Klein was extremely worried. Was Neil corrupted?
"I will deal with it." Arianna quickly replied. "Pretend you believe him."
"Ignore them, as I said before; they are a byproduct of you taking your potion." Neil was much better at concealing that he was lying than before.
"Alright, sorry they startled me." Klein was faking embarrassment perfectly.
"Oh, it's all right; in fact I would be more concerned if you weren't seeing something." Neil, hiding his relief, replied. But he didn't hide it well enough from an archangel from the Seer pathway. "Oh anyway, do you need to leave to do anything?"
"Oh yes, Dunn said I needed to pick up some things from Mrs. Orianna." Klein saw the pair of eyes disappear; it appeared to be rather agitated.
Oh, thank whatever is above; maybe I should thank Perran for Ma'am Arianna dealing with that pair of eyes. I should ask Ma'am Arianna what those eyes were.
Klein bade Neil goodbye and went to Mrs. Orianna to get his money.
"Hello, Mrs. Orianna, I'm here to collect my money."
"Oh yes, here it is." Orianna handed him two envelopes. One was the 1,000-pound payment; the other was his weekly pay of 15 pounds.
Orianna looked curiously at the envelope with 1,000 pounds.
Klein realized she didn't know that he gets an extra 1,000. Only Dunn seemed to truly know most, or at least the necessary parts.
That does make sense. Anyone would question why someone, even marked special by the higher-ups, would be getting 1,000 pounds.
While thinking about how people might not question a person marked special being given 1,000 pounds, Klein was walking to Dunn's office. Klein knocked on the door and entered when he was told he could.
Dunn then began taking Klein on a tour of the base the Tingen Nighthawks had. Dunn first showed him the Blackthorn Security Company. This gave Klein the perfect idea to give to his siblings on how he got such a generous job. Before that, Klein asked whether he could tell his siblings he got a job with a security company that works for the church. He further explained that it was to not make his siblings question anything. Dunn said he would need to double-check, but he could confirm before Klein left. Klein was grateful for this. Following that, Dunn showed him the Chanis Gate and what it was for, and procedures and jobs that Klein would need to do because of it. Dunn ended by giving Klein a tour of some final things, like the tunnel that connects the Blackthorn Security Company to Saint Selena Cathedral. Additionally, on the tour, Dunn introduced Klein to members of both the Nighthawks and civilian staff. At least the ones that were there.
To Klein, the most memorable one was with the one named Leonard Mitchell. Klein finally confirmed that Leonard was the one parasitized by the archangel named Pallez Zoroast. This was because Pallez caused Leonard and Dunn to lose their memories so he could privately talk to Klein.
…
"Hello, Mr. Moretti," a Worm of Time from Pallez said.
"I assume you dealt with Captain Dunn and Leonard's memories?" Klein was rather curious about how Pallez dealt with their memories. Though, because of the grey fog giving some information about Error or the Marauder pathway, he had some pretty good guesses in his opinion.
"I simply stole their corresponding memories. Thankfully, the church kindly gave me a powerful Marauder characteristic to restore a major portion of my strength."
"Why don't we use the Sequence 0 name to describe the pathway?" Klein had realized that the official church forces, not the unofficial ones to his knowledge, tended to use the Sequence 0 name. They tended to use the Sequence 9 or some related term. Though Klein quickly realized it was a bit of a stupid question.
"While some accidentally use the Sequence 0 name, it's mainly because people only think it goes up to Sequence 1." Pallez was slightly confused about why Klein didn't know that.
Hmmm, perhaps the church didn't fill 'Him' in on everything. They did have pretty bad memories from Sequence 7. The only one that never seemed to suffer from this was their deity. Then again, 'She' could simply be very good at hiding it. Or 'She' is simply particularly good at remembering grudges.
"I'll tell you what, since the church has seemed to forget to tell you some things, I'll inform you, free of charge, of the things you missed out on. Using this avatar. You don't need to worry about hiding the Worm of Time; I have some methods. Though if you intend to talk with me while walking in public, you may need to prepare some illusions."
"Let's do that, to have a good friendship, Pallez?" Klein extended his hand as a habit.
Pallez simply moved his Worm of Time avatar to touch his hand, "To a good friendship."
Really a successful alliance, though a friendship wouldn't be bad. Can't have all of your anchors be me. Even 'He' doesn't solely rely on his avatars.
…
Klein was walking home with Pallez.
