Chapter 453: "Stairs"
Red Rose Manor, outside the luxurious rooms filled with all kinds of
antiques.
Klein stood at the door and asked the sixth maid he had met today.
The young maid was wearing a black-and-white servant dress that had the
characteristics of the times. She was pretty, in her prime, and had
natural curls to her brown hair. She had a hint of playfulness on her
face.
"Who does Mr. Talim meet when he visits?" Klein repeated the question
numbly.
The maid replied almost without a pause, "Mr. Talim usually requests to
meet His Highness, or to accompany him in riding horses, or to discuss
matters. If His Highness happens to be absent, he will meet with that
lady. They are very good friends. He receives permission from the
butler."
*Talim is good friends with the commoner lady who Prince Edessak likes?
Meeting in private from time to time? It was likely that he was
persuading her to leave this place, so as to not affect the reputation
of the Prince...* Klein nodded thoughtfully.
"They, I mean---Mr. Talim and the young lady, what would they talk
about?"
When he asked this question, Klein suddenly recalled how Talim had
fallen in love just recently. With his rich "experience" from the
information age, he somehow came up with an extremely contrived romance
story.
The maid wasn't afraid of the detective. She smiled, shook her head, and
said, "At times like these, we're all asked to leave the room."
This... Even more than ever, Klein couldn't resist making
associations, even to the point of changing the colors[Implying that it turns green, which in Chinese means being cuckolded. ] of Prince
Edessak's hat and helmet.
Without waiting for him to ask any further questions, the maid chuckled
and said, "Detective Moriarty, if you want to find out exactly what the
lady and Mr. Talim were talking about, you can ask her directly."
"The old butler doesn't permit that." Klein confidently pushed out his
scapegoat.
He changed the topic and said with a smile, "You seem to know more than
the other servants. You even know to call me Detective Moriarty."
The maid looked around, maintained her smile, and said, "It's because
I've been serving the lady during my rotations. She's always wanted to
meet you, Detective Moriarty. After all, she's close friends with Mr.
Talim and cares a great deal about his death.
"Unfortunately, she always ends up missing you."
"Always?" Klein was sensitive to the words "always," "just happened,"
and "missed."
The maid nodded seriously and said, "The first time His Highness invited
you to be his guest, she intentionally threw a tantrum and wanted to
take advantage of the opportunity to walk downstairs to meet you. Who
knew that you would leave in a hurry.
"Afterwards, she took the initiative to represent His Highness to place
flowers on Mr. Talim's grave, but as she didn't know what you looked
like, she wasn't able to find you.
"And today, she just happened to go to the golf course out back to relax
on horseback. Otherwise, even if the butler didn't allow it, she
would've tried to find a way to meet you."
What a coincidence... Klein sighed as he suddenly grasped a
crucial point.
On the day of Talim's funeral, it was the commoner lady he loved who had
offered flowers in the prince's place!
On that day, Klein was most concerned about the lady with the black veil
and the sapphire ring on her finger. She might have a Grade 0 Sealed
Artifact or some powerful existence of an equal level!
All of a sudden, a thought flashed through Klein's mind---*the woman
with the sapphire ring on her finger was wearing a long, heavy black
dress. Accompanied by two maids, she slowly disappeared into the
distance...*
One of the ladies had brown natural curls.
The image of the maid quickly overlapped with the one in front of Klein,
and it was abnormally identical!
Klein's body tensed up, and sweat rolled down his back, but his
expression didn't change at all.
Using the abilities of a Clown, he pretended like he was recalling the
event, and he asked with a smile, "Were you with that lady on the day of
Talim's funeral?"
The maid replied without much thought, "Yes."
...Damn, it's really her! Klein maintained his smile.
"Very well, next question."
As if nothing had happened, he began to inquire about other things, then
he switched to another servant and continued.
However, Klein secretly shortened the process and sped up the progress.
He wanted to leave Red Rose Manor before the young lady returned from
her riding!
At four o'clock in the afternoon, before the sky had turned dark, Klein
left the manor much earlier than expected and took the carriage sent by
the old butler back to the city.
Sitting in the window with his back against the wall wrapped in silk and
muslin, he was relieved to have the energy to reflect on the whole
situation---*it was Prince Edessak's beloved commoner lady who had
cursed Talim...*
*Why did she have to deal with a descendant of a fallen noble family? To
take revenge against Talim for trying to break up the relationship
between her and the prince?*
*But there's no need for her to do it herself. She can find a chance to
mention it while in bed. Prince Edessak has plenty of ways to make Talim
disappear without a sound...*
*Talim was in a state of deep love before he died. Yes... The first sign
was after he successfully persuaded the commoner lady to leave Prince
Edessak... They had an affair? So, the commoner lady who was brought
back to the manor killed Talim in order to silence him and remove any
latent dangers?*
*Logically speaking, it makes sense, but the problem is how could a
person with a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact or a powerhouse of an equivalent
level be restricted by Prince Edessak? Even if the Augustus family is an
Angel Family, with the accumulation of enough knowledge, they would
still need to use tremendous strength and special methods to be able to
restrain someone like that. This isn't something a prince can
do...*
Besides, how could such a figure have taken a fancy to Talim?
