Chapter 788: Hidden Passage

"It's fine," Klein replied with a warm smile.

Although he didn't seem to notice anything, thoughts were flying through

his mind. He began considering what the anomaly that happened during

that instant meant.

*Previously, the Keepers would head upstairs along the nearby staircase.

It can be preliminary determined that they live there, coinciding with

the area where the anomaly happened... The Keepers aren't in the best of

conditions, so the chances of them losing control are greater than

ordinary Beyonders, causing them to suddenly release a sense of an evil

and diabolical will?*

*And this was suppressed and quelled by the core seal deep behind Chanis

Gate?*

*If that's the case, there are two possibilities. One, the core seal

behind Chanis Gate can sense all the anomalies in Saint Samuel

Cathedral, and then react instinctively. Second, during the Keeper's

watch over the years, they are constantly corroded by the core seal's

powers. In a certain sense, they are a part of it, or they bear the

weight of the corresponding traits. Once any abnormalities happen, their

bodies will immediately intervene.*

*If it's the former, that means that when I knock a Keeper unconscious

and replace him, it will easily be detected by the core seal behind

Chanis Gate. It will produce an anomaly like before, causing my plan to

fail right at the beginning. If it's the latter, I'll definitely be

repelled when entering Chanis Gate, even when disguised as a

Keeper...*

*I need to figure out the problem before coming up with a direct

countermeasure...*

*It's really difficult to steal Sealed Artifacts from the various

Churches. It's no wonder almost no one is willing to do so...*

As Klein's thoughts wandered, he superficially paid attention to Bishop

Elektra's explanation of Saint Samuel's experiences and letters that he

left behind. When it was almost time, he politely bade him farewell.

After returning to 160 Böklund Street, he saw his butler approach just

as he handed his hat and cane to Richardson.

"Sir, do you plan on holding a ball or banquet next weekend and invite

the neighbors?" Walter wasn't using a suggestive tone, but a tone of

inquiry.

However, Klein knew very well that since his butler had raised the

matter, it meant that it was almost time.

He nodded gently and said, "Saturday night then. A ball.

"I'll have to trouble you and Taneja to make the preparations.

"Is there enough money?"

When saying the last statement, Klein looked to his housekeeper.

Taneja sternly nodded and said, "There's enough.

"The various alcoholic beverages in your wine cellar is enough to handle

several banquets."

When moving into 160 Böklund Street, Klein had handed her 1,000 pounds

in cash for the household expenses. From the looks of it, even with the

need to replenish fine wine, tea leaves, and coffee beans, it wasn't

something that could be spent in a month.

The gold pound is rather strong after all... Klein nodded and

smiled.

"Let's not use wine that's too expensive for our first ball. It's common

to be reserved in Loen."

"Yes, sir." Although Walter was very aware of how to run a ball, he

still paid serious attention to his employer's instructions.

He paused and said, "There are only two things you need to do. First,

it's to settle the guest list with our help, thinking up some small talk

for each guest, matching the person's corresponding status and

experience. Second, it's to order a suit for the ball."

*How troublesome... When greeting Hazel, can I say that the sewers here

are cleaner than the squares in the Southern Continent?* As

Klein sighed and lampooned, he nodded slightly.

"No problem."

Deep into the night, the crimson moon hung high in the sky. The smog

which had significantly thinned made Backlund have an additional sense

of tranquility.

In Dwayne Dantès's master bedroom, Klein set up a ritual to summon

himself.

He planned on entering the sewers tonight to confirm that Trissy had

left. He then planned on heading for the fork she had described, to

explore the so-called hidden passageway to see if he could discover

anything.

Klein didn't have extravagant hopes of gaining anything. He was only

worried that the secret hidden in the sewers would pose a hidden risk

that would one day explode. This could easily involve Dwayne Dantès who

lived nearby, spoiling his plans in stealing the Antigonus family's

notebook.

*On this matter, I can't be an ostrich that buries its head in the sand

and pretend not to know anything... I should discover the problem early

and destroy what needs destroying or report what needs reporting before

it completely erupts. That's the most effective solution... Of course, I

also need to be sufficiently careful. I mustn't let my exploration end

up lighting a fuse...* Klein's Spirit Body tore out of the

candlelight, and with Azik's copper whistle augmenting him, he possessed

the physical body of Dwayne Dantès, controlling him to walk to the

boundary of the wall of spirituality and sit in the reclining chair.

To the external world, it looked as though the tycoon had dozed off

reading the papers.

*Summoning my soul to possess my own body feels different from returning

to my body. There's an obvious barrier in between...* Klein did

a comparison of the experience and floated to his desk, cleaning up most

of the items on the altar and leaving behind the candle that maintained

his summoning to burn silently.

After doing all of this, Klein wore Creeping Hunger, and with Azik's

copper whistle, Death Knell, and the Senor gold coin in possession, he

flew out of the master bedroom and left 160 Böklund Street, drilling

into the sewers.

