Chapter 532: Lord "Caucasian"
After changing his face and turning into one of the two main streets,
Klein went straight to the green mailbox and took out a letter he had
prepared long ago from his pocket.
This was a "death notice" he had forged as an imitation of an official
police document. It was sent to the sergeant of the town of Symeem
Harbor. It was about the sudden death of the local resident, Wendt, in
Bayam.
When deciding to do the acting, Klein had worked out a plan to keep
things on track and not cause irreparable damage to the girl, Raine.
His plan was to use the Slumber Charm to camouflage the real acting as a
dream, this way, if Raine had no love for Wendt, he expected her to
directly reject his confession. After hearing about the other party's
death, she wouldn't feel any guilt, and at most some fear. In response
to this, she could effectively be placated by going to church to pray
and confess.
If Raine also liked Wendt and responded to the confession, then the
dream would give Klein a chance to extricate himself from the situation.
The notification of Wendt's death would kill Raine's expectations, and
it wouldn't have too negative an impact on her future life.
*But even so, it's still a bit cruel. No matter what kind of woman she
is, facing the situation of a guy confessing to her in her dreams after
his death is definitely going to be heartbreaking. She wouldn't be able
to recover for a long time.*
*Well... If I didn't do anything, and when the news of Wendt's death
reaches her, Raine would definitely feel very sad even if it might not
be that serious. However, that knot in her heart would never be able to
be mended, and she would be stuck wondering for the rest of her life
whether Wendt had gone out on an adventure to pursue his and her future,
or if he simply didn't like her...*
*It's not a bad way to end things like this. Once she has overcome her
pain, she will carry that gentleness of having been truly loved once
while leading her future life.*
*Sigh... Regardless, to forcibly interfere in the lives of others for
acting, having an impact on an innocent person's life to a certain
degree even though I'm using the excuse of fulfilling a wish, it's not a
truly kind thing to do. Just like Roselle said, the further one proceeds
in the Beyonder pathway, the more twisted and evil it feels. The acting
method might not be a catalyst... All I can do is try my best to
minimize such effects...* After sending the letter, Klein
exhaled, and with a native face that didn't stand out, he walked to the
only inn in town.
Along the way, he summed up his previous experience, which was that
"disguising yourself as someone else and obtaining feedback" was likely
a main clause of the Faceless principles, second only to "you can
disguise yourself into anyone, but you are ultimately yourself."
*If it were any other Faceless, they would've blocked out information
about Wendt's death for the sake of this role. They would have agreed to
Raine's confession and spent one to two years in a relationship with
her, marry her, and have children with her, and then, to not be bound by
the various relationships in this identity, remember who they were and
leave coldly... If there was no exposure during this process, the potion
would mostly be digested... But I really can't do it! It's just
completely against my conscience! I can only try to push the
envelope...* Klein sighed, inexplicably afraid.
He shook his head and thought in a silent self-deprecating manner,
*Beyonders not only have to constantly fight against threats and
madness, but also fight against all kinds of evil thoughts, as well as
the corruption that pulls one down and can cause one to fall if they
aren't careful...*
*Even so, at the end of the day, one might still be corrupted by the
abyss, becoming a monster that one swears to get rid of.
Sigh...*
Suppressing his thoughts, Klein stepped into the inn and said to the
boss behind the counter, "An ordinary room."
The thin boss looked up and gave a glance, saying, "A valid ID
certificate."
How can a face I just came up with have one? Klein smiled in
embarrassment.
"I forgot to bring it."
"Then you cannot stay here. This is the rule of our town." The boss once
again lowered his head and calculated his income and expenditure for the
day.
Klein took out a soli note and pushed it over as if nothing had
happened.
The boss's eyes suddenly widened.
"No, no, put it away! I don't want to be locked up by the sergeant!
"Get out, get out, you dirty bastard with no proof of identity."
Klein was thrown out of the inn in shock, unable to believe that the
omnipotent entity known as money had just lost its power.
After a few seconds of silence, he turned into an empty alleyway,
turning back into Gehrman Sparrow with stark facial features.
Klein returned to the inn, tapped on the counter, and said Loenese in a
Backlund accent, "A room."
The boss looked up and immediately put down the things in his hand. He
then stood up and nodded with a smile.
"Okay, okay.
"Do you need a room with a view of the sea, or something quieter?"
He switched to a clumsy Loenese that had a thick accent that resembled
that of the land of spices, with no further mention of identification.
This really is a pragmatic world... Klein silently lampooned
and politely responded, "Quiet."
"Yes, yes, immediately," the boss responded hurriedly.
Then he called an attendant, took the keys, and led Klein personally to
the second floor.
"Sir, how many days will you be staying? It's 1 soli 5 pence a night."
"Just tonight," Klein couldn't stand the enthusiasm, so he answered
succinctly.
At the Wind of Azure Inn, his luxurious suite with Danitz was five soli
a night.
