Chapter 62: Offstage Preparation

Chapter 62: Offstage Preparation

The early preparations for creating the marionette town were quite tedious and complicated. At least, that was what Klein thought.

Inside the vast ancient palace, Klein sat in the high-back chair belonging to The Fool, holding a fountain pen and using ordinary paper to write names, ages, and fates for each marionette. At the same time, he had one Spirit Worm after another crawl out of his body and recombine beside him into avatar after avatar.

Some of these Kleins sat directly on the floor. Some occupied the twenty-one chairs aside from The Fool’s. Some manifested beds and leaned back against them…

Then, they each summoned different books from the junk pile and began reading seriously.

Those books included, but were not limited to:

How to Brew Fine Wine

Train Dispatching

A Comprehensive Guide to Dessert Making

Self-Cultivation for Clergy

A Repair Manual for Gas Wall Lamps, Gas Meters, and Various Household Machines

Desi Cuisine

Practical Port Management

Fundamentals of Law

Ladies’ Aesthetics magazine…

These were the professional knowledge different marionettes needed to master. Only in this way could they play their roles properly and make every aspect of themselves sufficiently real, so that even if they conversed and interacted deeply with outsiders, no problem would be exposed.

If it were merely memorizing that knowledge, it would not be difficult for Klein at all. But he had to truly master and apply it. Furthermore, he could not confuse the roles. He could not let a burly, sturdy, low-income railway switchman blurt out comments on how moisturizing a certain skincare product was, or what flaw a certain silk had.

If such a situation happened in a novel, drama, or opera, it might create a strange kind of appeal. But placed in reality, it would be obviously false and would hinder the progress of the ritual.

To avoid such problems, Klein could only put in more hard work during the early stage, striving to make every role in the marionette town real, full, and appropriate.

Fortunately, in a town, there were not too many people who truly needed to deeply grasp corresponding professional knowledge. Most residents were semi-literate, or even genuinely illiterate, relying on experience to live and passing their days in a muddled way. For those roles, Klein needed to study much less, like workers who entered an assembly line after simple training or with no training at all.

After an unknown length of time, Klein’s main body put down the fountain pen, rubbed his temples, and let out a long breath.

He had finally finished writing the profiles of nearly five thousand residents in the marionette town, and the corresponding reserves of knowledge were also nearly complete.

“This is practically like directing an enormous film. And I’m the scriptwriter, the lighting technician, the prop master, the makeup artist, and every single actor… Continuing with this ritual really means I’m wandering along the edge of losing control. One careless move, and my personality will split, plunging me into the abyss of madness… Fortunately, I have a competent psychiatrist…

“Mm, during the marionette town’s operation, I need to pay attention to one problem. Although I personally am a polite and well-bred gentleman, in a town, most residents belong to the lower classes. Whether in speech or behavior, they will lean toward vulgarity… I cannot stay too prim and proper while acting. I have to break through that psychological barrier…” Klein sighed soundlessly as he made the surrounding avatars collapse into Spirit Worms and had those Spirit Worms burrow back into his body.

Of course, that was not all of them. One “Klein” maintained his earlier state, preparing to take his shift on duty in Sefirah Castle.

The next second, Klein’s main body returned to reality and took Creeping Hunger out from the historical pores, putting it on.

Then he teleported to an island in the Berserk Sea that clearly deviated from safe sea routes.

This was the “stage” he had already chosen.

—This place was isolated by storms year-round. There were no traces of human activity, only large stretches of forest and animals dependent on that forest.

Klein looked around, chose an open area, pressed his right hand to his left chest, and prayed devoutly:

“I wish there were a city here suitable for five thousand people to live in.”

As soon as his words fell, Klein raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

All at once, the open area became extremely flat, and the surrounding forest “retreated” greatly, providing a large amount of trees, stones, and soil.

Almost simultaneously, building after building rose from the ground. They were made from a mixture of stone and wood, with none exceeding four floors. Their style was close to that of the Desi Bay region of the Loen Kingdom.

In the time it took to blink twice, residences, a library, a police station, a telegraph office, a municipal council, a small hospital, a candy factory, a waterworks, a gas company, a steam train station, parallel tracks, plantations outside the city, and other such things rapidly took shape. The streets were also paved with cement or stone bricks.

At the very end, beside the plaza in the town center, a spired church drilled out from the ground and stood proudly.

This was a church belonging to the Evernight Goddess, because it needed to suit the city’s background setting.

“I wish this island had a deep-water harbor.” Klein did not stop. He made a second wish to himself.

Pa!

He snapped his fingers again, fulfilling his wish.