"Can you help me with convincing my sister to move homes and be open to a better lifestyle?" Klein was rather worried he wouldn't be able to convince Melissa to partake in a better life with his newfound money.
"What?"
"Melissa can be stubborn when she wants to save money."Klein was hurriedly trying to justify Pallez helping him.
"How hard can it be to convince her? How old is she?"
"She's 15."
"How hard can it be to convince one 15-year-old? "
"One very stubborn 15-year-old." Klein was still thinking of ways to justify his need for Pallez's help to convince Melissa.
"If you need help, you're probably just using the wrong way to convince her." Pallez drily remarked.
"When you speak to her, you'll see."
"Anyway, shall I fill you in on your powers and other necessary basic info?"
"Yes."
In a short span of time, Pallez managed to cram a significant amount of useful information into Klein. Klein managed to take in all of the information thanks to 'His' Sequence level. Soon they arrived at Klein's shabby apartment.
"You live here?" Pallez was shocked at how anyone could live here. But after living in this world so long, 'He' could understand it in a way through the lenses of a parasite living in people who frequently see peasants.
Though still, for Pallez, to know someone who was a peasant, it surprised 'Him'.
"Hold on before we go in; let me finish informing you of a few small things."
"Hmm, what are they?" Klein quickly put up some illusions.
"First, we completely forgot to take the assigned route. I think you understand why we should be concerned by that."
Klein immediately realized they did forget! 'He' also quickly understood the implications of forgetting.
"Should we?"
"It's not dangerous; we simply . . . decided it wouldn't be . . . best to go there. Tomorrow if we don't feel anything . . . we can go that route."
"Alright."
"Also, we forgot to arm ourselves."
"We're Sequence 1?"
"An acting principle of Faceless is to perfectly act and then receive feedback."
Klein understood that, as everyone knew he was a weak person with a false angelic rank. So he needed to act as such.
"Alright, I'll remember to act accordingly."
"The final major thing is that there is a fugitive from the church, a traitor who stole an important Sealed Artifact. The fugitive is named Ince Zangwill. I won't tell you what the Sealed Artifact does because of its powers. At least not yet when we are so exposed. Though I can tell you its assigned name is 0-08."
"So powerful . . . " Klein was very curious what its powers were. 'He' wasn't too concerned about it because it seemed like it wasn't too dangerous to talk about it under proper precautions.
Additionally, there were truly few things Klein needed to be scared of. The only things we really could be harmed by were other Sequence 1 artifacts or angels. Of course, uniquenesses and true deities would also be threats. Even Sequence 2, once Klein was decent at 'His' powers, would only be minor issues.
"Anyway, we can enter now."
"Alright."
Klein entered his apartment and realized he was the only one there.
"Right, Melissa hasn't gotten back from school yet."
"Well then I can teach you more stuff for now."
Soon Klein and Pallez heard footsteps, which Klein recognized as Melissa's. When Melissa entered, she saw Klein and said she would heat the leftovers. Though Klein said they could eat out, since he got a new job.
"You found a job?" Melissa's voice rose unknowingly, "B-but, isn't the Tingen University interview tomorrow?"
"Another job." Klein gave a faint smile. "They even gave advance pay."
Klein only showed her 60 gold pounds. He and Pallez already decided that there was no good way to explain how he got 1,015 gold pounds. So they decided to hide most of it and deposit it in a bank when they could.
"Goddess... You- they- what job did you get?" Melissa was stammering with excitement, but also worry.
Heh, I thankfully prepared for this, and now I'm right!
"A security company firm that works for the church. The Evernight church. That's the reason why they are so generous. They do security and also help the church gain artifacts they want."
"Were you vexed over this last night?" asked Melissa after a moment of silence.
Klein nodded. "Yes, although being an academic at Tingen University is respectable, I prefer this job."
"What's the weekly pay? They can't be paying 60 gold pounds per week."
"Only 15 pounds per week; I got an advance pay of four weeks."
"Why-"
"This is because my work can't be safely done in an apartment, where I may need to bring back important valuables. Additionally, I need to buy certain things to appear proper." This was what Klein planned with Pallez to convince her.
"Well, that does make sense." Melissa was still holding out some small resistance.
"Hmmm, why does your sister want to be a peasant so badly?" Pallez tactlessly commented.
Klein ruthlessly concealed 'Himself' and Pallez and used a marionette to continue talking with Melissa.
