Chapter 36: A Simple Question

Chapter Thirty-Six
A Simple Question

Audrey thought back to the things she had heard her father and elder brothers say while discussing the political situation, then added her own interpretation.

“They believe the current government structure is too chaotic. Every time an election ends and the ruling party changes, people are replaced from top to bottom, turning everything into a mess and making efficiency extremely poor. Not only did that contribute to the defeat in the war, it has also brought great inconvenience to the public.”

Klein understood the issue very well. Without a point of reference, the Loen Kingdom had not yet evolved anything like a civil service examination system. Its party-based government remained at an early stage, so after an election victory, many so-called administrative posts would be handed out as rewards to party members and supporters.

Mm. Emperor Roselle did not invent this system in Intis? That really does not fit his personality… Or did his focus shift elsewhere in his later years?

Hearing this, Alger, the Hanged Man, gave a low laugh and cut in.

“They believe? Their senses are astonishingly dull. Perhaps if a black mosquito bit them, they would only start feeling the itch a year later.”

Black mosquitoes were creatures of southern Loen. Their poison was notorious for making people scratch until they nearly broke the skin.

Audrey lifted a hand and lightly covered her mouth. Paying no attention to the Hanged Man’s mockery, she stated the core of the information.

“Unfortunately, they cannot find a good way to replace the current system for now.”

Klein listened quietly. Sensing that the topic had entered a field in which he had some expertise, he smiled faintly.

“That is a simple question.”

The great foodie nation, and the country that had once learned much from it, both possessed very successful, advanced experience in this area.

“Simple?”

Audrey repeated in surprise.

Though her home education did not include politics, she often listened to her father and brothers discuss such matters. In this area, she still had sufficient understanding.

As if he had returned to the online forums of his previous life, Klein smiled calmly.

“Examinations. Like university entrance examinations. Hold an examination open to the entire public. It can be divided into two rounds, or even three, using the most objective method possible to select elites.”

“But…”

Audrey vaguely understood what kind of opposition this would provoke.

Without giving her time to organize her response, Klein continued, “After that, use these elites to fill the administrative posts of the cabinet, county governments, city governments, and town governments. That is, the positions that directly handle affairs—for instance, senior cabinet secretaries.

“For positions with different requirements, the second or third round can be split into specialized and differentiated examinations. Professional matters should be handled by professionals.

“As for ministers, county governors, mayors, and other political posts, those can be left to the party that wins the election. That is the share of the cake they are rightly entitled to.”

Beside them, Alger, who had not shown much interest in the topic at first, had unknowingly turned his head and was now listening seriously. Audrey frowned slightly and sank into thought.

“Do not try to replace everyone all at once,” Klein continued, fully displaying the style of a keyboard politician. “The cabinet and every level of government would simply become paralyzed. You could hold the examination once every year, or once every three years, and gradually replace people. After that, depending on the Kingdom’s expansion and vacancies caused by resignations or old age, determine the number of positions in a planned manner.”

He spread his hands at the end.

“With this design, the Kingdom can absorb the largest possible number of knowledgeable elites into the government. And no matter which party comes to power, no matter who the minister is, the civil officials will ensure that the Kingdom continues operating at a basic and relatively effective level.”

Of course, the side effect is the birth of the immortal demon known as bureaucracy.

As Audrey thought, she asked with uncertainty, “In other words, even if those ministers turned into curly-haired baboons, it would not have too great an impact?”

“No,” Alger interjected of his own accord. “I believe curly-haired baboons would be a better choice than the current ministers.”

He paused, then added, “After all, curly-haired baboons only need to eat, sleep, and mate. They will not propose stupid ideas, nor insist on brainless plans.”

Mr. Hanged Man, it sounds as if you have a rather poor superior…

Sitting at the head of the long table, Klein shook his head with a smile.

Audrey savored what Mr. Fool had described. Only after quite a while did she say in astonishment, “It sounds as though it truly might work…”

“A very simple, yet very effective method!”

She looked toward Klein and praised him sincerely.

“Mr. Fool, you must be an elder of rich life experience and outstanding wisdom!”

…

The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched.

He looked at the Hanged Man and then at Justice. After several seconds of silence, he said, “Today’s gathering ends here.”

If Miss Justice can influence her relatives and push this matter forward, I can guide Benson in advance and give him a chance to become a “civil servant.”

Thinking carefully, Benson really is suited to that kind of work.

However, Justice probably will not do that openly. If she does, the Hanged Man and I will only need to ask which noble proposed the suggestion, and we will basically be able to guess her true identity.

Of course, she could take a roundabout path and use a more concealed method.

“As you will,” Audrey and Alger said, rising at the same time.

Klein leaned back slightly and cut off the connection. The vague, illusory figures of Justice and the Hanged Man swiftly shattered and dissipated.

Above the gray fog, inside the magnificent palace like the abode of a god, only he remained quietly seated at the head of the bronze long table.

Klein did not, as he had the previous time, fall straight down through the gray fog and leave this place, because after becoming a Beyonder he still had sufficient energy.

