On the way to Saint Samuel Cathedral from Boklund Street, Klein passed by the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation at 22 Phelps Street. He was surprised to find that the door was still open.
As the initiator and current director, he placed quite a bit of concern over this matter. He temporarily slowed down and walked over.
Just as he entered the door, he saw Miss Audrey walking down from the second floor with her personal maidservant, a big golden retriever, and a few staff members beside her.
"Good afternoon. In this situation, there doesn't seem to be a need to insist on doing anything." Klein went forward and voiced out his doubts.
Audrey held the newspaper in her hand as she looked at Dwayne Dantes.
"Some of our beneficiaries were injured in the air raid. I just went to visit them and arranged for follow-up treatment." The noble lady's eyes were slightly red, as though she had seen all sorts of heart-wrenching scenes in the hospital.
"May the Goddess bless them." Klein came to a realization and drew a crimson moon on his chest.
He took the opportunity to say the idea that he had come up with long ago.
"I plan to donate some more money to buy food, medicine, and medical equipment for the foundation. In this manmade disaster, we can do more things."
"A brilliant idea. Those who are suffering will be grateful to you from the bottom of their hearts, Mr. Dantes." Audrey tapped her chest four times in a fluid motion. There was obvious joy and pity in her eyes. "I will do my best as well."
She didn't want to just donate money, but to spearhead certain matters.
Klein nodded.
"You don't have to praise me. At times like these, I only did what I should do.
"Apart from donating funds, I will also donate food. All of you can discuss this directly with my butler, Walter. Yes, Miss Audrey, I can write a letter of authorization to you now so that you can use my name to transfer the resources of Maygur Manor."
"What about you, Mr. Dantes?" Audrey asked with a vague guess.
This was the most normal response in such a conversation.
"I received a notice from the Church that I need to help them perform certain tasks. As for what they are, I haven't gone to Saint Samuel Cathedral yet, so I'm not sure either. The only thing I can confirm is that I have to travel around. I won't be able to return to Maygur Manor for a long time." Klein gave the reason he had come up with previously. "Miss Audrey, during this period of time at the foundation, I have come to understand your character and ability. Your background and standing also determine your visions and style. Handing these matters to you is the best solution I can come up with."
Klein didn't expect his lies to fool a senior Spectator. He only wanted to deceive the people around Justice—oh, these people didn't include the dog.
Does Mr. World want to temporarily give up on his identity as Dwayne Dantes so that he can perform certain matters in secret? Feeling enlightened, Audrey pretended to think. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "With the current situation, I can't refuse such a request."
Klein secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He immediately got his personal servant, Enuni, to go upstairs to get a piece of paper and a pen. Then, while being witnessed by the staff, he personally drafted a letter of authorization, signed his name, printed his thumbprint, and stamped the seal.
After doing all of this, Klein cast his gaze at the newspaper in Audrey's hand.
"Is there anything else? I just came back from outside the city. I only heard the paperboy shout that the kingdom has declared war on Feysac."
Audrey pursed her lips and said with a slightly gloomy expression, "Not long after the airship fleet from Feysac attacked Backlund, their Sonia Sea fleet took advantage of the thick fog to attack the Imperial Navy's base at Pritz Harbor's Oak Island and the shipyards in the surrounding area. Fortunately, the Church of the Lord of Storms received a warning beforehand and sent a telegram in advance. Pritz Harbor wasn't lost, but it lost quite a number of ships and factories. It's said that many people died and were seriously injured..."
"This is war..." Klein sighed. "Can I see how the king declared war?"
Audrey knew that there was something wrong with King George III, so she could tell that Mr. World was hiding his contempt. She didn't refuse and handed the newspaper over.
It was the Tussock Times.
Without needing to spread it open, he directly saw the king's declaration on the headlines:
"...708 years ago, the Feysacians took away Sonia Island from us.
"A year ago, the Feysacians stole half of our interests in East Balam.
"Today, they bombarded Backlund and attacked Pritz Harbor. Many Loenese were killed and injured, and their blood has stained the ground.
"There's no way for us to back down any further. We can only be bullied again and again by the Feysacians if we back off. If we continue retreating, we will lose all our interests overseas. Large amounts of our products will not be sold. Countless workers will lose their jobs, and even more peasants will go bankrupt!
"Everything from the past and now states that justice is in our hands, and we have enough strength to seize complete victory.
"Everyone, I, your emperor, George III, represent the parliament and the kingdom's government to declare war on Feysac. Unless they raise the white flag and surrender, we will never stop advancing!
"Advance, we shall take back Sonia Island! Advance, we shall conquer St. Millom!
"Victory will definitely belong to us. The gods will be with us!"
Klein quickly browsed through it and used his Clown ability to stop his lips from curling up.
He then returned the Tussock Times to Audrey. He took off his hat and bowed.