"Look, what you said can't be denied, and I won't, but if you dare say that again, I'll flay you alive." Klein murderously replied; he delivered it with ruthlessness and coldness and absolute resolve.
Pallez immediately realized how close 'His' poor avatar came to death. 'His' main body also felt the chills, which Leonard also felt.
…
"Old man, wha-wha, what was that?" Leonard was really a bundle of nerves.
This was to be expected; he was really having an unfortunate time. First, Pallez was bemoaning his bad luck, which severely rattled Leonard. Secondly, 'Her' Eminence Arianna personally arrived and, no, he didn't want to remember that. He was also pretty sure he soiled himself; thankfully, neither Old Man, who was apparently named Pallez Zoroast, nor 'Her' Eminence Arianna mentioned it. Thirdly, this. After everything, especially the second event, he was truly a wreck.
"Nothing you need to worry about." Pallez quickly stole Leonard's worry and negative emotions to prevent him from breaking down in fright.
Pallez was considering whether 'He' should start hiding 'His' main body better.
…
"Duly noted."
"Good." Klein delivered that concerningly inhuman.
Pallez was not worried about the threat so much as the lack of, or really the disturbing lack of, true humanity behind it. It could be considered human to defend your siblings, but what Klein was showing, to 'Him' at least, was really a divine being being insulted that something close to him was insulted. Not the need of a normal, sane human needing to defend family. Pallez was considering whether 'He' should get a Spectator nurtured to provide therapy to Klein. Though 'He' quickly realized the impossibility of that.
Maybe I could get Arianna to provide some therapy. I believe 'She' was the one who wanted to be a therapist.
Meanwhile, Klein removed the concealment and perfectly stepped back into the conversation with Melissa.
Melissa was still resisting, not half-heartedly, but actual resistance. She had thankfully accepted the fact that Klein needed to switch to an actual house, not an expensive one, and Klein needed to dress properly. Though she stopped Klein from doing an unnecessary expensive thing, for example, eating out. Pallez refrained from any comments, though Klein could tell Pallez was shocked by how vehemently Melissa resisted luxury.
"Alright, alright, we'll eat at home." Klein decided, with the advice of Pallez, to make Melissa accept the necessary expenses and give up for now. Then later they could slowly make Melissa more open to luxury bit by bit.
They, Klein and Pallez, after some difficulty, scored some victories when they got Melissa to let them, Klein, cook some more celebratory food. Klein, with the help of Pallez, even managed to get Melissa to buy some desserts for their celebration.
After the hard battle of convincing Melissa to begin living a life of luxury, Klein and Pallez began to go to Khoy University so Klein could tell them he wouldn't be participating. When Klein was explaining to Mr. Stone, two more people appeared.
"Moretti, you found another job?"
Pallez gasped. Klein was curious about why he gasped.
The two people were Senior Associate Professor of Khoy University's history department, who was Quentin Cohen, and a middle-aged man with bronze-colored skin of average build.
The second man's name was Azik Eggers. Klein immediately understood why Pallez gasped. Azik Eggers radiated a concealed, powerful aura of death.
Cohen congratulated Klein and asked what job he got.
"It's a security company that works with the church, the Evernight Church. It pays rather well because of the church relationship."
Cohen congratulated Klein again and asked how much it pays before Azik interjected.
"Klein, do you know what happened to Welch and Naya? I read in the newspapers that they were killed by burglars."
Klein told them what he knew and deliberately revealed the existence of a Fourth Epoch notebook. The Antigonus family notebook.
While Cohen didn't know much, Azik seemed to know something. Klein and Pallez, well, specifically Pallez, could understand why.
Pallez understood what 'He' was seeing. Klein, though, could only see a deathly aura. Especially near the head.
Is there something heavily related to death there in his head?
Yes. Pallez responded by transmitting his thoughts into Klein.
Is he a Beyonder?
Sequence 2 Death Consul of the Death pathway, or better known as the pathway of Sequence 9 Corpse Collector.
An angel?
Indeed, but it is in a state as bad as I was in, possibly worse; it depends on personal opinion.
Meanwhile, Azik and Cohen were thinking and asking each other whether they knew anything about the Antigonus family. Klein then asked if they could think of anything and whether they could send him the new information.
Pallez, don't you know anything? Or perhaps the church of Evernight?
I do know something; likely the church does too, since they exterminated poor Antigonus's family.
Je-what made Perran do that?