The reason he had ended the Tarot Gathering early was that after learning the true attitude of the Nighthawks toward the Antigonus family notebook, he had decided that he needed to put on a serious show of searching for it later, rather than simply lying down and going to sleep. Otherwise, Dunn Smith and the others might suspect him of having done something at home.

Besides, today’s gains were already considerable.

Sitting in the high-backed chair at the head of the bronze long table, Klein rested his arms on the armrests and interlaced his fingers. With a deep, contemplative gaze, he examined the boundless gray fog and felt that this place was vast and silent, as though no one had set foot here for tens of thousands of years.

When he established the connection and “summoned” the projections of Justice and the Hanged Man, he had keenly noticed something.

Now that he had become a Beyonder, he had enough spare strength to touch other crimson stars.

“In other words, I can ‘summon’ one more person?”

Recalling that feeling, Klein muttered with near certainty.

However, he had not acted impulsively before. He did not know what identity or attitude the newcomer would possess. After all, not everyone could be like Justice and the Hanged Man, who had, due to their particular personalities, quickly adapted to the situation, each taking what they needed and apparently willing to keep things secret. If he summoned someone like Dunn Smith, then the newly established “mysterious organization” would be exposed at once beneath the gaze of the Church.

His future as the big boss of an “evil” organization would immediately become worrying.

Klein knew that this gray fog was very special. He understood that it was not something a Beyonder of Dunn Smith’s level could “crack.” The problem was that once extraordinary power existed, one had no choice but to consider the existence of gods.

For now, Klein cautiously believed that the seven orthodox gods truly existed. Of course, he was more inclined to think of them as beings merely stronger and more formidable than high-sequence Beyonders, and that they were subject to certain strict limitations. At the very least, since the Fifth Epoch, aside from a few oracles, they had shown no active deeds.

“Heh. Forcibly pulling people in is not a good thing either. No one wants to be inexplicably dragged into a mysterious incident… I will wait and see later…”

Klein sighed, then stood.

He unfolded his own spirituality, sensed the existence of his body, and began imitating that heavy, rapid sensation of falling.

Light and shadow instantly shifted before his eyes. The gray fog and deep crimson receded in a flash. Klein felt as though he had pierced through endless layers of watery membrane before finally seeing the real world, and the dim room around him.

This time, he was fully awake and carefully experienced the process.

“Strange… The gray fog is still somewhat different from the spirit world…”

Klein moved his limbs, feeling the reality of flesh and blood.

After pondering for a while, he shook his head and walked to the desk, reaching out to pull the curtains.

Swish!

The curtains drew back. Sunlight poured in, filling the room with brightness.

Looking through the bay window at the street outside and the pedestrians coming and going, Klein inhaled soundlessly and muttered to himself.

“Time to go to work.”

“How should I act as a Seer?

“This cannot be rushed… For now, all I know is spirit vision…”

…

Backlund, Queen’s Borough.

Audrey Hall saw herself in the mirror: cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes so bright they were almost impossible to look at directly.

She had no time to examine herself. She hurriedly recalled the earlier conversation, picked up the gemstone-inlaid fountain pen, and began writing swiftly on the delicate parchment paper:

“Spectator potion formula: eighty milliliters of pure water, five drops of autumn crocus essence, thirteen grams of tooth peony powder, seven elf-flower petals, one pair of adult Manhal fish eyes, thirty-five milliliters of horned blackfish blood.”

Hoo…

Audrey exhaled, read through it several times, and at last confirmed that there were no mistakes.

The urge to dance rose in her again, but she told herself she had to be reserved.

After thinking for a moment, she began writing all kinds of chemical names around the potion formula, disguising the page as complicated, messy scientific knowledge.

Mm. As long as someone does not consciously and carefully read it, anyone casually flipping through would never discover the details I hid… Wonderful!

Praising herself inwardly, Audrey turned her thoughts toward obtaining the ingredients.

“First, I will search the family’s treasuries. For whatever is missing, I will see whether I can exchange for it with others…”

“If I still cannot gather everything, I can only ask Mr. Fool and Mr. Hanged Man for help at the next gathering… What should I offer as payment?”

After considering for a while, Audrey closed the notebook and placed it on the small bookshelf inside her bedroom. Then, light-footed, she went to the door and opened it.

A large golden retriever was sitting obediently outside.

The corners of Audrey’s mouth lifted into a smile brilliant as sunlight.

“Susie, you completed your task very well!”

“In the serialized stories from the newspapers, the detective always has a capable assistant. I think a true Spectator should also have a big dog following behind her.”

…

Inside a basement lit only by the wavering light of a single candle, Alger Wilson raised his hand and examined his palm closely.

Only after a long while did he sigh.

“Still just as miraculous. I cannot grasp the details at all…”

Even though he had made full preparations beforehand, he had still failed to perceive how the Fool completed the “summoning.”

His gaze lowered and fell upon the parchment scroll lying on the long table.

At the top of the yellow-brown parchment, a line of Hermes script had been written in dark-blue ink:

“7. Seafarer.”