Unlike other Churches, this place was not lavishly decorated, brilliant, or visually overwhelming. Instead, it was soft and peaceful, making people feel serenity from the depths of their hearts. Yet at the very front, the pure radiance like countless shining stars gave the place a strong sense of sacred majesty.

Klein removed his hat and handed it, together with his cane, to his personal valet Richardson. Then he walked forward along the aisle.

At that moment, two figures rose from the front rows and turned toward the exit. One of them had black hair and green eyes, moved with carefree ease, and had an unruly hairstyle. It was none other than Leonard Mitchell.

Almost simultaneously, Leonard Mitchell also saw the middle-aged gentleman with graying temples and deep blue eyes.

Dawn Dantes… His mind instantly tightened, and his body showed an almost imperceptible stiffness.

Klein looked at Leonard and nodded with a smile, his expression friendly and his manner casual.

…Leonard squeezed out a faint smile and nodded somewhat stiffly.

Then he turned sideways, yielding the path, and brushed past Dawn Dantes.

This allowed Klein to clearly see who stood behind him. It was also an acquaintance: Daly, dressed in the black robe of a Spirit Medium.

This lady still wore blue eyeshadow and blush, giving her an uncanny, bewitching beauty.

Daly glanced at the middle-aged gentleman passing by. Her expression suddenly became absent for an instant, then she withdrew her gaze and silently approached the exit.

No way. I only imitated the profound feeling in Captain’s eyes a little. The color is not even the same. Madam Daly can sense something familiar from that? A woman’s intuition is terrifying…

Klein noticed Daly’s brief abnormality and gained a faint guess.

A long time ago, in his straight-man understanding, Madam Daly had clearly held hidden feelings for the Captain. Otherwise, she would not have taken the risk of coming to Tingen and asking Klein to find a chance to teach Dunn Smith the acting method.

As for the Captain’s attitude in this regard, Klein had no way to be certain. After all, at that time, Dunn Smith often struggled to distinguish between reality and dreams, and his memory problems were severe. Perhaps without realizing it, he had forgotten certain things buried in his heart.

However, the Captain had indeed often mentioned Madam Daly, always using her as an example to educate us—how many years she took to advance, what kind of talent she had. He was so familiar with those things that he seemed able to recite them by memory. That was somewhat contradictory to his poor memory at the time… Mm, when the Captain spoke of these things, he would occasionally add that he himself had spent a full nine years going from Midnight Poet to Nightmare… Did he, when facing Madam Daly, feel a little inferior… Inferior…

As Klein remembered the past, his mood suddenly sank.

He realized that he truly did not understand Dunn Smith as well as he had thought. He did not know how many things that man had hidden in his heart.

And Madam Daly was many years younger than him, while behaving so openly and appearing not to care about marriage…

Klein let out a silent sigh, withdrew his thoughts, found a seat near the side, lowered his head, and closed his eyes in prayer.

Outside the grand prayer hall, Leonard had already adjusted himself. Together with Daly, he rejoined the members of his Red Gloves team.

After they waited for a while, Soest, now a Spirit Shaman, came from the other side. He looked around and said, “Our mission this time is to follow the various clues discovered in the previous explosion at the Black Skull Party headquarters and identify the official members of the Numinous Episcopate hidden in Backlund.

“Madam Daly is a Beyonder of the Corpse Collector pathway and has considerable understanding of the Numinous Episcopate. Therefore, His Excellency Saint Anthony has asked her to assist us.”

…

That evening, after sending away his personal valet Richardson, Klein took four steps counterclockwise and entered above the gray fog. He manifested the World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had the blurred figure pray:

“…Please inform Miss Magician that before Friday night, she must book a hotel room in the East Borough, preferably far away from the place where Mr. X holds his gathering…

“…She must give me that stone and the magic book in advance. I need to make certain preparations…

“…On Friday night, she must stop the friend attending Mr. X’s gathering, and show me that person’s disguised appearance and distinguishing traits…

“…If there are any other matters, I will inform her in time.”

There were only two days left before the assassination of Mr. X. Without question, Klein had to make preparations in advance, and with Dawn Dantes unable to be in two places at once, many of these matters had to be handled by Miss Magician.

His initial plan was to use the Faceless ability, disguise himself as the friend who was supposed to attend Mr. X’s gathering, obtain the password, enter directly, then use different contingency plans depending on the situation.

After his experiences in combat and in controlling marionettes, Klein increasingly felt that one of the principles of a Marionettist ought to be: “Hide behind the scenes as much as possible and secretly direct a drama.”

Unless there was truly no other way, a Marionettist should avoid direct frontal combat!

