Chapter 231: Confession

Chapter 231: Confession

The sensation was not unfamiliar. With considerable experience, Klein immediately used his Clown abilities to control his facial expression and the slight tremor of his body.

Gently but without haste, he withdrew his gaze, making the casual glance he had just taken reveal no obvious abnormality.

“Sigh. Talim was so young. He had not even married or had children yet,” Klein said, following the moment with a lament.

The reason he said this was because those words could provide a sufficiently reasonable explanation for the subtle reaction he had shown when seeing the woman offering flowers: upon noticing a woman with some connection to Talim, he had associated her with the other man’s marriage and family situation, then with his friend having died young, and so been overcome by grief.

“Yes. Actually, given his age, he should have married four or five years ago. Unfortunately, what happened to his grandfather left him with a very strong psychological shadow, causing him to constantly reject marriage. Only recently had there been any improvement,” Reporter Mike sighed in agreement.

At that moment, Klein, who appeared perfectly normal, felt as though thickets of thorns were slowly and deeply piercing into the skin and flesh of his back, making his mind tighten to a high degree.

The black-dressed woman wearing a sapphire ring on the little finger of her left hand straightened, calmly swept her gaze around, then, accompanied by two maids, quietly left Talim’s grave and gradually walked into the distance.

Huff… Klein let out a soundless breath of relief.

The sensation of being pierced in the back swiftly turned into cold sweat.

Who exactly is she? Why did she come to lay flowers at the grave? Talim’s lover? But how could Talim, someone without wealth, power, status, position, or strength, possibly have had a romance with a terrifying figure involving a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact or a demigod at the same level? This isn’t a novel! And she should be the one who used a curse to kill Talim… The waters behind this are very deep… With a composed expression, Klein listened to Reporter Mike and Surgeon Allen talk about Talim’s past.

His thoughts rapidly spread, and he felt that the most puzzling part of the whole matter was this:

The death of an ordinary person without money, power, identity, status, or strength actually involved a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, or an equivalent-level powerhouse. It was simply inconceivable!

But this is not the only such case. There is something similar around me as well… Klein suddenly made a connection and looked toward Surgeon Allen.

Inside this ordinary person’s home, there may very well be a Sequence 1 Mercury Snake hiding!

Following that line of thought, Klein recalled the nearly five months since his transmigration and was astonished to discover that, without realizing it, he had already become substantially entangled with many demigods and many terrifying Sealed Artifacts.

The woman who had killed Talim just now, the Mercury Snake Will Auceptin, the Blasphemer Amon, the mysterious female powerhouse from the kingdom’s museum, the Rose School of Thought’s High-Sequence powerhouse, 0-08, 1-42, Ince Zangwill, the mutated Sun Sacred Emblem, the Antigonus family notebook, Mr. Azik Eggers who was suspected of being a descendant of Death, Mr. Door, the Twilight Hermit Order… Name after name flashed through Klein’s mind. Each one made him want to suck in a cold breath.

He sank his thoughts and carefully pondered:

“And this doesn’t count the True Creator and the Eternal Blazing Sun, who stand above them… Strictly speaking, I myself can also be included in this category. After all, I am an otherworldly soul drawn here by dark divination, one who controls that strange gray fog… Could this be another era’s cresting wave after Roselle, causing demigods and terrifying Sealed Artifacts to enter real life one after another…”

As Klein’s thoughts flickered, the sorrowful Reporter Mike and Surgeon Allen took their leave one after the other. He too left the cemetery at an unhurried pace.

Just as he looked around for a rental carriage, a familiar carriage drove out from a hidden spot and stopped before him.

Although the crest on the black carriage had been skillfully concealed, Klein still recognized it at a glance as Prince Edessak’s carriage.

The door opened soundlessly. The old butler, whose hair was combed to immaculate precision, stepped down and made an inviting gesture with formal courtesy.

“His Highness the Prince is waiting for you.”

“All right.” Klein showed no guilt whatsoever and entered the warm, spacious carriage.

Prince Edessak wore a deep-blue coat with wide lapels, and across his chest were gold sash-like decorations that made him look unusually noble.

He rubbed the diamond pin at his collar. His narrow eyes held traces of lament.

“Even attending a friend’s funeral is restricted for me. I cannot be there directly. I can only watch from afar and send someone to offer flowers on my behalf. This is the lack of freedom that comes with royalty.”

“If Talim’s grandfather had not lost his title, Your Highness probably would not have needed to avoid anything,” Klein said, following Prince Edessak’s gesture and sitting opposite him.

Edessak picked up a glass of Olmir wine, red as blood, and said, “Sigh. I originally planned to find an opportunity to help Talim’s father recover a certain title. Unfortunately…”

He did not continue down that topic and instead asked, “Sherlock, did you receive that package?”

“Yes.” Klein answered only what was asked and made absolutely no extra description.

Edessak nodded gently.