Per- YOU KNOW 'HER' NAME!?
Yeah, what about it?
I'll tell you later, but 'Her' name is concealed. You can think it, but you can't speak, write, or read it.
Oh, wait, Cohen and Azik are looking at me.
After a short conversation, Cohen and Azik agreed to send any information to Klein, though they did ask whether Klein was changing his address because he was moving. Klein also asked about what the newspaper had to say about Welch and Naya's death. This was because he noticed Azik had a newspaper, and their death was a headline. Soon Cohen and Azik left for a meeting, and Klein was left with the newspaper. Klein read the newspaper with Pallez also looking at it. When Klein finished, he . . . didn't feel anything. 'He' knew 'He' should, but . . . Klein quickly felt a gaze on 'Him'. Klein immediately sent a marionette to the location of the gaze.
Secret Order member.
Klein used illusions to make it look like 'He' was still sitting while 'He' and Pallez went to the gaze.
"Hello." To Klein, it sounded normal, but to the poor-suited clown that was a Secret Order member, it sounded like death. Even Pallez noticed.
"Huh arghhh!" The suited clown was being marionettized.
Wait, stop, let him speak. Pallez noticed 'He' needed to be a voice of reason.
"What are you doing?" Klein spoke deadly.
"Wha, please, please, mercy." The suited clown could only mumble in terror.
"Speak or die, I don't care which."
"I was following you to know where you brought the Antigonus family notebook." The clown frighteningly stammered.
Klein was simply going to kill the clown, but thankfully Pallez intervened.
We can bring him to the Nighthawks; no need to kill him. Pallez definitely needed to be a voice of reason.
So Klein decided to drag him to the Nighthawks, through their Blackthorn entrance.
Meanwhile, Pallez, through his main body, was sending a not necessarily frantic message, but it was intended to be swift, a message to Arianna about Klein's deteriorating humanity.
Hey, Klein, have you been turning marionettes into your anchors?
No.
I see the issue now.
Can you humor me, and begin turning animals around you into your marionettes?
Sure.
Klein turned 50,000 insects into his marionettes and began using them as marionettes. He filled them with what he desired himself to be like. The brother of Melissa and Benson, friend of Perran, and what he desires of himself. Klein stopped in his tracks; the Secret Order member was curious about why they stopped, but had the sense not to ask.
You see the issue?
Yes.
Please make sure you don't forget your anchors.
Yeah, I finally see the true value of them.
Klein began walking again.
Klein, Pallez, and the Secret Order member entered the Blackthorn Security Company. They secretly brought the Secret Order member into Dunn's office.
"I see, I'll deal with the issue." After a quick explanation from Klein, Dunn began to deal with the Secret Order member.
Klein, with the same avatar of Pallez, then went back to his apartment. Meanwhile, Pallez was considering where 'He' should hide his main body.
When Klein arrived at his home, he saw a familiar sight that he truly needed to see: Benson.
'Hey, big brother." Klein said warmly, and more importantly, humanly.
"Good afternoon, Klein. How was the interview?" Benson stood up as he grinned.
His black coat and half-top hat were hanging on a protrusion of their bunk bed.
"Horrible," Klein replied in a deadpan manner. He wanted to go with some humor. "Because I got an even better job." He said that after Benson's look of shock began to wear off.
Klein and Benson began to joke around about Klein's new job and how Melissa wasn't going to like their new luxurious life. They also began to joke about Loen's horrible coin system. Klein was beginning to feel much more human, much to Pallez's relief. Pallez was also, in fact, benefiting from this humanizing environment.
This sight is much better than my time with that youngster. Though perhaps . . . I'm being a little too hard on him.
While Klein was having a good time with Benson, it became slightly more serious when Benson began talking about dealing with their lease.
Benson shot his brother a glance and said, amused, "Have you forgotten the one-year rental contract we have with him? It has only been six months."
"Hiss..." Klein immediately drew a gasp of cold air. He had really forgotten the matter!
Although rent was paid once a week, the lease was a year-long. If they were to move now, it was equivalent to a breach of contract. If they were taken to court, they would have to compensate large sums of money!
Pallez! This is important! Can you help me avoid the lease issue? This is a matter of absolute grave importance!
It's just a lease, besides you're ri-
It's a matter of principle!! Klein was basically shouting at Pallez through his thoughts.
Alright, alright, alright, I'll deal with it.