About three kilometers away from the town, a not especially large harbor swiftly took shape, with two piers, five warehouses, a harbor inn, a simple restaurant, a police substation, a bar, a lighthouse, a sailors’ barracks…

“I wish there were convenient transportation between the harbor and the town.” Klein made his third wish.

He then raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

A cement road and a freight railway instantly appeared between the town and the harbor.

According to Klein’s plan, the harbor portion was prepared for visitors from the sea, while the town portion would mainly respond to outsiders from the Northern and Southern Continents.

After admiring the empty and uninhabited city for a few moments, Klein pressed the tall top hat on his head and directly teleported beside the municipal plaza, then walked step by step into the church he had named Saint Arianna.

The church doors stood open, and the interior was dim.

After an unknown length of time, three figures appeared at the entrance. They were a gentleman in his thirties wearing formal clothes and a bow tie; a woman with ordinary features and a gentle expression; and a child dressed like a little adult.

The woman took a few slightly stiff steps, moved her neck, then revealed a smile. She extended both hands and linked arms with the gentleman beside her.

The gentleman wore a faint smile. While allowing the lady to half lean against him, he extended his right hand and held the little boy’s hand.

The little boy walked with little hops and skips, appearing very lively.

At first, their movements were somewhat stiff, but the farther they walked, the smoother they became. In a peaceful, beautiful scene, they passed through the plaza.

After they left, more and more people walked out of the Saint Arianna Church. Among them were police officers, repairmen, gas company employees, restaurant chefs, elderly people with graying hair, simply dressed farmers…

Over the next hour, people continuously emerged from the Church of Evernight. Some turned down different streets, heading to different places and entering different houses. Others remained in the plaza, admiring the scenery that had no white doves.

During this process, the number of people who came out had already exceeded the church’s capacity by far. Yet there still seemed to be more people inside, as if it were connected to another city.

Nearly another quarter hour later, the entrance of the Saint Arianna Church finally returned to quiet. But from other parts of the church, rats, cockroaches, moths, ants, flies, mosquitoes, and other hidden creatures slipped out.

Finally, a certain stained-glass window high up in the church opened. One white dove after another flew out and landed in the center of the plaza.

The people who had remained there fully came alive. Some teased the white doves, some searched for vendors, some began playing seven-stringed guitars, and some smiled broadly as they spoke with friends.

A man wearing a top hat, trench coat, and revolver, carrying a cane, left the municipal plaza and came to the other side of the town, stopping before a wooden sign.

He then took out tools and wrote the name of the town on the sign:

“Yharnam.”

After thinking for a moment, the man “erased” Yharnam and wrote a new name:

“Utopia.”

…

Backlund, inside the luxurious villa of Earl Hall’s family.

“Alfred has already boarded the passenger ship returning to the Northern Continent?” Audrey did not hide her pleasant surprise.

It was already September of 1352.

During the previous half year or so, Audrey had not needed to spend much effort persuading her father to give up the idea of returning to East Chester County in the first half of the year. This was because cities such as Backlund and Constant urgently needed rebuilding, the kingdom’s political arena also needed to achieve a new balance, and Earl Hall had far too many matters to handle. He did not have the mood for a vacation.

Therefore, as long as she took the initiative to mention, when Earl Hall was troubled, that she was willing to stay in Backlund and wait until the second half of the year before returning to East Chester County, Audrey could make matters develop as she expected and also receive praise.

The Psychology Alchemists had not urged her either. From then until now, the Psychology Alchemists’ council had convened a total of three meetings, mainly exchanging research results and various pieces of intelligence from the regions they governed. Regarding the clue related to that mind dragon, only Madam Greed had asked about it twice.

To be honest, if not for Mr. Fool having reminded Audrey to pay attention to that Wrath rabbit and the president who was easily forgotten, she would definitely have found the council meetings very interesting and Mr. Rabbit very insightful. But now, she remained as vigilant as ever.

“Yes. The passenger ship has already left port,” Earl Hall said with a smile and a nod. “Once Alfred arrives in Backlund and completes the necessary social engagements, we will return to East Chester County for fox hunting.”

Autumn was precisely the best season for fox hunting.

Audrey gave an “Mm” and said,

“All right.”

…

As an army major general, Alfred did not follow the navy’s fleet to Desi Bay. Instead, he brought his adjutant and attendants aboard a steam-and-sail passenger ship bound for Port Pritz.

After sailing for nearly two days, they encountered a storm in the Berserk Sea.

Amid the violent rocking of the ship, the sailor in the lookout post saw a speck of light through his telescope.

It came from a lighthouse.