“Has there been any progress?”

“I used Talim’s hair, flesh and blood, and personal items to perform several divinations, but the conclusion I obtained each time was that he died of sudden heart disease.” Klein used a smooth, emotionless narration to furiously hint at meanings such as: my Sequence is not high, my level is limited, although I am good at divination, the other party is much stronger, and I definitely cannot uncover the truth.

An unconcealed look of disappointment appeared on Edessak’s face. He sighed.

“How do you plan to investigate afterward?”

“I will start from the people Talim contacted and the places he visited in the days before his death,” Klein answered according to his prepared plan.

Edessak glanced at the old butler.

“That will certainly involve intimidation, interrogation, and bribery. Mm… Give Sherlock 100 pounds for investigation expenses.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The old butler took from his coat pocket a stack of banknotes that had clearly been prepared in advance.

He’s directly giving 100 pounds as expenses? Klein once again felt Prince Edessak’s generosity.

“I will do my best to investigate.” He accepted the 100 pounds in cash, tucked it directly into his pocket, and did not count it.

“I hope we can let Talim rest in peace.” Prince Edessak clenched his right fist and lightly struck his left chest.

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked out the window toward Crown Cemetery not far away.

He really did have some friendship with Talim… Klein sighed inwardly, then was guided by the old butler out of the carriage.

…

Queen Borough, inside the luxurious villa of Earl Hall.

Audrey looked at her psychology teacher Islant, whose long hair reached her waist, and feigned caution as she glanced left and right.

Then she lowered her voice and said, “Teacher Islant, I recently attended a new Beyonder gathering. Someone there is purchasing a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic and the Wind-blessed potion formula at high prices. Uh, different people are buying them. These should both be mid-Sequence items, right? They sound quite interesting. Ah, right—would you be interested?”

Islant froze for a moment. After pondering for several seconds, she said, “I will go back and ask.”

“All right.” Audrey responded lightly, as though she simply found such mid-Sequence transactions interesting.

Islant withdrew her attention and said seriously, “Miss Audrey, although you are already a Sequence 8 Beyonder, you have not received formal education in mysticism. You also lack sufficient understanding of many application techniques and corresponding theoretical foundations of Spectators and Telepathists. Starting today, I will guide you step by step toward becoming a true Beyonder.”

“That is exactly what I hoped for,” Audrey said with heartfelt sincerity.

The golden retriever Susie, squatting by her feet, also wagged her tail happily, seemingly rejoicing on her owner’s behalf.

…

Having made up his mind to work passively and slack off, Klein returned to 15 Minsk Street by carriage.

He opened the door and entered the house. Just as he was about to remove his hat, his movements suddenly froze.

His spiritual intuition told him that a stranger had entered the living room and the rooms!

This… They are barely concealing it at all… Is this some kind of warning? A warning is better than no warning… Klein stood in the entryway, silent for quite some time.

Then he turned, left the house, and took a rental carriage to the Cathedral of Steam.

The church was crowned with a smokestack and a clock tower. The former represented the power of steam, while the latter hung with complex clocks, symbolizing the beauty of machinery.

It was neither the weekend nor noon or evening, so only a sparse handful of believers sat in the prayer hall, praying quietly.

Klein sat near the aisle, leaned his cane aside, removed his hat, and prayed theatrically toward the sacred emblem at the front for ten minutes.

Then he took his belongings, walked along the aisle to the altar, and said to the bishop standing beside it, “I wish to confess.”

“Very well. God is watching over you.” The kindly bishop with graying temples led the way to the confessional at the side.

Klein followed closely and shut the door behind him.

He sat on the chair and spoke through the wooden partition to the bishop.

“I confess. In the face of danger, I failed to uphold my principles. I chose to retreat.”

“What were you thinking at the time?” the bishop asked gently.

Klein immediately described, faithfully and completely, Talim’s death, his own suspicions, his reminder to the Machinery Hivemind, Prince Edessak’s commission, and, after divination failed to obtain the desired answer, the retreat that had risen from his heart when faced with royal-family infighting.

The reason he did not go straight to Carlson was that he worried he was not only being watched by the other side, but also secretly observed by Prince Edessak’s people. If he clearly stated his intention to be perfunctory and slack off, he might encounter another calamity.

The Cathedral of Steam, however, was the headquarters of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery’s Backlund diocese, one of their three great cathedrals. No one could spy on this place.

What Klein intended was to use the Church of Steam to convey his true thoughts, avoiding being dragged into a deeper conflict.

To put it simply: obey the wishes of his heart.

The bishop quietly listened. His tone unchanged, he answered, “Your choice is a human instinct. God will not blame you.

“Go back. God will bless you.”

That’s good… Klein understood the hint and quietly left the Cathedral of Steam.

Standing on the street outside, looking at the sky veiled in thin fog, he silently sighed.

Advance as quickly as possible.