Just as Klein found himself in the moist and dirty environment, he

immediately released Wraith Senor and made his marionette open up a

distance from him, turning into the hidden fork where Trissy was

previously recuperating.

This time, he saw that the clean region in the sewers was already

stained with dirt containing signs of rats.

From the looks of it, Trissy has really left... Klein, who was

following far behind, heaved a sigh of relief.

As a Spirit Body, he didn't need to breathe, nor did he need to walk on

the ground. Therefore, he didn't mind how disgusting the sewers were.

Senor walked out of the area and continued walking ahead and turned on

the sixth left turn. Klein constantly maintained a distance of fifty

meters, perfectly acting the role of the person behind the scenes.

At the end of the fork was a corroded wall covered in moss. At a glance,

there weren't any abnormalities to it. If Trissy hadn't mentioned it,

Klein wouldn't have gotten his marionette to observe every inch of the

area in detail.

A few minutes later, Senor suddenly straightened his back and walked

forward, entering the wall.

Passing through the rather thick obstacle, Klein's eyes opened up. With

the marionette's vision, he saw a half-natural, half-artificial cave. It

wasn't more than 1.8 meters high and was about 3 meters wide. The ground

was littered with tools like shovels which were wrapped in oilskin and

large piles of mud and rubble. Right up ahead were two hidden

passageways that extended downwards.

The left one was about five to six meters deep, while the one on the

right was nearly ten meters deep. However, nothing seemed to have

existed in them, as though they were still being excavated.

*This was dug up by Hazel? In the day, she's an arrogant lady of high

society, and at night, she's an excavator in the sewers? Furthermore,

she's moving the dirt and rubble one pail at a time? She was loitering

around to find the exact spot, and digging was the subsequent step? That

wall must've been a secret door...* Klein hid himself at the

fork's entrance as he made Senor scrutinize the area.

Following that, he made the Wraith enter the left passage until he

reached a completely sealed off area.

Senor's figure slowly turned faint as it turned incorporeal. In this

state, he passed through the soil and explored deeper.

But even when reaching the hundred-meter limit, he didn't discover

anything of use. All he saw were ordinary insects and worms.

Klein made the marionette switch directions, "swimming" in the sea of

soil without finding anything.

Senor soon returned to the cave from before and entered the right

passageway without being affected by any obstacles.

*There's still nothing... It's not without reason that Trissy determined

that it will only work for a particular pathway or being in possession

of a certain item... Hmm... She must've probed the area with the

invisible threads of a Demoness of Pleasure... Unfortunately, I've

already lost Tinder... I wonder if the gray fog's aura on me would work.

It seems to strongly attract Beyonders from the Marauder

pathway...* Klein silently commented and, using his Spirit Body

state, planned on personally visiting the two hidden passageways that

Hazel had dug up.

However, he curbed his desire because he was now a Marionettist. Doing

it personally in situations that didn't require it was in violation of

the acting principles.

*It's fine even if I don't use the gray fog's aura. I'll just request to

purchase a mystical item from the Marauder pathway during tomorrow

afternoon's Tarot Gathering. It doesn't need to be too expensive. It can

just correspond to Sequence 8 or 9... Hmm, that badge from Lanevus is

only a signal receiver, not an item of this pathway... While not aware

of the exact situation of what's hiding inside, rashly using my Spirit

Body to explore it might result in me attracting a High-Sequence

monster... Being careful and cautious will forever be a condition for

myself...* Klein slowly heaved a sigh of relief and retrieved

Wraith Senor.

He wasn't worried that Hazel would continue coming in the near future.

Any person with normal intelligence wouldn't continue coming unless they

had the means to deal with the situation from before!

*Ignoring how Hazel hasn't had any contact with Beyonder circles, even

if she has, getting an item from the Sun domain isn't simple. After all,

Backlund is the territory of the Church of Storms... I do have something

that I don't use often. Heh heh, can I find an opportunity to sell it to

her and then let her use it to harm my marionette?* Klein jeered

at himself before shaking his head with a laugh.

He ended the summoning and returned above the gray fog, vanishing from

the sewers.

On Monday morning, the bright sunlight tore through the thin clouds,

shining onto every corner of Backlund.

Emlyn White pulled down on his silk top hat. As he left the carriage and

walked to the Harvest Church, he squinted his eyes and mumbled, "What

terrible weather...

"Backlund's worst season is coming soon..."

He was just about to step onto the stairs when he saw a paperboy

approach him, handing him a copy of the Tussock Times.

"Sir, today's morning papers!"

Emlyn wanted to reject it when he discovered a small slip clasped in the

middle of the boy's fingers.

"..."

Emlyn maintained his countenance as he took out a penny and passed it to

the boy, receiving the copy of the Tussock Times and the slip.

Before entering the Harvest Church, he quickly spread it open and

scanned it.

"There are clues to the people you are looking for. Please come to the

Bravehearts Bar."