"I'll leave the rest to you."
"I will, please rest assured." Audrey held the letter of authorization and newspapers and bowed.
Without any further delay, Klein left the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation with his valet, Enuni, and arrived at Saint Samuel Cathedral.
At that moment, the church no longer had many believers present. Most of them had returned to their homes, busy preparing for their life with war having been declared.
In the dark and quiet environment, Klein found a seat and sat down. He took off his hat, clasped his hands, and placed them in front of his mouth and nose. He softly recited the honorific name of the Evernight Goddess, then said, "...I received news from the Red Angel evil spirit that it's very likely that Zaratul has already arrived in Backlund. As for the secret ruins of the Blood Emperor, there's a high chance that it's the mausoleum needed for the Black Emperor ritual ..."
After the prayer, Klein waited patiently for a while. He saw the archbishop, Anthony Stevenson, enter from the side door and walk towards him.
This saint was clean-shaven. He wore a black robe that had the crimson moon's emblem on it. He walked without making a sound, as though he was the night that slowly descended.
Anthony didn't say a word after he approached Dwayne Dantes. He only signaled with his eyes before turning towards the library.
With that, Klein got up, put on his hat, and followed silently behind.
As for his personal servant, Enuni, he held his cane and walked to the entrance of the cathedral to wait.
Outside the library, Archbishop Anthony turned around and revealed a smile. He said to Dwayne Dantes, "War has erupted. There are too many things that need to be done. As a devout believer of the Goddess, are you willing to provide some help?"
Indeed... From the looks of it, Ma'am Arianna has left Backlund... As Klein sighed, he drew the crimson moon on his chest.
"It's my honor. Praise the Lady."
After responding, he immediately asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"I'll inform you when needed. Try not to go home during this period of time," Saint Anthony said in an illogical tone.
And in an instant, he understood what the other party meant. He had to hide for now. They had no time to deal with Zaratul. At most, they could provide him protection within a certain range.
Just as I thought, the Goddess is digesting the Uniqueness of the Death pathway. "She will not be able to do a divine descent for a long period of time. The upper echelons of the Church have to deal with the war, while the negative effects of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts are more terrifying than the last... Klein nodded gently.
"Yes, Your Grace."
"May the Goddess bless you." Saint Anthony drew the crimson moon.
"Praise the Lady. The only escape is tranquility." Klein responded with a familiar gesture.
Then, he left Saint Samuel Cathedral and headed to another street with his valet.
After walking for a while, both of them disappeared at some point in time.
East Borough, in a two-bedroom rental apartment.
Wearing an ordinary face, Klein took out the adventurer's harmonica and blew at it.
Soon, Reinette Tinekerr walked out of the void with four blonde, red-eyed heads in hand. She wasn't surprised by her contractor's appearance.
Without giving a letter, he directly said, "Tell Miss Sharron and Marie that Zaratul has come to Backlund and is very likely to be in contact with the Rose School of Thought. They must be careful. It's best not to go to the Bravehearts Bar in the near future."
"Zaratul..." This time, Reinette Tinekerr's four heads spoke at the same time, as though they had spent a great deal of effort to recall who it was.
"Leader of the Secret Order, a Sequence 1 angel who once lost his mind before becoming normal again." Klein took out a gold coin and handed it to Miss Messenger.
He didn't mention that Zaratul was very interested in Gehrman Sparrow. He believed that, as a high-level spirit world creature, Miss Messenger would be able to sense his uniqueness to a certain extent. Otherwise, there was no need for this angel to lower "Her" status to be his messenger. If it was for Yesterday Once More charms, "She" could provide him help in a more decent manner.
As for why Zaratul didn't discover the gray fog's aura in the foggy town but now shows interest in Gehrman Sparrow, Klein believed that there were three reasons. The first reason was that the gray fog's Beyonder convergence had compelled this powerful Seer to come to Backlund, and "He" predicted something. The second reason was that Gehrman Sparrow was able to leave the foggy town despite receiving the wrong symbol and return to the real world. The third reason was that Gehrman Sparrow was likely related to the organization that believed in The Fool.
By the time Zaratul came into contact with the Rose School of Thought and realized that the Mother Tree of Desire was somewhat interested in Gehrman Sparrow, even if he didn't have a guess, the importance he placed on Gehrman Sparrow would still rise exponentially.
Reinette Tinekerr didn't say anything else. One of the heads tilted forward and bit the gold coin.
After watching Miss Messenger leave, he pulled a chair and sat down. He sized up the sky outside the window across a wooden desk.
The layout of the rental apartment was the same as the one he used to live in Tingen City. There was a bedroom inside, and outside of it was a living room, dining room, and study room. There was also a bunk bed.
At that moment, in the room, other than him, there were only his marionettes—Qonas and Enuni.