“The most troublesome point right now is that Mr. X’s gathering is at eight, and at that time Dawn Dantes clearly will not be asleep yet. It will be difficult for him to shake off the butler’s and servants’ attention for long enough to secretly head to the East Borough…

“Of course, conversely, this can also create an alibi. The problem is how to deceive everyone inside the house… If only I had another Faceless accomplice who could impersonate Dawn Dantes… Miss Justice’s necklace could accomplish that, but she is not in Backlund…”

Klein leaned back against his chair and raised a hand to rub his forehead.

He had even considered directly summoning himself, responding to himself, and acting under the identity of the chivalrous thief Black Emperor. But doing so would mean losing the ability to change the appearance of his physical body. It would be hard for him to possess someone else and disguise himself as Miss Magician Fors’s friend to attend Mr. X’s gathering.

Unless Miss Magician’s friend becomes an accomplice and lets me possess them… That will not do either. First, it would expose part of the Tarot Club’s secrets. Second, Mr. X may not necessarily lack ways to discover a Wraith. Of course, I could hide the traces with a series of seals involving a gold coin, a Paper Angel, and the iron cigarette case…

After thinking for a while, Klein finally decided to use a method he had been quite skilled at in his previous life.

Feign illness!

Starting tomorrow, he would be “sick,” eat very little each day, and go to sleep before eight… That way, neither the butler nor the servants would disturb him… But if something urgent happens on this side and Walter or the others come knock on my door, what then? The illusion created by the Magician can only deceive the eyes. It is not artificial intelligence… Artificial intelligence…

Right, I can fix the illusion onto a mirror and make it look like Dawn Dantes, then have the Magic Mirror Arrodes remotely control questions and answers!

As he thought on, Klein’s mind suddenly opened up.

I have to admit, Arrodes is quite useful at times…

With that sigh, Klein returned to the real world, walked to his desk, found paper and pen, and drew a composite symbol combining secrecy and prying.

He had just finished the final stroke when the light in the room suddenly dimmed slightly. The full-length mirror first turned pitch-black, then silver-white light emerged, outlining one Loenese word after another:

“Great Master, Your humble, tiny, loyal servant Arrodes heard Your summons. A-am I late?”

There is something new every time…

Klein shook his head in amusement.

“No.”

“That is Your tolerance toward me, Great Master. You may ask Your question.” One word after another surfaced neatly on the mirror.

Klein thought for a moment.

“I intend to eliminate Mr. X, divine envoy of the Aurora Order. Do you have any suggestions?”

The words on the full-length mirror froze for several seconds, then squirmed and changed:

“You had best place the plan after Thursday.”

That fits my previous divination… On Thursday and tonight, either the Angel of Fate Ouroboros or one of the Aurora Order’s saints may be near Mr. X…

Klein smiled.

“Arrodes, I need your help with something.”

“T-this is my honor! This is the chance You grant me!” Words rushed out one after another, vividly displaying excitement and delight. “May I ask what the task is?”

Klein nodded lightly.

“This Friday night, I will use a mirror as a prop for an illusion and turn it into the appearance of my current identity… If something urgent happens, you will be responsible for controlling the mirror and conducting a question-and-answer exchange so that no one discovers anything abnormal.

“Can you do it?”

The air around the full-length mirror suddenly flowed, and a voice that belonged to Dawn Dantes, yet sounded incomparably fawning, rang out:

“Great Master, so long as it is Your instruction, I will do my best to complete it.

“Although this cannot be maintained too long and does not conform to my habits, it will be enough to deal with everyone here.

“If You wish, I can simulate any voice!”

More versatile than I imagined… These days, even being a mirror isn’t easy… Still, that final sentence feels rather strange…

Klein’s facial muscles twitched slightly.

“When handling the situation, conceal the essence of the question-and-answer game. Do not let anyone discover it.”

Arrodes immediately manifested new words on the surface of the full-length mirror:

“I will play Your identity well!”

“Very good,” Klein said with a light nod.

He was indeed very worried that Arrodes might ask Butler Walter or personal valet Richardson embarrassing questions—such as whether they had ever fantasized when facing a lady they should not desire, or who they thought about late at night when solving their own problems.

Given the Magic Mirror’s moral integrity, Klein believed that if he did not warn it in advance, it might truly do such a thing. Back then, Danitz had almost been played to collapse.

No longer wasting words, Klein said, “That is all for today. I will contact you again on Friday night.”

“Yes, Great Master. Your humble servant cannot wait to serve You!” The Magic Mirror Arrodes first manifested a line of words, then created a simple stick-figure waving goodbye.