*Why does she want to see me all the time? Did she sense that I'm using
the gray fog to spy on her?*
*No, if that were the case, I would've been buried with Talim on the day
of his funeral... Besides, when she first wanted to see me, I didn't
have any blood, hair, or belongings. I hadn't made any divinations
yet!*
Klein was puzzled as he thought about it. In the end, he decided to bury
the problem deep within his heart. He wasn't to probe or investigate!
*I hope that the Machinery Hivemind, with my earlier reminder, will pay
importance to this matter of noticing the royal family's abnormality.
Yes, they might regard it with great importance---not because
of Prince Edessak's reputation, but for another reason! I hope the royal
family continues to prevent the lady from visiting me... After a few
days, when the time is right, I'll relinquish this mission, express how
powerless I am on this matter, and then use the excuse of going to the
south for a holiday, to change my identity and hide for a
while!* Klein's heart gradually calmed down.
Evenings in Backlund were always replaced by dark clouds and drizzling
rain, and Klein, who felt physically and mentally exhausted, held down
his half top hat and walked quickly across the wet street to No. 15
Minsk Street under the illumination of the street lamps.
After resting for a bit and taking advantage of the dark surroundings,
he took four steps counterclockwise and went above the gray fog.
After advancing to Sequence 6 Faceless, he had always wanted to check
the mysterious space to see if there were any changes. However, as he
was too tired last night and couldn't wake up in the middle of the
night, he had to wait until he was done being "busy" outside.
In addition, Klein had to eliminate any interference in order to divine
a particular matter.
That was, after this advancement, when his spirituality wasn't stable
yet, he didn't hear the illusory ravings of "Hornacis... Flegrea...
Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea..." anymore!
He wanted to know if this was a natural change after ascending to
Sequence 6, or if there was some other reason.
Within the majestic palace, the mottled bronze tables and the twenty-two
high back chairs with different symbols on their backs stood quietly, as
if they had remained unchanged since time immemorial.
The same was true for the gray fog below them, as well as the endless
emptiness around them.
But as soon as Klein entered, his spiritual intuition was keenly aware
that the mysterious space was somewhat different from before.
He was in no hurry to explore or make any attempts. Calming himself
down, he sat at the end of the table, conjured a pen and paper, and
wrote a divination statement: "The reason why I haven't heard any
ravings after my advancement."
Holding the piece of paper and muttering the sentence, Klein leaned back
in his chair and quickly entered the dreamland with the help of
Cogitation.
In the dusky sky and land, images flashed, and in the end, they all came
to a stop on a particular scene.
It was Klein, whose face and body was still covered in pale granules. He
was surrounded by an illusory, thin layer of gray fog that was
undetectable.
The dream shattered. Klein opened his eyes and roughly understood the
reason.
*The gray fog has interwoven with reality, helping me block out the
ravings that come from who knows where...*
*After advancing to Sequence 6, my connection with the mysterious space
above the gray fog has become even stronger; thus, bringing about
certain changes and allowing me to naturally borrow a portion of its
powers?*
From the looks of it, that should be the case.
*Yes, I should try to explore the area and see if there are any
changes.*
Klein slowly stood up and followed his spiritual perception, walking in
a certain direction outside the ancient palace. Beneath his feet was the
gray fog that spread out like the sea.
He finally decided to stop after walking for an unknown period of time.
However, when he gave up on exploring, a light suddenly flickered at the
end of the path.
In his joy, Klein quickened his pace and approached.
Seven or eight seconds later, he saw a flight of stairs that seemed to
lead to heaven!
The staircase was formed from pure light. It was holy, transparent, and
untainted, capable of shocking anyone's heart.
There were only four levels as the staircase reached up into the void,
and each level was rather high, as though it was meant for creatures
even larger than giants.
Klein looked up, followed its path, and saw a layer of grayish white
fog, condensed and suspended in midair, as though it was supporting
something. It was a significant distance from the staircase of light.
*The four-stepped staircase represents my consumption of the Sequence 9,
Sequence 8, Sequence 7, and Sequence 6 potions? What exactly is above
that layer of fog?* Klein cautiously advanced until he reached
the staircase of light and stepped onto it.
There was nothing odd about the steps, and they were as solid as stone.
Klein went up the stairs, climbed up to the fourth level, and then tried
to look up at the area above the gray fog. Unfortunately, his vision
couldn't penetrate anything.
He thought for a moment, then he took two steps forward and jumped up
with all his might.
However, the moment he left the staircase of light, he lost his momentum
and his Spirit Body's flight instinct. He plummeted straight down and
landed on the bottom layer of the gray fog.
*Looks like I need to advance another two to three other Sequences. If
Sequence 4 really does result in a qualitative change, then I should be
able to see after becoming a demigod...* Klein looked up and
made a judgment.