Without a doubt, the room the boss had chosen was clean and tidy, and
there was no trace of the usual humidity in a harbor inn. Klein looked
around and nodded in satisfaction.
"Excellent."
"It's my honor," the boss flattered with obvious fear.
Klein put down his luggage, rested for a while, then he got up and went
back down to the ground floor to settle his dinner.
Beside the counter, tables were arranged messily on the first floor.
There was a greasy layer on their surface, and a fireplace was burning
in the corner, giving off light and heat.
The Rorsted Archipelago was slightly to the south, and the lowest
temperatures in winter was only about 10°C. However, for the locals,
this was still cold enough that they needed a fire to warm them up.
Klein randomly found a seat and sat down, ordering a local specialty of
grilled meat and spiced mushroom soup, with the main dish being potato
bread.
While he was waiting, he swept his gaze over the customers inside the
restaurant. His gaze then instinctively landed on a lady.
This lady had a head of simple tied up black hair and a pair of
distinctive greenish-gray eyes. Her appearance was the type that one
would never get sick off easily, and the more he looked at her, the more
intrigued he became.
She was obviously not a native, but she was wearing a man's shirt and a
thick tan jacket. By her hand was a round-brimmed hat with a depression
in the middle.
This was one of the more common adventurer outfits out in the sea. At
her table, the three other men were the same, and they clearly appeared
to have been exposed to the elements.
Klein had never hid his appreciation of beautiful ladies, but his
attention wasn't drawn to her by her appearance.
The sea had a strong sense of discrimination against females. Women who
could achieve a certain status among adventurers and pirates were either
very scheming, very powerful, or both. They were people that one needed
to be cautious and wary about!
*Their boots have some fresh mud on them... Did they just come back from
the forest? Heh heh, they really are adventurers...* Klein made
a preliminary judgment based on some clues.
If these four adventurers came by ferry from Bayam, even if they had
previously stepped on sewage or mud, the traces would've already dried
up. Furthermore, as the town hadn't rained in the past two days,
overall, the roads were quite clean with only some dust. Eliminating the
two possibilities, it could only be explained that they had returned
from a trip to the woods on the outskirts of the town.
Klein had heard that many adventurers went deep into the primitive
forests of the colonial islands in search of abandoned, forgotten pagan
temples or altars, which often contained gold and jewels of ancient
worship, but were later buried for various reasons in a place that no
one knew of. In the bars of the islands, there was no shortage of
legends that someone had managed to make a fortune overnight on an
adventure into the woods.
*There might be evil spirits lingering in those places... It would be
better to hunt pirates, or for one to at least acquire the relevant
information in advance...* Klein retracted his eyes and
concentrated on waiting for the food.
The seven Churches classified the various gods believed by the colony's
primitive faiths as evil spirits, but Klein believed that some of them
were natural spirits.
After a while, the specialty grilled meat was served. It had been sliced
into many smaller pieces and strung onto a wooden stick. The surface was
smeared with a reddish-brown sauce. The fragrance was rich and the color
was alluring.
*It looks a little like the kebabs from my previous life... In Loen,
they're usually roasted as huge chunks of meat. Only after the meat is
roasted would the chef slice up the meat... The method used here makes
the flavors infuse the meat better...* Klein picked up the
wooden stick and bit down on a piece of meat. He felt the meat's juice
slightly overflow, and there was a hint of sweetness in the salty
fragrance.
It's my type! He nodded in satisfaction.
Klein enjoyed the meal and even tasted the local "Gurney Sap," a special
beverage, like lemonade with sugar and milk.
He went back to his room. Because he had been hunting the night before,
he hadn't slept at all. He washed up early, put out the fireplace, and
got into bed. Sleeping too early meant one problem---he would wake up in
the middle of the night to pee.
Klein's dream was interrupted. He opened his eyes and slowly accumulated
the courage to lift his quilt.
In the middle of the night, Symeem was about 8--9°C, and it was enough
to make it feel sufficiently cold.
After lying still for a while, Klein stretched out his arm and silently
withdrew it.
He contemplated for a few seconds before reaching out his hand again and
picking up the Sun Brooch from his bedside table.
Although it only provided the feeling of a hot summer on a spiritual
level, and it didn't produce any actual heat, it could at least deceive
himself into thinking that it wasn't cold.
Klein got out of bed and headed for the washroom.
He narrowed his eyes to ease the pressure on his lower abdomen.
When he was done, he pulled up his pants and was about to wash his hands
when his spiritual perception was triggered.
Klein frowned slightly and looked up at the vent in the bathroom.
Suddenly, something black and slippery dropped and hung there.
It was a venomous snake extending its forked tongue!
Klein was startled. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Bang!"
The snake was miserably hit, and it split in half.
What happened? Klein stared at it for a few seconds. Seeing no
further movement, he walked out of the bathroom and pulled a gold coin
from his pocket.