Though Benson was planning on dealing with it himself. Because of that, Pallez has decided to wait until Benson acts, then help if needed. Following that, Pallez decided to motivate Klein to consider what he should do to act. When Klein was alone in his room, he decided to tell what 'He' knew.
"While I don't know all of the acting principles of all of the sequences of Seer, I know some due to my pathway and yours being similar."
First confirming the room was concealed, Klein responded, "What do you know?"
"Seer: Reverence for fate, help using divination, but can't be too egotistical about it, and understanding divination isn't all-powerful."
"I think I have the third part done; the first part I'll work on. The second part, wasn't there a divination club on Howes Street?"
"Yes, you can go there to act. Anyway, Clown: smile despite knowing you can't do anything about fate."
"I'll likely need to throw myself into situations where I can't do much despite having powers. Hmmm, I'll leave this for later."
"Probably for the best."
"Magician: Never perform unprepared, take initiative to perform, gain feedback from the audience, control the audience's attention, challenge the impossible."
"I could maybe do that in the divination club; probably will need more work."
"Yeah, save that for later."
"Faceless: you can be anyone, but you are yourself; truly disguise yourself and gain feedback."
"Hmmm, I can do that."
Pallez picked up the cue and intelligently decided to move on.
"Marionettist: hide behind the scenes while you use your marionette; each marionette has its setting, direct the marionette in a 'play' and receive feedback, use your marionette to control your enemy. Essentially turn the enemy into a puppet."
"Hmmm, I constantly use marionettes; perhaps I need to go out into more chaotic situations."
"I understand where you're getting at, but you should probably wait first and gain better digestion of lower sequences first."
"Fair and logical."
"This is where my knowledge is somewhat more limited. Bizarro Sorcerer: cause 'bizarre' situations and gain feedback and be 'bizarre.'"
"That could be multi-tasked with Magician."
"The sea could be a good place to do acting. You could perform and be bizarre, getting both Magician and Bizarro Sorcerer. You could also gain marionettes from the pirates and cause bizarre things. This gets Marionettist and Bizarro Sorcerer."
"Yeah, but not for now," Klein replied wistfully.
"You could also get pretty hefty bounties, and it wouldn't even be that dangerous since the strongest are Sequence 3 and Sequence 4."
"How much?"
"Possibly in the hundreds of thousands of pounds," Pallez replied without thinking much about it.
"The land of, of, of walking money . . ." Klein looked like 'He' was in heaven.
"Klein, control yourself."
"I could simply create a marionette, and-"
"No Klein." Pallez firmly reminded 'Him'.
"Hmph, alright."
"Anyway, Scholar of Yore: Study the past. Best I got."
"Seems self-explanatory; I even studied history. If I look right now, I have actually already digested some of Scholar of Yore."
"How convenient."
"Miracle Invoker: perform miracles."
"Also seems self-explanatory. Maybe I could do this in the divination club."
"I think another part is causing miracles for others and then yourself."
"Oh yeah, I thought Miracle Invoker powers were basically a Temu genie."
"Temu?"
"Off-brand." Klein quickly replied.
"Anyway, Attendant of Mysteries: serve the profound mysteries. Or since you are the current master of Sefirah Castle, serve yourself."
"Wait, I could create a marionette, and I have even dragged people into Sefirah Castle before. I could turn that marionette into a loyal blessed of mine, and make them think that! This way I could get Marionettist and Attendant of Mysteries! Then all I have to do is make it known what I do as what that Marionette is doing!"
"Wait, you dragged people into Sefirah Castle?" Pallez saw a blinding light of shining hope in his near future.
"Yeah, I saw them as red stars and accidentally touched them. That brought two people, one a sea captain; he was someone from the Sailor pathway. The other was a noble who wasn't even a Beyonder yet, but she got the Spectator potion formula from the first."
"Could you possibly bring me in? I could be an angel for you. I could be Archangel of Time. With your marionette and me, we could make you truly seem like a true deity in Sefirah Castle."
"Huh, yeah, I can't just seem like a pauper god."
"Wait, we could even include Azik! Didn't you say he was an angel? He could be Angel of Death!" Klein replied excitedly.
"You could, and if you help 'Him,' you could make 'Him' indebted to you." Pallez thought there was some more work if they decided to include Azik.
Klein was also aware some work would be needed if they wanted to include Azik. Though both of them saw a brilliant future ahead of them. A new life ahead full of shining hope.